Wednesday April 8th was our day to explore Munich. We walked from Hotel Uhland to Sendlinger Tor. On our way we passed an 18th century Rococco church, Asamkirche. Fantastically gaudy and facinating. It isn't a free-standing building; rather a "store-front" church.
When we got to Marienplatz the first thing we did was go up in the tower of the Neues Rathaus for a nice view of Munich. Then we went back out to Marienplatz to watch the figures on the Glockenspiel dance, as they do 3 times a day. They tell the story of a wedding of a Bavarian duke in the 16th century, and also do a little dance to keep the plague away. After this, we went to the Viktualienmarkt to have a snack before going on our bike tour. Again the weather was upper 60s, bright sunshine. How lucky are we!
I had read about Lenny's Free Bike Tour in Rick Steves' Germany 2009 travel guide, and thought that the price was definitely right, as the other bike tour that leaves at the same time and sees the same sights costs 24 Euro per person! We had a good guide, Connor, from Ireland, and there were a total of 11 people on the tour. We went to the Hofbrauhaus, Odeonsplatz, saw some old and new government buildings, and some other places. We stopped at the Chinese Tower Beer Garden in the English Gardens for about an hour. Karl ate a fried pig's knuckle, Caroline ate french fries, Jana ate bratwurst and sauerkraut and I had Leberkaes, a kind of Bavarian meat loaf. It was ok, but not great. The English Gardens are famous for the nude sunbathers, and we did see some in the distance. There are a couple of them that frequent the spot and like to dance for the bike tours--I'm glad they weren't there on Wednesday!
On our way back to central Munich we stopped at the end of the English Gardens to watch the surfers. You can watch a YouTube video of it here. After World War 2, the American soldiers put some concrete barricadesAfter the bike tour we went into the Hofbrauhaus to see the inside, then decided to go to Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet to see the Sophie Scholl memorial. Sophie Scholl was arrested and executed in 1943, along with her brother and others, for distributing literature speaking against the Nazi Regime. If you haven't seen the movie, "Sophie Scholl--the Final Days", I would highly recommend it. The memorial itself is very clever. It looks like the fliers that Sophie and the others distributed and they are embedded into the pavement outside the building where she was arrested. There is a photo of it on my Flickr page. Inside the building there is a bust of Sophie, and a plaque commemorating the "White Rose" resistance group that Sophie was a part of.
For dinner we met a friend of mine at Augustiner Braeustuben. Margot was an Austrian girl whose father was a professor in my hometown. My friend Mary and I befriended her and had lots of good times. Margot returned to Europe in the early '80s and once came to visit us in 1988. I hadn't seen her since then, and actually I had lost touch with her from about 1996 until about a year ago. I Googled her brother and found him living and working in Vienna, sent him an email, and shortly afterwards had a reply from Margot. So we have been in touch for about a year now, and it just happened that she moved to Munich in February, so we were able to arrange a dinner together. It was so fun to see her again, and we really had a nice time chatting. The food was traditional Bavarian fare. Karl had sauerbraten with red cabbage, Margot and I had Schwaebische Maultaschen (a meat ravioli with onion sauce) and sauerkraut, and Jana and Caroline had turkey breast with rice and tomato sauce. We are eating very well on this trip. I'm hoping all the walking is counteracting the food intake!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Salzburg
Tuesday, April 7
Tuesday we went to Salzburg, Austria. It's only about a 2 hour train ride from Munich. There's a train ticket available where a group of up to 5 people can travel in one German state for a day for 28 Euro (less than $40). Since Salzburg is the first stop on the other side of Bavaria's border, it is included in the area one can travel in with this ticket.
Our intital plan was to go on the Sound of Music tour, being huge fans of the movie. Unfortunately with our cheap train ticket we couldn't leave Munich until after 9 a.m. so if we'd gone on the S of M tour we wouldn't have had time to do much else in Salzburg. We agreed that exploring on our own would be a better choice. We did see alot of the sights where the movie was filmed and I will refer to Maria and/or the children in this blog.
