I don’t know if I complained about it here, but my hair was super uncooperative during our trip. It always felt sticky, and it was several shades darker and tangled like mad. I felt like a little kid again, crying when someone tried to brush my hair because of all the tangles. Combine that with the humidity, and I looked like one giant frizz ball.

It seemed so strange because I use the same shampoo at home and have no problems. I looked it up, and other people have noted Munich’s water having that effect on their hair. I’ve also found references to Munich’s hard water being good for brewing beer.

Hmmm… well - I’d have to find a better shampoo for hard water or something if I lived there. It was horrible. I’m much happier being able to run my fingers through my hair here at home with soft water.

I saw a guy on a train one day who had something like one giant matted ball of hair in the back like a big dreadlock. That’s how I was starting to feel.

The good news is that it only took one shower in soft water to get my hair back to normal!

This was the funniest thing I saw on my whole trip: the Bier Bike

The picture is from the website bierbike-muenchen.de. I didn’t get a picture of my own and I only saw it the one time. Apparently it’s a rental, so it’s not just out roaming the streets all the time. You kind of have to see it in motion to see how funny it is… the people actually pedal.

We got up at 7 a.m. on Thursday (which is midnight central time). We went to the airport early because I had not been able to check in on NWA, KLM, or Air France. Bah. When I tried to check in at the airport the computer there couldn’t find my reservation either so I went to the desk. The woman at the desk told me that I couldn’t check in online because my first leg had a paper ticket. PAPER TICKET? WTF? Why the hell would 1 out of 6 legs of my trip be on a paper ticket, and where the hell is this paper ticket? Did they mail it to my office after I left on leg 1? Grrr…. no big deal, they printed my boarding pass and away we went.

Everything went pretty smoothly. We were a little scared when we got to Amsterdam because we landed and learned that our next flight was already boarding, but it was 1.5 hours before takeoff. Hmm… we hurried to the gate and found that we had to go through a pretty intense security screening right at the gate. After we got through that we just sat at the gate. It was too bad we couldn’t get something to eat without going back through security.

We landed in Detroit and had 45 minutes before boarding started for our next flight. During that time we had to go through passport check, pick up our bags, then through customs. It should have been fine, but after we cleared the passport counter our bags didn’t come. A few minutes later there was an announcement that weather was delaying our bags. We were thinking… ‘Rain… seriously?’ but I guess there was lightning. When you’re in limbo between passport and customs you are not allowed to use laptops, cameras, or cell phones. And there were no information screens at all. We were all sitting around baggage claim for an hour before they started up the belts again and sent our bags down. My bag came down on claim 7 where Brian was standing and Brian’s came down on claim 8 where I was standing, and it took us a few minutes to figure out that we had all of our bags.

We went through customs, which was no big deal since we only bought about $60 of stuff, and nothing controlled. At that point the gate agents advised us to “Run!” to try to make our 7:15 flight (it was 7:30). We had heard that the whole airport had been closed for the last hour with no planes going in or out, so it was likely our plane hadn’t left yet. Unfortunately, we still had to go through security behind several old men who didn’t understand metal detectors and had to be reminded over and over and over to take off their belts, remove their wallets and change from their pockets, etc. The people directly in front of us must have had about 10 bags and insisted on unpacking and repacking them on the “unsecure” side… ARGH! Move your ass! We finally got through and went as fast as possible, which isn’t actually running, but more like fast walking when I have trouble breathing because I’m dried out from flying all day. We finally got to the gate panting and exhausted to find out our flight was delayed a couple of hours. That was good news as far as we were concerned.

The plane for our flight had landed elsewhere because of the weather situation. Our flight kept getting moved back further and further and it finally left at 11:15 eastern. We arrived back in Madison at 12 midnight together, with our bags.

Whew. 24 hours of traveling and waiting in airports SUCKS. On the Amsterdam-Detroit flight I got a really bad headache which made me hot, nauseous, and in pain. I was about to go crazy and the DAMNED dinging bell for the flight attendant call kept going off every 10 seconds - I am NOT exaggerating here. Whoever the genius was who decided to put the flight call button on the remote in the armrest should be drawn and quartered. In hell they stick you in a tiny seat, turn up the heat, make it so you can’t move your legs because of the equipment box under the seat in front of you, give you a terrible headache, make you nauseous, and ring a damn bell every 10 seconds… oh yes, and they charge you $1,000 for the privilege.

It’s nice to be home. Refills are free and the check arrives before you’re done eating and not 10 minutes after you finish and are finally able to track down your server. I understand that eating is a relaxed experience in Europe and we Americans should not be in such a rush. But, it’s nice to be back to what I’m used to.

King Ludwig II’s castles (Nymphenburg, Herrenchiemsee, and Linderhof) are all worth visiting, inside and outside. Be prepared to climb some hills, particularly with Nymphenburg (and Hohenschwangau) and Linderhof. There are buses and horse and carriage for a price, but even then you still have to climb if you want to see everything.

King Ruppert has decreed that the fountains in his palace will run 24/7 without fail, with backups and a servant or two on a bicycle to keep them going in the event of power failure. King Ruppert has also decreed that the benches in his park shall not be wet, and automatic dryers will be installed as necessary. Queen Ruppert decrees that there shall be a chandelier in every room and a heated bathtub no smaller than 50′x50′x10′. A “magic” self-setting table would also be nice. And a horse to carry me up all the hills.

