15 Dec 2010 Wed @ Salzburg

-6 C to -3 C

It is the beginning of another bout of very snowy days. We checked out of Conrad and bade Munich good bye, to her people and good food. At munich Hbf, we purchased from the machine a Bayern ticket ( group ) for 29 e. This allows travel for 3 of us into Salzburg and even back.

We hopped up RE79013 at platform 9 ( lugging the luggage past mounds of snow ) at 9.42 am, bound for Salzburg Hbf. There was not much scenery on the 2 hour train ride because of the blistering snow all the way into Austria.

Salzburg is colder than expected this December. Meanwhile travel chaos was building up in northern Europe.

Der Salzburger is located beyond Forum Mall and bus terminus, 2 junctions away.

This key may be very big and bulky, but it is often forgotten and left at the hotel's breakfast tables.

 12 noon. At Salzburg, a hard wall of cold hit us right in the face and caught us by surprise. Our clothing was not fit for a snow blizzard at -6 C. We were  lost because of the renovation at thetrain station. We  inched forward with  our luggage accumulating slush every step forward. Finally, we found our bearings from the tourist information desk nearby. Our hotel, Der Salburger Hof ( main building ) was 2 traffic junctions east of the bus station / Forum mall.

A very charming triple room, all for 130 euros

Der Salzburger staff was efficient, courteous and spoke excellent English. Everything about the hotel was ideal except  for the  walk from the bus terminal, an issue in winter. Another issue that miffed Pat was the sensor tap in the toilet which was annoying.

Mirabel garden, one of Salzburg's top attraction

In Salzburg,you get your bearings by using the Festung Hohensalzburg fortress as  reference

Permanent residents at Mirabel garden, a landmark at the right bank.

A point of observation : Salzburg does not clear snow and slush off its pavements like Munich. It was like walking on cold sand, gritty and dirty. After lunch at the Forum, I made a poor judgement call - walking to the old town in the snowing weather. It was a cold and difficult walk and we got lost again. A kind soul at the petrol station got us back on track and we made it to Mirabel castle gardens, the universitat Mozarteum, stadt brucke, Old town's Rathaus and Mozartplatz. Everywhere was covered in deep snow and the sky extremely grey for the early afternoon. Many tourists joined us in the old town, braving the elements. At Getreidegasse, I bought a couple of Swarvoski crystal products, souvenirs and bags, a rare but decisive behavior.

I never  got to see how it looks like. Salzburg was completely snowed over.

The Solitar Saal concert hall is located separately in this grey section of the New Mozarteum

Staatsbrucke over the Salzach is a pedestrian only foot bridge, linking right bank to Old Town

From Mozartsteg ( the stop off Mozartplatz ), we crossed the Salzach, took bus line 25 ( 2.10 e from the bus captain ) and got off at the bus terminal. 6pm and we had to call it a day. Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant, a 2 hour affair. Portion was big, price reasonable, service slow but friendly and ambience, cozy.

Salzburg's nearest mountain range is the Monchsberg, on which the Modern Art Museum and Fortress sit.

This cafe at Salzburg's famous shopping alley,Getreidegasse, serves great tasting cakes.

Christmas markets are found at every available plaza

Mozart, Salzburg favorite son, carved his career in Vienna

A very cold introduction to Salzburg but I trust, tomorrow will be a cheerier day.

As can be seen, Mozart is very much loved by the businessman here

14 Dec 2010 @ Munich

 -3 C to -6 C

Dachau, the first of many concentration camps built near Munich, was the beginning of Hitler's final solution of the Jews.  This was also our day's target destination.

Based on the information at www.db.com , we bought the family Munich XXL ticket ( 12.80 e, from automated machine ) that covers transport within greater Munich and took the 9.10am S2 bound for Peterhausen. It was a slow 20 minutes ride to Dachau Bahnhof, where we transferred to Bus 726 at the stop labeled 'concentration camp site' outside the train station. ( Bus 724 no longer served the camp, contrary to online reports ) We alighted at the stop : KZ-Gederkstattle, which is steps from the Camp information building.

You will see this sign once you get off the bus stop. The camp is 100m beyond this.

