Auf Wiedersehen München

Munich was a great stop on our #chapot10 journey.  Central to all the things that we wanted to see in the region.  But time for the next leg - Berlin.  Instead of of doing that whole airport thing, that tends to feel a bit like work, we opted for the high speed train, good way to see the country side and be lazy for a few hours. 

For a little bit more we chose first class for the 6 hour trip north. Unfortnately we must walk though the sec, sec, ssssssss, second class to the dining cart.  We make sure that we hold our breaths and dont touch anthing thing on the way past.  Oh those second class citizens really are something!  All kidding, but it was a bit smelly.

We, OK I, was a little confused at the beginning and we took our seats in Car 38, it should have been Car 28.  So during a quick station stop, by quick I mean 2 minutes, we packed up and bolted about 100 metres to the other end of the train.  Lucky for us the Guard held the train for a few more seconds as the gaggle of gays, with luggage in tow, sprinted down the platform.

We have now settled in for the ride north, with a weeee lil photo shoot along the way - 

With some tricky shots to really show how fast we are actually belting along.

We are now just over half way, time to put the ipad and camera away and get the Lonely Planet Guide open to brush up on some Berlin things. 

At this stage, hiring bicycles is on the cards, along with the good ol' hopping on the hop on, hop off bus for a broad look around Berlin.  Maybe too some shopping - as we have really only managed to significantly increase our magnet collection.

"Beach" Time....

Ok, so it's not really a beach. Just the refreshing river with pebbly banks that attract many of the locals on a hot summer's day.  This was a very good excuse to sit down and do a whole lot of nothing for a few hours.  As the water comes from the mountains it was still rather umm fresh to say the least.

The river flowed rather quickly and the locals would sit in the water, feet first, and head downstream.  We weren't that keen to submerge ourselves (or our 'bits') that far into the water.

There were folks still there later on where we trotted past for the usual epic journey of working out what/where to eat.  The river runs in parallel with quite a different feel on the other side.

Dinner:  It ended up being Pizza Hut... the sit down kind, quite nostalgic really.

Last Day in Munich

Twas the last day in Bavaria and we had a couple of things to tick of the list.  Although the BMW Museum was planned we gave it a miss so that we could return the Mercedes 'Corby' Benz  and have some relaxing time as we haven't stopped since arriving in Europe.

Before dropping the car back we went to Olympiapark, where the 1972 Olympic Games were held. It as great to see, unlike many other Olympic host cities, that they have made the most of the space with many facilities still in use today.  

We took the elevator up the tower and were treated to a great view across Munich.  Clyde proved to have no fear of heights, however that giddy feeling was prevalent when standing on the outside of the tower.

 

Yet agin Munich showcased a summer's day that we have become used to, with a view for miles.

Therre was one particular part of that view that I personally found a little confronting;  the Olympic Athlete Village.  This was the site that saw that assassination of members of the Israli olympic team, certainly an act that goes against the spirit of the Games and humanity. The village is now a popular residential village for the locals.

With those unfortunate circumstances aside, Munich claim that these games were one of the most successful; a true indication of the German determination. Time of some cooling off after that, it was 32  degrees.

See ya Corby, you were a fun ride.

 

The Hills Are Certainly Alive....updated

We are a bit behind with posting as we have been flat out.

Today  I was dragged on a tour about a little movie that was made in Salzburg.  This one made me do it, and quite frankly I hated every second....until we got on the bus.  What a very cool experience and some wicked trivia learned today.

Clyde enjoyed the bus-ride-sing-a-long too...

Did you know that the opening sequence was actually flimed in Germany?  I also learned that Hollywood made some rather interesting changes to the REAL story as the Von Trapps actually caught a train to Italy and didn't actually walk along a hill top into Switzerland - that would have been one hell of a walk, however that final scene was also filmed in Germany.  The scene where Maria and the larrikin children were on the lake and tipped out of the boat - the water was icy cold, with the scene having to be filmed a number of times as Gretel, the poor dear, nearly drowned.

The best bit that I learned is that Maria, bless her cotton socks, when running late proclaimed that she was atop her favourite hill (Untersberg) was over 1700 metres high and 10km from the Abbey - however she made it back to the Abbey in about 3 minutes,  Yup, there certainly was something wrong with Maria as the hike is about 4 hours, or 15 minutes via cable car, on top of a 15 minute drive. Bloody  wacko!

Here's the Abbey.

Look familiar? Clyde recognised the gazebo, but alas no one was allowed to dance around on the internal seating.

 

The tour also took us to Mondee.  The scenery along the way was gorgeous.  Mondee was the location of Maria and the Barons wedding.

There is heaps more to talk about and I hate to say that I think I am hooked on this movie now. Damn it.

