Bavaria: The Land of Pretzels and Beer

This past weekend I took my first big trip to Munich with a couple of friends.

I arrived Friday morning, it is just about a forty five minute to an hour train ride from the airport to our hostel in the city center, so I settled in for a pretty scenic view an relaxed. It was on this train ride that I realized I actually look German, unlike in Madrid where it's pretty obvious I'm not Spanish, I had three people approach me to ask if I spoke English and could help them figure out what stop they needed to get off and two German women sat across from me on the train and spoke to me in German for about five minutes until they realized I had no clue what they were saying.

So after arriving at the station, I dropped my stuff off at the hostel and we headed back to train staion to make our way to the Dachau concentration camp. Dachau was the first concentration camp built during World War II an the only camp to be in use for the entirety of the war, a total of twelve years. It is considered to be a labor camp rather than an extermination camp, but it still houses a crematorium and a gas chamber(there is no evidence that the gas chamber was used for mass killings but rather it was most likely used for experimentation). The camp was a lot to take in, I have done detailed projects on them before but seeing it in person and walking the grounds is a very emotional experience.

 Memorial

Barracks

Crematorium 

Gate to Camp "Work Makes You Free"

Upon returning to Munich that afternoon, we headed just off he main square to the Hofbrahaus Beer Garden for a lunch/dinner. The Hofbrahaus is famous for it's Oktoberfest like atmosphere with locals dressed in traditional German lederhosen and wear, litres of beer, and its large soft pretzels. I order the original beer brewed by monks, a large soft pretzel, and traditional Munich sausage. We befriended the older German guys all dressed up at the table next to us while we enjoyed our meal.

Litre of Beer

Our Soon to be Besties

Saturday, we woke up bright and early for a tour of the royal castles. We started at Linderhof, Ludwig's palace in the mountains that he based off of the Palace of Versailles. It was the epitome of opulence, with peacocks, gold, and mirrors filling each room. Ludwig was not a very friendly man, and he didn't really care for people so this was his home built just for him. From there we traveled on to the small town of Oberammergau, it is a very German town in the mountains that gets it claim to fame by fully reenacting the Passion of the Christ every ten years. The origins of this is due to a deal the townspeople made with God in the 1600s, if he rid them of their plague, they would reenact the play in full. The town is very cute and quaint, and aside from the play is known for it's wood carvings and the theme of Grimm Fairy tales throughout the town (the wolf lodge is very popular, and there are paintings of the stories on almost every building). Upon leaving the town we went to the real place of Fairy tales, Neuschwanstein Castle, the castle that inspired Walt Disney's design of Cinderella castle and was featured on the Amazing Race. It is located right across from the Hohenschwangua Castle. Both were Ludwig's castles and the descendants of the royal family still own Hohenschwangua. Neuschwanstein Castle was never finished as building ceased after his mysterious death with his doctor, they drowned in a meter of water but Ludwig was 6 foot and an experienced swimmer, just after he was pronounced crazy so he would no longer hold the throne. Then just six days following his death, his family opened the castle as a museum. Sadly, none of the castles allowed for pictures on the interior. We grabbed lunch half way up the mountain to Neuschwanstein in a glass restaurant with amazing views, I grabbed a brat and bread and was not disappointed one bit. 

Linderhof

Linderhof

Oberammergau

Oberammergau

Hohenschwangua Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

We returned to the city center that night after a brief stop at the hostel to rest and freshen up. We went to Augustine-Keller Beer Garden for dinner. It was here that I tried a litre of Radler, a mix of beer and lemonade that was really good. I had homemade potato soup and two soft pretzels for dinner. We explored the Munich night life following dinner and were amazed to see the difference between there and Madrid. Rather than the upbeat bars that go till seven am, Munich has a laid back atmosphere with casual beers and a closing time of one am. 

The next morning we grabbed breakfast at a local place with a lot of pretzels, I considered one but instead settled on a breakfast apple strudel. I took the morning to explore Munich before my flight, I also got to witness the thing I was most excited to see in the town square, the glockenspiel. On the main tower of the new town square, it plays (out of tune) a few songs with wooden statues dancing and jousting, and ends with a coo coo clock bird coming out from the top. I walked past the church with twin towers and the castle-esque architecture throughout the city. It is a very German and a very beautiful city.

Augustiner-Keller Beer Garden

Local Bakery

New Town Hall- Glockenspiel 

I just really liked the castle arches.

And then I returned to Madrid. But shout out to Germany for having lounge chairs in their airports which is brilliant, as well as Lufthansa for having the best airplane food ever. And that bought sums up my weekend.

P.S. If you want more pics, there is a corresponding facebook album for each blog post and general Madrid photos in the album Wanderlust