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Fussen & Salzburg: Second Time Around October 4, 2011

Filed under: Austria,Europe,Germany,Travel — Kelocity @ 11:59 am
Tags: Adventure, Austria, Europe, Food, Fussen, Germany, Salzburg, Travel

Where were we? Ah Yes. In Munich. We woke up at the crack of dawn on September 9th and made our way via subway to the airport. There, we picked up our rental car. It turned out to be outrageously expensive, but driving through the Austrian Alps sounded so romantic and I begged Irving to let us do it. I wanted to feel like I was on the Amazing Race navigating through the roads trying to translate the German signs.

It wasn’t until we buckled our seat belts that Irving admitted he hadn’t actually driven a stick shift in about 15 years. That’s ok babe. It’s like riding a bike. BAHAHA. (spoiler alert: we only stalled twice).

We had some maps from AAA and Google to get us from Germany into Austria and I was confident we’d be fine…. but thank GOD there was a built in GPS because we wouldn’t have even made it out of the airport without that thing. Seriously. My maps were so confusing it would have been a lost cause and I’m pretty sure my plan for a romantic drive would have backfired.

Before we made it into Salzburg, we made a detour to Fussen, home of the Neuschwanstein Castle. Sure you see gorgeous scenery from a train, but being in the car gave us so much more freedom. Plus the Autobahn is really super fun. Getting on and off the highways was hilarious for us since we don’t know how to downshift and upshift. LOL I have a video I’ll post later.

We enjoyed the quaint towns along the road and kept giggling that it looked like a postcard.

And finally we started to see our destination up in the mountains!

Neuschwanstein! The castle was built by the crazy Ludwig II, a royal who lived in Munich.

There are two ways to get up to the top. Horse and buggy….

Or by foot… we chose to walk since we’d been in the car all morning and didn’t want to wait for 2 hours in the line.

It was actually a pretty easy walk and soon we were up at the top.

Does it look familiar? It’s the castle that Walt Disney modeled his castle after.
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Sadly we couldn’t go inside (you can only go in with a tour and we would have had to wait a few hours for the next English one.

But it was still fun to walk around and see the wacky architecture.

It looks like a lego castle, doesn’t it?

[FLASHBACK] I visited here in 2003 in the midst of winter. It looks much different now!

The view from the top was just as impressive as the castle itself:

And because Irving couldn’t pass up another opportunity to enjoy some Brats (and because it was lunch time), we stopped halfway down the hill for lunch. I was expecting it to be super expensive since it’s kind of a tourist trap, but it was actually quite reasonable.

And some Pasta for the lady.

Across the street was another cute castle that I’m sure is worth a visit, but it was time to hit the road before it got too late.

Back in the car, we drove away from the castle.

I kept looking back at it in the distance as it faded away. I love Europe.

Just a few hours in the car, we made our way into the heart of Salzburg.

Our first stop was an afternoon tour of the Hellbrunn Palace. When you visit Salzburg, people will ask you if you saw two things: 1.) The Sound of Music Tour and 2.) The Crazy Palace.

So alas. Here we are at the Crazy Palace. Why is it called that? It looks pretty average, right?

Until you go around the back and walk through the gardens. Then you realize how fun it is. Let me explain.

It was built in the 1600s by Markus Sittijus von Hohenems, the Archbishop of Salzburg. And that man had an intense sense of humor. See this outdoor dining area? Seems like a good place to host your guests, right?

Well the whole place was rigged with secret water tricks that he could turn on and off to surprise and wow his visitors. With the push of a button he could soak them while they ate. And it was all operated with non-electrical power (it was the 1600s, remember?)

He had strange fountains and childlike displays all over the property that would dance and play on their own.

At one point, Irving got nailed by some hidden fountains!

There are some displays inside the palace itself but the it’s the exterior that is worth a visit.

Know what else Hellbrunn is known for? The Sound of Music gazeebo is located on its property.

[FLASHBACK] I came here in 2003! (I know, where didn’t I go in 2003?!)

Oh, want to see our car?! Here she is! A Renault!

