A Very Expensive Blunder - When the Rat Race Traps You

Sometimes what you force yourself to believe is that you have thought things out carefully. Then you are surprised when this “best” thinking really goes haywire. Those are times when it goes wrong, derails, crashes, and makes you feel lucky to have financially survived at all.

When we were planning this trip, the airfare from Budapest was outrageous. I always look at alternate airports: Vienna, Munich, or other places where there are budget airline flights. Vienna is only 3 hours by train, Munich is 8. The best deal I could locate was from Munich which shaved about $300 from each of our plane tickets. MÁV, the Hungarian railroad has specials for €39 for a one-way fare to Munich. We booked one night at a hotel near the Munich airport where we would get their shuttle to the airport in the morning. So far so good.

What was not factored into the equation was getting to and from the hotel. Okay, it was a subway and then a bus ride, so not a great expense. Their courtesy airport shuttle was not a free service, so we paid something like €15 for the ride.

While still in Nicaragua, I got to thinking that after two long plane rides lasting over 13 hours, one night in Munich on the way home may not be sufficient. We opted for two. Now this is an interesting tidbit. Ron had used Priceline.com to book our Munich hotel for the first night and paid $77. When we decided to extend it to 2 nights, I did it directly with the hotel and paid $69.

Munich is behind the times with hotel services. WiFi cost $5.99 an hour or with a minor discount if you opted for the 7 or 24 hour plans. I refused to pay it mainly due to the fact that they had 2 different plans, one being faster than the other and of course more expensive. When I balked at reception, the young lady gave me codes to access the complimentary version. Needless to say, you type in the code, which releases a carrier pigeon to deliver your e-mails and a tar coated funnel that allows your incoming mail to enter your inbox. Every ten minutes, I was knocked off of the connection. Was I ticked!

Our first night we went to the Hofbrau Haus for a beer. Some costumed Bavarian men shared a table and chatted away in good English. One has a cousin in Erd. It was too noisy and busy to have dinner there. We ventured over to Paulaner im Tal where we had a great dinner, excellent service and delightful surroundings.

The next day, we went to the train station to book our tickets back to Budapest. When we bought the outgoing ticket they would not sell a return for 2014. We went thinking €39 each, €78 total, so I would pay cash. Up to this point, we had only used the credit card once the entire 7 weeks, a fact I was proud of accomplishing. We asked for our tickets and the ticket seller said €240. WHAT??? What happened to €39? Well that is if you buy 3 days in advance. If we could leave on Monday rather than Sunday, we could have snatched that fare. I had to go to school on Monday. I had taken off more time than anyone appreciated, so I wasn’t about to risk the ire with another day. We had to use the charge card again.

Our second night, we went to Hacker Pschorr Brauhaus for dinner. We have eaten here on prior trips for Munich and for what you get, the food is good, plentiful, and reasonable considering this is a major tourism city. We really like the atmosphere of the outdoor area, which they cover and heat in winter time.

Three things about our waitress set me off. First I ordered a beer from their menu. She shouted "What is that? I have never heard of that." Suddenly, I felt transported back to Budapest. I pointed to the German menu and she shrugged her shoulders and wrote it down.

When Ron later ordered a 2nd beer, he repeated which of the beers it was that he had the first time, requesting a second of the same. When she returned we immediately realized it was the wrong beer by the color. She took off so fast we did not bother to try to get her back to remedy it.

Finally, the icing on the cake was when I paid the bill. It came to €38.50. I gave her a €100 bill and 50 € cents. Rather than leave my currency on the table while she made change, she immediately put it into her wallet and then handed me a €10 note. She was ready to zip off, but I stopped her saying just a minute, I gave you a €100 note. Even if I had given her a €50, the change was still not correct. Without blinking an eye and without any remorse, she said "Oh, right!" She then proceeded to give me more change, but still shorted me €2. Before this, the €2 Euro was going to be part of a €6 tip, but then I changed my mind. I said what you shorted me is now your tip.

I had a strong suspicion that this may be a way for the staff to fleece the tourists. As we were leaving, she nodded at us as she was speaking to another waitress and they both started laughing.

