Germany Day 3: Thu 7/4/11: Munich

On this day, I did a mini city tour. Walked to Marienplatz passing by Karlsplatz and Neuhauser street.  At the Marienplatz is the iconic Fischbrunnen (Fish fountain) and the Neues Rathaus with Glockenspiel. Legend has it that if one dip his wallet into the fountain on Ash Wednesday, his wallet would always be full...

Straight ahead is Altes Rathaus which has been converted to be a Spielzeugmuseum (toy museum). I entered St Peterskirche but there was service ongoing so I went to Viktualienmarkt instead. Heiliggeistkirche (or Asamkirche) with famous Asam frescoes (by Asam brothers) is just next to the market. From there, I walked along Sparkassen street towards Residenz, a palace and museum which was seat of Wittelsbach rules for over four centuries in the past. Opposite Residenz is the Hofgarten (Palace Garden). A lot of people jog and cycle around the park. There is an underground pedestrian tunnel that connects the Hofgarten to Englischer Garten. Englisher garten is very lovely with sparkling river, dainty Japanisches Teehaus and Chineischer Turm. The park is really massive and I got a bit lost. Once back to Marienplatz, I visited St Peterskirche again. I waited for the Glockenspiel (carillon) show at 12noon before walking back to the hostel. The upper two levels of the Glockenspiel display Schafflertanz(a ritualistic dance) and the lowest most shows Ritterturnier, a knight's tournament during royal wedding.

Englischer Garten

By noon, I boarded train to Berlin. It was not a direct fast train hence had to change 3 stations. The train got delayed and I had to take a later train at night and arrived in Berlin near 11pm :(
I had craving for noodles on this day and ate dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant. In Berlin, I stayed in Plus Berlin Hostel which is almost like a 5 star hostel ...really good place to stay in Berlin, being very near the Warscauer St U-bahn station.

Germany Day 2: Wed 6/4/11 Munich: Schloss Neuschwanstein and Schloss Linderhof

Today is one of the most anticipated day. Rose early to catch a train to Fussen, a lovely town near Schwangau. I bought a Bayern day ticket (include all bus/train/tram travel) but can only use it after 9am on weekdays. To start travelling before 9am, I had to buy an extra one way ticket. It definitely cost more and retrospectively I felt I should just go after 9am as there is enough time to cover both castles in a day. The view of Bavarian Alps along the way is breathtaking. At the station, I waited for the bus to Schwangau.  There are two castles here. The nearest castle near the ticketing counter is Hohenschwangau castle where King Ludwig spent his childhood. The higher castle is the world famous Schloss Neuschwanstein which was first built in 1869 by King Ludwig II(The Mad King or The Fairytale King as the Germans call him). It was partially completed as construction stopped after the death of the King in 1886. The Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland is modelled after this elegant castle. The lavish design of the castle drove the King into heavy debts. One would wonder whether it is all worth it since King Ludwig only spent 11 nights here. But his legacy is no doubt the most beautiful castle in the world.
I walked up the hill for about 20minutes before arriving at the entrance to the castle (there is bus from Schloss hotel to the Castle with small fee). Visitors have to enter the castle by guided tour at designated time. The tour was very short and lasted only half hour. Photography is strictly prohibited inside the castle. The completed buildings are Gateway Building, Palace and Knight's building. Main rooms in the palace like Throne Hall and Singer's Hall are decorated with murals of scenes from Germanic and Nordic sagas on which Richard Wagner had based his works. King Ludwig was very passionate about medieval culture and was a great fan of Richard Wagner's music dramas like Lohengrin, Tannhauser, Tristan and Isolde, Der Ring des Nibelungen and  Parsifal. The intricate wood carving at the top of the Kings's bed are mini replicas of the spires of  famous cathedrals worldwide. There is also a cabinet that was turned into a small artificial grotto based on the Venus grotto in Tannhauser. The last room to visit is the palace kitchen. After exiting the castle, I walked to Marienbrucke which has the best view of the castle. Took a hotel bus down to the Schloss Hotel (one way is euro1).  While waiting for the bus to Oberammergau, I had grilled pork for lunch. From Oberammergau, I took another bus to Linderhof castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Linderhof Castle is completed in 1878 and is a much smaller castle inspired by French “Sun-King” Louis XIV. Being King Ludwig's favorite castle, he spent 7 years here. The Royal Villa is the King's private residence with Baroque facade and French Rococo style decoration. Inside, the magnificent rooms are Hall of Mirrors, the Tapestry Room, Audience Chamber (though the King never invite any guest), King's bedchamber with 108 candle crystal chandelier and Dining Room with the magic table (table disappears downstairs into kitchen before appear up again loaded with food). The Linderhof Palace park combines elements of French Baroque garden and English landscape garden. In the park, there is pavillion, Venus temple, fountains, Moroccan House, Moorish Kiosk, Hunding's Hut and Venus Grotto. Inside Moorish Kiosk is an impressive Peacock Throne. Venus grotto again is based on Tannhauser play. Inside this man made cave, there is lighting of various colour (red for illusion of Venus Grotto, blue to represent Blue Grotto in Capri), waterfall  and a small boat.

Linderhof Castle

While waiting for bus to go back to Oberammergau, I bought Bavarian beer to drink. Yummy! The trip back to Munich is more complicated than I imagined. I had to take another bus from Oberammergau to Murnau then another bus to Uffing to board a train to Munich.

