After our experience the previous weekend with unreserved seats on the train from Vienna to Salzburg, we decided to reserve seats for our Innsbruck to Munich ride. It was another weekend trip, and more importantly, it was Jane’s birthday, so we couldn’t risk an inconvenient train ride.
Well, that was the plan at least.
About halfway between Innsbruck and Munich, our train stopped for an extended time in Wörgl, Austria. After several announcements and delays, we learned that one of the train doors wasn’t working, and everyone had to disembark. Forty minutes later, we caught a local train to Kufstein, Austria, and then another local train that finally took us to Munich. Fortunately, we managed to find seats on both commuter trains.
Upon arriving in Munich, we took a tram to the Munich Marriott Hotel City West; conveniently, there’s a tram stop right in front of the hotel. When we got to our room, there was a nice little birthday surprise for Jane. After checking in, we headed to the American Consulate, having read that a “No Kings” demonstration was planned there. Unfortunately, when we arrived, there was nothing happening. We ended up walking around the neighborhood including the famous Viktualienmarkt beer garden before heading back to the hotel.
That evening, we celebrated Jane’s special birthday at Restaurant Sparkling Bistro, a reservation I had made back in September. We enjoyed an eight-course dinner which included such delicacies as pike with caviar, lobster bisque, pasta with beef checks, and deer. We also had wine pairings with each course. The entire experience lasted 3 1/2 hours at this Michelin-starred restaurant. It was a truly wonderful and delicious dining experience.
The next morning, after breakfast in the M Club at the Marriott, we took the tram to the Alte Pinakothek, an art museum focusing on European masterpieces from the 14th to 18th centuries. The museum has an impressive collection of works by Rubens and Rembrandt. As an added bonus and surprise, admission was only one euro each since many Munich museums charge just one euro on Sundays.
That afternoon, we joined a 2½-hour walking tour of Munich. We learned about the city’s origins such as it was founded by Benedictine monks in the 8th century, and München literally means “home of the monks.” The tour covered Munich’s transformation under Hitler and the Third Reich, as well as Bavarian culture. It ended at Marienplatz, the city’s central square, where the Glockenspiel in the New Town Hall performs three times a day (it’s not that exciting). After the tour, we returned to the hotel (mostly because I wanted to watch football). After a few minutes of tinkering with bootleg streaming, we managed to watch the Browns and Dolphins game on my iPad.
On Monday, we were up early for a full-day excursion outside of Munich. Our first stop was Linderhof Palace, built by King Ludwig II between 1863 and 1886. The interior rooms were way over the top as Ludwig modeled much of its design on Versailles (sorry no photos allowed inside the palace).
Next, we stopped in the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau. It was charming, though we both preferred Mittenwald, the town we had visited the previous Thursday.
The highlight of the day was our visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, also built by King Ludwig II. He died before it was completed, but the castle later served as inspiration for Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. With the fall foliage, the castle really made a beautiful landscape. Another bonus was Jane’s girlfriend Lora, who was with us in Vienna, was surprisingly in Munich and joined us for this wonderful day trip.
On Tuesday, we visited Lenbachhaus, home to the Städtische Galerie, a modern art museum that houses the world’s largest collection of works by Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Rider”), a group of expressionist artists founded in Munich in 1911. Kandinsky, the most famous member, is well represented in the collection with nearly 90 pieces of work.
After the museum, we came across the Brown House, which had served as the Nazi Party headquarters. Next to it stands the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism, a museum that opened in 2015.
We then made our way back to Marienplatz and continued again to Viktualienmarkt, an open-air food market with numerous stalls, a large beer garden, and a maypole. After grabbing a bratwurst there, we walked a couple of blocks to the Hofbräuhaus, where we each enjoyed a half-liter of beer.
We are currently sitting in the Lufthansa Senator Lounge and our United flight back to Dulles is currently 90 minutes delayed.
We had an enjoyable three weeks in Europe. One thing to note is the quality of public transportation – trams, electric buses, and subways – and the train systems we used in London, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Munich is something I truly wish we had in the United States.
While we were gone, we missed two rounds of the baseball playoffs, but we’ll be back just in time for Game One of the World Series. This coming weekend is the Sea Witch Festival in Rehoboth Beach (IYKYK).
Travel provides endless learning experiences and it always helps you appreciate what you have at home when you return.
Traveling Walters 