Part of the camp compound that houses the prisoners

Camp as seen from the outside. German students visit such camps as part of their curriculum

10am. With scores of tourists, we walked under the iron gate that says in German " Work set you free ". A vast,  severe and austere compound lay before us, appropriately cheerless and foreboding. Covered totally in white snow, it is a reminder of the harsh condition  where prisoners resided and meet their death there.

A prisoner's view of the outside world.

We covered the camp site in anticlockwise direction ,starting from the reporting building, the maintenance building, the chapel, dorms and finally the crematorium. Even the strongest stomach and hardest heart could not stop the many visitors from shaking their heads at the Nazis' cruelty  and nausea that comes from the very sordid photos of tortured prisoners.

Barrier between the living and the dead, located outside the on-site crematorium

On a busy day, more than one body is shoved in to be cremated

Deadly showers of zyklon B

Of course, the last stop was  the summation of it all : the crematorium. The lies of the captors can be seen here with the fake shower heads disguising the gas chambers as shower areas. We left with deep sadness at the horrifying events that happened. Nothing will ever undo the wrong done to  those whose dreams were cut short.

12 noon. We took bus line 726 back to Dachau. Instead of waiting for the S2 line bound for Erding, we hopped up the Regional train bound for Munich Hbf. It was a good decision. We zipped into Munich with no stops in 10 minutes.

It was  lunch time by now. From the Hbf, we wormed our way underground to Karlstadt, the shopping center across the Hbf. We had lunch at the buffet hall at the top floor of the shopping center. It is a sort of Movenpick in style with hawker center pickings at restaurant price.

A little shopping around the Bayerstrasse later, we went back to Conrad hotel for a little rest. 5.30 pm, we got ready for the Opera at the state opera house in the evening. With the same ticket ( Munich XXL ), we took a train to Marienplatz. Whatever shopping we intended to do was made impossible with a sudden snowfall.

Walking north, we reached the National theater, home of the State Opera company. It will provide our highlight of the night ; Mozart's Magic Flute. I had requested for 3 tickets some many months earlier ( www.stateoper.com ) and it was only 2 months before the performance that my purchase was made successful and tickets mailed to Singapore.

Outside our gallery, Pat changed to a suit while H read the program notes detailing the show. I had printed a rundown of the opera from Wikipedia so that we can make sense of the opera performed in German later.

Our seat at 2nd right gallery, row 2 seats 32,34,36 was pretty decent for the price of 30 e. ( even numbered seats are located at the right gallery, odd ones left gallery ). However, as the performers were mostly singing at the right side of the stage, our location was hardly prime. Most of the singing was entertaining though Tamino's singing could have been stronger. Papagano, Tamino's side sick was a powerful tenor. The Queen's aria, the opera's highlight, was received enthusiastically.

Intermission came, 1.5 hours later. The second half continued for another 1.5 hours. It was a long night, with the show from 7pm and ending at 10.30 pm. Even though I regarded it an interesting night, it did not end perfectly. By then , we were totally famished and disorientated, aggravated by the cold night on wind our way back.  Restaurants were already closed and we bought the last of 2 pizzas at the train station. Next time, I will remember to have a heavy meal before an opera!

13 Dec 2010 @ Munich

-4 C to -6 C

An icy scene at the train station

Jetlagged, I woke at an unearthly hour to see everything outside the window covered with a layer of white snow. Yippee ! Happiness! At last, a white winter and many more to come.

The train platform where we waited to board the train. Brrrr...

Today being a Monday, most museums are closed except for Neuschwantein Castle in Hohenswangau. We were supposed to take the 6.51 am ALEX train from track ( gleis 19 ) to Buchloe and then change to another train to Fussen. The night before, we had bought the tickets from DB automatic machines ( 46 euro per person, one way ) at Munich HBF . All my great plans did not cater for a train delay ( 1 hour ) departing from Munich, causing us to miss the connecting train to Fussen.

This is what we saw all the way to Buchloe / Fussen

Second class comes with unassigned cabins on ALX trains

8am, ALX rolled off from the tracks at Munich HBF. For one hour, we admired the snowy landscape from our little private train compartment. At Buchloe, it was another 1 hour wait for the Fussen bound train. While waiting, we practiced buying the Bayern ticket ( partner, day, 29 e )  at the machine, which covers our bus fare to Hohenschwangau and back to Munich.

