We just barely made our connection from Schwandorf to Praha. From what I've heard, Europe's train system is supposed to be really good (specifically meaning punctual). But now we missed one connecton from Amsterdam to Munich and almost missed our most recent connection too. And both because of the inbound train we were on. At least we did actually make this connection though. Our guess is they delayed our outbound connecting train, but that's ok by me. How's knows when the next train from Schwandorf to Prague would be! We were really trying to make it into Prague at a decent hour too so we can meet up with Nick and Gabrielle before they head back to the states in the morning.
Yesterday was a great day and very much different than our days so far. We took a bus tour out to the Bavarian country-side to visit some of King Ludwig the 2nd's castles, aka "Crazy" King Ludwig. We started off at the only one of his castles he actually completed and was his primary residence. Very impressvie, but much smaller than his other castles (note.. smaller. Not small :) ). This tour was a little rushed, but we did get to see all of the interior and walk a little bit of the grounds.
On the way to the next castle we stopped in a little Bavarian town that specializes in wood craftsmanship and had a lot of "Christmasy" type things (sorry, I need to look up the name!). So needless to say, Kirstyn was loving it there! She's already talking about our next trip back and having a few days to relax in a mountain town like this one.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to view the castle in which Ludwig grew up, but his dream castle nearby was more than enough. Touring this castle was quite amazing and Ludwig seemed to have an eye for breathtaking views. It is high up in the mountains and surrounded by peaks, valleys, and a large lake. It seems every corner you turn either outside or in, reveals a new view that seems to trump the last. The castle was not finished in Ludwig's lifetime and is actually still being worked on. We were able to see all the rooms that Ludwig was able to finish and then some of the other unfinished floors as well. There was also a marvelous view from "Mary's Bridge" outside of the castle. The bridge was about a 15 minute walk down from the castle entrance and is above a huge valley that gave us all some serious vertigo.
The bus ride back to downtown Munich seemed to take a while, but I'm sure that was partially due to how tired we all were! We got back in enough time to head out for one more night, although both Kirstyn and I figured we'd be in for a early night. That actually held true for once too! We tried going out the the HB house to get a flavor of another beer hall, but it was quite packed (and a little to busy for our moods). We thought of going back to our favorite, Augistiner, but that was bit of a hike away. But then we remembered that there is a smaller Augistiner across from HB! Perfect! We were able to get a seat right away, and some beer and food. The menu is actually fairly different from the main Agustiner beer hall, and actually didn't seem quite as good either (but of course still very good :)). We split a plate of German sausages and an order of roasted veal with a gravy/mushroom/cream sauce and a potato dumpling. That was enough for us here and we felt ready to head home for the night.
However, the night had different plans for us! On the way back we walked by the Hacker-Pschorr beer hall, and the outdoor area was pretty open and inviting. I asked Kirstyn if she wanted one more, and she replied that she'd drink one if it was put in front of her :) So we went in. The ended up being very nice and relaxing and we each put down a coupe .5L glasses. I also ran into random group of people from the Netherlands that talked my ear off for a while. This happened on my way to the bathroom, so i figured Kirstyn was wondering what happened to me too!
We had a bit of a scare in the morning... we thought someone stole some of our credit cards! In Amsterdam we had a nice security box in the room, but in Munich we had an ok locking cabinet. So when Kirstyn was packing up for the trip to Prague she couldn't find our "hidden" cards. We frantically looked for a while and checked our bank/credit card statements online (at least it didn't seem anyone did any damage yet). We took a break looking for a bit and as I got closer to being done packing, I finally ran accross the stash of cards in my shachle bag.. whew!!! They either fell in my bag or at some point I may have actually moved them there. Either way, they're safe and sound and we were able to leave Munich and the festivale with a good taste in our mouths.
Speaking of good tasts in our mouths, we went to the festival for a couple final hours before heading to the train. What a difference a couple days makes! We couldn't believe how crowded the festival was even at 9:30 in the morning. We figured we'd be able to get a table inside a tent, or at least out in one of there outdoor patio sections... but no go. The halls were packed by the mob of patrons that swarmed each of the halls as soon as their doors opened at 10:00am. We actually got a seat breifly in a patio section outside the HB hall, but left fairly quickly because we were running out of time and wanted a last taste of beer and chicken. We wandered back out to the fest grounds and did just that. It seemed pretty appropriate too, because we started and stopped Oktober fest at the same merry-go-round bar :)
Oh, and no I don't have internet on the train, I'm writing locally and will upload/publish the post once I'm connected again... which obviously happened :)
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