Family Visit Part 2 - Christmas in Munich

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In this blog: Dachau, Schloss Nymphenburg, Hofbräuhaus, Linderhof Castle, and Neuschwanstein Castle

December 23, 2010 - Dachau Concentration Camp

So we’ve only spent 5 of our 10 days so far and we still have a lot to see! Munich has so much to see and I’ve even seen a few new ones too. Today we visited the city of Dachau and the infamous concentration camp. I’d rather not describe it again in detail too much, but here’s my other blog about the first time I went about two months ago - Dachau Konzentrationslager
Last time I was there I rented an audio guide, but this time we did a full out tour so my family could really get all the information. The tour was really well done and even explained some things I didn’t know after my first visit. We started with the same walk down the path that the prisoners took so long ago, right through the front gate that said “Arbeit Macht Frei” or “Work sets you free”. Then it was on to the roll call grounds and past the barracks to the two crematoriums. Then it was back to the barracks, which were recreated, because all of the barracks were destroyed after the war. There we saw the living quarters and could only imagine the awful living conditions the prisoners had to suffer for so long. Dachau was one of the last concentration camps liberated and it was the first ever one set up. It served as a model for basically every other concentration camp built after. Over 200,000 prisoners were brought here and at least 30,000 died. But these estimates are the lowest possible anyone could argue.
We also saw the documentary of Dachau, which was a bit hard to watch. But I think everyone should see Dachau, not only to honor the prisoners who had to suffer at the hands of the Nazis, but also because this really should never happen again, as stated on one of the memorials near the main building.

We’ve been trying to figure out what to do about food for the 24th and 25th when a lot of places are closed. So far we’ve found a few restaurants that will still be open so hopefully we can have a Christmas dinner somewhere. We also found a church that does a Christmas service in English so that’ll be nice since my family will be able to understand it.

At the end of the day we went for a walk around Marienplatz, trying to sample more of the Christmas market before they close. We also made our way into one of the nearby malls and did a little Christmas shopping. I’m so happy to finally see some of my family after all this time out of the country. Four months doesn’t sound that long, but it definitely feels longer when you’re alone across an Ocean.

December 24, 2010 - Christmas Eve Dinner

I found out the Hofbräuhaus is open 365 days a year so we decided to have Christmas Eve dinner there. It was loud and still a bit crowded (even on Christmas Eve), but the food and company were both good. It even snowed today! On Christmas Eve! Usually Munich doesn’t have snow until later January, but I’m glad we got a white Christmas this year.

I haven’t been able to watch as many Christmas shows as I would’ve liked, because all mine are at home, but it was still a really great Christmas Eve. Tomorrow we’re going to go to the Tollwood festival and have a few snacks and buy some last minute gifts since today was the last day for the Christmas markets. Sunday is our tour to three different castles in Bavaria – Linderhof, Hohenschwangau, and Neuschwanstein. Linderhof will be new for me, but I definitely don’t mind seeing the other two again too. The castles were definitely some of the highlights of my time in Munich so far.

December 25, 2010 - Christmas Day

Christmas day was quiet in Munich and we didn’t do too much. My mom, Josh, and I went to Schloss Nymphemburg, a big palace in West Munich where King Ludwig II was born. After that we tried to go to the Tollwood festival, but it was closed for Christmas day, so we ended up just seeing St. Paul’s Cathedral instead, which was still nice.

December 26, 2010 - Bavarian Castle Tour

Today was our castle tour in Southern Bavaria. We took a double-decker bus with a tour group, first to Linderhof, which I believe is the only castle that King Ludwig II started, that was finished. I had never seen it before, so I especially enjoyed it. The entire trip was through snow-covered countryside and of course the castles were covered too. Linderhof was really “gold” when compared to Neuschwanstein. It seemed that everything was painted in gold. The castle was based off of Versailles (King Ludwig II really admired King Louis XIV, because he was so powerful. King Ludwig II didn’t have any real power). This made the whole castle come out pretty “French”. There were no pictures aloud inside of the castle, but I did get some from outside and the surrounding Alps. Most of our drive was through, inside, or next to the Alps, so it provided some awesome scenery.

Our tour guide was hilarious! She would start giving us information over the intercom (which was already set too loud) and when she finished with the important stuff she would just keep talking about anything she could think of. It was cute, but really started to give me a headache after the first 20 minutes. We were all making jokes that she would start telling us her life story by the end of the trip, “I was born in the summer of 1945. It was a grand summer, the flowers already had blossomed and my father reaped a bountiful harvest.” I really don’t know if I could’ve taken much more though. She also didn't speak very good English so we had to work to understand.

After Linderhof we stopped in the small town of Oberammergau and grabbed lunch. We ate in a cool little café type restaurant and then got back in the bus to go to Hohenschwangau, the town right next to Neuschwanstein.

Near the town of Hohenschwangau there are two castles 1 kilometer away from each other, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castle. King Ludwig II spent much of his child hood in the latter, and he built the first one. We had to just walk past Hohenschwangau Castle, since we didn’t have a lot of time, but we started the trek up towards Neuschwanstein and past the Alpensee. We walked with two girls from China, because they didn’t know the way and had a tour to catch (the tours through Neuschwanstein are by time, since there are many different languages, so you have to buy a ticket for a tour in your language and a certain time.) So we walked with them up the hill to the castle. I was pretty proud, because normally when I speak Chinese it’s hard for people to understand me, but they understood me perfectly! I was happy ☺

When we finally got up we had a while to wait before our tour started. The temperature dropped considerably today and yesterday from what it was earlier in the week. Even with extra clothes on I was really feeling it. I was glad to get moving again when the tour started. Here’s a take on the castle so I don’t have to type it all out again. I was just there in early November ☺ - Neuschwanstein - The Disney Castle

We jogged back down the hill to Hotel Müller, mostly to keep warm, but also because I was tired of sitting on a bus all day. We didn’t have time to get any food before our bus left, but now that I’m home I’m going to go grab something now.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

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