Amy 'n Rei

Romantic Road and Bavaria (8/14 – 8/23/2010)

We usually took our three kids (Sister, Brother and Cutie) on a family vacation in August, right before the schools started. We went to Germany with a side trip to Salzburg, Austria in mid-August 2010. The reason we decided to visit Germany was very simple — Lufthansa had a sale and the flight cost less than $800 USD per person! It was too good a deal to pass by.

That was a time before GPS was widely available, and we still relied on printed maps to navigate, so driving was quite an adventure too!

Day 1: Arriving in Frankfurt, on our way to Rothenburg

Romantic Road is a scenic route in Germany that runs from Würzburg to Füssen, passing through many charming little towns such as Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Nördlingen and Dinkelsbuhl, and providing sightseeing opportunites to magnificent castles such as the famous Neuschwanstein Castle.

We arrived in Frankfurt in the early morning. After picking up our luggage and the rental car, we drove to Würzburg, the beginning of the Romantic Road. We started today’s sightseeing at the Würzburg Residence, which was a palace served as the residence of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg (thus, the name).

Even though the palace itself was pretty impressive, the real treasure was the garden. The huge garden was very well maintained with lots of colorful flowers.

It was only around mid-morning after we finished the sightseeing. The sky was gray, and the weather was a bit cold. We continued walking to the town square. Würzburg was a charming little city. The town square was small but beautiful. Today was Sunday, and we didn’t see many people walking around. It was so quiet!

We decided to have a quick breakfast there before continuing the drive to Rothenburg.

The driving from Würzburg to Rothenburg was pretty uneventful. We arrived in about an hour. Rothenburg or Rothenburg ob der Tauber was a walled town, and here we encountered our first driving problem of the trip: we couldn’t find a road to drive to our hotel in the town! The only roads we saw were narrow cobblestone roads under small arches, and they were full of pedestrians!

Since the hotel we were staying in (Hotel Altes Brauhaus) wasn’t too far away, Daddy decided that we would park the car in a parking lot outside the wall and walked to the hotel to ask for directions. When we told the guy at the hotel reception desk that we couldn’t find any roads beside the narrow cobblestone roads, the guy was secretly laughing.

“Yes, you are supposed to drive on the narrow cobblestone road to reach the hotel, and there is a small door next to the building that leads to the hotel parking.”

So, we finally checked into the Hotel Alte Brauhaus. We got two connected rooms: a double room and a triple room. The kids settled into their triple room, and declared that they were done with sightseeing for the day. They needed to rest to recover from the jet lag.

Since it was still early, Daddy and Mommy decided to explore Rothenburg a bit, and to purchase some food because nobody wanted to leave the hotel to eat. We found a small deli around the corner. Daddy claimed that the hot dog/sausage bread he bought was the best of the kind that he’s ever eaten.

Day 2: Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Legoland!

After a good night’s rest and the delicious breakfast provided by the hotel, we were ready to explore Rothenburg. We walked by little stores selling charming Christmas decorations, sweets and bakeries.

“The entire town is like Disneyland!” exclaimed Brother.

Rothenburg was very quiet in the early morning, which was a startling difference to the crowded town with many tourists we saw yesterday afternoon.

Walking around the town wall was a must. It was not only fun but also provided great viewpoints of Rothenburg. We spent a couple hours strolling in town and really enjoyed the walk and the excellent view.

We also visited the St. Jakob’s Church (or St. James’s Church), which had an intricate wooden altar piece depicting the last supper.

Since this was a family vacation, there needed to be some kids’ activities too. Therefore, we headed to Legoland after lunch. That was a detour from the Romantic Road.

On our way to Legoland, we stopped by Ulm to see the tallest church in the world. Ulm Minster is a Lutheran church with a measure of 530 ft. Because it has never been the episcopal see of a bishop, Ulm Minster is not a cathedral.

Here we encountered our second driving problem of the trip — we couldn’t figure out how to drive to the church, even though we could see it plainly. The surroundings were again full of narrow cobblestone roads. We then decided that Mommy and Brother should get out of the car to investigate further. When Mommy and Brother arrived at the church, they saw cars parking nearby. Apparently, the drivers drove through the cobblestone roads to find parking near the church.

“If there is a road in Germany that’s wide enough for a car, then you can drive on it,” Brother concluded.

The Legoland in Germany was quite small compared with other Legoland parks we have visited. However, Sister, Brother and Cutie still had a lot of fun checking out Lego buildings and going on a few rides.

Afterwards, we returned to Rothenburg to have dinner. The kids again declared that they had enough for the day, and they just wanted to rest in the hotel.

Daddy and Mommy decided to go out to explore more. There was a famous Night Watchman of the Rothenburg. He dressed as a medieval night watchman to lead a tour from the Market Square. We didn’t join the tour, but we did manage to get a few photos.

