Nulstil søgning
Bavaria and Middle Rhine
  • Wolpertinger Wanderings
aug. – sep. 2022

Bavaria and Middle Rhine

Et 22-dags eventyr af Wolpertinger Wanderings Læs mere
FølgOversigtKalenderDelDelTræskoliste
Nyeste først
  • Start på rejsen
    29. august 2022
    Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    How We Got Here

    29. august 2022, Forenede Stater ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    (Warning: I like to write and I'm very wordy. I have a sarcastic and some say abrasive sense of humor, so proceed at your own risk...)

    We've both traveled, not as extensively as a lot of other people, and often times to the same places over and over, but we had a few exciting outliers besides Disney, Caribbean cruises, and the Smoky Mountains. They were with the kids, though, first just two of them, then two more. The second set, well they led to a couple of great trips to China, and a not-so-great one in between to Kazahkstan. Herr Haifisch (Mister Shark to you non-German speakers) aka the husband, reminded me when he read the post that we weren't planning our FIRST trip to Europe. We had both been to France and England when we were younger long before we met. We also went to Italy with the first two kids when one was an infant and the other was four. So to clarify here: this is our first trip to Europe, hopefully with more to come, after the children are legal age and we don't have to take them or leave them with family.

    So there's a meme posted with this, and this is us. I do the planning. He does the paying, because my career as a homeschooling teacher to four children, while rewarding, infuriating, enlightening, fulfilling and all of that wasn't financially remunerative.

    I ask his opinion, "So where in Germany do you actually want to go?"
    He says, "Oh, wherever."
    I show him videos, pictures, all sorts of things. "That looks great."

     So like I said, I plan, he pays, in more ways than one.

    Here we are, the long planned (and altered, and altered again) trip to Germany. It began as an idea during the Covid thing-- wow, let's go on a Christmas Market river cruise. I saw something about it on Facebook, looked good. I researched those things like mad. Picked one. Started doing more research. Just before we were ready to go and put a non-refundable deposit on a Danube River Christmas market cruise, I looked at what you saw on the cruise, versus what I'd want to see in just two of the German ports. So that was off. I mean, you can see SO MUCH MORE of actual Germany (and in the case of the cruise, Austria) if you do a trip on your own.

    We pivoted. We'd do Christmas markets on our own. I researched like a fiend. So many very cool markets all over Germany, when we were originally just going to do Passau (boring), Regensburg, and Nuremburg. My head was exploding with the possibilities. Public, free, state/city/town sponsored markets, and the private ones ($$). I had a plan. And it was a good plan. Mostly Bavaria, but beginning outside of Stuttgart in Esslingen (famous for it's authentic Medieval market, and people who know me know that I can be completely and utterly Medieval), and moving on to Rothenburg ob Tauber, and then camping in Nuremburg to do a handful of other cities/towns, and somehow fitting in a side trip to Mittenwald because the Alps, right?

    BUZZER SOUND

    Nope. I had a good plan. Even booked an apartment in Nuremburg (and thanks to Volker for being a mensch and letting us change dates and all), and were close to booking it all, when in November (2021) Bavaria and then many other states in Germany, canceled their Christmas Markets at the last minute.

    So we decided not to risk a ruined vacation in case they would decide to do that again in 2022 and it was probably among the best vacation related decisions we ever made...

    If you want to follow on facebook, where we can post more videos and pictures, we have a public account. That means you don't have to even have a facebook account to see it, but I'm not nearly as witty over there. More pictures though.

    https://www.facebook.com/wolpertinger.wanderings    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Philadelphia Airport

    29. august 2022, Forenede Stater ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    It's finally happening. It's 90 plus degrees here in Philadelphia with high humidity so I don't even want to think what the real feel is, and I'm getting out of Oldest Son's car (you'd think he would clean it up a bit so I didn't almost sit in some unidentifiable half eaten food thing) at the airport in long pants, a long sleeved shirt over a tank top and a fleece hoodie along with Adidas Xterra trail runners (and they are ugly, but light weight)... All of this so we can manage the carry on only with Lufthansa's weight limit. We had planned to check a bag, but with the news of bags going missing in major European airports, Frankfurt included, we decided not to risk it. Some people have reported not getting bags back for weeks, and we'll be moving around, so who knows if our checked bag misses our connection, whether we'll see it before we get home.

    Yay-- no line at TSA so coming three hours early wasn't necessary, but better safe than sorry. My father was a huge fan of leaving super early to get to the airport even before the days of TSA, and it's just ingrained in me. We've done a few trips OCONUS from Philly, but they were a long time ago.

    Back to the carry on only attempt: I bought this thing online. It looked good. Expandable, collapsible, you can pull it, it has wheels, fits European carry on limits (and they're smaller than US-- except the budget airlines). Yeah, great. Except the bag SUCKS. You can pull it, but it has four wheels and no frame. So if you try to keep it next to you, it's awkward. If you try to drag it behind like a traditional roller bag, it's awkward. You can carry it over your shoulder, but it has only a little handle to do this with. Yeah. SUCKS. Should have gone with a big backpack. It is light weight though, and passes Lufti's stringent weight limit.

    Good thing too, because now they're stalking around the waiting area for the plane with hand scales and randomly weighing people's bags. You go, Lufthansa.

    For more pictures and maybe longer videos, you can go here to our public facebook page. No fb account necessary!
    https://www.facebook.com/wolpertinger.wanderings    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    In Transit

    30. august 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    I'm a person who needs to know what's going to happen. I like spoilers for movies and books. I like to know what's on a menu before I get to a restaurant. Maybe that's why I studied history, since it all happened already, there wasn't much room to be surprised. All that being said, I was very concerned with our transit through Frankfurt airport, worried we wouldn't make our connection to Salzburg, in the little over an hour we had to do it.
    I prepared myself. I watched videos on you tube of people transferring in Frankfurt from non-Schengen to Schengen flights. I watched them again with Herr Haifisch. I stalked the Frankfurt airport site for weeks leading up to the trip, tracking where (and how late, it was usually late) the plane from Philly came in, and where the flight to Salzburg left. They have a mapping tool on the site, where you can put in where you want to start, and where you want to go. I did this. Daily. I was ready as I would ever be, or so I thought.

    First though, we had the flight to get through. It's been a long time since we've flown internationally. Long enough that I don't really remember it. Last time for me, was coming back from Amsterdam via Iceland via Toronto (never again) with our oldest daughter when she was a teenager. Last time for Herr Hai was coming back from deployment to Afghanistan. We also had transited through Frankfurt previously on our not-so-nice very horrible trip to Kazakhstan, but I didn't remember much about it, beside being stuck somewhere for hours with nowhere to eat. Yet, here we are, doing it again.

