Friday, July 27, 2007
Down to one hand finger counting now
That´s right... only four more days until we start the long trek back to Michigan. So... this is more than likely the last time that you will hear from us until we get home. We are heading to Prague this weekend with a couple of friends. Its dirt cheap to get to from Bavaria, so we might as well go. We are really excited, and I am sure that we will have tons of pictures to show you all. We have most of our pictures uploaded onto our Flickr account now. I think that there are over 6,000 pictures of the last 11 months... and Germany is not all on there. Thank goodness for digital cameras! :)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Down to Finger Counting!
That’s right folks… I can count the number of days until we’re home on my fingers!! WOO HOO!!
Harry Potter
Since we had spent 9 months in the UK, I really wanted the UK version of Harry Potter. Not only is the cover different, but the spellings are in UK English and some of the UK slang is used. My wonderful husband took me out on Saturday and bought it for me. I was surprised that it wasn’t longer, but it was still good. All the theories everyone had were right and wrong. I don’t think that anyone had it right, only partially. I started it on Saturday, but couldn’t read a lot as the family we are staying with had a party in which we were invited to. It was really uncomfortable and no one talked to us though. We even got dirty looks from the dad of the family and he asked the people who finally sat near us what they were doing over sitting near us. I think he forgets Mike does understand and speak German. Jerk.
Anyway, I read all but 150 pages on Sunday evening and finished it Monday morning. I couldn’t sleep very well on Sunday I was so preoccupied with what was going to happen. It was well worth the wait. And now I need to read them all over again. It was a spectacular series and I am sad to see it finished. At least the ending was good.
Anyway, I read all but 150 pages on Sunday evening and finished it Monday morning. I couldn’t sleep very well on Sunday I was so preoccupied with what was going to happen. It was well worth the wait. And now I need to read them all over again. It was a spectacular series and I am sad to see it finished. At least the ending was good.
Yet Another Beer…
July 23, 2007
After today we are officially done with our Christmas shopping!! WOO HOO!! I don’t think that I have ever been this organized, and I am pretty sure that Mike never has either. Last year we went shopping on the night before Christmas Eve for our presents for each other. I am sure that living in Europe has helped us to complete our Christmas shopping in July though! :)
After we finished our shopping, we passed by a restaurant that was selling a beer that we had not tried yet – Aylinger-, so we of course HAD to stop. (The restaurants here only sell beer from one brewery.) There are normally not many different kinds of beer that a certain brewery makes. A pils, lager, dark, wheat, and dark wheat. I normally do not like the wheat beers here as they taste like cloves. BUT there is something here called a Cola-weissen that is very tasty. Half coke and half wheat beer. Radlers (half lemonade, half lager) are also quite nice. Especially on hot days. Mike tried their wheat beer, which was surprisingly not clovey. Which made for a wonderful cola-weissen. :)
After today we are officially done with our Christmas shopping!! WOO HOO!! I don’t think that I have ever been this organized, and I am pretty sure that Mike never has either. Last year we went shopping on the night before Christmas Eve for our presents for each other. I am sure that living in Europe has helped us to complete our Christmas shopping in July though! :)
After we finished our shopping, we passed by a restaurant that was selling a beer that we had not tried yet – Aylinger-, so we of course HAD to stop. (The restaurants here only sell beer from one brewery.) There are normally not many different kinds of beer that a certain brewery makes. A pils, lager, dark, wheat, and dark wheat. I normally do not like the wheat beers here as they taste like cloves. BUT there is something here called a Cola-weissen that is very tasty. Half coke and half wheat beer. Radlers (half lemonade, half lager) are also quite nice. Especially on hot days. Mike tried their wheat beer, which was surprisingly not clovey. Which made for a wonderful cola-weissen. :)
Art, Art, and More Art…
July 22, 2007
On Sundays many of the museums in Munich are only €1, and since it was looking pretty cloudy out (again), we headed to the Alte Pinakothek. The BIG art museums in Munich are broken up into three different buildings: the Alte Pinakothek – 13th to 18th century art-, the Neue Pinakothek – mainly 19th and some 20th century art-, and the Pinakothek der Moderne – modern art. We started with the Alte Pinakothek. It was a very nice collection which included many Rembrandt, Rueben, and even some Da Vinci and El Greco. The paintings were, of course, amazing.
After walking through the Alte Pinakothek, we headed over to the Neue Pinakothek. There were some Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, etc there. It was a very nice exhibit, but half the museum was taken up by a temporary exhibit that we didn’t buy tickets for. We walked over to the Modern Art building, but we know very few modern artists and don’t always understand modern art. I need help most of the time getting the point. Mike only really likes Dali, and there were only 2 Dali paintings in the whole building, so we skipped it. By then we had been looking at art for about 4 hours and were near our limit anyway.
On Sundays many of the museums in Munich are only €1, and since it was looking pretty cloudy out (again), we headed to the Alte Pinakothek. The BIG art museums in Munich are broken up into three different buildings: the Alte Pinakothek – 13th to 18th century art-, the Neue Pinakothek – mainly 19th and some 20th century art-, and the Pinakothek der Moderne – modern art. We started with the Alte Pinakothek. It was a very nice collection which included many Rembrandt, Rueben, and even some Da Vinci and El Greco. The paintings were, of course, amazing.
After walking through the Alte Pinakothek, we headed over to the Neue Pinakothek. There were some Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, etc there. It was a very nice exhibit, but half the museum was taken up by a temporary exhibit that we didn’t buy tickets for. We walked over to the Modern Art building, but we know very few modern artists and don’t always understand modern art. I need help most of the time getting the point. Mike only really likes Dali, and there were only 2 Dali paintings in the whole building, so we skipped it. By then we had been looking at art for about 4 hours and were near our limit anyway.
A Quarter of a Century and Counting
July 20, 2007
Yup, that’s right. As of July 20th I am a quarter of a century old. I only panicked a bit and have now decided I am no longer counting. No more candles, etc. I still want to celebrate my birthday and presents are always okay. But I am doing away with counting.
Anyway… the day was beautiful, so Mike skipped class and we went out to one of the lakes about a half an hour away from Munich. It was a great day. We walked from the town of Starnberg to Possenhofen. It was a nice walk, except for the 2 km in which the sidewalk disappeared and we had to walk along the side of the road. That was NOT fun, but we survived unscathed. We had brought bathing suits so we could go swimming, but in Germany there are no changing facilities. That is what the beach is for. And bathing suits are optional. Many don’t use them. We were actually surprised that most of the kids and all the men had bathing suits on. Many were Speedos, but at least it covers things. Many of the women were topless, but you get used to it after awhile. Although I don’t think I could go topless sunbathing with my neighbors or family watching. Stripping down in front of them, putting my bathing suit bottoms on, and then - while topless – carry on a conversation with them. It would be weird.
In Possenhofen there is an old Palace that is still occupied. By whom we have no idea, but you can walk around it, which was nice. Then we headed to the train station to go down to Tutzing. We did not want to walk on the shoulder of a narrow road again, and we had already walked probably 4 miles. While we were there we saw a crazy lady. In Germany you buy your tickets for the transport before you get on the train, many of the tickets have to be validated before you get on the transport, but its all up to you. I have been riding the Public Transport for 2 months (with a ticket) and have never had my ticket checked. So… many people ride and take the chance that they will not be caught. The people that check your tickets on the subway, buses, and trams are in street clothes, so its very risky. The people that check your tickets on the train are in uniform. But on the trains not only do you get the fine, but you also have to pay twice the fare. Well, this lady got caught, wouldn’t give the people her name so they could write out the fine, so they took her off the train and called the police. We got there with the police. Wonderful. Her story was that she had a month pass, but was at the beach in Starnberg. It was there that some one got into her wallet and stole her transport card AND all her money. But they left her wallet. Well, the police sided with the train people and asked to see her wallet so they could get her name. She FREAKED. They had to take her wallet from her while she was screaming and trying to beat them away. They got her name though, gave her the fine (which was even more because she also had her bike with her), and she freaked even more. She ran off screaming at the police and train people. It was amazing. I’m guessing the police didn’t haul her in because it wasn’t worth the effort. Back home they probably would have tazored her and then hauled her in with multiple charges. But she went off to the other side of the tracks, got on her phone, and started yelling hysterically to someone. People are entertaining…
After the excitement, we got on the train to Tutzing and explored around the city. Its quite small, so it didn’t take that long. But we were able to find a non-naked beach, side on a small wall, and stick our feet in the water. It was a hot day, so it was quite nice. And we had a view of the Alps in the distance as well.
After we were done exploring Tutzing, we headed back into Munich and decided to have a Birthday beer in the Hirsch Garden. It’s the biggest beer garden in Europe and can hold 8,000 people. Well, we got there and it was a huge disappointment. It was the white trash beer garden of Munich. So… we downed our beers as quickly as possible and left.
Yup, that’s right. As of July 20th I am a quarter of a century old. I only panicked a bit and have now decided I am no longer counting. No more candles, etc. I still want to celebrate my birthday and presents are always okay. But I am doing away with counting.
