Germany (3): Munich

Our final three days were spent in the beer capital of Bavaria--Munich! All the miles we walked around exploring the city allowed us to burn off at least most of the beer we drank--"prost"!!

After checking in to our hotel, we rented wheels from Mike's Bikes and rode around the city centre and the English Gardens. We loved how the city is so organized and bike-friendly! We stopped to watch the surfers practice their skills at the river and admired the Chinese tower with its beer garden below. (I nicknamed it the "beer pagoda"!)

The next day we took a tour to visit Schloss Neuschwanstein, the most famous of King Ludwig II's castles and the model for Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. Transported by bus, we arrived at the castle late morning and were given 45 minutes to explore the small town and eat lunch. Then, following our tour guides, we walked up the steep hill, which was more challenging than I'd anticipated, but nothing the Dewhirsts couldn't handle! Almost at the top, we stopped to view the castle from Mary's bridge, which afforded spectacular views of the schloss and the valley below.

Upon arrival at the castle, we only had to wait a short time for our reserved time slot. We wandered through the fairy tale castle on our tour, learning about the life of eccentric King Ludwig II and his obsession with Mozart. The views from all balconies and windows more than made up for the dark interior rooms. Sitting pretty at the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, this castle was truly magical!

We spent the last day exploring Munich central. We first visited the Marienplatz, location of the city hall (called the "Rathaus") and watched the glockenspeil display. We also took a peek inside the gothic style churches of Peterskirche and Frauenkirche. Unfortunately, the steps leading up to the top of the twin steeples was closed for maintenance, but the stained glass and ornate detailing were quite stunning.

After, we bought tickets to view the extensive treasury collection at the Residenz Munich. Checking all our bags, we stepped inside the vault with our audio guides to view costly treasures from centuries past. We left quite famished, and so enjoyed lunch at the shady beer garden at the Viktualienmarkt, followed by girl-shopping for dirndls. (We'll look super authentic at Oktoberfest in Texas!) After, we hopped back to the Residenz to view the palace rooms themselves. Stunning and elaborate, this was sensory overload at its finest!

 

To end our vacation as proper tourists, we ate dinner that night at the famous Hofbrauhaus. While the live band played tunes and the barmaids hoisted pretzels and beer, we ate our fill of traditional fare and I drank a "mas" (big one!) just to see if I could. =) "Prost" to our holiday in Germany!