    Here's my review of Lufthansa economy class on an Airbus 330 from Philadelphia to Frankfurt. It was fine. As a real German might say, "I could fly on it." As soon as we boarded, the flight attendants starting speaking to me in German. I was like a deer in the headlights. I had been practicing, studying diligently. I had no idea what was going on. They spoke to my husband in English, which led to him smirking, "You must really look German or something..." Back to the review... Seats were fine. Economy class, a little bit more room than I expected. So that we could get the seats we wanted, we paid ahead of time to choose: an aisle and window. No, we weren't those people who book and aisle and window and hope no one sits between them, the 330 is a 2-4-2 configuration. We wanted seats as close to the front as we could get without paying extra due to our tight connection. Service was good. They kept speaking to me in German, him in English, until my nonsensical replies and stunned, stupid looks made them realize I wasn't German. Food: meh. Didn't taste bad, but there was no longer a choice. Nothing with meat, just a pasta dish with cheese, because it's better for the environment (aka they can save money and not say they're being cheap). Last time we flew Lufti economy (2007), it was some sort of meat dish or salmon. Both were hideous, so in retrospect, the cheesy pasta was actually a step up. Only one (1) glass of wine or beer. No free after dinner drink. Last time there was an offer of free cognac or Bailey's Irish Cream. I didn't take a picture of the food, sorry. It really wasn't much to look at though.

    But we were on our way. The seat back entertainment was good. It worked. It took a while for mine to kick in all the way. I had the movies, but not the all important airplane channel. That's always my choice for entertainment when it's available, along with reading, writing, playing stupid games. I'm one of those freaks who likes to track the plane on the map, know how high, how fast, how cold outside, all of that. Her Hai's was working, but mine wasn't. He offered to switch seats with me, though he prefers the aisle and I prefer the window, but it magically got sorted out after everyone's went down and came back up.

    We skipped after dinner coffee, gobbled down that melatonin, and got ready to sleep. We had gotten up early, before four, took our customary four mile walk through the neighborhood including nine laps around the nearby elementary school, with the hope that we would be so tired we'd sleep. Sure. I stuck in my new bluetooth earbuds even though I was sure I'd be that person who lost them in the seat, and put on my airplane sleep music: Eastern Orthodox choral pieces by Capella Romana (Lay Aside all Earthly Cares). We both slept on and off. Herr Hai, of course said he didn't, but at times he was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. I almost put the little Lufti-provided pillow over his face so we didn't get thrown out of the emergency door by irate fellow passengers.

    At some point, I woke up, looked at the map, then out the window to see dark skies, kind of lightening up, and clusters of light. Airplane channel tells me we're over the United Kingdom.

    The next time we woke up, it was sunny. That was good, because the weather had been very rainy in Germany for about a week. Breakfast was served, the standard roll, butter, jelly, yogurt, fruit you get in economy on a Transatlantic flight. Coffee. The view was fine. Nothing too exciting, not that I expected to see castles and such from the airplane window.

    Those videos, the maps, the plan. All down the toilet in minutes. We did all right at first, follow the crowd, go along quickly. Somehow, we got lost. I mean, I'm probably the only person who can get lost in an airport when there's really NOT A CHOICE AS TO WHERE YOU'RE GOING. All right, maybe we weren't lost, but it sure seemed like it. It took us forever to find immigration. Even the old nuns from our flight beat us there.

    I have to say this about German border control, they're very efficient. They let us come up together. The officer looks at me, starts to speak in German. Looks at Herr Hai, then the passports, "oh," and switches to English. "How long is your stay in Germany?" Herr Hai, "Well, we're just switching planes here to Austria, so an hour? But we're coming back..." BLAH BLAH BLAH he doesn't want our life story, and honestly, he looks kind of put off. So I say, in really bad German, "Drei Wochen." Herr Border Guard replies, "Oh, three," stressing three, "weeks? Welcome to Germany." Stamp, stamp the passports, and we're off.

    Again, I think we were lost. We walked around the mall area on top, down stairs, upstairs, through the duty free area, through a tunnel at some point, ffs, trying to get to the B gates. I don't even remember just hours later in what order all that happened. It's getting close. We had maybe an hour twenty minutes to change, and Lufti assured us, as well as the well meaning folks on the German forum on trip advisor, "plenty of time". It didn't seem like it. I felt like I was in one of those old Hertz commercials running through the never ending airport.

    Then smack: right into a security checkpoint. Minimal line, don't have to take off shoes. I get through, the female agent says something in German. Again, I have no idea. Not a clue. "Oh, American?" I say, "Yes." She says, "Put up hands. I'm going to touch your by your breasts. Welcome to Germany." Meanwhile, Herr Hai has to take off his hiking boots, and I hear behind me, "Do you have metal in the soles?" Seriously? They're Merrell Moabs. We're lucky there's even rubber in the soles. Time is ticking... We're undergoing additional screening and all I can see is our plane to Salzburg leaving without us.

    Finally, they just said, "Oh, go ahead." So we did before they changed their mind and took his boots apart. It was practically a sprint. I had long given up dragging that jinky bag and was carrying it on one shoulder. Finally-- B gates. Then we count down, and we make it! Yay. In fact, we made it with time to spare. In fact, there's no plane at the gate. Turns out, we had to be bussed out to the plane, which was very empty. I'd say a quarter full. But we settle in, the plane gets on the way, and we're really off to the beginning of our adventure.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Our hotel is behind the fountainThe famous Bosna.Wohlauf Kamaraden aufs Pferd

    The Streets of Salzburg

    30. august 2022, Østrig ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Success. Short plane ride, and when we got off the plane- the ALPS! I planned our arrival as well. We needed a sim card, having already bought an unlocked European compliant burner phone. I knew there was a place right in the airport to get it, as well as a bank with a "good" MAC machine (that's an ATM for everyone not from Philadelphia, some of us old folks still call them MAC machines when we're not thinking about it). By a good ATM of course I mean one attached to an actual bank, not a free standing rip off one. Again, thanks to the German folks over on the Trip Advisor forum for hammering that home-- only use an ATM at a bank.

    So, we get off on the tarmac and walk into the airport. It's small. Not Palm Springs small, or Aqtobe, Kazakhstan small, but small. Further, it's absolutely deserted. It looked as if some disaster had happened, and we missed it by being on the plane. Bank with ATM, not there. Place to get sim card, closed. Again, all of my careful plans in ruins. So we used the much maligned rip off ATM outside the airport so we could have Euros for the bus ride into Salzburg. We'll get the sim card there, no problem. But unless we find free wifi, we can't look up where one is. Okay, there will be some by the train/ bus station.

    Finally, a bus. Nice ride, pretty mountains. We're very excited to be here. YAY! Train station area is a little sketchy. No surprise right, it's the train station. After a few false starts, we find what looks like a reputable place for a sim card in a nearby mall. The first places we looked, meh. Sketch. We paid more than I planned, but it's done. I had a full day scheduled for us, because we were only in Salzburg overnight, and we absolutely COULD NOT sleep until what would be normal bedtime, or eight o'clockish if we were really feeling bad. Then the long walk to our hotel, which was on the edge of the Altstadt. The streets are twisty, a little confusing after the short sleep on the flight. It's hot. The jinky blue bag is really working on my last nerve at this point.

