Sunday, 16 June 2019
Flew from Brindisi, Italy, to Munich, Germany, on EurowingsTransfer: Welcome Pickups from Munich Airport to our hotel. We also used this company for transfer from Athens airport to hotel in Athens a couple of years ago; very professional, reliable.
Accommodations: Apartment München Isartor. Quiet, clean room near Marienplatz.
We made it to Munich on schedule. Whew. One step closer to having things in place for Meghan and Josh's arrival on Tuesday. We walked to Marienplatz in the afternoon, and found ourselves in the middle of Munich's town celebration. The platz was one large biergarten, with music and food and dancing and people everywhere. We walked through part of the Altstadt and market area, but aside from the festival most things were closed. As we would discover over the next few weeks, restaurants and grocery stores are mostly closed on Sundays (and many on Mondays) in Germany.
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| Old Town Hall in Munich. It looks newer than the New Town Hall because it was bombed in WWII and rebuilt afterward. |
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| Marienplatz, with its New Town Hall and famous glockenspiel (clock tower), was filled with food and bier stalls--and people--during the festival the Sunday we were there. |
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| Maypole in Munich's Viktualienmarkt (farmer's market). Maypoles in German markets display decorations indicating the merchants that are doing business there. |
Monday, 17 June 2019
Biked 2 miles to Avis rental shop, drove to Dachau and then on to Ulm.
Bike rental for Josh: BikeBringer, owner Steffen Rehfel. Steffen was awesome. He delivered the bike to us at our hotel right on schedule and was supernice.
Accommodations: Pension Rosch, host Birgitta Wachter. Quiet and clean, basic guesthouse in Ulm Alstadt. Parking in garage about a block away less than 5 euros for the night.
Big day. Steffen delivered J2's bike to our hotel at 9:30 am and we locked it up outside the hotel. Then we loaded our bags on our bikes and rode to the Avis rental shop, piled the bikes in the back of the rental station wagon, drove back to the hotel and picked up J2's bike and stuffed it into the car, and headed for Dachau.
A wrong exit off the Autobahn on the way to Dachau put us on a small highway that wound through little villages--actually a nice wrong turn. We stopped at a biergarten for a typical regional lunch of roasted pork, potatoes, dumplings, salad, and rhubarb juice with sparkling mineral water. Then on to Dachau.
We spent a couple of hours at the concentration camp. The self-guided audio tour was informative and sobering. It was strange to see how close the village of Dachau is to the camp. We wondered how people living in the village could ignore what was happening in the camp.
With a bit of lunch and history under our belt, we drove on to our pension in Ulm, where we locked the three bikes in the garage, had dinner across the street at a little cafe, walked around a bit, and fell into bed exhausted.
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| Dachau. Left to right: foundations of the barracks, guarded perimeter lawn, trench, and fence. |
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| Crematorium. |
Tuesday, 18 June 2019
Drove from Ulm to Munich Airport, then on to Salzburg
Accommodations: Haus am Moos, Fam. Strasser, Walter Strasser, Moosstraße 186a, A-5020 Salzburg, http://www.ammoos.at/en-suite.htm, Phone: +43-662-824921, walter strasser ammoos186a@yahoo.de. Beautiful old family home about 6k outside Salzburg, with a garden and pool. We had an apartment with two bedrooms, sitting room, and bath.
Meghan and J2 are finally with us! We had a bit of a wrinkle with a missing duffle bag containing J2's bike helmet and some clothes and toiletry items that Meghan was bringing to resupply Ken and me. After filing all the paperwork to track down the bag, we headed for Salzburg in our rented station wagon. What a beautiful drive!
Our guesthouse was also beautiful. J2 opted to bunk with Ken rather than sleep alone in the sitting room. He and Ken went for a swim in the pool, then we all drove to the Altstadt, parked the car, walked around, and ate in a biergarten/cafeteria in the center of the town. Tired but happy to be together.
Our guesthouse was also beautiful. J2 opted to bunk with Ken rather than sleep alone in the sitting room. He and Ken went for a swim in the pool, then we all drove to the Altstadt, parked the car, walked around, and ate in a biergarten/cafeteria in the center of the town. Tired but happy to be together.