More to come, now it is time to sleep.... with the musical stylings of Edelweiss on contant repeat in my head.  Got a story about Edelweiss too but we can save that for tomorrow. The country side on the way to Mondee is incredible. The clean and fresh surroundings, not to mention the rather yummy strudel.

Mondee is a pretty little town, a good place to stop for lunch.

Since hearing that Maria trotting down a "hill" we decided to visit said hill. It's an ear popping experience and as mentioned, completely surprising that Maria made it down in one piece. It would have been quicker to watch thr full movie.

The view was stunning with one side being Austria (left of picture) and the other Germany (on the right). The cable car trip is not good for vertigo sufferers.

Salzburg from the top.

So, Edelweiss (Leontopodium alpinum) .... It is a flower that grows only on the top of mountain cliffs.  To demonstrate pure love, gentlemen callers would try to pick a flower and deliver it to the lady they love. Many died attempting this feat. I believe this is why Austria has good population control.

Busy, busy. Very Busy. Two Days, two countries, three cities and an anniversary...

SO, backtracking a bit. The rest of our time in Innsbruck was super. We had a quick walk around town before hitting the road in our Mercedes 'Corby' bound for Salzburg.

It would be great to revisit Innsbruck during the winter / autumn to get a different appreciation of things in the colder months as the temperatures at the moment are between 30-35 degrees.

Before heading off we picked up some supplies from the local store.  The attendant at the deli was rather non-responsive and we even contemplated administering CPR to get some sort of response.  So, no flesh for us and we settled for a bag of chips instead.

Ryan took the controls of 'Corby' which involved two vocal GPS's, one stuck to the front windscreen and the other sitting in the passenger seat. I think he did the speed limit, whatever that was.

After the quick 2hour trip to Salzburg we checked in and hit the town, the old town - so old that we saw where ol' Wolfie (aka Mozart) was born also the place where physicist Christian Doppler lived

Certainly a lot of talent in that town, and what a remarkably beautiful town it is.

Just over the bridge we trotted around the rather familiar Mirabell Gardens.  Not one for movies myself, there was something spooky about this.  All I can say is DO-RE-MI.

There were some rather saucy statues that should wear more clothes...also appearing in the same movie.

We  think this chap is an expert at doing squats at the gym...

And not to let it slip by, today (27th) was our anniversary and we couldn't have spent it in a more beautiful place.  We shall return again some day.  Tomorrow... the Sound of Music Tour and a trip back to Munchen.

 

 

Roadtrippin' Germany to Austria with a castle or two...

Today was full day and certainly a highlight.

It started with a GPS that was not quite up-to-date. So we winged it and managed to make it to where we were going with ample time. Speaking of wings... I may or may not have got the rental car beyond the takeoff speed of a light aircraft.  Mercedes are made for the Autobahns aren't they.  However, it was a little surprising to have a trail bike scream past, not quite sure how that happened.

There were only a few times that we jumped in the car and thought some prick had stolen the steering wheel, only to realise it was on the other side.  Lucky we worked that out before hitting the high speed roads. Ryan and Clyde found the steering wheel thing, very helpful indeed.

Neuschwanstein Castle (New Swan Stone) was a little bit impressive.  King Ludwig II sounded like a complete nutter, but it makes sense why Disney designed something similar in Los Angeles. Ye ol' Ludwig was all a bit of a fairtale dreamer by the sounds of it, but he knew how to decorate his place. He was into Oprah, no I mean opera and swans....lots of swans... sounds like a weeee bit of a poof to me.

The castle was that way...

The view was kind of average, with his Mum and Dad in the castle down the road, painted in that awful Rental-Beige colour.  They seemed to have an awful view too...

The walk up to Ludwigs place was breathtaking.  No, seriously it was a bit of a slog that required well timed 'photo breaks'.  Again, the scenery was alright.

Dodging horse crap made it an exciting climb up to the castle...

Our language skills are coming along and we even ordered lunch speaking the local lingo. Not sure what I ordered, but the ham sandwich that came to the table was really nice...as too was the Black Forest!

So, on to Innsbruck. Love, love, looooove this place. Once we had found the hotel (by coincidence), we decided to hop on the hop on hop off bus, careful with that part of the sentence, you may spit your teeth out. if reading aloud. Another town, with some rather odd history. Mr Maximillion ran the place back in the olden days and seemed to be a rather interesting character that couldn't keep things in his pants, which is rather strange as one would assume that pants and other vital clothing would have been difficult to get off back then.

It was really cool to see the sites for 2 previous Winter Olympics, quite incredible for such a small place and the 'old town' is simply stunning.

The Goldenes Dachl is a popular place.  Good old Emperor Maximillion had this build as quite recently as 1500 AD, to commemorate the marriage to his first missus.

It would be great to visit this stunning city once again, maybe during the winter months. it's just as stunning at night.

Well, it is time for sleep.  Tomorrow Ryan drives the Autobahn to Salzburg and we celebrate a very special milestone.