Anyway… the day was beautiful, so Mike skipped class and we went out to one of the lakes about a half an hour away from Munich. It was a great day. We walked from the town of Starnberg to Possenhofen. It was a nice walk, except for the 2 km in which the sidewalk disappeared and we had to walk along the side of the road. That was NOT fun, but we survived unscathed. We had brought bathing suits so we could go swimming, but in Germany there are no changing facilities. That is what the beach is for. And bathing suits are optional. Many don’t use them. We were actually surprised that most of the kids and all the men had bathing suits on. Many were Speedos, but at least it covers things. Many of the women were topless, but you get used to it after awhile. Although I don’t think I could go topless sunbathing with my neighbors or family watching. Stripping down in front of them, putting my bathing suit bottoms on, and then - while topless – carry on a conversation with them. It would be weird.
In Possenhofen there is an old Palace that is still occupied. By whom we have no idea, but you can walk around it, which was nice. Then we headed to the train station to go down to Tutzing. We did not want to walk on the shoulder of a narrow road again, and we had already walked probably 4 miles. While we were there we saw a crazy lady. In Germany you buy your tickets for the transport before you get on the train, many of the tickets have to be validated before you get on the transport, but its all up to you. I have been riding the Public Transport for 2 months (with a ticket) and have never had my ticket checked. So… many people ride and take the chance that they will not be caught. The people that check your tickets on the subway, buses, and trams are in street clothes, so its very risky. The people that check your tickets on the train are in uniform. But on the trains not only do you get the fine, but you also have to pay twice the fare. Well, this lady got caught, wouldn’t give the people her name so they could write out the fine, so they took her off the train and called the police. We got there with the police. Wonderful. Her story was that she had a month pass, but was at the beach in Starnberg. It was there that some one got into her wallet and stole her transport card AND all her money. But they left her wallet. Well, the police sided with the train people and asked to see her wallet so they could get her name. She FREAKED. They had to take her wallet from her while she was screaming and trying to beat them away. They got her name though, gave her the fine (which was even more because she also had her bike with her), and she freaked even more. She ran off screaming at the police and train people. It was amazing. I’m guessing the police didn’t haul her in because it wasn’t worth the effort. Back home they probably would have tazored her and then hauled her in with multiple charges. But she went off to the other side of the tracks, got on her phone, and started yelling hysterically to someone. People are entertaining…
After the excitement, we got on the train to Tutzing and explored around the city. Its quite small, so it didn’t take that long. But we were able to find a non-naked beach, side on a small wall, and stick our feet in the water. It was a hot day, so it was quite nice. And we had a view of the Alps in the distance as well.
After we were done exploring Tutzing, we headed back into Munich and decided to have a Birthday beer in the Hirsch Garden. It’s the biggest beer garden in Europe and can hold 8,000 people. Well, we got there and it was a huge disappointment. It was the white trash beer garden of Munich. So… we downed our beers as quickly as possible and left.
Beer Floats
My friend, Lisa, told us about beer floats when she was here visiting us. We were wary about the whole idea but she assured us that they were good. We figured you would have to do it with a dark beer, such as Guinness, but we were told that any beer would work. So we bought some beer and ice cream and tried it. Well, I am here to tell you that any beer will not work. The beer we used had quite a bit of a hops flavor. Which attached itself to the ice cream. I think it would be great with a dark beer, or a less hopy beer. Now we’re just going to wait until we get home to try it. And until we get a specific name of a beer she has successfully used in the beer float equation.
The Most Disgusting Beer in the World
July 19, 2007
There is a beer garden near us that has been voted the prettiest beer garden in the Munich area before and it sells a beer made in Munich that we had not yet tried. It was a nice day, so we walked over there before we went grocery shopping. We had heard that the beer was not very good and the only reason it was still in production was due to tourists. We now know that this has to be the truth. It was horrid beer. And to top it all off, they were out of beer mats for Spaten beer. Most of the beers have their own beer mats, so we have been collecting them. Free souvenirs! :)
There is a beer garden near us that has been voted the prettiest beer garden in the Munich area before and it sells a beer made in Munich that we had not yet tried. It was a nice day, so we walked over there before we went grocery shopping. We had heard that the beer was not very good and the only reason it was still in production was due to tourists. We now know that this has to be the truth. It was horrid beer. And to top it all off, they were out of beer mats for Spaten beer. Most of the beers have their own beer mats, so we have been collecting them. Free souvenirs! :)
Back to the Oldest Brewery in the World
July 18, 2007
Well, after Mike told people that we had gone to the oldest brewery in the world, they wanted to go to. And Mike was, of course, more than willing to take them there. He was sure that they could not get there without him. I’m pretty sure that he just wanted more of what he claims is one of the best beers in the world. SO today, we headed back to Freising and the Weihenstephan Brewery. We were able to try a couple more of the different types of beer they brew that we didn’t last time. The rest of the beers that they brew that we didn’t try, we bought. They are dirt cheap in their store. There is a beer store in Mt Pleasant that will order anything that they can for you if you ask. When we get back to Michigan, and settled, we are going to find out if they can get the Weihenstephan beer in. We’re also going to check with Erica’s in Grand Rapids, so hopefully we can share the beer with others!
Well, after Mike told people that we had gone to the oldest brewery in the world, they wanted to go to. And Mike was, of course, more than willing to take them there. He was sure that they could not get there without him. I’m pretty sure that he just wanted more of what he claims is one of the best beers in the world. SO today, we headed back to Freising and the Weihenstephan Brewery. We were able to try a couple more of the different types of beer they brew that we didn’t last time. The rest of the beers that they brew that we didn’t try, we bought. They are dirt cheap in their store. There is a beer store in Mt Pleasant that will order anything that they can for you if you ask. When we get back to Michigan, and settled, we are going to find out if they can get the Weihenstephan beer in. We’re also going to check with Erica’s in Grand Rapids, so hopefully we can share the beer with others!
Paulaner Brewery Tour
July 17, 2007
We were able to go on a brewery tour for only €3 each through the school Mike goes to. It was all in German – of course – but I still picked up a bit of it. The guide had a very thick Bavarian accent (which is the most difficult German accent to understand.) But Mike was able to explain it to me after he stopped talking. The tour was incredible. It last an hour and a half, and he took us through the entire process. The best part for me was watching the bottle cleaning (they re-use the glass bottles up to 6 times), bottle filling, and labeling. I got another video of that, it was so fast Mike wanted to document it. :)
At the end of the tour we were told we would get a pretzel (a big soft pretzel), and a beer. Mike and I figured that the beer would be a small taste. We were wrong. At the end of the tour we were given two 0.5L beers, two big pretzels, and dinner. It was amazing. And all for €3. If we had known about it sooner, we would have probably gone a few more times.
We were able to go on a brewery tour for only €3 each through the school Mike goes to. It was all in German – of course – but I still picked up a bit of it. The guide had a very thick Bavarian accent (which is the most difficult German accent to understand.) But Mike was able to explain it to me after he stopped talking. The tour was incredible. It last an hour and a half, and he took us through the entire process. The best part for me was watching the bottle cleaning (they re-use the glass bottles up to 6 times), bottle filling, and labeling. I got another video of that, it was so fast Mike wanted to document it. :)
At the end of the tour we were told we would get a pretzel (a big soft pretzel), and a beer. Mike and I figured that the beer would be a small taste. We were wrong. At the end of the tour we were given two 0.5L beers, two big pretzels, and dinner. It was amazing. And all for €3. If we had known about it sooner, we would have probably gone a few more times.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
July 15, 2007
The next day we went over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is an hour train ride from Nuremberg, and about 4 hours from Munich due to all the train changes you have to make. So, it was now or never for Rothenburg. It was incredibly hot that day. In two days it went from jeans and sweatshirt weather to shorts and tank tops. It was horrid and made eating hard. But Rothenburg was wonderful. It is an old medieval town in which the old city has not changed drastically since the mid 15th century. And it was not bombed during the war, so it is actually intact. Pretty rare around here.
Stephan told us that when we go, we have to try Schneeballens. They are a type of ball like butter cookie dessert made only in Rothenburg. (I think.) They were pretty good. For the rest of the afternoon we just walked around the city. There are a couple of pretty churches we looked at as well. There was a concert going on in the Frauenkirche by American High Schoolers. It was really pretty sounding, and interesting that it was Americans. Every week there was another group of American High Schools from different states singing in the city. St Jakobs Kirche was also wonderful. The altar and windows are incredible, and upstairs is another altar carved all out of wood with the image of the Last Supper. After St Jacobs, we just walked around more of the town. You can still walk on the city walls, which we of course did. It was a lot of fun, but there are some HUGE spiders hiding out in the overhangs. Big and hairy too. After that, it was time to get onto the train and head back to Munich. Unfortunately, the three hour train ride turned into almost 4 ½ due to our train being so SLOW. SO irritating.
The next day we went over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is an hour train ride from Nuremberg, and about 4 hours from Munich due to all the train changes you have to make. So, it was now or never for Rothenburg. It was incredibly hot that day. In two days it went from jeans and sweatshirt weather to shorts and tank tops. It was horrid and made eating hard. But Rothenburg was wonderful. It is an old medieval town in which the old city has not changed drastically since the mid 15th century. And it was not bombed during the war, so it is actually intact. Pretty rare around here.
