Munich
Sunday July 9, 2017
It was slightly awkward checking into our accommodation in Munich; the rooms were above an Indian restaurant and had no visible reception or office, but instead it turns out the restaurant itself had the keys to our room. It wasn't quite ready for us, but that was fine, we dumped our bags and wandering around the area. We headed east towards the river and Maximilianeum, and dumped our laundry at a serviced laundromat, then followed the river south towards the Deutsches Museum. The river walk is really nice and green, and with the sun out, there were plenty of sunbathers on the rocky “beaches” by the river. We cut across to the city centre and walked around the Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz, and went up St Peter's church for some great views of the central square. We ended up by Odeonsplatz and the Hofgarden, before heading back to pick up our laundry and have a quiet evening.
The next day, we were off to the middle of nowhere, southern Germany. We took a train to Immenstadt and then a bus to Alpsee Bergwelt, the home of 3km "rodelbahn" - an alpine coaster that snakes down the side of a mountain. It's self-controlled so you dictate the speed you're going, to a max of 40km/h, but it's incredibly fun and exhilarating. Having the track so long means it's actually a decent length of time too!
On Saturday, we covered more of Munich, visiting the massive Bavaria Statue, heading up to Konigsplatz and the museums where there was actually a music concert, then east across town to the Munich Residenz, another famous palace in Europe. We even made it to the Stadtmuseum, which had an exhibition about Munich's history. It had started to pour by the time we finished, so we headed for dinner nearby - I got the Bavarian specialty, roast pork knuckle!
Our last day in Munich was actually spent far away from Munich, at Neuschwanstein Castle, famous for being the inspiration behind Walt Disney's logo and castle at Disneyland. Our tour guide was a quick talking Italian with a semi-American accent, and a rather abrasive personality, but he told a good story about the castle's history and the circumstances of King Ludwig II and Robert Wagner. Theo and I opted to walk around the lake instead of going into the castle; it's insanely busy inside and you don't really have the chance to walk through at your own pace; you have to follow the pace of everyone else, and that was too reminiscent of my horrible experience at the Vatican museum. The German countryside is pretty, even on a cloudy day. By the time the tour group was ready to depart, it had started storming.
After a long train ride back to Munich, we mulled around the central train station before catching our overnight train to Berlin.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:03pm on Sunday July 9, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
Vienna II
Tuesday July 4, 2017
We returned to Vienna by bus from Budapest, arriving just after noon. I met up with Sandra, whom I hadn't seen in five or so years, and she and her partner took me to Laxenburg, a tiny little township just south of the city. We walked around the castle grounds and had lunch at the cafe, and ice cream as well, then we drove all the way to the northern side of Vienna for some magnificent views of the city. It was nice to see more of the countryside and get away from the tourists.
Yesterday, Theo and I visited the Schonbrunn Palace, one of Vienna's most famous landmarks. We spent a good few hours walking around the gardens and lavish rooms. Though I've seen many palaces in my time here, there were still some things I found interesting, like the lacquer decorations and the porcelain room painted to look like porcelain.
We had some lunch and I got my sachertorte from the original sachertorte cafe, then we took the subway out to Prater Park, an old amusement park where you pay per ride instead of a flat entrance fee. We thought we'd give a few of them a go, and went on a couple of rollercoasters and a thrill house. I highly recommend the Indoor Rollercoaster - it's quite fun!
We returned to the centre of town and climbed to the top of the south tower of St Stephen's Cathedral, which was actually pretty disappointing, then visited Karlskirche and Belvedere Park on our way home. We're still suffering from a bit of a cold, so we had a rest and called it a night after dinner.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:00am on Tuesday July 4, 2017 :: 0 comments ::