Trip to Bavaria

The final Bank Holiday for the year signifies the end of Summer in London. We chose to escape by venturing to Munich. Moving to Paddington has its perks and flying in and out of Heathrow can be counted as one of them making the early Saturday morning flight not so painful any more (unless you have to go to Stansted or Luton).

The flight over wasn't too bad, my many flights for work paid off a little with access to a "fast lane" to clear security and the BA lounge for breakfast. It took around and hour and a bit to get over to Germany and by the time we took the train to the hotel it was pretty much lunch time. We got a decent deal at the Hilton Munich City and it only cost us £108 total for 2 nights including buffet breakfast.

After we dropped our bags off we decided the first site to visit was Dachau, the first concentration camp and a model for others during WWII. It was a good educational experience and we were lucky enough to just make it for the last English guided tour of the day. It was disgusting to see how evil humans can be and the video clip we watched at the end was one of the most disturbing I have ever seen.

Day 2 was a much more cheerful and happier affair. We got up early for breakfast and took the train out to Fussen. Despite the hotel giving us the wrong instruction (giving us a Monday to Friday train time rather than weekend), we were able to find our way easily printing out the required train schedule from one of the machines at the station. This is a fantastic service and should be copied in other parts of the world especially when you have to change 2-3 trains to reach your final destination. The train ride took around 2.5 hours, we then hopped onto a local bus to take us to Hohenschwangu, the town below the Schloss Neuschwanstein. It is the castle that the Disney Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled on and the sight was pure fantasy. Beautiful day with clear blue sky and a fantasy land castle sitting on a mountain overlooking its land. The most disappointing part though was the view from Marienbrucke. It would have been such a breathtaking view if it wasn't for the bloody scaffolding on that side of the castle! If you ever visit Munich and you have a day to spare, I definitely recommend going there for a visit.

Day 3 was our final day in Munich and having not seen much of the city (besides Bavarian food and beer) we decided to go on a free walking tour with Sandeman Walking Tour. They operate quite a few tours around Europe and it was a very entertaining experience. Our tour guide was a hyperactive Canadian girl who was quite knowledgeable providing some insights into the history of the city with some amusing stories to tell. I heard their Berlin tour is better so if I ever get the chance to go, I will definitely try to get onto one of their tours.

Overall, I think it was a good trip with a mix of experiences. I definitely learnt a lot about the city and managed to see some amazing scenery (both good and bad). I look forward to my next trip in a couple of week's time to Spain and Portugal.