Out the window...

This morning from our hotel window in Italy...

Ciao Italy!

This morning from our plane window...

 Auf Wiedersehen to Germany, Austria & Switzerland.

And finally New Jersey from John & Judy's window...

Tomorrow it's goodbye to John & Judy and hello to New York and home!

And until our next trip, goodbye to you too!

The shortcut...

We left Munich early this morning, taking the most direct route back to Milan in preparation for coming home tomorrow. We started I n Germany, drove into Austria, then into The Swiss Alps where we stopped for lunch. The Swiss are such tidy people. I took this photo of a workman across the street from the restaurant weed eating the roadside. The side roads are very narrow and curvy. There's a reason he's wearing all that safety gear.

Then it was onward through the beautiful scenery and through the long San Bernadino tunnel that even the birds use when they migrate. If it's a choice of flying up and over the Alps or taking the shortcut through the tunnel, wouldn't you do the same? Of course, on the other side you have to come down the mountains to get to Italy. I thought you might better appreciate how twisty these roads are if I included a shot of the road as it looked on the GPS. Usually the road appears as a narrow pink line. That big glob of pink is all switchbacks.

However, we finally arrived, safely, at our hotel relatively near the airport and the Johns have gone to return the car and hopefully find the shuttle that will bring them back here. Judi & I refuse to think about how they're making out. We may indulge in a glass of wine before they return...

A zither, a keg & a two-necked guitar?

Being total tourists, we decided to go to dinner last night at the Hofbrauhaus, one of the oldest beer halls in Munich and probably the one tourists visit the most. The ground floor alone seats 1,300 people and their beer. Just as we were getting there and wondering where to go an older gentleman, originally from Scotland, and his wife arrived. He told us to follow them up to the first floor where the locals went. Because it was the first Monday of the month it was sort of like "open mike" night for bands. They just sat around the tables, drank beer, ate, drank beer and took turns playing. In the photo is the band with the zither player who was incredible; the beer keg player (who needs real drums?); and the two necked guitar (or whatever it's called) player. They were marvelous! The other groups weren't slouches either.

Today it was off to one of mad King Ludwig's castles (the one Disney patterned theirs on and whose name I can't spell). Too many tourists and lines so we settled for a distant photo instead.

The countryside is beautiful and we always seem to get lucky finding out-of-the-way places with great food to eat. The restaurant below is a favorite of locales and bicyclists. If you're a biker, the bike paths here look great! The rest of just just like to eat (and probably gain weight!).

As an aside... We were aware that Germany, up until last year when Spain came out ahead, generated more solar energy than any other country in spite of having a solar effectiveness rating on a par with Alaska. After driving around Germany we have no doubt how they've managed it. It's very difficult to go more than a few kilometers without seeing banks of solar panels on roof tops and we passed at least three solar "farms" just on today's drive. The U.S. has some catching up to do!

 

PS - the 2 Johns can't stop raving about their BMW tour yesterday. Very high tech. They say if you're ever in Munich it's not to be missed. (Guess Judi and I will have to come back.)

A parting of the ways...

Yes. It's true. John & John have left Judi & I to our own devices while they went off to take the BMW factory tour. So of course we went shopping. The food in the markets looks terrific - fresh mushrooms and lots of white asparagus and strawberries. Even truffles if you're willing to spend at least $20 for a small one. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) food is just not a "take home" option for a tourist so Judi & I settled for a great little lunch at a sidewalk cafe. 

And I know some of you have been wondering where those clothesline photos are that I've done for past blogs. The one below I just took out our hotel window of a balcony across from us. (And no, Susan, those aren't painted clothespins. They're plastic. Yikes!)

M is for Munich Museums

We spent the morning into the afternoon touring the big, VERY big, Deutsches Museum. A lot of technical exhibits that the Johns found incredibly fascinating. (Judy & I became more excited when we finally located the cafe and the massage chairs while we were waiting for the Johns to reappear.)

Then it was off to the Verkehrszentrum (honestly, how do German kids ever learn to spell?) Museum a.k.a. Transportation Museum which contains everything from baby buggies to the lastest ICE high speed train. Luckily for us a very nice beer garden was directly across the plaza so we could rest and fortify our weary bodies after all that education for the 10 minute walk (that's German walking time - older American time is a bit, ok - quite a bit, longer) back to our hotel.

Hanging out with the kids...

Moving on to Munich

After a short (VERY ENJOYABLE!) few days we parted ways with Garry & Yvonne this morning; they to Prague and us to Munich. A plug for our hotel overlooking Salzburg. The photo is the view from our bedroom window. In addition to the incredible view, the staff was friendly, the food great, and they had solar panels on the roof. The only drawback - a very long steep walk up the mountain. We did not attempt it. (Are you kidding Jose?! This is why cabs were invented.)

Heading toward Vienna, then correcting course and heading toward Munich we stopped in the pretty city of 'Wasserburg am Inn' where John tried to connect to his roots.

And finally we arrived at our hotel in Munich located on a very lovely quiet street this time of year. (Thanks for the recommendation Frank!) Am sure it's quite different in the fall when the enormous park across the street is home to Munich's Octoberfest. Our rooms are on the top floor with the little balcony and the round circles above the doors. (We're all giving John a big thumbs up for finding great little hotels for us.)

A day in Salzburg

Lots of churches to visit. The ceiling of the biggest.

A mini beer wagon.

A passageway for...

We ended the day by going to the Marrionetten Theater to see a wonderful puppet production of (you guessed it) the "Sound of Music".