Refreshed

June 8^th, 2012

Wow what a great night’s sleep!  It was a cool night with some thunderstorms.  Combined with the long day yesterday, we all had no trouble getting some much needed shut eye.  Our plan was to be out of the hotel at 8 but it was closer to 9 when we headed to the train station.  The first thing on the agenda was to stop by T-Mobile for a German SIM card.  After that, we all got on the tram to the Nymphenburg Palace.  It’s a magnificent place to see & of course, the gardens are my favorite part of it all.  We didn’t take the paid tour.  There was a little room off to the side of the gift shop with some historic information about the palace & its builders.  It’s amazing what being the King & Queen of Bavaria can get you.  After some educational info, we moseyed into the gardens.  One of the many buildings on the grounds is the bath house so we walked in that direction.  It was then time to head to Olympic Park & the BMW museum.  That took a while because there was some construction going on & the map from the hotel wasn’t current.  Munich apparently changed some of its underground stops.  The area of Munich is home to BMW & the site of the Olympics in the 70’s.  I just love the architecture but Lee was definitely more interested in the automobiles.  We spent some time wandering around taking pictures before deciding to go back into the city center.  As we came out of the underground into the city center, it began to really rain…not just sprinkle.  Lee didn’t listen when I said bring a rain jacket so we had to first stop by a store to get him an umbrella.  From there we walked through the open air market which was nice even in the rain.  It slowly stopped raining & we were able to enjoy the rest of our afternoon in the city.  One stop on our list was the Oktoberfest & Bier Museum.  It isn’t far from the market & isn’t too expensive.  I have never been so I thought it would be interesting to check out.  Before leaving the hotel, I checked the website for times but there was an apparent mix up.  The site said 6 pm but they had changed the times to 5 pm.  I guess I’ll have to go back in July.  Lee wanted to try on some Lederhosen so we found a little second hand shop for him to check something off his bucket list.  I think they suit him…what do you think? 

No matter, he decided not to purchase them & opted rather for a dinner out.  We walked back through the city center just a bit before deciding to head in the direction of our hotel for some dinner, which chose to be a wise decision because it decided to rain again.  Dinner was actually pretty good.  There was an Augustinerbräu (restaurant) not far from our hotel.  We were there just in time to see some of the EuroCup games going on that night.  I can’t remember who played & I certainly don’t remember who won but it was fun to watch.  After a long relaxing dinner with drinks & dessert, we headed back to the hotel to pack for our early departure to Füssen.

 

 

 

June 7th, 2012

Day one…check!

Upon arrival in Munich, we all made it through customs without any troubles or problems.  Luckily our luggage was waiting on us and all in one piece so it was off to the hotel.  We bought our ticket before heading down the escalator to the train.

Kelly & I on the train to the hotel

It took about 30 minutes or so to get to the main train station and our hotel was only a 15 minute walk from there.  I was pretty impressed that we didn’t have any trouble getting to the hotel.  The sad part was that we couldn’t check in just yet.  We were able to leave our luggage.  Off we go…

Our first stop was the bakery for a pretzel.  Then it was off to Dachau.  The train took about 45 minutes to get to the concentration camp built in 1933.  It was the first camp & was used as a model for the rest of the camps.  I have been several times but always learn something new so I never mind going back.  Lee & Kelly seemed to get a lot out of the experience.  I have to now brag on their energy.  We were all dragging after the flight with little sleep but they keep their eyes open…for the most part.  We spent about 3 hours at the sight before heading back into the city center.  We all wanted to go back to the room but knew it was best to power through dinner. Reaching the center at about 4 pm, German time, we walked around the square.  I showed them the city hall with the Glockenspiel as well as the Frauenkirche (cathedral).  I am not the best tour guide because I didn’t really study up.  However, I brought my Munich travel guide so I could look up some general info for them.  After walking through the Frauenkirche, which was almost totally destroyed in WWII, we walked down some back streets towards the Theatinerkirche.  This church is absolutely beautiful built in baroque and rokoko style.  We weaved and wandered through the streets to our next to last destination for the day, Hofbräuhaus.  It’s an amazing beer hall that not only has great beer, but also wonderful food.  We had only snacked throughout the day so we were all pretty hungry.  I was nervous about helping them order for their first German meal.  Fortunately, it all worked out & they loved it!  Our last destination before hitting the hotel for a shower was the ice cream stand.  We each got a scoop before making our way to check in.  So far, no complaints about the hotel or the trip.  Now I’m off to take a MUCH needed shower!  Until next entry…

Entrance gate at Dachau

Grounds of Dachau

Memorial in Dachau

 
   

Inside the Frauenkirche

Theatinerkirche

Glockenspiel in the city center

Lee's doing some shopping

Wednesday, June 6th

Let the journey begin!

5 am came early this morning.  Now granted I didn’t have to be up that early but I never sleep well before a big trip so I might as well get up.  My house is pretty much empty but I still wanted to make sure I had everything I needed for my flight to Munich.  My family showed up on time which eased my mind a little.  We all loaded up to head over to my friend’s place.  I am traveling with Lee and Kelly for the next 10 days.  It should be an adventure!  We all stopped for a nice lunch in Newnan, GA before making our way to the new international terminal at the ATL airport.  Word to the wise; it’s not easier to get to but it’s much nicer.  You can tell they put A LOT of money in the terminal but they still have a couple of bugs to work out.  For example, there’s a sign for arrivals hourly parking.  Well, since we’re departures, we just drove right through to departures.  This only allowed you to drop off before looping back to where you started.  Logically the sign should say hourly parking.  That would put arrivals and departures in the same deck without making you waste some expensive gas.  But what do I know…we all three got checked in and had no trouble checking our bags or getting through security.  Now we’re just hanging out at the gate.  

As you can see from this picture Lee and Kelly want to get in their cell phone use before they have to go without if for the next week.  I will say this about the new international terminal, it doesn’t lack in the variety of people wandering around.  That is something that makes me happy.  I like to kill time people watching before I have to watch the back of an airplane seat or the back of my eyelids.  Alright…we’re ready to board!  Check back later for more exciting info!

Waiting for take off

I’m back…the flight went well.  We were delayed an hour in Atl but arrived in Munich on time.  It was a fairly smooth flight with only a little turbulence and one annoying neighbor.  She was ADHD which meant she was continually elbowing me & shifting in her seat as well as poking the back of Lee’s seat to play with the video.  Other than that, the food was pretty good & the service couldn’t have been better.