Stephan told us that when we go, we have to try Schneeballens. They are a type of ball like butter cookie dessert made only in Rothenburg. (I think.) They were pretty good. For the rest of the afternoon we just walked around the city. There are a couple of pretty churches we looked at as well. There was a concert going on in the Frauenkirche by American High Schoolers. It was really pretty sounding, and interesting that it was Americans. Every week there was another group of American High Schools from different states singing in the city. St Jakobs Kirche was also wonderful. The altar and windows are incredible, and upstairs is another altar carved all out of wood with the image of the Last Supper. After St Jacobs, we just walked around more of the town. You can still walk on the city walls, which we of course did. It was a lot of fun, but there are some HUGE spiders hiding out in the overhangs. Big and hairy too. After that, it was time to get onto the train and head back to Munich. Unfortunately, the three hour train ride turned into almost 4 ½ due to our train being so SLOW. SO irritating.
Nuremberg, Day 2
.jpg)
July 14, 2007
Well, we were told when we agreed to stay with Hildegard that she works every weekend from 10am to midnight so we would have to day all to our selves. Which was great with us. We woke up early enough the next morning so that all three of us could get ready for the day. As soon as we were all ready to go, breakfast started. Now on the phone, she told us breakfast would be toast and some German meats. (Then again, dinner wasn’t supposed to be as big as it was either.) In reality breakfast was bread, about 20 different kinds of German meats, two different kinds of cheeses, some kind of ham salad, and the huge pieces of dessert from the night before that we didn’t get to. For a couple that usually only eats cereal for breakfast, it as overwhelming. After 10 minutes into breakfast Hildegard asked what was wrong with us and Mike tried explaining that we eat small breakfasts. This did not go over well. So we ate more, and more. By the time we were done I thought I was going to be sick again. If not sick, I certainly did not want to eat for another week. Then she made us 7 sandwiches to take with us for lunch. As neither of us were planning on eating until the next week, we were hoping on finding some homeless people to give our sandwiches to. Unfortunately, the old part of Nuremberg is too touristy and no homeless dwell there.
We finally left the house at 10am, took a driving tour around Nuremberg, and then were dropped off outside the Documentation Center that houses a lot of information on the Nazi Party and Nuremberg’s importance to it. We were given specific instructions to go explore the center and that she would pick us up outside of there is an hour and a half in her taxi. Then she would show us the rest of the grounds. We tried talking her out of it, but to no avail. We had hoped that we could so that we could go explore the grounds and skip the museum. Mike already knows most of the information provided given his area of study, and it was a beautiful day. Finally shorts weather again and we wanted to enjoy it. So, we sadly had to go to the museum. It was interesting, and Mike was able to get a few pictures for the class that he is teaching next semester.
We would have liked to explore more of the grounds, but unfortunately only got to drive by them. Mike was able to get out and take pictures though. Then we were taken on another driving tour of Nuremberg. As it was all in German, and Mike couldn’t translate – most of what we saw had no meaning until we left the car and Mike could explain what we saw. We were finally dropped off at 1pm in the old city. We had two hours before we were meeting old family friends. Mike’s Grandma babysat a woman way back when and now she has a son that is our age.
After being dropped off, we walked over to the St Lorenz Kirche. It was amazing inside, but sadly, you cannot take pictures inside without a special pass. The postcards were cheaper than buying the pass. The altar and stone work is definitely worth a look. Then it was off to the Trodelmarkt area. By now Mike “needed” a beer (it was technically vacation), so we forced ourselves to each eat a sandwich. Not that we were hungry AT ALL, but we knew that we would be if we drank a beer. So, we tried yet another Nuremberg beer. The Trodelmarkt area is very beautiful and was well worth the walk through. We even saw a gondola on our walk in this area. Right after I said that Nuremberg was the German equivalent of Venice. Weird. Then it was back to the old market to meet Stephan.
He took us back up to the castle and told us all about what we were looking at. We even got to hear a Nuremberg legend, which was spectacular. The castle was really pretty, but nothing like the Scotland castles, which was interesting. Then we went back to the Town Hall to see the crown jewels. They were really pretty and their story even more interesting. Then it was off to see Stephan’s parents at their house, which was about a 30 minute drive from Nuremberg. It was my first experience on the autobahn. Some parts do have speed restrictions, and we were on a few of those parts. We also went on a section with no speed restrictions. I am just glad that we were not in a really fast vehicle. I don’t think that I would have liked that, and even as is, it seemed like we were going fairly quickly. But we survived, and I can now say that I have been on it.
The Weih family has a beautiful house in a very small village outside of Hersbruck. Their yard is full of flowers, fruit, and veggies; it looks out over hills and forests and is very beautiful. They were very nice and took us to dinner at a small restaurant on a hill over looking Hersbruck. The food was very tasty – and was in normal person portions. It was the Hersbruck Sommerfest, so at about 10pm we were able to see a nice firework display. Mike was thrilled since we were not able to see them on his birthday. (The video was great though Becky!) Then it was off to a genuine German beer tent. Where they only sell liters of beer. Mike and I split one, and still had problems finishing it. The beer tent was a lot of fun though. There was a band, lots of people, and lots of waitress carrying around 6 or more liters of beer (and some of them were in their 60’s!). I can barely hold one – and most of the time need two hands to do it – let alone 6 or more! Amazing…
Well, we were told when we agreed to stay with Hildegard that she works every weekend from 10am to midnight so we would have to day all to our selves. Which was great with us. We woke up early enough the next morning so that all three of us could get ready for the day. As soon as we were all ready to go, breakfast started. Now on the phone, she told us breakfast would be toast and some German meats. (Then again, dinner wasn’t supposed to be as big as it was either.) In reality breakfast was bread, about 20 different kinds of German meats, two different kinds of cheeses, some kind of ham salad, and the huge pieces of dessert from the night before that we didn’t get to. For a couple that usually only eats cereal for breakfast, it as overwhelming. After 10 minutes into breakfast Hildegard asked what was wrong with us and Mike tried explaining that we eat small breakfasts. This did not go over well. So we ate more, and more. By the time we were done I thought I was going to be sick again. If not sick, I certainly did not want to eat for another week. Then she made us 7 sandwiches to take with us for lunch. As neither of us were planning on eating until the next week, we were hoping on finding some homeless people to give our sandwiches to. Unfortunately, the old part of Nuremberg is too touristy and no homeless dwell there.
We finally left the house at 10am, took a driving tour around Nuremberg, and then were dropped off outside the Documentation Center that houses a lot of information on the Nazi Party and Nuremberg’s importance to it. We were given specific instructions to go explore the center and that she would pick us up outside of there is an hour and a half in her taxi. Then she would show us the rest of the grounds. We tried talking her out of it, but to no avail. We had hoped that we could so that we could go explore the grounds and skip the museum. Mike already knows most of the information provided given his area of study, and it was a beautiful day. Finally shorts weather again and we wanted to enjoy it. So, we sadly had to go to the museum. It was interesting, and Mike was able to get a few pictures for the class that he is teaching next semester.
We would have liked to explore more of the grounds, but unfortunately only got to drive by them. Mike was able to get out and take pictures though. Then we were taken on another driving tour of Nuremberg. As it was all in German, and Mike couldn’t translate – most of what we saw had no meaning until we left the car and Mike could explain what we saw. We were finally dropped off at 1pm in the old city. We had two hours before we were meeting old family friends. Mike’s Grandma babysat a woman way back when and now she has a son that is our age.
After being dropped off, we walked over to the St Lorenz Kirche. It was amazing inside, but sadly, you cannot take pictures inside without a special pass. The postcards were cheaper than buying the pass. The altar and stone work is definitely worth a look. Then it was off to the Trodelmarkt area. By now Mike “needed” a beer (it was technically vacation), so we forced ourselves to each eat a sandwich. Not that we were hungry AT ALL, but we knew that we would be if we drank a beer. So, we tried yet another Nuremberg beer. The Trodelmarkt area is very beautiful and was well worth the walk through. We even saw a gondola on our walk in this area. Right after I said that Nuremberg was the German equivalent of Venice. Weird. Then it was back to the old market to meet Stephan.
He took us back up to the castle and told us all about what we were looking at. We even got to hear a Nuremberg legend, which was spectacular. The castle was really pretty, but nothing like the Scotland castles, which was interesting. Then we went back to the Town Hall to see the crown jewels. They were really pretty and their story even more interesting. Then it was off to see Stephan’s parents at their house, which was about a 30 minute drive from Nuremberg. It was my first experience on the autobahn. Some parts do have speed restrictions, and we were on a few of those parts. We also went on a section with no speed restrictions. I am just glad that we were not in a really fast vehicle. I don’t think that I would have liked that, and even as is, it seemed like we were going fairly quickly. But we survived, and I can now say that I have been on it.
The Weih family has a beautiful house in a very small village outside of Hersbruck. Their yard is full of flowers, fruit, and veggies; it looks out over hills and forests and is very beautiful. They were very nice and took us to dinner at a small restaurant on a hill over looking Hersbruck. The food was very tasty – and was in normal person portions. It was the Hersbruck Sommerfest, so at about 10pm we were able to see a nice firework display. Mike was thrilled since we were not able to see them on his birthday. (The video was great though Becky!) Then it was off to a genuine German beer tent. Where they only sell liters of beer. Mike and I split one, and still had problems finishing it. The beer tent was a lot of fun though. There was a band, lots of people, and lots of waitress carrying around 6 or more liters of beer (and some of them were in their 60’s!). I can barely hold one – and most of the time need two hands to do it – let alone 6 or more! Amazing…
Nuremberg, day 1
.jpg)
July 13, 2007
We headed to Nuremberg on the first train that we could catch Friday morning. This is the city where both Mike’s Grandma and Mike’s Mom were born in, and where various family members still live. We were able to get into Nuremberg so that we had 5 hours to explore the city before we had to head to Mike’s second cousin’s house.
