After seeing Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Salzburg in just 8 days, I decided to make my stay in Munich be solely for relaxation and no tourism or museums or anything of the sort.
On my first day in Munich, my plan was to wake up late, enjoy the free breakfast, and make my way over to the 1 pm free tour. I was ready early so I left, not realizing I forgot my umbrella. After about 20 minutes it started to pour. I knew I had a 4 hour walking tour ahead of me, so I ran back to the hostel. I made it back to the meeting point about 5 minutes late and just joined the first group I saw. As the tour guide was doing his introduction, someone called out my name! And I mean my name, the full Kelly Boger. Turns out a friend of mine from high school was on the same tour! What are the odds?!
We ended up bailing on the tour and spending the rest of the day with his 2 travel buddies, one of whom we knew from high school as well. It was a great day, exactly what I wanted. No tourism, just bratwurst, big pretzels, and beer. A successful capture of Munich. I even managed to get 2 one liter hofbrauhaus mugs! I should probably explain.
Hofbrauhaus is the oldest and easily most famous beer hall in Munich, maybe in the world. It is from the 1500's and the smallest size beer that they sell is one liter. They make their own 1-liter mugs with their emblem on them. My brother Brian got one when he studied abroad and I remember thinking how cool and amazing it was. I could've also sworn he said his broke, which is why I got 2 mugs, but we're still sorting that out.
The next day my friends were leaving so turns out I caught them just in time. With my second day in Munich I went to Dachau, the very first concentration camp. It was important to me to see one, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
At Dachau there was a documentary which showed photos and gave so much information. There also was an exhibit with hundreds of poster-sized signs for you to read about any detail you wanted: punishment, health,
religion, race, homosexuals, Nazi propaganda, how they were saved, who was in charge, etc. Although it was clearly my most depressing day, and I realized a lot more depressing by going alone (it makes for a long sad day when you aren't even talking), I would highly recommend that everyone see one if you are ever given the opportunity. It is important that we honor and show our respect for the people that lived it.
On a much more cheerful note, I spent my last day going to the Neuschwanstein castle. This is the castle that the sleeping beauty castle is designed after! I took a tour to the castle which was much more hassle free and ended up being one of my favorite days. I met a mother daughter duo and the mother's friend who were all traveling
together, and ended up spending the day with the daughter who was 2 years older than me. We all talked and laughed as the tour took us out to the Alps on a gorgeous day. We went to a lake where they told us about the childhood of Ludwig II, the king who would later design the castle along with 3 others. Later we hiked up the Alps to St. mary's bridge and got a postcard quality photo of the castle. It was amazing! The perfect pick me up after Dachau. Finally we got to go inside the castle where I learned it was never actually finished. The second floor was never even started! Ludwig died before the completion and after his death no one wanted to keep pouring in the money to finish it.
I could talk about this castle, and the scenery around it for hours, so I'll try not to bore you. In the end of Ludwig's life though, we was becoming increasingly eccentric (inviting horses to eat dinner in the dining room) and was found to be crazy. How was he found to be crazy you ask? I'll tell you! The doctor never spoke with him, or even met him, instead he talked with servants and friends to make his own guess. Once found insane, and forced to renounce his thrown, the doctor and Ludwig met. They went for a walk and never returned. Both were found dead in the lake near his palace, Ludwig had removed his jacket and shoes, but the doctor's watch read 30 minutes later than Ludwig's. No one knows what happened, and I suppose that is just more mystery and intrigue for the castle.
The next day I'm off to Bern, Switzerland. If you are ever in the area though, I 100% recommend you go to munich and drink a beer and also hit up the castle. It is worth every penny.
See you in Switzerland!
On my first day in Munich, my plan was to wake up late, enjoy the free breakfast, and make my way over to the 1 pm free tour. I was ready early so I left, not realizing I forgot my umbrella. After about 20 minutes it started to pour. I knew I had a 4 hour walking tour ahead of me, so I ran back to the hostel. I made it back to the meeting point about 5 minutes late and just joined the first group I saw. As the tour guide was doing his introduction, someone called out my name! And I mean my name, the full Kelly Boger. Turns out a friend of mine from high school was on the same tour! What are the odds?!
We ended up bailing on the tour and spending the rest of the day with his 2 travel buddies, one of whom we knew from high school as well. It was a great day, exactly what I wanted. No tourism, just bratwurst, big pretzels, and beer. A successful capture of Munich. I even managed to get 2 one liter hofbrauhaus mugs! I should probably explain.
Hofbrauhaus is the oldest and easily most famous beer hall in Munich, maybe in the world. It is from the 1500's and the smallest size beer that they sell is one liter. They make their own 1-liter mugs with their emblem on them. My brother Brian got one when he studied abroad and I remember thinking how cool and amazing it was. I could've also sworn he said his broke, which is why I got 2 mugs, but we're still sorting that out.
The next day my friends were leaving so turns out I caught them just in time. With my second day in Munich I went to Dachau, the very first concentration camp. It was important to me to see one, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.
At Dachau there was a documentary which showed photos and gave so much information. There also was an exhibit with hundreds of poster-sized signs for you to read about any detail you wanted: punishment, health,
religion, race, homosexuals, Nazi propaganda, how they were saved, who was in charge, etc. Although it was clearly my most depressing day, and I realized a lot more depressing by going alone (it makes for a long sad day when you aren't even talking), I would highly recommend that everyone see one if you are ever given the opportunity. It is important that we honor and show our respect for the people that lived it.
On a much more cheerful note, I spent my last day going to the Neuschwanstein castle. This is the castle that the sleeping beauty castle is designed after! I took a tour to the castle which was much more hassle free and ended up being one of my favorite days. I met a mother daughter duo and the mother's friend who were all traveling
together, and ended up spending the day with the daughter who was 2 years older than me. We all talked and laughed as the tour took us out to the Alps on a gorgeous day. We went to a lake where they told us about the childhood of Ludwig II, the king who would later design the castle along with 3 others. Later we hiked up the Alps to St. mary's bridge and got a postcard quality photo of the castle. It was amazing! The perfect pick me up after Dachau. Finally we got to go inside the castle where I learned it was never actually finished. The second floor was never even started! Ludwig died before the completion and after his death no one wanted to keep pouring in the money to finish it.
I could talk about this castle, and the scenery around it for hours, so I'll try not to bore you. In the end of Ludwig's life though, we was becoming increasingly eccentric (inviting horses to eat dinner in the dining room) and was found to be crazy. How was he found to be crazy you ask? I'll tell you! The doctor never spoke with him, or even met him, instead he talked with servants and friends to make his own guess. Once found insane, and forced to renounce his thrown, the doctor and Ludwig met. They went for a walk and never returned. Both were found dead in the lake near his palace, Ludwig had removed his jacket and shoes, but the doctor's watch read 30 minutes later than Ludwig's. No one knows what happened, and I suppose that is just more mystery and intrigue for the castle.
The next day I'm off to Bern, Switzerland. If you are ever in the area though, I 100% recommend you go to munich and drink a beer and also hit up the castle. It is worth every penny.
See you in Switzerland!
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