Finally we made the drive into the city to find our hotel. On the way, we passed the fortress! Wish we would have had time to up there again. But we had a tight itinerary and couldn’t fit it in.

We dropped off our bags at the Radisson, but turned right back around to catch some of the city before the sun set.

Luckily our hotel was close to the river and we were able to walk into town.

Remember the scene in The Sound of Music when the kids are frolicking in the grass? This is where that was filmed!

We found someone who didn’t look like they’d run away with our camera to take our picture. Such a pretty backdrop.

We had just enough time to walk through the main squares before we lost our daylight altogether.

Finally we surrendered to the night and enjoyed a nice dinner out.

All I wanted was veggies! We found a great place that had a salad bar for me…

And Oh. My. God. MORE schnitzel for Irving. Believe it.

Paired with some Austrian Beer. His and Hers.

It was nice to walk back after dinner and take in the city at night.

I might have to frame this one. It’s perfect. (Credit goes to Irving).

Sorry, these posts are so long. I fell in love with our photos and had to share them. Just one more Trip Recap post left!

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Munich in A Day September 27, 2011

Filed under: Europe,Germany,Travel — Kelocity @ 8:07 pm
Tags: Europe, Food, Germany, Munich, Travel

After a fun morning in Munich, we found ourselves back into the center of old town completely alone. What? No tourguide? No bus waiting for us? No itinerary? It’s really no wonder we love Contiki, we need a little structure to our traveling or we get anxious we’re going to wander around and miss something important. Some people like to travel like that, but I prefer to check sights off a list.

Munich is like the crazy younger sibling to Berlin. It’s a little wild and crazy and trying to be different. Bavaria used to be it’s own state and has such unique characteristics than than the rest of Germany. It was previously ruled by a long line of crazy dukes before the outbreak of WWI.

This is the famous Glockenspiel right in the heart of Marienplatz. It only goes off three times a day, and we weren’t there when it did, but from what we hear, we didn’t miss much. It’s cute though.

But at the base of the clock, we met up with a free walking tour (Hooray! More tours! I was so excited!) When you have someone explaining what things are and why they are important is so much better than walking around with a map and wondering why I should care. We had a great guide.

He was excited to point out this funny sign to us too. Parking for dogs! huh?

One of our first stops was to see the Frauenkirche Church, also known as the Devil’s Church. There was a rumor that the devil had commissioned it and demanded it have no windows.

However as you walk inside the church, you realize there are lots of windows hidden behind each of the pillars.

The church was bombed with the rest of Munich by the Allies in WWII. During the raids the church was destroyed. After the war, the Jews of Munich gave money to help rebuild the church. As a way of saying thanks, there is a menorah painted on the ceiling if you look closely.

Nearby was another church that was also rebuilt after the war. Piece by piece they reassembled it exactly as it was…

And if you look closely, you can see a medieval cannon ball lodged in the sides. They made sure to place it right back where it was.

We also learned on our tour that the people of Munich looooove Michael Jackson. We passed a rather large memorial to him with all kinds of tributes on it.

Then the tour took us back in time a bit to when the Nazis were vying for control of Munich. Hitler was gaining popularity and the Nazis were rallying for support. This led to the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 when Hitler tried to overthrow the government. He was later thrown in jail for his actions, at which time he wrote Mein Kampf.

During the Putsch (which means “coup d’etat” in German), 16 Nazis were killed, along with four policemen. Later when Hitler was out of jail and clearly in control of Germany, he erected a memorial to be placed in a public square in this place.

See below what it looked like in the 1930s. Hitler required that anyone who walked by give the Nazi salute. Of course the residents of Munich were angry about being forced to salute a regime that they didn’t support. So in protest, people started avoiding the monument by walking around it instead of past it.
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Anyone caught walking the alley instead of going past the wall was then captured and probably tortured or killed. A subtle memorial now remembers those people who tried to resist the regime. It’s a path of gold bricks to represent the route they chose to take.

Despite learning about the sad more recent history of Munich, we also learned about the happy traditions, and the city’s great love for their beer. It made sense then to head over to the Hofbrauhaus after our tour.

