Contiki European Vista Day 15: München

Posted in Adventure & Outdoors, Life List, Travel by hunterly

May 16, 2014
I woke up this morning to another amazing breakfast at Haus Lukkas, and a noticeable change in the mood of my fellow tour-mates.

I forgot to mention in the two previous posts that all of that Emergen-C didn’t help: Myself and nearly all of my fellow Contiki-ers had gotten the plague. We were coughing and sniffling all over the place. This, combined with the fact that someone mentioned over breakfast that we were 2/3rds done with our tour and only had a week left, and suddenly we were all a bunch of Debbie Downers.

Our spirits weren’t lifted when we said goodbye to Hopfgarten this morning and went straight to Dachau Concentration Camp, the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany pre-World War II.

Entrance into the Dachau courtyard

While visiting Dachau is an experience that I would recommend to anyone, it’s not because it’s “awesome” or beautiful, like the other places we visited on tour. I recommend this because I think every person living today should understand the terrifying and hateful acts that humanity is capable of. Without knowing our past, we risk walking into a very dark future.

Dachau courtyard, where prisoners would stand at attention for hours at a time for roll call.

My last photo at Dachau was the one you see above. It felt odd to me to keep snapping photos like I did at other stops…we were essentially walking into the grave site of so many.

Pat and I wandered into the museum, where the entire history of both Dachau and World War II was laid out in pictures and stories. After the museum, we walked through the barracks, including rooms packed tight with bunk beds (each twin-sized mattress could sleep up to four people when the camp was operational), and the bathrooms, which consisted of a dozen toilets all facing each other.

Dachau weighed very heavy on my heart, and Pat and I opted to forgo visiting the gas chambers, where prisoners were told they would be going for a “shower” before meeting their end. Many others were tortured or experimented on, or they deteriorated from sickness or starvation.

We all met back at the bus after about an hour, and had a very somber bus ride to Munich. We had to work pretty hard to shake off the down mood, but as we embarked on a walking tour with Jon Snow, we started to come back to our usual energy level.

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Jon walked us through downtown Munich, and directly to the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a clock that chimes and depicts old Bavarian stories from years past. It wasn’t a must-see, but it’s nice to say I’ve been there.

After this, we had a short time to wander and grab some food before heading to Mike’s Bike Tours for a spin around the city. A group of us stopped in at a market, where we got sausages and bread. I had the best sausage hot dog I’ve ever had in my life! Delicious.

Next up was Mike’s, where we each grabbed a bike and pedaled out into the city with an awesome guide who kept us laughing at every turn. This optional extra cost 20€, or $27 USD, and was definitely worth it! We saw all the sites of Munich before pedaling into a biergarten in the middle of the city. We stopped for a beer and relaxed for a bit before jumping back onto our bikes and finishing the tour.

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Most of the swastikas in Munich were removed during the Denazification, but a few are still hidden around.

After the bike tour, we had some time to head to the hotel to check in (Comfort Hotel Munich Ost) and get ready for our night out in Munich. This was the nicest hotel we’d stayed in so far…it reminded me of the quality of a Marriott or similar in the states. The outside was not impressive, but the inside was ultra-clean and seemed newly refurbished.

Once ready, we went straight to the famous Hofbräuhaus in the center of the city. This was definitely one of my favorite nights out on tour. After about an hour of trying to find a place to sit (we were there on a Friday night and it was absolutely packed), we settled in for a fantastic meal. I got the HB sausage platter (pork, Viennese and pfälzer sausages with sauerkraut) and a dark beer, and both were absolutely delicious.

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Photo credit: Sam K.

We found the rest of our group after and spent the rest of the night drinking beer and chatting with the locals. I met one couple who lived in the SF Bay Area for years before moving back east (seen above), and it was so nice to chat with them and feel connected to home for a few minutes. It’s so odd to me that when you’re living life here in the Bay Area, you really don’t make time to talk to strangers, yet as soon as you meet in another country, you’re like family. Another one of the benefits of traveling.