At  every tourist spot, even in winter, we are comforted by the presence of hotel cafes

We reached Fussen at 11 am, hungry and angry. There was no restaurant in sight, so we hopped up the bus outside the station bound for the Hohenschwangau , just like the hoards of tourists. From now onwards, we used the Bayern ticket that covers every means of transport in Bavaria, except for the horse ride up the castle.

But of course, we settled the most important issue of the hour : lunch. At café of Muller hotel, we had sandwiches and drinks ( 35 e), quite a princely sum for a simple meal.

Neuschwantein Castle ("Noy-Swan-Styne") looks lifted from a postcard

While Pat and H took photos of the  castle, I purchased tickets at the Hohenschwangau ticket office, the only point of sale. I chose an English tour, 1.50 pm, which cost 9e for adults, free for H since she is at the cutoff age of 14 years.

It is not cute looking at the rear of these beasts when you can smell them too !

The horse carriage up the castle starts from the far end of Muller hotel, locatable  by the smell of horse urine. It  costs us 6 e uphill, expensive but necessary for a novel way to travel. The alternative, not available in winter, was by coach which will end at the Marienbrucke - Neuschwanstein's lookout point, and then a 600m climb to the castle. No other option, the three of us sat behind the beasts, steaming from their labor as they  snorted and ambled uphill, farting with every strain. The horse rider made token rebukes every time the horses did that but I guess the beasts got to do what the beasts got to do.

Glorious weather made possible by the sun : over Neuschwanstein Castle

A Christmas story:light beyond the shadow

Another 50 m on foot and we were finally there ! It was another hour's wait ( we had queue numbers depending on the language of the tour ), unless we opted for the German or Japanese tour ( unbelievable amount of Japanese tourists ! ). Time was not wasted as we snapped pictures of the valley and lake, glistening in snow and sun drenched from the early afternoon sun. The scenery looks like it is lifted out of a drawing, surreal and out of this world. The little houses, dusted with snow down Fussen town sparkled in the early afternoon from the south. North of the castle, the fetching alpine lake, Ammersee shimmered like a crystal crusted sea, very picturesque and tranquil.

Your tour schedule is displayed here, depending on when you bought the tour and what language. We waited for 1 hour.

View from the castle.

The castle tour was interesting, but claustrophobic with many steps to climb and small rooms where we had history / opera lessons.  H benefited most because most of the castle's designs have to do with king Ludwig's opera friend, Richard Wagner's influence. Many German legends were painted on walls.

The tour lasted 30 minutes. By then, we were four hours behind schedule. We rode the horse carriage down , this time at a reduced rate of 3 euro. Then it was back to Fussenbahnhof on the 3.40 pm bus.

Shopping area near Fussen bahnhof.

Luck was not on our side that day. The 4 pm train to Munich was cancelled with the next available train coming in at 5 pm. Making full use of the waiting meanwhile, we posted a couple of Christmas cards to friends overseas and ourselves, a trend we started in Taiwan.

5pm. It looked as if the entire  population of  Fussen has congregated at the Fussen platform. It was a very long ride to Munich and didn't help that S bahn trains in Munich and beyond were not operating, due to a rail accident. For the first time, we used the U bahn to get to Universitat, where the National Bibliothek is located.

One of 4 statues adorning the entrance of the National Bilbiothek

7 pm, long dark and disoriented, we search for the library. The biblothek is a massive place, with academic materials of all disciplines and journals dating back to the last 10 years for materials concerning science and medicine. Reference book on church organization, literature, music and social studies stretched from one end of the library to the other, at least a football field long!  

There was nothing much in the way of fiction. 10 pm. We made our way back but not before devouring down a very late but hearty dinner at Ali Baba Rest, 2 shops away from Conrad. The kebabs turned out to be the best we ever had for the entire trip.

Kebab here is one of the best ever eaten. Near Conrad Hotel de Ville.