I know it’s super touristy, but Irving and I are the ultimate tourists and were excited to eat there. Inside, it’s set up with long tables and you are encouraged to sit next to strangers. We found a seat next to some people from the UK and had fun chatting with them about their travels.

When in Munich… get the beer. We ordered a liter to share and it was pretty amazing.

Irving ordered some sausages that he said were pretty great. [EDITED TO ADD: he actually used the phrase "amazing" and "that was the best sausage I have ever eaten, in my ENTIRE life."] I got a potato casserole that wasn’t anything special, but still pretty good. And we shared the bread basket of rolls and pretzels. Tip: Order the pretzels from the girls that walk around and not from your server. The ones from the kitchen are half the size of the ones the girls have.

On our way out we heard some German Folk Music playing inside. Such a fun, festive night on the town. We only had one day to do Munich and I think we definitely made the most of it. Tomorrow, we rent a car… wish us luck!

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Munich: Stadiums and Arenas September 26, 2011

Filed under: Contiki,Europe,Germany,Travel — Kelocity @ 7:00 am
Tags: Contiki, Europe, Food, Germany, Munich, Olympics, Soccer, Travel

We woke up in Warsaw and prepared for our all-day drive back to Berlin. This wasn’t part of the tour, but they offered a free shuttle back to Germany if you wanted (they had to get the bus back there anyways). We extended our trip to explore Munich and Salzburg on our own after Contiki was done, so the bus back was perfect.

But first. Breakfast! We had a great breakfast spread at the Marriott that had way more options than our previous hotels. They even had a few American-style items (pancakes and omlettes) that was a nice change from the usual rolls with jam and cheese we’d had prior.

Then it was right on the bus to hit the road as early as possible. Special thanks to our tour guide on our trip, Meitek. He was from Poland and was entirely entertaining.

Only half of our original group opted to take the bus back to Berlin, so everyone had an entire bus row to themselves. SCORE! I lounged out and read The Hunger Games. (Don’t spoil the end for me though, I’m still reading the rest of the series!) A few hours later, we stopped for lunch at a rest area. I was surprised to actually see a decent looking salad there. It was really good!

See! I really did tried to sneak in some healthy stuff when I could… although I did balance it out with this.

But tried to burn them off quickly by jumping up and down numerous times to get a good bus shot.

We love Contiki, what can we say? I am so sad this is the last bus day.

We got into Berlin around dinnertime and headed straight for the train station. We booked an overnight train to Munich from there.

Soon enough, our train arrived. Right on schedule. I love the European rail system.

We booked this train months ago through Distant Lands in LA (a store that we highly recommend, by the way). We would be sleeping in a 6-bunk couchette and we were praying we wouldn’t have to share the room with wierdos or scary people.

We each had the top two bunks and it was crazy hoisting all of our stuff up there with barely any headroom. We were laughing so hard.

Turns out the other four beds were filled with some elderly Germans who thought it was just the funniest thing. They were laughing and talking in German to tell us to turn the light on, turn the light off, lock the door, unlock the door. I had no idea what they were saying but they were very impressed that we brought our own travel sheets. Either that or they were making fun of me for doing so. Don’t laugh. I have no regrets! (Although sleeping in your jeans really stinks. But I still slept through the night, hooray!

When we woke up, we were just pulling into Munich. We packed our things and found our way to our hotel nearby and checked our bags. Then, map in hand, we found our way to our first stop of the day. The BMW Welt.

Here they have one of the BMW factories and also an extensive collection of their finest cars. I sat down and let Irving do his man thing (aka look at cars).

His favorite was this car commissioned by Steinway pianos.

Next we made our way in the rain around the corner to the Munich Olympic Park.

Munich was the home of the 1972 Summer Olympic games. The design was extremely modern for the times (and still looks impressive now).

In order to get the most out of the park, we opted to do an audio tour of the grounds (well worth it too).

The aquatic arena was exciting because this was the place that Mark Spitz won all of his medals. He was the guy that Michael Phelps was aiming to beat in Beijing.

If you look close, you can see his name below in a few places:

Also in the park is the big television tower that was renamed the Olympic Tower. We didn’t go inside, but we’re told it had impressive views from the top.