    But we come out of the building crowded streets of the Neustadt and see the High Fortress looming above the trolley lines. Now we know we're headed in the right direction. A little more wandering around, through some alleys, up some stairs (wrong way, natch), back down the stairs, and we find it. We were there a little early, and thankfully someone was available to let us in. It's very different from the chain American hotels. No twenty-four hour, or even open all through daylight/ work day hour desk. You can come when they say you can, and in this case, it was between noon and four. Also, this would be our first (and only on this trip) experience with a shared bathroom. Not a fan. It wasn't that it was dirty, or over used, I just really didn't like having to get more or less dressed then remember the key to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

    Now: Salzburg. I had a plan, of course. It was already screwed up because we had to go all the way to the main station to get a sim card, instead of getting off the bus by the horse bath to see that, then going to get our famous bosna at Balkan Grill Walter, and then walking to the hotel. Thankfully, Herr Hai is more flexible than I am (usually), and talked me down. So hotel, walk across the Altstadt, bosna (because I'm really hungry and moving into hangry territory at this point), then horse fountain and etc. Of course since we were passing so many interesting things on the way, I had to stop and look, take pictures. Mozart statue. A big fountain with great statues. Buildings (yes, I know we have buildings here in Philly, but these were really nice buildings). Mozart's Geburtshaus. Not to mention, all the stores with the super cute signs. Of course, we misplaced ourselves, but not too badly. We just couldn't find the cut off from Getreidegasse to the grill. We did, passing by a store with the most amazing looking drindls I have ever seen-- really fine looking material and classy, matte patterns. Also really fine and classy prices so needless to say, I didn't bother to go inside.

    After a long wait, the coveted Bosna. It's two sausages with coriander, onion and "secret spice mixture" which was introduced to Salzburg in 1949 by Zanko Todoroff, or so the story goes. It was good, again, channeling my inner German, "I could eat it." That's not my hand in the picture by the way. I'm not that hairy.

    Finally after that, the Pferdeschwemme, where the horses of the Prince Archbishop who ruled Salzburg were watered and bathed. It was originally built by Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst Graf von Thun. I don't know why I was so keen to see this particular bit of Salzburg, but I was. Also, the pictures aren't great. I was lagging by this point, and we had many hours ahead of us. It made me think of the German Rider's song based on a poem by Friedrich von Schiller, Wolauf Kamaraden aufs Pferd. Here's a version with an English translation
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1dwpFlFhd8

    So much for the streets of Salzburg
    More pictures as always here: https://www.facebook.com/wolpertinger.wanderings    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    The ReisszugScary looking von Trappe family puppets

    Festung Hohensalzburg

    30. august 2022, Østrig ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Next stop, the fortress on top of the hill. The photo is actually from the Mirabel Garden across the river, but it really gives you a feeling of the sheer size of the complex. Interior views are equally impressive, as we'll see a little later down below. Or we would, if I were any good at taking photos.

    Salzburg became the seat of the Prince Archbishop in 582 CE. Formerly the Roman city of Iuvavum, German speaking people came to the area during an expansion of the Bavarian stem duchy, and the former Catholic diocese was re-established by Rupert of Salzburg. In iconography, Saint Rupert is often pictured with a barrel of salt, remember this later.

    The history of the area is quite interesting, as there was a lot of back and forth, a good deal of fighting, Magyar incursions, disagreements between bishops, church officials, emperors, and et cetera. The bishop took the side of the Pope during the Investiture Controversy (one of my favorite stories in Medieval history: Pope Gregory VII vs Emperor Henry IV) which in the long run didn't work out so well for the parties that backed the Church. The bishophric stood on the border between the Wittelsbach and Hapsburg families, eventually aligning with the Hapsburgs.

    While there was a roman fort at the site, the construction of the structure there now was begun by Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein in 1077. It was expanded over the centuries as the Archbishops gained more wealth and power (remember that salt?). Prince Archbishop Burkhard von Weisbriach was responsible for building a number of the towers and outer walls in 1462. An early modern version of a funicular rail system, the Reisszug, was added somewhere between 1494-1505 to carry supplies up to the fortress. It's still there, and we rode on it. The version today is a lot like the lift they use at Hillbilly Golf in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, though fully enclosed. Score one for the hillbillies.

    The fortress only came under siege once, during the German Peasants' War in 1525. It was surrendered to French Troops in 1800 during the War of the Second Coalition. After secularization, it was repurposed as there was no more ruling Prince Bishop: barracks and storage depot until 1861, and a prison thereafter. Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg's government kept Nazi activists prisoner there until the Anschluss in March 1938.

    Today, it offers stunning views of Salzburg and the mountains beyond. There are rooms open to the public, converted into museum spaces, and when we went, a creepy puppet exhibit. If you like puppets, apologies. They're not my thing, but since we paid for it, we went to look at them.

    The museums were well done, parts of the interiors quite impressive. In parts there are a lot of gold, a lot of ornamentation, which is exactly what one would expect from the residence of a Prince Archbishop. It seemed a bit underdone to me, but again, as I mentioned, it's not like other castles/palaces where they sought to recreate the actual living space of the inhabitants at their height.

    Again, the size of the fortress is amazing. When you're inside, you can see how enormous it truly is. Even though I've spent a good deal of time reading Medieval and Early Modern History and I knew intellectually how big these places could be, the scale was a bit surprising.

    All of this from a simple bailey style fortress with wooden walls.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Petersfriedhof and Catacombs

    30. august 2022, Østrig ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    We like graveyards, not in strictly a Gothy sort of way, they're just interesting. All right, some of it might be a hold over from the Goth days. It's kind of which came first thing: did we like graveyards because we were sort of into Goth, or did we become Goth because we liked things like graveyards, dirgey music, vampires, monsters, etc, and overly dramatic clothes and hairstyles? In addition to this really nice graveyard, this complex houses part of the oldest continually used German speaking monastery founded by (surprise) Saint Rupert, a chapel carved into the Festungberg, and a really nice little church.

    It was coming on to early evening, and we were really beginning to drag, so we didn't take full advantage of everything there was to see here. Of course, this just gives us a reason to come back.