6 hours lost just because of one train delay today meant that we have to give Residenze museum a miss. Which is a sad thing because we are beginning to like Munich. Maybe there will be another time.

12th Dec 2010 @ Munich

From 30 C to 0 C

We departed Singapore at 1.20 am Sunday morning, thanks to the many considerate people who boarded the plane ahead of time. It was a tiring flight, mainly because H did not travel well on planes, especially the second half of the flight. All plans to watch the 1200 movies was shelved.

Mr G, our mascot, on his  first overseas trip. Beyond, the suburbs of Munich, as seen from train S8

We touched down at Dubai at 4.45 am. The airport was bustling with activites. As we wait out the transit for the next 4 hours, the crowd at the airport grew and facilities like food kiosks and toilets burst at the seam. At long last, we were back to the plane for the second leg of the journey to German. The plane waited at the runway for a good hour before taking off but we touched down at Josef Franz Strauss Airport ,Munchen, just 20 minutes behind schedule at 1.10pm.

Conrad hotel de ville in Munich can also be viewed by Streetview.

Following the S sign, we took the elevator down to the S bahn tracks, we purchased partner day ticket for greater Munich at 19.60 euros, good for bus/train/rail travel in greater and central Munich. The S1 train took a long loop round Munich before dropping us at Munich HBF. I had earlier done research with the help of google map/earth and street view so getting to the hotel was a breeze. From the train station, we exit Schillerstrasse and walked just about 5 minutes to Conrad hotel, no crossing of roads needed. This is supposed to be a sleazy neighborhood but we felt safe. No hanky panky outside the casinos in freezing winter was seen. In fact, it felt like the area around Taipei train station, not top notch district but functional. Streets are clean and devoid of graffiti, a good sign. I was a little disappointed at the lack of sign of snow anywhere.

A triple room at Conrad for 160 euros

The friendly and efficient staff at Conrad got us settled at room 309, overlooking the inner courtyard, away from the ugliness of the streets and neon lights shouting 'cainos'. Room was made ready for us, heated and turned down. Completely bushed, we dragged ourselves for a much delayed lunch at the station and staggered to the Christmas market at Marienplatz, 2 train stops down. Lunch was Schnitzel and lots of sausages.

The snow caught everyone  by surprise. We were so thrilled!

Evening at Marienplatz offered us a surprise. It started snowing and the area at Neues Rathaus went into a little frenzy as people seek shelter at the few sheltered areas around the shops. Pat and H had a hard time taking photos while I became alarmed at the sudden change in weather. Pat's meager insulation by way of his expensive ski jacket was beginning to show.

Munich gets dark after 4 pm in winter.Behind is the Rathaus or Town Hall.

Not yet 6pm, we walked around the Marienplatz area looking for my dinner target of Day 1 : Hof Brauhaus. Along the way, we saw the Staatsoper, our destination on day 3.

Springy potato dumpling - here's 2 meals on a plate!

Finally, after a long cold walk, we located Hof accidentally. Pat had pork knuckle, 0.5 liter of beer, H had goulash and hot tea and I four humongous potato/ mixed dumplings which was a  HUGE mistake. Lesson : never order potato dumpling if you also hate bachang kosong. This is the plain round version with super salty sauce. For 36 e, we were pickled by the high salt meal. Stuffed, we took the S bahn back to Munich HBF and back to Conrad, to nurse my surging blood pressure.

Our great Europe winter holiday has started and I can't wait to see  my plans coming to fruition!

Music is a fitting end to a tiring day. How the cellist played with gloves beats me!

11 Dec 2010 D-1 day

We have never been sooooo last minute. Pat bought his parka yesterday mainly to allay my worries. How could I not be ? The weather indicator has been sliding, causing me more alarm than the Asian currency crisis. The last thing I want is for Pat to be frozen in Munich. Arrival on a no-shopping Sunday is an issue especially when he is traveling just with a cashmere sweater and a waterproof outer coat. To say it is protection against the elements of -10C is stretching the sweater too far.

A run down before heading to the airport tonight :

Call Emirates to get complimentary Dubai hotel vouchers for return trip. Collection is at Changi airport Emirates counter, the sweet girl says.

