Thoughts on Austria and Germany

Back to our trip to Europe in September. We visited Munich, Germany, my least favorite place on our tour. It’s a lovely city, but so much evil took place there that it cast a shadow on my opinion of it. It was there that Hitler began his rise to power that resulted in millions of people being murdered and killed on the battlefield. There his ruthless SS people had their headquarters. We saw the building where if people went in, they never came out. We saw the square where Hitler and his followers first marched to draw attention to themselves. We saw the place where Hitler made many speeches. As I said, too much evil occurred there that I couldn’t enjoy it. Plus Hubby got food poisoning there. Another reason to be glad to leave. Our one enjoyable day riding the train to see the Neuschwanstein Castle was fun. Walt Disney modeled the Disney castle after it. It’s a beautiful place and a beautiful castle.
Our next stop was Salzburg, Austria, one of my favorite places on the tour. This was a post-tour extension and only six of us enjoyed it. Being such a small group, we went all over the place together. We stayed in a fabulous 5-star hotel close to the old town square and just across the river from the old city and the fortress on the hill.
I toured the fortress without Hubby (see last week’s blog about déjà vu), but we both toured the palace of the Archbishop of Salzburg. It’s a huge place that houses lots of art and artifacts and connects to the cathedral. The best part for me was seeing all the Van Dyke paintings and one Rembrandt drawing. Thrilling! That is until one of the guards told me I had a large lump on the back of my raincoat and to be careful not to hit anything with it. Since I wasn’t carrying a backpack, I could only assume she was telling me I had a big butt and she was afraid I’d hit something with it. She told Hubby to watch out for his backpack and not to hit anything with it. She also made rude comments to our fellow travelers who passed through there earlier. So if you ever visit there, watch out for the lady guard.
We had our farewell supper at a 353-year-old restaurant called the Bärenwirt. In that old stone building, they served the best wiener schnitzel of the whole trip. It was delicious! No wonder they’ve been in business for so long. My only complaint was that they charged for water. Oh well, it was worth it to eat there.
Our guide was a fabulous person and bent over backwards to make sure we all had a great time. He made the trip an amazing adventure. A hug thanks to Alessandro!
And this ends my blogs on our romantic tour of the European Alps. Next week, I’ll introduce you to some of the amazing and special people we met.