Munich, Germany

The end of our trip was in Munich, Germany. Our first stop was to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. We took a train through the Alps to get to the castle where we ended up in a small mountain town down the hill from the castle. We learned about King Ludwig II and how he became known as the “mad” king. He was infatuated with building things so he began to construct three castles while he was king. Towards the end of his life he was declared crazy and was dethroned. After he was dethroned he we sent to a smaller castle where he died. His death to this day is still a mystery. Some say he committed suicide and other say he was murder. The royal family has taken the autopsy and destroyed it so the truth will never be told.

After our day trip to the castle we stopped at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. The Hofbrauhaus was once the royal brewery in Munich. The brew house was founded in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria (Wilhelm V). It is Munich’s oldest beer hall. During the Thirty Years’ War in 1632 the King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invaded Bavaria and threated to burn the entire city of Munich. He agreed to leave the city unharmed if they would release some hostages, and 600,000 barrels of Hofbrauhaus beer.

When we arrived at 8:30 it was packed! Every table was full, we finally found a table so that we could enjoy some German beer and food! During out stay they had a German polka band playing music and many German men in their authentic German outfits. I felt right at homeJ IT was so much fun to see where many of the traditions in New Ulm came from. We each had a liter of beer, yes I said a liter! We didn’t think we would be able to do it but shockingly enough we all managed to finish our beers!

The next day we walked around Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel go off at 11 AM. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but it sure blew New Ulm’s Glockenspiel out of the water! We also went to the Vikualienmarkt in Munich. The market had a beer garden, German mushrooms, German cuisine, vegetables, fruits, cheese, meats, seeds, pastries, and hand-made goods.

Marienplatz Square

Marienplatz

Glockenspiel

Munich's Maypole!