Looking back, the German trip had a lot of highlights, but not much depth

One of the differentiators of this trip, my old journals remind me, was just how empty Europe was.  International travel was a lot rarer then, of course.  European schools would still have been in session.  More importantly, most Americans were holed up at home, terrified of the thought of overseas.  The USA had bombed Libya in retaliation for terrorist attacks a couple of months before, it had triggered mass cancellations of European travel.  Not for my Mom, however, who would laugh in the face of any terrorist who kept her from a planned vacation.

Today I look back and wonder about seemingly inexplicable sightseeing choices in Munich.  Garmish?  A whole day back to Salzburg which we'd covered well earlier in the trip?  Shame, as I haven't been back to Munich since.  Octoberfest calls...

Sunday, 29 June, 1986

Munich.  Our city tour is on foot, with a guide who's slow but interesting.  There's so much to see.  The charm of the city is evident immediately when you stand under the glockenspiel in the town square.  The music is magical, knights joust, and the crowd stops to watch.  Though that crowd is, they tell us, much less than usual due to the political situation.

We had lunch off the Marianplatz.  An ideal atmosphere, with an accordion playing down the street overlaid by occasional glockenspiel rings.  No time to linger as it's to the bus for the afternoon tour.  We drove out to Neuschwanstein Castle.  It's incredible to finally see it.  I just sat in awe.  We didn't go up to it, though, as the guide said there's not much inside and the better interior was our next stop, Linderhof.  It's another of mad King Ludwig's palaces, just a short ride from the fairy tale castle on the crag.  This one is a mini Versailles, ornate to the extreme, yet small and intimate.  You can almost feel Ludwig's presence here.  And you pity him, all alone in his magnificence.  I was impressed enough to buy a guide book.

At 6:30 we stopped at Oberamergau, the picture-postcard village famous for its passion play.  It's filled with Disney-cute houses and souvenir shops, all still open early on a Sunday evening.  We suspect our tour guide, Rita, called ahead to tip them off to our presence.

Back at the hotel, it's the last night of our group's travels together.  One of the party is a priest so offered to say mass for us.  It was very emotional, and everyone cried when Rita led us in singing Edelweiss.  We headed off to the famous Rathskeller for dinner.  It's good and pretty reasonable.  Lots of beer and the knowledge that we'd all be parting tomorrow made it a late night.

June 30
Breakfast was one long goodbye to the gang.  Most people are heading back to the States, but we still have two weeks of wandering ahead.  We packed and caught a cab to the Penta, a bigger hotel and a nice change with air conditioning.  Then an S bahn train to the main station to validate our Eurail passes.  We were lazy and headed to the familiar Ratskeller for lunch, then to Dallmayr's food halls for wondering at the luxuries.  We resisted temptation, went back to the hotel via a normal grocery store for some dinner, allowing us some naps and a quiet night in the room.

July 1
Off to Garmish, an hour and a half by train from Munich.  It's nice countryside, mostly soft mountain foothills.  The town, however, has very little charm.  It's modern.  We found great deals at a small shop.  Mom bought a long boiled wool coat with a hood, I bought a traditional Bavarian dress called a dirndl.

Back in Munich for mid-day, we want to the sausage market for lunch, then to the Residenz.  What a place.  Far more impressive than any other palace I've seen, by sheer size alone.  I counted five different throne rooms, 3 mirrored galleries and many different styles.  Three floors of one stately room after another, filled with porcelain collections, reliquaries, inlaid marbles, portraits, silver services, etc.  But not many people!

Back to the hotel to drop off packages, and then to the Hofbrau House for dinner.  This huge, state-owned beer hall is inexpensive and fun.  Traditional German bands play all night and in their hit parade is, believe it or not, the chicken dance.  I always figured it was some goofy American beer fest thing, but it looks like it goes back to the old country.

July 2
Back to Salzburg for the day.  (We'd gone earlier in the trip, with the bus tour, but for some reason I kept that diary in a different journal, which is long gone.  Shame, as I remember it as the highlight of the tour.  Mirabel Palace, Mozart's house, the Sound of Music tour, all on the way to Vienna. ) It was a pleasant ride, and customs at Salzburg station were quick.  We took a bus downtown and immediately set off to shop.  The people here are so courteous.

We were fascinated by a button store, where mom lingered for ages before picking out buttons of silver Austrian coins to adorn the coat from Garmish.  We went to the market for lunch, where we had sausages with that great sweet mustard.  Cutting through the square in front of the cathedral we saw them setting up for a big music festival, clearly a huge operation.

We took a funicular train up to the castle.  It's a huge place, with successive building starting from the 11th century.  It was hot and dry.  We saw the hatch where supplies got lifted in from the town below, and a confusing mix of rooms.  It reminded me of Edinburgh Castle.  There's a military museum with some Nazi uniforms.  Next down to St. Peter's graveyard, which is the one you see at the end of the Sound of Music but is very different.  It's not on a roof and there's no room to hide behind those tombs.

We walked to Mirabel Palace Gardens.  Lovely.  All the old people come here to sit; every bench was full.  We caught the train back to Munich at 5:30 and found ourselves in rush hour.  Dinner was the McDonalds at Marianplatz.  Not really the same as at home, but it tasted great.  We saw the 9 o'clock glockenspiel and put Munich to bed.

July 3

We had a good sleep, packed and checked our luggage at the hotel for storage before heading to the Alte Pinakothek.  You can only take the train as far as Konigsplatz, then you must walk.  And today was a scorcher.  Those white stones soak up the heat.

The museum is extensive, in a very modern building.  Great Rubens et al.  Check the guidebook for more details.  We had a good lunch here, then headed back to the city center where we relaxed with a magnificent fruit ice inside the town hall.  It's a great interior, neo gothic, with an exterior stair.  Most importantly, cool in the afternoon.

We walked to St. Michaelskirche to see Ludwig's tomb.  The church was basically gutted during WWII, and the photos at the back are a revelation.  The rebuilding is very plain in comparison.  Back to the Marianplatz for the 5pm carillon.  Then to the Theatrinkirche on time for mass.  It's odd to hear it in German; it takes so much longer!  Lots of royalty is buried here but the crypts are closed.  The church is all white stucco work like I've never seen.  As if some cake decorator went wild.  Putti, garlands, triumphant angels.  The whole place looks like it will melt in the rain.

We wandered around the square in front, and around a nearby palace, where there were no people it all.  It was strange, but let us imagine we were those old Bavarian royals who owned all this.  In a grotto we saw a cocktail party of chic-looking locals, then passed the riding school and the theatre on our way, once again, to the Hofbrauhaus.  Where else on our last night in Germany?

We had virtually the same meal as last time, and just sat around for a long time watching.  There, a man who comes in just to have a beer and read the paper.  Here, a group of German workers with thick, simple faces like peasants in a Breughel painting.  Vendors sell giant pretzels, the band plays and a their trumpeter chugs steins.

We picked up our luggage at the hotel and headed for the train station.  With all this shopping, the pile is building.  We had to buy snacks in the station as there was no dining car on the train.  It's one of those old-fashioned train compartments with space for six, but Mom guarded our door like a basilisk so no one else would invade our space.  Frankly, I think we have so much luggage people figured the rest of the seats were taken and the people were coming back soon.  Mom's stance is partially due to a man in Munich who talked about the thieves on the overnight train to Milan, and how there are armed guards on board because it's so dangerous.

So sleep was tough.  Guards seem to flip on the bright lights every hour or so to demand a pass or ticket.  So it's goodbye Germany, hello Italy.