Day 15 – Off to the Land of Beer
Today we left Vienna and headed to Munich. I love traveling by train in Europe. It’s so easy. If you miss one train, another is coming quickly. We didn’t get to take a Rail-Jet (bummer, that), but we caught an early train back to Salzburg, then hustled to make our connection to Munich. Most tight connections are about 10 minutes. That seems to be the tightest allowance that they schedule. We found the train that Lesley had decided on, got on, then discovered that most of the seats were reserved. It was supposed to be an available train, and on the schedule, it was, but in reality? We wondered if we might end up in Cologne. We had about a minute, and Lesley said, ‘On or off?’, Sharon said ‘Off!’, so we got off. We caught another train that we knew was going to Munich. Sometimes things aren’t always as clear as they should be!
Munich is marvelous. Our hotel, the Hotel Torbrau, is right next to the Isar Gate, right in the Ring. Everything is within walking distance. We headed out for some food, and to take in the sights.
We ate in a local brew house, and had some terrific sausages, and Lesley and Sharon both sampled the beer. Then we were off to look around.
Munich is crowded, but everybody seems pretty happy and mellow (must be the beer!).
We found the town hall in the Marianplatz and the Glockenspiel, and, apparently, some people chanting and holding a demonstration. Next thing we knew, the police were coming, then the fire department. The more sirens and vehicles. And more sirens. And yet again. Nothing seemed to happen, but they weren’t taking any chances. As far as we could tell, they broke up the protest with a huge show of force. Not something you’d seen in the US. We could still hear sirens going by when we got to our hotel!
I do need to add one note from our last night in Salzburg. I’d already written up that day before we’d gone for a late dinner. We had a desert that night that is apparently a traditional Salzburg. It’s called the Salzburg Knockerel. I’m sure I’ve butchered the spelling, but it was something else. Think of meringue in three huge peaks. And I mean tall. I think that they are supposed to resemble the mountains in the region. At the bottom is a thin layer berries in a type of syrup. Our waiter told us they were cranberries. Not the type we get in the lowlands, but tiny, high mountain cranberries. It was incredible to look at, and incredibly good to eat!
Day 16 – A Day in Opulance
We’re all beginning to wear down, but Munich is a lot of fun, and we all wanted to see some different things, so we split up.
Sharon headed for Olympic Park and the BMW museum. Lesley went in search of churches. I headed off towards a miniature shop, and the Residence Museum and Treasury Museum. Of course, the first thing I do is to run into Lesley in the Marienplatz by the Glockenspiel. Go figure. We laughed, waved, and headed in our chosen directions.
I began with the Frauenkirk. This was a lovely church. They are doing lots of work on the outside, but the inside was beautiful. It was much simpler than the Baroque churches we’ve been seeing lately, but no less lovely for that.
After spending time contemplating the lovely church, I visited a marvelous miniature and antique toy shop. It was fun to see everything they had.
I went through the Residency Museum. It was absolutely magnificent. There were about 90 rooms on the tour, and most of them did not have the original furnishings. Hard to do that when something is dating from the 1500s. But the audio guide was very good about informing about reproductions and the actual furnishings. Still, it is amazing to see what has been maintained, and as always, it was absolutely magnificent. The Treasury, again, was stunning. I took a ton of interior pictures, and I’ve posted a few here, and many more at the end of this post.
As you can see by looking at the pictures, always look up. The ceilings are amazing!
One of the more amazing and unusual parts of the Residence was the Shell Grotto. Everything was made of shells. It must be seen, to be believed.
And one more point of interest – most of the great buildings that you can tour have a miniature mock up of the building itself. In the days before modern tools, most buildings were build first in miniature, then scaled up. The Museum of Architecture in Paris, France has an unbelievable numbers of these minatures, starting from Roman times on up to present. It’s a great museum – but I digress.
At about 2, I finally sat down for a quick lunch, and who should I see but Sharon. She and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping then headed back to the hotel. Our key was gone, meaning Lesley was already back. We’re recharging our batteries (and those of our devices) before we head out for dinner in the town.
I love Munich. It’s a mix of modern and historical, but the people here seem to have figured out what they want. As long as beer is involved, apparently all is well!
Day 17 – A Day of Castles and Bus Rides
A few words on selfie sticks. I have never seen so many selfie sticks than I have on this trip. Nor used by people (adults!) who have no embarrassment doing so! I think I would rather see a picture of a monument in all its glory, as opposed to a monument with your own face superimposed over the top! People don’t even seem to be self-conscious carrying them around. We’ve started saying ‘up periscope’ because that’s exactly what it looks like. Okay, rant over.
Last night we ate dinner at the Ratskeller. This was in the center courtyard of the town hall building with the Glockenspiel. I was informed that the name did not mean they had rats, but rather the German word for town hall was ‘Rathaus’, hence the restaurant was ‘Town Hall Cellar’, loosely translated.
The weather today was either dumping rain, or beautiful and sunny. We took our trusty Gore-Tex and went prepared for anything. We had planned a tour of King Ludwig’s castles. We picked up the bus outside the main train station at 8am. Our first stop was Linderhof Castle. This was out in the middle of nowhere and was a ‘hunting lodge’. It was smaller than the others that King Ludwig built, but is quite a gem. It is modeled after Versailles, and the Bourbon kings, and is a monument to them. This is in the state it was after Ludwig died. No pictures were allowed inside, but the first picture below is the front facade. The gardens were exquisite!
