Showing posts with label Munich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Munich. Show all posts

Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Beautiful Castle

A lonely day to the beautiful castle... since Dar has to work and he has been there before so I have to travel there alone. Wanted to book a day trip, but after some thot I decided to go on my own. With great help from Dar, he sourced out the journey for me.. so touched.
1st I have to take a subway to Hauptbahnhof station, then transfer to a train to Bahhof station then from there transfer another train to Fussen station, after that take a bus to the ticket centre. Total timing abt 2hrs to Fussen.

Woke up early to catch the 10am train. While I was waiting at the train station, a China lady approached me. She invited me to join her & another 2 tourist to the Castle, as there's a special group fare for train tickets. I hesitated for a while, I was worry then..hmm we heard alot abt these ppl so I actually rejected. Anyway I already bot the return ticket so I just have to  reject her. After some thot, I suggested that we sit together in the train instead, since we are all going the same way and we chit chat along the way.. haha not so boring mah.

During the journey the 4 of us start sharing abt our trips in Europe. I was surprised and admiring how 1 of this lady fr Beijing actually travel to Europe all alone, this was her 1st overseas trip and her English was really basic. Yet she's so brave, I really admired her courage. Is nice to meet them, and we did some silly things together too. Haha just in a day, in fact within a few hrs we seem to enjoy the company. We even exchanged our contact at the end of Journey and hope to stay in touch with them when I'm back.
 Beautiful scenery on the way. After 2hrs ride, we reached Fussen. We still have to catch the bus to the foot of hill & get the entry ticket. This time I agreed to join them as group to get a special fare.


 We bot the tickets and decided to walk up the hill instead of taking the horse carriage. The queue was long for the carriage and the horses.....omg they smells...
 The old Castle, Hohenschwangau is just walking distance from the ticket centre. Ofcoz you have to pay for the entrance as well. 
Is good that we walked up at least we get to see more nice scenery : )

Castle just right in-front of us, hurry up! It's a nice walk, weather was good not too cold.
Do you think these two girls look alike? I tot they were the same person hahha.. all pink pink so sweet ; )

Yeah we reached, let's take pic 1st!
The two ladies + 1 man I met on the Journey, Ms Ma & Ms Liu from Beijing and Xiao Bei from Taiwan.
The compound of the Castle and some nice scenery over looked the Mary's bridge. We will be walking to Mary's bridge later.

Photo taking is not allowed in the castle so I can only take the entance & exit ; p
The Disney like castle was stunning, and the beautiful story behind King Ludwig II. To me he's a dreamer, a beautiful dreamer. The love & passions he has for this Castle, is sad & a waste that he died young without completing the entire Castle.


After exiting the Castle we headed to Mary's Bridge. Oh no it's closed due to snow : ( but we din give up. So what we did? OMG... this was the 1st time I did this kinda notorious act... The two ladies suggested to climb in. Not much time for me to hestiate so I joined them.. it's crazy but it's fun and definitely worth the effort. The breath taking scenery and stunning view of the entire Castle, how can we missed that!


We reached the MarienBrucke (Mary's Bridge) yeah! The road was quite slippery tho. The snow was melting and some area were quite steep too. No wonder they have to closed, to avoid injury. The wind was blowing strongly, I can feel the bridge swiving a little. Quite scary too... I was there only for few mins and ran back after I snapped a few pic. But later we saw more & more ppl coming our way too hahhaa... must be like us, the rules breaker.

Dinner at foot of hill, a nice & cosy restaurant near ticket center. Here I have sausages again.. hahaha I simply love them & the sour potatoes salad. My frenz had the grilled fish, not bad too. The price was average, well shld consider inexpensive at a popular tourist area.



Here are some useful information, if you are going to travel on your own to the Castle:

1. Take a subway/ S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof Station.
You can purchase a return ticket from the station.

2. Take a Train from Hauptbahnhof to Bahhof station, timing:
- 09:51, Platform 27 (alight at Bahhof, then transfer train at platform to Fussen)
or
- 10:51, Platform 27-36 (direct Hauptbahnhof to Fussen station)

Total 2hrs Journey.

3. When arrives at Fussen station, walked to the bus stop behind the station. 
Take bus no.73 or 78 to Castle- Ticket center.

4. Get the ticket for group is cheaper (if travel alone, try to find some friends along the way to get group fare) Ticket can be reserves at website, but charges applied.You can choose to visit 1 castle or 2 castle.

5. Then walk up the hill, abt 30mins to Neuschwanstein or 20mins to Hohenschwangau Castle.

Or you can take a bus or horse carriage up to the hill too. But both have long queue. Would recommend you to walk up, it will be faster than waiting to get on the bus or carriage. And have a nice view along the way.

6. After visiting the castle, remember to walk to the Marien Brucke (Mary's Bridge). It's abt 15mins walk from Neuschwanstein Castle.

7. The last train back to Munich is abt 7pm, so make sure you have sufficient time to catch the last bus to the station.

8. There a small town at Fussen Station, you can consider walk/shop around before catching a last train.


Sunday, February 27, 2011

Going Places

The journey begins...
Took a 13hrs flight alone to Munich, a super nice trip arranged by Dar. Feel so delighted, finally can go for a long holiday again. Most of all can meet him after 3weeks, Miss him alot, can't wait to see him.

The long haul flight is torturing... toss & turn also can't sleep. hew... must have been too excited. : D

Finally touched down at Franz Josef Strauss International Munich Airport at 5am (Germany time) it's abt 10pm our time. Surprisingly not feeling sleepy or tired yet, still full of energy, can't wait to meet Dar at the train station.

Cleared customs & walked over to the training station. It was really cold. Trying to figure out how the ticket machine works, despite Dar already gave me the instructions.. hmm somehow it's slightly differ from what he told me haha. Well, I not stupid lah, at least I still get the correct ticket to Rosenheimer to meet him.

The weather was cold... abt 6-5 deg when I arrived, then drop to 2-0 deg as days goes by. It's freezing!!!
He misses his sleep just to wait for me at the station, so touched. Walked with him to the Hotel, which is a few turn around the road from Rosenheimer station. It's was freezing in the early morning.

He still has to get back to work for the next two days. I will be alone doing my own shopping, sightseeing & exploring the places : ) It would be fun & exciting I guess.
To flight against jet lag I have to stay awake for the next few hours... that's the worst part. I was like a zombie walking up & down the city of Munich & ofcoz took the opportunities to visit the museums & Churches.

Took a train to Marienplatz the city center. Shop, eat & see all at one place. Amazing buildings and stunning art works, keep me awake. Weather was good, clear blue sky just a bit chilling.

Neues Rathaus, The New Town Hall, every day at 11 a.m. (as well as 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. in summer) it chimes. It consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures.

A slow cozy walk to the Residenz museum. This was formerly a Royal Palace of the Bavarian Monarchs, now open to public viewing but ofcoz u got to pay lah.  
Inside the museum, the Hall of Antiquities would make your jaw drop... It's was beautiful. I was standing there looking up at the art for a long while, it's amazing, beautiful.. can't find a best word to describe. It's simply catch my breath away. Just a disappointment, no photo taking allowed inside so I din take any pic. This is a definitely must visit place in Munich.
To keep myself awake I have to keep walking... I have comped the whole city in that day hahaa...and went to the New Town Hall tower for a city view.

The MayPole at Viktualienmarket. You can find nice food, and enjoy beer at this place. The place will be crowded with ppl during summer & October Fest





Maypole at Vikualienmarket by nite... I have been walking whole day... tired sleepy.. now just need to wait for Dar to knock off then we can meet for dinner.

Yeah finally we going for dinner. We went to the famous restn at near Marienplatz, Hofbrauhaus. One of the oldest beer Hall.
My 1st beer in Munich, I not a beer person but heard alot of good comment on how good the beer is so must gave it a try. But somehow I still don't know how to appreciate this drinks..hmmm taste weird.
Sausages, my fav. I love sausages so no matter how it is done, come with a sour cabbage. I love it. And Dar has the "luncheon meat", a bit too salty for my liking. It's really filling with a big glass a beer to goes along.