Day 3: Continuing the Romantic Road

We left Rothenburg this morning to continue driving on the Romantic Road. We passed by a few small towns and saw some interesting buildings on the way. Our first full stop was at the town Nördlingen. Just like Rothenburg had the St. Jakob’s Church, Nördlingen had St. George’s Church.

St. George’s Church had a tall tower that offered a splendid view of Nördlingen after a long climb on the wooden stairs. We charged all the way to the top to enjoy the great view and to take many photos.

On our way down, we realized that Sister fainted on the stairs on her way up! Some good Samaritans “rescued” her and let her rest in a room. We thanked the kind people, making sure that Sister was okay before climbing down to resume our journey.

Driving on the Romantic Road without GPS was quite challenging. Maps and signs weren’t always clear, and we got lost a lot. Once we stopped to check the road signs to find out that all 3 signs had the identical names! We wanted to visit the famous Wieskirche church, a UNESCO Heritage site, but couldn’t find it. After multiple wrong turns, we finally located the church. Wieskirche looked plain from the outside, but the interior was glorious Baroque-Rococo style. There was an event going on when we were there, and the church was full of people. We couldn’t get in to get a closer look and could only take pictures from the entrance.

We were staying two nights in Schwangau, within walking distance of both the old and the new castles (Hohenschwangau Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle). On our way to Schwangau, we had our first glimpse of the Neuschwanstein Castle. It really looked like a fairytale castle! From our hotel, Hotel Alpenstuben, both Hohenschwangau Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle were clearly visible. We were going to visit both castles tomorrow; we were so excited!

We had a German dinner tonight, and Daddy got to order the authentic German pork knuckle that he always wanted to try. Sister had the German Spaetzle (some kind of pasta), and the boys ordered Schnitzel dishes. We all enjoyed the food very much.

Day 4: Hohenschwangau Castle, Neuschwanstein Castle and the Luge

We were doing the official Hohenschwangau Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle combined tour today! The castles can only be visited through guided tours. The ticket center was right by the hotel, so we went there to purchase the tickets before breakfast.

The combined tour started with a guided tour to the old swan castle, Hohenschwangau Castle, which was King Ludwig’s family residence. The castle was not as famous as the fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle, but its interior was very interesting. We had an excellent guide, who described to us details of the family history.

We were pleasantly surprised to find out that they sold “royal” gummy bear candies from Haribo, a German confectionary company, in the gift shop.

“Shall we get some royal gummy bears?” asked Mommy.

“Your ‘Little Prince’ already bought a bag,” replied Daddy.

Cutie proudly displayed the bag of candies he had just purchased.

The combined ticket built in plenty of time for visitors to reach Neuschwanstein Castle from Hohenschwangau Castle on foot or by car. We decided to walk. The walk offered us splendid views of both castles on the way!

From above, Hohenschwangau also looked like a fairytale castle, while Neuschwanstein was just like Disney castle. We could also see the beautiful blue Alpsee from above. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to explore more.

Even though Neuschwanstein Castle looked very impressive from the outside, its interior was actually quite bare. We were only allowed to see a few finished rooms through the guided tour. A good portion of the castle remained unfinished. We were also not allowed to take photos inside the castle, except for the castle kitchen before our exit.

The kids’ activitity of the day is the luge ride at a nearby place. We each sat in a luge to be pulled to the top of a hill. The luge was fairly easy to control: push forward to speed up and pull back to brake. We bought a 10-ticket package. Daddy didn’t want to get on a luge, Mommy tried once, and the kids each got 3 rides. They all had a blast! This was definitely their favorite activity of the day.

Afterward, we went to Fussen to get some food and then called it a day. This was the end of the Romantic Road.

Day 5: Linderhof, Zugspitze and Garmisch-Partenkirchen

We left Schwangau after breakfast to drive to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but we would make a couple stops on the way. The first stop was at Linderhof, another of Ludwig’s castles. Linderhof was smaller in scale, but it was quite elegant. There was a beautiful garden with fountains, and a swan lake!

The next stop was to Zugspitze, which’s the highest peak in Germany at 2,962m. The trip required a cogwheel train and cable cart ride, which was quite interesting. However, it was very foggy at the mountain top. We were supposed to be rewarded with a 360-degree view of high mountains around us, but what we really saw was fog everywhere! It was also very cold!

We stayed in a hotel named Forthaus Graseck in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The hotel was at a very remote place and could only be reached through the hotel’s gondola ride. We again had a double room for Daddy and Mommy, and a triple room for the kids.

There were no other places to eat except for the hotel restaurant. Fortunately the food there was very good. Sister was especially impressed by the Cheese Spaetzle; she claimed that it was the best Cheese Spaetzle she has ever had.

It was very cold at night, and there wasn’t much for us to do there. We went directly back to our rooms, took a shower and went to bed.

