Posted by Jason
We arrived in Munich late in the evening on October 27th. We stayed at the Best Western Aparthotel Muenchen a few tram stations outside the city centre. Service from most of the staff was excellent, except for one unhelpful front desk agent who refused to make change for us. Because we redeemed Karbo's Best Western Reward points for the first two nights, the buffet breakfast for those days were included.
On the morning of the 28th, we enjoyed our last Sandeman Free Walking Tour (although we found other tip-based companies in most of the other cities we visited thereafter. More on that in future posts).
Munich is known for its weisswursts (literally, "white sausage"), so we went to Zum Franziskaner near Marienhof for lunch, where we had their famous weisswursts, accompanied by dumpling soup and Lowenbrau beer. Weisswursts are eaten without the skin, and the traditional method is to cut open one end of the sausage and suck out the meat. We went with the more discreet way of using a fork and knife to pry out the juicy, tender meat.
Later in the afternoon we went up St. Peter's Church for a panoramic view of Munich.
On the 29th, we took a 30 minute train ride from Munich to Dachau Concentration Camp. We joined a walking tour led by a very knowledgeable guide who answered all our questions in detail. If you plan on going to Dachau, I definitely recommend timing your visit for one of the two daily tours (11am and 1pm). It's only 3 Euros and it lasts 2 1/2 hours.
Dachau started off in 1933 as a prison for political opponents of the Nazi party, but over the years new prisoner groups such as Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Jehova's Witnesses, and Jews were also sent there. I have always known about the tragedies that took place during WWII, and visiting all the sites in Berlin, Nuremberg, and Munich connected many of the dots. However, the learning process hit a very emotional level once we stepped foot on the compound where 41,500 innocent individuals were brutally murdered.
Dachau started off in 1933 as a prison for political opponents of the Nazi party, but over the years new prisoner groups such as Sinti and Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Jehova's Witnesses, and Jews were also sent there. I have always known about the tragedies that took place during WWII, and visiting all the sites in Berlin, Nuremberg, and Munich connected many of the dots. However, the learning process hit a very emotional level once we stepped foot on the compound where 41,500 innocent individuals were brutally murdered.
After the heavy day in Dachau, we returned to Munich ready for some food and beer to lighten the mood. We started off with a traditional German meal at Weisses Brauhaus, followed by a self-imposed mandatory visit to Hofbrauhaus for a stein of its famous beer. At both beer halls we mingled with the friendly people with whom we shared the tables. It was a very fun atmosphere!
We saw more locals at Weisses Brauhaus, which also serves a wider variety of beer. Hofbrauhaus is more of a tourist attraction. Don't expect friendly service at any of the beer halls though. None of the servers worked like they cared about their tips. Our guy at Hofbrauhaus did help himself to the €1.40 change from my €7.60 bill and asked if that's okay. With two litres of beer in me I was too happy to say no.
We saw more locals at Weisses Brauhaus, which also serves a wider variety of beer. Hofbrauhaus is more of a tourist attraction. Don't expect friendly service at any of the beer halls though. None of the servers worked like they cared about their tips. Our guy at Hofbrauhaus did help himself to the €1.40 change from my €7.60 bill and asked if that's okay. With two litres of beer in me I was too happy to say no.
On the 30th we took a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle, but because that is all I knew about the place and it was 2 hours outside of Munich, we thought it would make sense to join the Sandeman's Neuschwanstein Tour. Our tour guide was a young American girl who, despite her friendliness, lacked knowledge of the castle and Bavarian history to justify the cost of the tour. We managed to have a good time anyway and made some new friends on the tour. However, I would not recommend joining this tour. Instead, just take the train from Munich Hauptbahnhof (main train station) and walk up to the castle on your own. The €12 ticket into the castle includes an extensive guided tour in English.
Photography was not allowed inside the castle, so unfortunately we can't share with you one of the most extravagant royal residences in the world. King Ludwig II began building the castle in 1869, but his vision was so outrageous he never lived to see the project finish. In fact, the castle remained incomplete and was opened to public 7 weeks after his death in 1886.
Photography was not allowed inside the castle, so unfortunately we can't share with you one of the most extravagant royal residences in the world. King Ludwig II began building the castle in 1869, but his vision was so outrageous he never lived to see the project finish. In fact, the castle remained incomplete and was opened to public 7 weeks after his death in 1886.
On the 31st, we went for a walk in the English Garden and saw surfers honing their skills on the artificial waves on one of the streams. It was a nostalgic moment for Karbo because it reminded her of the time she was here in high school. While walking through the city centre, we came across the Michael Jackson shrine in front of the Bayerischer Hof Hotel
This wraps up our wonderful trip to Germany. In the afternoon we picked up our backpacks from the hotel and took the train to Salzburg, Austria.