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Vienna:
Because of major flooding in western Austria and southern Germany I was unable to make it to Kufstein on the second day as I had originally planned. I spent Tuesday in Vienna before taking a slightly longer train ride to Munich on Wednesday morning; normally the train travels through Salzburg, but instead it was routed north through Passau and Plattling. Passau and Plattling were flooded, but the railroad tracks were still usable. Apparently this was the most flooding seen in a century, maybe even since 600 years ago. What luck!
Finding myself with an extra day in Vienna, I was able to explore a little more of the city and do some real tourism. The night before at the hostel, some girls I met asked if I wanted to join their group to tour the Schönbrunn Palace, where the Habsburgs used to live. It was raining and we were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but here are a few photographs of the outside.
Then it was off to buy a train ticket to Munich, find another hostel near Westbahnhof, and catch up on some sleep.
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Traveling to München:
The train ride from Vienna to Munich took about four hours; most of this time comprised riding an ICE train from Vienna to Platling, after which I switched trains. Along the way I got a good look at both the German countryside as well as all of the flooding that hammered southern Germany. It reminded me of all of the flooding in Iowa and the rest of the Midwest a few years back. It was hard to get a good picture on the train, but here is an example of how high the rivers got:
I have to say that I love the transportation in Germany in general. It is very convenient for travellers like myself and for the most part well run. The long train rides can also be a good spot to meet people.
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Munich:
After some miscommunication and searching for an internet connection and telephone, I was finally able to meet up with my relatives after arriving at the Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof). Wolfgang is my third cousin on my mother's side; my greatgrandfather Albert Gebhardt's sister, Emma Enderlin, is his grandmother. Before getting in touch with him by e-mail (I hadn't met them before going on this trip), I did make up a partial family tree to nail down how we are related, but I won't go into that detail here. Wolfgang and his wife, Heidi, both retired; Wolfgang used to work at a publishing company and Heidi used to co-run a bookstore in Northern Germany.
They were very nice to offer their guest apartment to me for five days. On the eighth floor of a complex in the inner city near Ostbahnhof, they have a great view of the surrounding area. The apartment I stayed in includes a bed and living room, kitchen, bathroom, and balcony with a great view of the city to the northwest. It was an incredible spot to get to stay in, for which I am very greatful. I brought a few gifts, but the only thing I can really do is pay it forward.
The inside of my room; note the wall of books on the side. They have at least six more such bookshelves in their real apartment. I am so glad that my relatives are people who enjoy reading.
The view from my room's balcony to the northwest. It is not easy to see from this photo, but off on the skyline one can see buildings such as the Altes Rathaus (old city hall), Neues Rathaus, Mariankirche, Olympic Tower, das Deutches Museum, and so on.
The first thing Wolfgang and Heidi did after moving me in was to take me to a biergarten for dinner. These places are great, and we should have them too. They are essentially huge terraces with lots of chestnut trees where hundreds and often thousands of people gather to eat and drink excellent beer.
After that, they gave me a tour of the city in their car. We saw many major sites, including Parliament, Residenz, Maximillianstraße, Schloss Nymphenburg, Olympiapark, BMW world, das Deutsches Museen, and many other places whose names escape me. I took some photos, but they were poor and you would do much better to search these places on Google Images. We then took a few hours to stop and visit BMW world and the Olympic Stadium (from 1972, of course).
Sitting on these incredible bikes, I begin to wonder why I haven't yet driven a motorcycle...
The Olympia Tower, in Olympiapark. We took an elevator up to the observation deck to get a view of the city and the alps from 960 feet above ground.
Standing outside the Olympic arena where many of the games were held in 1972.
The second day in Munich my relatives treated me to a wonderful German breakfast. After that, Wolfgang took me on a walking tour to see most of the major sites in the city center. We went through the Viktualienmarkt (the city's open-air food market) to Marienplatz, where the Neues Rathaus and Altes Rathaus tower. We were able to catch the glockenspiel in the Neues Rathaus at 11 AM for some additional entertainment. Then we continued for a couple hours, seeing sites such as the Alter Hof, the Frauenkirche, Karlsplaty, Michaelskirche, Hofgarten, Englischer Garten, and so on.
Wolfgang and I in front of the May Pole in the Viktualienmarkt.
Eisbachbrücke, where people often surf in the middle of the city!
In the afternoon of the same day, Heidi then took me on a walking tour of the museum area of Munich.
An intense piece of glass artwork protruding from the ceiling in the lobby of one of the art museums, perhaps the museum of modern art.
And finally that evening I met up with a guy named Alex for beers at the Haufbraukeller. We got in contact via the traveller's social network 'Couch Surfing' (couchsurfing.org), a site which I would (so far) recommend. I wanted to meet someone in the area and speak Deutsch, he wanted to practice his English, and so on.
On Friday I slept rather late and did not do a whole lot. After wandering around the city a bit and looking at shops, I had to of course eat lunch at a Biergarten. Here I met some other merry travelers, although they were form Germany. I then finally made my way to das Deutsches Museum but got there too late and only had an hour to explore. No matter, this could also be done on Sunday.
A group from Cologne with whom I ate lunch and spoke German. Biergartens have atmospheres that are very condusive for socializing!
On Saturday I took a day trip to Schwangau to tour both Schloss Neuschwanstein as well as Schloss Hohenschwangau. It was a two hour train ride and about half hour bus ride each way, but the weather was beautiful and it was worth it! I met up with En-Chi, a nice lady who I had contacted on the travelers network couchsuring.org about traveling to places near Munich. On the train I also got to know a few other people as well who did some hiking with us.
Finally, Sunday was my last day in Munich. I spent most of the day exploring das Deutsches Museum and getting a train ticket. A person could spend weeks in das Deutsches Museum and still not see everything. It has really great exhibits on anything and everything science and technology related, from locks and engines to coal mines to electromagnetism and power grids. An engineers dream! If I am in Munich again ever I will try to set aside a whole day for this place. Unfortunately, the chemistry exhibit was being renovated...
An awesome little model in the gift shop of das Deutsches Museum that demonstrates the conversion of candle heat (chemical energy) into mechanical work. They had a lot of these types of things, each costing a couple hundred Euros.
An old German fighter jet in the aeronautics area of the museum.
Observations/Notes/Thoughts:
Hostels: I've decided that hostels are pretty good, although I have only stayed in two and they were of the same chain (Wombats). They are great, affordable places to meet other people, especially since they are often young travelers themselves and they usually want to hang out. There are great resources, the staff is very friendly and helpful, and the two I stayed in had their own bar.
Speaking German: Although I have taken five years of German, it has been four years since my last class and I did not realize how much vocabulary I had forgotten. It is coming back though, and I am making a point to work on it. I don't think I have dreamt in German yet, but I am beginning to think some very German thoughts. Many of the people I have met have noted that I speak pretty good German, especially for an Amerikanischer. My goal by the end of the month is simply to converse more fluidly.
Breakfast: My favorite meal of the day has always been breakfast, and the Germans know how to do breakfast. On Thursday I joined Wolfgang and Heidi for breakfast at in their apartment and was very impressed at how much food they had prepared, and I do not think it was just because I was there. And today I joined Heidi for Frühstuck (breakfast) at a nearby cafe, which was also delicious. I could use more milk, but it is otherwise wonderful.
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Well, this is quite a long post and that is enough for now. This week I'm spending some time with friends in the Black Forest area before moving onto Paris for the weekend. I'll post about it soon!
thanks for the update.. 1. no computer? I can hardly imagine ... 2. I can imagine how happy Grandpa Gebhardt would be to know about this trip... continue with safe travel Xop
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