The old city is very beautiful and even has the old city walls. Nuremberg was heavily bombed during the last World War, so I am pretty sure that it has been all rebuilt, but it’s still pretty. The first thing that we went to was the Handwerkerhof. It is a small part of the old city that still retains the old timber houses which hold small shops. There are all sorts of hand made products there to look at along with a few traditional German restaurants. It was wonderful to poke around there for a bit.
We then started walking down towards the castle, which is on the other side of the old city from the Handwerkerhof. We passed by many beautiful churches, and the incredible old market with its gorgeous fountain before Mike realized that he was really hungry. We stopped at the Bratwursthaus for real Nuremberg Bratwursts. We had heard about the bratwursts for a while from family members, so we had to try them. There about the size of breakfast sausages, and they are tasty. And since we were having bratwurst we had to have a beer… the Nuremberg Tucker beer was quite nice. To round off our Nuremberg food experience, we went and both Lebkuckens for dessert. They are a particular type of cookie that Mike’s mom usually orders around Christmas time that are made in Nuremberg. They’re okay, but they have a ginger cookie taste (which I do not like) and an almost cake like consistency. Mike usually eats most of them. No different this time with them really fresh either. But its all part of the experience and we were able to buy them from the original store. Quite exciting.
Then it was to the Frauenkirche. The artwork over the doorway was amazing. The inside was very pretty (as was the outside) with gorgeous stained glass windows, sculptures, old frescos, etc. There were some interesting modern religious paintings hanging around the church that I wouldn’t normally associate with a church that old, but they seemed to fit in with the old stuff quite well.
After we had had our fill of cookies, and the Frauenkirche, we headed over to the castle. We got there and it was swarming with police. It seemed quite odd, but we weren’t being stopped from entering, so we pressed on. But when we went to go up into the main courtyard, where were lots of men in nice suits and more police. We decided just to turn around and head back tomorrow. Hopefully then we won’t be bared from entering.
We then just wandered around the castle end of the old city. The house were Albrecht Durer, the German painter, was born is over on this end of the city. Also on this side of town was… the Aldstadthof Hausbrauerei (Old City House Brewery). We decided that we definitely need another beer before we went to meet “the family” as we were pretty sure that this particular family member did not drink. So we got a pint to spilt of reminded us of the real ales from Scotland. It was spectacular. A must see for anyone that enjoys beer. They sold their beer really cheaply (and in large quantities), but as it was day 1 of a 3 day trip and we had to lug our stuff everyday, we passed it up.
And after a beer, there is no better place to go than church. Which is exactly what we did. Kirche St Sebaldus was spectacular. It is the oldest church of Nuremberg (has been re-built since World War II) and was amazing. There was a four person singing group rehearsing up at the altar and they were wonderful. We even got a short video of them singing. Its shaky, but at least they can be heard. If I knew how to upload videos, I would. But I have no clue. (Any help would be appreciated!) The rest of the church was quite beautiful, but it was all the more so with the wonderful music that was filling the church.
Next we stopped by the Rathhaus – the town hall. It is a fairly large town hall, that has been expanded many a time. We thought we were touring the actual town hall, but after our tickets were bought and we started looking at the signs a bit more closely, we found out that the main room of the town hall is only open once or twice a month. We were touring the dungeons. It was actually a really interesting tour. There was a deaf couple on the tour so the guide spoke very clearly and used her hands a lot to point to things and explain how things worked. It was great and I was able to pick up a lot of what was going on (it was all in German.) We were able to see jail cells, torture devices, how “questioning” worked, and even the jail keepers quarters. It was quite interesting.
By the end of the tour it was nearly 3:30pm and time for us to start heading over to Hildegard’s.
She is Mike’s second cousin and Mike’s Grandma’s God Daughter. She speaks very little English, but my German comprehension has gotten lots better, I just cannot speak it all that well.
We got to her apartment at about 4pm and were eating a huge meal by 4:15pm. Turkey breast – German style, bratwurst, German potato salad, AND tomato-cucumber salad. It was a ton of food and as we were sitting down to eat she told Mike that she doesn’t like it when people come over to eat and “eat like birds.” It’s a lot of work to cook all that food, and she finds it offensive when its not all gone. Great. I don’t normally eat huge meals, but I did my best. I think both Mike and I ate more than we do on Thanksgiving and Christmas combined all before 5:30pm. It was rough, but we did it and no one was offended.
Then more family came over. All German speakers. For the most part I was able to understand what was going on, but Hildegard is really into alternative medicine. Most of those conversations had to be translated later for me by Mike. She talks so fast and so much that there was no translating while the conversation was happening. Such is life though. I would have nothing to add to the conversation anyway. After a while of visiting with family, we had more food. This time satziki (sp?) sauce. (Its like the stuff that they put on Gyros.) This time I really though I would be sick. It was good, but I was definitely not ready to eat more. Thankfully, no more food was thrown our way… until breakfast the next morning.
We headed to Nuremberg on the first train that we could catch Friday morning. This is the city where both Mike’s Grandma and Mike’s Mom were born in, and where various family members still live. We were able to get into Nuremberg so that we had 5 hours to explore the city before we had to head to Mike’s second cousin’s house.
The old city is very beautiful and even has the old city walls. Nuremberg was heavily bombed during the last World War, so I am pretty sure that it has been all rebuilt, but it’s still pretty. The first thing that we went to was the Handwerkerhof. It is a small part of the old city that still retains the old timber houses which hold small shops. There are all sorts of hand made products there to look at along with a few traditional German restaurants. It was wonderful to poke around there for a bit.
We then started walking down towards the castle, which is on the other side of the old city from the Handwerkerhof. We passed by many beautiful churches, and the incredible old market with its gorgeous fountain before Mike realized that he was really hungry. We stopped at the Bratwursthaus for real Nuremberg Bratwursts. We had heard about the bratwursts for a while from family members, so we had to try them. There about the size of breakfast sausages, and they are tasty. And since we were having bratwurst we had to have a beer… the Nuremberg Tucker beer was quite nice. To round off our Nuremberg food experience, we went and both Lebkuckens for dessert. They are a particular type of cookie that Mike’s mom usually orders around Christmas time that are made in Nuremberg. They’re okay, but they have a ginger cookie taste (which I do not like) and an almost cake like consistency. Mike usually eats most of them. No different this time with them really fresh either. But its all part of the experience and we were able to buy them from the original store. Quite exciting.
Then it was to the Frauenkirche. The artwork over the doorway was amazing. The inside was very pretty (as was the outside) with gorgeous stained glass windows, sculptures, old frescos, etc. There were some interesting modern religious paintings hanging around the church that I wouldn’t normally associate with a church that old, but they seemed to fit in with the old stuff quite well.
After we had had our fill of cookies, and the Frauenkirche, we headed over to the castle. We got there and it was swarming with police. It seemed quite odd, but we weren’t being stopped from entering, so we pressed on. But when we went to go up into the main courtyard, where were lots of men in nice suits and more police. We decided just to turn around and head back tomorrow. Hopefully then we won’t be bared from entering.
We then just wandered around the castle end of the old city. The house were Albrecht Durer, the German painter, was born is over on this end of the city. Also on this side of town was… the Aldstadthof Hausbrauerei (Old City House Brewery). We decided that we definitely need another beer before we went to meet “the family” as we were pretty sure that this particular family member did not drink. So we got a pint to spilt of reminded us of the real ales from Scotland. It was spectacular. A must see for anyone that enjoys beer. They sold their beer really cheaply (and in large quantities), but as it was day 1 of a 3 day trip and we had to lug our stuff everyday, we passed it up.
And after a beer, there is no better place to go than church. Which is exactly what we did. Kirche St Sebaldus was spectacular. It is the oldest church of Nuremberg (has been re-built since World War II) and was amazing. There was a four person singing group rehearsing up at the altar and they were wonderful. We even got a short video of them singing. Its shaky, but at least they can be heard. If I knew how to upload videos, I would. But I have no clue. (Any help would be appreciated!) The rest of the church was quite beautiful, but it was all the more so with the wonderful music that was filling the church.
Next we stopped by the Rathhaus – the town hall. It is a fairly large town hall, that has been expanded many a time. We thought we were touring the actual town hall, but after our tickets were bought and we started looking at the signs a bit more closely, we found out that the main room of the town hall is only open once or twice a month. We were touring the dungeons. It was actually a really interesting tour. There was a deaf couple on the tour so the guide spoke very clearly and used her hands a lot to point to things and explain how things worked. It was great and I was able to pick up a lot of what was going on (it was all in German.) We were able to see jail cells, torture devices, how “questioning” worked, and even the jail keepers quarters. It was quite interesting.
By the end of the tour it was nearly 3:30pm and time for us to start heading over to Hildegard’s.
