Below are photos from my arrival in Germany. In late March 2006, I flew to Frankfurt and made my way to Munich. While I only spent a few hours in Frankfurt this time, I was in Munich for about two and a half days. It was quite cold in Munich while I was there, it was March after all, so I didn't get to see a whole lot of the city but I did spend a fair amount of time in the city center. I made it back to Munich a few month later, those pictures can be found here.

This is the one of the first pictures I took in Germany. I was waiting for the 8:54am train to Munich at the Frankfurt Flughafen Bahnhof.

Grüße aus München. Taken after a fourteen hour flight and a four hour train ride.

The Augistiner-Bräu Bierhalle was right across the street from the Hostel I stayed in. It is the oldest brewery in Munich, founded in 1328. I ate there both nights I was in Munich.

Inside the Augustiner-Bräu, I ate with a group of 5 Bulgarians and some Germans, one of which was staying at the same hostel. All the tables seat about 8 to 10 people and they only have long benches. There were no private tables or booths.

These guys made their way around to each table taking requests, dressed in lederhosen and playing Oom-pah music.

This is Schweinhaxe, think of a Turkey leg but only Pork, which I had at Augustiner as recommended to me by one of the Bulgarians. It was really good, huge but good. The dumpling was about the size of a baseball. The whole meal, plus a couple authentic German beers, only cost 8€.

In front of the Bavarian office of the European Union patent ministry. Notice all the cigarette butts on the ground. German priorities...

"No hippies were harmed in the making of this movie"

The Glockenspiel, in the center of Munich at Marienplatz. 3 times a day it plays has a routine where the figures in the two green balconies dance around to celebrate the end of the plague. There is also an animatronic joust which leaves much to be desired.

Marienplatz, in front of the Glockenspiel. This is the base of the Mariensäule, a column with cherubs fighting the four main threats to the city.

Löwenparade - There were a lot of these 6 foot tall lions all around Munich, it is some sort of charity thing where a business buys a lion which they then customize. This one was outside of a cafe/bar that sells beer brewed by the monks of the Andechs Monastery.

The corner of the Neues Rathaus, just below the Glockenspiel.

Construction around Munich in preparation for the World Cup in the summer.

While waiting for the train to Bamberg to leave they brought the beer wagon around to restock the bar car.