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Published: February 24th 2013
Munich
Crowds enjoying CarnivalDay 487 Saturday 9
th February
Had a fairly restless night’s sleep and for some reason our hotel was rather noisy till late. Having to actually crawl out of bed at 4.00am is never pleasant but when you have a flight to catch you just have to do it. At 4.30 our taxi turned up and we said our goodbyes before being driven the 35km out to the airport. To our complete surprise our taxi driver was Victor, the guy who worked at the travel agency we had booked the boat tour through the Panama Canal, he is such a lovely guy and it was a nice way to finish our time in Panama.
We are off to Frankfurt Germany today, but to get there we have to first go through Puerto Rico where we have to change planes with a long 7 hour wait in between flights. Unfortunately for us Puerto Rico is USA territory and because we have to change planes here we had to get a USA Visa Waiver number so we can enter. We had got that the other night over the internet but because we didn’t have a printer couldn’t
print our acceptance form. We did however write down our number but when we went to get our boarding pass the guy at the flight counter wouldn’t accept this as proof. Had a nervous 10 minutes of waiting while he ran around to talk to his boss but in the end we were right to proceed.
With our boarding pass in hand we got through immigration and got a bite to eat before heading to our boarding gate. Once again because we are heading to the USA we had another security check at the gate, which thankfully wasn’t too full on. Our flight to Puerto Rico was only two hours long and was with Copa Airlines which is a fairly good carrier. At Puerto Rico we not only had to change planes and airline but also proceed through immigration and pick up our bags and re check them in. Lucky for us the whole process was made easier by some of the friendliest airport staff we have come across and had the pleasure of being fingerprinted and photographed to enter, so we can guess we now have a digital CIA file, for future reference. One of the main reasons
Munich
Avenue of trees for not wanting to enter US territory was that we had a bag full of Cuban cigars which we had been told cannot be bought into the country. Thankfully no one discovered them or asked about them so it wasn’t a problem. After getting our bags and passing nervously through customs we had to line up to check in our bags at the Condor airline counter. Had to carry our bags for miles and then wait nearly 4 hours before we could finally rid ourselves of our backpacks and then push ourselves back through immigration.
Decided to get a bite to eat before the flight and ate at one of the few places we could find where we got ripped off to the tune of $40 for one club sandwich and two beers. Each beer cost $7 and they whacked on 7% tax and 15% service charge…..glad this place isn’t a local eatery. By 7pm we were on our plane and within 30 minutes in the air and on our way to Germany. Condor air is a budget carrier which means next to no inflight entertainment and you have to buy just about everything. At one point we didn’t
Munich - Deutsches Museum
Overview of plane section think we were even going to get a feed but it did eventually arrive at about 10pm.
Day 488 Sunday 10
th February
Mid Atlantic we copped a good dose of turbulence but otherwise the flight went okay and at 3am (9am local time) just when we were about to nod off we came into land at Frankfurt airport.
Breezed through immigration and customs in a complete daze due to lack of sleep and we were going to get the train into town but because of how crook we felt we opted to splurge on a taxi. It cost us a painful 30 Euros but was worth every cent to get us dropped at the door and within minutes we were crashed in our bed. It was nearly 11am by this stage but we decided to get a few hours sleep before exploring the town. Sometime around 2pm we awoke to the sound of our door opening and discovered a guy standing in our room. He said something in German which we can only guess was “sorry” and left, we think he was staff but not too sure why he just
Munich
A fountain barged into our room without knocking. Later on we both felt like we had dreamt it but we hadn’t.
We ended up sleeping till 5 before having a shower and heading out for a feed. The temperature outside was about zero so you can just imagine how much Shelley was complaining after coming from 30 degree Panama. It wasn’t windy or snowing so I really don’t know what she was complaining about. Within a couple of blocks from our hotel we had a choice of Indian, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, an Irish Pub and even an Australian Pub to eat at. With all this choice I think I could move here but of course I would be alone. In the end we chose a Turkish Pub where we sat down to a Kebab, beer and wine. Ended up staying longer than we had planned and didn’t get back to our room till about 11pm with me singing “Let it snow, Let it snow” all the way home.
Day 489 Monday 11
th February
We both woke up excited about facing our first day in Germany, but the excitement was a bit tempered
Munich
Much photographed boar by having a hangover. Before running out into the streets we first went down to investigate the hotel breakfast. We were greeted by a choice beyond belief, which included smoked salmon, olives, a selection of cold meats and cheeses, Asian soups, Bacon, eggs, sausages, cereals and a proper coffee machine. Wins hands down as the biggest buffet we have seen ever. Spotted some people making up sandwiches for lunch and we probably should have done the same.
