It's been about a week since I left, and I've been covering a fair amount of ground since then. I am writing from Florence, Italy, having just gotten in on an all/day train ride from Paris. I spent four days in Paris. Before that, the few days I spent in Munich were distinguished by serious jet lag, but were quite lovely. The parts of the city I visited (Marienplatz, Kaufinger Strasse, Viktualienmarkt, etc) were beautiful and very busy. I was unprepared for just how serious Bavarians are about their beer -- almost everyone in restaurants has a glass of beer in front of them, for both lunch and dinner (it remains yet to be seen if beer has a place in the German breakfast). My German served me pretty well. It was definitely challenging to understand conversations on the street, but I could carry on basic conversations pretty well and could generally get the gist of what others said to me.
I spent a lot of time in museums in Paris, which I hadn't been anticipating, but was a good experience. Versailles, the Musee dOrsay, and Notre Dame were all wonderful and interesting places. Although after watching people walk through museums at warp speed with their cameras permanently out, I think I am ready to take a break from the museum tourism for a few days. Luckily, I am headed off into the Cinque Terre tomorrow and should spend the next couple of days hiking and taking it relatively easy so long as the weather cooperates.
I will be going to Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) instead of spending the rest of my trip in Italy. I'm looking forward to practicing my German some more. I should be back in Munich on the 16th, and am looking forward to getting settled in...
