Day 1 - Arrival in Munich

Our trip was to be 8 (7 really) days down the Danube starting at Nuremberg and finishing in Budapest.  An additional 3-day pre-cruise trip to Prague was optional, along with a post-cruise trip (2 nights) in Budapest. As this was our first cruise of any sort, we were not sure what to pack nor just how much winter gear we should bring. It turned out the weather was 5-10 degrees F. colder than the weather records, but as the trip went on, we realized that having snow was certainly preferable to the usual rain of this time of year in this area.

Some food choices in the train station, Munich

Instead of the optional Prague tour, we began with a prelude side trip to Munich. We’d visited the Munich area many years ago, and thought it would be a nice idea to see southern Bavaria again (albeit in colder weather this time). We were pleased with our choice of hotel, as it was adjacent to the Hauptbahnhof, where a wide selection of quick food choices were available, along with easy access to the subway system for Munich. 

Doing the usual overnight airplane ride from the U.S., we were surprised to learn that 1) the seats were thinner and more uncomfortable than ever (thank you Airbus), 2) it was packed with people, many continuing on from Frankfurt to other countries (beside me for example was a family headed for Tel Aviv), and 3) people no longer actually try to sleep on these things—a couple of middle-aged women talked continuously through the wee hours of the morning—they could not be blocked out even with my earbuds under the plane’s earphones. We were determined to power through the next day though, but we only made it to 5:00 p.m. We rented a car upon landing, and in the next 48 hours figured out how to set the GPS to English (boy did THAT help!). By the time we arrived at the hotel, we decided to eat in the bistro as were just too tired to take on the city for eating dinner today.

View of the train station from the room in Munich