Subscribe
Subscribe to this site's RSS feed.
-
Monday, February 11th, 2008
The Internet is too small to contain my excitement, but I’ll try – it’s official! My friend Kristen and I will be taking an impromptu trip to Germany (Munich, to be exact) in two weeks!
Okay, that definitely deserves a few more exclamation marks: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This all came about because D and I were in the early stages of planning a trip to Europe later in the spring, and I noticed with a sick feeling how drastically cheaper airline tickets and hotels are in February. I was complaining about this over dinner with Kristen when one of us – I can’t remember who – suggested we should take advantage of those cheap prices and go on an off-season “mini-break” to some as-yet-undetermined city in Europe.
I was instantly gung-ho/obsessive-crazy about this plan. I’ve been making extra money working for my parents’ costume website (shameless plug #7,890: Candy Apple Costumes), so this seemed like a great excuse to spend it.
And Kristen was feeling some job burn-out and needed a break. So it was decided – sort of. She still had to get approval from her boss for her chosen vacation days, and that took about a week from the inception of our idea, which to an obsessive-crazy-excited person like myself seemed like eternity times infinity.
Meanwhile, I was putting all my crazed energy to work researching destinations, airline ticket prices and hotels. We’d discussed Edinburgh at dinner, but then I found out flights there are not so cheap. The whole idea was to have a cheap off-season vacation, so that really didn’t work.
D and I are probably going to Amsterdam on our trip, so that was out. I thought about all the episodes of Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown I’ve watched (and that’s a lot), during almost all of which I’d turn to D and say, “I want to go there!” I fondly recalled the episode on Bavaria, looked up the area on my trusty TripAdvisor.com, and found that Munich is a city most vacationers adore and that it’s a good hub for seeing the sights in Bavaria. I also searched Flickr.com and came up with photos like this amazing one of Neuschwanstein Castle that were pretty convincing.
I also entertained ideas of Prague, but Kristen didn’t seem as into it, and flights to Munich were super cheap – like $414/person cheap. Because the flights were so cheap, I talked Kristen into an extra day – leaving on Wednesday instead of Thursday saved us so much on the flight that it canceled out the cost of staying in the hotel an extra night.
As soon as I got confirmation from Kristen, I focused all my efforts on Munich and compiled a list of hotels with ratings gleaned from expedia.com and Trip Advisor, along with additional info like whether the hotels had free internet and decent bathrooms, and how close they were to the train station and pedestrian-only zone.
We met on Saturday to finalize the details and book our travel arrangements. We got decent seats on all flights, booked a hotel we’re happy with (the King’s Hotel First Class), and it’s official! It’s official! We’re really going!
The weather will be colder than our everyday weather in Alabama, but not too bad (most likely highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s). In preparation I bought a warm waterproof jacket, thermal underwear shirt, non-decorative scarf, fleece hat, and waterproof walking shoes.
At the most recent New Era Club meeting, someone gave a talk on how she went to Europe for 14 days and only took a carry-on suitcase, so I had big ideas about doing that myself. But Kristen and I agreed that since we’ll only be staying in one city, having the easy transportability of a small suitcase is not that important. Having our possibly excessive amounts of winter gear – now that’s important.
I’ve already made an extremely detailed packing list. Here’s a small segment:
6 pairs socks
4 pigtail elastics
iPod charger
5 granola bars
Nuts in Ziploc bag
Band-Aids of various sizes
Now that the trip is booked; the packing list is made; and the winter clothes, guidebooks, No Jet Lag pills and sleep mask are bought; all I can do is wait impatiently for these next two weeks to pass. My knee is bouncing as we speak.
Meanwhile, I have to somehow concentrate enough to write a cover story and try to learn some German. So far I know “Ich heiße Kristin.” (I am called Kristin/My name is Kristin). Good thing about that one – it works for both of us.
Neuschwanstein=Fairy Castle.