She is Mike’s second cousin and Mike’s Grandma’s God Daughter. She speaks very little English, but my German comprehension has gotten lots better, I just cannot speak it all that well.
We got to her apartment at about 4pm and were eating a huge meal by 4:15pm. Turkey breast – German style, bratwurst, German potato salad, AND tomato-cucumber salad. It was a ton of food and as we were sitting down to eat she told Mike that she doesn’t like it when people come over to eat and “eat like birds.” It’s a lot of work to cook all that food, and she finds it offensive when its not all gone. Great. I don’t normally eat huge meals, but I did my best. I think both Mike and I ate more than we do on Thanksgiving and Christmas combined all before 5:30pm. It was rough, but we did it and no one was offended.
Then more family came over. All German speakers. For the most part I was able to understand what was going on, but Hildegard is really into alternative medicine. Most of those conversations had to be translated later for me by Mike. She talks so fast and so much that there was no translating while the conversation was happening. Such is life though. I would have nothing to add to the conversation anyway. After a while of visiting with family, we had more food. This time satziki (sp?) sauce. (Its like the stuff that they put on Gyros.) This time I really though I would be sick. It was good, but I was definitely not ready to eat more. Thankfully, no more food was thrown our way… until breakfast the next morning.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Catching up
I have been slightly behind in posting, so I caught up today. Quite a bit a reading for my loyal readers! :)
Its still cold here and I am glad that we didn´t send all of our winter clothing home with our parents. We would be freezing!
We are heading to Nuremberg this weekend to see some family members and old family friends of Mike´s Grandma. The distant cousin speaks no English and the family friends are iffy. The son speaks fluent English and Mike spoke with the mom and she spoke very broken English. Should be interesting... But, its amazing what family guilt will make you do.
Its still cold here and I am glad that we didn´t send all of our winter clothing home with our parents. We would be freezing!
We are heading to Nuremberg this weekend to see some family members and old family friends of Mike´s Grandma. The distant cousin speaks no English and the family friends are iffy. The son speaks fluent English and Mike spoke with the mom and she spoke very broken English. Should be interesting... But, its amazing what family guilt will make you do.
Berchtesgaden & The Eagles Nest
.jpg)
July 8, 2007
We went to Berchtesgaden this morning. The area is claimed to be some of the most beautiful in all of Europe and it also houses the Eagles Nest. It’s a house on top of a mountain that was given to Hitler as a birthday present. One of our family friends had gone there years ago and highly recommended it to us. Since it is in Bavaria, its cheap for us to get to and since there were mountains involved with it, Mike was all for it.
It’s a three hour train ride, so we had to get up really early so that we could get there in plenty of time. We had a hard time finding any information on the Eagles Nest. Anything to do with the World Wars is kept rather quite. World War I is more accepted and there are more memorials. There are a few World War II soldier memorials. Munich was one of the headquaters of the Nazi party and therefore heavily bombed. Some of the buildings are closed to public use now, some are still in use, but the past history is hidden. You can take special tours, but they are all in English. Even in museums little reference is made to World War II. The signs usually say that such and such did not survive. Or it was destroyed in 1944. The memorials that we have seen are modest. And any mention of World War II is frowned upon. So when we went into tourist information looking for information on Eagles Nest all we got was “go to Berchesgaden.” Mike finally found prices online on Friday so we could give the other two people going with us more information, but that was all we knew. The Eagles Nest was bombed during World War II and only escaped being totally destroyed after WWII by the intervention of the mayor (I think.)
So, we got up early, and crossed our fingers that we would be able to get to Eagles Nest somehow. Well, the finger crossing worked and it was easy to get to. It’s a HUGE tourist spot, so buses go up every 20 minutes. You take a public bus up to the parking lot where you buy the tickets. You can walk up to it, but the path is closed right now until the beginning of August due to trail maintenance. The buses from the parking lot to the Eagles Nest are specially made and drove up the steep mountain paths like it is nothing. Pretty amazing. The ride up was only slightly frightening as there are NO guide rails. But I suppose the rails would have to be pretty sturdy to stop a coach bus from going over the edge. But the views on the bus ride up are great. After they drop you off at the next parking lot, you can either walk up a path to the top or take the original elevator up to the top. They pack people into this elevator, but it was a quick ride up.
The Eagles Nest is now a restaurant and beer garden, but there are lots of paths all over the top with breath-taking views of the surrounding area. We were able to see Koningsee, the highest lake in Germany, and Salzburg. We were on the mountains that we had just seen last weekend, which was really neat. We spent a couple of hours walking around the top of the mountain. We of course HAD to have a beer on top of the mountain which Mike thought was amazing. Apparently there is nothing better than having a beer atop an Alpine mountain. I will admit it was a once in a lifetime event and was fun. This is one part of Bavaria that we would love to come back to. There are a lot of hikes, a National Park, small towns, lakes, etc to see in the area.
The trail from Obersalzburg to Berchtesgaden was open and everyone else thought it would be a good idea to walk back down. I wasn’t totally keen on it as apparently going up mountains also affects my sinuses. I swear ever since I hit 20 my allergies have been atrocious and now its sinuses as well. It sucks. Anyway, it was also supposed to rain. But everyone else wanted to go down, so I went. The walk down was very nice. We walked through a pretty forest and even stumbled upon some ruins. We have no idea what they are as it was not marked, but given its proximity to the Eagles Nest we assumed it had something to do with that. That and it was all reinforced concrete structures. Most people do not built huge cement structures on the side of a mountain and then leave them to ruin. It would be a lot of work for nothing. But as we were leaving the ruins, we looked through a break in the trees and saw a big rain storm in the distance. Great. But its not like we could run down the side of a steep mountain. A little bit later the sprinkling started, then the thunder started rumbling. Then it started pouring. Yeah… so the gortex wash I did on my coat (twice) did NOT work. I was soaked. At least it was relatively short lived. And the walk was nice. It just would have been nicer being dry.
Augsburg
.jpg)
July 7, 2007
We got a group of people from the school Mike is going to and headed over to Augsburg today. It was only a 40 minute train ride from Munich and is one of the oldest towns in Germany. It was heavily bombed during World War II, but has been re-built. The buildings were very beautiful and it was easy to navigate and walk around. We started with the city fall. There was a festival being set up in front of it, and there was a Fair-Trade event going on in the city hall. It would have been interesting to walk through it, but since we were with 4 other people, we skipped it. No one else seemed all that interested in it. There is a gorgeous room that you can go through called the Golden Room. The ticket in was really cheap, and the room is amazing. Obviously, lots of gold and floor to ceiling paintings. Amazing. There is a smaller room off to one side that you can go into as well. The wood work in that room is incredible. There is beautiful wood paneling, ceiling, and desk.
Next we walked over to the Augsburg Cathedral. It is incredibly old, and has undergone many remodeling and additions. It also claims to have the oldest stain glass windows in the world dating from 1140. Pretty amazing. The doorway into the building is incredible. Lots of stunning stonework that you could look at for quite some time. There are many beautiful windows and altars in the cathedral. There is a hallway of crypts that is interesting as well.
There is a tower next to the City Hall called the Perlachturm that for a small fee you can climb. Its not too bad of a climb up. At least the hallway is not as narrow as some of the towers we have climbed. And there are nice views of the city from the top. There were a lot of bells right above our heads and it was nearing noon. No one was keen on finding out if the bells would actually ring at noon or not. I thought it might be fun, but I am sure that it would have been loud and I probably would not have been able to hear anything for at least the rest of the day.
We wandered through some more of the streets before we stopped for lunch. The donner in Germany is MUCH better than the donner that we tried in Scotland. Mike has become addicted to donner sandwiches and would probably eat them all the time if I let him. Donner is the Turkish equivalent to a Greek Gyro. They are quite tasty and quite cheap for lunches out. We found a great little restaurant on Maxmillianstrasse with great donner and we tried one of the local beers. The name translates as “rabbit beer” which we thought was funny. There are so many breweries in the town that a hops plant is part of their town crest. We weren’t even trying and found 6 different kinds of beers from Augsburg. Anyway… the food was great and the wonderful waitress gave us all Turkish tea to try at the end of our meal. It was slightly bitter, but tasty.
After lunch we visited the Church of St Ulrich and Afra. It was celebrating a birthday and there was quite the activity going on inside and outside the church. The church was really pretty, and the main altar amazing. There was a side chapel full of beautiful religious icons, and the other side chapels were gorgeous as well. Its amazing what people way back when would commission to save their souls. In the basement of the church are some tombs, and the tombs of St Ulrich and St Afra. St Ulrich’s tomb is quite ornate while St Afra’s is fairly plain. Hers is much older though.
We walked over to the Fuggerei after the church. It is Europe’s oldest social housing estate. It was much like New Lanark in Scotland. Designed for poorer families as a city within a city. It was not as large as New Lanark, but then again it didn’t house a factory for its inhabitants. It has lots of apartments with a church, school, shops, and small hospital. It is now a home for retired citizens and is still run by the family that built it back in the 1500’s. Pretty interesting. The rent is still amazingly cheap. Back when it started part of the rent was a three times daily prayer for the founding family, and I imagine that that is no longer in place. There was a bunker put in during World War II as this place was heavily bombed. It is now a very pretty memorial park. The complex was re-built and still retains much of its original details – including old hand pumps, bell ringers, and religious icon niches above doorways (it is a Catholic complex.) It was even the home of Wolfgang Mozart’s great-grandfather, Franz Mozart who worked on the building of the Fuggerei.
