Nothing says München Hofbräuhaus or Munich like beer.
Not beer as it’s served in the states, but serious beer, always draft, helles or dunkeles, in mass quantities. Let’s just say after one of these babies, you shouldn’t drive. After two, you may need an alternate form of conveyance.
Zwei und ein halb Mass Bier
The Hofbräuhaus epitomizes large quantities of beer, brought quickly and consumed readily. Tristan, Ericka and I recommend the original which has a nice clean bitter taste that refreshes one’s thirst after a long walk.
Mustard – our two tickets to pretzel and beer heaven
It also goes well with one of the large pretzels that you may buy separately (about €3) which taste especially good with the mustard. The pretzels are so big that four can snack on them easily.
Tristan enjoying a liter (Mass) beer at the HB
The atmosphere inside is the typical bräuhaus arched ceiling that one would say gives it that special Bavarian gemütlichkeit. A German word used to express cozi- or hominess, or when one is warm and comfortable. That along with the 5-member brass ompa-band only adds to its charm.
Ahhh, good to the last drop, noch ein bitte!
The food is also very good. I tried the mixed salad, a Bratwürst on sauerkraut and potato salad and all were delicious.
Ericka translating the menu for her mom
Ericka and Patti tried the Bratwürst too, but with the mixed season vegetables and were pleasantly surprised when there was no meat in them.
We would consider the Hofbräuhaus a very tasty and necessary stop for anyone visiting Munich.
Given the fact that it is perched atop a rocky outcropping with sheer drops on three of its four sides, the castle is indeed a sight to see.
King Ludwig’s II retreat from the world
The castle Neuschwanstein was actually called Hohenschwanstein a hundred or more years ago until King Ludwig II of Bavaria switched the names of the two.
The surrounding area from this castle’s aerie is breathtaking, especially when looking at the German and Austrian Alps toward Schwangau. Schwangau is the larger and more proper town of the two which includes Hohenschwangua, the latter of which essentially acts as a tourist trap and jumping off point for the 1.5 kilometer trek up to the castle.
Overlook with Schwangau and the Alps
Unfortunately, you cannot take photographs inside the castle and the face of the entrance and some rooms were under renovations while we were there. However, though the tour is kind of short, around 20 minutes, it is still worth it.
From Hohenschwangau
There is also a path to a footbridge that affords a better view and perspective for photographs. Unfortunately, it was jammed with other tourists who instead of climbing the hill took the bus up and were dropped off right in front of the path to it, creating a long line for which we lacked the time to stand in due to our castle tour time slot.
Hohenschwanstein castle
The other prominent landmark in the area is Hohenschwanstein which is where King Ludwig grew up. Less ostentatious and functional, right down to its painted walls, it remains more of a curiousity than a tourist destination. The history of Ludwig’s upbringing is very interesting and his separation from his father during his childhood is shown in the very design of this castle. Whereby the children lived on the right side as shown in the photograph above, and the King ruled on the left.
Ericka, Tristan and Patti along the Alpsee
Luckily the spring weather was great and made for a most enjoyable day.
Today starts Ericka’s vacation and we are on our way via train to Munich, Germany.
This starts out with our tickets to the main train station, Frankfurt Hbf, using the regional line. Once there we had a quick bite to eat and jumped on our ICE train (high speed, hmmm, er not quite) to Munich.
Patti and Ericka relaxing
Patti and Ericka settling in for the three hour ride. Ericka was actually on her phone more than reading that book! ?Well at the moment we have run into a bit of a problem, after Aschaffenburg a fire somewhere ahead has broken out and delayed our train. In the meantime they have backed our train up a bit and stopped at Laufach, so that we may stretch our legs.
Laufach unscheduled stop
Yeah, its not Würzburg or Munich.
Our doomed ICE 623
While outside we had some time to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather.
Train tracks at Laufach, direction Würzburg
Our stay at Laufach was just around an hour long.
The gorgeous countryside just outside Lohr am Main reminds me a lot of Copake and the Berkshire mountains. The Main river down here reminds me more of a stream than a river. The one thing I did forget was how many tunnels were on this line when I last took it five years ago..!
Well we have to switch trains in Nürnberg, thank you fire.
Nürnberg Hbf platform, was expecting a roof at least
Though technically not the one they told us to take. It is an ICE train and it’s headed to München Hbf!