Our first stop was Mirabell Gardens. If you look at my Flickr photos you can see some of the gardens with Salzburg's castle in the background. The flowers are pansies in orange and purple. The photo was taken from the stairs where Maria and the children sing the Do-Re-Mi song. Also at Mirabell is the tunnel they run through, the fountain they run around and the little dwarf statue that Gretl stands next to.
We then crossed the Salzach River into the older area of Salzburg. We walked down Getreidegasse, a busy pedestrian-only shopping street, and saw Mozart's birthplace. Jana and Caroline weren't interested in going in it, so we didn't. We visited Mozartplatz, and then went to Residenzplatz to see the fountain where Maria splashes when she sings, "I Have Confidence". Unfortunately the fountain is under repair and was covered in a huge wooden case. The scene in the movie where the Nazis march into the square and there is a large building in the background decorated with the Nazi flag was also filmed at Residenzplatz.
Adjacent to the Residenzplatz is the Domplatz, where the beautiful Salzburg cathedral sits. It, too, is under construction. We bought a couple of large pretzels to share here for lunch. THen we went into the cathedral. It was heavily damaged during WW2, but was rebuilt in the 1950s and is quite beautiful today. The crypt was open, so we went down there too. Since the church was rebuilt in the 50s, the crypt isn't very creepy. When we left the cathedral there was a man cutting silhouettes. We had Caroline's done. My mother has a silhouette of her as a child and me as a child, so now we have 3 generations of silhouettes.
Next it was time to visit Hohensalzburg (the castle) so we took the funicular up the mountain. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day in the upper 60s. We will be coming home from Germany with a start on our summer tans! The view from the castle was fantastic. On one side you can see the Alps, and the opposite side is a view of the beautiful city of Salzburg. We looked inside the castle at some museum areas for a while then went outside into the courtyard of the castle. If I were able to time-travel I would like to go back to the 14th or 15th century to experience life inside a castle's walls. After a snack we went back inside the castle for a very interesting audio tour.
Back down in the city we went to the Sankt Peter Cemetery and Catacombs. This cemetery was the inspiration for the cemetery scene in S of M when the Von Trapps are hiding from the Nazis at the convent. We then came to the Festspielhaus auditorium where the Von Trapp family sang before escaping Salzburg. We couldn't go inside.
We continued our walk back to Getreidegasse and started looking for somewhere to eat. This area of Salzburg is particularly expensive, so we crossed the river and found a restaurant on the way to the train station. We got on the 7:18 p.m. train and were back in Munich at 9:18 p.m. We were exhausted from all the travel and walking--my pedometer read 9.82 miles!
Tuesday we went to Salzburg, Austria. It's only about a 2 hour train ride from Munich. There's a train ticket available where a group of up to 5 people can travel in one German state for a day for 28 Euro (less than $40). Since Salzburg is the first stop on the other side of Bavaria's border, it is included in the area one can travel in with this ticket.
Our intital plan was to go on the Sound of Music tour, being huge fans of the movie. Unfortunately with our cheap train ticket we couldn't leave Munich until after 9 a.m. so if we'd gone on the S of M tour we wouldn't have had time to do much else in Salzburg. We agreed that exploring on our own would be a better choice. We did see alot of the sights where the movie was filmed and I will refer to Maria and/or the children in this blog.
Our first stop was Mirabell Gardens. If you look at my Flickr photos you can see some of the gardens with Salzburg's castle in the background. The flowers are pansies in orange and purple. The photo was taken from the stairs where Maria and the children sing the Do-Re-Mi song. Also at Mirabell is the tunnel they run through, the fountain they run around and the little dwarf statue that Gretl stands next to.
We then crossed the Salzach River into the older area of Salzburg. We walked down Getreidegasse, a busy pedestrian-only shopping street, and saw Mozart's birthplace. Jana and Caroline weren't interested in going in it, so we didn't. We visited Mozartplatz, and then went to Residenzplatz to see the fountain where Maria splashes when she sings, "I Have Confidence". Unfortunately the fountain is under repair and was covered in a huge wooden case. The scene in the movie where the Nazis march into the square and there is a large building in the background decorated with the Nazi flag was also filmed at Residenzplatz.
