We woke up Saturday morning knowing we had quite the day ahead of us. As of 11:00am we would theoretically be homeless until we actually returned to Orlando Sunday evening. (We had a night train to catch later that evening at 10:00pm which would take us to the Amsterdam airport where we would meet up with our flight) And so we did what anyone else would do if faced the with the ever present problem of eviction, we stocked up on an enormous amounts of food courtesy of the hotel’s breakfast buffet. No we didn’t pocket anything, but we did make sure to eat a good meal as we wanted to ensure we had a significant period of time in between lunch and dinner. We were hoping dinner would be a late event as our night train wouldn’t be arriving at the station until 10:00pm. So after filling up on food, packing up our stuff, we checked out and proceeded outside where we would be spending the next twelve hours.
Throughout the day we crisscrossed over Munich covering pretty much covering all of the city thanks to the city's wonderful transportation system. Our first stop was the museum district where we were planning to visit one of the three major museums housed there, the Alte Pinakothek. This museum was founded by Ludwig I and was opened back in 1836. It holds art from the 14th to 18th century, a lot of it depicting historical and religious events, satirical displays, and a wide variety of portraits.
Our favorites:
Battle of Alexander at Isus Albrecht Altdorfer
Depicting Alexander the Great’s victory over the Persian King Darius. This happened to be Chris’ favorite due to the great detail of the piece and the historical battle taking place.
We then went to visit Asamkirche, Munich's Catholic Church of St. Johann Nepomuk. The whole interior is very ornate and the ceiling is painted in a giant fresco depicting the church's saint. It is very impressive to go into and worth the side trip.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed back over to the heart of the city where were to visit Munich's Residenz. This was the former residence to the kings of Bavaria, and likewise there is so much to see and do!
We went to visit both the Residenz itself (the long tour) as well as seeing the famous vault of royal treasures. This of course is filled with sceptors, crowns, swords, jewels, etc. all on display in cases. There was really anything you could think of usually made from fine gold or silver. We even saw a royal traveling/medicine case, very elaborate of course. The castle itself is an extensive complex with several courtyards. They have rooms assigned for touring and I would say it took us the better part of an hour to get through everything. The most impressive room my by far was the Antiquarium. It is a 225 foot long vault painted with frescoes and with marble busts lining the sides. It literally took my breath a way...
Our next stop was Olympiapark- if you look at a map, it is all the way over on the other side of the city. Thank God for the U-Bahn! Originally a former airfield and parade ground, it was transformed into Olympia Park to prepare for the 1972 Olympics. Located on property is the Olympic Stadium which seats up to 67,000 people at a time. There is an Olympic Hall, an Olympic Aquatic Centre, a skating rink, and many other facilities available for use. The grounds our enormous and there is a lot to see and do.
We went to check BMW Welt as well as be touristy and take an elevator to the top of the Olympic Tower. That is 900 feet up in the air where we were met with fabulous views of all of Munich and the Olympicpark itself. On a clear day you can even see the Alps. We could just make out the outline of their shadow and shape.
It was four o'clock at this point and we just had enough time to make it over to the Deutsches Museum before it closed at five. The Deutsches Museum is the world's largest museum of technology and science. There are almost fifty exhibits you can go and visit so we kind of had to pick in choose since we only had one hour. Chris loved the telecommunications exhibit of course as well as the physics room, microelectronics, and marine navigation. It was our favorite museuem by far with 28,000 exhibited objects.
We spent the remaining time before dinner biking around the Englischer Gartens courtesy of Mike's Bike rentals which let you keep them until as late as seven. We did have a close call with a dog, but we can pedal faster. For our last and final meal we decided to go back to the Löwenbräu so we could also have one last drink of the world's best beer.
Following that, we headed over to the Hofbräuhaus mainly because we would be the worst tourists ever if we didn’t. Having already the discovered the best beer in the world I wasn’t as hyped up about it as I was previously. True to form, it was very crowded with only standing room outside and overrun with lederhosen and tuba playing Bavarians. However, it was still worth the trip and kind of completed the Munich experience.