Log on to Emirates, check in and print boarding pass. Check.

Sort out our monies. USD for Dubai shopping spree and Euros for Europe's. SGD for taxi fares. Check.

Sort out our credit cards. Record numbers and call center numbers. Xerox passports. Check. Check.

Bring H's student pass for discounts. Check.

Check outgoing flight status. As scheduled. Report at Changi T1 Row 2. SMS alert when EK405 leaves Melbourne for Singapore. Check.

Note telephone contacts for Munich hotel. Check.
Pack netbook charger, tour books, personal effects into hand luggage. Check.

Top up H's phone card. Check.

The longer I wait for tonight's takeoff, the more things I stuff in my bag. This is looking more like a migration than a holiday. Can't wait for holiday to commence.

What transpired before the holiday

This year there was a deviation from the usual practice of planning for the year end vacation. The decision making  commenced uncharacteristically later than usual, due to Pat's mid year business trip,  and with 8 months left to go, no conclusion was in sight.

A rigorous adventure traversing across central Taiwan previously had given our holiday a different perspective. Do it yourself travel instills  discipline  and awareness which would not be possible with packaged tours. In the process, I also enjoyed  trusting the advise of strangers and act of goodwill from passersby.

So emboldened with the success  in Taiwan, we looked beyond Asia on the atlas for our next destination. Three heads poured over the maps of green and browns,  debating and reasoning. Our votes ended with the  'uncharted territory' of Germany and Austria. A music tour,  most appropriate for the musician member in our three member team !

Munich, the transport hub of Germany, was my choice of entry. On the German rail network, I spied a line emancipating from Munich to Salzburg and then another towards Austria's Vienna in the  north east.  Immediately, I foresaw a troupe of three traveling along this line of black and white. Munich, Salzburg and Vienna, here we  come!

Over at zuji.com.sg, a little study was made  on the connections from Singapore to Munich and Vienna back  to Singapore, with consideration on  price and timings. Emirates was almost as the crow flies, with a stop over in Dubai. A midnight departure meant a good rest on the flight, with a comfortable 3 hour transit at Dubai to cater for any delayed departure from the Singapore sector. The return trip with a 10 hour transit was made less painful with Emirates' complimentary accommodations, meals and transfer at Dubai Milleniem Airport Hotel ( a fact I discovered near the time of departure ).Noon time arrival meant some light left  for finding our way around our base in  Munich. All in all, Emirates offered the best time of departure and arrival without aggravating the discomfort of jetlag. My flight plan was sealed  by Evelyn of Travel Haven, who as usual, gave us the best deals and offers the human touch which online portals could not.

Next was the allotment of time to be spent in the three cities. I was inclined to spend an equal amount of time in  Salzburg and Vienna, home of the classical greats. Ideally, 5 days in  each city would be perfect. In the end, Munich, our first stop ,  was allocated three days, because I was unfamiliar with what it has to offer. Besides, surveyed expenditure seems higher than the other two cities, so hence the cutback.

Two previous winters in non heated self catered accommodations still send chills  shivering in winter cold. Since self catering apartments were hard to come by for stays less than a week, I opted for the predictable heated hotel rooms  inclusive of breakfast, a compromise that still comes with a some regret.

With the overall structure of the holiday in place, I had to fill in the flesh of each single day.  Though not the best choice, we concluded hotels near the train station will facilitate maximum movement in and out of town for the restless three.  With the exception was Vienna, as the town center was far off from the train station and equidistant to the airport.

Driving was a costly affair in the old towns, with many areas out of bounds to vehicular traffic.  Unpredictable winter conditions and inter-country driving was an additional complexity. The cities linked by direct rails were reported to be reliable, frequent and  affordable. For the train addict in me, what was  not to like to look at snowy landscape from the comfort of a train cabin?

Into the bolts and nuts of it all, I had the good people at tripadvisor.com to advise from shoes to events and  countless reference books from the national library beckoning me with colorful pictures. These two main sources were the mainstay of my research and decision making.

The subsequent notes will be daily accounts for the benefit of those who go after me. Hopefully,  many will build upon the data and see Europe through the eye of an Asian traveler.