Europe Recap Part 4: Germany (part 2)

The last couple days of our adventure were all about being tourists in touristy places. Following the Springfest excitement, the next day we walked around Munich and took in the sights. Last time I was here I was only in Germany for 4 total days, including travel time, so I never really looked around Munich. I knew Munich was a great city so I was stoked we spent the day sightseeing with a local, Sebastian.


Best view of Munich, from atop a church tower

Old architecture abounds in Munich and whatever is new or looks new was where a bomb landed during WWII. Good times! Munich is a very pedestrian city with many streets blocked off to auto access and public transportation everywhere; buses, trains, subway/underground, taxis, there's no need for a car here which is good cuz the parking sucks and is rather expensive! The shopping here is great, too, if you're into that sort of thing


One of 4 original entrances to Munich from around 1175 A.D

We stopped for a quick break at this permanent farmers market sort of thing right in the heart of the city called the Viktualienmarkt and ate the best brats, ever. These Germans really know how to make sausages. After our pit-stop it was up, up and away into this church tower that overlooks the Marienplatz. The view of Munich was wonderful, even though it was overcast and chilly.


Marienplatz from above

Our final stop in downtown was to this store that sells tracht; don't let the strange people and website scare you away, it's the real deal. Tracht is traditional Bavarian clothing like drindl dresses and lederhosen. Sebastian explained that this shop was the good stuff and the place that people from Munich go to buy their clothing, not tourists, and the quality showed; it was the best I'd seen. I tried the full get-up on (sorry, no photos were allowed in the shop) and ended up coming back the next day to buy the outfit! Yeah, it's crazy and I don't know how often I'll actually wear the stuff but I loved it and felt like it needed to be part of my wardrobe...for those special Bavarian occasions...I guess.


The best tracht in Munich, period!

A quick U-bahn train up to BMW Welt later and we were checking out the incredible BMW Welt facility near Olympiapark. They spent 500 million Euro on this facility and it shows; it's amazing. All they need to do is walk you through here once and you're a BMW customer for life.


I heart BMW

We walked through the Olympiapark on the way back where the '72 Olympics were held. It's a really nice park and facilities are everywhere. I guess you could call this Munich's Central Park and from what Sebastian told us it is used for all sorts of concerts, sporting events, festivals and so forth; it's a wonderful gem in this beautiful city. Bayern Munich used to play here until the Allianz Arena was built just a few miles from here, which is certainly a step-up for Germany's best football (soccer) club.


Katie attempting communication with swans @ Olympiapark

Hofbrau Haus for dinner that night. I wanted everyone to see HB cuz you kinda gotta see it but it's such a tourist trap and so isolated from the true Munich experience that you're cheating yourself by not going elsewhere (which we had). Everyone speaks English (hell, our waiter was Japanese), the menus are in English, it's just not "real" ya know? The traditional band was good but that's about all we enjoyed here; we'd take Lowenbrau any day of the week.


When you wish upon a star...

Our final full-day in Germany was spent near Fussen at Newschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that the Disney castles were modeled after, built by King Ludwig in the 1800's. It's about as fairytale place as you could ever imagine. The castle is nestled in the mountains with waterfalls around it, towering pine trees, a beautiful valley below and the most incredible views. The castle inside is pretty bland; I'm sure there are castles in Orange County that are more nicely appointed. But, you come here for the view and the surroundings and they were incredible. It was a damn shame that the weather was rainy and the roads were really wet because the drive down from Munich is on some killer winding roads through beautiful countryside. Next time I'm totally coming back to this stretch of pavement and having a little fun!


Not a bad view, eh?

Afterwards we drove to Oberammergau for a quick stop and shopping and then back to Munich in a big rainstorm. With the wipers going full speed and me keeping up with the traffic around me, I glanced down and we were going 100mph...might want to slow down :) I bought the lederhosen in Munich upon our return to the City, everyone did a bit of shopping and then it was back to the hotel to pack. Jen and Ben had a train to Stuttgart in the morning and we had to drop off the uber-wagon and catch a flight home at 11AM.


Location, location, location

So the following day we dropped the uber-wagon off at E.H.Harms for shipping back to the states, boarded our flight to Heathrow and 1/2 a day later we were back home. The trip was over and all that was left was some jet lag, great souvenirs, around 1000 photos combined and great memories.

