Munich, Cousin Austin, Lost In Munich, Arrival in Nuremberg

Woke up this morning at around 5 or so but fell back asleep. It's crazy because for whatever reason, here in Germany it gets light enough to be morning around 5:15 am!

Did a few ttapp moves in the bathroom before breakfast. Should have taken a pic to prove I did my three moves in such a small space. ;p After all the walking we did the past few days, my back and neck needed to get back in alignment. Cobblestones are super uneven and my neck has been funky from craning up to look at all the church ceilings and spires. 

We packed up and had everything in the car in remarkably short order and set off via train for downtown Münich. 

Today, I got to hang out with one of my favorite-est people ever: my very own, super awesome cousin Austin! He is currently on a post-college trek through Europe and I knew he may be in the same area, so we kept in touch. Sure enough, much to our delight, we discovered that our plans would overlap and we would be in Germany at the same time. More amazing still, we'd be in the city of Munich the same day!

How surreal it was to get to see someone so dear and so familiar in a land quite far away, but there he was!

We walked off together and George said he'd keep in touch via phone when we went our separate ways.

Austin has the same method that I employ when I visit a new city: walk around the city and get a feel for what's in the area, then decide what to do or what to see. And so, we walked, caught up on each other's lives, heard about his recent travels and generally had a fantastic time exploring the city together.

We explored two churches early on

And then we walked all the way up to see the river and the old buildings of the historic district.

 But to get there, we had to walk through the real ritzy shopping district: Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier, Valentino, yeah. You get the idea. I could probably afford the clips they use to pin the dresses on the size 000 models they use in there. 

(The €18,400 ring. Nbd)

Apparently, this is the district for spotting extravagantly expensive cars too. We saw multiple Bentleys and then a Lamborghini within minutes of each other. Oh, and plenty of Porsches. They seem to be the Toyota of the European upper class- super common. Dime a dozen.

We ate lunch together at a nice little Biergarten and sat at a table facing the square. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with him, talking of old times, and catching up on life (and while IN GERMANY TOGETHER, of all places.)

I ended up getting some local Sprudel (asparagus) soup with a giant meatball and he got a curry sausage dish with pommes. I may or may not have snuck a few pommes for good measure. ;)

Next we walked up to the top of St. Peter's Kirk and I enjoyed again the panoramic view overlooking the city. I had been up there yesterday, but I told him he had to have the experience and so we went together.

After meeting up with Austin's traveling companion Chris and his friend, we hugged and said our goodbyes before then they set off for the art museum, and I looked around for George and crew.

I was in the main square where I last saw the rest of the group and so I looked around for them. Didn't see them anywhere, so I tried to call. Unfortunately, I got the dreaded busy signal, again and again, the one that tells me that most likely the phone is out of battery.

Thankfully, I had Austin who was on standby for me at the art museum, but I didn't have any way at all to get in touch with George and co. and had no idea where they might be in the giant mass of humanity that was out shopping in the fine Friday weather.

After about 45 minutes of waiting, I started to get concerned. I debated with myself whether or not to call my family to let them know the situation, as I figured things would work out eventually and I didn't want to cause them a lot of unnecessary stress when odds are, things would be just fine, all in good time.

But I came to the conclusion that I should at least tell them what was going on, in case I ended up needing outside help or something, so I called my Mom. She also tried his phone to make sure it wasn't something going on on my end of the line, and she had the same results.

"Mom, I'm kinda stressed about this though..." 

"well, I wouldn't let it show that you are. Try and be busy and walk around or sit and get something to eat."

I couldn't bring myself to eat anything  and I had a slight headache (probably because I was a bit dehydrated) so naturally I went into the nearest store and bought myself some water. And a coke zero. Yeah. Don't ask me why.

"Share a coke with a "winger?" In German it basically means a person who is "wingin' it."

Be it said that I do not normally drink soda, much less any mainstream diet soda, but for some reason that's what I ended up with. The ingredients aren't too terrible in the European version, and as I sipped my libations, I sat on the stoop of a men's clothing store like a classic vagabond (well, a vagabond in a taupe colored, floppy sunhat.) 

When you are lost or are looking for someone, it's funny how faces and bodies meld into what you want to see, almost like a mirage in the desert.

I viewed every guy with a stroller that went anywhere near the plaza with close scrutiny, looking for one with a blue jacket with a black backpack, or lookin for a light-blond haired lady with a cane (Aunt Rachel) or a tall very blonde haired lady with a pink shirt (Arnheidur.) One lady looked EXACTLY like Arnheidur from the back (she even had the same shirt!) and I immediately walked over but before I embarrassed myself, she turned and I saw it was not her.

In reality, it was only for about 2 hours that I was separated from them, but it felt a lit longer. I prayed they would somehow find me, and my people back home were praying things would work out. 

^this is a little picture I like to call: "Margaret Is Lost."

There's this electronica song called Lost in Berlin by Paul van Dyk, 

and it's definitely applicable if you say "Leeeeeeets get looooost in *Munich."

http://youtu.be/OhESOXQp0q8

Finally, I saw George walk into the square pushing a sleeping Erla and I was so relived I wouldn't have to sleep on the sidewalk or be a street mime to support myself. 

I didn't want to be panicky and such about the whole thing, so I just walked on over and said:

"oh, hey guys! Haha. There you are!" 

*daintily swigs a drink of my bottle of Adelholzener water*

Yeah, I'm a pretty good actor.

I was worried that they may be upset that they couldn't find me but they were totally fine. They had enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the open air fruit market and were just mozying on back to Marienplatz to see if I was around.

Besides. What is a trip to another country without getting lost or separated from your group? Answer? Not any trip I've ever been on before. :)

On our way to our apartment in Nuremberg, we stopped by Lidl for some water and stuff ( and by "stuff" I mean Ritter dark chocolate with hazelnufs for €.65 and pretzels and water.)

We ate a late-ish dinner at a waterfront restaurant before heading to our apartment. It was very yummy and our waiter guy was quite enthusiastic and helpful, especially with Rachel's GF food needs. He really made sure she had what she needed. 

Our apartment is fantastic. Before, we had 7 people in a tiny room and here we have giant rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, washer, the whole works. We will be here in Nuremberg for the next 2 nights before moving northwest.