It was so amazing, but I think you should be warned– we weren’t. You take a train that seems to suggest it takes you to the castle. But when you get there, there’s no castle. So they tell you to get on a bus. So you take the bus. But then you get off the bus and still no castle. So they tell you to hike on up, or take the horse and cart. You can’t really see the castle, well, so you opt for the lazy horse and cart. Besides, the driver looks like he stepped out of a tourism poster for Bavaria. And then the horse and cart pulls to a stop and you still have a few steps to climb before you’re there.
BUT SO WORTH IT!!! And really, part of the fun.
Glockenspiel, less worth it for me, but it was raining and I had no coat. Could have been biased.
Have a great time!!!
How cool! Can’t wait to see pictures! I hope you have a wonderful time.
Oooh, I’m so excited for you! We are thinking about doing the rest of Germany for Josh’s holiday trip next year, and especially that castle! I can’t wait to get your reviews on Munich!
You’re going to have a blast!!!
perfect timing – you can do advance research for me. We are going to Berlin for a week in May and then to the southern part of Germany and flying back to the states from Munich. Let me know how the hotel works out. Are you flying back out of Munich?
I’ve been reading your blog off and on for a couple of years now but never posted because, well, there was nothing to say. I live in a flat in Germany! ;-) Nothing to renovate…
Anyway, I had to post now to tell you that Munich (München, here in Germany) is an *excellent* choice. I’d go so far to say that if one can only visit one place in Germany, it should be Munich. I know. I lived there for over six years before moving to Heidelberg and I miss Munich terribly. If you need any tips or ideas (or help with your German), please feel free to e-mail me!
Also, if you go to Neuschwanstein, yes, be prepared to walk up the hill and, yes, it is definitely worth it, at least for the views. And if you are already in the area (Füssen), you might also want to visit Hohenschwangau, another castle (where Ludwig II grew up) which is far less famous but I think just as pretty and certainly with fantastic views.
You are right that Munich is wonderfully located for everything. We have the airport right there north of the city, a fantastic public transportation system (subway (U-bahn), streetcar (Straßenbahn), bus, trains (S-bahn) and the city itself is packed with great things to see and do. However, just a stone’s throw outside the city we have beautiful countryside, lakes and mountains. Everything is just an arm’s reach away.
Can you tell how awfully homesick I am? Hope you have a great trip.
Ooh, T, you’ve got me even more excited about Munich (München)! I’d refer to it by its German name, but I can’t figure out how to pronounce it! I’m still veerrrrrry early in the German-learning process. It’s so different from the other languages I’ve dabbled in (Italian and Spanish). I keep trying to roll my r’s!
I was a German major, and was able to visit Germany (and Munich) twice (’89 and ’94). Munich is WONDERFUL. I loved it! You can easily walk the diameter of the old city in a couple of hours (if I’m remembering correctly), the people are friendly, the surroundings beautiful. I’m jealous, I will admit! We changed planes in Munich on our way to Kyiv in ’03, but I didn’t get to see ANYTHING, and that was a major disappointment. Have a great time, and definitely learn: “Entschuldigen, sprechen Sie Englisch?” That will get you far!
Bamberg is also a great place to visit, though I’m not sure how far it is from Munich- it’s the northern edge of “Bavaria”, but was part of Franconia in the day. Beautiful!!
Kristen, don’t worry too much about your German. Nearly everyone in Munich can speak at least some English and many speak it quite well. If you want to use Lenise’s phrase above, it is actually “Entschuldingen Sie, sprechen Sie English?” (Lenise forgot the first “Sie” but I’m guessing she was just typing quickly! ;-) )
Bamberg is quite a drive, if I’m not mistaken. Munich is down towards to the Alps at the bottom of Bavaria (Bayern, in German) and Frankonia is at the northern border of Bavaria–a long drive. However, Regensburg is quite near Munich and a very beautiful city to visit, as well as the outlying areas. Definitely worth a visit, if you have time! Also, the area south of Munich down to the Alps is gorgeous. If you visit Füssen (the town below Neuschwannstein), you will get to see a lot of this countryside.
Excellent post. *stumbles*