The End

Though I will never know the two strong German men who appeared unexpectedly and carried my bags for me when I didn't think I could make it, I am extremely thankful for them. There are always angels at work in the world looking out for us.

Our German beds looked like this with only one covering, and though it was warm, did not adequately cover my feet.

I had read about Bavarian food before I left and it was all sausage and beer. What else was there, I wondered. What about fruits and vegetables? No worry. The fantastic sausage left me wanting more every day. The restaurants and gasthauses also offer delicious soups, to combat the cold I imagine. Here we have cups of garlic soup with croutons and cream of tomato.

Christmas decorations and Christmas lights were everywhere, but it didn't seem commercial or gaudy, just happy.
I don't know but it seems that traveling to Europe could become prohibitive for us Americans before too long. It is expensive and laborious, so maybe it will be left to the young and fit wealthy. I am neither, but I adapted the best I could, relied on Kathy's prior experiences, and had a great adventure. I am glad I got to go.

Brrr . . .

This morning before we left the hotel in Munich.

At the train stop

From the window of the train - Austria

Special Day

Happy Birthday, Trip!

Peacock, Regular Visitor

It wasn't easy to take a picture of a peacock especially against the snow. It was like the camera did not know what to focus on. But the birds were friendly and so pretty. They seemed to be curious about us and flew up to our second floor balcony on several occasions. Once they put on quite a show, with five of them standing and twirling in front us, their plumage on full display.

A Silent Night Day

The thermometer in Oberndorf, where Stille Nacht (Silent Night) was written, said minus three. Very cold!! It was a lovely town but we had to stop in a couple of grocery stores and cafes to get warm during our walk around town. Here is one pic for the day. Tomorrow morning we take the train back to Munich and then the next morning, leave for home.

Later note: I took this picture as I was passing by thinking it may be the church where Silent Night was written but I was wrong. A little later, I saw that the actual place was a few steps away from it, a tiny, round chapel with only three pews on each side, and lovely stained glass windows. Before we went in, a group was in there singing Stille Nacht and it sounded so pretty, even holy, as we stood quietly waiting in the bitter cold.

Salzburg

Our first stop here was Mozart's birthplace and childhood home. We wandered about looking in the rooms and listening to his music, and we also watched a film that told more about his life. Since I had seen "Amadeus" many times, I felt I had a point of reference.

This is just a scene looking up at some pretty buildings.Pronounced here Zalz (like gals) boorg. Very cold here, little bits of ice or snow falling down on us. I should have taken my earmuffs! Salzburg is an expensive city. We walked the narrow, shop lined cobblestone streets and also around an outdoor market, filled with stalls - a few protected by the cold with plastic curtains - selling pricey meats, fruits and vegetables, winter wear, etc.The horses for the carriages were beautiful. They were in the streets along with cars, trucks, and trolleys. About four pm, the sky started getting darker and the wind even colder. We knew it would be dark at five. We had to find a trolley out of there and eventually did. Then instead of taking the train back, we interrupted a taxi driver who was playing an on line game of chess, to take us the nine kms to the door of our hotel.

The Country

After a couple of train rides through some beautiful snowy countryside of Germany and Austria and then a winding car ride, we made it to Hotel Hammerschmiede near the town of Anthering, outside of Salzburg. It is a "de wold" type of place meaning something like it is in nature rather than in the city, and lies in a valley that reminds me of the hollow of a hand. It was built in the mid 1800s and owned by a hammersmith/blacksmith. The Austrian businesswoman who picked us up at the train station bought this place thirty years ago and turned it into a hotel and conference center. Here are a couple of pics.

Leaving Munich

Sunday morning has arrived and we will soon be getting on a train for Salzburg. I hope there will be wifi.

The Augustiner

Tonight we walked a few blocks up the street to a typical Bavarian restaurant whose name comes from Augustiner beer, a brew that was started with the Augustine monks back in the 1300s. The restaurant was full of life and laughter. It was packed and we could hardly find a seat, but did pass through the crowd and got end seats on the benches at one of the long wooden tables. Two guys dressed sort of like Santas, one playing a tuba and the other a trombone, greeted us as soon as we sat down and started loudly playing the Star Spangled Banner. Were we so obvious? It was hard to know what to order and my unintentional choice was a bowl of gravy and pig scraps that I would have thrown away if they had dared to find their way into my kitchen. (I have heard the Germans use everything but the squeal.) The spaetzle and potatoes were really good, though. It was a fun and funy night.

A Day in the life . . .

A lovely snow fell over night and lingered on the branches and ground all day. I was outside walking much of the afternoon, but since I was dressed warmly in layers, I barely felt the cold. It was invigorating! When I watched the people riding past on bicycles I thought how fun it must be to be a German and to ride your bike all over the place. But for us tourists, thank goodness for public transportation, even though it is expensive like everything else here. Tax on the bills at restaurants is ridiculously high, 19%! One problem was solved cheaply, though. I was told about a store, Saturn, that is only a few blocks from the hotel that may be able to help with my computer problem. I hiked up and found it to be like Best Buy and also, lucky for me, had an Apple booth. They charged my computer for free. How kind. Now I can and have put a few more pics on my blog. But I need to save some power for Austria.

Scenes from Schloss Nymphenburg

Delicious

Cheese curd strudel with hot cherries. Heavenly.