Jery Springer-style final thoughts? I think so. We'll hit it tomorrow...

Europe Recap Part 4: Germany (part 1)

We're breaking Germany into two parts; I cannot be expected to summarize this place in 1 post...if you were there, you'd understand...

I'd be lying to you if I told you this wasn't the most anticipated portion of the trip. Picking up the uber-wagon aside, I was really stoked to go back to Germany. I don't know what it is about this place but I just lvoe it. The people are super nice, the beer is outstanding, the culture in Bavaria rules, areas of roads with no speed limit, I could go on forever.

When we arrived back in Munich from our little getaway to Salzburg we checked into the hotel (another Priceline score) that was located in central Munich right near the central train station or hauptbahnhof if you're scoring at home. My sister and brother-in-law had just landed at MUC and were en route to meet up with us for a few days during their own European adventure. First night we walked down to Lowenbrau for some food and beer. The food here is probably the best we had in Munich and their bier is some of my favorite. The menus, however, were all in German so we just sort of guessed what everything was and we scored!

Next morning we packed up the car and made the quick drive to Dachau and the prison camp memorial. I did this last time I was in Germany but felt it important that the rest of the gang see this sobering place. The weather was gorgeous which felt strange while walking among buildings that were used to kill people for no good reason. Enough of the serious shit; let's get back to vacation.


Heavy stuff at Dachau

After Dachau, we drove to a little town about 35 miles away called Landshut. This was Ben & Jen's first taste of REAL German roads in the car as we cruised between 100-120 the entire way and tried catching up to a convertible filled with naked or half-naked guys...we weren't sure, nor were we sure how great it felt standing up in a convertible going 110mph. Those dudes had to be covered with bugs and cold as sin, but I'm sure the bier they were most certainly drinking made everything OK. I digress...

When I think of little European towns I think of Landshut. Cute and colorful buildings, big church, cafes lining the streets, ice cream cones, the river running through the town; perfect. The weather stayed gorgeous and we were treated to a relaxing day in this quaint German town that has the highest church tower in either the world or just in Europe...whatever it is, the thing is HUGE. We had issues with parking, however. I was sort of paranoid about the car--not quite sure where the corners were--and when you pair that with TIGHT parallel parking everywhere and narrow streets you get a real parking adventure. We drove down this dead-end street (didn't know that going into it) and had to back the car down the street with about a foot clearance on either side. 15 minutes later we were trying to parallel park in the smallest spot we could find but with the help of 3 spotters we made it work and looked like pros, jamming our car into a space with about 6" clearance front and back. Good times.


Landshut...isn't it quaint?

Driving home at 100+ mph, we arrived back in Munich around 6 and were to meet Katie's friend Sebastian at 7 for a night of fun. This is where our story gets awfully Bavarian, awfully fast...


Sebastian and Katie hoisting a litre of the good stuff

Sebastian took us to the fair grounds where they hold Oktoberfest in the fall. There was another festival (Bavarians LOVE festivals and tying them in with bier) called Springfest. This was described as a mini-Oktoberfest. There were carnival rides everywhere, food, music, you name it. Think of a county fair, but don't charge admission: vilkommen to Springfest. We ended up at the sole bier-tent and were met with a sea of Bavarians well on their way to inebriation. We sat down, Sebastian ordered the biers and we were on the same train as the rest of the Bavarians in the tent. Sidenote: during Oktoberfest there are around 12 major tents here with the largest holding 10,000 people, the smallest 2,000. Yeah, it's sort of a BIG thing.


Here's what Oktoberfest looks like...there's only 1 tent here during Springfest

There was a band playing a mix of German tunes and classic rock(?!) and everybody was dancing and singing and having a great time. THIS is why I will come back to Germany many times in my lifetime. The atmosphere was incredible. There was this buzz, this energy in the place and it just felt..GREAT! We fed off the energy and were Bavarian for a few hours. We ended up at the front of the tent right in front of the band and were dancing on the table for an hour before the party broke up and everyone had to head home. So sad.


This is early in the evening...we're about 1/2-way from the front...just as packed behind us

We stumbled our way out to the fairground and grabbed the last ride of the night on this thing called the "Frisbee" that I probably wouldn't do sober but figured with 4 litres of bier in my belly would be a great idea. For 3/4 of the ride I was having a blast but that last 1/4 I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on a happy place; a place that didn't involve me barfing and looking like a vomit-sprinkler in midair. Too much info? Sorry. We made it off the ride and safely back to the hotel (after I lost 50-Euro somehow) and passed out. Awesome night; no regrets and I'd do it again in a heartbeat...which in Munich could be arranged as Springfest goes for 3 weeks!! YES!!


