Travel Tuesday: My Bavarian Weekend with Caroline

So let's rewind about three and a half months ago, to when my very good friend Caroline came to stay with me for a long weekend before she headed off to Oxford for 6 weeks. We really didn't have any plans for the weekend (or at least I hadn't shared my ideas with her yet), so we kinda winged it as with what we were going to do. While there was a crazy summer storm (hail and everything) going on outside my window, I was booking our hostels and mapping out our 3-day trip throughout Bavaria! Between fingers of peanut butter (yes she is a saint and brought me a jar of JIF from the States!) and catching up on the past few months, we decided our trip would be Munich to Füssen to Dachau to back to Bayreuth. A lot of train travel for sure, but with the Bayern Ticket for the both of us, it only cost us €14/day to travel. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

A Bavarian pretzel at Hauptbahnhof. Bigger than Caroline's head. 

So on Friday we departed early in the morning to go to Munich After several hours on the train, and planning our post-grad-cross-country-road-trip, we arrived and set off to check into our hostel. The youth hostel ended up being the cheapest option for us, even though it was still about €27 a night. But we were very happy with it, as it was very clean, we had a small room, and the breakfast was great (we even made lunch from it). And after using the free wifi for a bit, we headed off to go explore the Altstadt of Munich. We saw the Viktualienmarkt, Marienplatz, Frauenkirche, and browsed some of the stores in the area. Make sure if you visit, to get to Marienplatz in front of the Rathaus at 5:00 pm for a performance from the Glockenspiel (though it also plays at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm).

Neues Rathaus in Marienplatz

We wandered in the Englischer Garten for a while (ok so we got lost for a while) and enjoyed the fresh produce that we had purchased earlier at the Viktualienmarkt. The weather in mid-June was perfect for sitting in the grass and watching one of the many football games going on in the park. After finally managing to find our way out of the park, we headed back to the hostel to change for dinner.

Oh you know, just posing in the Englischer Garten

Now Caroline had real German food on the brain, so naturally my thought was "oh we should go to Hofbräuhaus" as it is essentially a landmark in the city of Munich, known for the infamous Maß (1L of beer) that they sell. Well we found Hofbräuhaus, but because of how famous it is and pair that with a Friday night, there were no tables to be found. Slightly discouraged, but even more determined, I set out to find us an equally great German restaurant. After what was probably 15-20 minutes of walking around and looking at various menus, we stumbled upon this Bavarian restaurant tucked away down a side street. People seemed to happily be eating at all the tables outside, however the inside was practically empty. This made me a little nervous, but I checked out the menu anyways and was encouraged to eat there by the 60 year old man sitting at one of the tables who proceeded to tell me that the best beer in Munich was sold there. As soon as let him know we would indeed be staying (the food was only around €10 for a meal), he insisted that Caroline and I sit with him at his table. Now this evening with George, actually turned out to be the highlight of the weekend. What a character! He didn't know really any English, so I had to act as interpreter for Caroline (oh he also had invited a couple from Darmstadt to eat with him too). Great things about George:

1) He was a regular and basically always had this table reserved for him and drank from his own beer stein

2) He could not get over the fact that my name is Sommer. He told every person that walked by the table that my name was Sommer, like the season. G: "Deine Name ist Sommer? (He motions outside) Genau wie der Sommer?" Me: "Ja, es ist genau wie der Sommer..."

3) When Caroline told him her name he started singing "Sweet Caroline"

4) He got us free postcards of the restaurant!

I look gross, but George is fabulous!

The food was actually really good, as was the beer to George's credit (he basically ordered for us). Caroline and I continued to meander throughout the city for the rest of the evening, stopping for another drink before heading back to the hostel. The next morning, we got up bright and early, said goodbye to our Australian roommate, ate breakfast and went and caught the train to Füssen, our next destination. The train ride was great, as we were actually going into the mountains (these were the first real mountains I had seen all summer). As soon as we got there, we hopped on the bus to Neuschwanstein Castle! We had about 2 hours before our scheduled tour of the castle, so we wandered through the town, checked out Hohenschwangau (the castle like right across from Neuschwanstein), and walked around the lake before hiking up to the castle.

