To answer any lingering questions about my hostel-booking dilemma, there were a few cancellations at the Euro Youth Hotel, so I wound up staying there despite my “lost” reservation. There’s no excuse for losing reservations, something I hear is common at this place, and that will definitely play a part in my review.

In the meantime, though, Munich has been a fun stop. The first night I met some kids at the hostel and we talked over weißbier for a few hours about backpacking and books and American sports and all the things we have enjoyed about Europe and missed about home (ice cubes). After our three hour summit, we stumbled to the Augustiner beer garden just a few blocks on the other side of the main train station. Great place!

Yesterday I spent the first half of the day wandering around downtown Munich, winding between monuments and shops and whatever else caught my attention. In the evening, I met up with a Munich-based Mac coder-type I have known online for 4 or 5 years. After backing up my camera’s memory chip on his computer and stealing some music for my iPod, we headed out to the English Gardens, Munich’s equivalent of Central Park (though it’s hardly central), the Bois de Boulogne, or whatever. Acres upon acres of park space and lake are there for the cityfolk, as are a few beer gardens — our reason for being. I accidentally bought a glass of radler — half beer, half lemonade — usually ordered by thirsty cyclists or women seeking wine coolers. While a little citric acid never hurt anyone, this was cooked up with nasty, fake-tasting lemon drink and looked exactly like the other glass steins, so watch out if you have any regard for your taste buds.

Then we stopped for what he calls the best pizza in Munich, Drugstore Pizza. I gotta admit, for a hole-in-the-wall, German pizzeria, the stuff was good. We had a large chicken pizza, loaded with spicy garlic and onions, washed down with another pint of German lager.

Today I am going to spend the rainy afternoon perusing the massive Munich Science and Technology museum. Today back home is my college graduation ceremony, so today is a bit of a reality check for me. This is what I’m skipping in order to be in Europe! Worth it? Uhh, yeah. So far, the trip barometer (hidden in my backpack) says I made a wise decision… and I am happy spending graduation day at a beer garden vs. a football stadium.

Tomorrow I am off to Salzburg, where I hope to run into Matt, whom you may remember from my Nice and Cinque Terre stops in May. Should be fun. Also, a quick congratulations to Steve Weintraub on the birth of his son Ben yesterday in New York.