Munich

We left Salzburg in the morning and arrived in Munich later that morning (easy distances between major cities here!).  We dedicated our afternoon to visit Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp. It was operational from 1933 until after the war (when the Americans liberated it). Sobering.  Words and pictures are inadequate to express what can only be experienced with a visit.

We've really appreciated Rick Steves' travel guide on this whole trip. Today we downloaded his 1.5 hour walking tour guide app on our ipad and squeezed it into 7 hours. 

How were we able to get such great shots of the glockenspiel waaaay up there, you ask? We climbed onto the shoulders of Old Peter - St. Peter's church just across the "platz". Ted has complete video of the whole dance if you'd like to put in your order now for only 9€! Hee hee!

The Viktualienmarkt is a market of wonderful stalls of cheeses and sausages and flowers and handicrafts and breads the size of ironing boards - wish I could share the smells!

Another church - the church count is rivaling the castle and brat count. This one's unique feature is that it was actually built purposely in between the two neighboring buildings by two Baroque brothers. It was as if they ordered decor for a church 3 times its size but put it all in there anyway.

Well, when in Munich...

...the Hofbraeuhaus is quite touristy, but we went early afternoon, so it was pretty tame (it's a Radler, people! 1/2 beer and 1/2 Sprite, and it's only 1/2 liter...). We continued our walk (yes, we could still, walk straight!) and enjoyed an informal concert in a lovely garden, and caught a sporting event -surfing!     Yes, Munichers can surf in a canal right here in town and they put on quite a show!

We kept seeing "spaghetti ice cream" advertised at shops and so we thought we'd better try one before our days here run out. Yum! So as we pack up tonight and reflect, we are sorry to report that we  completely lost count of how many brats we consumed, but we do know that it is certainly in the double digits. Tired of them, you ask? Ted answers incredulously, "Do you get tied of breathing?"

Thanks for following our adventures on this blog.  We look forward to seeing you all back state side!

Salzburg and Berchtesgaden

Welcome to elegant Salzburg, Austria! Home of...

...The Sound of Music (this should look familiar to fans), and...

The TRUE sound of music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This is a Mozart kugel: a chocolate, marzipan, etc. layered goody. You know, here in Salzburg, the streets are actually paved with Mozartkugels. I picked this one up off the street - yummy!

OK, they're really paved with tourists from all over. But here is a typical street in the Altstadt (old town). Very posh boutiques next to ice cream shops next to stores selling lederhosen and dirndls. Yes, they are worn by the locals. Some are your everyday well worn lederhosen, and some are your dress-up-goin'-out-on-the-town pair. There are "tunnels" connecting the streets (because the buildings are all touching), and in one of them is a tiny closet-sized brat stand. Wonderful spicy-type brats (cheap too!).

Just over the Austrian border back into Germany, is a special place called Berchtesgaden. Hitler thought so, and so the Nazis "bought" this whole mountain outside the town on which he built his home and had a headquarters including a network of bunkers. On the very top is The Eagles Nest, a 50th birthday present for Hitler. We took a very educational tour and we learned a lot. We also had a brat at the mountaintop cafe. But the real reason we wanted to come to this area is...

...because of this house. Ted's mom spent her war years in this home, evacuated here with her family as refugees (minus her dad - he was a soldier). So with a handful of photos with German chicken scratch fragment labels on the back, we asked around and went wandering around (just about every house in this area is built in this style!). And with the help of the unchanging mountains in the photos to give the timeless "GPS" directions...

...we finally found it! The new owner was home and eagerly listened to the story, confirmed the facts, and showed us around the beautifully maintained and tastefully renovated house. 

And all on Mom's birthday too! 

Attitude and Altitude

Welcome to Bavaria, fairy book land of castles, chalets and spaetzle! Ted sits on the balcony of our cozy hotel (again, thanks to Rick Steve's recommendation). 

The next day was a bit overcast, but we (along with hordes of tourists from around the world but mainly China), decided to "do" the iconic castles. These were all "Schloss" - no "Burg" about them! (see previous post to jog your memory about the difference). Welcome to Hoenschwangau and  Neuschwanstein, crazy King Ludwig's childhood home and his trying-to-outdo-dad dream castle. This guy had SOME attitude!

The next day we woke up to blue skies again - just the right weather for peak peeking! With our Korean rental car, we drove into Austria (Tirol) because we heard it had the nicer cable car up to the Zugspitze. You see, the peak straddles Germany and Austria, so at the summit, we recrossed the boarder and ate our GERMAN brats in the Alpine air. Yum! (The next Grafic Details quiz question is, "Which count is greater on our trip so far, the castle or the bratwurst?"). Ted bravely (?) scrambled the last few meters across the loose rock and snow to get to the spitzey-spitze, the official top of Germany (9700 ft).

On the way back, we stopped at Oberammagau, the woodcarving Passion-playing town. It's buildings are lavishly bedecked with paintings. As we kept going on the Romantic Road, we stopped at Wieskirche. This church is like a Rococo bomb that exploded amidst unsuspecting family farms. Impressive if you're into pastels and curlicues (actually, it's impressive even if you're not). We happened to arrive as a small orchestra was practicing with a singer. Great acoustics helped make it a surround-sound experience!

Rheinfels Castle, Bacharach, Rothenburg and Torture

With perfect weather outside, we explored Rheinfels ruins. It used to be the biggest and most magnificent of all the Rhine castles in its time, which just goes to show you that what goes up, must come down. 

We think that Bacharach is the most charming of all the small Rhine river towns. It's got it's own castle (that is now a youth hostel) and gothic cathedral ruins. At every intersection of cobbelstoned streets there are eye catching flowered paths that lure you to stroll further, without disappointment. We ate dinner at the oldest house in town. How old, you ask? 1300-something (like the exact year really matters when you're talking Middle Ages!). But the schnitzel was made fresh and deeeeelicious! 

We headed southeast to the only intact walled city in Germany, Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It's like the German section of Disney-Epcot, only real. We walked the wall (Ted was a bit hunched over at times), and learned the fascinating history from the night watchman on his tour.

We slept well that night knowing we were watched over by a dedicated watchman, and ready for the Medieval  Crime and Punishment Museum the next day where we both gleaned several ideas for our classrooms (dunk cage, pokey chair that perhaps Chicago cab drivers might find comfortable, and a shame mask). Unfortunately the museum doesn't export their goods.