Snday May 26 -- Freidrichshafen to Munich

I must have forgotten one of my own rules when I booked today's trip -- never travel on Sundays. Help desks are unattended, facilities are unavailable and schedules are mucked up. The first part was fine -- I walked to Friedrichshafen station, only getting lost in the old town once, then got on a crowded local train to Lindau, which I had flown over the day before. Lindau is very odd -- it's on an island in the lake, connected to the mainland by a few rail lines and one separate road bridge; so all the rail traffic has to go across the bridge to the station -- which takes up about a third of the island -- and then back again. From what I could see the rest of the town was quite attractive, but I didn't have time this morning to explore. I crossed to Platform 1, which was tucked away out of sight, and prepared to catch the reserved train to Munich. 

As before, there was a sign on the platform indicating which carriages would stop where, but this time the driver didn't bother and just came in all the way, so I had to walk to my carriage. But nobody seemed in any great hurry. I had a set of four seats to myself in a carriage they must have decided to put all the English-speakers in; there were several groups of American youngsters around me chattering away, making barely more sense than their neighbours speaking German.

The trip itself was quite scenic, going through mountains and lakeland as well as farming communities, and we arrived in Muich before twelve. Here I looked up my destination and discovered that I needed to take U-Bahn 1 to the south. Unfortunately there was no sign of U-Bahn 1 within the station building, so I had to go outside and explore before I found steps leading down to a station. I bought a ticket and went in, thinking my troubles were over, only to discover that for some reason U-Bahn 1 wasn't going south that day, just shuttling people back and forth between the Hauptbahnhof and the northern stations. Loudspeakers were giving out incomprehensible information, but I couldn't work it out, even with a Metro app which was apparently unaware of the altered arrangements.

So I gave up and walked. It was about fifty minutes and it took me through the red-light district, over a bridge where someone was surfing on a standing wave in the river, past a graveyard and along a bike track. Eventually I found the place; and although the address in AirBnB said 23 Gerhardstrasse, Manfred's later message had said 21 and asked me to buzz their neighbour Frau Liebl.

After some explaining to nice people who wanted to let me in without buzzing, I spoke to Frau Liebl and she invited me up. There's a little lift and the apartment is no the top floor. She was a very welcoming motherly old person, and with her aid I got the keys to work and was finally inside.

The apartment is not that small, but very crowded with the owner's possessions, so much so that I'm afraid to spread things out in case they get lost among the junk that's already here. There was beer in the fridge -- a nice touch -- and a good deal of miscellaneous food left behind, but no milk--and being Sunday all the milk shops in the vicinity were shut. I rested for a bit and made horrible coffee with whitener, then went for a walk to orient myself.

There's a big park nearby that runs on both sides of a major river, and the station -- when it's open -- is about five minutes away.  I found an open bakery--part of a chain -- where I had coffee and cheesecake, but they didn't have anything like sausage rolls. I could have had a slice of pizza in a kebab shop, or paid for a full meal at a Greek restaurant, but I decided to cut my losses and head home, where I cooked up some couscous for dinner. Then quietly at home relaxing till bedtime. Today the major museums are all closed, so I plan to visit Schloss Nymphenburg and the Botanic Gardens, which are adjacent to it.

Love to all, Jon.