Schleissheim & Freising
.jpg)
June 6, 2007
It was finally ok out, so we headed out of Munich to see some palaces and a little town we read was pretty. Since it looked like it might rain, but hadn’t started yet by the time we got to Schleissheim, we stopped there first. It was actually sunny too! Cold, but at least sunny. The park houses three different palaces. The Old Palace, New Palace (built to resemble Versailles Palace), and a smaller palace called Palace Lusteim. Palace Lusteim was actually built as a hunting lodge to celebrate Elector Max Emanuel’s wedding. Must be nice. But the weather held out and the palaces were beautiful and so were the grounds. You can go into the palaces, but they mainly hold museums now. The Old Palace is a museum of folk art, the New Palace is a museum of the Bavarian State, and the Palace Lusteim is a museum of porcelain. Kinda funny since it started as a manly hunting lodge.
.jpg)
After Schleissheim, we headed over to Freising, which apparently is the Rose town. :) The town was really lovely. Lots of old buildings, and many of the shops had bears outside them decorated in clothing that represented the shop. The baker had a bear dressed as a baker, etc. It was really cute. We had originally gone to see a beautiful church, but couldn’t find it. We got to tourist information and found out that Freising also houses the oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan. The church was forgotten and we headed to the brewery. It was atop a hill on the edges of the town. (Thank goodness it was a small town.) Unfortunately, we had missed the last tour of the brewery by a good few hours, but the since it was not raining, the beer garden was open. It was slightly chilly, but the views of the valley below and the city were wonderful. And the beer was great. There was a double dark beer there that Mike claims is the best in the world. It tastes like caramel and is really, really good. If anyone ever encounters the Weihenstephan Korbinian beer, try it. I am hoping that we will be able to get it somewhere back in Michigan, but we’re not keeping our fingers crossed. Its dirt cheap here, but I am sure that it would be expensive back home.
It was finally ok out, so we headed out of Munich to see some palaces and a little town we read was pretty. Since it looked like it might rain, but hadn’t started yet by the time we got to Schleissheim, we stopped there first. It was actually sunny too! Cold, but at least sunny. The park houses three different palaces. The Old Palace, New Palace (built to resemble Versailles Palace), and a smaller palace called Palace Lusteim. Palace Lusteim was actually built as a hunting lodge to celebrate Elector Max Emanuel’s wedding. Must be nice. But the weather held out and the palaces were beautiful and so were the grounds. You can go into the palaces, but they mainly hold museums now. The Old Palace is a museum of folk art, the New Palace is a museum of the Bavarian State, and the Palace Lusteim is a museum of porcelain. Kinda funny since it started as a manly hunting lodge.
.jpg)
After Schleissheim, we headed over to Freising, which apparently is the Rose town. :) The town was really lovely. Lots of old buildings, and many of the shops had bears outside them decorated in clothing that represented the shop. The baker had a bear dressed as a baker, etc. It was really cute. We had originally gone to see a beautiful church, but couldn’t find it. We got to tourist information and found out that Freising also houses the oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan. The church was forgotten and we headed to the brewery. It was atop a hill on the edges of the town. (Thank goodness it was a small town.) Unfortunately, we had missed the last tour of the brewery by a good few hours, but the since it was not raining, the beer garden was open. It was slightly chilly, but the views of the valley below and the city were wonderful. And the beer was great. There was a double dark beer there that Mike claims is the best in the world. It tastes like caramel and is really, really good. If anyone ever encounters the Weihenstephan Korbinian beer, try it. I am hoping that we will be able to get it somewhere back in Michigan, but we’re not keeping our fingers crossed. Its dirt cheap here, but I am sure that it would be expensive back home.
Salzburg, Austria & Chiemsee, Germany
.jpg)
July 1, 2007
We started the morning as early as we could. Breakfast was not served until 8:30am, and since it was really inexpensive for what you got – and it was a Sunday morning (many places are closed on a Sunday here) – we were going to eat there this morning. I kind of woke up at about 6am and Mike was already awake. I rolled over and went back to sleep. He didn’t get up until near 7am though. I’m hoping that once we more back, we can sleep in sometime… But we were more than ready for breakfast when they finally opened the doors, and even had our day planned before we ate. After a wonderful breakfast, we headed over to Kapuzinerberg. It’s a small mountain on the edge of Salzburg that we thought would not only have some nice views, but it would be nice to take a hike through the woods and get away from all the people. (Not that there were many out at 9am on a Sunday.) But at least since it was early, it wasn’t hot yet.
There are quite a few paths to choose from that wind through the woods on the mountain. We meandered our way over to the Franziskischlossl. The view points on the way there were great. On the way up the mountain we walked on the side with views of the newer part of the city (I think it’s the south side.) When we got to the Franziskischlossl we could clearly see the surrounding mountains again, which was great. We walked down the other side of the mountain which had great views of the older part of the city and the castle with huge mountains behind it all. The views were spectacular and it was definitely our favorite part of the walk.
We wandered through some of the streets of the old part of town next. We decided to go pack to St Peter’s to explore the catacombs. It was only 1 euro each to go in, and it was worth it. Instead of the catacombs that we went to outside of Rome, these were built into the side of the mountain. You can only see a couple of the chapels and its all self guided, but it is interesting. And the views of the church and cemetery from the catacombs is really pretty. There was no wedding in the church today, so we poked our heads in for a minute. We didn’t stay too long since it was a Sunday and we were in jeans and t-shirts. It was a really, really beautiful church. There were paintings all over the walls that were amazing, the altar was gorgeous, as was everything else.
After that, we walked through some of the theater district, and then wandered down Getreidegasse. It’s a narrow lane filled with shops with very fancy signs. Mike and I were joking about McDonald’s being there with a fancy sign and what should we find half way down the street… and McDonald’s with a very fancy metal sign like all the others. McDonald’s is everywhere! There was an outdoor craft like market that we poked through. Aunt Sue – we even saw those wine bottle plates you were talking about!
On our way back to the train station we walked through the Mirabellgarten, which is yet another film location of “The Sound of Music.” The gardens are very pretty, but were filled with people, so we didn’t linger too long.
.jpg)
Since we still had quite a bit of the day left, we decided to stop at Chiemsee as it was on the way back to Munich. The main train drops you off at Prien and you can walk 15 minutes into Stock on Chiemsee or take an old steam train. Since we just missed it and would have to wait 40 minutes for the next train, we walked into Stock. There is not much to see in the city, especially on a Sunday when nearly everything is closed, but it was a nice, easy walk. We stayed for about 3 hours, and it was well worth it. The lake is beautiful and is surrounded by mountains. You can swim in the lake, rent boats, walk, and take a ferry out to an island with a palace. We just walked a bit around the lake, took some pictures, etc. The boat rentals were rather pricey and there was a line.
Salzburg, Austria
June 30, 2007
Over this weekend we traveled to the home of Mozart and the film location of “The Sound of Music.” Salzburg is only about a 2 ½ hour train ride from Munich and the ride was wonderful. We were able to see a lot of really pretty countryside, and, of course, mountains. We left right away in the morning on Saturday so that we could have the whole day to see Salzburg.
As we were walking towards the castle, we saw a guy playing a guitar. Not all that amazing, normally. But Mike claims that it was the same guitar player that he had seen playing about 10 years ago. In the same place. Weird. According to Mike he is one of the most amazing guitar players known to man. Apparently we own a CD of the guy’s… I’ll have to check it out when we get home and find the CDs. :)
The castle sits atop a small mountain and towers over the city. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the city were spectacular. (You can also take an elevator up the hill… but it was a nice day and we aren’t lame yet!) We had a wonderful picnic lunch on one of the terraces of the castle with views of the valley and the Alps, then headed off to explore the castle. It was MUCH more intact than the castles we left behind in Scotland! Its broken up into two different sections. The first is an audio guided tour that you have to do in a group of 40 other people and are herded through the rooms. But the groups leave every 15-20 minutes, so its not too bad. And the end of the tour is a climb up into one of the towers which has great views of the city and the surrounding area. The second part is all self guided. I think that audio guides are available, but I find them rather annoying. Half the time what they are telling you is written on a sign somewhere in the room plus they tell you lots of inane facts that barely anyone remembers. There is a really pretty church to see, plus ruins of a Romanesque church. The ruins were really interesting. Part of the original structure was there, and even some of the old fresco paintings. There were also a few museums to go through. There was a lot of information on Romanesque churches in the building that housed the ruins, plus there was a military museum, an artifacts museum, a museum on the castle, and even a section for torture devices – which included big metal masks. One of the most interesting parts of this section of the castle was the state rooms. There are three rooms that are incredibly ornately decorated. They are amazing – and even more impressive than the décor is the fact that they have survived quite a long time.
