I know everyone says the same thing after a trip to Europe, the trains here are really amazing. Clean, inexpensive, convenient, and sometimes confusing. I really do enjoy utilizing them while in country.
We set off on our Munich venture with an early 7am start from the house and a short walk to the Colmar train station. From there we hopped the 30 minute train to Strasbourg to make our connection to Stuttgart and then into Munich.
The train to Strasbourg is a breeze, just a shot hop up the tracks. From there, it got a little more difficult. We took a high speed train to Stuttgart, where we had a short 9 minute window to change trains. Not fun when you don't read German and don't know the station at all. Luckily, we found the right platform and made the run to the next train with little issue.
On the last leg to Munich, we settled in to eat the sandwiches and snacks we purchased in Strasbourg and certain runs to the bar car were made. At 1:30p we arrived at the absolutely massive Munich central train station, something I never imagined existed. This thing is a damn shopping mall that trains pull into.
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| Munich central station. |
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| No, really. This freaking place is gigantic! |
Arrival in Munich was a mixed bag. The area around the train station felt a bit like the more unsavory parts of L.A. The cops were rounding up drunken homeless and it was pissing down cold rain. Not the best way to be introduced to the city.
Our hotel, the quite nice NH Munchen Deutscher Kaiser that is just across the street from the train station. They let us check in a tad early so we got settled in and unpacked our very light bags. The rooms were quite nice for the price. Scrupulously clean, well appointed and with great views, it was a very nice surprise for an online reservation.
After getting settled in, we asked the hotel staff at the desk the best way to get to the Hofbrauhaus. Established in 1589, it has been an institution for centuries. It is also one of the things on my Uncle Gary's bucket list so we had to go!
We took the underground from our hotel to the area near the HBhaus. While under construction everywhere, the system is quite clean, easy to use and cheap as chips. The tide of humanity was insane, as we found out later for good reason.
Arriving near the HBhaus, we wandered a bit with the tourist map past the Rathhaus(city hall) and finally found our destination.
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| The Rathaus facade |
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| Not a cathedral, a government office building. |
It was busy. Really, really busy. Really, really, really busy. Thousands of people were packed into huge tables covered with beer and food. The heat, noise and smells were overwhelming. Finally we found a table and got jammed in, all 8 of us. Crowded tables around us were chanting at each other, shouting and throwing bits of pretzel. Turns out that not only were we in Munich during a 2 week school holiday for most of Europe, there was a local football game between Munich and Dortmund. Usually a massive tourist trap, the HBhaus was taken over by the football crowds and locals. I deeply suspect we were some of the very few tourists in the place. It was intense!
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| The Munich guys in red... |
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| The Dortmund kids in yellow... made for a noisy lunch! |
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| Pig knuckle! Not at all heart healthy but sooooo good. |
We ordered a table full of beer in 1 litre steins, and pork knuckles. Yummy, huge pork knuckles in gravy with a dumpling apparently made of industrial insulation. Yes, we ate it all!
2 hours of noise, food and beer were enough and we wandered about Munich a bit more before heading back to the hotel. It really is a splendid city, I wish we had more time to explore. I know we missed a lot.
Wednesday we met down in the hotel restaurant for one of the best hotel breakfasts we have ever enjoyed. Expensive, but well worth it for the complete offering of both European and American classics.
After eating, we checked out and found our train to Dachau. Honestly this was the whole reason for our trip to Munich. We felt it important to go see Dachau while in Munich as it is just a 20 minute ride into the suburbs.
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| Entrance to Dachau |
I'm not inclined to write a lot about Dachau or post a lot of pics. It was a very difficult morning and we were there on the 70th anniversary of the liberation. Several hundred Polish priests and members of remembrance groups were on site for a ceremony and mass. While touring the camp and memorial site, we came across a huddle of press surrounding 2 survivors of the camp and one of the American liberators. We followed them about and listened to their stories, most difficult to hear but important to remember.
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| American liberator and a Jewish survivor of the camp. |
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| Franz Thaler, survivor of Dachau |
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| The dead line. Ditch, tanglefoot and electrified wire. A high brick wall was just outside the wire, now removed. |
We spent much more time at Dachau than we had intended so our trip back into Munich did not allow us enough time to really get out and explore much. We decided to have a nice lunch in the train station, no seriously, they have fantastic food and services there!
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| Train station food in Munich |
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| Remember that crappy airport sandwich you had last time you traveled? Here is what we got to choose from... |
Late night getting home. 10:30 and time to get some much needed sleep!
Rod, Nancee and Malcolm arrived yesterday and are settled in. Tomorrow looks to be another of our quiet days exploring Colmar.
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