    Two war memorials above, apologies for the very blurred one on the right. I know digital cameras are supposed to prevent this sort of thing, but I was really, really tired at this point. Also apologies that you can't click on the gallery pictures and make them bigger. That would cost me money, and I'm blogging for pleasure, not social media fame and fortune.
    The catacombs, though the official site of the monastery says they're not catacombs, but rather, chapels carved into the rock face, are said to date back to the days of Severinus of Noricum during the Migration Period of the Fifth Century CE, which back in my day we called the Barbarian Invasions of Rome. That aside, Severinus went to the Roman frontier along the Danube to preach, help the poor, and establish monasteries. When things went sideways with the late Roman Empire, he stayed to assist refugees, organize migration routes to areas deemed to be safer, and help with organizing the military defense. His reputation was such that along the way, he earned the esteem of one of the migrating/invading Germanic leaders, Odovacer. There are two chapels in the rock face, one dedicated to Thomas Saint Beckett of England (he who was killed by drunken knights of King Henry "who will rid me of this turbulent priest" Second).

    There's another chapel, the Margarethenkappelle that features some nice stained glass windows.

    By this time, I was done. I think Herr Haifisch was as well, but he was soldiering on. He even said we should take a picture of ourselves in the beautiful cemetery. We did. It was awful, like all pictures of us. That made us decide it was time to wind down, so we set off for the other side of the river, dinner, and one last quick stop.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    At the Merry Monkey

    30. august 2022, Østrig ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    WARNING: FOOD POST so skip if you're not interested in this sort of thing.

    The day was winding down, finally. We were off to our first sit down meal in Europe. We had planned to do a few other things: go to a coffee house and have cake and coffee, and stop at one of the Fürst pastry shop locations to try a Mozartkugel, the famous Salzburg chocolate made of marzipan, nougat, and pistachio dipped in dark chocolate. Neither of those things happened. By the time we had seen the top three things on our list, it was after five. The Furst stores were closed, and we wanted dinner.

    This brings us to Zum Fidelen Affen, the Merry Monkey (or Cheerful, or Jolly). We walked back across the Salzach River to the Neustadt. We wanted to eat at a "traditional" Austrian/ Tyrolese place. We're operating under the assumption that we probably won't be coming back, so we're going to cram in all the local culture we can. Then, I saw this place on Google maps, Zum Fidelen Affen. Long after Herr Haifisch was known by the American version of that name, our own kids dubbed him with an ape-monkey moniker. So this was a place we couldn't pass up. If they sold T-shirts of that sign, I would have bought one.

    Outside seating is a huge thing here, so we decided to give it a try. We're not much for eating on the sidewalk back home, but we're trying to blend here. Think Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinnie. It was working fine, even though we weren't following the rules in all those you tube videos that tell you how to dress in Europe so that "you don't look too American". We weren't doing too badly clothes-wise, but once we arrived in Germany, all bets would be off. Of course there's the inevitable give away of speaking to each other in English, and smiling too much. When we were in Kazakhstan and China, our interpreters told us they can always tell Americans from Europeans because we smile a lot and say thank you too much. Go figure.

    So we ordered a starter, drinks, and two entrees. Way too much food, all of it good though. For drinks: a dark, cloudy wheat beer for him, though he's not a beer drinker, and I got something with elderberry liqueur. Starters: he got a pretzel, and I got Essigwurst, a wurst salad with red onions, egg, and bread. Basically, an upscale Tirolean version of the more familiar Fleischsalat, which in the version we know it my family has mayonnaise.

    For dinner: goulash for him and for me, "a classic of the Austrian kitchen", Pinzgauer Kasnocken, otherwise known as käsespätzle (that's a lot of umlauts for me to pronounce, two too many), or as so many of the vlogers call it, "German macaroni and cheese!". Here in Salzburg, the noodles are thicker and shorter than the Swabian spätzle we're used to at home, and the cheese is a variety from the region of Zell am See in Austria. So this was our first sit down meal of the trip, and it was good. Far too much food, however, and the Kasnocken was really heavy. Not the best choice on a day that turned out to be quite warm, overall.

    Being the way we are, we shared everything. It was all very good as I mentioned. We did learn a valuable lesson not to get a starter and two mains, though. Especially if we were going to be drinking anything other than water. Definitely recommend this place. Service was nice, and I'd read Austrian waitstaff were even less polite than Parisian. Meh, maybe that's just Vienna.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    I'm guessing this is THE pegasus fountainNot quite Thorin Oakenshield, but he looks tough

    Mirabell Gardens

    30. august 2022, Østrig ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    The the last stop of the day: Mirabell Gardens. The palace was built in 1606 by Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau, who wanted a place to meet his mistress, Salome Alt, outside of the old medieval city walls. He was deposed and arrested in 1612, and his successor evicted Frau Alt and her family, expanded the palace and renamed it. It was remodeled in a more Baroque style in the 1720s. Interesting historical side note: Eva Braun's sister Gretl married SS Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein here June 3, 1944 with Hitler, Himmler and "the Brown Eminence" Martin Bormann in attendance. Maybe they should have been paying closer attention to what was happening just across the English Channel... Americans would know Fegelein from the 2004 film Downfall, or maybe more likely, one of the many parodies of the bunker scene people are always dubbing over. They still hold weddings in the Marble Hall, and today the building is used for the most part as city offices.

    The gardens are open to the public, and have been since the days of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria. If you're a fan of the Sound of Music, some of the scenes when Maria is teaching the children to sing were shot in the garden, specifically around the Pegasus fountain. Sound of Music tours are a big deal here, a lot of people come to take them, but it wasn't something on our list. The garden features boxwood gardens, mythological statues, and a dwarf garden. The latter was removed in the Nineteenth Century "as a consequence of the Enlightenment" according to the official Salzburg tourism page, but returned a hundred years later due to their value as historical pieces. Seventeen of the original twenty-eight are there, in the bastion garden, rather than their original spot.

    We'd had it by this point, and headed back across the river to the hotel. Our goal had been to try and make it to around eight PM, and we succeeded. Day one complete with only minimal, and surmountable, disasters    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Arriving in Berchtesgaden
    The path to the farmhouseYay, I think that's itRamsau's famous church

    "It's Good to Breathe the Air..."

    31. august 2022, Tyskland ⋅ 🌫 59 °F

    I won't finish the quote from Mel Brooks' "To Be or Not to Be", because I want to return to Germany in the future.

    If you don't know the line referred to in the title, you're probably better off.

    Today is the big day, and we're headed into Germany. Again, compulsive over planner than I am, I knew exactly what we were doing. I watched videos of what bus to take on the subject, "how to get to Berchtesgaden from Salzburg", stalked the Deutsche Bahn site, the RVO (Bavarian regional bus/train company) site, looked at it on Google maps, even found a bus stop. We were ready, maybe planning to stop at the Grassl distillery on the way. Who knew? The possibilities were endless.

    We woke up to a rainy day. Got breakfast at a nearby cafe, but took it back to the hotel. Packed up, looked outside. Still raining. Worse. Raining really hard. Buckets, or as the Germans might say, "Es regnet in Strömen"- it's raining in streams. I have to admit-- I looked that one up.

    My suggestion, "The bus stops right by the prison thing around the corner on the way out of town. Let's get it there."
    Herr Hai, "No, it might be crowded and we have bags. We should walk to the train station and get it."
    Me, "But it's raining really hard."
    Him, "Are you a witch?"