After the castle, we explored more of the Fortress District – which included the nunnery from “The Sound of Music.” I cannot tell you how excited Mike was to see this and all the other film locations that we saw. But luckily, he loves me, so he smiled and went along with me – and never once complained. :) Unfortunately, the Nonnburg Priory is not open to the public. Even the church was closed as they were getting ready for the Saturday evening service. I suppose that it makes sense that the priory was closed, but it would have been really neat to see more than just the outer courtyard! This part of the city was quite pretty. Lots of small lanes and winding streets with NO tourists. I know that we are in this group, its just nice to be free from them. We saw a few more churches and tried to get out to Schloss Hellbrunn where the trick fountain scene of “The Sound of Music” was filmed, along with a few other scenes. But it was quite the hike out there, and we had other things to see in the city. It didn’t seem worth the trek out there to see a fountain and a pond. I’ll watch the movie when I get home.
Next we headed over to the Cathedral District and decided to explore … the cathedral. :) It is absolutely huge, and incredibly beautiful. The stone work is amazing, and all over the walls. There are incredible paintings all over, about 5 different beautiful organs, and more. The artwork inside of the cathedral is breath-taking and well worth a visit. (They do ask for a donation, but it can be free.) The cathedral has been re-built twice, once in 1628 due to a fire, and the last time was due to a bomb in 1944. The church didn’t re-open again until 1959. Another reason for paint-ball gun/bomb warfare.
Right next to the cathedral is St Peter’s Abbey. There was a wedding – or some big event – going on in the church, so we didn’t go in, but the courtyard was wonderful. Lots of old, beautiful tombs, AND it was yet another film location for “The Sound of Music.” We stopped at another pretty church, and walked past Mozart’s birthplace as we walked back to our hostel. Across the river we stopped at a church courtyard that was very lovely. St Sebastian’s cemetery houses lots of old tombs and gravestones, along with a monument to Paracelsus’ (no idea who he/she is), the Wolf Dietrich mausoleum (again… no idea), and the Mozart family tomb. We thought that it would included Wolfgang himself, but it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure that it was his parents, and other such relatives and it was really pretty. The cemetery is full of huge trees, flowers, and lovely vines – it feels more like a park than a cemetery.
Our hostel was incredibly easy to find. We stayed at the YoHo Youth Hostel and it was really great. It was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in yet. They had a restaurant and bar in the building – with really cheap beer prices for happy hour too. The beds were nice, bathrooms clean, and staff friendly. The only hitch was that the building vibrated. I have no idea why or how, but it did. We ended the night with a great Italian meal at Restaurante Corallo. It was run be actual Italians, and to make it even better, Italians also ate there. Then you know the food is authentic! Even if it wasn’t, the pasta was incredible – better than some of the food we had in Rome!
Over this weekend we traveled to the home of Mozart and the film location of “The Sound of Music.” Salzburg is only about a 2 ½ hour train ride from Munich and the ride was wonderful. We were able to see a lot of really pretty countryside, and, of course, mountains. We left right away in the morning on Saturday so that we could have the whole day to see Salzburg.
As we were walking towards the castle, we saw a guy playing a guitar. Not all that amazing, normally. But Mike claims that it was the same guitar player that he had seen playing about 10 years ago. In the same place. Weird. According to Mike he is one of the most amazing guitar players known to man. Apparently we own a CD of the guy’s… I’ll have to check it out when we get home and find the CDs. :)
The castle sits atop a small mountain and towers over the city. It was a steep walk up, but the views of the city were spectacular. (You can also take an elevator up the hill… but it was a nice day and we aren’t lame yet!) We had a wonderful picnic lunch on one of the terraces of the castle with views of the valley and the Alps, then headed off to explore the castle. It was MUCH more intact than the castles we left behind in Scotland! Its broken up into two different sections. The first is an audio guided tour that you have to do in a group of 40 other people and are herded through the rooms. But the groups leave every 15-20 minutes, so its not too bad. And the end of the tour is a climb up into one of the towers which has great views of the city and the surrounding area. The second part is all self guided. I think that audio guides are available, but I find them rather annoying. Half the time what they are telling you is written on a sign somewhere in the room plus they tell you lots of inane facts that barely anyone remembers. There is a really pretty church to see, plus ruins of a Romanesque church. The ruins were really interesting. Part of the original structure was there, and even some of the old fresco paintings. There were also a few museums to go through. There was a lot of information on Romanesque churches in the building that housed the ruins, plus there was a military museum, an artifacts museum, a museum on the castle, and even a section for torture devices – which included big metal masks. One of the most interesting parts of this section of the castle was the state rooms. There are three rooms that are incredibly ornately decorated. They are amazing – and even more impressive than the décor is the fact that they have survived quite a long time.
After the castle, we explored more of the Fortress District – which included the nunnery from “The Sound of Music.” I cannot tell you how excited Mike was to see this and all the other film locations that we saw. But luckily, he loves me, so he smiled and went along with me – and never once complained. :) Unfortunately, the Nonnburg Priory is not open to the public. Even the church was closed as they were getting ready for the Saturday evening service. I suppose that it makes sense that the priory was closed, but it would have been really neat to see more than just the outer courtyard! This part of the city was quite pretty. Lots of small lanes and winding streets with NO tourists. I know that we are in this group, its just nice to be free from them. We saw a few more churches and tried to get out to Schloss Hellbrunn where the trick fountain scene of “The Sound of Music” was filmed, along with a few other scenes. But it was quite the hike out there, and we had other things to see in the city. It didn’t seem worth the trek out there to see a fountain and a pond. I’ll watch the movie when I get home.
Next we headed over to the Cathedral District and decided to explore … the cathedral. :) It is absolutely huge, and incredibly beautiful. The stone work is amazing, and all over the walls. There are incredible paintings all over, about 5 different beautiful organs, and more. The artwork inside of the cathedral is breath-taking and well worth a visit. (They do ask for a donation, but it can be free.) The cathedral has been re-built twice, once in 1628 due to a fire, and the last time was due to a bomb in 1944. The church didn’t re-open again until 1959. Another reason for paint-ball gun/bomb warfare.
Right next to the cathedral is St Peter’s Abbey. There was a wedding – or some big event – going on in the church, so we didn’t go in, but the courtyard was wonderful. Lots of old, beautiful tombs, AND it was yet another film location for “The Sound of Music.” We stopped at another pretty church, and walked past Mozart’s birthplace as we walked back to our hostel. Across the river we stopped at a church courtyard that was very lovely. St Sebastian’s cemetery houses lots of old tombs and gravestones, along with a monument to Paracelsus’ (no idea who he/she is), the Wolf Dietrich mausoleum (again… no idea), and the Mozart family tomb. We thought that it would included Wolfgang himself, but it doesn’t. I’m pretty sure that it was his parents, and other such relatives and it was really pretty. The cemetery is full of huge trees, flowers, and lovely vines – it feels more like a park than a cemetery.
Our hostel was incredibly easy to find. We stayed at the YoHo Youth Hostel and it was really great. It was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed in yet. They had a restaurant and bar in the building – with really cheap beer prices for happy hour too. The beds were nice, bathrooms clean, and staff friendly. The only hitch was that the building vibrated. I have no idea why or how, but it did. We ended the night with a great Italian meal at Restaurante Corallo. It was run be actual Italians, and to make it even better, Italians also ate there. Then you know the food is authentic! Even if it wasn’t, the pasta was incredible – better than some of the food we had in Rome!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
So cold
OK... it´s July 5th and I am wearing thick jeans, a long sleeve shirt, hiking boots, and a WINTER jacket. Even Mike is wearing a fleece vest today since its so freaking cold.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Schloss Nymphenburg
.jpg)
June 28th, 2007
It was another crappy day, so we headed to yet another palace of the Wittelsbach Family. We had heard that this one was not worth the visit nor the money, but we decided to see for ourselves. It was only 1 euro cheaper than the Residenz and SOOO much worse! The rooms were in great disrepair and were in great need of a paint job. There is a Gallery of Beauties, that is incredible. It was housed in the Residenz, but after the WWII damage, it was sent here. There are about 36 portraits of beautiful women from a shoemaker’s daughter to a princess. These paintings are wonderful and probably the main reason that the entrance is almost that of the Residenz. The rest of it was okay, the palace looks huge, but you cannot go through much of it. Just one floor in the main building. At least with the Residenz the rooms are incredible and you can spend about 3-4 hours perusing the rooms. Not so with Schloss Nymphenburg. And on top of it all, there were renovations being carried out (so rooms were closed). Whatever was going on was killing me. My allergies flared up and I could barely breath. Not so good.
Lindau & the Bodensee
.jpg)
June 24th, 2007
This Sunday we went with a few friends from Mike’s language class to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It’s a large lake on the southern border of Germany. Not only is there the border of the German states of Bavaria (where we are living) and Baden-Wurttemberg, but its also the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
We took the train to the Bavarian town of Lindau. Its out on a little island in the Bodensee and was beautiful. It’s a very beautiful picturesque town and it was wonderful to wander the streets. The old town hall and the city museum have incredible paintings all over them. There was an interesting tower with a replica of Rapunzel’s braid hanging out of it, lots of beautiful fountains, and the churches and other buildings were amazing.
After exploring most of the city, we headed out on a boat tour of the lake. We decided to go on the “three land” tour. This way we were able to go not only through another German state, but also Switzerland and Austria. It was a very pretty boat trip and they told you quite a bit about the lake, and the cities on it. It was just all in German. My German is definitely better than it was when we started and I can understand quite a bit, but its not THAT good. So… I had no idea what was going on, but I figured I can always read it online later. The only downside to the tour was that it didn’t actually stop in any of the other countries, you just went through the waters. Big bummer, but at least I can say I went to Austria and Switzerland too!