Adjacent to the Residenzplatz is the Domplatz, where the beautiful Salzburg cathedral sits. It, too, is under construction. We bought a couple of large pretzels to share here for lunch. THen we went into the cathedral. It was heavily damaged during WW2, but was rebuilt in the 1950s and is quite beautiful today. The crypt was open, so we went down there too. Since the church was rebuilt in the 50s, the crypt isn't very creepy. When we left the cathedral there was a man cutting silhouettes. We had Caroline's done. My mother has a silhouette of her as a child and me as a child, so now we have 3 generations of silhouettes.
Next it was time to visit Hohensalzburg (the castle) so we took the funicular up the mountain. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny day in the upper 60s. We will be coming home from Germany with a start on our summer tans! The view from the castle was fantastic. On one side you can see the Alps, and the opposite side is a view of the beautiful city of Salzburg. We looked inside the castle at some museum areas for a while then went outside into the courtyard of the castle. If I were able to time-travel I would like to go back to the 14th or 15th century to experience life inside a castle's walls. After a snack we went back inside the castle for a very interesting audio tour.
Back down in the city we went to the Sankt Peter Cemetery and Catacombs. This cemetery was the inspiration for the cemetery scene in S of M when the Von Trapps are hiding from the Nazis at the convent. We then came to the Festspielhaus auditorium where the Von Trapp family sang before escaping Salzburg. We couldn't go inside.
We continued our walk back to Getreidegasse and started looking for somewhere to eat. This area of Salzburg is particularly expensive, so we crossed the river and found a restaurant on the way to the train station. We got on the 7:18 p.m. train and were back in Munich at 9:18 p.m. We were exhausted from all the travel and walking--my pedometer read 9.82 miles!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Monday at Neuschwanstein
On Monday April 6 we left Jana's house (with Jana in tow) and set off for Bavaria. We stopped along the way for a snack and to get gas, then continued toward Neuschwanstein. The weather was warm (60s) and sunny when we arrived. We decided not to tour Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, the former being King Ludwig's childhood home and the latter being the castle he had built in the 1890s, I think. It was already early afternoon when we arrived, and if you want to tour the castles you tour Hohenschwangau first, then Neuschwanstein 2 hours later, and in between you have to hang out in the town where most of the shops are owned by the same people that own the castles. Kind of a nifty racket for them! So we took the bus up the mountain to Marienbruecke, where everyone gets the fantastic shot of Neuschwanstein that you always see on posters and in tourist publications. We were disappointed to find that that entire side of the castle was covered in tarps and scaffolding. We took the obligatory photos of other tourists with the castle in the background, and other tourists took our photo, too. We then walked to the outside of Neuschwanstein just to look around. Definitely a nice view; no wonder King Ludwig chose that spot for his castle!
Instead of taking the bus back down into the town we decided to walk down. I had read about Poellat Gorge, and the beautiful walk it was, and while I was talking to Karl and the girls about finding this path, an Australian man overheard me and told us that it was closed because of rock slides. So we found a different walking path.
It was interesting because while the ambient temperature was somewhere in the 60s, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Jana and Caroline made a little snowman and for some of our hike we had merely a footpath that was clear while the rest of the trail was snow/ice covered. The mountains looked quite nice wearing their snow caps--very picturesque.
After our hike we drove a little ways to the Sommerrodelbahn at Tegeberg. The Sommerrodelbahn is somewhat like a luge. You sit on a small sled with a stick in front of you. If you push the stick forward you will go faster and if you pull the stick towards you, you will slow down. A cable pulls you uphill, then you are released in a stainless steel chute-like track. You wind your way downhill. It's very fun!
We stopped for more photos after the Sommerrodelbahn and then set out for Munich. We are staying at Hotel Uhland, which is located on a quiet street about 15 minutes by foot from the main train station. Hotel Uhland was originally a mansion built in 1889. We have a large room with a king size bed and a full size bed, nice sized bathroom, table, chairs, TV, and a wardrobe. There don't seem to be too many other guests around. The first morning the breakfast room was packed but nearly empty the other mornings--so it's quiet.
