After leaving Florence, I spent three days in Germany. There is a sleeper train which runs most nights directly to Munich from Florence, and, being a bit of a nerd, couldn't resist taking this out of sheer curiosity. Plus, I reasoned, it was better value, seeing as I was paying for both transport and accommodation together.
On the other hand, it wasn't exactly a good night's sleep. Not through any fault of the train operator; nope, I was so enthralled with the novelty and romance of travelling at speed through the night to a different country, from the comfort of a bed in my own cabin, that I probably had all of about 3 hours sleep. Had I been less of a loser, though, I would have slept much more soundly as I can assure you that lying on a bed in a train, with your head on a pillow gazing out at the dark night, is very soothing indeed.
I arrived in Munich at 6:30 in the morning, which was actually lovely, even though some night owls might disagree. It was nice to walk through the city when all was quiet, and admire the buildings without all the tourists getting in the way of a good photo. It was, however, a long day, and by 6 in the evening I was totally pooped.
One of the reasons for going to Munich was that it is possible to do a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, which I had wanted to visit. In the end, though, I decided against it for a number of reasons: I was still really tired (and I know my limits as an introvert), the cost was higher than I had thought, and the travelling time would have been around a 4 hour round trip which I wasn't really up for. So instead, I visited Munich's Toy Museum in the morning, and then went to the Alte Pinakothek in the afternoon, one of Munich's art galleries.
The Toy Museum is a small place, ensconced in a little tower/turret thing near to the Town Hall. There are four rooms on separate floors as you go down a spiral staircase, all of which have interesting collections of German-made toys throughout the ages showing beautiful craftsmanship. It cost €4 for entry, and, while it didn't take long to see the whole place, it was a pleasant enough visit.
The tower where the Toy Museum is situated
It was a relief to get to the Alte Pinakotek, as it had started raining quite heavily at this point. The gallery is undergoing renovation so some parts were closed to the public, which meant a reduced entry rate. I have absolutely no knowledge of art, and my appreciation is rather simplistic - I just like looking at the pictures. They had a few Heironymous Bosch pieces, though, which made me happy as I do like his work.
There is also a lovely cafe inside the gallery, with a gorgeous seating area and nice high ceilings. It was utterly comforting to sit in there with a cappuccino, reading my book and watching the rain from my window seat.
I only spent two full days in Munich, but that was enough for me. It was nice, but I have no desire to revisit. Perhaps for someone who is a beer aficionado it would be a fun trip as there are unsurprisingly plenty of pubs and beer gardens, but as I am not much of a drinker when I am alone, and detest beer in any case, this alas was not alas an aspect I could appreciate.
I then caught a train to Hamburg. I had only intended this to be a quick stopover to break up my journey to Copenhagen, as I would have had to change trains here anyway. But having had a brief glimpse of the place, I'm deeply regretting that as it seemed much more interesting than Munich. The warehouse district I found very impressive, as I did the inner/smaller lake. I didn't even have time to set foot on the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's seedy (read: entertaining) street.
Hamburg's warehouse district
Hamburg's Inner Alster (Lake)
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