Eurotrip 2012

EUROTRIP 2012

(France, Austria, Germany)

Interesting 'tid-bits' that we learned while in Europe:

- The sun doesn't set until around 10pm in Paris during the summer!

- We never drank any hot beer, as had been rumored in the US.

- The French young people were somewhat friendly and helpful, but most of the French older than fifty were not. This was especially true for business owners! Harrison was yelled at for accidentally knocking over a lamp (which he caught), and the shop owner kicked him out of her store!

- Bavarian people were exceptionally hospitable.

- Bavarians (esp. in Salzburg) seem to wear Lederhosen and the traditional dresses often. I thought it was just for special occasions!

- Foie gras is disgusting, and Harrison found out the hard way!

- Bratwurst is traditionally only eaten before noon in Germany, but is eaten in the afternoon in Salzburg.

- Peel the sausage casing off of Weisswurst (it is true pig instestine), but it is okay to eat on the other types of wurst.

- Tipping is automatically included by law in all Parisian restaurants: The bill will say “Service Compris,” but people still leave some pocket change. In Bavaria, tipping is not included, but anywhere from 5-15% is acceptable.

- Computer keyboards in Bavaria are a bit different than what we're used to. The 'Y' is located where our 'Z' is located and vice versa. Instead of our " ' " sign, an umlaut/pair of dots ( ¨ ) above a vowel is located in its place. I never could find the '@' sign.

- With France being known for its wines and Germany for its beer, we found that the wine and beer selections on the menus were very limited in each country. There are typically about 3-5 types of beer and about three of each type of wine of which to choose.

- Street signs were very hard to locate. They were posted on the buildings in France, and seemed rare to find in Bavaria. We were very glad to have had public transportation to get around. I would have been terrified to drive.

- Service at restaurants is much slower than we're used to. Waiters do not come around often so as not to interrupt. You must ask for the bill when ready ‘die Rechnung, bitte,’ or ‘la addition, s'il vous plaît.’

Day-by-day breakdown of events

Day 1 – Friday, May 25:

We flew from Montgomery to Atlanta, and left Atlanta at 11:30pm for Paris. After a Tylenol PM and putting on my eye mask and earplugs, I was asleep for several hours.

Day 2 – Saturday, May 26:

I woke up to breakfast on the plane and we arrived in Paris soon after. Our plane got in at 1:45 PM, or 6:45 AM CST. Immediately, stress set in. We had a bunch of American dollars that we needed to convert to Euros to pay for our apartment. The exchange fee seemed pretty high at the airport, so we decided to wait and get our money changed over once we got into the city. Well, being that it was a Saturday, banks were closed. The banks would be closed through Monday, since Monday was a holiday! An information clerk at the Pompidou Center told us where we could find a currency kiosk that was still open, so we followed his directions that led us to the Champs-Elysees. Unfortunately, this is the most expensive avenue in Paris! We lost about $80 just on the commission fee to convert the money! So, instead of eating at a fancy restaurant our first night, we felt like we'd already spent too much, so we grabbed some street fair instead (Croque Monsieur and a panini). In addition to all of this stress, we had to learn to navigate the crazy metro stations. We lost a lot of money by buying one way tickets, when we should've just bought a day pass. Eventually, we got the hang of the metro.

We fit all two weeks of our luggage into our awesome North Face duffel bags/backpacks that fit as carry-ons! 

The Metro:

Inside the Metro station, being that we spent a lot of time in these stations:

We finally got settled into our cozy Parisian apartment in the Le Marais district. The location wasn't extremely central, but it was very close to a metro station which made getting around Paris very easy. The owner, Pascal, was very helpful and greeted us upon our arrival. The cabinets and fridge were fully stocked with all sorts of food! The following pictures are from the owner's website. The name of the place was Folie Republique and I found it on Trip Advisor.

The mini fridge wasn't complete until we had stocked it with our favorite beer, Kronenbourg 1664.