Instead of taking the bus back down into the town we decided to walk down. I had read about Poellat Gorge, and the beautiful walk it was, and while I was talking to Karl and the girls about finding this path, an Australian man overheard me and told us that it was closed because of rock slides. So we found a different walking path.
It was interesting because while the ambient temperature was somewhere in the 60s, there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground. Jana and Caroline made a little snowman and for some of our hike we had merely a footpath that was clear while the rest of the trail was snow/ice covered. The mountains looked quite nice wearing their snow caps--very picturesque.
After our hike we drove a little ways to the Sommerrodelbahn at Tegeberg. The Sommerrodelbahn is somewhat like a luge. You sit on a small sled with a stick in front of you. If you push the stick forward you will go faster and if you pull the stick towards you, you will slow down. A cable pulls you uphill, then you are released in a stainless steel chute-like track. You wind your way downhill. It's very fun!
We stopped for more photos after the Sommerrodelbahn and then set out for Munich. We are staying at Hotel Uhland, which is located on a quiet street about 15 minutes by foot from the main train station. Hotel Uhland was originally a mansion built in 1889. We have a large room with a king size bed and a full size bed, nice sized bathroom, table, chairs, TV, and a wardrobe. There don't seem to be too many other guests around. The first morning the breakfast room was packed but nearly empty the other mornings--so it's quiet.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Sunday in Sankt Wendel
Sunday April 5th
We spent Sunday in Sankt Wendel where Jana and her dad participated in a relay. There were 2 others on the relay team, and between the four runners they ran a marathon. We went with Jana's mom, sister and sister's boyfriend to watch and cheer for the team. The town was very busy with rides for the children, food tents, bands, and American-style cheerleaders. It was very festive, and then on top of the marathon festivities, the town was decorated for Easter.
After we watched Jana's team finish the race, Jana's mom took us to the St. Wendel catholic church and the protestant church. We also sat outside at an ice cream shop for a snack. Caroline and I shared a crepe with Nutella and Amaretto. Tasty!
Later we ate dinner at Taparia Pizzaria. Present at the dinner were Jana's family, the other 2 team members, the wife and daughter of one of the team members, and also his in-laws from England. It was a good time with good food. I had a Diovalo pizza with pepperoni, onions and hot peppers. Karl had the Solo Mio pizza with garlic, pepperoni and black olives. Caroline had the Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple.
After dinner we went back to Jana's house and played Yatzee (or Yatzy, as it's spelled in Germany).
We spent Sunday in Sankt Wendel where Jana and her dad participated in a relay. There were 2 others on the relay team, and between the four runners they ran a marathon. We went with Jana's mom, sister and sister's boyfriend to watch and cheer for the team. The town was very busy with rides for the children, food tents, bands, and American-style cheerleaders. It was very festive, and then on top of the marathon festivities, the town was decorated for Easter.
After we watched Jana's team finish the race, Jana's mom took us to the St. Wendel catholic church and the protestant church. We also sat outside at an ice cream shop for a snack. Caroline and I shared a crepe with Nutella and Amaretto. Tasty!
Later we ate dinner at Taparia Pizzaria. Present at the dinner were Jana's family, the other 2 team members, the wife and daughter of one of the team members, and also his in-laws from England. It was a good time with good food. I had a Diovalo pizza with pepperoni, onions and hot peppers. Karl had the Solo Mio pizza with garlic, pepperoni and black olives. Caroline had the Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple.
After dinner we went back to Jana's house and played Yatzee (or Yatzy, as it's spelled in Germany).
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Trier, Germany
Saturday, April 4--typical German breakfast of rolls, cheeses, meats, spreads, and fruit. After breakfast we drove to Trier, Germany, less than an hour away. Jana's parents drove us there in their cars (there were 6 of us, so we needed 2 cars) and showed us the sights.
Trier is the oldest city in Germany and has Roman ruins from about 180 AD. It was a favorite place of several Roman Emperors, and was called the "Second Rome". We first visited Porta Nigra, part of the old city walls and gate from the Roman times. Then we visited the Dom. Afterwards we stopped at a cafe on a shopping street for a snack. I had Apfelschorle, which is apple juice with bubbly water, Karl had coffee and Caroline and Jana split a large ice cream concoction. Again, the weather was perfect, and it was very enjoyable to sit outside and watch people and chat.
