Everybody was really looking forward to the health care conference that was about to get underway in Munich, although everyone was looking forward to it for different reasons. Most of us have been at the hotel for a couple of days already, but some people are arriving at the last minute like always. It was going to be a big conference this time around with at least a couple of hundred people attending. To be totally honest with you though, it was more the trip away in Munich that I was looking forward to than the actual conference itself. I was staying on after the conference for a couple of days with friends so that I could see some of the great sights that Munich has to offer.
Munich is the third largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hanburg. It is the capital of Bavaria and is located on the river Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. There are some great parks and some wonderful architecture in Munich, but it was the museums and art galleries that my friends and I were looking forward to the most. The German Museum, or the Deutsches Museum as the locals call it is one of the biggest science museums in the world, and I have heard some wonderful reports on it from some of my family. Geology is a hobby of mine and I can’t wait to check out the mineralogy and geology exhibitions that are there. I actually always thought that I would get into the field of geology, but as you can tell by the health care conference that brings me to Munich, it seemed that my destiny lay elsewhere.
The Hotel Munich (Hotel in München) where we are staying is fantastic, and it is great that we can stay in the same building as the conference itself. This means that I can get up later in the morning and don’t have to deal with taxis and buses to get to the venue. I have certainly been to my share of conferences where this was the case and it is not fun at all. The talks and discussion panels are all taking place in a large conference hall that the hotel has built especially so that it can hold conferences. It must be great business for them as they are filled up with guests while the conference is taking place. There are also a few groups like ours who are staying on after to see the sights, and paying for even more nights at this Hotel Munich (messehotel-erb-muenchen.de).
I am looking forward to some of the speeches over the next couple of days, but some I wish I could miss all together. I know for a fact that with some of the speakers over the course of the week, I am sure to be daydreaming as much as listening. I will be daydreaming about the wonderful art galleries of the Kunstareal that I will soon see, the museums that I have mentioned, and of the artists and musicians who have lived and walked among the streets of Munich. Mozart, Wagner, big inspirational names. But first I need to get some rest, try to enjoy as much of this conference as I can, and save some energy for the delights of Munich that await me at the conference conclusion.