welcome to the tent

so i didn't know about the tent ( http://www.the-tent.com/ ) until just a few days ago. i was in strassberg, germany and planning my stay in munich when i found out all of the hostels were booked. i almost threw in the towel on munich when i did one last online search and found...the tent. you'll get some better pictures if you go to the link above. it's really very cool, it's a big camp ground in the city with a place for you if you brought your own tent (6 euro) or a bunk in the big tent (10 euro) or if they're out of bunks you can get a foam mat and some floor space for (7 euro) if you look below the palm tree in the center you'll see some of the mats. there are lockers like at all hostels, bathrooms in a separate building that are actually very nice, a kitchen, laundry machines and a sink outside with solar heated water for hand washing clothes, a cafeteria where they serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and beer. it's really quite a hoot. i was at the same time excited and aprehensive to stay here but in general it's been positive. despite it being in the mid 40's last night i wasn't cold...they supply blankets of which they suggest you start with 4. there are a number of signs calling for absolute silence after 1 am...if only it were that way. i was amongst a bunch of french guys who were goofing around and giggling like little school girls until close to 2. every so often someone would "shhh" them and they would quiet down but then it would start back up. at some point someone - who i assume works here - came over and told them to be quiet and they basically did. i'll definitely wear some earplugs to sleep tonight even though the frenchies are gone.

so now to skip back to my time in strassberg, germany. i keep specifying germany because more people are familiar with strassbourg, france. it not that one it's this one. i stopped by here because when i first told people about the trip my friend vanessa emailed me telling me that her mom lives there and would be happy to host me if i wanted to pass through. it was well worth the stop...it's a small town in the schwabia region of germany and was just the respit i needed from all the rushing around the big cities. i got there in the late afternoon and rosi took me out to dinner in the next town over...just a few minutes away and i had an authentic meal that without rosi i would have never got to experience. the next day i went for a bike ride and despite the good signage and good directions that i got i still managed to go the wrong way. i say the wrong way because i ultimately got to where i was heading but with considerably more climbing than i was up for. where i was heading was the castle in sigmaringen. all's well that ends well. i got to see the castle and walk around the town a bit.

so my thanks to both vanessa for offering up her mom's hospitality and of course rosi for being a great hostess!

the tale of the voltage converters...
so my first converter i left at my friend oliver's in london. we were going to try to mail it to me c/o tom in cologne but time ran out and that wouldn't work so i just bought one in berlin. it was no big deal, i actually got lucky and went in to a large department store and they had one for 7 euros. when i got to strassberg and plugged my laptop in...no power! after messing around with things a bit i realized that i must have broken the converter. no chance of finding one in a small town like that. using rosi's computer i located the same department store in munich and figured out how to get from the hauptbanhof to the store and then to the tent...and pulled it all off without a hitch...other that this branch of the store only had a 25 euro converter...oh well, whatcha gonna do but fork over the euros. rest assured that i am being more careful with this one.

so i read in my guide book about this free munich bike tour to take if you only had one day to see the city. i took it and now i realize why i don't like going on tours. it was a good tour for sure and i probably found out some things that i wouldn't on my own but while we were on the tour we saw this orchestra practicing for a concert later that night...they were playing beethoven and we stayed for a few minutes but that was it...had i been on my own i would have stayed there for much longer. so for 9 euros i could have rented a bike and gotten a brocure that told me where to go or, as i did, go on the free tour that you pay for with a tip at the end (i gave him 10 euro). next time i'm renting the bike and going out on my own. now i will say that i'm not sure that i would have found the munich surfers without the guide so maybe that was worth it. the river that run's through town has this wave that occurs naturally and despite the signs that say surfing is forbidden it goes on anyway. click here for the surfing in munich video and you'll see what i'm talking about.

it's about 10pm and i have to get up early for a train to switzerland tomorrow so that's it for now.
thanks for all the positive feedback, glad your enjoying the postings.

happy trails,
dan