As it turned out the ‘savings’ flying from Munich was reduced by transport there, hotel one night before, dinner at the hotel since it was in the middle of nowhere, transportation passes to get to the hotel, shuttle to the airport, transportation passes when we returned, two breakfasts and dinners out, two nights in a hotel, and a very expensive train ticket.

I think Budapest will be our airport of choice for the future.

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These Feet Are Made for Walking

Sure we have a breakfast opportunity at the place where we are staying, but the market is so inviting. Just off of Marienplatz, one will find a large outdoor market where vendors are selling goodies that range from farm fresh produce to the cutest little straw animals you can imagine. In the center of all of this is the Maypole, suitably decorated with steins of beer, pretzels, and other Bavarian treasures. Off to the side of the open-air market is a more sumptuous upper scale place to tickle your senses. There are cheese shops, bakeries, chocolate and wine shops all presenting their wares worthy of salivating over. Yes, I went off my diet for a chocolate croissant and a coffee. It was worth every morsel; the flaky crust was buttery rich and the chocolate was as thick as a candy bar. I could hear my waist expanding with every bite.


Next it was time for a culture stop at the Muchner Stadtmuseum. Unassuming from the outside, inside it is like a playground for adults. The top floor is filled with displays of puppets and marionettes to stir childhood memories as well as transport you to lands of fancy. The museum has a special exhibit for Munich's 850th anniversary called "Typically Munich". Every floor was chock full of fabulous things and they allowed photos. Needless to say, we were there for hours. Across the driveway is a Socialist Museum, included in the entrance fee. There was not much translated in English here and after letting our children out to play, it was not so pleasant an experience. Admission is 6 Euros for adults, 3 for seniors. I entered for free with my press pass.


Ron had forgotten his camera, so we went back for it before heading to the Grand Square at Keonigplatz. Entering this square is like being transported to Rome with tremendous buildings with sturdy columns on each side and a massive stone gate at one end. We have no idea what any of them are for, but the architecture is impressive. As much so is the modern and cozy student put at the end of the street where we stopped for a beer. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!


The next stop was the Neue Pinakothek Museum. Each evening, a different museum is open until 8pm. which is a lovely way to fit in a couple of visits in one day without liquifying our brain by the end of the day. Admission is 9 Euros, but 5 for seniors and free with a press pass. The majority of works are German artists, but there were Manets, Picassos, and other masters that everyone would recognize. They allow photos too without a flash, so I had a ball doing micro pictures. Rather than take a photo of a whole painting, I would photograph small sections. As I did this, I created captions in my head and had myself quite entertained, though the others were uncertain why I kept guffawing out loud. Once I have the photos up in the other blog, you will see what I mean. We closed the museum at 8pm, which is about all that we close these days. Long gone are the days when we could close a bar.


For dinner, we returned to the old Bavarian style restaurant at the end of our street. One of the young waitresses there speaks excellent English, her service is superb and the food is excellent.


Returning to our home from home, I couldn't cry over spilled milk, but I could over spilled tea. The netbook is still not working.

Related articles

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• Munich Residence for Royals (budgetnomad.blogspot.com)

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Remembering the Past

If you are a regular reader, you will know that on November 1, as I was having breakfast in Munich, I dropped an entire cup of tea on my netbook keyboard. This was not any ordinary tea either. It was Grippe Akut, an herbal mix for colds that looks like it is meant to scare the germs right out of your system. It was that darkish purply-red that you imagine a vampire would have if they didn’t wipe their mouth on their coat sleeve.

At first I blamed myself for the misadventure, but after thinking about it, I am blaming the teacup industry. There is nothing in the gender studies manuals that say that tea is only for dainty little fingers or hands. Yet the teacup saucer we were provided barely extended beyond the rip of the cup, making it difficult for manly hands to grapple with. Well, I do have slender hands, a contradiction to the rest of me, but even I was barely able to hold the saucer with so little to grab onto. As I was moving it from one side to the other, vroom, and the cup did a swan dive right on the keyboard. With napkins at hand, I soaked them to within a fiber of their existence.
 
It seemed I was going to be in the market for a new netbook, but after six days of letting it dry out, the keyboard finally starting function properly. Until then, the information it produced could have provided me with a nifty side career as a code transmitter. Too bad the Cold War is over, but maybe I could contract with cheating spouses.

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