Friday: I walked to the hostel from Yana's flat to go check in as her roommates were coming back from Romania. I spent the afternoon on the computer before heading out to see Harry Potter 7. I came back and talked with Racheed and Yana over a few drinks.
Saturday: Got up and had breakfast, then watched a few movies with Bekim, Daniella and Sonja. Played a few games of pool with them as well. I watched the Bayern v Schalke game, which Bayern lost 2-0. Went out with Racheed and a few other people from the hostel to a nightclub nearby.
Sunday: I relaxed most of the day, recuperating from the night out. I played some more pool against Bekim and then eventually Yana came to the hostel so we could go watch "The next three days". Afterwards we walked to a restaurant so that Yana could have supper as she was used to her night-shift schedule. She went back to her flat and I went to the hostel and talked with Racheed.
Monday: I went to visit the Ladies' Market in the afternoon with Bekim and Adam. Afterwards I had some shopping to do so that I was ready for my next day on the train. I went back to the hostel and when it was time to call the taxi, it didn't come, so Stan from the hostel came outside with me and flagged one down while explaining where I was going. Go onto the train no problem, but it was late into Belgrade (by an hour and forty minutes... welcome to the Balkans) so I missed the train going directly to Munich.
Tuesday: I had to catch a train to Budapest first, and my connection in Budapest was about 15 minutes. Well, the train was 10 minutes late (although for a 8 hour train that isn't bad) so I had all of 5 minutes to get off and find the train I had to get onto, but that went without a hitch, even had a couple of minutes to spare. Got into Munich at about 10:45 PM after having left Sofia the previous evening at 8:40 PM. Thankfully, I had deliberatley booked a hostel right next to the Munich Hauptbahnhof.
Wednesday: Turns out that a lot of people in the hostel were there for the Bayern Munich v FC Basel match. One of my roommates, Nick, is a huge Bayern fan, and also speaks great German because his parents are from Germany. We talked a bit before he went out to do the walking tour, while I visited the city alone (having already done the walking tour). We agreed to go to the match together, and we left at about 7 PM. The Metro was obviously packed, and once at the stadium, we found our tickets and went in. Turns out we were seated at opposite ends of the pitch. Bayern are really improving with the return of Breno and Ribery. Bayern created quite a few chances, Ribery especially, but Bayern will have to work on timing and positioning, because Gomez was constantly in the wrong spot to receive Ribery's crosses. Bayern went on to win the match 3-0. I met up with Nick and we headed to the Metro, which was even more packed than on the way in. You quite literally didn't even have to hold on to anything while standing, because you were completly surrounded by other people.
Thursday: I was planning on leaving for Sion, but as it was snowing the trains were quite delayed out of Germany and I missed the one I was planning on taking. I decided to stay in Munich another day. It gave me the chance to visit the Weihnachtmarkt (Christmas market) and to try some delicious Glühwein (mulled wine). I walked around the Altstadt (old city) which has the markets on pretty much all of the pedestrian streets.
Friday: I got up early and went to the train station. I spent about 10 hours on various trains, going through Stuttgart, Karlruhe, Basel, Visp and finally arriving in Sion. When I got in I called Michel as he had offered to come and pick me up. I visited with him and Rose-Marie for a bit, then went to Gregoire's to go to bed.
Saturday: I went skiing with Gregoire at Ovronnaz, which was great fun. I haven't skied for about 10 years, so the first couple of minutes were used to getting used to it again, but after that it was really great fun. We had Swiss fondue at the restaurant on the mountain, with a bit of Fendant wine. In the evening we visisted a "cave" with Guy and Isabelle. I bought a couple of bottles from there, and then we went to another "cave" where I bought another few bottles. We went to have supper and afterwards Emilie took me out to Britannica. Gabriel came to pick us up and drove me home.
Sunday: I had some fun repacking my bag with all the wine bottles I bought. Emilie picked me up with Tania and Philippe. We headed to Montreux to visit the Christmas market there. After a few hours of walking, I went to the train station to catch a train to go to Lenzburg. I go in at about 6:30 PM, and Ursula was already at the train station so we just had to find each other. She drove back home to Hägglingen, where I met the family and we had a wonderful supper. Afterwards, Ursula, her daughter Corrine and her boyfriend Marco and I went to an Irish pub in Lenzburg to meet up with a couple of Ursula's friends: Anja and Daniella. We had a few drinks and I told some stories about my trip.
Monday: I headed off to Zürich with Ursula and Corrine. We walked down the Bahnhofstrasse, then grabbed a tram to the edge of the Zürich lake. We then walked through the old city, named Niederdorf, seeing the Grossmünster church. We walked back to the train station and went back to Hägglingen. Corrine's friend came over after supper and we all looked at a photo album of when Ursula came to Canada.
Tuesday: Anja and Daniella offered to take me to Luzern to visit the city. We took the scenic route there to see some very nice Swiss countryside. In town we saw the Jesuit church and the Kapell-brücke (chapel bridge) and walked around the old city. We visited one of Anja's friends at work, before heading for lunch. Eventually we went back to the car to pick up my bag and I went to my train back to Munich.
Wednesday: I took the S-Bahn, which for some reason was running slow, to go to the Munich airport. Got there later than I wanted but checked in, got through passport control and security without a problem. Got on the plane and when we landed in Philadelphia, I saw that they lost my back-pack. Went through US Customs no problem and when I got to my gate for my flight to Montreal, it was cancelled, so I had to wait another two and a half hours for the next one. Of course, the lost baggage counter was closed, so I went home quickly.
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