The photographer was quite grumpy after getting no sleep on the sleeper train (how ironic). We fled Munich after the noon playing of the Marienplatz Glockenspiel, but not before climbing the clock tower of St. Peter’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Church_%28Munich%29) in which Rachel actually climbed and descended all 300+ steps on her own and A was actually convinced to step outside on the thin ledge at the top of tower. This is the day ended with the “Bavarian cultural evening” (Bayerische Heimatabend) at the local beer tent down the block from our hotel in Garmisch-Patenkirchen, picture posted earlier.
Disclaimer: Our current hotel charges 4€ per hour for wifi, so I am uploading this entry hoping it is under my data allowance. I arrive at my cousin’s house Friday night so when I arrive I can hopefully add some pictures to this entry, yesterday’s, and any other entry I might write.
I left off yesterday with us boarding the train. It was a fun experience but I barely got any sleep. I know it was because I was worried about having to get up at 6 to get off the train at 7. The husband barely had any sleep as well. The kids slept well but they were so excited they stayed up later than they should have. I think if the train arrived around 10 AM I would have had a better experience.
We arrived in Munich on time. We found Hertz and were informed that we were upgraded to a Mercedes. You gotta love renting a car in Germany. We found the car and put our suitcases in the car. Then we went back to the train station (the car was a couple of blocks away). My poor kids are having trouble finding drinks here in Germany. All they want is plain water or plain juice. Everything seems to have carbonation. My kids don’t drink soft drinks at home so everything tastes strange to them. Anyway, poor Rhubarb just wanted some apple juice so we were searching for that in the train station. I failed her and got her a carbonated apple juice….
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After the failed drink purchase, we took the public transportation into the old part of Munich. We arrived at the Marionplatz right at nine. I found out we could climb to the top of a nearby church (St. Peters) and we did that. I have a big phobia of heights but I did make it to the top! I am glad we did this first – by the time we left Munich the town center was very crowded. I think the kids enjoyed this climb as well.
After climbing St. Peter’s church we went to the farmers market. I think it is called the Viktualien Market. You could basically find any fruit, vegetable, cheese, meat, or bread that you could possibly need here. It was only around 10 AM at this point. We spent a good time wandering this market and eventually bought food for lunch. We enjoyed eating our food on the benches outside. We noticed that it is never too early to drink beer in Germany. Both myself and my husband passed since we were both tired from the train ride the night before.
After we ate I wanted to check out the Hofbrauhas house. We literally just walked through it. I think my family thinks I am crazy. Had we not had a meal at the Viktualien market I think we would have had one here. But in all honesty I think we chose the better option.
By this point it was almost 12 PM. At 12 PM the figurines in the Marienplatz building come alive for a few minutes. So we went to watch this. After watching this we decided to head out of Munich and towards our lodging in the Alps. The Rhubarb slept for about ten minutes in the car and that was it. She could have used a longer rest.
The drive down to the Alps was beautiful. I have only walked about two blocks in this town (Garmsich) but I have decided I would like to live here 🙂 We checked into our hotel. Here we have a small apartment that has two bedrooms and a sitting area. Each bedroom has a private balcony with a view of the Alps. I could sit on that balcony all day.
Once we checked in I did a load of laundry by hand in the hotel sink. Since our room was facing the sun most clothes dried relatively quickly..:.in Berlin I had a problem because we had no direct sun and we got the one hotel room that had no drafts….anyways, the husband had gone to take a nap at this point. So I told the kids that I was taking them out to explore. We walked two blocks into town where they are having a festival this week. Just our luck there was a puppet show starting. So we watched the puppet show for about forty five minutes and then headed back to the hotel room.
I woke up the husband and we eventually headed back to the festival for dinner. This has probably been the most awesome thing we have done on the trip so far. The festival was under a large tent. There was a show at 8 PM and a parade to start the show. The Bavarians were mostly all dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing. The show was a traditional Bavarian show and there were several numbers put on by kids. You could order food and drinks while you watched. So we ordered dinner (which took a while to order). I attempted to order my first Radler but apparently the waiter thought I said Fanta so that is what I got. I am so happy we stumbled upon this festival. This was a genuine show – much better than anything we could have seen at the Hofbrauhas in Munich.
So, now the kids are asleep. Breakfast is served until ten. I have a feeling I will have to force everyone out of bed at nine tomorrow. We are just planning on exploring tomorrow and I am hoping to do an Alpine roller coaster. The Bubba wants to do some hiking.
Did I mention that I would like to move here? I guess I better start learning German
Family Vacation Adventures 