München Hbf
Finally, after five and a half hours, München and the promise of a hotel room and beer!
The passed few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity finding an apartment in Turin and moving in. There were not only the customary contractual things to take care of, but also cleaning and furnishing the place to our liking. Luckily, we found something that mostly fit our desires while still being in the central part of town (Via Giovanni Giolitti.) However, it took several trips to IKEAand other sojourns to bring it to a point where we could move out of our AirBnB.
Just this past Friday, fairly exhausted, the three of us, Patti, Tristan and I left Turin for Frankfurt, Germany, after finally getting the apartment halfway straightened out and liveable (there will be another blog entry on that later once we have it completed.) The trip from Turin to Milan was more or less uneventful, although happily very fast and on time, thank you FrecciaRossa!
Leaving the Swiss Alps behind as we enter Thun
As we have in the past, we decided on taking the train from Milan to Frankfurt instead of flying. A seven hour journey between the two points (perhaps two hours more than flying), but relaxing in first class with its beverage service and other amenities, made the trip all that more enjoyable. Riding through the Italian and Swiss Alps, especially after the recent heavy snows, also made it a memorable site-seeing trip.
Train platform at Thun
Though of no particular importance as an attraction, the platform sign for Thun is shown above.
My fascination with this train stop has more to do with the John Le Carre’s 1982 BBC series “Smiley’s People“, than with any real, first hand experience of the place. In the movie, a soviet diplomat assumes another identity while in Thun, to remove money from a bank account setup by his Soviet operatives. Since I had never heard of the place, I became curious about its location and then subsequently surprised when one day a train that I was taking actually passed it! I guess it demonstrates just how small the world really is in a way.
Oberschweinstiege Restaurant and Blockhutte
After spending a relaxing weekend with our daughter Ericka, we decided to visit one of the restaurants that we enjoyed immensely on our last visit. After having snow flurries that morning, and a very intolerable forty something degrees that evening for North Carolinians, we took the regional train from Offenbach am Main to Frankfurt Süd, and subsequently Strassenbahn 18 to the park. Unbeknownst to us, Strassenbahn 18 dropped us some 2 km distant from our objective, which forced us to walk for an additional twenty minutes through the park.
Trails in the Naturpark in Frankfurt am Main Süd
The Oberschweinstiege, nestled in the naturpark in Frankfurt am Main Süd, sports a long tradition of local cuisine. It is also repleat with local history and traditional, which anyone can find and read with a proper internet search.
Tristan and Patti’s Rumpsteak vom Argentinischen Rind with vegatables and grilled potatoes
As can been seen by the photograph above the rump roast was thick, juicy and tender. Complimented with a Pauliner Hefe or local wine, an enjoyable meal anywhere.
Oberschweinstiege-Pfanne
I, on the other hand, decided to go with the establishment’s main dish. A hot frying pan of rendered pig with spaetzle!
Rinderroulade nach Großmutters Art
Lastly, Ericka had the grandmother’s roast beef roladen with red cabbage and spaetzle.
Of course, no meal is complete without dessert. But this of course was nothing special since each went to their own comfort food. I chose the apple strudel, Ericka chose creme brulee and the others chose ice cream. All in all, a great evening of eating, compounded by our success getting on Strassenbahn 17, the correct train, which picked us up, but a few hundred meters from the restaurant’s door, instead of a mile away..!
Yesterday, we went to the Royal Museums of Turin. It includes the Royal Palace and its Gardens, the Royal Library and Armory, the Sebaudian Gallery (Dutch & Flemish paintings) the Museum of Antiquities and the Chapel of the Holy Shroud.
Tickets for Three
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
The Holy Shroud
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
Royal Palace of the Savoys
The Entrance
Photos of the Royal Palace. Some rooms were quite gaudy.
Views from the Royal Palace
Chapel of the Holy Shroud
A fire destroyed part of the Chapel in 1997 and is undergoing restoration
Given all that goes on in America, the day to day political bullshit, Libertarianism ad nauseum, paranoia, narcisistic behaviors, etc. I have found our trip to Europe and Italy in particular more than liberating, I find it refreshing. I would like to use the term mind-cleansing, the act of ridding one’s mind of all past day to day perceptions and cares.
