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Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
I had a wonderful time in Germany, saw wonderful things and met wonderful people, but I am happy to be back in a place where I can watch English-speaking television, eat something other than stale croissants, drive my gas-guzzler everywhere I need to go, and obtain sexual favors from my husband whenever I please. I feel like such a gross American.
I didn’t feel this way when I got back from Italy. I instantly missed Venice, even on the plane home. But this trip, though shorter - brief, even - wore me out completely. This is not to say that Munich and the surrounding areas weren’t delightful - they were, they were! I think my fatigue can be blamed mostly on the fact that Kristen and I never managed to get on a proper schedule.
The first day we arrived in Munich at 8 a.m. (which was like 1 a.m. for us) and walked around the pedestrian city center for a while until we could check into our hotel room. We saw the Glockenspiel on the front of the New Town Hall do its cute little performance, and we climbed a winding staircase in the Old Town Hall tower to visit the charming toy and teddy bear museum. We ate delicious, fresh-baked, chocolate-filled croissants in Marienplatz.
Then we went back to the hotel to crash. I’d slept maybe an hour total on the flight, and Kristen was worn out, too, so we fell into a dead sleep until well past dark. We woke disoriented and had to do some fancy math to figure out what time it was, since Kristen didn’t know how to change the time on her watch (which was set on Central Time), and my cell phone was still stuck on Atlanta time (Eastern Time). This problem continued throughout the trip, so that whenever we needed to know the time, we either had to add 6 or 7 hours, depending on if we were looking at her watch or my phone. Or subtract 7 hours if I was trying to set the alarm to wake up in the morning. It was a mess.
That night we finally made it out of the hotel room by 9 or 10 and found an Italian restaurant that had an English menu and at least one English-speaking waiter, who they assigned to us. This was the first of two delicious Italian meals we had on the trip (the other was at a place a tour guide recommended, La Vecchia Messaria), which were just about the only times we felt satisfied food-wise. Kristen doesn’t eat red meat, and I’m not overly fond of it either. We refused to eat sausage or any kind or mystery meats or pretty much anything on display in the shops. With that and all the running around we did, I actually lost weight on this trip!
That first night we also went to Hofbräuhaus, the most famous - and nowadays touristy - beer garden in Munich, which was just as much fun as everybody says it is. I even tried a beer, though I hate beer and found that Munich beer is just as beer-y as everywhere else. We met all kinds of nice people - Serbians (non-embassy-burning ones, we hope), Scots and Germans - there and, after it closed, at the Hard Rock Cafe bar across the street, though we felt like total loser Americans for going to an American chain while in Germany.
The rest of the trip was spent similarly - wake up early; try desperately to find something to eat; figure out the train station; barely make it in time to meet tour or train; almost die hiking an Alp; see amazing sights that make our jaws drop, hearts flutter, or eyes get misty; feet hurt, oh, oh, how they hurt; come back to the hotel in the afternoon and crash; wake up after dark; now with our stomachs grumbling, try to find a restaurant still open at 11 p.m.; on alternating days, go to a bar; wake up next morning feeling like ass. Rinse and repeat.
Fortunately, the things we saw and the people we met were worth it. Well, some of them were. On our day trip to Salzburg, Austria, we took The Sound of Music tour, which I admit could’ve gone better.
At the first stop, the bus left us while we were using the port-a-potty. Yes, we are the kind of idiots who get LEFT by a tour bus. We were stranded outside the city center - nowhere near walking distance for two gals still sore and weakened from dragging themselves up an Alp the previous day - and after a few irate phone conversations with the tour company, we managed to catch a cab to meet up with the bus at another stop. We missed the “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” gazebo, which we were looking forward to the most, but the cab driver told us all about how it’s not that impressive and wasn’t built to last, and that made us feel a little better.
Back on the tour, we tried to squash our bitterness toward the tour guide and enjoy ourselves. Though the connection to The Sound of Music was tenuous at best, we still enjoyed seeing the sights around Salzburg, especially when the bus took us up into the Lake District past lots of dazzling lakes and the adorable villages clustered on their banks. I can’t even describe how beautiful the Alps were.
