While traveling around Europe is wonderful, we agree with Frank Sinatra, "Its oh so nice to come home". Now that we have a steady wifi signal and an American style keyboard an overall blog of the trip is in order. We will break it down into a couple of posts to keep it readable. So here we go.
First we needed to pack. As a pseudo backpacking trip we kept the amount of clothes small.
All this in one backpack. The bed frame was really hard to fold!
To get the really cheap fares, we didn't quite have the direct flight to Europe. American Airlines was nice enough to have us fly west from Raleigh to Dallas, before we made our way east toward the Continent. We had an uneventful flight to Frankfurt Germany, took an easy tram ride to the Marriott and collapsed for about 5 hours. Jet lag was not our friend. We voted this the most comfortable room of the whole trip, though I am not sure any room wouldn't have been comfortable at that point. After our rest, it was off to the Altstadt or Old Town for some sight seeing.
The view from the Marriott
The historic skyline of Frankfurt
We had some great Goulash and apple wine and walked along the river. Our time in Frankfurt was short and the next day we were off to Munich.
Love that Eurail Pass. Yes, that is lunch hanging from the carabiner
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As "Backpackers" it wouldn't be right if we didn't embrace the life style and stay at a Hostel. We checked into the Munich Wombat Hostel to a 6 person dorm room (3 bunk beds). Our roommates were a nice couple of Korean kids in their second year of University and the other two were an Argentinian guy and a German girl. These two had just met and were on the fast track to young love. They would sleep all day, stay out most of the night till around 5am when they would come back to the room and talk to each other until they fell asleep. This made us fell a little old, but it was a fun thing to experience.
Nap time in our hostel bunk bed
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Munich is a beautiful city. They have the Glockenspiel and the Viktualienmarkt. Really big clocks and killer produce markets are the stuff of a budding chefs dreams. Not to mention the Hofbrau house. Nothing like a gallon of beer and an "Om Pa" band to make your night just fly by. And I think it should be totally acceptable for old men with beards to wear short pants overalls and stockings up to their knees.
The Glockenspiel
The Viktualienmarkt stalls were incredible
May Poles are erected in the town let you know what trades were available. In Munich everyone was represented.
A very dapper statue in the market place. We never did find out who he was.
From Munich it was on to Garmisch and the Alps. The train ride was very foggy with little visibility. It was snowing when we arrived and we couldn't see the mountains. Imagine our surprise when we woke up the next morning to an incredible view of the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany. The Edelweiss Lodge is a military facility that looks like Disney built it. The rooms were large and nicely furnished.
The view from our room
The lobby of the lodge. Disney wants their resort back!
The Zugspitze out the front of the lodge
After the snow a beautiful day for lunch at an outdoor cafe
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After touring Garmisch and Partenkirchen, we took a bus tour to Neuschwanstein castle. The bus went through Austria passing the relics of many centuries; cool medieval castle ruins and former boarder check points. At the Neuschwanstein Castle we opted to ride up the mountain in a horse drawn wagon. The views were incredible.
Next the tour went to the Pointing Church, built in the middle of nowhere. It held a statue of Jesus that had produced tears in the mid 1700's. There had been a number of miracles certified by the Vatican and ultimately a larger church was built to accommodate the Pilgrims who now came to visit. It was quite a sight in the middle of farmland.
On the left there is a medieval castle ruin
On our way to Neuschwanstein, you pass a smaller palace that is still in the "Family". Tough life!
Neuschwanstein Castle
The view of the Alps out of the back windows of the castle
The Pointing Church, or in German, Bruderschaft zum Gegeisselten Heiland auf der Wies was in the middle of a field
The interior was amazing for a country church
The statue caused miracles ultimately recognized by the Vatican
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After the tour we spent the next couple of days messing around the area eating way to much pork. As is the backpacker's way, we loaded up our stuff and moved on. Next stop was the south of France. No signs of Elvis but James did get Hansel and Gretel's autograph.
The next post is coming soon.
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