Yes, for sure, the European Union have their own minority stupid asses that hold sway over the majority, with Brexit and other less public referendums. But at least the Brexit has the EU fixated for a change. That they even gave the Brits a relaxed scheduled to leave actually astounds me. As any American would say, if you want to go, please go already. My own opinion is mixed on the matter, but the short of it is, the EU ought to let them fall, and fall hard if they want to. Its best for children to learn from a bloody nose and by extension countries as well.
This brings me to interesting sidewalk art I happen to find. In an effort to clear my mind’, I have allowed my once astral senses to turn earthwards, streetwards to be specific, instead of to the sky and the cosmos they so dearly love. Turin at least seems to be filled with an assortment of strange, if not 12 monkeys, related kind of street art.
The above was found low on a building’s foundation of a common thoroughfare. Of course I am not certain of the objective of the depiction, but imagine it has something to do with turning off your TV. The caption or title seems to read “skene”, which I don’t think has anything to do with the female anatomy, but rather the name of a group publishing their rhetoric.
The next image above appears to perhaps have something to do with the zombie apocalypse. Obviously a young woman in thin bandages stopping us from entering or proceding further. To what end? Or perhaps something totally different. Since I am not part of the society here, merely an interloper, I cannot know for sure. But it appears to be a sincere rejection of something.
Lastly, something I can appreciate. It took great pains during my tenure NOT to become an authority. For some, a cop out for sure, for others an understandable, even allergic reaction to becoming that which one detests. Apparently, our Italian brethren have the same mistrust of the Yale graduates and American elite we do. Once I read this my mind no longer felt as clean as I thought it should. Geography in the 21st century is apparently no longer the cognitive antiseptic it once was.
For a proper mind-cleanse, some far off mountain range, or perhaps even Antartica is more appropriate. I at least, have found the streets of Turin invigorating and its street art interesting but not enough of a distraction for a proper mind-cleanse.
Saturday, prior to my son Tristan and I knowing that we had contracted the flu, we all walked into the center of town to visit the Egyptian museum. It contains the largest collection of artifacts, outside of Egypt. We had thought that Italy was still allowing free admissions to museums from the 5th – 9th. However, this was not the case. In fact, we could not even get a student discount since those are only offered on Thursdays – oh well. The one thing we did get unexpectedly were headsets, which unfortunately ended up to be useless technological throwbacks to the early 1990’s. Undeterred, we soldiered on determined to make the best of it, even among an afternoon throng.
The amazing pieces were the statues and sarcophagi which were surrounded by glass so you can see all sides.
Below is Patti in front of a 4200 year old Sphinx, like the one near the pyramids of Giza.
And finally the sarcophagi we mentioned before.
Well after an hour, which we really enjoyed (our son, Tristan is an ancient history buff), we took our leave to consume some of Italy’s really fine coffee.
Next time we hope to post about something a little less macabre.
Last night we enjoyed dinner at Stellino’s to say farewell to Dana, he will be staying behind in Cary, working for Genesys in RTP.
Erick, Patti, Dana and Tristan at Stellino’s
After a great supper, we said our goodbyes and stayed at the TRU Hilton hotel. It is located very near RDU airport, so it was a snap this morning to drop our rental vehicle off and start our real trip. First destination, JFK airport in NY. So we say goodbye to North Carolina for the time being, onto new adventures.
RDU airport and NC from the air
We will keep all posted as we make progress to our final destination, Turin Italy. Ciao for now!
Welcome to the Griffin’s European travel journal. Here we hope to highlight our travel preparations, travels and experiences moving to Europe and specifically Italy. Today is the start of this blog but not the start of our journey, which frankly started some five (5) years ago.
To be frank, this journey has been long in coming. The first germs of our even wanting to do this occurred close to a decade ago, if not somewhat longer. Now that time is growing short for our trip, there seems almost too much to do: financial planning, selling, gifting, storing, packing, and shipping; the list seems to grow each day. We enter our third week from finishing all this up which will culminate with our travel and entry into Europe via Milan, Italy.
Our storage – our life condensed into a 16 cubic meter space for our children…
As this our first post on this subject and the day has grown somewhat long in the tooth already, I shall pause here and add more tomorrow or later this week. I hope to convey some of the results of our own specific preparations as well as investigations into what we think still must be done. Back soon!