I took a ridiculous amount of pictures everywhere we went on the trip, except in Dachau, where I couldn’t muster up the desire to take souvenir photos of the crematoriums or the cold, cold prison cells. The day we went there was the coldest of the trip - rainy with a bitter wind - and it was hard to imagine standing in that barren roll call area for hours at a time in such weather, and worse. It was a moving experience, and we left there sobered and chilled to the bone.
The best place for photos was Neuschwanstein Castle, which was stunningly beautiful and was surrounded by even more stunningly beautiful scenery, but the climb up there was really bad. Everyone says it’s a hike, but man - it’s REALLY A HIKE. I think the poor tour guide seriously thought I was going to collapse and die at any moment. Even I wasn’t entirely convinced I would survive it. I blame it on the flu. Still, I’m never trying that again unless I can be sure the horses and carriages will be running!
Okay, I’ll stop now. I could tell you every single detail of every single day, but I already made my sister sit through that - it took two installments to tell it all - so I’ll spare you. Instead, here are my zillion and one photos:
Kristein in Germany photoset at Flickr.
And I’ll sum up the trip this way: I had fun, but next time I go to Europe, I’m taking a watch I know how to set!
Edited to add:
I’ve had a request for more details, so here you go! Some random moments from our trip:
Well, I’m jealous. I’ve spent a lot of time in Salzburg and the surrounding area; it’s certainly a beautiful little piece of the world.
Welcome back! I’m going to look at the pictures now.
The pictures are great! Really liked the sign post, the swan and the waterfall!
Oh more details!!! I love traveling vicariously and your trip sounds like fun. I would love to go to Germany one day…..
John - Salzburg is definitely beautiful. I wish we could’ve had more time there!
Sandy - Thanks! I was amazed at how close the swans got to us. It seemed there was a bit of a swan theme to the trip after spending the previous day at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles, which had swans as their symbols.
Jill - Hmmm, more details. I’ve got details! I took a journal with me this trip and wrote in it each day so I wouldn’t forget anything!
I would have had the same problem, except Josh is HARD CORE and will not let me sleep during the day no matter how jet lagged I am. When we first landed in Germany and I had slept 0 hours on the flight because Gabe was up all night, he let me sleep 45 minutes and then dragged me out of bed because he said I was going to ruin my adjustment to German time. After that first day, which royally sucked, we got onto German time and all was well.
The rest sounds amazing! I really want to go to that castle! Do you think I could make it up the hike with Gabe or would it be impossible? He’ll be almost 2 at that point.
I saw a few people lugging babies up the mountain. We saw them and were glad we didn’t have to do it!
Seriously, though, I bet you could do it. We did make it up - we (especially I) just had to stop and rest a lot. There were plenty of people going up who didn’t look like they were about to keel over. And there are horse and carriage rides up the mountain, but this day there weren’t because it had been storming - any time it’s too slick they don’t go, apparently.
Yes, Germany is very dog friendly. However, they are not very child-friendly. Mothers with babies in prams and children in hand have been booted off of buses because their babies were crying or the child was carrying a scooter. I have many such stories which make me very, very angry. Their tolerance of dogs amazes me when I consider how intolerant they are of children. By all means, bring your dog to the restaurant, but don’t dare bring your children. >:-(
Did you happen to get to see any of Dachau besides the concentration camp? In all the years I lived in Munich, I could not bring myself to visit the camp. However, the town is absolutely beautiful, especially the old part, which is all winding cobblestone roads and old cottages and, at the top, a castle with stunning views out over the country side and an absolutely beautiful garden with apple tree orchards and more beautiful views out over Munich. Such a pity Dachau is only known for the concentration camp outside of the town. Tourists visit that and miss a beautifully picturesque little town and castle.
T, I did want to see the old part of Dachau, but we were so worn out by that point (and hung over from the night before) that we didn’t take the time. After your description of it, I’m really regretting that decision!