Day 3 – Sunday, May 27: Paris

We started off the day with a great, simple breakfast at our apartment: Brioche Trancheé (which we refer to as 'cake bread' for obvious reasons), the most incredible cherry preserves, yogurt (that's tastier than any I've ever had), OJ, milk, and coffee. We had this breakfast almost every morning, which was okay with us!

After breakfast, we hit the ground running. We first went to the site of the former Bastille and checked out a cool Farmer's Market close by:

Here's a photo of the toilettes on the street. They're free, but they seem to take forever to use, especially if there's a line. They have to do an entire cleaning cycle before the next person can go in!

We visited the Pantheon (but didn't actually go in). Marie Curie, Pasteur, Voltaire and others are buried inside. We had lunch at Le Comptoir Du Pantheon that had a great view of the Pantheon and of the Eiffel Tower.

Next to this area was Paris' prestigious University, The Sorbonne:

We walked and walked until we came to Notre Dame. It was very beautiful, but we chose not to go in due to lines and the feeling that it was too touristy. We knew we had even cooler churches to visit with better history.

On the banks of the Seine River, we stopped to check out some souvenir kiosks. We bought a beautiful Parisian oil painting and then nearly got run over by hundreds of rollerbladers:

We walked some more and came to this lovely view, close to the Louvre:

We frequently stopped to rehydrate from these awesome public water fountains.

Eventually, we came to the Louvre/former palace, but we didn't have time to visit it on this day:

After all this walking, my feet were killing me. Harrison wanted to see Napoleon's tomb, and I didn't really care to, so he went and I chose to rest my sore feet in a café nearby while sipping on a nice glass of French Wine. Here are some of the photos of Napoleon's tomb:

Here's a photo of the cute park across the street from Napoleon's tomb, next to the cafe where I was sitting:

After all of this, we went to Place de la Concorde. This was the guillotine site during the French Revolution that killed many people including Marie Antoinette.

Here's a view of the Arc de Triomphe from Place de la Concorde:

Next, we went to the Arc de Triomphe on Champs-Elysees. We had planned to walk to the top, but I could not tolerate that after all the walking we had done already. Photos taken from the base were enough to satisfy us, although I hear the view from the top is incredible. 

We walked along the Champs-Elysees (Paris' most famous shopping district) for a bit, but most of the shops had closed for the day:

We went back to the apartment to have a glass of wine and rest our feet before heading out for a late dinner at Hugo’s. The atmosphere was really neat, but I thought the food was pretty average. The price, however, was ideal. We had a bottle of wine, two entrees, and two desserts for about $60!

Beef skirt steak served with frites and duck confit (roasted duck) with potatoes:

The crème brulee was very good, but my apple pie with caramel ice cream tasted burnt:

Day 4 – Monday, May 28: Paris

We spent the first half of the day at The Louvre. It was so impressive. I couldn't believe the size of it and the amount of art inside!

After spending three hours at the Louvre, we were starving! We went into the Saint Germain area and ate lunch at a quaint cafe, ‘Paul.’ This father/son duo played classic French tunes just outside of the cafe.

We had a nice lunch of crepes (egg, ham, cheese) and quiche, Sauvignon Blanc, and a chocolate éclair.

Towards the end of our meal, a capoeira act (Brazilian martial arts that combines dance and music) came through the streets and entertained us.

After lunch, we went to Saint Germain des Prés (oldest church in Paris: Saint Germain was buried there and his tomb dates 576).

Next, it was on to see the Eiffel Tower:

Their were people all over the place having picnics, walking dogs, reading, and of course, making out. The French were definitely all about some PDA/French kissing!

Am I a good photographer or what?

We continued walking and saw this cute couple that had just gotten married. They had their lock to place on the fence over the Seine River.

This photo is quintessential Paris to me:

Nearby, we went to the Shakespeare Library (across from Notre Dame), but their was a book reading/signing going on and we couldn't get in. We had hoped to get people some books for gifts from here.

