Unique Things in Munich

Mini Cooper police cars. Their cool looking, but we still don't want to see one in our rear view mirror.

Here's an example of the incredible attention to detail and the amount of labor that is put into the streets and sidewalks here and in all of Europe.

Here are a couple of photos from a shopping trip that show the culture of this land:
Above are the traditional bierstiens (beer steins) of Germany. In Medieval times a law was passed requiring food and drink to be covered at all times as a sanitary measure, thus the lid on the mug. Now, the lid keeps beer from spilling while drinking and dancing to the brass bands!

The Cuckoo clock was invented in the Black Forest Town of Schonwald in the mid 17th Century. The Cuckoo bird, of which the clock designed its singing bird after, can be found in Northern Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Cuckoo never builds a nest, preferring instead to lay their eggs in the nests of other birds who unwittingly raise the cuckoo fledglings as their own. We have no idea what this has to do with the clock, but we thought it was interesting!

All that shopping made us thirsty, so we popped into a beer garden. Clearly this group had been drinking for awhile before we got there!

The Real Sunflowers

Growing up, Becky had this painting of Vincent van Gogh's "The Vase with Sunflowers" hanging on a wall in her family's home. So, as you can imagine, she was shocked to find out that it was not an original, but a copy of the real one that hangs in the Neue Pinakothek Museum!

We came up with a theory that the original is in Minnesota, and this one is actually the reproduction. It helps her sleep at night knowing that it's safe there, since this is the one that an art thief would probably target.

You know what Steve's thinking: "I could paint this."

Europe's Superbowl

If there is one thing that the people of Europe are more passionate about than good food and drink, it's football (aka soccer for we Americans).

AC Milan vs. Liverpool for The Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League Final. Becky makes yet another new friend, this one is a little passionate for his Milano football squad. Let's just be glad that they won!

Let the celebration begin! The whole staff of the restaurant broke into dance, even the owner came out from behind the bar for a dance with Becky!

Keep in mind, this is happening in Germany! Can you imagine being in Milan right now?

Neuschwanstein Castle

A relaxing two hour train ride south of Munich, we were treated to a view of the north side of the Alps. At the base of these mountains is where we would see a few of the famous castles Germany is known for. We arrived in the little town of Fussen, and then took the bus to the base of the mountain where the road leads to the castle. In order to get to the castle itself, you can take a bus up a back road, or a horse drawn carriage up the main road for the romantic types, or you can walk 45 minutes, uphill, if you have been eating way too much for the last two months. We walked.

Neuschwanstein Castle has an incredible story, seeing that it was never lived in. It was built by Ludwig II, and is relatively new with construction stopped in 1886 at the time of the King's death. In fact, the castle is not complete, the King's bathroom was never finished. The inside of the castle is a tribute to Wagner, the famous German opera composer. The rooms are huge and colorful, and the views to the mountains and lakes are almost unbelievable.

The death of King Ludwig II is very mysterious. In 1886, he was very much in debt (probably from building this castle!). He was removed from the ruling power of Germany. Ludwig and his doctor went for a walk around a lake in Munich called Starnberger, and both were later found floating dead in the lake. There were no clues, and plenty of conspiracy theories.

On a more happy note, if this castle looks familiar, it should - we have one in the U.S. Where? Orlando! It was the inspiration for Walt Disney's castle at Magic Kingdom in Florida.

The above photo was taken from this bridge, below photo (the one with us in it, not the Disney one).

The view of the neighbor's house. Not a bad neighborhood.

The layers of mountains in the distance, the lush green countryside and surrounding lakes just make for the perfect setting for a castle. Can you imagine the mortgage payment on this place!

Munich, Germany

Time to brush up on our "Bitte" (please) "Danke" (thank you) and "Guten Tag" (good day)! This is the first time in about six weeks we will not be defaulting to a broken Italian/English mix. Good thing Becky still has a few German words floating around in her head to help us navigate. Munich is known for its architecture, castles, food, and the many beer gardens that populate the city. The people who live here, much like all other Europeans, live life outdoors as much as possible. It is much more laid back than Italy, casual dress and lifestyle is prominent. This is a bike riding culture, there are actually lanes marked off on the sidewalk that are bike only. And they do mean only! We found out the hard way, with a fleet of bikers laying on the bells.

Many of the buildings were heavily damaged during World War II, it's hard to think about the treasures that were lost throughout Germany and Italy. Over the last 60 years, there has been a tremendous effort to rebuild and replace what was destroyed or lost. There are many examples of the Gothic architecture that is a symbol of Munich. The church in the photo below (Frauenkirche), built in 1468, is Munich's best-known symbol (onion domes) and is the largest Gothic basilica in Southern Germany.

The city centers around Marienplatz (the main square where the Glockenspiel is), which is a pedestrian zone, and seems to go for miles lined with shops, restaurants and pubs.

The beer gardens open in the Spring as soon as people will sit outside. Many of the gardens just serve beer, and allow you to bring your own food. We made the pilgrimage to the Hofbrauhaus, the most famous Bavarian pub in the world.

