Bavarian Winter Wonderland
By Lothar. Filed in Germany |
We arrive in Munich on Sunday afternoon and are greeted with a Live Music performance on the Marienplatz. The rhythms are waking us up and we climb the tower of the “Alter Peter”, having a great view of the Marienplatz, Rathaus, Frauenkirche and central Muenchen. Frauenkirche is closed and we take our bus to the Burg Schwaneck Youth Hostel in Pullach. The staff at the youth hostel is extremely nice and accommodating. We are staying here overnight and the lady provides us with free shampoo and towels, so we all can take a long awaited shower before dinner. Remember: after 2 days of travel we still don’t have any luggage! We are being served a very tasty Bavarian dinner: Schweinebraten, Knoedel and Blaukraut, with ice cream for dessert. Not your run of the mill youth hostel noodle dinner!
Gabi and I have a very large room, overlooking the banks of the Isar River. The kids spent the evening at the computers in the “Cafe” or in the Burg’s Kegelbahn (bowling). After some more phone calls to US Airways in Frankfurt and Muenchen, most of our suitcases are being delivered after dinner and another shipment in the middle of the night. Tomorrow, we will hunt down the last 3 missing pieces of our luggage!
Our group are the only guests in the Youth Hostel tonight and we have a quiet, restful night.
On Monday, February 15th, we drive through the sunny, snow-covered countryside and visit Kloster Ettal, Oberammergau and Schloss Neuschwanstein. The students get a tour of King Ludwig’s Fantasy Castle and we see a deep blue sky, for great picture taking. We continue, driving on the Autobahn to Wuerzburg. Our students are jealous when a Mercedes or BMW passes our bus at double our speed.
Dinner in Wuerzburg is another Bavarian Home Cooking affair: Schnitzel or Sauerbraten in our private dining room at the Restaurant “Laemmle”.
We walk back to the Youth Hostel, located on the south bank of the Main River. The next morning, the sun is shining, and we see the vineyards and Festung Marienberg right above us.