When the park was built, they had long term plans in mind for making it accessible to the public. It’s really pretty now and they use it for all kids of events.

These Olympic games were really unique because it was the first time that Germany was hosting them since WWII. The games had been in Berlin in 1936 when the Nazis were in power, and Munich was ready to show the world that this was a different Germany now.

However the games quickly turned tragic when the Israeli Olympic team was taken hostage and then killed by a radical Palestinian group. It was a very sad event and was a great loss to the world.

This was the apartment that the Israeli team was staying in when the kidnappers broke in. I always think of the Olympic games as a reason for the world to come together, this tragedy is so unfortunate and I was glad we got the opportunity to pay tribute to those athletes.

After our audio tour, we had lunch inside the commissary. Schnitzel for Irving (of course, right?!)…

And some pasta for me.

And then we jumped on the metro to head to our next sight: Allianz Arena. But first, a little fun in the train station!

There was a mirror on the ceiling that we used to take some pictures!

Someone nearby thought we looked funny and offered to take a picture of us looking at the ceiling. LOL

Then we arrived at the stadium, just in time for the last English tour of the day.

This is where two of Germany’s biggest soccer teams play: FC Bayern Munich and TSV Munich. It was also the site of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. As you can imagine, Irving was in heaven.

The tour was great and we got to learn a bit about the stadium and the teams.

After our tour, we headed back into Munich for another (!!) tour of the city. Stay tuned!

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Warsaw: Peacocks, Pierogies and the Pope September 25, 2011

Filed under: Contiki,Europe,Poland,Travel — Kelocity @ 5:45 pm
Tags: Contiki, Europe, Poland, Travel, Warsaw

I have to admit, Warsaw feels like a bit of a blur to me now. It was the last official city on our tour and I think my brain was reaching it’s capacity for absorbing historical information by that point.

Our day started out with a great tour by a local guide who pointed out some sights around the city and giving us some background information. Warsaw is the largest city in Poland, and one of the largest in Europe. During WWII, Germany blew up 80% of the city and the population was forced to leave.
[source]

Soon after, the Soviets came in and took over the city and aided in the rebuilding of the city… but under communist rule. They rebuilt the city so fast – and so well – that UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List.

The piles of rubble were sorted and original blue prints were used to rebuild the town exactly as it was, using lots of the original materials.

Warsaw is also the birthplace of Chopin and there are monuments to him throughout the city. Our tour brought us to this one on the edge of the city’s biggest park.

If you look at it from one side, it looks like a willow tree, but from the other side, it looks like fingers playing a piano.
The Germans blew it up in 1940, but the original mold survived the war and was used to recast it in 1958.

Around the city, they have these “Chopin Benches” that you can sit on. And there’s a button that will play you some of his music while you sit. Isn’t that fun?

We also saw the “white house” of Poland. Where the President lives. Just steps away from the Old Town.

One of the most significant events in Warsaw happened in 1944 when the Poles tried to revolt against the Nazi German army. It was called the Warsaw Uprising. They had hoped the approaching Soviet army would help back them up, but their army just stayed on the river banks and watched as they were badly defeated. As a result 200,000 Polish citizens died. After the Germans regained control, that’s when the orders came down to level the city to the ground.

This is the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising monument. The people in the Warsaw ghetto knew what the Nazis had planned for them and in 1943, they rebelled marking the largest single revolt by Jews during the Holocaust.

The rest of the day in Warsaw was spent on our own, and we just decided to walk around aimlessly.

This is a statue of a young boy with a war helmet that doesn’t quite fit on his head. It is dedicated to all of the children that also fought in the Warsaw Uprising.

After a bit of walking, we were hungry for lunch and stopped at a bistro along the main street.

Beet soup with Dumplings.

And guess what else? Pierogies! (We are still in Poland remember!)

Yep. Just as delicious as we expected. (If it’s ok to eat Pasta everyday in Italy, it’s definitely ok to eat your weight in Pierogies when in Poland!)

After we ate, we were overwhelmed with historical information so we decided to take an afternoon stroll through the gardens and leave the sites behind us.