What was I thinking??!!

We'll finish this story tomorrow...

Munich rocks

So, I'm not gonna type much right now and probably will wait until I get back to really post up all the good stories and photos from this trip, but I had to step in for a moment and proclaim Munich as one of the coolest places on Earth.

Last night we went with Katie's friend Sebastian who lives here in Munich to the Spring Festival. It was explained to us as a "mini-Oktoberfest" which was surely a good sign. It turned out to be one hell of a party. There were probably about 1500 Germans in the beer tent (this was no tourist thing; you had to be local to know anything was going on and what it was) that was located at the Oktoberfest fair grounds. By the time we left at 11PM (when the tent closed) I had downed 4 liters of Augustiner Bier, which is a Munich beer that does no advertising and does not export their beer outside of Munich. Talk about a local brew!

Dancing on tables, singing, toasting, making friends with Germans; it rocked. You really get a feel for the culture and the heartbeat of the city when you experience something as fun as that festival. Lord knows how many liters of beer were poured last night, but it's safe to say they floated a few hundred kegs before the night was through.

OK, tomorrow is our last full day before we fly back. We're off to the castles in the South and to Oberammergau for a pretty little Bavarian town that everybody pictures when they think of Germany. You'll see photos when I return to the US.

Schuss!

Holy sh*t I love driving in Germany

We flew out of Paris this afternoon after spending the morning enjoying a little shopping and our last baguette and cheese DIY lunch kit, which was tres bien.

But, past the baguettes and cheese, I was done with Paris. We were there for a little over 2 days and that's about all I need to see of Paris; no real desire to head back. People were pushy, sort of rude, in a hurry everywhere and didn't seem too interested in trying to work with our Frenglish. No hard feelings because I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but it was time to head off to a better and friendlier place: Germany. But wait just a second...we were in Germany for about 4 hours after getting baggage and catching a train back to Munich and BMW Welt, then we hopped in the uber-wagon and drove to Salzburg, Austria where I'm typing this from right now.

Oh, and drive we did. Once we hit A-8 (the Autobahn stretch between Munich and Salzburg), all bets were off and the car said "let's have a little fun, Herr Mills." So, we got the old girl going and sh*t was it a ride to remember. The wagon is a beast. Let me say that again: A BEAST. It drives so perfectly, so quickly, and is so well-equipped it has validated my decision choosing between a wagon and a sedan. I'm gonna love this car, that's for sure.

It is so built to be the Ultimate Driving Machine, it deserves every letter of that moniker it bears. The orchestra of cars weaving in and out of traffic at warp speeds began right on cue and we, in turn, joined the symphony. We only hit about 130mph before we decided to call it good and chill out around 105mph for those areas without a posted speed limit; it was dusk/night, after all, and safety first. You have no idea how freaking insane and awesome it is to legally drive your car at 130mph and have a squadron of other German cars along with you for the ride. We got passed by X5's and 5's traveling at probably 130-140mph and I remembered after the 1st pass at 100mph why I did European Delivery again and will probably be back here in 3 years to do it again...

Anyway, we sightsee Salzburg tomorrow and just take it easy. Paris was a real ass-kicker and we walked our asses off and could use a break and a city center that is about 1/4 mile wide and 1/2 mile long should do the trick.

I'll post some photos
tomorrow as we don't really have much to share with y'all. Until then, gtuen nacht!!

M-2531Z

Mein Auto

Ho hum day. Caught a flight from LHR to MUC. Rode the train into Munich. Oh yeah, and picked up a new BMW. Here's the only photo of the car I have (right now) since my camera can't upload photos for a little while. I give you: M-2531Z. We immediately parked the car in the garage and hopped a flight to Paris so I won't see it again until Thursday but sh*t is it cool and BMW kicks some MAJOR ASS with the BMW Welt and European Delivery program. More on this later...in my 3rd country today and I need some rest.

OK, bedtime. I'll send more tomorrow, I promise... In the meantime, here's me freaking out eating a pretzel at BMW Welt and me giving the old girl a good once over.