Germany

Our journey to Munich began with an overnight train right from Venice. It was another exciting experience for us as this was our first overnight train ride, we had always wanted to ride on one of these. It also made good sense as we save time and money to travel while we were asleep. The room was small and had a double decker bed, and was sufficient for us and our luggage. I remember that the bed was of reasonable size and quite comfortable. There was a small wash basin for us to wash our faces and brush our teeth. The bathroom, however, was a shared one in the common area, very much like the ones in our Singapore homes that we do all of “our businesses” in the same area. It didn't have hot water thus we just use a quick wash up before getting ready for bed.

The good thing about this train ride was the noise was minimum. We had no problem sleeping through the night and woke up next morning just in time to wash up. Overall, we had a good rest which was important since we are going to continue the rest of our Germany trip. Our intention in Germany is to visit the famous Neuschwanstein Castle and we booked a day trip as it was difficult to travel there on our own.

Spring of Life

As it was early when we reached Munich, we decided to leave our luggage at our accommodation first. The early morning of Munich was very quiet, we took and empty tram and arrived at our accommodation. The owner was kind to offer us some breakfast despite that we were only supposed to check in in the afternoon.

The pickup point for our day trip was Hauptbahnhoff in Munich city itself. So we took the same tram back and went to the waiting spot. There were about another 20 tourists waiting too. We didn’t wait very long and soon we found ourselves on the bus. Our tour guide was very helpful and friendly, pointed out many interesting icons in Munich and quite funny at times too.

Visitor centre at Linderhof Palace

Beautiful porch of Linderhof Palace covered in snow 

Linderhof Palace

Statue in the middle of the pond. Love how the gold colour stands out among white

Oberammergau where Passion Play is being performed

The bus would stop at 3 places – Linderhof  Palace (built by King Ludwig II), Oberammergau (a village famous for its yearly “Passion Play” performance)  and Neuschwanstein Castle itself.  

Our Lunch - Pork Knuckles

Our Lunch - I forgot what is being called but it was delicious :)

Neuschwanstein Castle among the mist... 

Horse carriage available for 6 Euro per person to bring tourist uphill to the castle

Close up shot of the horse, they look energetic!

Sharing with us in the carriage was a family of Russians. As the weather was cold, they poured out vodka and offered some to us. This kind gesture kept us warm for the rest of our Neuschwanstein Castle tour.

At the front gate...

Majestic castle, the view must be superb!

Inside the castle... Though we were not supposed to take photo, I accidentally "pressed" the camera button and didn't realised until I got home

Beautiful crafts but we were not sure they are for sale?

Awesome minature of Neuschwanstein Castle. I am hoping this one is for sale so that I can buy it and put it at home. But sadly, it wasn't.

The tour ended around 4 pm at Neuschwanstein Castle and we took a direct route to return to Munich itself. The bus passengers and the guide were so tired that we decided to take naps on the ride back. I didn’t really sleep much though as I am still enjoying the sceneries along the way. As we approached Munich, the guide gave us some good recommendations of food and shopping in Munich before we ended the tour. We decided to try one of her recommended restaurants for some german foodie and good beers.

Dinner place! Looks like a huge pub and our first time dinner in one!

Sausages!!

And tender half chicken. The sauce was flavourful!

Our trip to Munich, Germany was a very short and fruitful one. This was our first time visiting a castle and was one that Disney was inspired. The decorations in the castle/palace are splendid and I would love to try staying in one, even if it is for a few days... Off and going, we are moving on the Prague, Czech Republic.