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Mannheim to Munich-GermanySunday 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 its beer halls, including the famed Hofbräuhaus, founded in 1589. In the Altstadt (Old Town), central Marienplatz square contains landmarks such as Neo-Gothic Neues Rathaus (town hall), with a popular glockenspiel show that chimes and reenacts stories from the 16th century.
We got dropped off at a one location in Munich and walked to where the Glockenspiel and Ratskeller
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Parking garage over freeway at airport is located. From there we had 2 hours on our own. Scott, the tour guide, recommended Hofbrauhaus Brewery. Even though I don’t like beer, I did want to see a beer hall. It was very noisy and busy. I sat with a couple from the tour. They ordered the house dish of pig knuckle and one of the giant pretzels. I ordered asparagus and boiled potatoes. I was surprised when my dish came out that the asparagus was white. It was ok. I ate about 3-4 spears. However, it had very little flavor and was very wet and over cooked. I left the beer hall and headed back to the main square. Old Munich was very nice although most of the stores and restaurants were closed since it was Sunday. I was able to speak to mom and dad on the phone by using Facetime. Unfortunately, I missed the departure meeting for the bus. I started heading towards the bus just as the tour guide was coming back to look for me. I only 10 minutes late. Afterwards, it was time to get back to the bus for our trip to Innsbruck.
As we traveled closer to
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Parking garage over freeway at airport the Austrian border, the land changed greatly. The Alps began to make their appearance. With the fog and low clouds from the rain, it was beautiful. I live near the foothills in California, but these are spectacular! We had plenty of time to look at the scenery since we were stuck in slow moving traffic due to road work for about 10 miles. We crossed the border into Austria and the Alps kept getting better and better.
Innsbruck, capital of Austria’s western state of Tyrol, is a city in the Alps that's long been a destination for winter sports. Innsbruck is also known for its Imperial and modern architecture. The Nordkette funicular, with futuristic stations designed by architect Zaha Hadid, climbs up to 2,256m from the city center for skiing inwinter and hiking or mountaineering in warmer months.
The Imperial Palace, Ambras Palace, Ottoburg and the Wilten Basilica all tell of Innsbruck’s eventful past and its great figures including Philippine Welser, the secret wife of Archduke Ferdinand I, Andreas Hofer, the Tirolean freedom fighter, and last but not least Emperor Maximilian I, who built many of the monuments that survive today, e.g. the Golden Roof
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and his tomb at the Imperial Church.
We made it to Innsbruck where we quickly checked in to Hotel Innsbruck before heading out for an hour on our own in the Old Town section. Our hotel is right in the middle of it so we only had to walk less than a block. I strolled around looking at the old buildings. Earlier, Scott had mentioned going to some jewelry store named Swarovski. Most of the ladies were excited about this. However, due to our late arrival, he said we would go to the store in Vienna. But to my surprise, there was the store still opened. I must admit that buying this kind of jewelry isn’t my style, but it was nice to walk around and admire the craftsmanship of the more expensive pieces. I headed back to the hotel for a dinner at the hotel. It was very delicious meal of tomato soup, chicken, spinach, and rice. I was given a coffee flavored cake, but then was offered a sorbet since I indicated that I like gluten free foods. The dessert had 2 flavors; peach and strawberry/grape. It was delicious!! While most of the group
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