Afterwards, we walked to the Kaiserthermen, the Roman bath ruins from the time of Emperor Constantine. Very interesting. A nice interpretive center is there, and many underground passages to explore. The above ground portion of the ruins is 3 stories high. It's interesting to walk around and think about how it was 1700 years ago.
A few blocks from the Kaiserthermen is the Amphitheater. It was hard to imagine the gladiators and lions having show-downs there. In the walls you could see the pens where the animals would've been held, and you can go underneath the arena to see where the gladiators and/or condemned men were held with the animals.
I really appreciated the accessibility of these ancient monuments. It was great to be able to walk through the ruins of the baths and amphitheater and gate and not have to view them from a distance or be roped off from them.
We ate dinner at a restaurant called Kartoffelkiste (Potato Basket). We sat outside again and ate, chatted, and watched people. Potatoes are very popular in Germany so I was not too surprised to find a restaurant that served dozens of different potato dishes. I had a casserole of potatoes, ham, pineapple, cheese sauce, topped with more cheese and browned in the oven. Different, but very good!
We got back to Jana's house around 7:30, and played one of our family's favorite games, Settlers of Catan.
Trier is the oldest city in Germany and has Roman ruins from about 180 AD. It was a favorite place of several Roman Emperors, and was called the "Second Rome". We first visited Porta Nigra, part of the old city walls and gate from the Roman times. Then we visited the Dom. Afterwards we stopped at a cafe on a shopping street for a snack. I had Apfelschorle, which is apple juice with bubbly water, Karl had coffee and Caroline and Jana split a large ice cream concoction. Again, the weather was perfect, and it was very enjoyable to sit outside and watch people and chat.
Afterwards, we walked to the Kaiserthermen, the Roman bath ruins from the time of Emperor Constantine. Very interesting. A nice interpretive center is there, and many underground passages to explore. The above ground portion of the ruins is 3 stories high. It's interesting to walk around and think about how it was 1700 years ago.
A few blocks from the Kaiserthermen is the Amphitheater. It was hard to imagine the gladiators and lions having show-downs there. In the walls you could see the pens where the animals would've been held, and you can go underneath the arena to see where the gladiators and/or condemned men were held with the animals.
I really appreciated the accessibility of these ancient monuments. It was great to be able to walk through the ruins of the baths and amphitheater and gate and not have to view them from a distance or be roped off from them.
We ate dinner at a restaurant called Kartoffelkiste (Potato Basket). We sat outside again and ate, chatted, and watched people. Potatoes are very popular in Germany so I was not too surprised to find a restaurant that served dozens of different potato dishes. I had a casserole of potatoes, ham, pineapple, cheese sauce, topped with more cheese and browned in the oven. Different, but very good!
We got back to Jana's house around 7:30, and played one of our family's favorite games, Settlers of Catan.
Spring Break trip 2009
We are having a fantastic time in Germany! I intended to blog every day about the trip, but have been busy and/or tired and have had hit-or-miss internet service. So I'll get started on catching up now.
Friday April 3rd--We arrived at Frankfurt airport and rented a nice Mercedes B-class car and drove to Heidelberg. The drive is less than an hour. We parked in a parking garage near Universitaetplatz and started walking around. The Alte Stadt of Heidelberg is pretty compact so doesn't take too long to get from one place to another. We walked to Kornmarkt and took the Bergbahn up the cliff to Koenigsstuhl. Fantastic views from up there. There was also a little restaurant, a falcon show and a "Fairy Tale Paradise" for children but we didn't do any of those things. Coming down from Koenigsstuhl we stopped at Schloss Heidelberg. We were very tired so didn't feel like doing a guided tour or an audio tour, so we just walked around on our own. It was interesting to see the different architecture styles from the different periods it was built. We took photos of ourselves at the Grosses Fass, which is a huge wine barrel where all tourists seem to have their photo taken.
