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Geo: 47.8005, 13.0444
When we left the hotel this morning, we drove by the grounds where they are setting up for Oktoberfest. I can't remember how many tents Daniela said there would be, but some of them can hold up to 10,000 people. During the 17 days of Oktoberfest, roughly 6 million litres of beer are sold. Of course, there is a need for people to pour and serve that beer, so waiters and waitresses from across the country will take two weeks of vacation (Germans get between four and six weeks of vacation each year) and work at Oktoberfest. With the pay and tips, these people can earn between ten and fifteen thousand euros in that short time. Then they immediately take another two weeks of vacation afterward! (Interesting fact: Just about all shops in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are closed on Sundays. It was the Jewish owner of a Munich department store who decided that his workers should have at least one day off to be with their families and enjoy life, and he thought Sunday would be the best day.)
Our first stop today was Neuschwanstein, King Ludwig II's fantasy castle on a hill. I saw it in 2010, and
in the two years since, they've shifted the scaffolding from one façade to the other. Back then, I decided to take the shuttle bus up the hill from the village to the castle. Today, I decided to walk with John. Mistake. It got hot again today very quickly, and the hill was pretty steep. I thought I would die. Even Daniela passed us at one point and looked at me, and I could see she was a little worried she was going to have to fill out some paperwork. Near the top, we stopped for a warm pretzel (yum!), and that gave me the energy to keep walking past the castle to the Marienbruecke. The view was better this time (see comment re scaffolding above), but the bridge was just as crowded and a little scary. It's okay if you don't look down though.
We had a little more than a half an hour before we needed to be in the castle courtyard for our tour, so we went back to the pretzel stand and bought a
big pretzel. It ended up being a little too much, but it was really good.
When our group number was called for the next castle tour, a group of Asians suddenly came running up and putting their tickets in the turnstiles. Apparently, they hadn't been paying any attention when their tour number was called (their tour guide didn't look like she knew what she was doing), so they had already missed half the tour. The ladies at the door let them in but were very impatient about it. We all felt superior for having an organized and experienced guide.
The castle's interior isn't finished because Ludwig died during the construction. But the rooms that are completed are beautiful. Ludwig was mad for the music of Richard Wagner (he may even have been in love with Wagner), so all the rooms are painted and decorated to depict one of Wagner's operas, or Germanic legends. It's all very Romantic and like stepping into a book of fairy tales.
We walked back down the hill after the tour (not as difficult as walking up but harder on the knees) to the bus, where Daniela gave us sack lunches to eat by the Alpsee. There was a ham and cheese sandwich, plums, a hard-boiled egg, a yogurt drink, and a chocolate bar (Duplo) and a hazelnut wafer cookie. The amazing
thing was the sandwich: the bread was spectacularly good. It was really more of a roll than ordinary bread, and the bottom of it was encrusted with sunflower seeds. I think Daniela called it "dinkel" bread. The Germans also like to color their hard-boiled eggs, not just at Easter time. So my egg was red, and I saw someone with a blue egg. The colors are vivid too – almost like enamel.
Then we drove about 10 minutes down the road to the Tegelberg luge. I had done this in 2010 too, so I was really looking forward to it. John and I managed to go fast both times, and it was tremendous fun. As I was being dragged up the hill to the top, I saw one of the ladies in our group brake too hard and she kind of wiped out. She got herself going again, and I asked her later how she was. She had a cut on her elbow, and she also banged her jaw pretty hard against the track. Other than that, she was fine. Another guy in our group managed to flip all the way out of the track, but all he had to show for it was a cut on his elbow.
Then we had a two-hour drive through the Bavarian countryside, with its rolling hills, cows galore, and onion-domed churches. Our last stop in Germany was a rest stop with a Burger King and (yay!) Swedish toilets. Shortly after that, we entered Austria, and even more shortly after that, we entered Salzburg.
We are staying at the Trumer Stube hotel. We have old fashioned keys for our rooms and, in fact, our room reminds me of my great aunt and uncle's apartment. Something about the color scheme and the furnishings, I guess. We had a half hour to freshen up and then meet downstairs to walk to dinner.
Dinner was on the other side of the Salzach river in the Hotel Goldener Hirsch. We had wiener schnitzel with parslied potatoes, both of which were very tasty. For dessert we were given a Hungarian specialty, rigo jansci, a slice of chocolate heaven. It was very rich (Hi, Mom!). We had a short stroll through the main part of town afterward and then returned to the hotel.
We get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow. Huzzah!
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Aunt Marianne
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So, how much in US money is 10 - 15 thousand euros? Also, so glad you enjoyed your "rich" dessert--I laughed at the "Hi Mom" part!!!!