Trip Report: Germany,Part 1, Munich
 

Had a great half filled flight from ATL to Mun. Had no trouble with the S8 going to the train station. Found our hotel Kings First Class Hotel nearby. Thankfully they let us check in early...layed down and took a 2 hour siesta. Woke up and started walking to the Marienplatz, about 3/4 of a mile away. It was a lovely but chilly day. Walked around for quite a while, getting our bearings to figure out the layout of the city. Found a small grocery store and stocked up for the 4 days we were there. First night went to Augustiner Keller and like the food and atmosphere very much! Thanks Meredith for the rec. The beer was superb and food was good.! Next day did Dachau, and was quite moved by the whole experience. It is an easy trip out and back BTW. That night, we went to Le Cippolini, for pasta and wine. Like it very much. Next day did the the Grey Line tour which was informative and well done. Walked around the Victualmarket and then visited the Hofbrahaus, and DH decided that was HIS place to eat that night! Was fun but and a must see, but food was just ok. Loved the experience! last day did the Castles by train. It was flurrying in munich. When we got to Fussen, it was almost blizzard like! 9 Inches! They only had the horse drawn carriages, the shuttles were not running! But what an experience! Will ALWAYS remember that fabulous day. It was magical! I LOVED Munich! Rothenburg next.

Judyrem - Welcome Back! Looking forward to the rest... I remember your itin questions very well, and it seemed like just last week you were asking them, but you're already back from your trip!

I hope you will keep all the trip report segments on this thread (your title says Part I, so I'm not sure if you were planning to post different segments under a new topic?). It'll be much easier to post the subsequent segments as replies to this thread than starting new ones.

Welcome back, Judy!! Glad you liked the Augustiner Keller - did you sit downstairs? Looking forward to hearing more!

Thanks yk for the info. YK you were very helpful with this trip, and I thank you. For easy readability, I will keep it all together. Meredith, we went to the one near the train station. I did not know it had a downstairs....forgot you said so. My DH loved the sausages and sauerkraut. He could have eaten them everyday! Oh the oak aged beer there,,,,ambrosia.

Welcome back Judy. I'm looking forward to more of your report.

Can't believe you are back already! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Hi Judy. Thanks for posting your report. I'm glad you had a great experience in Munich, and I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your adventures.

Even though it's a tourist trap, my husband and I really enjoyed our evenings at the Hofbrauhaus. It was more about drinking beer and sharing our tables with... whoever, than it was about eating.

Munich (and Bavaria) is in the top five of our favorite places to visit.

Robyn :)>-

Robyn, IIRC, didn't you and your husband drink something like 6 Litres of beer at Hofbrauhaus? ((b)) ((b)) ((b)) ((b)) ((b)) ((b))

Part 2: Rothenburg. We trained to ROT, and it was a marvelous experience. Three changes, but they were easy peezy. The tickets were only 19 Euro BTW. It was a beautiful day, and we walked to the Eisenhut. It was right near the main square. The lovely girl at reception gave us a suite! That is one major benefit of winter traveling. It was an exquisite room, and I loved the hotel. We went out to explore the town and found we had almost the whole place to ourselves! It is a breathtakingly lovely town. My DH sai ti was his favorite place on the trip. We walked the wall and explored the charming little alleyways. We knew the windstorm that hit Paris so badly was on the way to ROT, so we decided to do all the outdoor stuff that day. I was kind of tired of pork, so we decided to go to Pizzeria Roma for dinner. It was wonderful and filled with locals. Great Bolognese, bruscheta and salad, tasted like we were in Italy! Walked to the clock tower to see the 9:00pm animatronic display...great fun....then it started to snow! How romantic!!! The nxt day did not disappoint. After a fab bkfst, wedecided to do St jacobs, and the the Imperial City Museum. We literally had the whole Museum to ourselves. It was a marvelous museum,and very well done IMO. Dh went back to the room, and I did some shopping. That night, we went back to Pizzeria Roma, because it was so wonderful and inexpensive. I loved ROT. I am so gald we spent some extra time there. Next part: Bamberg!

BTW, Katie, we need an edit function! :-)

yk - That is too funny!! I can't believe you remembered that tiny detail from my trip report. And BTW, it was only 10 half-Litres of beer.. between the two of us. Geez, you don't have to over exagerate (hahaha) :-d

Judyrem - Looking forward to hearing about Bamberg.

Robyn :)>-

We also love Rothenburg and always stay 2 days. It is best during the offseason but it is hard for us to be so jaded that we do not enjoy it at any time.

I am looking forward to learning how you liked Bamberg another city that shows its age so nicely.

Regards, Gary

We trained to Bamberg and it once again, very easy! I LOVE German trains! We decided when looking at the map, to take a taxi to Hotel Weierich. The very pleasant lady there gave us a good sized triple room, which we liked very much. See the perks of winter travel? The Hotel is in a great location, not far from the Dom. Walked around the city and fell in love again! What a perfectly quaint city. Went to Ambrasieinum Brewery for dinner and it was fabulous. Dh got sausages and kraut of course, and I had fabulous turkey cordon bleu and spaetzle and salad. Ohhh the pretzels...yummhhhh. Next day, did all the touring, the Dom, the Residenz, St Michaels etc. We had a private tour with a wonderful German guide. What a fabulous place. I Loved it. Walked to St Michaels, and saw St Otto's Tomb. Local legend says if you crawl through the small opening under his tomb, your bad back will be cured. So I crawled, and DH did too. Guess what!? My back is CURED! I kid you not. My back pain is gone! I am a believer! St Otto RULES! Went back the same the place for dinner and it was jsut as good, if not better! Bamberg is a must see IMO. Next stop, Nuremburg!

