Munich. ''It's not German, it's Bavarian!''

Travelling from Bratislava to Munich we travelled via Vienna and crossed through the beautiful Bavarian landscape where we saw our first real snow. Passing through Salzburg before we entered Germany was just amazing; so you have to see it really – check out the photos and video!

 

The idyllic views greeting us in Bavaria

We made it into town at around 3pm and so took the opportunity to walk around, wandering along the main stretch of shops and centre of town; Marienplatz. Getting dark at about 4pm, the street and central square lit up and looked quite magical! Heading back to our hostel, we went in search of some food and found a busy little cafe with a great atmosphere. Not particularly traditional but definately delicious, I grabbed a bowl of gnocci and to make up for it, a big Bavarian beer. An early night to round out an exhausting day of travel!

Entering the city gates at Karlsplatz

Marienplatz with the neo-gothic Town Hall on the left

The close-up of the Town Hall

Walking back along the shopping strip once dark

The next day we decided to tag along on a city tour with what turned out to be quite the energetic and thoroughly entertaining guide; Ozzie. He was very much focused on 'getting us local' so we were questioned and taught more about Bavarian history and culture and introduced to many sights of the city; Ozzie not forgetting to teach us the actual significance of each one. A worthwhile and unexpectedly entertaining tour of Munich.

Walking past the Spielzeugmuseum

Yen and James at Odeonplatz

 

Following this we had a few spare hours left in the day, so we quickly made our way to the BMW Museum; something I had been looking forward to for some time. It didn't dissapoint; the building itself a fantastic display of deconstructivist architecture by Coop Himmelblau. The 'welt' form of the building itself was great to see up close and really is awesome. Additionally the entire complex features some cool lighting, effects of which can be seen in the photos below. The museum was very cool, even for myself as I am not really a large fan of cars, nor bikes or planes; but of course I appreciate them either way and the exhibits certainly were good fun.

Exhibition space inside the BMW Museum

James and I with a BMW concept car

Standing in front of the 'welt' and lit up museum

To round out the day we decided to embrace being a tourist and visit the very-tourist-based Hofbrauhaus. Either way, I enjoyed it; a second time round! A hearty pork goulash with potato dumplings and a litre stein of dark beer always go down well. To top it off, a breaded dessert with thick warm cream, yum!

The 1L stein matched Yen's head. Cheers!

The next morning was a comparitively sombre start to the day. For the second time, I visited Dachau Concentration Camp with James and Yen. Whilst I had been here just two years ago it was still a cold and sobering place and again an arrestive look at a terrible time in history. I could not reccomend going any more greatly; definately something that should be seen at least once.

Dachau Concentration Camp grounds.

A memorial with an important message.

With less time than we had hoped, we then visited the Deustches Museum. A little over 2 hours was certainly nowhere near enough time to see a museum which claims you need 2 full days to see all the exhibits. We decided to split up and just have a look at what we each wanted to see. Having also been here before, I skipped over the fantastic mining, military, metalwork and shipping/automotive exhibits and decided to take a look at the nanotechnology and modern/future science areas. All very interesting and so much to take in! 

The famous Deutches Museum

A little peak of what is inside! Entire ships!

Without even noticing, as we had been pondering around the Museum, a few inches of snow had fallen and had created a beauitful blanket of white across everything! It created a very pretty scene as we walked back to catch the train.

The snowfall at dusk, a beautiful scene!

A chilly walk back through the fresh snow

James just happy he could
build a snowman

Our last night in Munich was spent at the hostel bar, with a few beers, quiet for me, however Yen and James stayed and exploited the 11 free drink cards Yen had received and piled on the shots and cocktails – needless to say a slightly tipsy Yen walked in the room later that night! However, nothing compared to the young British 'lads' who rocked up at about 4am, full of conversation. "Y'aright then?" as they would say...

Leaving Munich early the next morning we set off for Zurich, however we would be making a stop at Neuschwanstein Castle, a few hours out of town and luckily on our way. Arriving at the base of the mountain atop which the castle sat, we bought our tickets and began a 30min walk up the trail to the courtyard where our tour of the grounds and building would start. As we climbed the hill we were greeted with some spectacular views of the surrounding landscapes with the small towns below. Topping this by far was the awe-inspiring, post-card view of the castle set amongst the mountain, high above the trees. It has to be seen to believe, so take a look at the photos! This castle was famously the inspiration for Walt Disney's fairytale castle.

James and I with the castle

View from the Castle windows

The fantastic scenery from the castle gates

Setting off again we made our way via train to the point where we had to change, however unfortunately we only had minutes to catch the connecting train and a delay meant we missed this. A two-hour stopover was created so we went in search of dinner. Finding a Croatian restaurant we tucked in and killed some time.

Back on the train, it was 11pm before we made it to Zurich and made it to our hostel. We all settled straight to bed, keen to prepare for what would be just as big a day tomorrow. (Not for James however, he wasn't content with spending a Saturday night inside, so he went looking for somewhere to party! Sadly however all he managed to find was a gay bar and a number of strip clubs, so he resorted to buying a rather expensive bratwurst before returning. At least this is what I heard...perhaps James can expand later?)