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Wednesday 9th October 2002
We left Berlin at 8.25am on a long, slow trip to Munich. Frequent stops in the middle of nowhere made a mockery of the term "express"! At one point an old man on a bicycle was travelling faster than we were. Finally arrived in Munich 30-45 minutes late. Walked to our hotel, Germania, through a street lined with strip joints...nice ! Dropped off our bags and walked to the train station to book our remaining trips. Continued into the city in search of the Tourist Information Office which was actually in the Town Hall building without any obvious signs that it was there. We booked our bus tour to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof for the next day. We then walked back to the hotel before setting out for dinner. We ate at a nearby Italian Restaurant which was reasonably priced and the food was good. Returned to the hotel for a rest as we had a long day ahead of us.Thursday 10th October 2002
Breakfast at 7am before we got our bags organised and walked to Elisestraße to catch our coach for the tour of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein Castles. The coach left at 8.30am. The lady doing the commentary was very entertaining and informative. We travelled into the Bavarian Alps on our way to Linderhof Castle. We arrived at Linderhof at 10am for a 10.15am guided tour of the castle. Amazing scenery with snowcapped mountains as a backdrop to the fountains and the castle itself. The tour lasted 40 minutes. The castle was small with rooms decorated in the theme of the French kings. Rooms were very ornate even to the point of ugliness in some places. We had 20 minutes spare to look around before the bus left so we climbed up to the statue overlooking the fountain and the castle for some more photos before we boarded the bus and moved on, leaving at 11.05am. We drove on up the mountains to the town of Oberammegau. The houses were decorated with fresco style paintings and we had a look inside a few souvenir shops and bought some gifts for people back home and of course ourselves ! Drove on further to Neuschwanstein where it was "recommended" that we eat our lunch at Hotel Müller whose car park our bus happened to park in. Prices were reasonable and the entire restaurant was already reserved for Panorama Tours customers. We sat at a table with three Americans. After lunch we walked over the road and caught a minibus up the hill to Neuschwanstein Castle. We got off the bus and walked up a path to Marienbrücke which spanned a narrow gorge with a few waterfalls underneath. The fog was so thick that we could not see the castle let alone the bottom of the gorge ! We walked up to Neuschwanstein Castle for our guided tour. The tour was very quick with no time wasted. Very nice inside although the castle was mostly incomplete as the king died before work was finished. We walked back down the hill, took a picture of the nearby Hohenschwangau Castle, then onto the bus to begin our trip back to Munich, arriving back at 6.30pm. Walked back to the hotel via the bank for a rest. Dropped off our bags then headed out again in search of dinner, eating at McDonalds. We then went to the EasyInternet Cafe to email the hotel in Venice and inform them the train we were catching there didn't arrive until after 6pm and that we were definitely coming. Returned to our hotel for a rest and plan the activities for the next day.Friday 11th October 2002
Breakfast at 8.30am then a short walk to the post office to post some souvenirs home and send a few postcards. We started our walking tour of Munich by walking through Karlsplatz and Karlstor to Marienplatz in the centre of Munich. Took some pictures of the Altes Rathaus and watched the performance of the famous Glockenspiel through the hordes of people who came to see it. Walked down Weinstraße to Odeonplatz and Theatinerkirche. Walked past Hofgarten to Residenz, the royal residence of the kings of Bavaria. Continued on to Max-Josef-Platz and the National Theatre. Walked on further to the most famous beer hall in Munich, Hofbräuhaus.Had a look inside but the food was too expensive so we had lunch at a nearby Chinese Restaurant which was very cheap and the food was great. Walked down Tal to the impressive Isartor the medieval gate to the city. Wandered back through the city to our hotel, rested then bought a day pass for the metro and caught a train out to the Olympiastadion for a tour of the Olympic Stadium. Also went to the top of the Olympiaturm although the rain meant low cloud and not much to see from the top. Caught the metro back to the hotel, rested and then out again to find some dinner. Ended up catching the metro to Karlsplatz and eating at McDonalds. Checked our emails at the internet cafe near the hotel and then back to the hotel for the night.Saturday 12th October 2002
Breakfast at 8am, packed and checked out. Walked to train station and caught 9.25am train to Vienna.