Christmas Day and Boxing Day merged as I travelled across the globe in an east direction. The time zones wind back so even though I had travelled for 28 hours, it was still the morning of Boxing Day when I arrived in Munich.

The trains are well sign posted and announcements are in English and German at the platforms and on the trains. The escalators go in both directions depending on who gets on it first.

The Flemings hotel is on Bayerstrasse in the heart of Munich directly opposite the Munich Hauptbahnhof which is the main central station that is a terminal for regional fast trains (ICE trains) and the S Bahn lines (local trains). The trains are clean but there is an abundance of graffiti around the stations and railway lines.

I bought a ticket at the ticket machine at the airport but no one checked it and there are no ticket checking booths at the stations when the trip is finished. I guess that they must do random checks.

The Flemings Hotel staff have been very efficient and accommodating. They speak English so it is easy to communicate. When I noticed that there was a blockout curtain missing in my first room (311) ….and you will see in the photos why this was a concern in regard to the showers. The hotel manager found me another room which had all its curtains. The hotel is clean although a little jaded.

The room comes with a mini bar of beer and non alcoholic drinks and a complimentary bottle of bubble water ( what we call Soda water). This is important to know because the Germans watch American TV and to them ‘Soda’ is a soft drink. I saw in the reviews that the complimentary water was not stocked up daily so when I saw the cleaning carts I intended to ask for another bottle, but there was no one around, so I took one from the cart. Later when I saw the male cleaners, I tried to explain that I had helped myself but it was soon evident that they did not speak English, hence I had to revert to my high school German 😁. It was not a problem for me to help myself but I forgot the word for ‘bottle’ and caused some confusion.

When I asked for a gin and Soda with dinner, the waiter thought that I had asked for a gin and tonic. I explained that I wanted gin and bubble water. He was then confused about the ‘Soda’ and was pouring a separate drink. Little nuances like this can make interesting experiences.

The hotel comes with complimentary toiletries and the bathroom is very spacious … and see through 😂. The toilet is not, thank goodness 😅 I had a similar but smaller room in the Z Hotel in Shoreditch, London in 2015. See through bathrooms must be a European thing 😂 but I have stayed at Salt in Kingscliff, NSW, Australia where they have shutters between the bathroom and main room.

All rooms are heated so there is no need for winter pyjamas.

So Boxing Day finished with an early meal at the hotel restaurant, a rewriting of the blog after accidentally deleting over an hour’s worth of writing in the afternoon 🤬 and an attempt at getting a good night’s sleep to adjust the body clock.

Guten Nacht