    Fine, so we walk. It's a long walk. I'm looking at the phone, the time, the google maps. We're passing Mirabell Palace again. IT'S POURING, raining so hard you can barely see the end of the block. Not to mention, we're never going to make it to the bus stop which is actually a block plus away from the train station. Next bus isn't for more than an hour. The previous night, we found a stop right there. I saw it. I showed it to him. We decide we'd pick up the bus there. But lo and behold-- we can't find the bus stop. It's gone. POOF.

    That sets off a mad dash, comparing the map of where the bus goes, to google, to where we are, and finally, as seconds are ticking, bus time is coming, I say, "Screw it, we're going to wait in front of the palace and jump the bus as it approaches."

    And that actually works. The bus is virtually empty, so the walk through the pouring rain was pointless. Then, I tell the driver exactly what ticket we want (thanks to the smart folks on the Trip Advisor Germany forum) and the RVO website. "No." That's what he says, and proceeds to sell me another ticket that I don't want. Okay then. Not off to a good start.

    But we're on the bus. We're driving through the countryside. We enter Germany... cue national anthem, all three verses. Of course, when I was a kid, I thought the opening words of forbidden verse one were actually, "Deutschland über goblins", so I was really disappointed to learn later there's nothing about actual goblins in the entire song. That aside, we made it. I was already wound up, unhappy that all my carefully laid plans had crashed and burned. It was still pouring, so no stop at the distillery to try Gebirgsenzian. We went right into Berchtesgaden. Our first view of the mountains weren't quite what I had been hoping.

    So next, we had to take another bus out to Ramsau, the town where our pension was. We had chosen to stay out there (stupidly, with no car) because we wanted to stay "in the country" on a farm with a nice view. People assured us "you can do it by bus easy, no problem." Problem: the buses stop running around six in the evening, and it's not exactly walkable to get back out there from town. Anyway... We get to the village, and we need to take another bus. By this time (and it's only maybe ten or eleven in the morning) my brain is fried. I can't figure out what side of the street to get the bus on. Herr Hai isn't much help, even though he's the one who passed his Land Nav course in the navy, then again in the navy-army. Apparently that doesn't count for busses.

    So we walk. We had looked this all up beforehand. There's a trail from the village up to the farm. Rather than wait for the bus, which we had just missed in both directions somehow, we decided to in Herr Hai's words to, "hoof it."

    We made it. The woman who runs the place let us drop off our bags and gave us our guest cards even though we were early. This is something I liked about a lot of these rural/ tourist areas. You pay a tourist tax, you get a guest card. With most of them, you get to ride the busses for free, with a few exceptions. You get into some museums and attractions for free or at a reduced rate. It actually worked out for us on this trip, and saved us some money. Room is nice and homey, balcony with a view, but of course it's pouring again.

    We decided to brave the rain, because now we're almost fully Germanized and I learned from the internet, "Es gibt kein schlechtes Wetter, nur schlechte Kleidung", there is no bad weather, just bad clothing. The plan, return to Berchtesgaden. We'll get something to eat, look around, find the things we want to find in town (something involving monkeys, so stay tuned), maybe take the bus all the way back out to Grassl...
    The rain seemed to be letting up, so maybe luck was on our side.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Berchtesgaden in the Rain

    31. august 2022, Tyskland ⋅ 🌧 63 °F

    After walking back down the hill/ mountain whatever it was, we managed to find the bus back to Berchtesgaden. It was a fairly quick ride. The bus station is near the "charming" part of the town, the one the tourists want to see with the painted buildings, cute shops and restaurants. It's near it, but not that close. Especially not in the pouring rain. And it's uphill. It seems like everything is uphill in this place, but it makes sense, since it's in the mountains.

    We walked around, taking pictures, soaking in the ambience, and the buckets of rain falling on our heads. It took us a while to decide on lunch, and we finally just went to one of the first places we passed, The Golden Bear. It's starting to look like animal themed restaurants might be a thing for us on this trip.

    Short food diversion... No starter, just two beers. I had my first Radler, which is wheat beer mixed with lemon-lime something or other. Some people say it's something like Sprite, other people say lemonade. It was good. Herr Hai had a real dark beer this time, don't remember the brand, not Hofbrau though. He also got his first of many schnitzels of the trip. I had a list of things I wanted to try, and didn't get any of them. I got meatloaf, believe it or not, Zigeunerhackbraten-- literally Gypsy meatloaf, which was meatloaf with peppers and paprika sauce.

    This was my next attempt with German. The waiter came over, said something, and I was trying to formulate that nice German sentence to order, "Ich möchte..." "Oh," he says, "American? What would you like?" I gave up utterly and completely right there trying to speak German.

    Nice place, food was good. Service was like we were told to expect in Germany: efficient, polite, not overly chummy. We probably over tipped, because we weren't in the mood to do too much math.

    We walked around looking for the few things we wanted to see. During this process, I was delighted to discover the Grassl company had a store in town, so we didn't have to go out to the distillery. That was our next stop. So excited, finally, I get to try this mythical Gebirgsenzian. I had come across it in research for something I was writing, and I couldn't wait.

    I should have kept on waiting. They had shots set out in front of the various bottles, different flavors. I go right for the traditional stuff made from gentian roots. Knock it back-- words can't describe it. Yes, they can. Nail polish remover. I know a lot of people like it, but it was just not my thing. Nor was the bloodroot. Obviously I failed my first test of Bavaria here. The other flavors, various fruits, cream, egg were all pretty good. We ended up buying the gentian root in a small bottle for my brother-in-law, a set of fruit flavored ones, and a bigger bottle of the cream liqueur. We also bought some sausage and cheese in case we got hungry and didn't want to walk back down to town once we got to the farm.

    We stopped in at the church, which was connected to the palace that belonged to the ruling family of Bavaria, the Wittelsbachs. Berchtesgaden came under the control of Bavaria in the early 1800s, and the Wittlesbachs established a hunting lodge there. Before that, like Salzburg, it was a salt mining region. Today you can tour a salt mine outside town (we didn't have time to do this, but maybe in the future), or go up to Bad Reichenhall where they have a spa and sell high end salt-related products. Tourism came after the Wittelsbachs, mainly due to the gorgeous mountains and the incredible views around the Königssee which attracted artists as well as climbers and boaters. Of course history buffs will know the area for its most infamous residents: Hitler and the rest of the gang had houses to the east of town, at Obersalzburg. What remains of the complex, Kehlsteinhaus, is one of the things a lot of Americans come to see. It was a teahouse used to entertain guests, though Hitler himself rarely set foot in it. Today, it's a restaurant.

