Summer Vacation: Munich

^^Walking around Marienplatz in Munich

After a few days in the campervan, I was ready to sleep in a big comfy bed. Since we were ready for a little exploring in Munich, we thought splashing out on a hotel would be a good alternative than dealing with the campervan outside of the city center. We drove to Ingolstadt from Fussen to check out the outlets first. After discovering there was free WiFi, I immediately logged onto Hotwire to see what deals I could find in Munich for the next two nights. We lucked out with the Sofitel which was walking distance to the main attractions in the center and right next to the central train station. This was perfect because we planned to park right outside the city center and take the train to the hotel.

For those with a rental car and planning on driving to Munich, I highly recommend parking at one of the Park and Ride garages. The only one we could find open for overnight parking was the P+R Messestadt Ost. It was free for the first 24 hours and then only a couple of euros for each day thereafter. We arrived on a Saturday and did not have any trouble finding a parking space. It was very secure and had easy access to the train right to the city center.

^^First thing on our to do list, eat (and drink!) at a beer hall so we were off to Augustiner. You seat yourself, eat a pretzel or two while the waiter brings you liters of beer and you order sausages, lots of them. It was all delicious. One small tip about tipping in Germany: you don't leave the tip on the table, but you round up and maybe leave a euro or two when the waiter brings you the check. You just tell the server how much change to give back to you.

This was my first time in Germany and I really enjoyed Munich. The general atmosphere was so nice, to walk around, hear live music everywhere, and not to mention the perfect temperature. After resting at the hotel and then walking around again, it was already time for dinner.

^^We had dinner outside at Paulaner Im Tal. I opted to go pork-free for one meal and had the cheesy spaetzle. It was the perfect amount of cheesiness, served with a side salad with a scoop of potato salad hidden underneath, a nice surprise! A opted for the pork knuckle and potato dumplings which looked very good as well.

The next day we got up early and decided to go on a guided tour of Dachau concentration camp. We went with Gordon Hogan's tour and I also recommend this tour for anyone interested. You don't need to book in advance, you just show up in front of the flower shop at the main entrance of the central train station. The tour takes all morning through lunchtime, so it is suggested that you bring some food with you. The price includes transportation and a guided tour at Dachau (I think it was around 20 euros, but I can't remember exactly!). I thought Gordon was great compared to some of the other tours I saw, which seemed like they were just reading from a script. Gordon't tour felt like a conversation and he provided insight on the history and emotion of the time.

We headed back to the hotel after a tiring morning and got some rest before we headed out again. Next was my favorite part of the trip, walking around the English gardens and having a meal at the Chinese pagoda with a band playing in the background.

^^Walking through a pretty garden on the way to the English gardens. 

^^So many choices, roast chicken, roast potatoes, currywurst, ribs, sauerkraut....!

^^I opted for the currywurst, roast potatoes, a huge pretzel (so good) and a big mug of apple juice :) A went for the currywurst, sauerkraut and side of potato salad, which was really yummy.  

^^A wonderful setting for a lazy Sunday evening of relaxing, eating and hanging with your best friend. 

^^A cool Swedish band called Tammy we came across during our walk. 

After wandering around Munich for the rest of the night, we had a good night's sleep at the hotel and got up early so we could get back to the campervan and drive to the Black Forest! We originally we going to drive back down to Switzerland and visit a few places around Zurich, but since we already did Switzerland in the Gstaad area last summer, we decided we needed to explore more of Germany. Most of all, I was excited for the Black Forest cake! We found the campervan safe and sound at the parking garage and were off to the forest.   

^^One last thought, you need to have a pretzel croissant when you are in Germany. They are one of the best things ever. 

Next post, the Black Forest and a few pics from Switzerland. 

Summer Vacation: Neuschwanstein Castle

These next few posts about our summer vacation are very late, whoops. I promise I will try to be better about blogging! We had three weeks off for vacation in August and while most people headed straight to the beaches, we traveled up north first to escape the heat.

After stopping by Switzerland for a few days in the mountains near Geneva, we made our way to Germany. First stop on my list, the fairy tale castle, Neuschwanstein. ^^The picture above is when we finally made it to Queen Mary's Bridge or Marienbrucke for a great (kind of scary if you are afraid of heights!) view of the castle. We arrived around 10am on a weekday and found a parking space with no problem. As we made our way to the ticket booth, there were plenty of staff around to answer questions and give general information. We were told that the line just to the ticket booth was around 2 hours then we would be given a time slot to visit the castle (only with a guided tour to see the inside), probably the earliest at 5pm. All of this was true, the line moved quickly, but still was 2 hours. After we received our tickets and time slot, we decided to have a little snack and wander around. 

^^Our first of many currywurst with potato salads and pretzel meals. We ate at one of the on site self-service restaurants. Since this is a huge tourist destination, there are of course plenty of places to eat, relax, and shop while you are waiting to see the castles. In addition to the Neuschwanstein, there is also Hohenschwangau, which we chose not do the tour of the interior, but both castles are free to visit from the exterior.

Since we still had a couple of hours to pass, we decided to take a walk around the lake which took about one hours. It was an easy walk with a clear path to follow and I would recommend it to anyone who has time to kill before their guided tour in the castle. 

^^That's me on a bridge during the walk. If anyone is curious, my bag (new favorite!) is from Madewell and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a simple leather tote. 

Since Neuschwanstein is up on a hill, you can either walk (free), take a bus (1.80 euro uphill or 2.60 euro roundtrip), or a horse carriage (6 euro uphill, 3 euro downhill). ^^We opted for the horse carriage uphill and then walking back down. 

^^This was the entrance to the main gate of the castle where you head for the guided tour. Everything was very organized. You just had to wait for your number to appear on the screen and they let probably around 50 people in at a time for each tour. The our lasted for about 30 minutes and no pictures were allowed. The castle was actually never fully completed, but the tour includes all of the finished rooms. 

By the time we made it back down the hill and it was already close to dinner time. Although it was long day with a couple hours of waiting in line, A and I both enjoyed it. ^^We had A's parent's campervan so we headed to a nearby campsite and settled in for the night. The following stop on our agenda, Munich, which I will post about next!