Weekend in Bavaria

Our little group of Americans in Belgium has grown steadily over the last year, and there are now 7 people from our company working here. Since we all had different holiday schedules and couldn't make the company holiday party in DC, they decided to send us on a European outing instead. After a quick vote, it was determined that we would all fly to Munich for a 4 day weekend with our significant others. The company covered our flight and hotel room, so we had an almost free trip to Bavaria.

To keep the price within the company guidelines, we had to take the 7am flight out of Brussels, 

so we left the house at 4:15 in the morning. After a short 1:15 minute flight, we landed in snow covered Munich. On our first day, half of the group wandered the city, and the other half (including Elizabeth and I) rushed to our 11:00am tour of the former concentration camp, Dachau. This was my second trip to the camp, but it was a first for everyone else. It was just as sobering of an experience as the previous visit. We walked through the tiny rooms where they stuffed in hundreds of prisoners as well as the gas chamber and crematorium. We had an even more realistic experience than most, as it was brutally cold with 8 inches of snow on the ground. Hard to imagine what life was like for the prisoners with no heavy coats or warm food.

After the tour, we returned to the hotel for a while to warm up for a few minutes...then it was off to a group dinner. We found a nice table at the Augustinerbrau restaurant and enjoyed some

Augustinerbrau beer (by the liter) with our bratwurst and sauerkraut. My favorite part is that instead of bread, they bring out big chewy pretzels like you get at the ballpark...only better! After getting up at 3:30 am, walking around Dachau, and then a few beers, we were all exhausted and headed back to the hotel.

On day two, the whole group went on the Bavarian castles tour. The first one was King Ludwig II's main home, a modest 8 room castles tucked in the alps. 24 karat gold covered most of the rooms, and priceless works of art were all around. From the pictures we saw in the gift shops, there were apparently some beautiful gardens out front, but they were covered in a foot of snow while we were there. After that was a brief stop in Oberammergau, the site of the famous German Passion Play. We wandered this beautiful little snow covered town in the Alps for about an hour, then back on the bus to the main attraction, Neuschwanstein castle. We had lunch at the base of the mountain, then spent a little time in the shops before the 20 minute hike up the mountain to the castle. This castle was King Ludwig's main project, although he died part way through construction and it was never completed. It is a bizarre place, complete with a fake cave in the room next to his bedroom. Apparently it was quite modern for it's time, with plumbing and door buzzers to tell the servants where the king was when he needed something. This one was less ornate, but much larger than the other castle. There were some spectacular views from the top, and it was just a fun place to see.

For day three we all hopped on the train to Salzburg, Austria. Unfortunately the weather really didn't cooperate with us on this day. It was foggy with rain and snow all day. This was especially disappointing as I had been there before, and there are some spectacular views of the Alps from the Citadel in Salzburg, but we couldn't see them on this day. We did take the funicular up to the top of the castle anyway, but it just wasn't the same. We went back down for lunch, then the group broke up to see their own things. Elizabeth and I went to visit a beautiful graveyard and a 500 year old church, then a quick walk though the catacombs (dug into the side of the mountain) where religious refugees hid during the Crusades. Overall, we still had a good time despite the weather.

That evening, we all had dinner together at the Hoffbrauhaus. This is the most famous beer hall in Munich where Hitler himself liked to visit. They serve beer by the liter, enormous pretzels, and have an authentic German band (dressed in lederhosen) playing drinking songs. Always entertaining...

On our final day, we finally spent a little time in Munich. We went to the Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel chime at 11:00. It's basically an enormous cuckoo clock built on the side of a building. Little men spin around and play instruments and dance for the king. This was another bizarre creation by the eccentric King Ludwig. Carnival was also starting up this day, so there were tents with food and music, and people were dressed in all sorts of crazy costumes. We had a quick Gluwine at a tent, then headed back. We would have spent more time wandering the city, but once again the cold wet weather was getting to us.

Overall it was a good trip. We were able to cross off a lot of places that we wanted to see, although we probably would have preferred to do them during warmer months. We couldn't argue with the price though!