Afterward, Harrison and I ventured off the typical tourist path to find the Paris Treaty House. This was where the document was signed that made America a country! It is now ‘Typographie de Firmin Didot’ - some kind of printing place, with no evidence of the amazing history on it. One or two doors down is James Joyce’s former home/apartment. Across the street from that is where Hemingway often stayed and often spied on the Joyce’s while they were having dinner!

Down the street was another famous Parisian pastry shop franchise, Laduree. Their pastries are pieces of art!

We had dinner at bistro in our neighborhood of Le Marais/Republique (chicken with rice pilaf, shrimp with rice pilaf, white wines):

We went back to the Eiffel Tower at night, but there was a 1.5 hour line with no bathrooms open after dusk, so we decided to enjoy the lovely view from below:

Day 5 – Tuesday, May 29: Paris

We slept in a bit, and decided to go to a cafe for a late breakfast. Harrison was being adventurous, trying all sorts of foods he would normally never consider. He wanted to try the escargot for his appetizer and have the foié gras (fatty duck liver) for his entree. Keep in mind, this was to be our breakfast! I talked him out of the escargot for the meantime. I, on the other hand, ordered a lovely crepe with nutella, banana, and whip cream.

He described the foié gras as the texture of butter but with a rotten taste. He could not get rid of that taste for about fifteen minutes after trying it. I generously shared my amazing crepe.

We walked across the street to tour Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This is the largest public park in Paris, and one of the largest in the world, although Central Park is larger. Some that are buried here include Daladier, George Bizet, Frederic Chopin, Auguste Comte, Hilaire Belloc, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Modigliani, Claude-Henri Rouvroy de Saint-Simon, Cuvier, among many others.

George Bizet (Opera):

Oscar Wilde (Writer/poet):

Edith Piaf (Singer):

Frederic Chopin (composer/pianist):

Afterward, we went to the north end of Paris to see Saint Denis. This is the first Gothic cathedral that all others were modeled after. Forty-two kings, 32 queens, 63 princes and princesses and 10 nobles are buried inside! See, already cooler than Notre Dame and MUCH less crowded!

Statue of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI:

Tomb of Catherine de Medici and King Henry II:

Relics of St. Louis IX's (wrist bone):

Crypt

Tombs of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI:

The petrified heart of Louis XVII, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI's 10-year-old son:

Next we went to Montmarte, an artsy district of Paris (artists, flea markets, vintage stores, The famous church with a view: Sacré Coeur, the sites where the movie Amelie was filmed, and Moulin Rouge). Here a neat street view with the Sacré Coeur in the distance:

Drinking French cokes with a view of Sacré Coeur:

Sacré Coeur

View of Paris from Sacré Coeur:

:

Sacré Coeur

Another Parisian view from Sacré Coeur:

:

Sacré Coeur

Sacré Coeur

We enjoyed a nice red wine on the hill of Sacré Coeur while taking in the view of Paris:

Afterward we walked around Montmarte and came across Cafe des 2 Moulins (where Amelie worked in the movie). We went in and had some wine and crème brulee.

A classic windmill in Montmarte:

Le Moulin Rouge, with an enormous line to enter:

Day 6 – Wednesday, May 30:

We took a train to Versailles, about a thirty minute ride outside of Paris. The Palace was absolutely massive, as were the crowds, but it was still a great sight to see!

The chapel:

Some of the gardens:

Marie Antoinette's bedroom:

The Hall of Mirrors:

After touring the palace, we walked to find the site of the Tennis Court Oath. You can find the background on it here: http://library.thinkquest.org/C006257/revolution/tennis_court_oath.shtml.

When we arrived back in Paris in the afternoon, we went to the Catacombs. Read the history here: http://www.catacombes-de-paris.fr/english.htm

This steep staircase led us far underneath the streets of Paris where hundreds of thousands of bodies were relocated from Parisian cemeteries and deposited here.

The bones were all arranged in interesting patterns and designs. Our cameras didn't take very good pictures in the low light:

After that, I wanted to do some shopping. We went to the Saint Germain area and I bought a cute pair of shoes. Harrison took this shot of me on a cute side street. I look classically Parisian here with my baguette, flowers, and shopping bag!

We bought some picnic food (grapes, smoked Gouda, baguette, wine) and headed to the Luxembourg Gardens. It began to rain lightly when we arrived, so we enjoyed our picnic in a large pavilion.

Luxembourg Palace

Harrison bought these beautiful peonies for me from a lady on the street. They only cost about 3 Euro!

Paris streets, after the rain:

I love a Mansard roof!

Walking through the streets, we came across a church: Saint Sulpice. There was a free concert going on to benefit something or another, and we walked right in. A choir sang ‘Let my people go’ and ‘The cry of the poor!’

Day 7 – Thursday, May 31: Verdun
We checked out of our apartment early in the morning and took a high-speed train (TGV) from Paris to Meuse. Meuse's bus station was tiny and there were windmills in the distance. 

We took a scenic bus ride to Verdun, passing hay farms and poppy fields along the way. Verdun was a cute small town with great shops and restaurants by a river. Verdun was a MUST on Harrison's Europe travel to-do list, since the bloodiest battle of WWI occurred there.

For lunch, we ate at a cafe and I had a goat cheese salad with toast and Harrison had the Quiche Lorraine IN Lorraine region, France!

We took the minibus tour from one of the tourism offices around 1:00 - http://www.tourisme-verdun.fr/. I wish we had taken the 11:00 bus, because we ran out of time to see everything. There were headsets on the bus offering audio in four languages on the history of all the sites: Verdun Memorial, Fort Duoaumont, and the Ossuary. We skipped the memorial and headed up to the Ossuary, but chose to walk a little further when we arrived there to see The Bayonet Trench. In 1919, a colonel from WWI returned to where his unit had fought and noticed rifles sticking out of the ground, some of which still had their bayonets intact. A memorial was built to pay homage to the soldiers who were buried alive during the warfare.

Here is a photo that we took from the exterior of the Ossuary:

This is Fort Duoaumont:

When we finished touring Verdun, we rode a bus ride to Metz, France passing through gorgeous French countryside. All of the towns are condensed to preserve farmland unlike America, which we really appreciated. In Metz, we arrived at the beautiful train station pictured below. We had a simple dinner at a café and waited for our 'sleeper train' to arrive around midnight. The train station got pretty creepy at night.

We got on the City Night Line train and were shown into our cabin. There were six beds inside: three on each wall like bunch beds! Unfortunately, we were the last to arrive. There were already four people asleep that had to wake up so that we could get 'settled' in. We had the middle bunks on either sides of the cabin. There was nowhere to store our luggage, so we had to sleep with it at the foot of our cots! The lady on the top bunk had control of the A/C and kept it set on what seemed like 'freezing' for the entire night. The train ran out of blankets, so poor Harrison shivered all night with two sheets. I had to get up to use the bathroom and it was covered in pee! Everyone in our cabin seemed to snore and our train arrived 1+ hours late in Munich so that we missed our high-speed train to Salzburg! We didn't get much sleep, but were able to get on the next train out to Salzburg. It was a memorable experience to say the least! If I ever have to do a sleeper train again, I'll sacrifice a few more bucks to get us a private cabin!

Day 8 – Friday, June 1: Salzburg

Our train out to Salzburg, Austria was truly picturesque. We passed through the Bavarian Alps which were majestic to see. We arrived at 11am, but couldn't get into room until 1:00. We stayed at the Hotel Lasserhof, which was a quaint, small, family-run hotel about a 10 minute walk from downtown and from the train station. All of the rooms were different. The beds were incredibly comfy! 

After settling in, we set out to explore. We passed through Mirabell gardens (site of some scenes from Sound of Music) and took in the loveliness.

There was a little light rain:

That's Mozart’s birthplace behind me!

The city was adorable. I can't say enough great things about Salzburg. The people were so kind and helpful, the scenery was breathtaking, the feel of the town was much less-touristy than expected, and the food was incredible! Salzburg was our favorite city in Europe on this trip!
We had dinner at The Golden Ente. I had read rave reviews about it's traditional Bavarian cuisine on Trip Advisor. The menu was so good that we had a really hard time picking what to eat. Because of that, we went back for dinner there the following night!

Harrison had roast duck, which he claimed to be the best ever. I tried the Weiner Schnitzel, which was good, but I'm not a huge fan of fried food anyway. The potato dumplings were excellent and we finished off the meal with the traditional Salzburger Nockerl (tasted like whipped cream with raspberries) and Pear and Apricot Schnapps.

On our way back to our hotel, a Catholic church was letting out its congregation from some sort of festival: Lange nacht a kirche. We spotted two cardinals! I've never seen a cardinal. Who knows, maybe one of them will be the Pope someday!

Day 9 – Saturday, June 2: Salzburg, Austria & Berchtesgaden, Germany
We took a bus out to Berchtesgaden, Germany which was about a thirty minute ride. In town, we took another bus to the Dokumentation Center at Obersalzburg: former Nazi complex and one of Hitler's residences. We took an audio tour there and I learned a lot of troubling history. Most all of the buildings at Obersalzburg were destroyed, including the building that once stood where the Dokumentation Center now stands. The former building was where Hitler enjoyed a cup of tea daily. The patio still exists and Harrison and I had a picnic on it.

On the patio, overlooking Berchtesgaden:

We rode in Hitler's brass elevator to the top of the mountain to the Eagle's Nest. This was built for Hitler as a gift for his 50th birthday. He didn't frequent it often, because he was terrified of heights. On one occasion when he was there, he invited the leader of Czechoslovakia there. When he arrived, Hitler informed him that his troops were actively invading Czechoslovakia at that moment. It so shocked the leader that he had a heart attack. Hitler's staff revived the man.

Here's a view of the town of Berchtesgaden:

The water was from snow-melt and was very pretty flowing through the city:

Bavarian Alps:

We arrived back into Salzburg in the late afternoon to enjoy the city some more. Here are a couple of shots of the fortress, Schloss Hellbrunn:

Salzach river:

Here's a photo of our dinner the second night, again at Golden Ente. This meal was even better. I had the beef goulash and Harrison had the venison stew with potato dumplings/gnocchi. We had the apple strudel for dessert and it was outstanding! the little booklet on the table is Harrison's translator. He made notes of all the common phrases and got pretty good at speaking both French and German!

We briefly met this group of girls out to celebrate Stillnacht. This is the Bavarian equivalent of Bachelorette parties, but the aim is for the bride to sell small gifts/goodies to make money for the wedding! We bought some really cute shortbread cookies decorated like lingerie and lips.

Day 10 – June 3: Salzburg & Munich

We checked out of our hotel early, after taking in another AMAZING continental breakfast there. We only had a little time left in Salzburg before taking the train to Munich. We had planned to buy souvenirs, not realizing that NOTHING is open in Salzburg on Sundays. We snapped a few pictures in the gardens and on one of the bridges. I've never seen Sycamore trees so huge:

Feeling whimsical in the Mirabell Gardens:

After a two hour train ride, we arrived in Munich. It was a chilly, rainy afternoon/evening. We  stopped in an expensive touristy café in Marianplatz (city center) and had a pretty awful dinner. I ordered Curry Wurst, which just turned out to be an average hot dog with ketchup dipping sauce that had curry powder sprinkled in it (for about $11-12)! 

Marienplatz:

Next, we went to the famous Hofbräuhaus. We had HUGE beers and a pretzel and met some very nice German guys.

Afterward, we began to head back to our hotel, but didn't feel quite ready to turn in for the night. We stopped at a restaurant called Wirsthaus, outside of our hotel, and had another drink.

Day 11 – Monday, June 4: Munich

The staff at Wirsthaus were so kind the night before, that we went back for a German breakfast. I love a soft-boiled German egg! I have no idea what that paste stuff is on the plate next to the egg. Neither of us felt adventurous enough to try the paste that smelled like meat (pâté perhaps?).

We walked about ten or so minutes into the town center to do some shopping. We went to  Peterskirche: Munich's oldest church from 1180.

We climbed the 306 steps of the Peterskirche tower to get the best view of Munich/Alps:

 This is Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall/Eastern side of Marienplatz) – Goebbels speech here started Kristallnacht.

This is Neus Rathaus (New City Hall - made to look old - center of Marienplatz) - The Glockenspiel has a performance at 11am everyday.

In the late afternoon, we checked out the shops in the Viktualienmarkt (the largest Farmer's Market I've ever seen - open daily). We grabbed some bratwurst, a pretzel, and a couple of lagers and feasted in the Viktualienmarkt beer garden.

We spent hours here hanging out with these super-friendly locals. They helped us with our German pronunciation, among other things. Joseph and Walter (on the far end of the table) showed us to a favorite restaurant of theirs when we were ready for dinner.

We had dinner where they recommended: Hackerhaus. We ordered the Kleiner Schweinebraten, Portion Spanferkel, and zwie (2) Hacher-Pschorr Helles. In other words two pork dishes with potato dumplings and two lagers. The food was very good, and traditional of course.

Day 12 – Tuesday, June 5: Munich & Dachau

We ate the hotel’s (Motel One, Sendlinger Tor) delicious German breakfast, and headed off to the train station to meet up with our tour group for a 1/2 day at Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp, which all other camps were eventually modeled after. Dachau was only about a 45 minute ride away.

This is the entrance gate to the camp. The phrase translates to 'work makes you free,' which was obviously not true for those imprisoned here. Auschwitz has the same gate and message.

This is the common ground area, where much of the labor was carried out by the prisoners:

Here's a poster which shows the type of people that were imprisoned here. Dachau was mainly a camp for political prisoners, rather than primarily for Jews. On the poster, you can see the major of Vienna, a doctor, an artist, a musician, a Catholic priest, a Jehovah's Witness family, a Jewish businessman, etc.

This is a photo of the large crematorium. Inside, there was a disinfecting chamber, a disrobing room, a waiting room, the gas chamber (which was never used at Dachau), two death rooms, and the crematory room with the ovens.

This is the crematorium room. Often, prisoners were hung to die on the beam above, right in front of the ovens where they would be cremated right after. Each oven could cremate 4-6 bodies at a time. Outisde of the building, little white fluffy things constantly floated in the air. They looked like dandelions, but were coming from trees. It gave us the eerie feeling that ash was floating around us. I imaged that for several years in the '40s, ashes did float through the air like that.

The barracks were all destroyed, but two were rebuilt. This is what the inside looks like:

Each barrack accommodated up to 250 men:

When we returned to Munich, we did some more history touring on our own. We found Hitler's former office, The Fuherbau. It is now a music conservatory with no evidence of the Nazi party. Hitler often walked out onto that balcony and gave speeches. Above it, you can still see where the eagle once was mounted.

Here's a photo of the building in the time of Hitler's power:

Harrison and I walked into the building past the signs that read 'No admittance without proper ID.' We found room 105 (Hitler’s former office room). The Munich Pact was signed in that office! Harrison peeked inside and saw someone playing the piano, so he quickly shut the door.

Hitler's office has since been subdivided into several rooms. Therefore, we walked into the copy room, right next to room 105. Harrison took this photo to show that he had stood on the original floor of Hitler's office!

Nearby, we also checked out the Grecian buildings of Konigsplatz. In this platz, the Nazis held many parades.

After all of the fascinating, yet troubling history that we'd experienced for the day, we wanted a beer. We went to the far end of the English Garden, and found the Seehaus bier garten on the   Kleinhesselohr see (lake). We met a very nice German couple, Stephanie and Renato, that were about our age. We spent a few hours talking with them. They enjoyed working on their English, and they helped us with our German. They offered to take us to the Olympic area and the site of Oktoberfest. We felt we'd spent enough time with them to realize they weren't psycho killers (she was 6 mos preggo, by the way), so we agreed to let them personally drive us around in their car.

They showed us the Olympic arena and the dorms where the Jewish Israeli athletes were murdered.

We saw the BMW World and the Mercedes plant.

They took us to the site of Oktoberfest, which was an immense space for the festival.

They dropped us off at one of their favorite restaurants, the brewery, Augustiner Keller.  We had a great meal of beef, pork, potatoes, and cheese spatzl (like mac & cheese). Because everyone in Bavaria shares tables, we met another very nice couple.

Day 13 – Wednesday, June 6: Munich

We set up a full day tour of Herenchiemsee Castle, one of Mad Ludwig's (King Ludwig II of Bavaria) three elaborate castles. His most famous castle is Neuschwanstein; Disney World's castle was modeled after it. We took a train to the town, then boarded a small train called the Chiemsee Bahn, then took a ferry across Chiemsee Lake, and finally arrived on the island with the castle.

The castle was about a ten minute walk away, but it was beautiful. It was modeled after Versailles, but the King ran out of money before he could finish it.

After the castle, we got back on the ferry which took us to the tiny island of Frauen-Insel. A Benedictine monastery started there in the 700s.

 Monastery:

Day 14 – Thursday, June 7: Munich

For our last day in Europe, we decided to take a train about 30 minutes outside of Munich to the Starnberger See (lake). It was a beautiful, warm, clear day. We rented a beautiful motor boat from the 50's (an Aquabird). It was only about 25 Euro per hour. We rode around the lake and enjoyed views of the Bavarian Alps and sailboats in the distance.

We came across a memorial chapel built for King Ludwig II, since he was found dead in the lake in two feet of water. His death, murder vs. suicide, is still a mystery today. There is a cross in the water where his body was found (look closely).

We had a picnic on the boat: wine, sandwiches and the biggest dates I've ever seen!

As we were eating, we spotted a boat passing by with some people that looked familiar. It was Stefanie and Renato, the couple that had shown us around Munich two days before! It was great to see them again and thank them for all of their help!

We exchanged our motorboat for a rowboat. The craftsmanship was even more beautiful! It was a lot of fun to row. I only did it for a minute, since I enjoyed sitting back and watching Harrison do all of the work, which he enjoyed!

We headed back to Munich and checked out Asamkirche (one guide book says 'a small baroque/rococo fantasy and one of the most guilded and splendid churches in Germany if not the world').

 

After that, we went to Maximillianplatz. There was some show/opera that was about to start inside:

Next, we went to Feldherrnhalle in Odeonsplatz where the beer hall Putsch was stopped in the 20s and where a young Hitler was arrested. There's a picture of Hitler at that site in the 20s (found it on the Internet), and Harrison is standing where Hitler once stood.

We went inside the beautiful Theatinerkirche (built for the Theatine clergy; Italian baroque):

Nearby, we had a drink at Augustiner beer garden:

I had to get a picture of this guy, dressed up as a Baywatch Hasselhoff for his Bachelor Party. He was British:

Nearby were the gardens of the Residence Palace:

We went back to the Hackerhaus again for dinner. Even though the food was really good again, the service was terrible this time. I had the fried ravioli which was awesome! Harrison had a pork/mushroom dish.

Because the Munich airport is about 45 minutes from the center city, Harrison and I chose to switch to a hotel closer to the airport since we had an early flight out. We boarded the metro for the last time and headed to our hotel.

Day 15 – Friday, June 8: Fly

We arrived at airport at 7:30, were through security by 8, and boarded our flight at 9. The Munich airport is great! We departed at 9:45am (2:45am Central Time) and had a 9hr38min flight to Atlanta. We were supposed to connect to Montgomery, but since we had a four hour layover and hadn't checked any bags, my kind M-I-L drove to ATL to pick us up. THANK YOU, ESTHER! We we home, unpacking, around 3pm, at forced ourselves to stay awake until 7:30 (2:30am in Germany). After waking the next day, we didn't feel very jet lagged. We had such an amazing trip!