    Kind of a dark subject to close a post, but the past is the past. There's no point in ignoring it. Two last interesting tidbits. Most of the houses were destroyed. The hotel that was seized by the SS guards for their quarters is still there, but closed. When it was open, you could pay for a tour of the tunnels and bunker system under the Nazi leaders' houses. They were all connected, except for Göring's house. Apparently Bormann really disliked him and wouldn't hook him up to the rest. Two: Himmler's mistress's house, which was located just outside of the town, is now a vacation rental.

    And on that less than cheerful note, ten carefully curated pictures. There are more on the Wolpertinger Wanderings facebook page.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Memorials and Monkeys

    31. august 2022, Tyskland ⋅ 🌧 63 °F

    More from Berchtesgaden, which is a very attractive town in and of itself. Its setting in the mountains only adds to its charm. We were looking for two more things: the war memorial painting, and the Lüftlmalerei monkey building.

    You can find Lüftlmalerei all over this part of Bavaria-- it's the painting on all the buildings. What we were looking for is the house with the monkey paintings. The story goes, back when the owner of this house commissioned the work, he stiffed the artist. The artist then came back, and painted monkey heads over the faces of all the completed figures. True or not, the monkeys are there.

    Berchtesgaden has a prominent Lüftlmalerei war memorial, which was much easier to find than the monkey building.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Yay cow!The sketchy hanging bridgeInside the cowgirl's house

    To the Bindalm and Back

    1. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    The weather is clearing, which is great for us, but it's been a dry summer here and they could use the rain. Busy day, with lots of pictures and excitement. First, a hike up to the Bindalm. This is the high pasture where the family whose farm we're staying at keeps their cows in the summer. If all goes well, they dress them up and parade them back down in the fall, which we won't be around to see.

    We only had a few days here, and a lot we want to see. This was our first hike into the Alps. We walked back down to the village, not wanting to wait for the bus. I think we've got it figured out. The bus starts just outside the village and makes a loop, then goes back out, and vice versa, so I think you can catch it on either side and you'll get to where you're going in Ramsau eventually.

    So we walked down to get the bus, instead of waiting up by the farm because we're not really bright. Bus comes, we get on with free guest card. YAY! It's crowded, and a lot of people get off at the same stop as we do. Most of them went the opposite direction though. Hmmm.

    Anyway, we pass the entrance to the national park, pass the raptor wood carving, and keep going. It's nice. A little overcast, but green and cool. As we gain in elevation, we really see the mountains for the first time, cloud wreathed but visible at last. Then there are the cows, grazing peacefully off in the grass.

    Then we come to the sketchy bridge. It's fairly new, built in 2010. A nice, swinging bridge over what would normally be a lively river, but due to the lateness of the season and lack of rain, it was pretty dry. Alternatively, it also looks like the kind of bridge a troll would live under (think Three Billy Goats Gruff). A lot of people turn back here, but not us.

    Finally, after one more slope, we found the bindalm. There were two barns. We just randomly chose one. We went inside, and got our first cup of fresh from the cow milk and a ham sandwich. We sat around, enjoyed the view. We had a decision to make here: continue up the trail and over into Austria, or head back down and see things in the valley.

    We opted to head down. I was tired. The slope leading away from the bindalm looked awfully steep, and I just wasn't up to it. Technically, our goal had been the cow pasture and we made it, so I didn't feel too bad. Now, we had the long walk back down.

    As always: more photos on the FB page.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    The Magical Forest and the "Backlake"

    1. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    We came down from the Bindalm on the bus, a bit of a cheat, but we felt pressed for time. Right near the bus stop you could rent little boats to go out on HIntersee, which is a nice little lake that gets little attention from tourists, or at least American tourists. Understandable, in a way, because one of the two main attractions people come out to see is the mighty Königssee, with it's church and boat ride. Hintersee is a nice, quiet, pretty green lake with less impressive mountains around it.

    We walked around the lake, then through some trees. Imagine my surprise when we came out the other side to discover we had been in the Zauberwald. Nothing magical about it, no frolicking wolperingers or slithering tazelwurms (giant snakes with the heads of cats who spit poison, so we were glad to give them a pass). Just trees and a nice, easy trail. By the way for you German speakers, I know that adding an s is the wrong way to make tatzelwurm plural, I just didn't bother to do it right.

    We jumped on the bus to head back to the village. We were planning to hang out there, have some dinner, and go to a concert in the park that night.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Teufelstoast, the Devil should up his game

    Saint Sebastian and Ramsau village

    1. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    Back in the village, our main objective, besides killing time until seven o'clock or so, was to see the interior of Ramsau's famous church. It's famous because a lot of people come out to paint it, including President Eisenhower. It's a well known landmark of the region, though not on par with Saint Bartholomew's on the Königssee.

    Nice interior, but nothing stood out so not many pictures. The portrait of Saint Sebastian was good, my photos of it not so much. The peaceful cemetery was enough to satisfy our inherent Gothy-ness. We went into some shops and got some of those Mozart chocolates so good score. We found a place to sit down and have coffee and ice cream. Ice cream is a huge thing here in Germany, apparently.

    We visited the park and gardens, looked at some llamas. We probably should have gotten on the bus and gone out to Wimbachklamm, but we didn't. Had dinner, which was good and included one of dishes off my list, Teufelstoast, literally Devil's Toast. It's an open faced sandwich with pork, either breaded or not, covered in a spicy cream sauce. It' wasn't all that spicy, but it was good. Herr Hai got a schnitzel.

    After this, we were done for. We didn't want to wait any longer, and figured we'd catch some traditional Alpine music later in the trip. Also, I was concerned with walking up that trail in the dark on our own. So we headed back up the trail. On our way down, we passed a man in full Bavarian tracht complete with Tirolese hat going down. It didn't occur to me before we were back at the pension that obviously other people would have been walking up as well.

    Oh, and for the record, was not overly thrilled with the Mozartkugeln, maybe they taste better fresh. We'll have to go back to Salzburg someday and try them again.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Instagram Spot 1NOT the highest waterfall

    Schönau am Königssee

    2. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 54 °F

    Finally, we're going to see what drew us here in the first place. No, not the Führer's lair perched in Obersalzburg, but Königssee, and Sankt Bartholmä. This little excursion has two of the top Instagramable (I guess this is a word now) spots in all of Berchtesgaden NP: the church itself and a little shack on the Obersee just beyond where the boat docks in Salet.

    From there, you can walk partway around the lake, and come to a trail that climbs along the rock face. It ends in another summer pasture with cows and a little alm where you can buy food. From there, not far, is Röthbachwasserfall, the tallest waterfall in Germany or so I've read. Thin, but tall, though often lacking water at this time of year. We shall see, if we make it.

