(Originally posted on 25 August 2016) We were pretty tired when we arrived in Munich on a warm June morning, having travelled on an overnight bus from Rome. The regimental bus drivers wanted everything to run smoothly and were rather strict and abrupt with the passengers. Reflecting on this, they made us all feel like we were back in school on a trip chaperoned by those kinds of teachers who hated the profession.
Sitting in our designated seats, to our surprise, we heard Afrikaans spoken by the girl next to us while she was on the phone. Apparently, we were the first fellow South Africans she had bumped into after a year-long exchange programme.
As grumpy as you are after trying to sleep on a bus, we woke to see beautiful green but snow-capped mountains. The scenery from northern Italy, through Austria and into Germany is just lovely, with each new view, as you dozily open your eyes, taking your breath away.
We said our goodbyes to our new young friend, who still had a way to go on the bus, and made our way to the train station in central Munich. As our Airbnb accommodation would only be available that evening, the train station would serve as our base to grab breakfast and store our bags while we jumped on a hop-on-hop-off bus trip around the city.
Everything works like clockwork. There are machines to give you the change you need for your coin-operated luggage storage container. The tourist office is right outside the train station with free maps to help you on your way, and the tours start across the road.
This efficiency is a great thing for the sleep-deprived. The hop-on-hop-off tour was our attempt to keep busy for the day doing something interesting but requiring minimal effort in our semi-comatose state.
Two zombies travelled the sightseeing bus listening to the guide talk about the interesting places we passed but not having the energy to stop anywhere but Starbucks for a caffeine fix. Tomorrow would be just fine to go exploring again (after sleeping in a real bed) because we had had the foresight to purchase a 48hr bus pass.
The following day when we were well-rested and got back on tour, we realised that the city was lovely. It has many museums, lovely gardens, and beautiful architecture ranging from palaces to churches and the city hall. It is very neat and has dozens of beer gardens splashed all around Munich. Schalk thought he had found heaven – expensive but still thirst-quenching heaven!
To see a little more of Bavaria, we booked a tour to Neuschwanstein Castle. Our guide for the day, seeing that our surname was Van Der Merwe, quickly switched to Afrikaans and started chatting to us about our visit and how he had come to live in Germany from South Africa.
The train ride allows you to see more of the countryside with the rolling green hills. After a few bus rides, you see the fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle, built by the “mad” king, Ludwig II of Bavaria. The castle and the surrounding area are so picturesque that taking good photos becomes easy.
We tried the popular street food called curry worst in the little village below the castle. We noticed a grumpy old man on a scooter that practically ran over a group of tourists when parking outside the café. With all eyes on him, he stomped to the back of the restaurant, mumbling to himself and searching for plastic bottles in the garbage. Just as abruptly as he arrived, he was off again, only to be spotted at the lake’s garbage bins a few hours later doing the same thing. We noticed him on his quest yet again in the village as our bus passed him by and finally on the platform while waiting for our train to go home. This guy took his recycling seriously and did not let anyone get in his way!
We enjoyed our visit to this part of Germany and will need to come back someday to explore other areas (and perhaps to bump into some more South Africans). The polite people and the immaculate city make it hard to believe that Munich was the birthplace and is seen as the capital of the Nazi Party. The efficiency might make sense, but who could be that angry with so much beer around?
Featured image: Nymphenburg Palace, Munich, Germany