Munchen Germany

A couple of weeks ago, Derek and I had the opportunity to spend the long weekend in Munich or Munchen Germany. It's about three hours from Villach, and a gorgeous drive through the Alps. We stayed in a little hotel right by the main train station. We were actually even brave enough to take the train. It took us some time to figure out which train to get on, but was a fun experience for sure. The first night we were there we decided to go to Marian Platz, which is the main square, where town hall or "Rathaus" can be found as well as lots of shopping, restaurants, churches, and lots of things to explore and see.

On our second day, we decided we wanted to do some shopping at some outlets outside of Munchen, and check out the English Gardens. The English Garden is the second largest inner city park in the world next to one in London. The name refers to the style of gardening. It was more like a giant forest with miles of walking paths. Perfect for Bronx, and we even saw people riding horses there. It was beautiful. There was a wreck on the main highway on our way out to the outlets and what should have only taken us 45 minutes to get to, ended up taking us over two hours. By the time we finally got their, I was cranky, and not in the mood to shop. We walked around, bought a couple small things and headed back to the city. That night we ate dinner at an authentic Bavarian Restaurant right in Marian Platz. It was delicious, and a very cool authentic atmosphere.

Our third day we had the chance to go to Dachau Concentration camp. It was on the outside of Munchen. It was a very sad place to visit, but a part of history that we didn't want to miss out on. We were able to take Bronx on the grounds too which was nice. Most of the barracks were destroyed after the war, but the crematorium, and main building where the prisoners were brought when they first came to Dachau were still intact, Derek and I both though the crematorium was were we felt the saddest. Hard to believe what when on there. Each barrack was built for 200 people, but most often held more than 2000. Over 25,000 prisoners were believed to have died there. So sad.

On our last day we ventured to the Nymphenburg Palace The palace was the summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria. It was built-in the 1600's. Inside was a carriage museum that was unbelievable. The carriages were so lavish, and ornate. The palace is also surrounded by a 490 acre park, unfortunately it was really raining that day so we didn't get to explore it too much.

Overall we had a great time in Munchen, and hope to go back. There is a lot to do around Munchen that is closed this time of year, including the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, which is the real "Cinderella's Castle". Hopefully we can go back next August.