Day Fourteen - Munich

It's my birthday! I'm waking up on a boat in Prague and it's my birthday. Pretty cool. But we have miles go, so we load up our gear and walk to the parking garage where the car has been parked. There's always a moment anytime we go to retrieve the car where I wonder if the car will still be there, will it be vandalized? Parking ticket? Having your own wheels is liberating and also a giant pain in the ass.

We are making our way further south now and crossing back into a familiar territory - back in Germany! Back to the Euro! We arrive in Munich, find street parking, lug our bags and check into the hotel. We only have one day here so we waste no time. We drop the car of at a nearby parking garage then hoof it to Marienplatz, Munich's main town square. It's a sunny Friday and the square is full of people. People walking, people taking pictures, people sitting a sidewalk cafes watching all the people. I have a mission though, find an ATM. Another lesson learned is, never go long without cash on hand. We grab some cash then head to our destination: Hofbrauhaus.

From the outside the building is a bit unassuming, slightly industrial looking and whitewashed. Once you walk through the doors it's a whole different scene. Rows and rows of tables, large columns, frescos on the cathedral-like ceiling and a live band in the center of the hall. We are just walking in a daze for a moment. We find an empty table, order a liter of beer each and food. Oh the food. Jacob went for the white sausage and I got the roasted chicken. It was a thing of beauty.

The rest of the night is a bit hazy, there were more drinks, a brief stop at another pub but we ended up at the Hofbrauhaus for a second round and

to end our night. It drew us back in. We ordered more food and spent our last beer at a table with some men who were familiar with Austin. One of them had a son who lived in Round Rock. It's always intriguing when you meet people so far away from your home that actually know exactly where you come from.

It was a very successful birthday, we walked back to the hotel swaying and singing, our laughter bouncing off the Marienplatz clock tower.