October 2014

It’s my last day in Munich and Germany.  Went out and wandered around the city a bit and picked up a few items for my trip back home.  I got everything packed and ready so in the morning I don’t have to worry about anything.  I ended up going to see a movie with my host.  We saw Gone Girl.  It was good but a bit more graphic than I was expecting.  By the time the movie finished it was ...

Today was just not my day for good luck.  I went to BMW one last time and of course there were no open tours.  Since I was already in the area I walked over to Olympiapark so I could go up in the tower.  The weather was clear and I was hoping to get some good photos.  No luck there either.  The tower closed yesterday and will be closed until mid November.  At this point my plan for the day ...

Another semi crappy weather day.  I noticed before that you can climb to the top of the clock tower in one of the churches near the city center.  I eventually found the entrance and 2 Euros later I was on my way up the stairs.  I think this tower had over 350 steps in a very narrow walk way.

The view from the top was great.  You have a great view of the city including the Glockenspiel and Viktualienmarkt.  After the ...

Another rainy day.  Perfect day for a museum.  I headed over to the Deutsches Museum.  What a place.  I totally underestimated the size of the museum.  It had exhibits on everything from paper to airplanes.  It was also very hands all with small demonstrations in many areas.  I saw a lot but I know I missed some.  I may have to come back and try and see the rest.

After the museum I headed over to Oktoberfest. ...

Another attempt to try and get on a tour of the BMW plant.  No luck.  Instead I headed over to Olympia Park which is right across the street.

The park itself is open to walk around and has a giant hill which is made from ruins from previous wars.  The buildings were designed to look as though you are in the mountains.  I really wanted to go up in the tower but the weather was bad ...

The weather was great again today so I decided to check out Nymphenburg Palace and the gardens.  One thing that makes this palace special is it is where King Ludwig II was born.

As with most of the other palaces I couldn’t always take photos in all of the buildings or rooms.  There were multiple buildings in the gardens that I was able to go into and see though.

Other than that ...

Another early(ish) morning to catch a train.  Today I headed to Salzburg.  A few days ago I met some people that were going and they invited me along for the trip.  It made the train ticket super cheap (10 Euros).  We caught the train around 9AM and got to Salzburg around 11.

We spent most of the day wandering around a small park area on the way to the fortress.  We finally made it to the fortress and did a ...

Yes the rumors are correct.  Oktoberfest has giant beers, giant pretzels, and LOTS of people.  I heard the estimate for this year was 7 million people.  Since you can’t get into any of the tents or biergartens on the weekend I decided a week night would let me get in and check out the sites.

All the tents are filled with people singing and dancing.  It’s a giant party.  Waitresses are shuffling food and beer back and forth amongst the ...

WARNING: Lots of photos of cars.

Today I made the trip up to the home of BMW.  When I first arrived I found the information desk and ask about a tour of the plant.  They said that everything was booked but I could come in early on Tuesday to see if there were any open spots for the afternoon tour.  That’s what I get for not calling ahead of time.  Apparently the tours can have over a month wait until ...