Happy 4th at the Olympic Center

I woke up at 7 and couldn't fall back asleep (the downside to hostels) so I showered and got some breakfast. I had made plans to meet my new friends from the pub crawl last night at 10 this morning, but a Facebook message from one of them pushed our time back to 11:30. Time for a few excursions on my own! I walked over to botanical gardens I saw on my map and saw the gorgeous facade of a beautiful building from the park. A recurring theme I've noticed in Munich is that there are hidden green oases scattered throughout the city. After that excursion,  I walked to a church, yet another beautiful building. 

I met Julien and Aubri at the train station at 11:30 and we took off for town. I had heard that you could climb a tower to see the city, but the church tower was closed for reconstruction. Bummer--I do love getting good views! We were pretty hungry at this point so we hit up the market I went to the day before and I tried a sausage with bread and ketchup. Don't ask me the German name for it, but it was tasty! 

After this, we decided to go see the Olympic training center--kind of fitting for the 4th of July in a way. It was a gorgeous day and the park was beautiful. Unfortunately the stadium was closed for an event, but just taking in the cool architecture was enough for me. There is also a lake nearby and the breeze was so nice.  We hopped back on the subway and got off at the Englisher Garten and treated ourselves to beers. I felt so lucky to have found some great company and loved just hanging out in the beer garden on the great afternoon. We walked back through the main part of the town to meet their other friend and host, Marcus. He knew of a good beer garden nearby so we walked there for dinner. I had a pork dish with a potato dumpling and kraut salad. Again, I don't remember the name but it was all really good! This beer garden was HUGE with so many people just hanging out and eating with friends. Such a cool culture.

I split from my new friends after dinner and headed back to my hostel.  After cleaning up a little, I went down to the bar, hoping to run into some Americans to celebrate the 4th of July. It didn't take long. 2 girls decked out in RW and B came to the bar and immediately invited me to celebrate with them. More people decided to join us including an Aussie, a Chilean, a few more Americans, 3 Norwegians and 1 German. Quite an eclectic group. We went to a beer garden and it was fun to just hang out. I love the traveling mentality and atmosphere--people are so friendly. I headed home after this since I was tired from a lack of sleep the night before. I had new roommates again, (honeymooners from the States), so we chatted for a little and then it was bed time for me. Another fun day!