Day 5 - Segway Tour

Torsten and Samantha are working this week so I am on my own. I promise to stop posting photos of breakfast unless I'm eating something new. But I have to tell you about this cool gadget for cooking soft boiled eggs. The yellow egg sitting with the white chicken eggs is an egg timer specifically for soft boiled eggs. It sits with the other eggs in the fridge. 

You put the yellow timer egg in the water with real egg and walk away. The yellow timer egg will whistle a tune when it’s done for a soft boiled egg. It plays the tune three times so you won’t miss it. It’s so nice to multitask and not end up with hard boiled eggs.

Yep. I did it. I did the dorky Segway tour and it was awesome! Had so much fun. It's a four hour tour riding around the city on a Segway. I was in a group of six. Five Indians and me. 

Betsy on the Segway in front of Königsplatz,
the original gates to Munich.

Betsy and the five Indians on tour.

The Indians were so interesting. They spoke perfect English and we discussed during lunch how horse meats gets blended in with cow meat and the terrifying power of Monsanto. They talked about horrible effects of what India is experiencing and how Europe is trying to keep Monsanto's claws out.  Our guide was born in San Francisco and has been living in Munich for over 30 years. He made a lot of comparisons and differences to how the country of India is run vs USA vs Germany/Bavaria. Along with seeing the major sites of Munich, he provided the history of the country. It was very educational as well as fun.

I do need to say, Indians Segway like they drive in Bombay. Our leader would ask us stay in a single file line on sidewalks so people and bikes have enough room and to stay in the bike lanes on the roads. Not these Indians. They were all over the place, cutting me off, almost side-swiping parked cars and close calls to being run over in the car lane. It was amusing if not terrifying!

This memorial is on the ground in the pavers at The University of Munich. It represents a group called The White Rose. They were a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign, that called for active opposition to dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.

The six most recognized members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo, tried for treason and beheaded. One of the leaflets was smuggled out of Germany to the UK, and in July, 1943, copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."

In the center of the city is Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of Bavaria's monarchs. This photo is one the courtyards (There are 10 courtyards). It's hard to tell in this photo, but the stonework is an optical illusion. It is not stonework. It is painted on the side of the wall. The King at the time felt it was cheaper than putting in the stonework. In the long run, it's been more expensive because it needs to be painted every few years.

Munich offers the world's largest urban surfing. They invented river surfing in the 70's. They tied a door underwater and it created a wave. 
Munich has been hanging loose ever since!

This is a huge Michael Jackson memorial. They took over a statue of some old man who was known for organ music from the 1400's. MJ love the posh hotel across the street and visited Munich 13 times. This is not the place he hung 'Blanket' upside down from the balcony - that happened in Berlin.

The woman in the photo is one of the caretakers of the memorial. She cleans it and removes the dead flowers and anything else ruined by the weather. Folks are always adding more stuff all the time so it constantly changes.

We did travel down the most expensive street in all of Europe. Even more expensive than any street in Paris or Milan! The Saudi Arabians are buying up Condo's downtown to spend their summers in Munich. All the high end boutiques - Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Escada, etc. I don't have a photo because we didn't stop and I had to keep my hands on the wheel to avoid any swerving Indians. 

At the end of the tour, I returned home so I could change into the my dirndl again. Yup, heading back to Oktoberfest. Torsten has reserved tickets in the Fischer-Vroni Tent. This tent is known for it’s fish. 

 

I ordered chicken and drank real beer this time. Augustiner beer is the best beer. They do no advertising yet it's the most popular beer in Munich. It's delicious. 

The waiter even kept his own glass at our table and would drink it every few pass-bys. I'm not sure if this is legal, but we were not going to complain or else you get crappy service.

The amazing thing about the tents at Oktoberfest is the fact these are temporary structures. It takes them three months to put up the tents every year. And then the tents are removed at the end of Weis'n. It feels like a permanent building when you are in them. 

Day 4 - Sunday in the Beer Garden

Once again, started breakfast off German style - with soft boiled eggs, cheese, sliced meats and fresh bread from the bakery.

 It’s another gorgeous day. Torsten and I went to Oktoberfest again. He took me into the Traditional Oktoberfest area. This is a new area that opened a few years ago. It's family oriented with old-time tractors, merry-go-arounds, parades, marionette puppet show, old fashioned swings and music played with old instruments made out of wood.

Sharpshooter Club in traditional dress.

Sharpshooter's hat.

Beer garden. Standing on the benches is not allowed.

The waitresses bring food on these large trays. They negotiate the trays through the crowds without spilling. Amazing!

The beer is served in the original stoneware instead of glass. I tried the Schweinshaxe (grilled ham hock) with Knödel. It is delicious.

This is a band of musicians drinking beer before they went on stage.

The Alphorns were used for communication in the mountains.

I have no idea what instrument this is. Anyone know?

Old fashioned swings. Torsten tells me if you are good, you can get the swing to do a full circle. It wasn't possible on these kids swings but they have the adult swings in a different part of the Weis'n.

We left around 5 PM. I headed home and Torsten did an errand. We met up at his house and Torsten made a lovely salad for dinner.

Munich Sunset from Torsten's deck.

Day 3 - Castles

Frog Eyes!

It was a slow morning due to hard partying last night. I crawled out of bed and took ibuprofen and a shower. Torsten made a late breakfast for us. He asked if I wanted “frog eyes”. Um, excuse me? Are you serious? He then tells me I taught him how to make ‘em. I don’t think so… he then explains what they are and I laugh. ‘You mean one-eyed Petes?’ I asked. He said, "Is that what you call them?" Yup. We had some delicious one-eyed Petes. Mmmm. Love the German breakfast!

It was a gorgeous sunny day so we decided to do a road trip to some castles south of Munich. The first castle is Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. Built by crazy King Ludwig II in 1869 it was never finished before he died in 1886.

We hiked up the hill to the castle. It is so very stunning.

Entrance to the castle.

 First Courtyard

Another courtyard

We hiked up the hill behind the castle.

Selfie!

The village of Hohenschwangau below the castle.

We hiked to the second castle, Hohenschwangau Castle which is on the other hill. This castle was finished in 1837 and where King Ludwig II spent his childhood summers.

You can see Neuschwanstein Castle in the distance.

We then had dinner outside at the bottom of the hill next to a lake. The sun was setting and it was very relaxing. We were surprised at the quality of the food. It was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. Torsten explained Bavarian food is very good but simple. This restaurant had delicious complex Bavarian food.

Fresh warm bread with olive oil and salt,
duck fat with crunchy onions and cream cheese
with some green stuff. Delicious!

Pear soup with blue cheese stuffed croutons! Amazing!

Ox Tail soup

Beef with pâté on a bed of sauerkraut and mashed potatoes with truffle oil.

Lamb with amazing goodness.

Duck with orange glacee on fennel and spaetzle.