    We decided to go out to Salet and Obersee to attempt the hike first, then come back. We'll be traveling by boat. The big treat on the journey, besides the stunning views, is the echo wall where the boat stops, and the guide plays the horn, which then echoes back. I've never heard the echo picked up in the videos I've watched, and I couldn't hear it on mine, so I didn't post it. Neat trick though.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4NegK_JM8g

    On the order of photos: they're out of sequence, the first set it the trip out, and then our visit to Sankt B which was actually the last thing we did. The second set, our time at Obersee.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Instagram spot, influencer just left, really
    Germany's highest waterfall

    Salet, Germany

    2. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    So this is the end of the boat trip. A lot of people just walk around the area, go to Obersee and take a picture, then head back. Not us. We didn't learn our lesson on the last hike. We decided to attempt to hike "a moderately difficult" route up the sketchy stone and whatever steps across the rockface, then down the other side in hopes the tallest waterfall in Germany has some water at this late date.

    We also conveniently planned to stop at the cowshed out there and get something to eat (more raw milk yay!). Maybe go into the actual water, since I wore my waterproof skort-bathing suit thing for just such an opportunity.

    Obviously we made it. On the way, well, let's not talk about Julie vs the cow dung, let's just NOT. Then, there were the naked Germans. This was our first experience with Germany's famed Free Body Culture, with dudes stripping down on the beach and swimming naked. Dudes only. And to be fair, the younger group hid behind towels and changed into Speedos. But the older guys--no. Good for them, feeling so comfortable, except the water was really, really cold.

    On the way back, getting on the bus was nuts. Lines are not a thing here, apparently. We were waiting patiently in line, at the front of the bus with an older couple. As soon as the driver opened the door everyone just tried to jam on in front of us in all direction. Look, I'm from Philly. That IS NOT happening. Not to mention, they were cutting off the elderly. So as I held out my arms and puffed up, I said, "Let Oma and Opa get on first." They smiled sweetly at me.

    It wasn't until we got on the bus, Herr Hai pointed out, "You know, I don't think they're much older than us."

    OUCH...

    This is also the day when we bought our wolpertinger, the one in the profile picture. I wanted to wait, but Herr Hai said to get them from the giftshop at the train station since we haven't seen them elsewhere. So just in case, we got two. Super cute.

    Be prepared, you'll see rare pictures of us... Apologies for that.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Final Impressions Berchtesgaden NP

    2. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ 🌙 63 °F

    Well, we're done here. Time for the final wrap up. This area is incredibly beautiful, and we wished we had more time to spend. There are two gorges to hike, the salt mine, other small towns, a hike along part of the lake, not to mention the Jennerbahn which takes you up to the top of the mountain where there's skiing in the winter. Definitely would like to come back to the area, though maybe having a car would have been better. Jury's still out on that.

    Tomorrow, we leave for Munich, having a transitional day before we head down to Mittenwald. Berchtesgaden, as I mentioned, was a late addition to our trip, as was flying into Salzburg. We're both glad we did it.

    The place we stayed was very nice, Pension Möslerlehen. Breakfast was good, except the liverwurst, but I should have known better. I never liked it before, no reason for me to like it now. The location was a bit out of the way, but that's what we wanted. Very peaceful, nice landlord, and we managed to communicate even though she only spoke slightly more English than I did German. Cash only, as many places in the countryside are.

    So just a few pictures of the general surroundings, our in room picnic including some good Grassl liquor, and a sort of dark picture of the crowns the cows wear on their heads when they come home from the high fields. However, they only wear them if the season is good, and no animals are injured or killed.

    Ade Berchtesgadenland!    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Munich

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Transition day from one mountain village/town to the next. A short, but packed, day in Munich, one of two big cities on our itinerary. We wanted to focus on smaller towns/ rural areas this trip, since we live in a biggish city and wanted to experience something different. So a few posts on Munich coming.

    First, just street views from around the Altstadt. We stayed just beyond the walls, but not too close to the main train station. We did a good amount of walking, and saw most of what was on our short list. Will definitely want to come back in the future and spend some time here.

    I regret not adding the English Garden and the Art Nouveau area on the other side of the river, but again, hope to be back.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Asamkirche

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    After checking into our hotel, the Asamkirche, a rather unassuming (from the outside) church was our first stop. I read it was a must see-- amazing interior. and etc. Catholic Baroque, of course, seeing how it's southern Bavaria. I wasn't predisposed to like it, while I love Baroque music, the art and architecture, not so much.

    This was absolutely my most favorite interior of the trip. It was breathtaking. There's so much going on, and it's busy, but despite that, to me it wasn't overwhelming. It's so much, even more "so much" than usual for Baroque, but it didn't seem that way. It worked.

    The chapel was built by the brothers Cosmas Damian (the painter and architect) and Egid Quirin Asam (the sculptor) in the 1730s-1740s as a private family chapel. It stands next to the family home (privately owned today).

    I had to select ten pictures, and it was difficult. The detail, the artistry, it was very engaging and I took over forty in this place-- forty and there's no stained glass windows-- so that's saying something. Definitely a place we'd return to.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Coats of arms, Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope B26Memorial of Ludwig IV the BavarianDevil's footprint

    Munich 3, Frauenkirche

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Due to the short day, we chose only one other church, and it was the big one, Munich's Frauenkirche. It's the seat of the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, the church where Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) served before his election.

    A few interesting things about the church: built in the 1400s rather quickly for a cathedral of this size (approximately twenty years). The towers, with the Bavarian Renaissance onion domes were added later. Mostly destroyed in the end of World War II, it was finally fully reconstructed in 1994. Plain on the outside, with the buttress structure on the inside, the church is less impressive than other Gothic structures.

    Inside is the huge monument tomb of Ludwig the Bavarian (1282-1347) who was at various times of his life Duke of Bavaria, King of the Germans, King of Italy and Holy Roman Empire as Ludwig IV. Along with the usual king and HRE things (fighting with the Church, the French, the Italians, etc) he also abolished the serfdom of the peasants, and expanded the rights and privileges of towns, very important for economic and intellectual development.

    Also in the church: the Devil's Footprint. There are a few legends around this somewhat disappointing site. The most agreed upon: the Devil made a deal with the master builder-- he would see that the church was completed quickly, but there could be no windows, or the builder would lose his soul. When it was complete (remember that short twenty years), the Devil came to look, saw no windows, deal complete. However, he soon learned he had been tricked, because the windows in the nave were behind the interior columns. Too late to do anything about it as the church had been consecrated, or to reap his soul, he stamped his foot in anger, turned into a whirlwind, and tried to blow the church down. No luck. It's still there, but so is his footprint out in the foyer.

    We didn't go up the tower (next time) because someone (not me) didn't want to pay for it. Overall, big church, impressive, but it didn't wow me. Too much modern glass. Understandably, it had been destroyed at the end of the war, and often times in the rebuilding, decisions were made to go in a different direction.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    King's throne

    Munich Residenz

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    The Residenz is the city palace of the Wittelsbach family, the former ruling family of Bavaria. Originally built in the late Fourteenth Century. Expanded and remodeled many times, and including a theater and ten courtyards, the building that stands today mostly come from the time of Ludwig I of Bavaria, being remodeled at his orders between 1825-1835.