We then stopped in a small town called Oberammergau. This town has the reputation for its Passion Plays. In the Middle Ages, the town was hit with the black plague. They basically made a bargain with God – if he’d make the plague go away, every 10 years they would put a passion play on. The plague went away, and every 10 years the town’s inhabitants put on a play. It’s a very big deal these days.
From there we headed off to Neuschwanstein Castle, or ‘Mad Ludwig’s Fairy Tale Castle’. The bus dropped us off in the town. Well above the town was Neuschwanstein. Slightly above the town, but easily seen was Hohenscwangau, or the old castle. This was a mellow yellow gold, and sat up on the hill. We didn’t have time to see it, unfortunately. I would have liked to.
To get to Neuschwanstein, you either had a 40 minute uphill walk (it is high on a mountain!), a six minute bus ride, or a 20 minute carriage ride by draft horse. I chose the bus, and these were packed. Standing room only, and good luck if you could squeeze on! I did go out to Marienbrucke, a bridge over a deep canyon where you can see the castle. This is where the money shot is taken, and most pictures you see of the castle are taken around there. It was packed with tourists pushing and shoving for the best shot, the wind was blowing, and there was thunder. The boards felt loose underfoot. I got out just far enough to get the picture (third picture) then headed for the castle. The fourth picture is at the foot of the castle as I walked along side, looking up.
The castle tours were run with military precision. You were given a specific time, and you had to be there. If you weren’t, you missed out. Because of that, the area by the gates of the castle were packed with people. There were people who had missed their tours and were trying to sort out if they could get on another. The people watching was amazing. Sharon amused herself by photo bombing people with selfie sticks where were trying desperately to get the perfect shot. With the amount of people around, it was pretty much impossible, but they tried!
The tour was amazing, and I highly recommend it. The castle is unlike Linderhof, as it has much more of a middle ages feel, which was Ludwig was going for – the days of grandeur in Bavaria. After the tour, again at the foot of the castle, I took a picture of the town and Hogenschangau from above. This gives a pretty good perspective of how high up we were.
I took a ton of pictures, but this blog is already pretty picture heavy, and everybody really knows what Neuschwanstein looks like! Its a wonderful place to visit and the town is lovely. I’d like to spend some more time in the town itself.
My tour was slightly earlier than that of my companions, so I headed back down a bit earlier, and took a shortcut. And promptly got lost. No big surprise there. I walked straight down the mountain and ended up in a parking lot on the down side of town. Easy enough to figure out. I hiked back up to the hotel the bus was in front of and got on the bus in plenty of time.
Neuschwanstein was never finished. Six weeks after Ludwig died, the castle was opened for tourists. Now, 1.7 million people tour the castle each year. Since it’s closed in winter, that’s a lot of people touring in the summer! The tours run every five minutes, and you are assigned a time. It you miss it, too bad. This was a good one to take a tour bus to. They had our times and tickets arranged and had it all laid out.
We still didn’t get home until 7. It’s been a long day. Tomorrow is our last full day. We’ll make the most of it before we head home. I’m ready to go. It’s been incredible, but I really need some sleep.
Day 18 – Finding Something Unknown
We’re all tired today. Breakfast was very quiet and leisurely. I’m ready to head home. Lesley and Sharon decided to head for the Transportation and Flight Museum today, but I decided to head back out to the Residence and explore the gardens. All the shops are closed today, but the museums are open.
I headed out to Marienplatz listening to the church bells ring. It’s a lovely sound, and I’ve heard it all over during our sojourn in Europe and I’m going to miss it. I was really surprised to see massive crowds as I approached the town hall. It turns out that a HUGE marathon was going on. Unlike Salzburg (who just let the runners dodge the tourists), Munich had the raceways all blocked off. You could walk alongside, and cross at certain points. By this time, I knew the way pretty well, and fought my way through the crowds to the back side of the Residence.
The Hofgarten complex is lovely. I just wandered, enjoying taking pictures, and the comparative quiet. At one point, to the NE of the garden and the Bayerische Staatskanzien building, I spotted a very old brick wall, reinforced with steel, and under a modern walkway. I walked around it, trying to figure out what it was. (See the first and third pictures). It took forever to find my way down to the bottom, but I finally found a narrow stairway, hard to see in the lush ivy and other greenery. There was an open door, with a sign, declaring that this was the Hofbrummerwerks. I went inside, and there was old, working, waterworks. I took several pictures, but the one below (2nd picture) really shows its age. It was fascinating.
Back at the hotel, I looked it up online. It took some hunting but what I saw was parts of the original fountain waterworks for the Hofgarten, originally built in 1592. After being bombed in WWII, they finally rebuilt it with the basic technology from that time, and salvaged what they could of the old stonework. It was amazing to be able to poke around in there and be the only person there.
Wandering back by the Bayerische Staatskanzien building, I took some pictures of the statue in front. Both the horse and the knight’s face were so incredibly lifelike, I really felt like they were looking at me. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Finally, I went by the Glockenspiel in time to watch it go off and go through its performance. Lots of people, but it was fun to hear the music for the marathon stop, and the announcer turned everybody’s attention to the clock tower.
Very fun! Probably more later,
Some pictures from around Munich:
More miscellanous pictures of the Residence in Munich.
