(after writing this post, I realized that I couldn't just have 2 posts about Munich....they went on much too long and had to split them up. So, this is 2 of 4!)
So...we managed to do 3 out of the 4 must-see things in Munich during our first trip there in 2008. The only one left to do was Oktoberfest, so we planned our honeymoon so that it would end in Germany in late September. Yes, Oktoberfest is mostly in September!
If you'd like to go to Oktoberfest, make sure you book your hotel wayyyy in advance. Also, don't be afraid to spend a little money on the hotel because you will get what you pay for. We paid 80 Euros and, well, although the place was clean it just wasn't what we thought we'd get. More explanation to come!
We flew from Prague to Munich and bought all our public transit tickets at the airport before we caught the train into Munich. The train takes about 45 minutes to get into the heart of the city and it isn't too bad as long as you get a seat.
In the city, we made our way to Noor Jahan Pension (a bed and breakfast above an indian restaurant) and checked in. The owners brought us up to our room at the top of the building and we were thankful to be able to put down our huge daypacks. The ceiling was vaulted so our room was pretty much half of a room, but it had a bed, it was clean and we were ok with it. C and S found us in our room and promptly pointed out "Where is your bathroom?" and we looked around and realized, there is no room off of our bedroom so where
is the bathroom?? On our way down to the beer garden, we asked the owners to show us the bathroom after we were done with our beers. (
note: this picture was taken during our 2008 trip, but it's a beer garden nonetheless! After being in Italy and taking so many pictures, we kind of got lazy in Prague and Munich.)
Post-beer, the owners followed us back upstairs and showed us the room with the toilet, just outside of our bedroom. Then he said "The shower is in here" and he walked into what looked like a living room and....there was an old man sitting on the couch! In german, the owner told the man that he shouldn't be in there and the man left. But HELLO! The shower was RIGHT THERE! We asked the owner "Is this our private shower?" and he said yes. Then we asked "Well can we lock the door to upstairs?" and he said, "You can close this door here [leading to the upstairs area], but you cannot lock it" and we were thinking Okaaaaay, what have we gotten ourselves into? So that night, we got ready for bed, went into our bedroom and locked the door. We were both scared of that old man coming back and breaking into our room, but atleast our bedroom door was locked. Through out the night, the light outside our bedroom was turned off and on a few times and in the morning, we realized that there was a small storage area in that living room that the owner used to store the table linens from the beer garden. That's why we couldn't lock the door! It's a good thing we didn't try to move the armoire in front of the door like we wanted to!!! (note: I typed in "crazy Old Man" into google and this is what I got!)
So the next morning, while one of us showered, the other kept guard by sitting on the couch and watching the door at the top of the stairs. After our relaxing showers, we went down to the breakfast room to see what there was to eat. The day before, they showed us the breakfast room and where the food was, but told us we had to make it ourselves. No problem! Actually, the only problem was the mold in both of the apple juice and orange juice bottles, the stale bread, the white filth in the coffee maker, and the smushed piece of chicken on the floor. Ugh, it was an easy decision to go get a croissant and coffee at a cafe near the train station on our way to our bus trip.
So that was the worst of the hotel. After that we made sure we always kept guard when we showered, and went out for breakfast. Quite manageable!
Next post? Lindenhof and Neuschwanstein!
Mad King Ludwig II, who wasn't really mad at all, liked to live alone and pretend that he lived in another time. So he had these castles/houses made to his liking so that he could make the older times a reality. Although no pictures could be taken inside, we guarantee you that the inside of the house was gorgeous. Paintings, gold-leaf, rich fabrics....straight out of a fairy tale. Careful for the swans, though! They hiss and bite!
Next stop? Oberammagau, where we had a short souvenir shopping break. Oberammagau is famous for it's Passion of the Christ play that the town puts on every 10 years. They start playing in May and stop playing in October....but even with so many shows, it's still hard to get tickets. Apparently they even choose one person to bring the cross to the top of one of the mountain peaks that surround Oberammagau. It's a big honour to be chosen to do this. Can you see the cross on top of the mountain?
After we bought a few Christmas ornaments of people in traditional Bavarian get-up, we hopped back on the bus to get to Neuschwanstein. When we got to Nauschwanstein, we stopped for lunch and then made the 30 minute trek up into the hills. It was an easy hike as the road was paved enough for people to get their horse and carriage ride, if they wanted to pay for it. We opted for the walk. The scenery was amazing!!!