This Sunday we went with a few friends from Mike’s language class to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). It’s a large lake on the southern border of Germany. Not only is there the border of the German states of Bavaria (where we are living) and Baden-Wurttemberg, but its also the border of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
We took the train to the Bavarian town of Lindau. Its out on a little island in the Bodensee and was beautiful. It’s a very beautiful picturesque town and it was wonderful to wander the streets. The old town hall and the city museum have incredible paintings all over them. There was an interesting tower with a replica of Rapunzel’s braid hanging out of it, lots of beautiful fountains, and the churches and other buildings were amazing.
After exploring most of the city, we headed out on a boat tour of the lake. We decided to go on the “three land” tour. This way we were able to go not only through another German state, but also Switzerland and Austria. It was a very pretty boat trip and they told you quite a bit about the lake, and the cities on it. It was just all in German. My German is definitely better than it was when we started and I can understand quite a bit, but its not THAT good. So… I had no idea what was going on, but I figured I can always read it online later. The only downside to the tour was that it didn’t actually stop in any of the other countries, you just went through the waters. Big bummer, but at least I can say I went to Austria and Switzerland too!
Residenz, Munich
.jpg)
June 22nd, 2007
Since it was raining quite a bit outside and we had heard great things about the Residenz, we went there on there. The rooms were amazing. The Munich Residenz was at one time one of the many houses of the Wittelsbach Family. They were the first Royal Family of Bavaria and have amazing houses. (We are defining “Royal” here as King and Queen.) Neuschwanstein is one of them and there is even one out on an island that is built to resemble Versailles. The palaces are beautiful inside and out.
This one was unfortunately highly damaged during World War II. Given the fact that Munich was a major center for the Nazi Party, most of the city was destroyed and has been rebuilt to as much of its original splendor as possible. It’s a big point in favor of war with paint guns. You get hit and you go home. Last man standing wins. No casualties, no destruction. If we could only keep people from cheating the world would be a better place…
Many of the rooms have been re-done. You get a (free) audio guide and with this are told exactly what pieces of furniture, art, etc. are originals. The rest have, obviously, been re-done. After we went through all the beautiful rooms, we went through the part of the castle that was not re-done. It costs quite a bit of money to re-construct all the rooms, so with some of the old Queen’s rooms, there are massive wall sized pictures of what they used to look like. All the walls and ceilings are white and in the exact shape of what it was pre-war. With all the fireplaces, shelves, etc. where they once where. Then any furniture that survived was placed where it once sat. It was really quite interesting.
The treasury is also open to the public and is well worth the visit. It is full of amazing pieces of jewelry, cases, relics, etc. that was part of the Wittelsbach Family. The highlight was a statue of St George that is incredibly be-jeweled and a huge case with etched glass, jewels, and beautiful metal work.
Since it was raining quite a bit outside and we had heard great things about the Residenz, we went there on there. The rooms were amazing. The Munich Residenz was at one time one of the many houses of the Wittelsbach Family. They were the first Royal Family of Bavaria and have amazing houses. (We are defining “Royal” here as King and Queen.) Neuschwanstein is one of them and there is even one out on an island that is built to resemble Versailles. The palaces are beautiful inside and out.
This one was unfortunately highly damaged during World War II. Given the fact that Munich was a major center for the Nazi Party, most of the city was destroyed and has been rebuilt to as much of its original splendor as possible. It’s a big point in favor of war with paint guns. You get hit and you go home. Last man standing wins. No casualties, no destruction. If we could only keep people from cheating the world would be a better place…
Many of the rooms have been re-done. You get a (free) audio guide and with this are told exactly what pieces of furniture, art, etc. are originals. The rest have, obviously, been re-done. After we went through all the beautiful rooms, we went through the part of the castle that was not re-done. It costs quite a bit of money to re-construct all the rooms, so with some of the old Queen’s rooms, there are massive wall sized pictures of what they used to look like. All the walls and ceilings are white and in the exact shape of what it was pre-war. With all the fireplaces, shelves, etc. where they once where. Then any furniture that survived was placed where it once sat. It was really quite interesting.
The treasury is also open to the public and is well worth the visit. It is full of amazing pieces of jewelry, cases, relics, etc. that was part of the Wittelsbach Family. The highlight was a statue of St George that is incredibly be-jeweled and a huge case with etched glass, jewels, and beautiful metal work.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Sendlinger Tor Area
.jpg)
On the 20th of June we headed over to Sendlinger Tor after Mike got out of class. The tor is a gate into the city, which was really pretty. The main reason for heading out this was to see the amazing Asamkirche (church). The outside of the church is incredibly beautiful, but the inside is even better. Lots of artwork and incredible sculptures are all over the walls. The rest of the area that we wanted to wander through was under heavy construction, which was a bummer. Maybe later on in the month…
.jpg)
Tollwood Festival
.jpg)
On the 19th of June we headed back to the Tollwood Festival with some people from Mike’s Langauge School. We stopped for a beer at one of the many beer tents there and actually got to see Flamenco Dancers. How cool!
A Festival Day
On June 17th we celebrated out first anniversary. It seems amazing that it has already been one year. It was a beautiful clear day, so we headed into Munich for lunch at Hofbrauhaus before going to Olympia park. While we were in the city we stumbled upon yet another festival. This one was for the city’s 450th birthday. There were all sorts of booths set up with people selling all sorts of stuff. In one section there were booths set up for Medieval Craftsman. There were leather workers, house builders, glass makers, etc. that all had to work as they would in Medieval times. It was really interesting to watch, but incredibly crowded! After we could not deal with all the pushy people anymore, we headed to Olympia park.
Like I said, the day was incredibly clear, so we headed up into the turm (space needle like thing there.) It was so clear that we could clearly see the Alps surrounding the city. And the views of the city were spectacular. There are three levels to walk around, the first is indoors and much of what you are able to see is labeled on the windows, which is great. There is also a museum of Rock and Roll in the Olympiaturm, which is quite interesting. They have all sorts of memorabilia set out. It not very big, but what they do have is interesting.
After we were done looking out over Munich, we headed over to the Tollwood Festival that is right in Olympia park. It’s a large music festival that spans over about 3 weeks. There are, again, lots of different vendors selling a plethora of stuff, temporary bars, all sorts of ethnic food, etc. It was fun to walk around, but after the first festival, we had about enough of crowds. And given that it was a nice, hot, sunny day here in Munich (which doesn’t happen all that often), it seemed like most of Munich was out enjoying it! On the way back out of the park, we stopped by the big pond and saw MASSIVE carps. Honestly, I think a few of them might have been nearly as tall as me. I know I’m not that tall, but still. That’s a big fish!
Like I said, the day was incredibly clear, so we headed up into the turm (space needle like thing there.) It was so clear that we could clearly see the Alps surrounding the city. And the views of the city were spectacular. There are three levels to walk around, the first is indoors and much of what you are able to see is labeled on the windows, which is great. There is also a museum of Rock and Roll in the Olympiaturm, which is quite interesting. They have all sorts of memorabilia set out. It not very big, but what they do have is interesting.
After we were done looking out over Munich, we headed over to the Tollwood Festival that is right in Olympia park. It’s a large music festival that spans over about 3 weeks. There are, again, lots of different vendors selling a plethora of stuff, temporary bars, all sorts of ethnic food, etc. It was fun to walk around, but after the first festival, we had about enough of crowds. And given that it was a nice, hot, sunny day here in Munich (which doesn’t happen all that often), it seemed like most of Munich was out enjoying it! On the way back out of the park, we stopped by the big pond and saw MASSIVE carps. Honestly, I think a few of them might have been nearly as tall as me. I know I’m not that tall, but still. That’s a big fish!
Theresienwiese
On June 16th we headed over to the park used for Oktoberfest. We neglected to read the description of it BEFORE we went there. We got there, looked out over the park and couldn’t believe we wasted our time. Apparently when its not being used for Oktoberfest it’s a barren wasteland. Boxes of grass are separated by cement walkways and that’s it. Thankfully there was an interesting monument off to one side of the “park.” It is dedicated to Bavaria. There is a huge statue of Lady Bavaria and in the building behind her are busts of famous Bavarians. I had no idea who any of them where, expect a couple of the kings, but it was still really interesting..jpg)
Dachau
.jpg)
On June 15th we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was incredibly informative, fairly intact, and very depressing. Surprisingly, everything was in English. Even the Survivor’s audio accounts of their experiences. Most museums, memorials, information, etc. is all in German, so this really surprised me. Even the movie about Dachau was shown primarily in English. Not surprisingly, the place was very depressing. There are memorials from many religious organizations, and of course memorials dedicated to the unknown victim. Dachau was not technically an execution camp, but a work camp. Many still died..jpg)
On June 23rd we returned to Dachau to see the palace. It was much more uplifting. Most of the palace has not survived, I have no idea if it was bombed during World War II or was just neglected. All that is now left is a banquet hall people can rent out. But the gardens are still intact and are wonderful. Full of beautiful flowers and the views of Munich are great.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