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| J2 and Ken enjoyed the pool. Meghan and I enjoyed the view of the pool and the alps beyond the garden from our bedroom window. |
Wednesday, 19 June 2019
Drove from Salzburg, Austria, to Halblech-Buching, near Fussen, Germany, stopping at Hitler's Eagles' Nest and Bunker on the way.
Accommodations: Halblech-Buching, hosts Vincent and Sieglinde Hieronymus. Spacious 3-bedroom apartment with full kitchen and living area, the entire top floor of their home, with separate entrance. Comfortable, reasonably clean. The village of Halblech-Buching was a great location, with grocery store, three restaurants, butcher shop, and cheese shop all within a few blocks. Quiet residential neighborhood. Night 1 of 3.
Josh chose our sightseeing destination for today: Hitler's Eagle's Nest and Bunker. All the exhibits were in German, with a few brief comments in English. We learned a bit about Hitler and the Nazis, but mostly hiked and took in the amazing views. Oh, and ate lunch. And J2 played in the glacier (yes, in it; he found a way to crawl under it on one side and come out on the other.)
Accommodations: Night 2 of 3 in the Halblech-Buching apartment.
We spent the entire day touring the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig II, but it was never actually finished or lived in; Ludwig II died shortly after he moved into an apartment in the carriage house while work continued on the castle itself, and the work stopped when he drowned in a lake nearby. The rooms that had been completed and are open to visitors are elaborate. Ludwig designed them for himself and his friend the composer Richard Wagner, who was a frequent visitor.
Accommodations: Halblech-Buching, hosts Vincent and Sieglinde Hieronymus. Spacious 3-bedroom apartment with full kitchen and living area, the entire top floor of their home, with separate entrance. Comfortable, reasonably clean. The village of Halblech-Buching was a great location, with grocery store, three restaurants, butcher shop, and cheese shop all within a few blocks. Quiet residential neighborhood. Night 1 of 3.
Josh chose our sightseeing destination for today: Hitler's Eagle's Nest and Bunker. All the exhibits were in German, with a few brief comments in English. We learned a bit about Hitler and the Nazis, but mostly hiked and took in the amazing views. Oh, and ate lunch. And J2 played in the glacier (yes, in it; he found a way to crawl under it on one side and come out on the other.)
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| Selfie at Eagle's Nest. The retreat was originally used to entertain important political and military leaders in the Nazi Party. The surviving facility houses a restaurant, biergarten, and gathering rooms. |
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| Hitler chose the location for the Eagle's Nest because of the breathtaking view. The hike up to the site is a bit steep. Apparently, Hitler seldom visited his retreat because he was afraid of heights. |
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| This memorial cross marks the summit of the mountain. |
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| A large bunker facility was constructed to provide shelter for Hitler and his guests during bomb attacks in World War II. |
Thursday, 20 June 2019
Drove a few miles to SchwangauAccommodations: Night 2 of 3 in the Halblech-Buching apartment.
We spent the entire day touring the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig II, but it was never actually finished or lived in; Ludwig II died shortly after he moved into an apartment in the carriage house while work continued on the castle itself, and the work stopped when he drowned in a lake nearby. The rooms that had been completed and are open to visitors are elaborate. Ludwig designed them for himself and his friend the composer Richard Wagner, who was a frequent visitor.
On the day we visited, it rained--but that didn't stop us or the hundreds of other tourists. We got caught in a torrential downpour on the half-hour hike down from St. Mary's Bridge. We piled into the car and drove back to Halblech-Buching, straight to a gasthaus for dinner. Then Josh and Meghan trounced Ken and me in a game of partner chess.
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| Hohenschwangau is the castle Ludwig II grew up in with his parents. |
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| Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig II for himself and his friend Richard Wagner. It is said to have been the inspiration behind Walt Disney's iconic fairytale castle. |
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| We hiked up to St. Mary's Bridge to capture pictures of the castle from above. The rain didn't keep us from smiling. About 15 years ago (a little longer?), Ken and J1 (Josh's dad) spent a few days biking in this area and visiting the castles. How fun to share this with a new generation. |
Friday, 21 June 2019
Drove to Weiskirche and Ehrensburg CastleAccommodations: Night 3 of 3 in the Halblech-Buching apartment.
