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Published: November 16th 2021
And finally, I am able to start all the European blogs. Once the little guy arrived Europe was just a little more attractive from a flight perspective (7 - 8 hours versus 15 plus for Asia) to fly to Europe. And for some reason it seems that our European travels always went through and used Germany as a starting point. So, we have been to Germany many times, but have spent very little time there.
Our first time was when we decided to do an Austria/ Germany trip. I think it was July (just an absolutely stupid expensive time for tickets from the US to anywhere) so I think an Austria/ Germany trip became a reality simply because tickets were too expensive anywhere else. Initially I was planning something closer to the Swiss border for operas, but I soon found out that taking a 6-month-old to an opera was frowned upon (imagine that).
So, into Hamburg we flew and had our rental car pretty quickly and started heading for the Austrian border. The autobahn is probably one of the most famed roads in the world because you can pretty much go as fast as you want - in theory.
Germany
We are flying againI was really looking forward to this. Well, our first experience was definitely more like the we-are-not-moving-today Bahn. Upon leaving Hamburg we immediately got stuck in traffic (I mean immediately). And when I say stuck, I mean stuck. We did not move to the point where we were getting out and walking around for a good hour plus before things finally started moving. Well, this is a bummer.
Fast forward 4 - 5 days to the last leg of our trip (we quickly made it to the Austrian border once traffic started moving) as we were winding our way down the Austrian mountains having just finished the Grossglockner high alpine road. It was a rainy affair but a beautiful little drive as we made our way through rising mountains with waterfalls all over the place running down through a rainy windshield. We stopped in the small towns for coffee and snacks wherever we could. And at long last we made it to
Munich for our first real experience of Germany. Hotels were a little harder to come by (at a reasonable price) so I found the
Best Western Plus Hotel Erb on the outskirts of the city. It served our purpose for the
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The new normal on flights night even though it was way out there and under construction. We checked in, changed and headed into Munich.
Now when you go to Munich, I believe that there is one place you just go to whether you want to or not - the
HOFBRAUHAUS AM PLATZL . Probably a tourist trap and probably overpriced but there we were with a 6-month-old in hand having a go at what must be one of the craziest beer halls around. It was a Friday night (even worse - who goes to a tourist trap beer hall on a Friday night), the music was loud, the seating was limited, and the wait staff absent. After waiting and walking and scouting and prowling we finally managed to find a hole on a long bench of seats. There were initial looks of disapproval when we sat down with Everest (again only just over 7 months old at this point), but the neighbors soon warmed up and within minutes we were all drinking side by side. They probably figured we were 1) alcoholics and nothing would stop us from getting a beer (not even a 7-month-old would stop us), 2) as first-time parents the baby is driving
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Auto-bahn? us to the alcohol or 3) we just decided a child is not going to stop us from doing what we do so here we are in a beer hall. You decide which one they picked but I think they were definitely impressed that we came armed with a bottle of milk and our best and most top-notch rattler to keep Everest entertained. To be honest the noise and crowd and people were more than enough to keep him entertained and he is just an awesome kid to travel with period. We finally caught the attention of the waitress and put in our order. The BEER was out in a flash and very good. We put in an order for sausages/ sauerkraut and pork belly/ bread pudding. I am a sausage kind of guy and to me it was really good (I could have done with a little less sauerkraut, but I also understand that this is what they do here). The bread pudding and the pork belly was very forgettable and will not be ordered again. The pork belly was pretty bland and not cooked well and the bread pudding was a mush. The beer was good and the
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He does not look too impressed music and entertainment even better. A good night out for the adults.
We packed it in for the night after driving around for a little bit and exploring. The next morning was spent in the more central location. The
RISCHART BAKERY was on my radar and also the radar of a million other people. We finally managed to get in and get a table along the wall. For context the restaurant is sort of a rooftop restaurant and if you are lucky enough to sit along the wall you get some pretty nice VIEWS over the city and the surrounding streets. We were here for KAISERSCHAMM (FRIED PANCAKES W/ SAUCE). The menu described it as "broken-up pancakes with egg flip and caramelized walnuts". The sauce definitely had a "bite" of something in it as you could taste the liquor. Regardless, it was delicious, and I could have had another plate if time allowed. We also had a yogurt, muesli and fruit (good) and a Bellini and a mélange.
With our stomachs full we set out for the streets and exploring for a couple hours. We stopped at
DALLMAYR FOR JAMS and man what a treat that place was. We
Munich
Beer, bottle and rattler! love food so we really had "1 of each" in mind but alas only walked out with a jar of apricot jam that was really good. We stopped at the little shops as Everest was taking it in from all angles in his stroller. Other than a museum I did not have too much of an agenda, but Nikkie really wanted to visit
DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP. I had no objections, so we made the quick drive, found some parking and made the walk to the welcome center. I'll be the first to admit that I obviously know about WWII and the concentration camps (who does not). Auschwitz obviously is the one we all know about. Could not have told you I knew of Dachau before we got there, but we soon found out this was the longest operated concentration camp as well as one of the largest - this hits you in a different kind of way when you walk in. The main building has the entire history of events laid out with pictures, descriptions and details of how events progressed. A very informative display with very moving and at times gruesome pictures. Walking the grounds just adds more perspective and context.
Hofbrauhaus Am Platzl
Food - the good and the bad Double-walled barbed-wire fences, cramped sleeping halls, winter months where you sleep on a plank with no blankets, and little to no food.
We walked and explored and finally came upon the gas chamber and crematorium - bone chilling stuff. Throw in medical experiments that will make the hair raise on the back of your neck and you have a place that should never ever exist again anywhere. It was a quieter and reflective ride as we made our way back towards Hamburg. I finally hit 110 miles an hour on the autobahn. Our hotel for the night was the
Leonardo Hotel Heidelberg. We got there pretty late so decided to just drive around and explore a little before calling it a night. The
HEIDELBERG'S SCHLOSS is a beautiful structure with some pretty awesome reflections in the river running in front of it.
Other than this our only experiences in Germany were in and around the airport in Hamburg. We flew in for a trip to Denmark (so we did drive pretty much the entire north-south of Germany, but this was a straight shot with no stops) and stayed at the
Leonardo Inn Hotel Hamburg Airport. It was too late to really do anything, so we
Rischart Bakery
Kaiserschamm (fried pancakes with sauce) just did dinner in the hotel and watched the US Open tennis finals. A couple pilsners, a Franzosischer Franz (panini w/ brie, cranberries, and ham), and a Pikanter Peter (panini w/ salami, ham, cheese and pesto) did the trick for the night. Nothing special but kept us full for the night. We also had a late-night layover once back to the states as we returned from Hungary (flew in at 10pm, got a hotel, and left at 6am). So, as you can see, we have been here many times, but really have not really done anything.
Good - the beer was a lot better than I expected
Bad - the autobahn. what an epic disappointment.
- to be completely honestly 80%!o(MISSING)f our Germany experience has been in airport hotels
Advice - I would say Hamburg is a really good central airport with some pretty cheap flights so this is always a good option for a flight. - Dachau was an eye-opening experience. Definitely would highly recommend it if you have any interest in history
That is all we got for you on Germany. Nothing to check off in our books so that
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Playing in fountains is somewhat of a disappointment. We will be back. Still stuck at 341 down and 5,440 to go.
Til' next time from the land of imaginary speed demons
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