Day 14, Monday, September 24, 2018

Itinerary: Berg to Neuschwanstein to Tutzing to Munich to Tutzing

Time awake: 7:30 AM

Odometer (in kilometers/miles) at start: 12626/7845

Weather: 

Steps: 21794

Asleep:

Map Link(s):

Video Link(s): Sharon on the window sill, Singing at Lowenbrau, Dancing at Augustiner, More dancing, Country Roads at Augustiner 

At about 8:30 AM we headed down to breakfast. Unlike yesterday, we were able to get a table near the large windows that overlook the lake, so of all our wonderful morning meals, this one had the best view. Soon after breakfast, we checked out of the Hotel Schloss Berg. It was sad to leave because we so much loved being there. The hotel was one of the top 5 places I've ever stayed. On the way out, the desk clerk gave us a jar of homemade preserves. I’m sure it would have been delicious, but we would never find out because it didn’t make it through security at Zurich airport.

On a financial matter, when paying by credit card in a foreign country, you are given two options: to pay in dollars or the local currency. If you pay in the local currency, then most credit cards charge a “foreign transaction fee” typically about 3%. Some cards have no “foreign transaction fee” but ours charged 3%. If you pay in dollars, then the transaction fee is avoided; however, the vendor will likely offer an exchange rate that is far worse than that used by the credit card company, so invariably, you end up paying more in dollars. The Hotel Schloss Berg offered a favorable exchange rate, so it was one of the few times I went by that method. For more information on the subject, see this article.

On the road again, we headed to Neuschwanstein Castle planning to stop along the way at Weis Church. We’d made this same trip in 1989, although then we started from Munich, not Berg, and toured the castle before the church, by which time the latter was closed. Today our first stop would be Weis Church. We arrived about 11:30 AM as a light drizzle fell on this chilly morning. In the parking area, a lady handed us her unexpired meter receipt, so we parked for free. How nice. Then we walked up to the opulent church, stopping very briefly along the way at the small hotel & restaurant. Aside from the inn and café and a gift shop, there was nothing else around, such as a town or village, leaving me to wonder from whence came the parishioners. Anyway today the church was open, and inside it was resplendent.

After our brief stop, we continued on to Neuschwanstein Castle, which is about 16 miles from the church and 64 miles from Berg. The entire drive was very scenic, but approaching the castle along Colomanstrasse, the view is fantastic—perched high on a ridge to the left is the famed castle itself, in front but further off is Hohenschwangau Castle, and for good measure beside the road on the right is the onion-domed St. Coleman’s Church. I pulled to the side of the road and took a raft of photos. Then we drove on and parked in the village of Schwangau, which I gathered was as close to the castles as one could park.

To get to Neuschwanstein Castle, we first walked through the tiny village of Schwangau, which was lined with hotels and gift shops. One gift shop, connected to the Hotel Alpenstuben, had some attractive Alpine hats. A mauve colored model with a fancy feather pin looked particularly fetching on Sharon. The tag had it priced at 35 euros, and I assumed that included the pin. We thought about buying it, but didn’t. After the trip, I sent an email to the shop enquiring about the hat. They wanted 87 euros for the hat, pin, and shipping, so we didn’t buy it then either. On every trip we’ve taken, it seems, there’s always one thing we regret not buying. On this trip, the Alpine hat in Schwangau was that thing.

As mentioned, we last visited Neuschwanstein Castle in 1989. Here’s what I had to say about it in the log for that trip:

The hike up to the castle was brutal—up and up it went—but it was more than worth the effort.  The castle is an extravaganza, and a much-visited one at that.  The admission included an English-speaking tour through the finished sections of the castle, and lavishly finished they were.  And as magnificent as the castle was; the views were equally astonishing.  From the castle we walked to a bridge spanning a gorge.  The bridge was said to be 120-years old and made of wooden planks and a steel structure.  From the middle of the span, the view of the castle was a Kodak moment and the sight of the gushing water, hurtling through the gorge below, was downright gripping.  Sharon didn’t remain on the bridge for long—too gripping.