    The complex is vast. You can visit a series of royal apartments, including both public and private rooms. There's an antiquities hall, a huge collection of porcelain, the theater mentioned above, a church, the treasury, and a hall that houses the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Much of the complex was destroyed during World War II, and while a good deal of it was reconstructed by the 1980s, parts were lost and not replaced, and work is still ongoing.

    We didn't see all of that, of course. We saw the main halls including the Stone Hall, and Antiquity Hall, the royal rooms, the porcelain collection and the Treasury, both of which are getting their own posts, along with more on the FB page if you're interested in dishes, jewels, and overdone rooms. The amount of detail in the rooms is amazing.

    Unfortunately, the power when out in most of the complex when we were only partway through, and we decided to call it a day. And unfortunately, it was raining again. Badly.

    I would definitely recommend a visit, especially if you like Rococo and Baroque art. The Treasury is definitely worth a look. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we didn't get to see the gardens. Maybe another time.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine

    Residenz Porcelain Collection

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    I like porcelain, apologies. I hope to get to Dresden and Meißen someday to see the collections there. This was a good start though. Technically, one of the pictures isn't glassware, but it looked nice. Thankfully, this was one of the areas that had good lighting, despite the power outage.Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Empress K's crown

    Residenz Treasury

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    aka the Wittelsbach Bling Cache...

    And there was a lot of bling here. In 1565, Duke Albrecht V proclaimed the Wittelsbach treasures should never be sold, and apparently most of them weren't. We got a free audio guide with each admission, so we were in here for a long time. I know more about the Wittelsbach hoard than Smaug did about that big bed of treasure he slept on under the Lonely Mountain.

    Included in the collection is a reliquary of Emperor/ Saint Heinrch II, just the golden box and jewels, the relics are missing, and the crown jewels of Bavaria.

    A piece that really caught my eye: the crown of Empress (later Saint) Kunigunde, wife of HRE Heinrich II. His crown, the one worn by Charlegmagne and every emperor thereafter, is in Vienna, given to the Austrians after WWII by the US government. I won't comment further.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    (that's the nice man in the background)

    In München Steht ein Hofbrauhaus

    3. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

    I know this is a tourist move, going to the Hofbrauhaus. But then again, there are a lot of Stammtische, regular's tables where you BETTER NOT SIT DOWN UNLESS INVITED in the main room, so who knows. It doesn't matter, we're tourists, they had beer, giant pretzels and live music. We were going.

    And we went. Sloshing through the pouring rain and gathering puddles between the Residenz and the Hofbrauhaus. We all know about this place, right? It has its own song! But brief history... Duke Maximillian I built a brewery in 1589 because he didn't like the local beer. It was opened to the public by King Ludwig I in 1828, and the rest is history.

    So we went to the main room, where the music would be. It was huge. High, painted ceilings, long tables, wait staff in Trachten, the men in Lederhosen and suspenders, the women in drindls. It was loud. Wild. We wandered around to find a table, but found people had draped their stuff on the extra seats, or had deliberately sat in such a way as to make strangers joining their table difficult. This is bad, really bad manners. We were just going to have to Philly up and tell people to MOVE THEIR STUFF or something. I was trying to figure it out in German as well as English.

    So we wandered around once, then again. As we were passing one of the Stammtische near the stage, a little old guy with a huge beer in front of him waves us over. He invited us to sit, ok, kind of yelled at us in German to sit down. We thanked him. He tried to talk to us, but quickly figured out he might as well talk to empty chairs, because we were that stupid. Very grateful to little old German man, who everyone in the place seemed to know.

    So yay, Hofbrauhaus. We ordered beer, nice Hofbrau dunkles. We shared a portion of Krustenschweinebraten-- slices of pork roast with the fat cooked to crackling, with dark beer sauce and potato dumplings, and a huge pretzel. It was good, I was surprised as the place doesn't have a great reputation for food, apparently. We ate, listened to music. The nice old man tried to talk to us again, by this point he didn't seem to mind that we didn't really speak enough German to have a conversation. Before the band went on every member of it stopped by to say hello to him, so he must have really been a fixture in the place.

    It was a good time. We tried to buy him a beer but he either didn't understand us, or didn't expect it. We thanked him and left, seeing that there was a break in the rain.

    Back to the hotel, and so ended our transition day in Munich. A lot more to see here as well, but another time, hopefully.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • Wolpertinger WanderingsRejsendeBavaria and Middle Rhine
    Train station up against the Alps

    Mittenwald, Germany

    4. september 2022, Tyskland ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    This was the Alpine visit we planned originally, before we saw the pictures of Königssee. We kept it in the schedule because there were definitely things we wanted to do here. We chose Mittenwald originally because we wanted to see the Alps, and it was a smaller, cheaper town/ village than Garmisch. It's also less frequented, especially over night, by non-Germans, so that would make things interesting.

    It was an uneventful morning. We woke up, left our hotel, got some money from an ATM because the place we would be staying was cash only, as many things are here in Germany. The neighborhood was a little sketch, but better than downtown Philly. Still, it doesn't hurt to be vigilant. After securing our colorful Euros, we got breakfast at one of the few places that was open that early-- a bagel place. Yes, I went all the way to Germany to eat lox and bagels.

    Quick breakfast in the room, pack up, hit the streets. It's Sunday, everything is closed. This is also the norm in most of Germany, stores closed on Sunday, except in and around train stations and such in bigger towns and cities. This is changing apparently, in places like Berlin and Hamburg (no surprise- eyeroll), and museums and restaurants are open, but stores, big no.

    Train is on time, which is good. There had been an horrific accident earlier in the year between north of Garmisch resulting in several deaths, injuries, and very bad damage to the tracks, so DB is running busses from Murnau to Mittenwald. The service was flawless. We got off the train, onto nice busses, and off we went.

    After a stop in Garmisch, which looked okay, a bit overcrowded, we were back on the road to Mittenwald. The bus left us off at the front of the train station. So far, so good.

    The town is beautiful. As an American imagining a town in the Alps, it doesn't get much better. There's Lüftlmalerei everywhere, and not just in the pedestrian zone or on the public buildings and hotels. It's on people's homes, stores, and it's all very beautiful. There are flowers in all the window boxes, in planters along the streets. Through the main street of he pedestrian zone is a little run of water.

    This place is a dream. We passed a lot of places to eat, ice cream shops (of course), the violin museum and giant violin (Mittenwald is famous for its violin making, and has been for centuries). We kind of got off course, found our pension, but no one was there, as we kind of expected. Check in is at four, and they stick to their schedules.

    Besides that, though, we're off to a good start. But what to do? Go back down to eat, maybe have our first döner.    Læs mere

    Se oversættelse
  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Hjem
  • Om os
  • Gruppesporing
  • Presse
  • Betingelser
  • Privatliv & Cookies
  • Hjælpecenter
  • Aftryk