Europe Trip Recap – Munich, Germany
It’s time to wrap up our Europe trip recaps. So far, I’ve covered our time in The Netherlands, Belgium, and The Rhine Valley in Germany. Last on our itenerary was a few nights in Munich. I have a good friend who travels internationally for work a LOT. Months ago when we started planning this trip, I asked her for recommendations on where we should go. She said that of all the places she had visited, Munich was the first place to come to mind for a recommendation for us. She was spot on with thinking that we’d love it there!
We started of by driving to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. When I was planning the trip, Hubby and I each made a list of three things we absolutely had to see on the trip. One of the things on Hubby’s list was a concentration camp. It wasn’t something I had even thought of until he brought it up.
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| Door prisoners had to walk through every day at Dachau. Loosely translates to “Work will set you free” |
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| Inside one of the buildings at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site |
While it was a very somber activity, we’re both really glad that we experienced it. We did the tour at the site which was 3 Euros and the best deal of the trip. The tour was 3.5 hours of fascinating information. You could tell our tour guide was a history buff. He spent time answering everyone’s questions and was a wealth of information about the concentration camp.
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| Sculpture in memory of those who ran to the fence at Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site |
After leaving Dachau, we headed to the Munich airport to return our rental car. This is one of the things I wish I had arranged differently. We should have just returned the car in Munich to avoid the 30 minute train ride back in to Munich. Once we got settled into our hotel, we headed out for some dinner, beer, and just browsing the city.
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| Beer! At our first meal in Munich |
The next day, we headed to the Marianplatz to do a 2.5 hour walking tour of the city. We were the only ones who showed up, so we had a private tour. Hubby loves history so he really enjoyed talking with our guide about the history of Munich and Germany. I enjoyed getting an intro to the sights of Munich. After the tour, we headed to the Viktualieanmarkt for lunch. The beer served there rotates their beer selection every couple of weeks. We got lucky because they were serving our favorite that day – Augustiner.
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| Theatine Church in Munich. In most churches, the ornate stucco would have been painted. Here it’s left white to highlight certain features of the church. |
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| Theatine Church in Munich |
After lunch we headed to the Munich Residenz and Treasury. The audio guide was extremely detailed. After a couple hours, we both started getting a little bored so we just walked through the rest of the rooms. I was amazed at the fact that 90% of the Residenz has been destroyed in the war, so most of what we were seeing had been rebuilt since then.
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| Royal Gardens |
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| Perseus statue at the Munich Residenz – it was designed such that it can be viewed from any angle |
To round out our super-touristy-day in Munich, we ended the night with a Beer and Brewery tour. This time, there were others on our tour, including a couple from Brazil and 5 Irish guys who were taking a road trip through Europe. We enjoyed quite a few beers, had a great time getting to know the other on our tour and ended the night at Hofbrauhaus.
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| Bavarian Beers! |
We spent many a night at the HBH in Cincinnati when we lived there, and I’m happy to report that it was very similar to the one in Munich. I also have to brag for a second. At some point in the evening, one of the Irish guys and I started talking smack to each other. I’m not even sure how it happened, but someone challenged us to chug the rest of our beers. I’m proud to say that I finished mine solidly before he did! Later I asked if he’d like a Radler instead of a beer.
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| Viktualienmarkt |
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| All dressed up for Corpus Cristi |
On our last day of the trip, the weather was amazing. It also happened to be Corpus Cristi, so a lot of shops and stores were closed for the holiday. We walked to the English Garden to grab lunch in the Chinese Beer Garden. After spending a few hours in the park, we headed back to our hotel to pack our things up. We grabbed dinner outside along with a few beers that evening before the rain forced us inside.
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| Enjoying a beer at the Marianplatz |
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| Chinese beer garden in the English Garden |
We were seated at a table with a German couple who started talking with us. Just before they started chatting, we had agreed this would be our last beer so we could get some sleep before our flight home the next day. Once we started talking to the German couple, they proceeded to buy us 2 or 3 more rounds and we closed the bar with them. It was a lot of fun!