A bit slow getting started today and didn’t hit the streets till around 11am. Before heading out we asked at the front desk about staying here next weekend on our return from Munich, but we were told that the place was booked out as a result of a fair in town…damn. Had hoped to leave our main backpacks here whilst in Munich and now we couldn’t and we had the prospect of having the town booked out. Decided to look over the town before panicking about next weekend and so went for a good long walk around the shopping district. Frankfurt is an amazing town and we both loved walking around window shopping. After a year of South and Central America we
Munich
Neues Rathaus just loved having a footpath to walk on and cars stopping at pedestrian crossings…it just felt so civilised. We managed to pick up a small wheelie bag for our growing collection of tat, and stopped for a hot chocolate before heading home.
As soon as we got back we got on the internet to find a home for ourselves next weekend and discovered our hotel does have a room available it is just at an increased rate. It was a lot more than we wanted to pay but every other hotel in town had jacked up their rates so we had no choice. The Excelsior Hotel is a pretty good place located across from the train station but its main faults are its very slow lift and we were given the smallest room in the place; on our return we will be asking for something a bit bigger.
At night we headed over to the Irish Bar for a pint of ale and a Guinness pie….I think I am falling in love with Germany.
Day 490 Tuesday 12
th February
Up early and tucked into a huge breakfast, before finishing
Munich
Snow covered Mary standing on a crescent moon off our packing. At checkout we left our main backpacks and our duffel bag with the hotel and we are not exactly happy with their luggage storage arrangement. There were no tags or records kept and everything is thrown into a large room crowded with dozens of bags. Of course soon after leaving Shelley started freaking about it so I can see she will probably stress about it the whole time we are away in Munich. We walked across to the train station and managed to get tickets for the 11am train to Munich. The tickets are not cheap costing us a total of 392 Euros for return tickets…ouch. With that renowned German ability our train arrived on time and left exactly on the second, and within minutes we were low flying through the German countryside on our way to Munich. Had read somewhere that the German “ICE” trains can do 300km/hr, I don’t think our train hit those sorts of speeds but I would reckon it was hovering around the 200km/hr mark. What makes the experience so extraordinary is just how smooth the train rides at that speed without so much as a bump…..if only Sydney trains were this
Munich
Hope those seats have heating good. This trip was a stark contrast to the hundreds of buses we have taken in South America….why I even had WiFi!!!
Day 491 Wednesday 13
th February
The main reason for visiting Germany on our way home from South America is because the flights were cheaper. We couldn’t afford much time in Germany and didn’t want to spend it hanging around Frankfurt and so we decided to try and get out and see another town. Munich won mainly because of one reason The Deutsches Museum, and today, our first full day we were off to see it. We were pretty excited about visiting what is regarded as one of the World’s greatest museums and had planned on being on the doorstep when it opened but for some reason we had trouble dragging ourselves out of bed in the morning and it took us a bit longer getting ready.
The Deutsches Museum is located on an island in the middle of a river that was located a 40 minute walk from our hotel, but despite the slushy ground conditions was a great walk. Got to the museum around 10.30 and kept
exploring it till we got kicked out at 5pm, the place was fantastic. The Deutsches Museum is a science and technology museum with a good mix of historical exhibits and interactive science stuff for the kids. It is huge and the display of old steam engines and mining were the real surprise for us. The mining one was underground and went down two or three floors and showed how mining had progressed over the last 400 years and included huge modern machinery. Unfortunately it was very hard to photograph so you will have to take my word on how good it was.
For me the stand out display would have to be the U1, Germanys first U-Boat that was pulled apart and reassembled in the basement, such an amazing piece of history. The aircraft gallery was also stunning with a great variety of aircraft and artefacts, from an original Wright Flyer, a propeller from the first German Zeppelin, a Junkers 52, to a great range of early jet engines. The great thing about the museum is that there is heaps for kids to do, with lots of buttons to push and a huge wing of the museum full of
Munich - Deutsches Museum
A bit scary sitting on the loo interactive displays explaining basic physics….exceptional stuff. We ended up having to glance through some displays and missed a fair bit of the astronomy room, but got to see most things and left content.
On the way home we stopped at a Beer hall/restaurant for a few beers and a feed. The beers are a bit warmer than most Aussies would like but they come in 0.5 litre glasses so that sort of makes up for the lack of frost. We ended up getting a good feed of German sausage, pork and of course sauekraut before waddling home.
Day 492 Thursday 14
th February
Yesterday Shelley had dragged me along to see her beloved museum and I had to stand around listening to her gushing over models of German battleships, and as a payback I got to drag her out today to do some shoe shopping…..yipppeee. Before heading out we had breakfast at the hotel and although the food wasn’t perfect it was so nice to have a proper coffee machine and to be able to make ourselves cappuccinos.