With our train soon approaching we made our way over to the train station to collect our suitcases and find our way over to the tracks. On the way we ran into several bachelorette parties which Chris mentioned was highly unusual for Germany. One of them I found particularly humorous as the bride was dressed up as Snow White and the bridesmaids were….you guessed it dwarves (complete with the droopy hats and tights lol). We got a good laugh out of that. It seemed there main hang out was the train station catching people on their way to their destinations getting them to check things off their list. The American boys were most compliant.
We were all the way at the very end of the tracks where nobody else was around. It was really cool because as it was nearing ten o’clock the sky was completely dark, the stars were out, and it was really nice sitting out in the open air with the city behind us. The train did come after not too much of a wait and we were allowed to board early. Our compartment was very small, but cozy. It could technically sleep three which I am still not quite sure how that would be possible. We had a hard enough time finding space for two suitcases let alone three. There was a small little cubicle for a bathroom and the bunks were opposite. There was a crawl space above the bathroom itself which we guessed was for that unlucky third party. Luckily the room was just for Chris and I so it worked out quite nicely. I got the bottom which was far more roomier (there was enough space to sit up without worrying about knocking your head) and Chris got the top to be closer to his beloved AC :) The ride was pretty bumpy and I don’t know how much sleep either of us got. However, it turned out to be a really nice experience.
We had a lovely surprise waiting for us in the morning. We had to be up somewhat early, eight o’clock, to catch our next train which would take us to the Amsterdam airport. Before departing, we were shown into a private compartment next door that had been turned into a small dining area for two. We were served a tray piled with food including bread, croissants, cold cuts, yogurt, juice, etc. Way too much for the two of us, but we gave it a try.
At eight-thirty we departed the train at a station in the heart of the Netherlands and began to look for our connection to the airport. This is where we had a bit of trouble. The tracks we were supposed to meet our 8:58 train at were under construction. When we consulted the boards it showed no signs of the train we had purchased a ticket for and was listing bus lines instead. When we headed upstairs to look on the tracks themselves to see if we could find a clue we heard them making an announcement over the loudspeaker regarding our situation. However, as it was all in Dutch it was of little help and we were left to figure it out on our own (Chris side note, I could understand enough to know they were talking about our train and that something was going on but no specifics). We finally found a board showing us the times of trains running out to the airport which luckily for us all seemed to be thirty minutes apart. We hopped on the 9:28 one which we almost missed because it wasn’t where it was supposed to be either. Apparently there is a lot the Dutch can learn from their neighbors, the Gremans, about efficient train operations and clear signage (There was track 8a and 8b which both showed our train but there was only a train at 8b. Also the posted schedule said track 8a for our train, but then again, who would get confused by that? I bet you are now :). Gotta love the Dutch.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. Our airplane was on time and we appeared to be traveling with cast members from the Jersey Shore. They really did live up to the stereotype when they got pissed off when the flight attendant wouldn't let them board early with the handicapped people and babies (But we have comfort class tickets!). They stood in line anyway, and it was really funny watching them get denied again...Just as I was saying that the trip had gone really smoothly the pilot made an announcement saying that there was a problem with the fuel engine and it needed to be checked out. Sigh. I wasn't tempting the fates...But that only took about twenty minutes and we were off and on our way back to hot, muggy Florida.
After landing we went through the most ridiculous customs process ever. We waited in line to have them look at our passports and ask us random questions about the trip. We then had to wait 20 minutes to pick up our luggage at the baggage claim also inside the custom department. Then we had to turn in our baggage to be put through the conveyor belt to pick up at Baggage Claim A. Then, we had to go through security and do the whole take off your belt, shoes, throw away liquids, etc. and have everything scanned. Really stupid, and Jersey Shore put up a big stink. None of the Dutch knew what they were doing either and I kind of felt embarrassed for my country in general. And then it was welcome to America, wait another twenty minutes for your baggage. I was ready to get home and was so happy to see two familiar faces waiting for us Ken and Cindy (Chris' mom and step-dad). Of course Ken kept making jokes about how we needed to go through security to get to the car garage and what not. We finally got our baggage again, and made our way out of the airport for good.
And that is all...except we had beef jerkey waiting for us in the car, and a small welcoming party of Craig and Candace our friends and house sitters and a veeeerrry clean house and room. Great job guys!
It is good to be home...and who knows. I might have to keep this blog up and running. Just gotta come up with a new title and picture.
Thanks for following and being patient in between postings.
No comments:
Post a Comment