Blogs from Munich, Bavaria, Germany, Europe - page 9

Sunday morning, we left at 8 after a nice buffet breakfast. We headed through Germany to reach Munich for a short stop. It rained all the way there. We did get some fog, but it made the green countryside really beautiful. One of the striking things I saw was a large parking structure built over the highway for the airport near Stuttgart. Good idea for saving space. I have noticed in Germany that their are more American stores and services. We’ve passed Shell Gas Stations, Burger Kings, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and even a John Deere factory and showroom. So far every shop I’ve been in they have been able to speak English, very well at times. Munich, Bavaria’s capital, is home to centuries-old buildings and numerous museums. The city is known for its annual Oktoberfest celebration and ... read more

Saturday, 15th April 2017 By day 3, the temperatures in Germany had plummeted to freezing point. We were decked in clothing that would otherwise be befitting for winter. As usual, we woke up at 6am in the morning, feeling really cold while making a trip to the Schloss Nymphenburg (Summer Palace). Located some blocks west of Central Munich, the easiest way to commute to the grounds was via Tram # 17 from the train station. Our tram was near empty as we occupied prime seats at the rear of the vehicle which commanded a grand vista of the streets. The Palace occupied a secluded spot at the end of the gardens. Even getting close to the building required quite a walk from the tram stop. We stopped frequently, taking loads of panoramic pictures of the beautiful ... read more

Thursday, 13th April 2017 Spring 2017 European City Breaks The trip started more than 12 hours ago when my flight finally landed at Munich Airport at 6.55am on Thursday. I was dead tired from the flight and the bad news was that I had plenty of time to kill at the airport as H would not arrive before 12pm today. While claiming my baggage at the carousel, he messaged that he had just missed his connecting flight at Heathrow. Munich Airport was simply not the best place to while the 5 hours away. I divided my time across Mcdonalds, the EDEKA Supermarket and sorting out the directions and ticket machines so that we could simply make our way to the Bahn Station as soon as H arrived! Anyway, H managed to appear at the Arrivals sometime ... read more

Heute bin ich zur Leopoldstraße gefahren. Dort habe ich schon mal vor einiger Zeit mit meiner Tante Steaks gegessen. Heute habe ich in der Nähe des Siegestors geparkt und bin in den Lichthof der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität gegangen. Dort war ich auch schon einmal während meiner Wehrdienstzeit 1994/95 mit dem Bundeswehr-Bahnticket. Seitdem ist viel passiert. Das kleine Museum zu Ehren der Weißen Rose war heute leider geschlossen. Diese Hochschule liegt ja auch wie die Humboldt-Universität in Berlin an einer Prachtstraße. Danach bin ich Richtung Münchner Freiheit und habe im Starbucks auf dem Weg noch einen Stopp eingelegt. In dieser Filiale war ich bisher noch nie. Wie so häufig bei Starbucks war der Platz knapp und die könnten öfters den Müll weg räumen. An der Münchner Freiheit habe ich kehrt gemacht und bin auf der anderen Straßenseite wieder zurück ... read more

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, ... read more