Itinerary

At the age of 50, we (Connie and Sheila) enjoyed 12 glorious days in Bavaria and Tyrol and lived to tell our tale. 

In 1992, at the age of 31, we took a trip that we’d only dreamed about as friends in high school.  We headed off to France and Italy for two weeks, taking traditional backpacks and staying in pensiones.  While traveling back from Florence to Paris, we traveled through Switzerland, stopping in Lucern for the day.  Unfortunately, it was really foggy that day so we never got to actually see the mountains.  It was our intent to come back and visit Germany and Austria soon, and we made a vow to each other that no matter what life dealt us, we would celebrate our fiftieth birthdays in some exotic locale.  We didn’t exactly plan for the big half a century birthday trip to be our trip back to the mountains, but with career changes, children, and life in general, it just worked out that way.  So, here is how a couple of out of shape, now middle-aged, ladies did a modified backpack and pensione style trip to the Alps.

First, we had to decide where exactly we wanted to go given that we had less than two weeks.  Connie has teenagers you know.  Here was our itinerary as it ended up, but it didn’t start this way when we left.


Fri Oct.14          Fly to Munich
Sat Oct. 15       Munich  (Arrive 7:50 a.m.) 

Sun Oct. 16       Romantic Road (Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber) 

Mon Oct. 17      Fussen  / Neuschwanstein

Tue Oct. 18       Salzburg

Wed Oct. 19      Obertraun/Hallstatt

Thur Oct. 20      Hallstatt / Return to Munich

Fri Oct. 21         Munich / Overnight Train to Venice
Sat Oct. 22       Venice /  Train to Bolzano, Italy 

Sun Oct. 23       Bolzano / Innsbruck / Return to Munich

Mon Oct. 24      Romantic Road (Nordlingen & Donauwörth)
Tue Oct. 25       Return to Austin

Nordlingen, Germany

On Sheila’s 50^th birthday, we used Connie’s brand new AARP membership (Sheila is in denial about her eligibility to join AARP) to get a hotel and flight package to Munich.  Among the many packages available, other than price, we chose based on the flight times, location of the hotel, and the reviews of the hotel appearing on Expedia. 

Backpacks are wonderful things, except if you are too short to get one to fit right (like Connie) or have back issues (like Sheila).  So, to be honest, there were no real backpacks, but we also weren’t quite ready to give up our freedom for guided bus tours of each city.  Instead, we used the hotel in Munich as our base and just carried small day packs for our daily outings and even a couple of overnight trips.  Suitcases on wheels are marvelous things, but not if you have to drag them around with you everywhere you go. 

Despite being in Sound of Music land, we didn’t actually intentionally visit any of the movie locations.  Connie was interested in seeing mountains while Sheila was interested in seeing medieval cities and “dead bodies.”  Our itinerary gave us plenty of both, with the opportunity to add Sound of Music sights, if we wanted to (we didn’t.)  On our first trip to Europe, we had a much more hectic schedule, and visited many many museums.  On this trip, we decided on a much more sedate pace, and many many fewer museums.  There are many wonderful art museums in Munich, but we were more interested in nature and architecture for this trip.  Our main pleasure was wandering through the cities we visited.

Day 1 Austin, Texas to Munich, Germany 10/14/11

We left at about 11:00 a.m. to fly to Munich via Atlanta.  As we arrived in Munich we could see the area around the city was rural, with lots of cultivated land.   We’re so used to urban sprawl, it was surprising not to see suburbs everywhere.  The plane was great.  Each seat had a little TV / game machine in the headrest of the seat in front of it.  Connie got hooked on the word game and watched a few movies.  Sheila slept, because she didn’t find the word game until it was almost time to land.

Hallstatt, Austria

Day 2 Munich, Germany 10/15/11

We arrived at 6:30 a.m. in Munich.  It was a bit of a challenge just trying to figure out where to wait for our pre-paid shuttle bus.  Once we figured out where to wait, we took the Lufthansa bus to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof).   We walked just a few blocks to Hotel Monaco.  The hotel was very close to the station and within easy walking distance to Munich’s Old Town.  There is a subway line (S-Bahn) that will take you from the airport to the main train station, but we decided we didn’t want to struggle with public transportation first thing off the plane.  If you want to save a little money and are more intrepid than we were, it is a definite option.