Germany Day 1: Tue 5/4/11 Munich: Dachau, Olympiacentrum, Nymphenburg

I was really tired on this day. I did three consecutive night shifts with little  sleep. And I did not sleep on the night before because I was worried I might oversleep and miss the early morning flight. Arrived in Munich at 9am.  Bought a day ticket at euro10.80 (cover train/tube/tram and bus). Munich has excellent public transport system and I took a while to understand how the fare system works. Airport is located 4 zones away hence single ticket alone to the city cost more than euro 8. If one is going to do more sightseeing after going to the city from the airport, it is more worth to buy the day ticket. The ticketing machine has option for English language which is so user friendly.

Munich is a capivating city. Modern, vibrant with state of the art buildings and perfect landscape garden it is easy to forget it is also very rich in history. It is after all a city Hitler named as the Capital of Movement (Die Hauptstadt der Bewegung)…shiver…I planned this tour from Munich to Berlin and then to Hamburg…mainly because the airplane ticket is cheaper this way. But I would suggest travel in opposite the direction because Munich is very close to Salzburg in Austria.  It is also better to travel to the Bavaria at the end of April instead of March. The famous Romantic Road tour by Europa bus that covers medieval and lovely towns of Bavaria only start after 18^th April. One can purchase the tour ticket and opt to hop on hop off any town along the Romantic route on any days. The Bayern ticket (Bavarian – day ticket) also allows one to go anywhere within Bavaria and Salzburg at the price of only euro21 for single.  Family travel can be inexpensive  because there is group card that allow group travel up to 5 people at the price of one ticket. Other option is to rent a car and drive around Bavaria because the scenery is so breath taking that you might just want to park your car aside and take in the beauty of the Bavarian Alps. If travel by train, one can still experience the spectacular scenery but cannot stop to snap a photo. Luckily, my Sony Nex 3 still able to take some photos along the way using the antimotion mode. I would advise  not to  travel  from Munich to Berlin via trains unless it is an express train. The cheap option via three changes lasting more than 8 hours sent my head spinning and nauseous…never again! Worst, my train from Hof to Dresden was delayed by 10minutes and I missed my connecting train to Berlin…I had to wait for another train and arrived at near midnight instead of 9pm original schedule. One can either get an ICE train (Intercity Express, more expensive) or just fly.

The Euro Youth Hostel is conveniently located very near the hauptbahnhof (central train station). After putting down my luggage, I rushed to the main station to board a train to Dachau which is just about 20min away. Outside Dachau train station, switched to a bus to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. The bus stop is very well signposted as KZ-Gedenkstatte Dachau. Dachau itself is quite a lovely town but I had no time to explore. The memorial itself took me more than 3 hours to finish and by the end of it, I was wasted. At arrival at the memorial, I was surprised by how peaceful it looks. I bought an audio guide but on the hind sight, it was not really necessary because a lot of information on every significant building and the museum in the centre has extensive information about the history and happenings in concentration camp, evolution and rising of the Nazis under Adolf Hitler and the liberation of the prisoners. The Dachau concentration camp was first established in March 1933 mainly for political prisoners and it became the model for other concentration camp. It was initially built for the capacity of 6000 prisoners but by 1945, about 30000 prisoners were found in barracks during liberation by US army on April 29, 1945. During the period from March 1933-1945 (Third Reich) , more than 200000 prisoners from 30 nations were imprisoned and more than 43000 died. Besides political enemies, the Jews, homosexuals, Polish, Russian and some religious figures were targeted.  When one first enter the Jourhaus, the first thing to notice is the gate's inscription  “Arbeut macht frei”  which means “Work will set you free”. Once prisoner enters the camp, he is stripped of  possessions, dignity and human right. It is horribly disturbing to visit the bunker (place to torture or execute prisoners), the gas chamber, crematorium and the reconstructed barrack. Worst of all is probably to watch the documentary that is shown at certain time in the museum. Piles of dead bodies were being carted away and faces of men who were suffering. It was also very moving to listen to the accounts of the survivors of the camp via audio guide. The dead victims were disposed via crematorium but when there were coal shortage in 1945, the bodies were buried in mass graves in Leitenberg and Waldfriedhof cemetery.

After Dachau, I took train to Olympiacentrum. BMW Welt is the first building I saw as I exited the station. It is an impressive futuristic building that functions as a show room, marketing and sales center. Seductive sport cars, convertibles and super bikes  are in display here. It is indeed a car haven! There is a walkway that connects Welt and the BMW Museum. I did not go for the museum exhibition as there is only 1 hour left before closing hence not worth paying the full fees. Instead, I took photos of old BMW models (the sort of cars your father would drive in the 70s...he he he). I walked around the Olympiapark passing by Olymmpiaturm (Olympic Tower) and Olympia Halle.

Before sunset, I hopped into tram 16 to visit the park in Nymphenburg Palace. By the time I reached, the palace is already closed. The palace has a massive and well designed park with  Pagodenburg (Chinese teahouse), Badenburg, Amalienburg (hunting lodge) . There is a large Neptune fountain too. It was a very refreshing walk and I really enjoyed it. A great venue to end a perfect day…

Back in central train station, bought curry wurst for dinner before retiring to the hostel.

BMW Welt