The Beginning - July 8-10

We've been 2 full days in India now (As of July 12) and I might finally be able to get on a normal sleep schedule after being asleep by 6PM yesterday. We met up with no problems at the airport, rob was waiting just outside customs when I finally got through after waiting an hour or so in line. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been at the very back of the plane and the last one in line. The flights over weren't as bad as they could have been, or maybe as bad as I'd feared they were going to be. I booked a ticket through Expedia on US Airways, mainly because of the arrival time in Delhi. The flight got in about 45 minutes or an hour after Rob's flight, which made it easy for us to meet up. About a week after I made the flight and a few days before I was scheduled to leave, I picked up a consumer report to look at the ratings on new digital cameras. While I was flipping through trying to find the camera section, I happened to notice a rating of most of the major airlines and wouldn't you know it, coming in dead last was US Airways from everything from service and security to seat comfort. To be honest I'm not sure if I could tell a huge difference, except that on the first flight of about five hours the only food available was for purchase which seemed a little ridiculous, so I didn't buy any. On the other two flights they at least served food of a sort. I had a layover in Munich of about 8 hours before flying on to Delhi, and I was planning on just sleeping in the airport until I overheard a small group of Americans next to me discussing how to get into the city. I asked the lady who seemed to know how to get there for directions, although they seemed vague at best, but she asked if I wouldn't just want to go with them which seemed like a fine idea. There were five us us including that lady, her daughter, another middle aged couple, and myself. After only a little debate we found the way to the Subway station, and after considerable debate we figured out how and what kind of ticket to purchase to get on the train. The ride took maybe a little over 45 minutes and passed thought some very pretty (what looked like) countryside, although I'm not sure really how rural or urban it might have been. We got off and wandered around the city for a bit thought a light rain, I was mostly just following along as they seemed to have some final destination in mind. The lady who seemed more or less in charge and whose name I can't remember eventually led us to a beer hall that I'm pretty sure was called Hofbrau Munchen. Since it was sometime around lunch time we stopped to eat. I had some sausages, pretzel, and a beer which was quite satisfying after 24 hours of food that was only just deserved of that name. After eating we meandered slowly back through the cobbled streets to the train and the airport.