After visiting the castle, it was time for lunch. We returned to Kornmarkt and then walked to Marktplatz where there were a number of restaurants. The weather was beautiful (sunny and 60s) so we chose a table outside at the restaurant called Hahn im Korb. Karl and I had the "Haenchen-Wellness" (grilled chicken breast) with vegetables and "Salzkartoffeln"--a kind of potato. Caroline had chicken noodle soup. No beers at this meal---we all needed to stay awake!
Many restaurants have "Wellness" items on the menu. It can be totally in German, and have the English word Wellness in the name. We enjoyed people-watching and listening to the church bells.
When we finished lunch we walked around the corner to the Alte Bruecke, a bridge across the Neckar River. Nice views from here, and we watched a barge of gravel go under us. Then we walked back to the area around Heidelberg University and visited the Studentenkarzer. This was a jail where unruly students were detained. The walls are covered with artwork done by the detained students. It's really fantastic. I remembered it from my visit to Heidelberg 32 years ago. Afterwards we visited a couple of churches, the Heiliggeistkirche and the Jesuitenkirche.
Then it was time to visit Jana and her family! We got stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam on the Autobahn and were about 20 minutes late. Fortunately, I had a cellphone that works on the European network so I was able to call and let them know we were running late.
It was nice to finally meet Jana's parents and sister! They are very nice, welcoming people. We had a tasty dinner of goulash with noodles and red cabbage, followed by cheesecake, ice cream, cherries and chocolate. Jana's house is lovely. It is located above the village and has a very nice view. Caroline stayed in Jana's room and Karl and I stayed in a room on the lower level of the house.
Friday April 3rd--We arrived at Frankfurt airport and rented a nice Mercedes B-class car and drove to Heidelberg. The drive is less than an hour. We parked in a parking garage near Universitaetplatz and started walking around. The Alte Stadt of Heidelberg is pretty compact so doesn't take too long to get from one place to another. We walked to Kornmarkt and took the Bergbahn up the cliff to Koenigsstuhl. Fantastic views from up there. There was also a little restaurant, a falcon show and a "Fairy Tale Paradise" for children but we didn't do any of those things. Coming down from Koenigsstuhl we stopped at Schloss Heidelberg. We were very tired so didn't feel like doing a guided tour or an audio tour, so we just walked around on our own. It was interesting to see the different architecture styles from the different periods it was built. We took photos of ourselves at the Grosses Fass, which is a huge wine barrel where all tourists seem to have their photo taken.
After visiting the castle, it was time for lunch. We returned to Kornmarkt and then walked to Marktplatz where there were a number of restaurants. The weather was beautiful (sunny and 60s) so we chose a table outside at the restaurant called Hahn im Korb. Karl and I had the "Haenchen-Wellness" (grilled chicken breast) with vegetables and "Salzkartoffeln"--a kind of potato. Caroline had chicken noodle soup. No beers at this meal---we all needed to stay awake!
Many restaurants have "Wellness" items on the menu. It can be totally in German, and have the English word Wellness in the name. We enjoyed people-watching and listening to the church bells.
When we finished lunch we walked around the corner to the Alte Bruecke, a bridge across the Neckar River. Nice views from here, and we watched a barge of gravel go under us. Then we walked back to the area around Heidelberg University and visited the Studentenkarzer. This was a jail where unruly students were detained. The walls are covered with artwork done by the detained students. It's really fantastic. I remembered it from my visit to Heidelberg 32 years ago. Afterwards we visited a couple of churches, the Heiliggeistkirche and the Jesuitenkirche.
Then it was time to visit Jana and her family! We got stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam on the Autobahn and were about 20 minutes late. Fortunately, I had a cellphone that works on the European network so I was able to call and let them know we were running late.
It was nice to finally meet Jana's parents and sister! They are very nice, welcoming people. We had a tasty dinner of goulash with noodles and red cabbage, followed by cheesecake, ice cream, cherries and chocolate. Jana's house is lovely. It is located above the village and has a very nice view. Caroline stayed in Jana's room and Karl and I stayed in a room on the lower level of the house.
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