We were at the Weiskirche (White Church) near Fussen bright and early--just ahead of the tour buses. The church is a pilgrimage destination and a World Heritage Site. It sits in the middle of a field, clearly visible on the road between Fussen and Schwangau. The exterior is beautifully painted, and the organ and altar are elaborate. Chickens greeted us as we approached through a farmyard, and a cafe across the road served up fresh hot bavarian donuts as we left. Not a bad start to another rainy morning.
We drove on to the Ehrensburg Castle ruins, old fort ruins, and Highline 179 Suspension Bridge. We finished the day by purchasing white brats at the local butcher and other dinner ingredients from the grocery store, and cooking dinner in our apartment. (Ken discovered that the white sausages he has called metwurst for 48 years are really called weisswurst. Funny that no one has corrected him in all those years; we all just thought he knew what he was talking about :)
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| Ehrensburg Castle ruins and J2. |
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| Ehrensburg Castle is perched above the village on one hill. |
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| The Highline 179 Suspension Bridge connects the castle ruins atop a hill on one side of the valley with the fort ruins on the other side of the valley. It's a long hike on a swaying bridge, and just a bit difficult for those with a fear of heights. |
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| The baroque fortress Schlosskopf (left) and Ehrensberg ruins (right) are both visible across the valley from the end of the bridge near the fort ruins. |
Saturday, 22 June 2019
Drove to Rothenburg, Germany, on the Romantic Road.Accommodations: Gasthaus Gerlinger, hosts Hermann and Susan Gerlinger. Two-bedroom apartment in 16th C house on quiet street. Josh liked it because it had a window from the kitchen overlooking the staircase.
Following Meghan's suggestion, we stopped for lunch in Nordlingen, a fortified town. There was a local festival going on with a parade. We watched the parade from the top of the cathedral tower, walked around part of the top of the wall around the city, and explored the little alleys and platzes and churches.
We spent the night in Rothenburg, which is a small fortified city with a lot of tourists during the day, plenty of shops and restaurants, and of course churches. We explored a bit on our own in the afternoon, discovering the main square, two of the gates, several towers, and an eis cafe (ice cream shop). Josh found a medieval shop with swords, knives, daggers, pewter figures and soldiers, and chess sets. He bought a dagger for a souvenir, and I picked out a chess set for Konur.
In the evening we took part in the Night Watchman's Tour, following the night watchman from the main square to several significant sites in the town and hearing stories of town history.
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| After watching part of the parade from the top of the church tower in the main square of Nordlingen, Josh raced down to street level so he could get some of the candy being thrown to children along the way. |
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| The half-grown storks in this nest were bobbing and stretching to the music from the bands in the parade. When I first saw them, I couldn't believe they were real; they were like mechanical characters moving around in there! |
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| Josh explored a staircase and door in the town wall. |
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| Every town we see has its own unique character, with most using some form of painted stucco and timbers. Rothenburg was especially beautiful. |
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| One of the gates and towers leading into/out of Rothenburg, photographed from a lovely garden with a view of the town wall and across the valley to a monastery (behind me as I took this photo). |
Sunday, 23 June 2019
Drove to Ulm, Germany
Accommodations: Returned to Pension Rosch (see 17 June).
On the way to Ulm, we drove through Dinklesbuhl intending to have lunch. We finally found a place to park, but could only find eis cafes and closed restaurants. It was Sunday. We gave up on lunch but did find an erdbeery (strawberry) stand and grabbed some fresh fruit on the way out of town.
After checking in to the pension in Ulm, we explored the city with Josh and Meghan. Josh and Ken climbed the cathedral tower (798 steps) while Meghan and I looked for a place to eat dinner. We found the Ratskellar, a huge painted building serving traditional Swabian food.
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| Ulm Cathedral. |
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| View from halfway up the cathedral tower. |
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| A replica of the cathedral built from Legos is displayed inside the entrance to the cathedral. |
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| Ulm Ratskellar. We ate dinner in the outdoor seating on the other side of the buildling. |