Today was probably the best day for us to be out walking
around the shops and sights of Munich as it stopped snowing and even the sun made a few brief appearances. Soon discovered why Shelley wasn’t keen to come to Germany at this time of year as it is a bit miserable trudging around in sludge but at least the Germans have footpaths and cars will stop for you when you cross at the lights or pedestrian crossing…something we are still not used to yet.
Had a good long walk through the shops and we both resisted buying anything, before doing some sightseeing. Managed to catch the Glockenspiel going off in the tower of the Neues Rathaus building (yes it does all sound a bit funny), which Shelley thinks she saw when she was here 27 years ago. You could say that seeing it again rang a few bells for her. Munich is a beautiful city full of heaps of incredible old buildings, most of which have been heavily reconstructed after the bombing in WW2. At one point we stumbled across a church where you could (for 1.5 Euros) climb to the top for a view over the city. It was a bit of a climb up to the top
and the platform was crowded but it was well worth it. Nearby was a food market that is filed with kiosks selling a huge variety of produce, from fruit and veg to meat and cheese, along with a number selling hot food. All the food looked too good and we couldn’t resist picking up a pork roll each as a late lunch.
I have stacked on heaps of weight on this trip and I am sure the week in Germany will put an extra 10 kilos around my waist. After so many countries with such limited eating choices it is so great to be surrounded by so many great food options….my eyes are spinning.
Day 493 Friday 15
th February
We spent today at one of the Deutsches Museum other site, which is their motor museum. The museum has developed such a large collection that they have now spread it over three sites, the original building we visited on Wednesday, a motor museum and also an aircraft museum in another nearby town. The aircraft museum we decided to give a miss (Poor Shelley was devastated on that one) but opted to try
and see the motor museum, which was another 30 minute walk from our hotel.
We had thought of leaving it till tomorrow but at the last minute changed our minds as it was starting to snow again and figured it was probably a good day to be inside. Of course to get inside we had to walk 30 minutes across town to get there, but that was okay. The motor museum had a large range of bicycles, motorbikes, cars and trains spread through a huge building. As would be expected the bulk of the displays were of German Engineering, but it wasn’t perhaps as good as we thought it would be, and felt something was lacking, and that the displays seemed rather sparse at times. We did however have a good laugh at the historic diorama of an “old time” bicycle workshop that looked just like Dad’s workshop except full of motorcycle parts rather than bicycles…and perhaps Dad’s is a bit more disorganised.
The museum did have some exceptional early motorcycles and cars that are real tressures but rather than spending a full day here we were out of there within 3 hours. On the walk back we
stopped at a bar and got a late lunch and a couple of beers. Left the bar around 4pm for a bit more of a walk around followed by a short pause at home. At 7pm we headed out for a Turkish Kebab and a beer.
Day 494 Saturday 16
th February
Shopping day again, and we spent the day cruising the malls checking out the specials, but didn’t buy too much for ourselves. The one thing that came as a surprise to us was that Germans allow dogs into their shops and restaurants. Being “dog people” we don’t mind it is just that we hadn’t expected to see dogs being dragged through the shops. The other “German surprise” was the number of smokers and that some restaurants and bars allow smoking inside. I guess if you were a smoker during a German winter you wouldn’t be too keen to walk outside for a drag. Whilst window shopping we checked out a few more of the local attractions including some old churches. The churches in Munich are huge but generally fairly unadorned, which I guess is a result of the British and
Munich - Deutsches Museum
Those magnificant men in their flying machines American efforts at rebuilding in 1944.
After spending the day wandering around the shops Shelley booked herself in for some “maintenance” at a beauticians while I sat in a pub and waited…I get it tough. When Shelley found me we stayed for a few more crafty ales before heading along to our favourite beer hall for a few more and a feed of Sausage and sauekraut…..really starting to love Germany.
Day 495 Sunday 17
th February
Our last full day in Munich and today we went off to see the town’s premier tourist attraction “The Residenz”. This is basically the sprawling complex of buildings where the king of Bavaria lived and was first started around 1385 and was used up till 1918 when the Germans woke up to themselves and got rid of the royalty…good thing too. The massive complex is broken into three main parts, the residency, which is all the living quarters of the former occupants, the treasury which contains all the precious tat the kings hung onto and finally the old theatre. Each section has an entry price and we ended up going the whole hog and it
cost us 13 euros each…oouch again.
