Munich Day 5

Early start to the day.  Weather was very comfortable.  Our plan today was to get a seat inside a beer tent at Oktoberfest!  The first day we were at Oktoberfest, we could not find a place to sit inside a tent, so we were in the outside seating areas.  We left the apartment at 9:00a and were at the Teresienwiese (Oktoberfest site), by 9:30a.   Found a spot inside the Hacker Pschorr tent and ordered a beer – 9:30a!

 

Met Dan’s nephew, Phil and his wife Bianca, and their daughter Klara at 12:30 and found another spot in the Paulaner Beer Garden. 

Back to the apartment by 5:00p and an early night.  Have to get up at 3:00a to get to our 7:00a flight!

Munich Day 4

Rain today. Lots of it.  Went into the Viktualien Markt to shop for dinner.  The market has been in Munich since 1807.  Found a Starbucks and were able to get picture posted for the blog.   The rain never stopped. 

Went to the Neues Rathaus to see the Glockenspiel perform at 11:00a. The towers oriel window, brightly colored figures emerge and enact a dance and a jousting tournament from the 16the Century

 

Back to the Viktualien Markt and picked up, cheese, bread, sausage, olives, fruit and vegetables. 

 

 

Drove out to Dachau; about 30  minutes from Munich to visit the concentration camp memorial site.  Sobering place and such a difficult reality to grasp.  Worth the visit to remind us all of everything we have to be thankful for.

Munich Day 3 Updated

Oktoberfest!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Munich Day 2

Drove to Berchtesgaden for a view from the Eagle Nest.  Eagles Nest is a house built for Hitler in 1938 by the Nazi party for his 50th Birthday.  It is considered an engineering feat built in just 13 months. Traffic was very heavy leaving town, as today was a National Holiday here in Germany.  Finally arrive at the Kehlstein, and got to the top quickly.  The views from on top of the mountain are unbelievable.  We could see for miles and miles.

 

After Eagles Nest we drove to Salzburg and walked around the town ‘till we could find a place to have a nice dinner.  Wiener schnitzel, Spanferkel, and Hungarian Goulash.  Another great dinner.

Munich Day 1

Drove to Munich today.  Füssen was supposed to be clear and we wanted to go to the top of a mountain on a cable car, but no luck; so we left for Munich.

Our first stop in Munich was the Englisher Garden and the Chinese Tower. A real German beer garden, not a flower garden.

 

Next we checked into our Munich apartment.   Nice place, but the internet is a not real reliable.

After getting settle, we were off to Munich and Marienplatz.  We did a very quick walk around the area and ended up at the Hofbrauhaus.

 

 

After a beer at the Hofbrauhaus, we were off to the Haxnbauer for Swinehaxe (pig knuckles).  Mmmmm, what a great meal. 

 

 

 

Füssen Day 3

The fog lifted a little today and we were able to see the castles.  While it was still cloudy, we could finally see the mountains and walked back up to the Neuschwanstein castle. 

 

Hiked up to the Marienbrucke.  The bridge over a gorge behind Neuschwanstein.

 Lunch at the market shops in altstadt Füssen. Weisswurst and pretzel! 

Dan and Steve did some shopping in Füssen today.  You’ll recognize their purchases when you see them. No pictures today.

Hiking along side Forggensee, near Füssen. 

Gasthaus v. Hirsch, in Hopferau for dinner.

 

 

We are in love with Southern Germany!!

Füssen Day 2

Another rainy and very foggy day here in the mountains.  We made early reservations for a tour of the Neushcwanstein Castle.  This is one of the most famous castles in the world.  Visited by many every day.  We were lucky to get a tour with a total of only 11 people.  The bad part was - even close up you could not see the beauty of the castle setting, in the wooded mountains because of the dense fog.

 

 

The castle was started in 1874 and still not completed in 1886 when the king died.  After his death in 1886, all work stopped on the castle.  This castle is said to be the inspiration for the Disney castle.

On a Clear Day!

We decided to drive to Oberammergau and stopped at the Echelsbacher Bridge on our way.  The bridge was built in 1929 and is 250 feet above the bottom of the gorge.

Oberammergau is famous for the staging of the passion play once every 10 years and wood carving.  Here is a sample from some of the shops.

 

On the return to Füssen, we stopped at Ettal.  A Benedictine monastery  Ettal dating back to 1330.  The church was rebuilt after a fire in 1774.

 

The WeisKircke is a church in the Weis or meadow.   It was built in the mid 1700’s and is another Baroque Rococo style church like many in this part of Bavaria.