As we walked, we passed an art installation that was shaped to look like a palm tree. I mean, we have cell towers shaped like palm trees all over Los Angeles and they blend in somewhat… but a palm tree in Warsaw? It was designed to blend a bit of Israel into Poland.

Once we arrived into Lazienki Park and wandered around until we got lost, it was awesome. The shady trees also gave us a reprieve from the sun.

No tourists, no kiosks, just us, and a gorgeous park in Poland.

How adorable is this? A boy and his grandfather feeding the birds. Precious!

We had to watch out for those wild peacocks though! They were everywhere!

In the middle of the park is a picturesque summer palace. So pretty!

Then we realized if we wanted to catch the bus back (which we did!) we had to hustle back to the main square. With time ticking away, and us being totally lost in the woods, we barely made it in time. I felt like I was in amazing race sprinting through the streets to find ~~Phil~~ our tour guide.

Back on the bus, we saw a few more sights on the drive. This was a building built by the Russians and designed to look like a birthday cake for Stalin. Of course the Soviets invaded and took over their country, so it was a cruel reminder to the Poles of who was ruling them.

Check out this architecture too! I think it was a shopping mall.

Since it was the last night of the tour, we changed and headed out to our farewell dinner. (Sad!)

Plate of veggies… get in my belly!

What a great tour, we enjoyed every minute of it. The history, the people, all of it!

Thanks to our tourguide, Joe, who did an amazing job keeping it all together and making sure we had the best trip possible. I’m sure it’s not an easy job. We had a great time.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll be on the bus for 10 hours as we head back to Berlin.

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Life on a Bus–Arriving into Warsaw

Filed under: Contiki,Europe,Poland,Travel — Kelocity @ 7:00 am
Tags: Contiki, Europe, Travel, Warsaw

After a quiet and difficult morning at Auschwitz, we began our drive north towards Warsaw.

We knew we’d have a long bus day ahead without an official stop for lunch so we stocked up on some food the night before. Be aware that Contiki often skips lunches in order to pack in more sightseeing. We had some crackers, water, chips and chocolate.

Along the way, we stopped briefly in Czestochowa to see the Black Madonna, inside the Jasna Gora Monastery. There was an actual mass going on when we got there so the church was packed. I didn’t really see it, but Irving said he did. It looks like this, and apparently it’s pretty famous?

Then we kept on ~~truckin’~~ bussin’ towards Warsaw.

In Europe (and I’m sure in the states) there are rules about how many hours the coach drivers can go at one time. There are mandatory rest breaks that we had to account for and the engine has to be turned off for a bit in between. Because of all of the construction on those small Polish roads, we got set back a bit and had to stop for dinner before we got into Warsaw. We pulled into a giant shopping mall with a food court and grabbed some food.

This is why I love Contiki. Everyone is in the same ~~boat~~ bus and you roll with the punches. We laughed about it and had a great meal with our new friends.

Not a bad salad for mall food! After having… um… CHIPS for lunch, veggies were welcomed!

Irving’s plate:

We weren’t far from our hotel at that point and checked in right when we arrived. It was the best hotel of the tour for sure! A Marriott! SCORE! We loved it and were happy to spend two nights there! We were impressed.

Warsaw was technically the last stop of the Contiki tour and many people flew out when we were done there… which was convenient for them since the hotel was literally across the street from the airport! I was glad we weren’t leaving Europe just yet, but it was nice for those who were!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! We still have to explore Warsaw and then finish another 5 days in Germany and Austria before we have to go back to the states!

Stay tuned for Warsaw!

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Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Fussen & Salzburg: Second Time Around October 4, 2011

Munich in A Day September 27, 2011

Munich: Stadiums and Arenas September 26, 2011

Warsaw: Peacocks, Pierogies and the Pope September 25, 2011

Life on a Bus–Arriving into Warsaw

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Fussen & Salzburg: Second Time Around October 4, 2011

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Munich in A Day September 27, 2011

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Munich: Stadiums and Arenas September 26, 2011

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Warsaw: Peacocks, Pierogies and the Pope September 25, 2011

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Life on a Bus–Arriving into Warsaw

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