My dad and 2 sisters (Anne and Sydney) flew over for a week-long visit to Munich and Amsterdam. This was the first time that I have had visitors come to Germany. There is really nothing interesting to see in Dusseldorf, so I took the train to meet them in Munich. I had never done the "touristy" things in Munich, so it was my first time to see most of the sights there.
The first day, we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus for some traditional German food (sausages, sauerkraut, and schnitzel) and of course, BEER! Then, we walked around the city center, seeing the St. Peter's Church, Neues Rathaus (City Hall), Frauenkirche (another church), Hofgarten (backyard of the winter palace). There was also a German World Cup match, so we had to find a place to sit and watch it. Germany beat England 4:1, so all the Germans were celebrating and blowing their stupid vuvuzelas the rest of the day.
The next day (Monday), we had a tour planned to Neuschwanstein Castle. We left early in the morning and took a coach bus for about 2 hours to the south of Bavaria. Upon arrival, we met our guide (Brad) and went for a bike ride around Swan Lake (no, not that one, Tschaikowsky is Russian). We even stopped at the lake and dipped our fit into the cold, refreshing water. The weather was very hot and sunny, so it felt great. After the bike ride, we had lunch and then were able to ride the "Alpine Slide" which is a track down part of the mountain on a little cart. Some people even went tandem paragliding off the top of the mountain. Next, we set off on our hike up a gorge to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle was built by "Mad" King Ludwig II, and there were plans to make this castle bigger and to built a fourth castle in the area. But, Ludwig mysteriously died at the age of 40 and the building ceased. The castle is very pretty especially with the forest and mountains surrounding it, and the hike to get up there was quite good, too. We also walked up to the bridge built over the gorge by Ludwig's mother (Marie) and got a great view of the castle from above. Overall, it was a great day with great weather. That night when we returned to Munich, we met up with Mirco and watched the Spain-Portugal World Cup match at the Park Cafe, where we feasted on flammkuchen and more German beer.
On Tuesday, we took a short train ride out to Dachau to visit the concentration camp there. It was another hot and sunny day, but the tour was good and I think Dad and Anne really enjoyed seeing the camp. For me, it was not as moving as the visit to Auschwitz, but this is probably due to Dachau being a work camp whereas Auschwitz was an extermination camp. Also, Dachau was completely destroyed and then rebuilt to be a memorial site for visitors. Almost everything at Auschwitz was original and in tact, making it quite scary and personal, particularly seeing all the belongings of the people who died there.
That afternoon, back in Munich, we visited Nymphenburg Palace, which was the summer palace of the royals in Bavaria. It is very pretty inside and there are large gardens surrounding the palace. That night, we found an awesome Indian restaurant and ate one of the best meals of the trip. If you are ever in Munich, I would recommend Garam Masala on Radlsteg.
Wednesday was our last day in Munich, and we went on a long bike tour within the city. It was a great time. Our guide, Steve, is an American living in Munich and he showed us all the important sights in the city and told us the history. He was really funny, and we even surprised him with our superior knowledge of some of the history (which I had read in my guide book, so I slightly cheated, hehe). We also stopped in the English Garden at the beer garden at the Chinesischer Turm and at another beer garden too (we convinced our guide that we needed another beer). After several beers and managing to finish the bike tour, we grabbed dinner at one of the best beer gardens in Munich (Augustiner Keller). Then, it was time to board the overnight train to Amsterdam. The train was good, we had a sleeper car and it was much nicer than the one in Egypt (and we weren't in first class this time, ha).
It is good luck to touch the lion statues outside The Residenz each time that you pass by
The next morning, we awoke and arrived in Amsterdam. We grabbed some bagels for breakfast and then decided to do another bike tour (yes, we like bikes, ha). This bike tour took us outside of the city where we saw some windmills and stopped at a farm where they make cheese and clogs (very Dutch!). The bike ride was long, but again, the weather was great and we got to get out and stretch our legs after the train ride. Also, we got outside the city center and saw more of "real" Amsterdam and lots of its parks. After the bike ride, we all needed a nap. Then, we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, which turned into a scary adventure. I only saw the end of this occur, but apparently someone jumped out of the window above the restaurant, landed on a table where 3 boys were sitting, and ran off with his 2 friends. He landed on one of the boys who was very injured. Anne and Dad immediately jumped up and went to help this boy while others called the cops and ambulance. It was very scary, and we were quite thankful that we didn't sit outside to eat that night. Three ambulances and several cops arrived, and the boy was taken to the hospital on a stretcher, not a good end to our meal. We were left wondering the rest of the trip if this boy was ok, but at least Anne and Dad were there to help right away.
Friday morning, we went to the Anne Frank House. There is always a large line, but it wasn't too bad. Within 45 minutes, we were inside and making our way through the museum. They have done a really nice job of the museum and making it both informative and flow well as you walk through. I had not been there in over 5 years, and I could tell that even in that time span, they had improved it even more. Then, we took the tram over the Heineken Experience (both a brewery tour and a museum dedicated to the beer brand). They really know how to market themselves, because this was perhaps the most fun thing that we did in Amsterdam. It was very interactive, and you got 2 beers to taste. It was funny though how you could tell the difference between this beer and the German beers in Munich which are much heavier. I think Anne even realized that she may not be able to go back to drinking Miller Lite in the US. Now we know why everyone calls it water. That afternoon we were quite lucky in that the Netherlands was playing in the quarterfinals of the World Cup against Brazil, and all the Dutch people were wearing their orange colors. We were able to find a spot to sit and watch game (with about 150 other people), and it turned out to be a really fun game with the Dutch team winning 2:1. That night we ate our other great meal of the trip at an Argentinian steakhouse near Rembrandtplein. Great steak, something that I have not had in a very long time (probably not since my trip to the US over Christmas).
Saturday was our last full day of the trip, so started off by visiting the Van Gogh Museum and saw some great works of art. Then, it was time to take the train to Rotterdam to catch the Prologue of the 2010 Tour de France. The train took about an hour and then we grabbed some lunch before walking about 15 minutes to the course. It started raining during our walk and continued throughout the day - not so fun. We were able to find a spot right on the course and stayed there all afternoon watching all 198 riders come by during their individual time trial. I was able to take some great pictures, and we were even able to keep track of the score of the German World Cup match against Argentina (which they won 4:0).
My man, Thomas Voeckler, and George Hincapie
Lance Armstrong
Sunday morning arrived, and it was time to head home. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then I put Dad, Anne and Sydney on the train to the airport, and I boarded my train back to Dusseldorf.