The big problem with the residenz is that during the last big war the allies seemed to keep wanting to bomb it, and by the end of the war they had basically flattened 80% of it. To be fair on the Allies, they weren’t aiming at it, it is just that they had trouble hitting what they wanted to and the bombs that fell here were probably aimed at Berlin. Once the bombs stopped the reconstruction started and so what you see now is basically a carbon copy of what once was. Some paintings were moved to safer places and survived and the bulk of the furniture comes from other Bavarian Palaces that the wayward bombs missed. Despite the sometimes fake feel it is worth a look in and it is made all the better by an audio tape you get for free that explains what you are looking at. For anyone that is into antique furniture this is an absolute must as the audio commentary goes into minute (did I say boring) detail on every piece in the room “the dresser on the left of the room was hand crafted by Karl
Ferdinand the third and is inspired by the rocco period and has touches of Baroque in the handles whilst the legs are made of mahogany and gold inlay and hold the whole thing upright. King Luitpold the sixth once sneezed in the draw and his teeth are still there” There is only so much furniture history you can appreciate and when you put 8 pieces of furniture in each of the 100 rooms and you start developing a fear of old tables.
The Treasury was filled with all the gaudy things you can only imagine in nightmares and only reinforced my view that power and money doesn’t give you good taste. The theatre was tiny and beautiful but once again had you sort of wondering how much survived the 500kg bombs that rained down here in 1944.
After all this culture and my head swimming with images of gold leaf and mahogany we wandered off to get a hot chocolate, which has become our second favourite beverage whilst in Germany. The realisation that our time in Germany is just about up is dawning on us and we just don’t want to leave, the place is awesome. Over our
Munich
Shelley in front of the Neues Rathaus hot chocolate we quickly made plans for our return, all we need to do now is win a large sum of money.
Wandered back to our home late in the afternoon and for dinner we went and got a pizza and pasta.
Day 496 Monday 18
th February
Moving on back to Frankfurt today and not really wanting to, nothing against Frankfurt it is just that we love Munich. During check out we were almost overcharged for our extra night here but it was quickly sorted without any hassle and all done with a smile. Walked the three blocks to the station and arrived a little early but better that than late. Our train once again took off at 10.50 right on time and we were soon whizzing through snow covered fields. Got to Frankfurt and booked into the Excelsior Hotel and grabbed our bags from storage, which despite Shelley’s fears were still there.
Since we flying out tomorrow we didn’t waste any time but just headed out the door for a last look. Walked along the river taking in the sites of the city, which is actually really pretty.
Munich
The Glockenspiel Frankfurt is the commercial hub of Germany and is full of flashy new buildings and we have heard and read that it isn’t the place to linger in. Despite the bad press we found the place okay and it does have some lovely old buildings and there is a nice park on the banks of the river making the place okay to stay for a couple of days. Of course the shopping is pretty good here as well and we soon found ourselves wandering through the malls again. As the afternoon wore on and the sun started to go down it dragged the temperature down with it till we had to seek shelter from the cold….look over there, I think that’s a pub. We stopped just for a couple of beers and then a feed before heading home to pack our bags for our flight tomorrow. We both have really loved our time in Germany and cannot wait to come back some day, and perhaps next time it will be summer.
Day 497 Tuesday 19
th February
Our flight to Phuket isn’t till 12.40 so no need to be up at the
Munich
The dancing and prancing Glockenspiel crack of dawn, but we still were up at 7 so we could have our breakfast and get out to the airport early. Fed, packed, checked out and then splurged on a taxi to the airport. As we were driving to the airport it started to snow and by the time we arrived it was starting to really come down. At the baggage check in we got the great news that the baggage restrictions for our flight was for a limit of 20kg each, and the combined weight of our bags was 49kg. Previous flights the restrictions was 23kg and despite us both being over slightly we have got through but being 9kg over wasn’t going to happen. Had to take off the day pack off our bags and fill it with all the heavy stuff from our bags like the Lonely Planets and sleeping bags and take that on board with us. Can never really understand that they will not let the weight go onto a plane in the checked in luggage but are happy for you to carry it on. With the reduced weight we got our 2 main backpacks checked in but we now had a large
Munich
Statues and old buildings wheelie bag, our camera bag, a day pack, Shelley’s handbag and our jackets to carry on the plane with us….we were now looking like true gypsies.
Shelley had hoped to do a bit of duty free shopping before our flight but we were in the old terminal one building which doesn’t have a lot of shops, so we spent our time waiting for our flight by reading and watching the snow falling outside. When we got on the plane and settled in, the pilot informed us that we would have to wait an hour because the plane needed to be de-iced. Sure enough it was another hour before the plane moved around to where the machines sprayed the wings down with the green goo to get rid of the ice. We were soon afterwards airborne and from frozen Frankfurt to sunny Phuket.
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
HEADING HOME
Never thought I'd see those words from you guys...wow...wonder if you'll recognise the place! Let's hope it does not take too long for you to appreciate "Home is where the heart is." If your home is anywhere near mine, I hope we can get together.