Second Week Break...Time with the Butlers

Germany & Salzburg

Rachel, Kyle, and I left bright and early on Saturday morning with our 2 suitcases each and headed towards Germany. We arrived in Munich about an hour and a half before Jim, Jody, and Katy. The hotel was a sight for sore eyes! It had a bathroom in each room, sheets on the beds, provided us with 2 towels, AND let us control the temperature. I know these things sound like typical amenities, but we have gone a long time with out having these basic luxuries. Our hotel was only a 5 min walk from the train/tram/underground station so we went and checked in before going to the airport and collecting them. It was about a 45 minute ride from the airport back to the main station so we got to talk to them a lot before doing anything. They also let us sneak a peek at all the goodies they brought us from the States including fire crackers that we couldn’t resist sampling on the tram. After everyone freshened up at the hotel, we went to the old part of town and walked around some. We wanted to eat at this really famous place called the Hofbrauhaus but it was extremely crowded. Besides that, you had to seat yourself so everyone was walking around fighting for a table. We searched for thirty minutes with no success so we decided to just try again another night. On our way back to the hotel we found a nice little restaurant and decided that it looked good.

After eating we walked around a bit more then went to the train station to get train times for the next morning. This was also a learning experience for the Butlers, since they wanted to know everything about how we traveled and they also wanted to learn how to figure out the schedules. They were extremely good sports and did very well getting use to everything.

On Sunday we woke up early and took a 2 hour train ride to town where the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles were located. The Neuschwanstein Castle inspired the design of Disney’s Cinderella Castle.

They were really cool and we stayed there basically the whole day. On the way up to our second castle, Neuschwanstien, we passed this food vender that had something that smelled delicious. The only way I can describe it is having a funnel cake in ball form. They had batter and made fried dough balls in between the size of a tennis ball and a racket ball, then covered them with powdered sugar. After viewing the castle and the adjacent bridge, we decided to have dinner before taking our train back for the night.

Monday, we got on another 2 hour train and went to Salzburg. There we saw a few sights before going on the Sound of Music tour. It was tons of fun! We had a really funny tour guide who took us to see all the places they filmed like the gazebo, the house, the church, and so on.

We also had the music playing on the bus and were singing along with it. The guide tried to get Kyle to sing but he wouldn’t sing in the microphone, though he did sing. Jody and Rachel stepped in to sing for him though.

He also made Katy skip down the path while we sang, “I have confidence” just as Maria had done in the movie.

We were the fun ones in the group. The other 8 people wouldn’t do anything. Once the tour was over, we hung out around the town for an hour or so then went back to Munich. We grabbed some dinner at the train station before going back to our hotel for bed.

It was super cold and snowy on Tuesday. The entire day it snowed off and on. We all wore our ski gear to stay warm. Even though it was cold, we got to see most of Munich. First, we went down to the old town again, Marienplatz, and went to the Frauenkirche, Cathedral Church of Our Lady. Then we looked at the Old Town Hall and watched a huge coo-coo clock with life size figures go into action when the clock stroked 11.

Next, we walked past the opera house, we didn’t go inside, and went to the Residents museum. It was a palace that the royals and their relatives lived in. After the castle we went and took pictures of the soccer stadium. It had a cool design and it would light up different colors at night. Okay, just red or blue but still it was pretty cool.

We also saw out first wind turbine while abroad and we all felt at home. After that we went back into town and walked through the English Gardens and saw a Japanese teahouse and structure.

We were all pretty tired after a huge day of walking so Jim and Jody went back to the hotel and us kids went shopping for about a hour. When we got back to the hotel we all crashed! The next day, Wednesday, we got up and went to the BMW museum that had just opened a few months ago. We were the 1st ones there and got to see all the different kinds of vehicles they have made and 2 cars that Pierce Brosnan drove when he did his 007 films.

After that, we crossed the street to Olympia Park and the Olympiaturm, where Munich held the Olympics. It had a really neat design. It kind of looks like a spider web or a circus tent from the top. Take your pick. We also got to see the memorial for the Israeli team that was killed during these games. During that Olympics, 8 players from Israel were killed in a terrorist attack there. We also saw plaques of who won the top medals during these games. We got to see all the events that Spitz and his team won. Mike Spitz had the record of most gold medals until Phelps beat it this past Olympics.

We swung back around toward the BMW place and popped in to look at the new line of cars they are selling and to warm up. Then we got back on the subway and went to a place to eat that had the best and biggest Wiener schnitzel. It was relatively cheap too. Next we went to Nymphenburg Castle and did a small tour of it before it closed. Finally, we went to the Hofbrauhaus and had a beer and a small dinner, because we were still so full from lunch. The experience was unique and totally immersed us in the German culture.

We headed to a couple of stores before heading back to pack and get some sleep before waking up early the next morning. The next day we woke up at 4 a.m. to take a tram to the airport. We saw Jim, Jody, and Katy off and then headed back to the hotel.