Translation of pretext in Spanish

Next winter I'm going to Spain, where i hope to study Spanish. It's easy to visit Germany. Munich is a big city in Bayern...It's a nice city. Lot's of restaurants, nice buildings, a lake nearby and really friendly people.
So was the food. We ate French fries and a steak. We found that bizarre. After dinner we bought some books about the area and about South East Asia in general. They we second hand books.
At the third or fourth guesthouse we finally took a room. Of course the hot water would not work, and luckily we were upgraded to a terrific, huge room with balcony and garden. It was a very charming place.