Throwin' the arrow! PPL from Germany of course!

THE LAKE WAS SO CLEAR HOW COULD I NOT GET MY FEET WET? It was freezing btw

Why are there two castles across from each other in the same little Bavarian village you may ask? GREAT QUESTION! Sorry if I go all history nerd on you. King Ludwig II (aka the most beloved King of Bavaria) was a tad extravagent with his castles. He had lived at Hohenschwangau Schloss as a child and loved the area. So he had Neuschwanstein built basically right next to it, and lived in Hohenschwangau to watch its construction (let's not forget about his other castles: Linderhof Castle and Herrenchiemsee). Oh he also only got to live in Neuschwanstein for 172 days before he mysteriously died. Anyway, the palace is breathtaking. It's the one that Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland off of. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures of the inside. But to give you a picture of the extravagance, the woodwork in his bedroom took over 4 years to complete...so yeah.

PPL!  #throwwhatyouknow

Our random photographer had asked us if we wanted the castle in the background. I really wanted to respond, "No, actually I want the group of tourists in the background instead." I bit my tongue instead. 

Courtesy of the Neuschwanstein website. DAT CANOPY. OMG.

After our tour, we headed back to Füssen. And after a lot of walking around trying to find the hostel (I had lost the sheet of paper with the address and name on it...whoops), we finally arrived to check in! The guy who worked there was super chill and funny (pretty flirtatious too), the wifi was a hell of a lot better than our hostel in Munich, and for €22/night the price was pretty good too. I must say, I found Füssen absolutely adorable. We found the cutest place to eat with an adorable Russian waitress and DELICIOUS Bavarian food! It was such a great find for dinner. We had a fairly early night as we had to be up early to check out and catch the train to Dachau. But I know for sure that if I want to ever go hike Zugspitze, I'll probably stay again at the Old King's Hostel in Füssen. I kinda fell in love with the town.

View of the area around Neuscwanstein from the castle. Gorgeous. 

Jäger Schnitzel, Spätzle, und Dunkelbier. Himmel. 

Our hostel!

So let's talk about Dachau. I think Caroline did the best in describing how we both felt about it. "I could either stay for 4 more hours here, or I need to leave in the next 5 minutes." The various emotions that washed over me as I walked through the camp, I just don't have words for them. I literally was speechless the entire time. Caroline and I didn't talk to each other as we walked through the exhibits and read about the countless lives lost. The WWII and the Holocaust, for me, has always held a special interest. I can't tell you how many different books (fiction and non-fiction) that I have read about it. Btw, my favorite fiction one is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (READ IT). This was my first visit to an actual concentration camp though (and interesting enough, it's the only one mentioned in The Book Thief). There were several times that I was moved to tears as I walked through the haunting buildings. We only spent an hour there, but I was so emotionally overwhelmed by the end, it definitely felt like so much longer. Side note: It's free to visit, so I highly recommend going if you're in the Munich area.

"May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men."

"Arbeit macht frei" - "Work makes you free"

Overall the weekend was fantastic. It made me realize how much I missed hanging out with a close girlfriend and was also very rich with German history. *Probably half of the photos above were Caroline's. Thanks Caroline!*

Song of the Trip: Legs by Jer Coons - ok the music video is super lame, but the song is awesome

Best Meal: Experience was definitely with George. Food though was at our restaurant in Füssen!

Munich Must Do: Spend part of the day in the Englischer Garten! It's huge and beautiful! But be warned, apparently there is a nude part of the park. 

Munich Don't Do: Get hung up on going to the Hofbraühaus. You can get a great dinner for cheaper somewhere else with beer that's just as good. 

Füssen Must Do: Visit the castles of course! The area is breathtaking. Just make sure you wear good shoes if you plan on hiking up to the castle. My feet took a beating that day. 

Füssen Don't Do: Plan on shopping after 5 pm. Most all of the stores there closed early. Oh and as a rule of thumb, never plan on shopping in Bavaria on a Sunday. It just won't happen.