Next up: Schnapps and Viennese symphonies

Check out my other Contiki posts:

Introduction: An American Girl in Europe
Day 1: Oh hey, London
Day 2: Bonjour, Paris!
Day 3: Parisian Adventures
Day 4: Lookin’ Good, Switzerland
Day 5: All Things Swiss
Day 6: Switzerland, Italy, France…oh my!
Day 7: Bond. James Bond.
Day 8: Buongiorno Italia!
Day 9: When in Rome
Day 10: That’s Amore
Day 11: Vatican City to Venice
Day 12: The Last Italian Adventure
Day 13: Hop-fer-gerten
Day 14: Soaring Over Austria
Day 15: München
Day 16: Bittersweet Symphonies
Day 17: Vienna to Prague
Day 18: Ahoj, Prague!
Day 19: St. Goar, Rhine Valley
Day 20: Amsterdamage
Day 21: Even more Amsterdamage
Day 22: Back to the Start
Day 23/24: The End of a Great Adventure
Contiki in a Nutshell: Know Before You Go

26Jul2014

Contiki European Vista Day 14: Soaring Over Austria

Posted in Adventure & Outdoors, Life List, Travel by hunterly

May 15, 2014
This morning we woke up to more rain…and the most fabulous breakfast we’d had on tour so far. I had planned on sleeping in (I would forgo the mountain biking excursion this morning because of my bruised bum), but the smell of bacon woke me up and drew me downstairs. When I got there, I found hot scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast sausage, toast, fruit, and more. Definitely more substantial than the continental breakfasts we’d had in Western Europe!

As it turns out, the company running the mountain biking tour cancelled because of the rain and resulting ice, so everyone had the morning free to explore Hopfgarten, an adorable village in the Austrian Tyrol. We all went different ways – Some chose to rent bikes and cruise around the town in the rain, others went to a local fish farm to fish in a pond and eat their labor for lunch, and others went on long walks or hikes around the village. I chose to wander into town a bit, and then I had some girl-time with Shandi when we walked to a local pizza shop for lunch.

We were worried that paragliding would be cancelled too because of the weather, but we were still on! Those doing the excursion, which was one of the more expensive optional activities at 123€, or $165 USD) piled into vans and left for the mountain. I say “vans,” but we referred to ours at the “death cab.” Our driver was absolutely nuts, whipping around turns and speeding up a one-lane road. We joked that if paragliding didn’t kill us, this ride would.

Me, Jenna & Shandi riding the death cab up the mountain.

Once we got to the top, we had to wait around a bit for Group #1 to take their ride down. It was fun to watch them soar above us, but it also just gave us plenty more time to be nervous! I’m not a fan of heights as it is, but I wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity. Still, I had plenty of anxiety in the half hour we spent waiting.

Next, it was our turn to head up the mountain. Our instructors (who had just landed with our friends in the first group) came over to greet us and hand us our gear. We would ride the ski lift to the tip-top, and then suit up and run off the mountain. Easy right?

Ski lifts heading up the mountain…towards the snow

Signing our lives away!

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Pat & me with our instructors

Finally, we made it to the snow-covered top of the mountain. The wind was pretty fierce, which I learned can be both good and bad for paragliding, but the main problem was visibility. The fog was thick up there, and our instructors weren’t comfortable taking off without seeing where they were going (thank God). So we had to wait it out.

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We wandered into a tiny little chalet at the top of the mountain that served hot soup, coffee and tea, to wait it out. We were all way too anxious for the big leap we were about to take (literally) to eat anything, so we sat around chatting nervously for the next 45 minutes.

Finally, our instructors came inside and told us it was time to go! We walked out into the fog and right up to the edge of the mountain to suit up.

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This weather though…

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My instructor attached to my pack, and gave me instructions for take-off. The conversation went something like this:

Instructor: Run off the edge of the mountain. It will be hard. It’s hard to run in snow, and you’ll feel the resistance from the parachute. DO. NOT. STOP. RUNNING. If you stop running, we’re in trouble.
Me: What kind of trouble?
Instructor: Don’t worry about it. Just run.
Me: ……..

I didn’t have time to think, I just nodded nervously and put my game face on. And then…it was go-time! I started running, and didn’t stop until my feet couldn’t touch the ground anymore. Then, we were flying.

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I was shocked at how easy this was! I thought I was going to be a wreck up there after my episode on the Eiffel Tower the week before, but this was such a thrill. I squealed at the weightless sensation and the twists and turns, and took in the absolutely incredible view. It was amazing to look down over those mountains with absolutely nothing between you and the ground.

“Do you want the roller coaster ride?” my instructor asked. “Might as well!” I yelled back. Within seconds, we were spiraling towards the ground in a corkscrew. What a rush! Within what seemed like only a hundred feet to the ground, my instructor pulled up and into a series of butterfly-inducing dips and turns. So. Much. Fun.

