Day 78-85: Munchen on some Salzburger
Place: Haus Christofsen, Neu Anif, in Salzburg, Austria
Note: Sorry for the delay in posting, we have had no internet in Austria so trying to catch up quickly
Munich (18th June-21st June)
My memories of Munich have always been vague and overshadowed by Italy, France and Switzerland from my contiki tour some 6 years ago, but I will always remember the festive Hofbrau house in Marienplatz and for this reason it was an easy decision to revisit Germany with my merry beer-drinking husband.
After a hectic couple of beer guzzling days with Nick and Dags in Prague, Craig decided that a day off of the hops and barley was in order, and we would save the hofbrau house for our final day in Germany.
This park is where the Munich massacre occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September which had ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization. Eleven athletes were murdered by the terrorists.
This is also the year that Mark Spits broke 7 records in the swimming pool, (which Michael Phelps bettered with a brilliant 8 records broken at the Beijing Olympics in 2009- I was also very fortunate enough to attend the Beijing Olympics and experience the magic of the games first hand).
Back to this astonishing park.
We exited the subway station to a huge part of the park, which is now used as the BMW Museum. Craig couldn’t believe his luck and his eyes sparkled as we entered the modern lobby with bikes, hybrids, old and new models of the BMW cars. The museum is very impressive, and if given the chance, Craig would never leave. I had to eventually entice my darling husband with a mention of lunch to get him to leave and we walked through the gardens, trees and over the bridge to another stadium, which has been revamped into an awesome self-service restaurant.
We found a table under an umbrella and out of the hot hot hot sun, overlooking the water where we watched ducks waddle and play, people enjoy a jog, cyclists dodging kids on the paths, hot dog stands and enjoyed our first taste of pretzels, French fries and currywurst (chunks of pork sausage in saucy tomato and spices – reminded me of a thick flavorsome tomato soup) mmm mmm mmmm.
Along the water was also the ‘walk of fame’ where celebrities have visited and left their hand imprints in the cement with a message. Craig and I strolled up and down to see who had been there while taking photos.
We reached the wondrous main stadium and entered the gates where we found a seat in the stands and sat in awe of the architecture of this stadium. We found it very hard to believe that this magnificent stadium was designed and built in the 1970’s. It is a very surreal feeling being the only people in the stands of such a great stadium and we imagined the feeling of being part of such an event.
With so much more to see, I took my ‘tour guide’ responsibility serious and so lead Craig through the beautiful park, back to the subway to visit the English and Chinese Gardens a few blocks away.
From the moment we entered these famous gardens, I was completely wowed by the beauty and sereneness, which surrounded us. The deeper we walked into the gardens, the more I fell in love.
Towering trees of all species, green, immaculate grass with colorful flowerbeds and various hedges and bushes in every direction with a random bicycle parked next to a pale body in a bikini catching some rays and colour for the summer. Eventually, the bikes became more, as did the bodies and soon it was like being on Ushaka Beach with people jumping into the stream and being pulled by current (like the lazy river at Ushaka). Such a festive atmosphere with people everywhere, just enjoying the wonderful weather and swimming with friends. Craig and I felt very overdressed and wished that we knew about this spot earlier and brought our costumes too. As we got to the end of the stream, we saw a bunch of guys and girls with surfboards and board shorts. This was very intriguing as there is no beach for at least 50km. We found this awesome spot where the locals were surfing a small and continuous wave (a natural wavehouse of sorts). These surfers are amazing and it was such fun to watch.
Feeling very productive with our viewings for the day, we headed home for a nap with the idea of coming back into town later to watch the soccer somewhere, or visit a beer garden.
Nap done…I wasn’t going anywhere, well at least not by bus or train. So Craig and I walked to a restaurant down the road to watch England play Ukraine in the Euro Cup. We couldn’t turn down a local German schnitzel with horseradish and mustard, a beer for Craig and I again sipped on a lovely rooibos tea.
The next day we awoke and caught an earlier train to Munich in order to see the Glockenspiel ring at 11am sharp and tour around the city after.
We arrived to Marienplatz early, which gave us plenty of time to grab a coffee/tea and a brekkie while sitting in the square admiring the scene.
While waiting for the ‘dancing dolls’ at 11am, we took a stroll to the nearby fountain which I remembered from my previous visit, we later found out that it is called the Koningplatz (which was on our itinerary for the day). ‘Killing 2 birds with one stone’, we quickly headed back to the Glockenspiel.
The bells sounded with music at 11am on the dot and went on for about 15 minutes and square was filled with people to see this remarkable sight of dancing jesters, jolting knights and spinning men captivating our attention.
Not ready for the hofbrau just yet, we decided to walk a little more. I took Craig to a market of local fruit and veg, butcheries, cheeseries, fishmongers, florists and a garden already buzzing with beer guzzling grannies, pretzels and locals. I knew that this would quickly tempt Craig and his beer cravings would kick in soon.
After 10 minutes of walking through the market with scrumptious smells, sounds of clanging beer glasses and jabber, Craig was ready and we made our way to the famous HofBrau House for 1 litre beers, Frauleins, the brass band and a well anticipated Eisbein.
As we arrived, we found a table, ordered a litre beer for Craig and I was snubbed with my coke order. We sat down and the band started playing catchy tunes, setting a truly authentic atmosphere (not to mention the sights of curly mustaches, feathered hats, suspenders attached to shorts, and the long socks worn by the ‘old school’ German men with their own beer mugs
As we sat, the crowds poured in and before we knew it, we were sharing a table with another German couple and shouts of ‘Prost’ (my jolly husband would find any excuse to slam his glass with the locals yelling ‘Prost’).
Disappointed with the tiny eisbein, Craig finished his litre, and we ordered a huge pretzel to fill the gap, which the eisbein didn’t, as well as ordered another 500ml beer (we didn’t order the litre because we had planned to visit another beer house after).
The look of Craig’s slanted; googly eyes meant that a walk was on the cards in an attempt to sober him up a little before the next litre of Augustineer Beer.
After seeing the Maximillion Palace, getting lost looking for the metro, we eventually jumped onto our train and headed to the Augustineer Beer Garden for round 2.
Craig and I rested our weary legs on a bench under a huge tree loving life while chatting and munching on another giant pretzel. But the rain started and so we ran for cover and grabbed a table with 2 local Germans having a drink after work. The German men were trying to buy Craig another beer but we declined quickly and mentioned that we were on our way home as we had just come from the HofBrau House…they laughed and were impressed with Craig’s drinking abilities.
So 3 litres of beer later, it was time to take my soon to be drunk husband home.
Salzburger, Austria (21st June – 25th June)
Due to the recent decision to travel through Bavaria and up to Netherlands, Belgium (to catch the start of the Tour de France, by the way), Luxemborg and then Switzerland instead of heading South to Croatia, we were able to revisit Austria to Craig’s pure delight.
We caught a 1.5 hour railjet directly to Salzburg, and barely getting comfortable, we arrived to this charismatic ancient city and out again to the mountains where we would be staying for 4 nights.
22nd June
Dark skies and grey clouds surrounding the mountain deterred us from heading up the mountain preventing any views and so we opted for a city walk around Salzburg city.
Strolling along the river, making sure to stay on the pedestrian part of the road as we would be taken out by the passing cyclists, we had to take a couple of minutes every now and then just to take the views all in.
The castle on top of a mountain, overlooking the city of spires and cobblestones squares, is something storybooks are made of. We ambled through the Schloss Mirabell gardens where we were lucky enough to witness brides, grooms and wedding parties taking pictures in the famous gardens.
FYI: These gardens were used for the filming of the ‘Do Re Me’ scene in the ‘Sound of Music’.
This was a great start to the day as we then stumbled upon Mozarts Home, and the Sacher hotel, which is where we were told to sample the famous Sacher Torte. The Sacher Torte is a secret recipe from hundreds of years ago, which is exclusive to the Sacher Hotel and has been enjoyed by Queen Elizabeth, Grace Kelly, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and John Travolta to name a few. We indulged in this little chocolate pleasure.
After spending R150 on a piece of chocolate cake, 1 coffee and a tea, we headed away quickly and again sauntered through the little streets and squares.
Art everywhere, Mozart everywhere, cafes everywhere, and the enticing brackwurst everywhere, we again stumbled into a little stand hidden in a wall, surrounded by locals and we knew that this is where we would smack a good and most importantly, cheap, lunch. We were given a healthy portion of yummy sauerkraut (of which I am now a huge fan), mustard and a huge grilled sausage.
After chatting with some locals we found out that there is an Augustineer Beer hall in Salzburg, which was screening Germany vs Greece that night, and without a doubt, we would be there.
Quickly we headed back to the mountains and our hotel for a nap and to get ready for a great night out, weather permitting.
7pm came and out we went to make sure we had a good spot to watch the game.
Unfortunately we didn’t think that the rest of Austria would be there too. We were turned away from the halls, but found a spot outside under a tree with a tiny glimpse of a tv inside the hall in-between the people, but this was good enough for us as it was the atmosphere that we were after. I guarded our table, while Craig went on a search for some dinner and those famous 1 litre beers.
Unfortunately with a plate of wonderful sauerkraut, chopped eisbein and mustard, Craig also returned with rain. So much so that we ran for cover once more and managed to find a spot on top of the stairs with yet another small glimpse of a tv in the hall.
We took the gap at half time, as it would be a miserable walk in the rain to catch our bus and sloshed our way through the puddles to a nice, warm and dry hotel room.
23rd June
Legs exhausted and tight, clouds covering the mountain still so no chance of epic views, we decided to take the day off from travelling and sightseeing. Instead we walked to the nearby town, did some admin and tried to find a post office to send some very overdue postcards. The post office was closed, so that has to wait for another day, but we did find the SPAR and bought some lunch which we would enjoy on the porch of our hotel.
Lunch over, and heavy eyes, we napped, woke up and napped again. Eventually we got up, walked to get a coffee and tea and that was that for the day….just the way I like it.
I did however make an astonishing discovery in that my husband has NEVER seen ‘The Sound of Music’. This is something that shocked me to the core and will have to remedy a.s.a.p.
24th June
Prayers answered, Craig and I woke up to a beautiful and clear blue sky. This of course meant that we would be going up up up the glorious mountains of Untersberg . We quickly threw back a breakfast, got ready and ‘double timed’ our way to the cable cars which would take us up this magnificent creation so that we could hike down, up, in-between and around for hours. We just made it and squashed our way into the already jam-packed ‘car’. 1800m above sea level was where we got out and stopped to breathe in this crisp fresh air, take a picture…well a couple of pictures and start walking.
We were ‘taken away’ by the absolute beauty of the snow capped mountains in the distance, and took every chance possible to take a picture of snow on our mountain as we could. We even got creative and emptied out our plastic food bag in order to sit on it and toboggan down the little slope.
We ascended, descended, walked, crawled and climbed our way all over this mountain in search of the ‘Eishole’ (pronounced Ice-hole), which is what we assume are ice-caves, but with no success, we quickly changed the pronunciation to something very different (I’m sure you can figure it out) and after 4hours of hiking, we decided to head back for some lunch with our feet hanging over the cliff to enjoy the view before making our way back to our hotel.
It was an amazing blessing of a day to finish off our visit in Salzburg and we know that our legs will appreciate the 11 hr journey on the train to Luxemborg tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment