Since I was expecting to have to climb up to my 5th floor room at the end of the day, I readied my backpack for a day and early evening out in Munich. The hotel breakfast was substantial enough to recharge me and I headed to reception to inquire when the elevator would be in service. Their estimate was some time Thursday. I complained and I was offered a 1st floor room. I would just have to pack up my things on the fifth floor for the staff to move downstairs, once the 1st floor room was cleaned and ready in the afternoon. I left my backpack at the desk and climbed back up to my room. It did not take long to gather things since I had not fully unpacked the night before. I was getting my exercise!

I’d planned to use the Hop On-Hop Off tour bus voucher from Railbookers; however, I spent a lot of time walking around the area of Munich near my hotel. It was my own fault since I turned in the wrong direction after heading out of the hotel (turning right instead of left as I was told). Then I wandered towards wrong objectives, looking for different Starbucks, in Apple Maps. I did eventually end up in the right place after walking for about 2+ miles instead of 5 – 6 blocks. I saw a Hop On-Hop Off bus in the distance near Odeonsplatz in front of the Starbucks which was exactly were the hotel receptionist said the tour bus stop would be. Since I missed that bus, I figured that I had time for a break and a cup of coffee. I waited over an hour for the Hop On-Hop Off bus to reappear, but it never did. By then, it was a bit after noon and lunchtime. I had a delicious lunch – perfectly grilled fish and seafood over mixed greens – while watching for the bus. After a raspberry panna cotta dessert to finish my meal, i still had seen no sign of a bus. I had I missed it while eating? I took a look at the Hop On-Hop Off tour bus sign post to check on times. A note was posted saying that due to construction in Munich, the bus would not be stopping at that stop or the next nearest stop. I’d “wasted” a day. It had been good to walk about and I saw some interesting things (see below) but I really wanted the day to be low key to let my legs recover from walking 3+ miles in Prague.

Missed a bus at Konigsplatz too

UFO at the Technical University of Munich?

I returned to the hotel to find that my room had been moved to the first floor – thankfully. After putting my backpack in my new room, I went to the hotel bar for a drink. Mustafa, the desk clerk, gave me a free gin and tonic as an apology for the 5th floor room. It was the 2nd night of Ramadan and Mustafa was busy answering phones, helping guests, serving drinks and heating up his dinner to be eaten once the sun set. I had to ask him some questions after he ate. Did he mind serving me alcohol? No, not at all, his faith was his, not to be imposed on anyone else. When I’m in Cairo or Amman, will people object to my eating during the day? Probably not. I might find fewer open restaurants but it should not be an issue. Does fasting get any easier as Ramadan goes on? It depends, near the equator, the times for sunrise and sunset don’t change that much, so maybe it gets a little easier. In Germany and the Scandinavian countries, sunrise time doesn’t change much over the month but sunset time gets later as the month goes on, so a longer fast without water as the month goes on. I wondered if his answers were proscribed by his job – customer service, but he seemed quite relaxed and sincere, eager to share with me. I felt honored to talk with him.