Karlsruhe, Cologne, Stuttgart, and Munich, Germany

Given the sheer number of friends I happen to have in Germany (all from our time in Singapore a year and a half ago!), I dedicated a lot of time here, and left planning to the wind.  (Well, sort of – none of the plans I made in advance came to fruition.)  To be honest, I didn’t expect too much other than hanging out, but I’ve had such a lovely time that it almost hasn’t felt like I’ve been travelling.  (And the same feeling was for Paris and Switzerland, but I’ve spent almost two weeks in Germany now!)

After taking a mitfahrgelegenheit (a paid carpool of sorts, interesting cause you’re stuck in a car with strangers and end up having pleasant conversations) from near Zurich, I headed to Karlsruhe to meet up with Sabine.  My first night in Germany?  Heading to a public viewing set up for the Germany/Denmark football match.  Also, I had my first beer ever!  Yeah, I know that’s pretty hard to believe, but I had never had a beer before coming to Germany this trip.  Sabine introduced me to a radler which was pleasant…but since it was my first, I couldn’t quite tell if I liked it yet.  Didn’t dislike it though!  But this really set the tone for the rest of my stay in Germany – watch football matches (usually in public with a flag-waving crowd), drink beer. Continue reading →