 Between the castle and the bridge was a point where Hohenschwangau Castle could be seen down below, flanked by two shimmering lakes, all set against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains.  The scene was spellbinding and as lovely as any I think I've ever seen.

The hike up didn’t seem as difficult as it did 29 years ago. Perhaps we were in better shape than we were then. Or maybe we took an easier route. The views were of course much the same, and thus still amazing. Hohenschwangau Castle, however, didn’t strike me as being so lonely. This was in part because we were surrounded by a crowd of people this time, but also, as evidenced by the photos from 2018 compared to those from 1989, the town of Schwangau now encroaches upon Hohenschwangau, whereas it couldn’t be seen back then. The bridge, called Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge), is the same span it was 29 years ago. But this time Sharon was braver about being on it, and unfortunately, so too were hundreds of other people. In 1989 we mostly had the bridge to ourselves, now we had to wait in line for 20 minutes just to step foot on it. And finally, in 1989 we toured the inside of Neuschwanstein, but not today.

After our castle excursion, we hiked down the hill and made our way again through Schwangau to our car and then started back to the Starnberger See. This time, however, our destination would be the Hotel am See in the town of Tutzing on the western shoreline. As such we took a different route that also turned out to be a shorter one. We arrived at the Hotel am See at about 4:20 PM and checked in. The man who checked us in told us we could park in a side lot. But there were no open spaces, so we drove around town for about 20 minutes looking for place to park, finally finding one on a side street about three blocks away from our hotel. We could only hope that it was not in a no-parking zone. We then moved into our room. It was a large, paneled, and modern with a nice view of the lake, but it wasn’t the Hotel Schloss Berg, so that was kind of a letdown. Oh, well, we didn’t hang there long—we chilled for a few minutes, drinking a Hofbrau Oktoberfest, and then at about 6:00 PM headed out to pay another visit to Oktoberfest in Munich.

We drove to the surprising large Tutzing train station, parked, and caught the next train to Munich Central station. Again no one collected tickets. Again passengers were dressed in their finest dirndls and lederhosen. One of the things that’s so neat about Oktoberfest, besides the great beer and fancy clothes, is that most of the attendees are locals—it’s not a tourist thing, as some might suppose, but mainly a German thing. 

Speaking of dirndls, once we got off the train, we went shopping for one. The first place we tried was C&A department store in downtown Munich. They had some that were OK, and Sharon tried one on, but we thought we could do better. And sure enough a couple of blocks away we found a beauty in a little store called Carmen Trachten. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Sharon tried on the dirndl. It looked great on her, so we bought it and a white blouse for $141.77. Amazingly, the dirndl was by far our favorite in the store and having been marked down it was also the cheapest. How often does that happen? Sharon didn’t wear her dirndl to the festival, but she would wear it a month later at the Phoenixville Oktoberfest, where it was a big hit, so much so that a photo of her was prominently featured in the local magazine called IN Phoenixville Area (on page 11).

Having accomplished our mission, we continued to the festival. As festive as it was the previous afternoon, it was all the more so at night. The festivalgoers were more primed and the grounds were bathed in party lights. Soon after arrival we took a table outside of the Ochsenbraterei (Spatenbräu-Festhalle) tent, where we chowed on roast chicken (or was it ox?) and drank a liter of Spaten. Then we roamed from tent to tent—from the Lowenbrau (again) to the Augustiner to the lush Hofbrau Festzelt, where we even sat at a table no less. In each we reveled, toasted, sang along to the songs we knew, notably “Hey! Baby” and “Take Me Home Country Roads.” Somewhere along the way, we grabbed a currywurst or two from one of the vendors along the main concourse. It tasted great. What a blast it all was. What a party. What a way to cap off our incredible trip.

We stayed in the Hofbrau tent until the last song was sung and the last beer served. Then at about 11:00 PM we walked to the nearby Hackerbrücke station and caught a train back to Tutzing. By the time we reached Tutzing, the train was nearly empty. We got off and found our car, although that took a bit of doing. As I said, it was a big station. It was after midnight by the time we got back to our room at the Hotel am See. We had a beer or two and made preparations for an early start tomorrow for the drive to Zurich and the flight home. Take us home Icelandair.