65days

30 july // day 47 // berlin, germany

BERLIN
- In the morning I check out of my hotel and headed to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.

click to enlarge

- I headed to the Musical Instrument Museum were I saw a complete collection of saxophones which, as a one time saxophone major at university, I was excited to see (there's eight different kind of saxes, from a soprillo to the contrabass).
- Once it got late, I made my way to one of the train stations to wait for my overnight to Copenhagen. I was starving but didn't have any more Deutsch Marks to spend so I had to eat some left over crackers with water. I tried using my credit card but the only shop there didn't accept them. A Swedish guy was waiting next to me to get on the same train and we struck up a conversation. He ended up being in the same compartment as me.

29 july // day 46 // berlin, germany

BERLIN
- This morning I headed to the Martin Gropius Bau. While there, I checked out some of the Berlin Wall that is still standing nearby.
- Lots and lots of shopping!!!
- For dinner, I ate at an Indian restaurant. Next door was a leather bar with lots of large hairy men standing outside drinking beer.

28 july // day 45 // berlin, germany

BERLIN
- I have nothing writing down for this day, other than that I went to the Bauhaus-Archiv and took the #100 bus to get there, which was very crowded.

27 july // day 44 // bacharach to berlin

BERLIN
- After having egg again for breakfast, I got on the train and headed to Berlin. I remember it being a very fast train and the train going smoothly.
- Another gay guy running the hotel where I was staying. I remember he looked like Robin Williams.
- I headed to a red modern building call the "InfoBox" to check my email. A blond boy wouldn't get off the computer terminal so I stood there and waited probably 20 minutes until he left.
- For dinner I had Chinese (#10).
- I spent the rest of the evening window shopping around the Kurfürstendamm, frustrated I couldn't buy things I wanted.

26 july // day 43 // bacharach, germany

BACHARACH
- Frau Theilacker served me hard boiled egg for breakfast. I really don't like hard boiled eggs, but I at it anyway... my father would have been proud.
- I took one of the Rhine Cruises... in the RAIN.

"downtown" bacharach | st. goar | click to enlarge

- I got off the boat in St. Goar and looked around a bit... boring. I spent some time at Burg Rheinfels then headed back to Bacharach via the train.
- I went to the TI office to ask where a public telephone was. I asked in German. The queen working at the desk said to me in English, "Oh we have one who can speak German... do you want me to answer in German or English?" I didn't know what to do since I was so taken aback. I said "English", but wanted to say "German" to rub it in his bitchy face.

25 july // day 42 // baden-baden to bacharach

BADEN-BADEN TO BACHARACH
- I took a short train from Baden-Baden to Bacharach. I changed at the main station in Frankfort which I remember being super busy.

BACHARACH
- When I arrived, I took out my guide book and started roaming around looking for rooms. I once again had to rely on my limited German. I finally found a great room with Herr and Frau Theilacker.
- There was nothing much to do in the evening in Bacharach, so sat around, then went to bed.

24 july // day 41 // gimmelwald to baden-baden

GIMMELWALD TO BADEN-BADEN
- I headed out of Gimmelwald early in the morning, taking the gondola lift down the Interlaken-bound train, then on a series of several trains which took me to Baden-Baden, Germany.
- On the last train, a European family was sitting across from me and the dad would only speak in English with his kids, making them speak English back to him. I think they were maybe Dutch.

BADEN-BADEN
- When I arrived, I headed to the TI to find a place to stay. They called up a woman that had some rooms to rent. I got on a bus, and headed out of town which seemed to take forever. I arrived and the woman didn't know English, so I had to rely on my German.
- I noticed people had written in chalk above their house doors... 20 * C + M + B * 00. I think it has something to do with the three wise men with the year added.
- I headed back in to town to go to the Friedrichsbad... it's a spring-fed spa where you basically take off your clothes and walk around from room to room relaxing in saunas and baths. I had never done anything like that, and at first it was really weird. But after a while I forgot I was naked and that there were a bunch of other naked men around me and I started to enjoy the heat of the saunas and the thermal water. It really was relaxing.
- I was tired and hungry afterwards, so I ate at a Chinese place (#9), then walked around a bit. Baden-Baden is really nice looking and probably should be on more people's list of places to see in Germany.
- I waited for the bus to take me back to the pension, but it never came, so I started walking. On the way home it started pouring, and I took cover under the awning of an interior design/furniture store. It kept raining, and I was already wet, so I just went for it and walked back in the pouring rain.

21 july // day 38 // munich to gimmelwald

MUNICH TO GIMMELWALD
- I got up very early to catch a train to Switzerland. I headed to Zürich to transfer to a smaller train in to Interlaken. It took most of the day to get to Interlaken.

INTERLAKEN/GIMMELWALD
- When I made it to Interlaken, I walked around a bit before getting on the tiny train to Mürren. I knew once I got to Gimmelwald, it would be difficult (and expensive) to get back to Interlaken. I looked around for a grocery and got lost. A local stopped and asked if I needed help and she sent me in the right direction.
- The train to Mürren was pretty cool. Although, there were a frat boy and sorority chic sitting behind me complaining about this and that... I don't like complainers, so I was happy when they got off at one of the first few stations.

click to enlarge

- I hiked down a paved trail from Mürren to Gimmelwald. I remember loving the scenery, but carrying my backpack, plus day bag, plus groceries was not a good idea.
- I stayed in the attic of the local (and only B&B). They had a few beds for backpackers. I hindsight, I am glad I stayed here and not at the hostel... the hostel seemed a bit frat boy-ish.

20 july // day 37 // munich, germany

MUNICH
- I have nothing written down for this day other than that I had Chinese (#8) for dinner.

OTHER THINGS I DID IN MUNICH
- I needed to do my laundry, so I went to a laundromat but couldn't figure out how to make everything work. There was a nice African man there who helped me... It ended up that you had to put your money in to a slot on the wall and not in the machine.

dachau | click to enlarge

- I took a day trip to Dachau Concentration Camp. I don't really have much to say about this other than the fact that it's really weird and awkward and bizarre.
- I stumbled upon a really great used clothing shop run by a woman not much older than me. The shop had a military/navy feel to it. I loved it. She didn't know English, so I tried to get as much info about the shop as I could in German. She told me she would buy the clothes second hand or surplus, then her mother would mend them. Some of the items were new. I bought two Armor Lux striped Breton sailors shirts that I still have and wear today.

19 july // day 36 // munich, germany

MUNICH
- In the morning, I headed to the Pinakothek der Moderne.
- After the museum, I headed to Englischer Garten to see some naked people. Ok, I didn't go there just for that.
- I stopped and listened to a man playing an accordion near Marienplatz and was mesmerized.
- I gobbled down some soft pretzels.
- In the evening, I ate Chinese (#7)!!!

18 july // day 35 // salzburg to munich

SALZBURG TO MUNICH
- I boarded a train and headed to Munich. I wrote in my journal that this train ride was boring. I'm not sure why I felt the need to record that I was bored.

MUNICH
- The only thing I wrote down for this day was, "SHOPPING!"
- I stayed in a spare bedroom at an apartment of an American woman who was married to a German man. She was kinda weird and eclectic. There was a high school across the street and in the evening they were having a jazz band concert. I opened my window and listened while I read a book.