A brass band plays every day, which sets the tone literally. Although the beer is good, the beer gardens are all about the festive atmosphere.

We ordered two small beers.

Steve must have spilt his, it was gone in 5 minutes.

The food was just as good, we had a macaroni and cheese type dish (spatzle), about four different types of sausage, and a salad that we somehow "forgot" we had. Of course we had apple strudel, we had to, we're in Germany!

One of the things that makes Germany so special is a long history of classical music that has originated here. We were treated to an incredible show our first night. These extremely talented sidewalk performers could be on stage at Carnegie Hall.

One thing that you do not get much of in Italy is a good burger. You can imagine how excited that we were to get this one, as big as our heads! Steve finished his!
There is no shortage of cheese in Germany. Yet.

This may be the greatest open air market we have ever seen. Basically, every vegetable you could think of, floating in olive oil.

The fruit was from all over the world, and some of it looked like it may have been from a different planet.

It's a good thing that we were not here during Oktoberfest. Wait a minute, that gives us a good idea...!

Train from Verona to Munich

This is one of the most scenic rail routes in all of Europe. We were headed through the Italian and Austrian Alps on our way to Southern Germany. The mountains that you can see in the distance, through all of the train station's cable network, are the Dolomites. The trains stop anywhere from about one to three minutes, and they will not wait for some Travel Clown to take a picture. So, no running through the train station for a clear shot of the Dolomites, this is what we get. Steve learned from his adventure from Sicily to Naples to never get off a train that you need to be on (see previous blog).

Here is a quick shot of Vienna, Austria, through the train's dirty window. It looks like a great place, and has been added to the "1,000 Places We Must See" list. The "1,000" is just a working title, we think the list may contain more places than that!


The train into Munich rolls though beautiful mountains, and then into the rolling green hills of Southern Germany. We passed through some towns that we plan on returning to in order to see the famed castles that this part of the world is known for.

On this ride, we shared a compartment with two people. One was a lady, from Northern Italy, who also spoke fluent English. She was very nice, we hope. She heard our panic about still having postcards with Italian stamps, and knew we could not mail them from Germany. We would have to risk getting off the train, finding a mail box, and getting back to the train in the aforementioned 1 to 3 minutes. We think that if the Conductor did see one of us running from the train, with our big striped shoes, red nose and rainbow wig, that he would probably immediately close the doors, hit the whistle, and get out of there as fast as possible to make sure we did not get back on. "All aboard! Except you, postcard carrying clown!"

So, this lady volunteered to take the postcards since she was getting off at the last stop in Italy. If you did not get a postcard from us, then this lady threw yours in the garbage next to the mailbox. Sorry!


The other compartment mate was an Italian gentleman who worked for Porsche, a German automaker, so he traveled this route many times. Steve asked if had any free samples, say a Turbo 911, black, but he just gave his last free sample away. He was not fluent in English, but could definitely get by. With the help of his Italian to English dictionary he was carrying, he helped us with Italian words, and we help him with English.

We had a great time talking with him, he provided some very interesting insight on Italian culture compared to our own. He was obviously a very busy man, with two cell phones constantly ringing. He was also changing "SIM" cards that let him make local calls from each area as the train passed through.

One call was his wife, and during that conversation we heard something that included "....due americanos...", meaning two Americans. We joked with him that we heard him say that, and hoped that what he was saying was "all good". He explained what he was saying to his wife, "I am sharing the car with two Americans, they are very nice and have made this ride special". It was nice to hear, and those were our exact thoughts about spending time with him, and all of the people of Italy as we left the country.

Maybe now was the time to check back on those free Porsche samples?


We were excited to arrive in Munich, we could see that the architecture had changed a lot from what we experienced in Italy. We rolled our bags to the hotel, and were off to find our first beer garden!

Last few days in Verona

We have found that Verona is one of the most livable places that our journey has taken us. It's a small city, just under 300,000 people. The city is very pedestrian friendly, making it the perfect place to stroll for hours. The surrounding area is lush countryside, and picture perfect. There are many Medieval bell towers that provide some of the most incredible views you could imagine.Verona seems to be a young person's city. The streets and cafes are full all day and every night, but is somehow mellow at the same time. Comparing Verona to Milan is like comparing Boston to New York. Verona, like Boston, is much more quaint than it's closest big city. It's easy to figure out where you are, you are never too far away from the city center or being able to get out into the countryside. You can easily take the train to the lake, or can head East to Venice for a special weekend.

It is becoming harder and harder to leave these towns and our new friends. The way the restaurants and cafes are set up, you normally are sharing a table with people you do not know. This lasts about 5 minutes, since everyone is so extremely friendly that you can make new friends just sitting next to someone over a glass of vino. Verona is truly an international city, take this cross section of new friends: Naples, Australia, Spain, United States x 2, and Canada!

But with each departure there is a new destination to explore. Next stop: Munich, Germany!