Germany, Day 12

This is our last day in Munich.  We visit the market for breakfast.  I look for pastry, Russell looks for meat.  We end up with beer, sausage and schnitzel at 10 a.m.

In the Munich market

We spend nearly all of our remaining euros on Ritter Sport and kraut liquor in the duty free shops before boarding the plane to come home.

Germany, Day 11

It is our last full day in Munich and we take a group tour of the concentration camp at Dachau. 

 

Dachau

 

The mood is somber in the afternoon when return so we find an English language movie theater that also serves beer.  We decide that we really could live in Munich.

For dinner we visit the Ayinger restaurant, next door to the Hofbrau Haus.  The mood is quite different, but the food is excellent.

Germany, Day 10

We start off today in the English Garden and head straight to a biergarten before wandering through the park.  

Surfing on the river

Eventually we board a tram just to see where it goes, and we discover Schloss Nymphenburg.

Schloss Nymphenburg

Later we visit the Hofbrau Haus.  We drink big beers and Russell eats pork knuckle.  It is a good day.

Pork knuckle

Germany, Day 9

We say our goodbyes early today and Russell and I catch a train to Munich.  It is supposed to take 5 hours.

Five hours later we are only 1/2 way to our destination and are asked to take an alternate route.  Having eaten virtually nothing that morning due to our lack of Czech funds, we dash into the train station, grab food, and make it outside in time to see the train pulling away.  We spend a pleasant hour at the Schwandorf train station before another train arrives.

Schwandorf, Germany

Our hotel is on the outskirts of Munich, but very nice.  They leave Haribo gummy bears on my pillow.  When we check-in Russell runs into people from the Frankfurt office of his company.  We make friends and eat dinner with real Germans.

Mmmm

Germany, Day 8

We sleep in and spend most of our day in Prague making plans for Munich.  We manage to visit Prague Castle with St. Vitus Cathedral, and the Charles Bridge again.

Gargoyles at St. Vitus

We head to the Powder Tower to meet Mr. Huggy’s beer tour and soon realize this doesn’t actually exist.  We opt for a walking tour that promises a traditional Czech dinner in a brewery when finished.  Only one other person, a Welshman, joins the tour.

Is fried cheese a traditional Czech dinner?

Back at the hostel, we head to the bar and test our skills on the Wii.  Russell takes all of our money to the bar, lays it down and says, “Give me as much beer as this will buy.”

Beer and Wii

We have a good night, our last night together as a group.

Germany, Day 7

We leave for Prague in the morning and say good-bye to one member of our group.  Though it is early, there is beer and sausage to be had at the train station.

Charles Bridge

In Prague we explore the Old Town and on the Charles Bridge we once again unexpectedly run into other guests from the wedding. They recommend a biergarten with a view and we walk a long, long way to find it.  We buy sausage and beer from a cart and watch the sun set over the city.  

Prague at night

We move back to the hostel and plan to visit the bar downstairs.  We stop in the room first and each sit on our beds.  Teets asks from the top bunk, “Are we going to the bar?”  but we are all asleep before the question can be answered.  This is the only early night of the trip.

Germany, Day 6

It is too early when we make our way to the communal breakfast before leaving the castle.  We catch a bus back to Dresden and move to a new and quiet hostel.  

We eat Chinese food near the train station then leave for a walking tour of Old Town Dresden.  The tour never materializes and we wander around on our own for a bit before napping in the park.

Old Town Dresden

Exhausted, we go back to the hostel and drink warm beer in our room.  Later we move to the hostel bar where we meet up with other wedding guests and a group of drunk German boys.  Soon we are also drunk Americans and told repeatedly by the bar staff that we need to keep quiet.

Yoga (and beer) in the hostel

Dinner does not materialize until 10 p.m. and half of the group bows out of the plan to revisit the Discothek from earlier in the week.  Teets and Greer make it out though and they return sometime after the sun has started to rise.

Sunset in Dresden

 

Germany, Day 5

We wake early due to noise and begin a search for breakfast.  Food is surprisingly difficult to find before 9 a.m.  We return to the hostel to change into our wedding clothes and wait for our taxi to arrive.  The car is late and we make quite a site, standing outside the hostel in formal wear with backpacks.

Waiting in tuxedos

We arrive at the castle in the pouring rain and are forced to hike through the mud to the gate.  Our rooms are assigned and we are placed in the attic.  I can hardly contain my excitement.

Schloss Scharfenburg

The wedding festivities last all day.  They wed at 12:30 p.m. We drink champagne and eat cake in the afternoon, then take a tour of the castle.  We visit the dungeons and torture chamber and follow secret passages.  I thoroughly enjoy the tour and do some exploring on my own.  I am convinced the place is haunted and scare myself into stopping my unofficial tour.

In the dungeon

We eat and drink in the evening but it is not until after 10 p.m. that we also dance.  The loud, drunk Americans rule the floor and vow to keep the party jumping.  There is a break for ice cream at midnight but we dance until it is time to help the DJ pack up at 2:30 a.m.  Russell and I return to the attic and Teets and Greer outlast us again.

The bride and groom dance

 

Germany, Day 4

Day 4 becomes a day of rest and we sleep in as long as possible.  We finally leave the hostel for brunch, then walk the neighborhood trying to find some objects made of porcelain to purchase for the evening’s pre-wedding festivities.  We return empty-handed as it turned out to be a national holiday, Mannertag, .  The holiday was once religious but is now a sort of father’s day.  Groups of men celebrate by roaming the streets towing wagons full of beer and getting very drunk.

In the evening we attend the Polterabend.  The guests all break porcelain dishes to scare away bad ghosts before the bride and groom tie the knot. 

Scaring away the ghosts

The bride and groom must clean up the mess before the wedding.  Naturally, all attempts are made to thwart this effort.

Polterabend clean-up

 

Germany, Day 3

We leave Berlin in the afternoon, traveling by bus to Dresden.  We are assigned to the Camel Room at our hostel in the Neustadt.  The room pales in comparison to our previous accommodations.

The Camel Room

For dinner we choose a GDR style pub.  The food is amazing and we wonder why we are literally the only people in the restaurant.  Other tourists arrive later.

A GDR meal

We walk toward the Old Town and come across a tiki bar situated on the river.  We sip their signature sangria while others play beach volleyball nearby.  The bartender recommends a discothek and calls a car to take us there.  We are surprised when a man in an Audi arrives to pick us up.

Tiki bar on the Elbe

The discothek is nearly empty on a Wednesday night but we do our best to drink and dance with abandon.  It is very late when we arrive at the hostel but sleep is nearly impossible.  The street noise outside the window is ridiculous, with loud music and screaming pub patrons.  When the crowds finally leave, the street cleaner arrives and I listen to the noise of the motor as it blends with the music.