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| Flying home over the ocean |
The next morning, we headed to the airport for our flights home. We had great flights and got home around 5pm on Friday. I was glad that I got our flight to get us home at that time because we had the whole weekend to unpack and get settled before heading back to work.
Hubby and I had a great time on this vacation and I can’t wait to get back to Europe!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Thank you so much for sharing Jen! I completely understand where you’re coming from and how you feel…do nice things for yourself
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 8:50 am
You do the same Fiona
Thank you so much for sharing. This is UNREAL. My husband Jeff ran the Boston Marathon this year, and I spent the day traveling around on the T watching the marathon with my in-laws. We ended the day just a block from the blast sites – I shared my story here: http://decoratethis.blogspot.com/2013/04/bittersweet.html; Jeff’s story here: http://iwasbornready.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-2013-boston-marathon.html.
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:05 pm
Thank you so much for sharing your and Jeff’s stories. What a day you guys had. I’m glad you’re safe.
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:10 pm
I added these links to the body of the post.
It definitely does help to put some words together. And I feel the same way- even though I was volunteering at the 10k, i can’t help but wonder why wasn’t i volunteering at the finish line so I could’ve helped?
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:10 pm
I agree – it was therapeutic to write this up.
Thanks for sharing Jen. I haven’t lived in Boston for 4 years now, but my husband and I had a similar reaction. We both wanted to get “home” to the city we love, a city that becomes part of your being no matter where you go next.
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Living in Boston leaves such a strong impression…
I’m a longtime reader, first time commenter. First I want to give you big virtual hugs regarding the events in Boston. Your feelings are no less valid, no less important. My heart goes out to you. Also, I want to say, welcome to Cincinnati! I live east of the city and am a transplant from Seattle. Cincy is growing on me, and slowly but surely I’m starting to tell people that I’m from Ohio not Washington. 🙂 Best wishes to you and thank you for sharing.
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Jen – thanks so much for commenting. I realize that at some point I’ll say I’m from Ohio, but the events of this week just my my heart tied even tighter to Boston…
I’m so glad all of your Boston people are safe. I can completely relate to your feelings of helplessness, I felt the same way after 9/11. It’s hard to be away from family and friends and a city that you love when tragedy strikes.
Big hugs for you and your crew.
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Thanks Jene. I’m sure it’s very similar to how you felt around 9/11.
I feel the same way–Boston was my home for four years of college. I love that city. I feel like it is MY city. I wish I was there, locked in with friends, watching the news and hugging them. I feel so helpless on the other side of the state, so far away.
As soon as I’m able I’m going to the city and having a moment in the Common before heading to all my favorite places. My heart aches for the city, I wish I was there.
beantownbaker — April 19th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who feels this way. We are trying to make plans to get back to the city sometime soon as well.
Oh I so know how you feel.. I live in Michigan. I’ve been here for almost 10 years, and I still call Boston home. It’ll always be home to me. You’re not alone!
beantownbaker — April 21st, 2013 @ 6:07 pm
Glad to hear I’m not the only one. I definitely think Boston will always feel like home to both me and Hubby.
I know exactly how you feel – I am a 2004 graduate of Virginia Tech. I was at work when the April 16th incident happened in Blacksburg, and I felt SO far away, and SO hopeless – the only place I wanted to be was in my beloved Blacksburg.
To make matters worse, I flew to Missouri the next day (for work) for 3.5 weeks. It seemed that the people out there had ALREADY moved on from the tragedy – it just made NO sense to me. I cried most of those 3 weeks, and since I was out there by myself it was a struggle.
I have always loved Boston, and I know that that community will love and support one another, just as Blacksburg did (and still does). It was the sixth anniversary this past Tuesday, and with everything happening in Boston, and the thoughts of VT and Blacksburg, it was an extremely long and tiring week.
Stay strong.
beantownbaker — April 22nd, 2013 @ 11:46 am
That sounds like a horrible situation for you in the aftermath of the VTech tragedy. Thanks for the kind words and for sharing your story.