Seriously now… our WHOLE HOUSE would fit within some of the rooms in King Ludwig II’s castles. His castles have something like 2000 candles. Apparently they weren’t all lit all the time, but still. The self-setting tables at Linderhof and Chiemsee (where there is a crank mechanism to lower the table and close the floor panels so the servants can set it and send the table back up) were interesting. I also like the idea of having an orangerie. I don’t think I would cover everything in gold like Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. I liked Neuschwanstein better, but I like the paintings on the walls at Hohenschwangau too. It’s hard to pick a favorite.

I’m amazed at how many Americans are in Munich right now. I have to keep reminding myself that we’re in Germany. I can’t decide if that’s sad or good. I’m glad Americans are traveling.

People in Bavaria are very friendly and helpful. We haven’t had any problems.

The Deutsche Bahn can be confusing if anything goes wrong, but they seem to be very efficient at correcting problems. The fact that there were trains waiting for us the whole way to Oberammergau the day that the accident happened was very impressive, especially since that was over 4 different connections.

We had our tickets checked on every RB or RE (regional bahn or regional express) train we rode.

The 14-days castle pass from the Bavarian Palace Department worked at the Munich Residenz (where we purchased it), Linderhof (including the grotto), Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee, and Nymphenburg (and outbuildings). It also got us small discounts for Hohenschwangau and the Chiemsee Bahn and Schifffart (steam train and boat). Everyone at Nymphenburg stared at the pass for a while like they weren’t sure what it was, but eventually let us in.

Bavaria tickets are available from the red Deutsche Bahn machines (which usually have an English option on the menu - they’re under Laender tickets). Partner day tickets for roaming Munich are available from the blue MVV machines.

What did I pack that I’m thankful for: rain coat, sweatshirt, scarf/shawl
What did I pack that I didn’t need: hair dryer (both hotels had one), sunscreen (bah!)
What did I have to buy: band-aids, and umbrella after I left mine on a bench in Hohenschwangau
What do I wish I would have packed: different shoes, waterproof backpack, aspercreme, inflatable bathtub (just kidding, but I could really use a hot soak)

What didn’t we see that I regret: the art galleries (Pinakotheken), the Deutches Museum, the English Garden and Chinese Tower beer garden, more of Salzburg (Hellbrunn Palace), more of the churches in Munich

What did I see that I would skip: that’s a tough one… I guess I would say that I would try to read up on the Residenz and Nymphenburg so that the audio guide wasn’t necessary (you have to pay for it at Nymphenburg). I do not have the patience to stand around listening to a recording - a few quick facts would be great. The recording for the Residenz said that it would take 5 hours to listen to all of the recordings for the treasury!

Today we went to visit Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. We rode the tram 16 and 17 from the Hauptbahnhof out to the Nymphenburg Schloss stop and walked along the road to the palace. I don’t know how big the grounds are, but it is very easy to forget you’re in the middle of a city when you’re walking around in there. We went through the palace rooms, the Marstall Museum (carriages and sleighs), and the Porcelain Museum (Nymphenburg is famous for porcelain).

Sleepy time for swans






Those poor horses - it must have been so heavy…



Hey lady, there’s a bird on your head!


Weird looking duck

After that we wandered through the grounds looking for Amalienburg, Badenburg, and Pagodenburg, the three buildings on the castle grounds. We looked in vain for a map that we could carry with us, so it’s a miracle we didn’t get lost. I think we covered the whole length of the grounds, but not the whole width. There were a lot of joggers, and I can see why. It would be absolutely beautiful in good weather - a summer palace fit for the rulers of Bavaria.

Amalienburg




What a nice kitchen.

Badenburg

Pagodenburg

More from wandering the grounds:






I’m just checking my nails, pay no attention to the big guy behind me with the trident…

After wandering the grounds we stopped for lunch at a cafe on the grounds. It was very expensive (6.50 euros for a 0.4L coke??!!) but we needed a break. We tried to see if we could visit the porcelain factory, but it seemed like all they had was a store open to the public - and a very fancy store at that. We caught the tram back to the Hauptbahnhof and bought stamps to mail postcards at the Deutsche Post yellow automats. After a few tries we figured out how to tell it that we wanted several 1.00 euro stamps. Hopefully the postcards we sent out will arrive sometime in the next few weeks. We weren’t sure which box to mail them in, but the choices were in some PLZ code range or other PLZ…. it seemed like other PLZ was the logical choice.

We had some trouble checking in online for our flights. I finally got Brian’s check in with KLM/Air France to work with the first name Brians. Mine won’t work at all, so we’ll be getting to the airport extra early.

It was still raining so we decided not to do the bike tour we had planned. Instead we headed to Marienplatz to watch the Glockenspiel at the Neues Rathaus. The bells ring and life size figures turn around showing a joust where Bavaria wins against Lorraine (Lothringen), and then a lower set of figures does a dance. After that we wandered around looking at churches and souvenir shops. At about 17:20 bells started ringing like mad - I guess it was a call to prayer. They rang again at 17:50.

The Devil’s Footprint in Frauenkirche

We ate dinner at the Rathskeller under the Neues Rathouse. We just had to compare it to UW’s Rathskeller. We were a little concerned that we would have quite enough euros to pay for dinner (it was expensive), but we came out ok.

He thought I was just taking a picture of the glass

I also took some pictures of places we ate this week to help us remember them.

Weisses Brauhaus
Augustiner Restaurant and Beer Hall

Now we’re back at the hotel, packing and getting ready to say goodbye to Germany. We’re ready to come home. We miss Dragon (and all of you, of course).