Munich, Germany

Our days in Germany are numbered. It's hard to believe that this is the end of our German time. We have been in and out of Germany for about three weeks now and we have really enjoyed it. Munich has been our last stop and we have spent about three days here.
We got here midday from Salzburg on Sunday and decided to head into the main city square and checkout the area before our free tour we were planning on taking. Making our way there, we noticed a lot of people with the red and white Bayern Munich soccer team jerseys on. At first, we just thought people were just hardcore fans, but when we got to Marienplatz, the main town square, we saw a lot of red gathering. We soon learned that Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga (German soccer league) title and that day was the parade and celebration. We were in the square at around 11:30 and were already feeling crowded, but the team was only supposed to arrive at 4:00. So, as more and more people arrived hours early, it was confirmed that they actually were hardcore fans. Like any soccer fans in Europe, I suppose. We managed to catch a glimpse of the team through the fifty or so thousand people that crowded Marienplatz. It was kind of fun to witness some essential Munich culture. The truckloads of free beer they handed out that day enabled us to witness more essential Munich culture.




The city was cool though. We learned a lot about the Nazi history of the city and how involved it was with the Nazi revolution. Lots of key events went down in Munich.





Just outside Munich, actually, the first concentration camp is located. In the town of Dachau, the Nazis set up their first camp that operated for their purposes from 1933-1945. It was the only camp that ran through the entire twelve years of the Third Reich. It was also the blueprint camp for most of the other camps set up through the years. Over 200,000 people went through Dachau and tens of thousands of people died there. We visited Dachau one day on a tour and it was well worth it. It was not the happiest day ever, not uplifting or heartwarming by any means. It was, however, very eye opening and sobering. We got a sense of the terror and inhumanity that occurred at these camps; not just at the death camps, but also at these camps that were primarily work camps. It makes you see life in a little bit of a different light.

We did another tour out of the city out to the area of Schwangau to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle was built by King Ludwig II in the mid to late 1800s and was the model for Walt Disney's castle. It is set in the Bavarian Alps and is quite the magical place. It is beautiful from the outside, towering on its hill, overlooking Lake Alpsee. The inside is much more spectucular though. We couldn't take any pictures so you'll just have to take our word for it. It has large colourful murals on every wall and a two ton gold chandelier in the throne room. His bedroom canopy took four and a half years to carve and he has a fake cave on his fourth floor. The whole inside is one big work of art. The outside was quite nice as well. The yellow castle is the neighbouring Hohenschwangau, Ludwig's dad's crib.










So, Germany is done, but Switzerland is on its way. We have about a week there and are excited to experience the Alps, the knives, the watches, the chocolate, and the cheese. Let us know if there are any other Swiss stereotypes you can think of.

Salzburg, Austria

Ever since we started planning for Salzburg we have been excited for it. We were not only looking forward to the city itself, but also the surrounding area. Salzburg is a city of about 150,000 people and is situated in the northern-most tip of Austria. Parts of it are exactly what you would imagine a small Austrian city to be. There is a large portion that is just like any modern city, but the old town is quite charming. It seems to be very well preserved and, being a colder day in May, not very crowded. We liked walking around and seeing a little bit of what it could have been like to be Fraulein Maria.

Salzburg's Alstadt



Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg's Fortress)

Mirabellgarten - Site of the curtain dancing children (Do - a deer...)


The Fortress

So, we spent one full day checking out the Alstadt, or old city, and the other two days we headed out on day trips to some wonderful Alp-set towns. Our second day we went to Hallstatt. Hallstatt took us about two hours by train from Salzburg but about two hundred years back in time. Everything was small and very peaceful. It is situated on a lake and is said to be the oldest currently inhabited town in Europe, dating back between 8000 and 4000BC. Why is this? Because Hallstatt was formed around the oldest salt mine in the world. It still is active today. We took a tour of this mine as we went over 400m into the mountain. Awesome. With the clouds so low, whisping around the mountains, and us going deep into one, we kind of felt like Bilbo in the Misty Mountains, trying to find Gollum and steal his ring. Unlike Bilbo, we learned a bit about what it was like to work in a mine throughout different time periods and slid down a really cool wooden slide.

Hallstatt







The Salt Mines

The longest underground slide in Europe. And we rode it.

The views in Hallstatt were tremendous and the town was great, but the next day we went to Berchtesgaden, a town at the very bottom of Germany. The town of Berchtesgaden was not nearly as nice and quaint as Hallstatt. It was not nestled into a mountain overlooking a perfect lake. It does, however, have national park named after it, and for good reason. It is just minutes from Lake Konigssee where we took a terrific boat tour across. The lake was so calm and surrounded by breathtaking cliffs and glaciers. Upon reaching the other side of this lake, 45 minutes later (it was a slow ride), we walked ten minutes to another, smaller, lake that was more perfect than the last. If Konigssee was breathtaking, than this one, Obersee, was lifetaking or something like that because when we saw it we just stood for about five minutes without moving (or breathing I'm sure). It was crystal clear, turquoise blue, and calm as glass. It was just too good to be true. We hiked along this lake for about forty-five minutes before the rain drove us back, but we were quite satisfied.

Obersee Lake in Berchtesgaden National Park





We liked Austria. It was short, but it was basically all we could have hoped for from a country. It really is beautiful, at least the part we saw. Munich is next.

Prague, Czech Republic

Hello from Prague. We would greet you all in the Czech language, but the only term we know in Czech is Hlavni Nadrazi (main train station). We're only here for four days; it's just not worth the effort.
Prague, however, is worth the effort. It is the farthest east we go on our trip, and it has been great to be here. Prague is unlike the cities we've been to so far in that it is very old and very touristy. Now, our other stops have been old and have hosted throngs of tourists, but Prague has a different feel. People started settling this city before cities like Dublin and Edinburgh and it has a strong royal history with lots of old churches and elegant buildings. Prague wasn't touched by the war in the same way that Berlin was, so the majority of the buildings in the old town are around two hundred years old, some much much older. Also, if you want to get from Old Town Square, the main centre for people and pigeons, to Charles Bridge, the main and heavily tourist centred pedestrian bridge, you'd think that you could walk down a somewhat major street connecting these two significant pieces of the city. Not so. There are no direct routes in Old Prague. Not really any in New Prague either. Everything winds and jogs. Maps are essential. But it's fun. It adds to the great atmosphere of this city.

Old Town Square with the Tyn Cathedral

St. Nicolas' Church in Old Town Square

St. Nicolas' Church

The world famous astronomical clock. Above the clock are some doors where, every hour, the twelve apostles come out displaying their trinkets. It's not really anything special and kind of lame, but, like clockwork, every hour, from 9am to 9pm, hundreds of people will gather to watch the thirty second show. Tourists.


The hub of New Town - Wenceslas Square (of Christmas Carol fame). It's not really a square considering it's 750m long and only like 75m wide.

Mala Strana with Prague Castle in the back

Prague Castle's St. Victus Cathedral

Venice-like Mala Strana



St. Victus Cathedral, located in the Prague Castle grounds

St. Victus




Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge



What we like to do in Prague: walk for hours, just experiencing the character of the city; eat pork knees roasted in dark beer for supper; walk through Prague Castle and St. Victus Cathedral; and take way too many pictures of the different coloured, tightly packed buildings. Prague has been a great time. We've enjoyed our time here, but we are excited for Salzburg!