Hi,

Enjoying your trip report! We loved Rothenberg also. Thanks for taking the time to write.

Paul

Jusyrem, welcome back. Like yk, I also thought you'd just started planning and here you are back already. Sounds like a wonderful trip.

Definitely have Bamberg on the list for our next trip to Germany. Can't believe we haven't made it there yet.

Judy - I'm so glad that you enjoyed Bamberg. DH & I visited in 2007, and we keep talking about going back again. We spent one full day (and two nights in the Hotel Weierich), which wasn't enough time to see everything. We didn't get up to St. Michaels, but we'll definitely have to go, now that I've learned about St. Otto's tomb and the miracle back cure! We also enjoyed the food and beer at Ambrasieinum, having visited them twice during our short stay in Bamberg.

Robyn :)>-

Ambräusianum, but just go ahead ;-)
I tried to pronounce "Ambrasieinum", a tongue twister not possible for a German. :-)

Logos, I had such a time with that name! What does it mean? It still had great food and beer. Yes, Robyn. St Otto is the best! You must go back. and take the cure.

Nuremburg in 40 minutes! Yeah! We stayed at the Meridien Grand Hotel, and yes, they upgraded us to suite! Sweet! It was a truly gand hotel, and I loved it. They had 4 English speaking channels, hoorah.

Walked the "route" Rick Steves included in his book. Stopped at the Bratwursthaus for the famed Nuremburg sausages. They were wonderful. Also had the Franconion potato soup, which I really liked. The Castle was quite a trek, but oh the views. We also did the the Tower and Castle Museum (which I thought was just ok). We went to a "self serve" Italian resturant called Vapiano. It had good food food and prices were reasonable. It was a little awkward after odering your food and looking for a table. Next day, we took the tram to the Nazi documentation center. It was surprisingly well done, and I found it very interesting. We also saw Hitler's reviewing stands adjacent to the center. For 5 Euro a piece, we bought the Museum pass which gave us access to Albrecht Drurer House, The Nuremburg city Musuem and the Toy Museum. What a deal! We did all but the Toy Museum. I thoughly enjoyed them all. My DH liked the Albrecht Drurer house best. I have to say, I really loved Nuremburg. It was a vibrant fascinating city. I highly recommend it. Back to Munchen!

Hi Judyrem, I'm glad you enjoyed Bamberg and Nuremberg. I don't know why, but it seems like not that many US visitors go to Numemberg. I think on my trip 2 years ago, I felt like I was the only US person there (which I'm not complaining).

Judyrem:

Thanks for telling us about your trip. I am going to Munich over Memorial Day weekend and was just looking up the info on Mike's Bike Tours which sound fun. Will book a day trip to Salzburg as I love doing the trains as well.

What does it mean?
My interpretation would be:
"ambrosianum" is a theological seminary and the owners have replaced "bro" with "brew". So it does refer to "Ambrosia", the drink of the gods where the "num" depicts an institution.

It would be the institution where you can drink the drink of the gods ;-)

Munchen, last day :-(. Trained from Nuremburg to Munchen, and arrived early at the Kings Hotel (not the First Class, a star lower). The room was small, but the bathroom was tiny. Would not recommend this place, if staying longer than one night). We wanted to see the Alte Pinkatuk (sp) the Masters Art Gallery. I had wanted to see the Duetches Museum, but felt we did not have sufficent time to do it justice. On our way to the Art Galley, there was a lively fasching parade. What fun! There were lots of families and revelers, and we had a great time. I felt I was a Municher that day. The Art Gallery was wonderful, it is a must see for art lovers... We went to the Park Cafe Kitchen nearby the Hotel, and had a great dinner there. I loved the place! I highly recommend this, esp for the summer, because it had a large outdoor patio. Next: Thoughts on Germany.

I liked Germany much more than I had ever thought I would. The people were very welcoming and friendly. In fact, I felt I "belonged there" more so than any other country, except the UK. I can not believe I did not go there sooner!

Judy - Thanks for finishing your report. I have to agree with you about Germany being a welcoming and friendly place. We found the country to be very easy to navigate through on public transportation, and were surprised at how much history and culture there was to absorb. We can't wait to go back.

logos999 - I like your interpretation of the Ambräusianum - <i>"the institution where you can drink the drink of the gods"</i>. They truly have some delicious brew.

Robyn :)>-

Thanks Robyn. Besides the wonderful country, St Otto cured my bad back!!!!! It will always be one of my most treasued experiences. I am not even religious ;-), but I believe now.

Judy, really enjoyed your report. We feel the same way about Germany. We always enjoy our trips there and can't wait to get back for more! Nice people, good food, and reasonable prices -- what more could you want?

If I can find any way to afford it, I'd love to go back in the fall. We already have a trip to the UK planned for next month so I don't know if we can manage. But if not, maybe next spring.