Münich City Center

Hofbrauhaus, etc

I felt like a little girl whose mommy had dressed her in a snowsuit for the first snow of the winter and was put in the yard to play, arms outstretched by layers of clothing, when we left in the pretty falling snow for town. Unfortunately it all soon turned into a slushy rain that I have noticed does not deter the local people from living their lives fully. I suppose the highlight of the day was Hofbrauhaus, described by the local guy who was sitting at the same long table as, "The most famous restaurant in the world." It did not disappoint, in fact I thought it was great. We chose to sit at in front of the Bavarian band that played off and on several times during our visit. During one particular song everyone would pick up their steins and cheerily say "Guten Appetit!" or "Cheers" (they thought we were from England at first) or something German and clank their glasses together. We sat across from a nice, family of three from St. Petersburg, Russia. In carefully selected English words, the München guy next to me said that people come from all over the world presumably to enjoy the beer, sausage and pretzels, music, history and conviviality.

After that we headed back to the shops at City Center and Marienplatz, but there was not much I had the heart to buy. Even if the dollar and euro were equal, everything would still be terribly expensive. We stopped for truly what must be the world's most delicious hot dog and then down a few outdoor stands for something like crispy potato pancakes that we ate like cookies. After such a filling breakfast, and onion soup and pretzels at Hofbrauhaus, that was all we needed.

Traveling gives the opportunity to see different cultures, to contrast and compare as teachers might assign a student to do. Here are some of my observations so far.
1. The y and z on the keyboard I am using are reversed from the American. It also has three extra characters, ö, ä ü if they happen to translate.
2. Munich is a homogeneous culture of nice looking, fit, well behaved people who behave respectfully.
3. Sonja said there is very little crime here. In response to being asked why so many police (polizie I think) sirens, she answered, probably people walking their dogs without a leash.
4. I like the fact there there seems to be little waste. One of my pet peeves is seeing people in public bathrooms who pull off reams of paper towels to dry their hands. The public bathrooms I was in yesterday used what appeared to me to be a more earth friendly paper, and I saw no one overdoing it. There are no plastic bags in the trash cans in our bathroom in the hotel and the maids let us finish our soap and shampoo before re-supplying.
5. Generally it seems to be a more utilitarian way of life.
6. Everyone we have met speaks English. If someone greets me in German, I just say that I don't speak German, I am American, and they speak back in English. So language is not a problem.
7. People greet each other early in the day with "Morgen," the way we shorten "Good Morning" to "Mornin'."
Soon we will be walking out into another cold rain for other explorations.

What we did today so far

The Jedermann is a small, clean hotel on Bayerstrasse. Kathy has stayed here before and said that one of the attractions is the delicious breakfast. This morning I got to taste and see for myself. It offered a variety of cheeses and meats, juices, fruits, breads and preserves, yogurt, muesli, nuts, and other goodies including herring in sour cream, my daddy's favorite. (I think the picture is the last one.) Then we walked around a bit in the area (middle pic) before taking the train to Dachau. I didn't know much about it but felt an obligation to go. The weather was what I would call bad, cold and windy with some pretty significant rain, but we forged on and found ourselves in a warm spot, the museum. One thought was how the Americans were so appreciated when they liberated the prisoners, etc in 1945. The sculpture is from Dachau. Then we took the train back into town and wandered about the stores, really the large mall, at the train station. (I do not know the name at this time but I will find it write it.) But it is a lovely market. We also got typical Bavarian fare there, sausage and bread and beer. I felt comfortable paying for the few things I bought with Euros, not just the bills but the coins, too. I think I could adapt to being here.

I am not on my own computer now since I cannot charge it yet, but instead am on the one in the lobby of the hotel. It is all Christmas here. I am sitting next to a Christmas tree that is filled with wooden ornaments, red balls and bows, and twinkling clear lights. I can smell the evergreens that fill urns in the hall, and Santas are stationed at several corners. At the Christmas market last night, everything, above and around, was lit with lights and decorations.

First Day

We took a train from the airport to the center of town, then walked to Hotel Jedermann. After settling in we took naps. At 6 pm Kathy's friend Sonja met us in the lobby and we took the bus/trolley to town and Marienplatz. Here are a few pix. I will clean up this post tomorrow if I have time.

A Gluhwein booth
New Town Hall with Glockenspiehl

Maximillian statue
The trolley
Rabbit stew/goulash with kumquats and some sort of potatoes. My dinner at the restaurant outside a theatre.

In less than 48 hours . . .

Here it is, only two days before I take the ten hour Lufthansa flight across the Atlantic to a new to me part of the world. I am getting excited! Kathy loves Bavaria and is hoping for snow, so I also hope there will be. However since I do not like to get cold, I had to add to my so-called wardrobe, and now think I am ready to face whatever Mother Nature throws my way. Thank you Judi for the marvelous alpaca hat and gloves. I can see the mitten end flipping over to let my fingers do their thing whether taking notes, snapping pictures, or lifting a steamy mug of Glühwein. They are beautiful! If I need anything else, I know there are two WalMarts in Munich, which I would love to see anyway. What a great way to compare cultures!

I am sadly lacking in the language department however. I have spoken "gesundheit" a million times after sneezes and now realize that is the only German word I know. I do not know how far it will get me! Nor am I well informed on what I will find there, except of course beer and sausage, but I am not going it alone. I am quite happy to be traveling and exploring.