Day 6: Partnach Gorge, Alps, and Munich

It turned out that there was a little treasure near our hotel! The stunning Partnach Gorge was within walking distance, and it’s a natural wonder. We took the hotel gondola down, walked to the gorge entrance, and walked on the narrow path along the river through the gorge. It was amazingly beautiful! It seemed that the Partnach Gorge was still a very well-kept secret. We didn’t meet anyone else there and had the entire gorge just to ourselves. We also didn’t hear any noises besides the sound of the water flow.

After we checked out the hotel, we drove on to visit a newly opened attraction, AlpspiX skywalk. To reach the skywalk, we needed to take a cable car ride first (unless we wanted to climb all the way up!). The access to the AlpspiX skywalk was free. The skywalk jutted out 13m, and one could see 1000m down from the side or from the metal grid floor! It’s not for anyone suffering from vertigo.

We also had a great hike on the alps. The weather was ideal for hiking — not too hot, too cold, nor too windy, and the view was of course spectacular! Daddy and Mommy decided that they would like to spend more time hiking in the alps in their retirement. This was apparently a very popular hiking route, and we saw many other hikers along the way. We also saw some gliders above. After the hike, we had fries and drinks in a mountain hut before taking another cable car down the mountain.

Afterward, we drove to tonight’s destination, Munich. It was still early when we arrived in Munich, and we had enough time to visit the nearby Nymphenburg Palace. The palace was built in the Baroque style and was the summer residence of the Bavarian Elector. It was another opulent palace with a huge, well-maintained garden. We also checked out the Coach Museum there.

Day 7: Side trip to Salzburg, Austria

We planned a side trip to Salzburg (about 90 miles away from Munich) for the day. Salzburg was the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was a filming place of the movie “The Sound of Music” (one of Daddy’s favorites).

Brother has been playing the violin for many years, and have played several pieces of music composed by Mozart. Therefore, he was pretty excited to visit Mozart’s birthplace, and to take some pictures there.

Cutie found the ubiquitous Mozart chocolates available in every gift shop more interesting. There were so many varieties! We bought several boxes to bring home.

The Mirabell Garden was where Maria taught the von Trapp children to sing “Do-Re-Mi.” The place was a must-see for us. We spent some time strolling in the colorful garden and took many photos. We also got up to Hohensalzburg Fortress, the fortress dominating the Salzburg skyline, but we didn’t enter it. Instead, we sat down at a terrace cafeteria to have some drinks and the famous dessert apple strudels with cream, and to enjoy the great view of Salzburg.

We also took a boat ride on the Salzach river. It was very relaxing sitting on the boat flowing down the river. The weather was warm, and we almost fell asleep during the boat ride!

Day 8: More time in Munich

Today was our last real vacation day, and we would spend the time exploring Munich. After breakfast, we walked to the Marienplatz. There’s a famous clock, which would put on quite a show when telling time at 11 am and 12 noon. Since it was still too early, we decided to visit the Residenz first.

The Residenz was a reconstruction after the original one was demolished during World War II bombing. Towards the end of WWII, the German knew that Munich was going to be targeted, so they spent a tremendous effort to photograph the city. The Residenz and other buildings were later reconstructed based on the photos. The Antiquarium was my favorite room of the Residenz. It was so amazing! We spent a couple hours in Residenz checking out various rooms and art displays. We also visited its treasury.

After we left the Residenz, we headed back to the Marienplatz for the 12-noon clock show. It seemed to me just like another Disneyland attraction!

The kids’ activity for the day was a visit to the Deutsches Museum. Germany was famous for its science and technology, which showcased in many of the exhibitions in the museum. The highlight for the kids was the mines, which showed the German mining history. It was a thrill to walk inside the dark mines!

Of course, Daddy would have to go to the famous beer hall Hofbräuhaus to have an authentic German beer there! (Cutie was too young to drink beer at the time, but he would manage to return to Munich several years later with friends to have his share of the German beer!)

This marked the end of our Germany trip, though we still left a large portion of Munich unexplored due to the lack of time. We were going home tomorrow!

Afterthoughts

We would rate this Bavaria trip “above expectations.” Friends after viewing our photos all exclaimed that Bavaria was amazingly beautiful! Sister, Brother and Cutie all enjoyed and remembered the trip. Sister later took two semesters of German when she was in college, and Cutie returned to Munich with friends on a backpack trip.

Since there were five of us, we preferred to book two rooms (hopefully interconnected) that could accommodate five people in total. Fortunately, we were able to use booking.com to search and to book the accommodation we want.

It was a time that GPS wasn’t widely available, and we had to mainly rely on paper maps. That made the driving very challenging, and we did get lost multiple times. I imagine that it will be a lot easier nowadays with the modern technology.

Germany is not a very expensive country. We were able to have great meals with very reasonable prices. It’s a great family vacation destination.