After around 10 minutes, we drifted easily towards the ground. I was instructed to curl-up into the fetal position, keeping my feet as high and close to my head as possible. Soon, I felt my bum touch the grass (ouch on my bruise) and we were safely back on the ground!

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After my entire group was down, we climbed back into the death cabs and drove back to the hotel.

We had a bit of free time to nap and explore before another delicious included dinner: Turkey schnitzel with cranberry sauce, veggies and potatoes…and more schnapps. I think we had tried nearly every flavor at this point!

We spent the rest of the night laughing and chatting and testing schnapps. It was so nice to have these relaxing nights in Hopfgarten…up until this point, we had been on-the-go nearly every night, and we would be for most nights from here on too. This stop was such a nice change of pace, and a wonderful chance to spend more time with the amazing people I was traveling with. The next day would be a busy one…and another late night!

Next up: Dachau, biergartens, and the Hofbrauhaus

Check out my other Contiki posts:

25Jul2014

Contiki European Vista Day 13: Hop-fer-gerten

Posted in Adventure & Outdoors, Life List, Travel by hunterly

May 14, 2014
This morning we said arrivederci to Italy, as we left Venice and headed towards Austria.

My bruise had popped up overnight, and I freaked out when I caught a glimpse of it in the mirror of the hotel room. I’ll spare you the photo here, but it was about the circumference of a coffee mug – huge! Normally, I wouldn’t have been concerned about a bruise, except that it was in a very inconvenient position for sitting (right under my bum), and I had a five hour bus ride to endure that day, plus white water rafting, a mountain bike ride, and paragliding were waiting for us in Austria. Bad timing!

I was already considering backing out of the white water rafting, when yet another reason popped up. The temperature had been pretty moderate when we left Venice, but that didn’t last long. Just a short time after we crossed the Austrian border into the Tyrol region, the snow started.

I figured they would cancel white water rafting if it was snowing, right?! Nope. As the snow cleared up, we trotted off the bus and down to the equipment pickup at Feelfree, who would be hosting our rafting adventure. (Edit: This activity was an optional extra, and cost 41€ or $55 USD). Jon Snow and the others had talked me into trying the rafting (“Hey, the cold water will probably feel good on your leg!”), so I slipped into the wet suit and the rest of the gear and gave myself a little pep talk. I had been looking forward to this excursion, so while I was here, I would enjoy it for all it’s worth!

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“I feel like we’re suited up to go into space. Armageddon-style.” – Shandi

After a quick lesson from our guides, we were lugging our boats down to the river and jumping in. I was in a boat with Canada (Brett, Geoff, Mark and Craig), as well as Shandi, Alex and Krista. In the other boat were Pat, Dicky, Chris, Ashlee, Emily, Jacinta and Paul.

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We got to rolling down the river and had so much fun! The commands were easy enough to follow, and soon we were hitting our first rapids.

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We had fantastic guides for this adventure as well. They kept us out of trouble, and kept us laughing the whole way. (“Hey, you see that Church up on the hill? Have you seen the Sound of Music? Yeah, it wasn’t filmed there.”)

The scenery was pretty incredible along the way. I didn’t have a waterproof camera, so my friends Krista and Chris provided these snaps:

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I hung in there just fine at the beginning of the trip, but after being dunked into the icy water a few times, my body was completely frozen. I had the time of my life, and I wouldn’t have opted out if I could go back, but I sure was glad to step off that boat and into the hot shower once we stripped off the wetsuits.

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We cleaned up in the showers at Feelfree, before heading into their snack shack for hot coffee and hot pizza. Despite the hot shower and dry clothes, my hair was still soaked and I could just not warm up! I cuddled up to Pat on the bus ride into Hopfgarten, hoping that would help, but I wasn’t truly warm again until I finally climbed into bed that night.

We arrived in Hopfgarten shortly before dinner, and were greeted by other Contiki staffers at our hotel, Haus Lukas. Our group would have the hotel to ourselves that night, and we would have another included dinner downstairs in the dining room. The hotel had a full bar serving schnapps (an Austrian specialty) in just about every flavor imaginable!

That night, we feasted on a roast, veggies and potatoes, accented by schnapps, and turned in a bit early. We’d had so many late nights out in the last week that it was nice to sit around and relax, and get a decent night’s sleep. I climbed into my warm bed and listened to the rain outside until I fell asleep in yet another amazing country.

Next up: Soaring Over Austria

Check out my other Contiki posts: