Thank you very much for the travel reports sent to the contest “The Story of My Travel” to me by e-mail: [email protected]. Today is Olga’s story about a trip to Bavaria. Baseline: the desire to see Bavarian castles with mom and son 13 years old. Departure place: Ekaterinburg. Duration: 14 days. Language skills: mother has zero, son has English within the school curriculum ..
Thank you very much for the travel reports sent to the contest “The Story of My Travel” to me by e-mail: [email protected].
Today is Olga’s story about a trip to Bavaria.
Baseline: the desire to see Bavarian castles with mom and son 13 years old.
Departure place: Ekaterinburg.
Duration: 14 days.
Language skills: mother has zero, son has English within the school curriculum.
And the desire to make a trip regardless of travel agencies and other intermediaries. All by yourself: visas, hotel reservations, and tickets.
Traveling around the country: public transport, they did not dare to take a car (driving experience is not enough). In the hands of the guide "Bavaria" publishing house Around the World. The sensible thing.
Travel plan: Frankfurt am Main - Rust - Munich - Nuremberg - Bad Taurus - Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Munich - Frankfurt am Main.
1st day.
Flew through Frankfurt just for the reason that our friends live there. This was our first independent trip, because the host side provided invaluable help in orienting ourselves out of terrain: they helped to buy train tickets, told how to use vending machines to buy tickets, and provided a local SIM card.
2nd day.
A city awaits us Rust located near the border with France and Switzerland. Rust is remarkable only in that it is located Europe Park. I traveled with a child, because, of course, the route was planned with a huge correction for his interests. The park is nice, there are very cozy, beautiful corners for a quiet holiday from endless ropes-carousels. For three days for two paid 186 euros.
I liked the park. Beautiful, exciting, interesting. We drove to complete insanity.
Day 5th and 6th:
Arrived in Munich. Here it is the capital of Bavaria. Clean, beautiful, tasty. A complete delight.
We started with the tourist information center (there is even in the very seedy town). There we purchased: a ticket for three days to travel in all types of public transport and the right to discounts in some museums - 29 euros.
Bought a ticket for a sightseeing bus. Audio guide (not very good, speaks about a third of what they speak German in Russian). You can go out at any stop, see the sights and continue the tour on the next bus.
We make a walk around the city center. Karlplatz, Marienplatz, a visit to the treasury. We use the guidebook on the way. We go, read about buildings, monuments, events, find it all on the ground, take pictures. I will dwell separately on the values of the guide. He was simply irreplaceable. We walk along the street, I read directly from the guide: look at the right ... Pay attention in this building ... You do not need to book any excursion. The cost of the guide is about 300 rubles, and the cost of an individual city tour is at least 50 euros per person. Here consider the benefits.
The sightseeing bus drove us to Nympheburg (This is the summer residence of the kings, which is supposed to be near each capital). We walked around the park and examined the palace. Handsomely. But with the Tsarskoye Selo or Petergof compares no comparison. And with Vienna Schönrunn and even more so. But we still liked it.
Then the bus went to Olympia Park and BMW Museum. Having a son in fellow travelers, we could not make out these sights in detail. I personally am completely indifferent to the cars, but the BMW Museum made a very favorable impression on me. So everything is technological, beautiful, you can touch, sit inside the car (not all), pull the levers. Wow.
Personally, this machine conquered me. I fell in love at first sight and would give a lot for owning such a baby.
They’ve already looked at so much, but they didn’t even mention about food. Well, of course, we ate sausages and shank, and sauerkraut, and everyone drank beer. By the way, in the choice of dishes were also guided by a guide. In the section: this must be tried in Bavaria.
Of course, to visit Munich and not to visit Hofboyhaus is unacceptable.
It's not even the kitchen, but the fact that it is a beautiful, ancient building - 3 floors and a cellar, ceiling paintings, a live orchestra, a sour smell of fermentation ... There are no separate tables on the third floor, guests sit down at a long table in a row, and this creates some very special atmosphere of a common holiday.
7th day.
North of Munich - in Nuremberg. Tickets for the train bought in the machine. We drove 2.5 hours, for such a short distance - it is a very long time. We stop at every bump, it's such a train - like our train, all the villages gathered along the way. You can get much faster, but there was an opportunity to stare out the window at nature, houses, cows, horses. Believe me - German nature, villages, rabbits crossing the road, flashing farms, well-groomed cows - all of this is absolutely pleasant to admire.
I really liked Nuremberg. It is worth visiting only the old city, it is surrounded by a fortified wall, so it is not possible to make a mistake in the place of concentration of attractions. I really liked the shop-workshops for the manufacture of various souvenirs, a couple of which we gladly purchased.
The famous monument to the "Durer Rabbit" looks really disgusting. The sculptor sought exactly this effect. A man crushed by a rabbit, many small rabbits squeezed out, flattened, smeared. Muck. The photograph does not transmit this. I don’t even know how Dürer would react to such a “reading” of his dear original in all respects.
Day 8
Now Salzburg. There is no city guide. The goal is - Mozart Museum. My sister ordered to be there, to tell her everything and to bring “something from Mozart.” We quickly find the right house. We buy a ticket. There is no Russian audio guide. 18 euros. Disappointment. It’s just empty walls, 4 pianos, some notes, showing a film about Mozart, but everything is in German, and with our lack of knowledge in languages, we are simply forced to leave the building in five minutes. Souvenir bought. The debt has been fulfilled, but not only for the sake of this we dragged ourselves into such a distance. We follow the flow of tourists (sometimes this is the most reliable means of orientation in an unfamiliar environment), we go to the historical center of the city and its main attraction - Fortress. We rush there. And cheers, we get into the hands of the Russian audio guide. The tour is not long, but fascinating, we rise to the observation deck of the tower, Salzburg in full view. The grandeur of the stone fortress is impressive.
We’ll take a little walk around the city (catacombs, cemetery, cathedral). All liked it. One day for review is enough. In the evening we move back.
Day 9
Waiting for us Bad Taurus. A small town 55 km from Munich on the shore of Isar. It was chosen for visiting for three reasons: 1) there is a large water park (which makes it possible to swim and sunbathe (all the same vacation), 2) silence and beauty - the opportunity to relax from impressions and accumulated physical fatigue, 3) get closer to the next points of our trip from there .
The town is very nice. Small shops, souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants. Around flowers, pedestrian zones, parks, fountains. In general, it is striking in Germany that even in the provincial province there is always a place for a city park, a stadium, a pair of fountains and a myriad of flower beds.
We get to Isar. Here you can clearly see the Alps from which it flows, here it is still not deep, and the waters of its beautiful turquoise color. The color of the water is so unusual in comparison with the Ural rivers that there is an irresistible desire - even to bathe your feet.
10th day.
Today is relaxation. We go to the water park "Alpomare". We were told a lot of good things about him and about the longest water slides, and about the excellent spaclex. Not all hopes came true. From the pros: you can visit the water park in any weather. Pools have different temperatures, and, as I understand it, the temperature is regulated depending on the weather. There are outdoor and indoor pools. Quite a large area for sunbathing and walking. Water slides, on which both adults and children ride with the same excitement, are indoors, and therefore also available in any weather. There is a sauna with a temperature of + 95 and + 85 degrees. Infrared sauna. Ice pool. Solarium, massages and treatments are available at an additional cost. Aquafitness - for free. The dining room is expensive, but in general, quite decent. The water park is open until 22.30.
Day 11
Relaxation was nice, but boring. My son and I are completely indefatigable in nature, and for a long time we cannot indulge in lying in warm water. The indefatigable soul of the traveler craves adventure. We are going to Garmisch. This is a ski resort, world-class competitions in downhill, slalom, freestyle, etc. are held there. This is the mecca of skiers. But summer is in the yard, and even on a flat surface I can hardly stand skiing, so what attracts us there? Mount Zugspitz is the highest point of the German Alps - 2962 m. We ride a bus, serpentine in the mountains (not high) around mountain lakes, villages. The Alps is a place forever occupied a huge part of my heart. It was love at first sight.
People! No creations of human hands can be as beautiful as creations of the mother of nature. Take a trip to the Alps and you will never again be seduced by a Turkish beach with endless inclusiveness.
Day 12
AT Fussen! To the castles of Louis!
I won’t talk about the castles themselves. They are wonderful. A lot has been said and written about them. They are worth it to spend the whole day (half of which is standing in line for tickets (17 euros two locks) and going up to the castles). Tip: book a ticket in advance, this can be done by phone or the Internet, so you will avoid tedious standing in line, and admiring the beauty will not spoil anything. No photograph taken personally can reflect the beauty of castles, the color of the area and the magic. Therefore, as a souvenir, buy postcards with a professional image, and try to absorb the rest. I really liked it. And although it is said that Germany is full of beautiful castles, with a more ancient history, with chic interiors, not so trampled by tourists - still visit here. At least just to compare a printed card with the original. I assure you - the original will not lose.
One more remark: in all guidebooks I read that the most exotic way to get to Neuschwanstein is by horse. Do not believe it! How boring are the faces of the people in this wagon, the horse smells bad and drove his load to the top, the driver is napping, a miserable sight. Get up on foot! There is plenty of time, but it is truly exotic. The climb is not so cool.
After visiting the castle, again on the advice of a guide, we headed to Maria’s bridge (from which they promised a beautiful view of the castle, we didn’t deceive it). This road was given to us with difficulty. Fatigue has already affected, the road is much steeper and much longer than it seemed. But we crawled (it crawled), we thought longingly that in order to return to the foot, it would be necessary to first return to the castle. But the view of the castle was really beautiful. The gorge (92 meters underfoot) was impressive.
Day 13
Transfer Bad Taurus - Munich - Frankfurt. We are again in a friendly embrace. We walked around the city. A delicious lunch in a restaurant (French) on Zhralnaya Street (I forgot it in German, but we were so translated into Russian). And also Swiss chocolate, which is sold in specialized stores. There is nothing tastier.
Day 14
Time to say good-bye. To summarize. The trip cost us 130 thousand Russian rubles. This, together with visas, guides, souvenirs, etc. Expensive? Not! For this money, we visited 8 cities, dined every day in the best restaurants and pubs. We always lived in the city center - saving time and money on travel. There were difficulties and inconsistencies. But this was our first experience of independent travel, therefore we easily forgave ourselves for everything.