Hotel Monaco  http://www.munich-accommodation.com

The Hotel Monaco is on the top floors of a non-descript office building.  The entrance is not very prepossessing.  We went up to the 5^th floor in a tiny elevator that could barely hold 4 people squished in.  The hotel was decorated with hearts and angels and was really perfect.  We shared a bathroom with three other rooms, but never had a problem with it.  The place was clean and the people who worked there, very helpful and friendly.  Yes, they spoke English. Whenever we would leave our room, we would turn in our key and pick it back up when we returned.   Every morning, they served an excellent buffet breakfast with salami, bologna, fruit, soft pretzels, all kinds of bread, cheese, cereals, half-a-dozen different kinds of jam, soft boiled eggs with faces drawn on them kept warm in little bunny cozies, Nutella, and even peanut butter.  The price of breakfast was not included in our package.

After dropping off our bags, we headed out to explore.  It was probably our coldest day and Connie purchased gloves at the department store near the hotel.  It was close to 90 degrees when we left Texas, so the weather in Germany seemed really cold!  Actually, we had terrific weather for most of the trip, sunny and mild (unless you are from Texas. Then it was sunny and COLD). 

Rathaus - Munich, Germany

Marienplatz - Munich, Germany

From our hotel, we walked through Karlsplatz and saw a McDonalds, a Game Stop, a KFC sign (rather depressing actually since it could have been anywhere USA), but then we made it to the Marienplatz.  There we saw the column topped by a golden statue of the Virgin Mary.  There was the Neues Rathaus with the famous glockenspiel.  We were there when it chimed at noon.  On the first tier, there are dancers and jesters who circle around. Then on the second tier, jousters face off until one falls forward on his horse.  The dancers take another turn before the show ends.  There was some type of protest going on when we were there and there were police everywhere.  Everything was under control, but the crowds were really heavy so it was hard to get close to the Rathaus.  

We were hungry so we walked to Viktualienmarkt, the farmers’ market, and bought cheese and bread.  We were lucky enough to be there on a Saturday when there were lots of vendors and people shopping. We sat at a table outside with lots of locals drinking beer and eating lunch, some even wearing lederhosen.  We noticed that there were tons of really nice shops in Germany and Austria selling traditional derndals for both children and adults. It is hard to believe that there could possibly be that big a market.  

Viktualienmarkt - Munich, Germany

Dried Fruit - Viktualienmarkt - Munich, Germany

We went into the Frauenkirche after lunch.  So Sheila says.  Connie was in a zombie-like state of exhaustion at this point having been completely unable to sleep on the plane.  We didn’t climb any towers, although we had heard the views were spectacular and that supposedly you could see the mountains from there. 

Karlsplatz - Munich,  Germany

As we headed back to our hotel to check in and take a nap, we saw a street band playing for tips.  It included a cello and a grand piano; maybe it’s more accurate to say it was a street orchestra.  When we woke up from our nap around dinner time, we were too exhausted to do much more than go back to bed and sleep until morning.

Day 3 Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, Germany 10/16/11

Rothenburg, Germany

We caught a three hour train ride to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber around 7:30 a.m.  Since we were traveling on a weekend, we were able to use a Bavarian ticket before 9 a.m. Rothenburg is one of the most scenic walled cities on the Romantic Road.  The town was a 3-D picture post-card.  We walked the wall for a while and then came down into the town and walked through the main streets and browsed in the wonderful little shops along the way.  We stopped for lunch and enjoyed traditional wienerschnitzel and brautwurst.  There was a Christmas store that had so many beautiful ornaments that Connie was absolutely mesmerized. There was even a Christmas museum in its sister store on another street, but Connie resisted the urge. 

Rothenburg, Germany

This was a place untouched by time.  In the main square there was another glockenspiel.  This one had two windows that opened.  Each had a man with a beer stein and they were having a drinking contest.  The story goes that a conquering leader once agreed to spare the town if the mayor could outdrink him, which he did.  

The Wall - Rothenburg, Germany

On our train back to Munich, a young woman was showing her parents or in-laws her new collection of little stuffed penguins.  There must have been 10 of them and one even had a fish in his mouth.  They were really cute and even though she was not speaking English, it was clear that she was tickled to have them.  We ended up missing our connecting train at a transfer point just trying to figure out which platform we needed to be on.  As a result, we had to wait another hour to catch the next one.  This was the only train we missed and it was no big deal.  To kill the time, we bought some bread to tide us over.  Sheila was having difficulty tearing the bread apart so Connie told her to let her try.  Sheila obliged and Connie shoved it back into the paper bag and proceeded to sit on it.  She then easily tore off a piece, commenting, “Just thinking outside the box.” There were no witnesses to this ugly American moment since the platform was empty.  (Don’t tell Connie, but there was someone on the platform across from where we were sitting.  I don’t think he observed our American moment, but you never know.  Keep checking You-tube).

Rothenburg, Germany

We were tired by the time we rolled back into Munich so we just grabbed pizza at the Munich train station for dinner.  As we walked back to our hotel, we passed a dance studio with a glass front.  The students were learning to two-step and swing dance.  What a hoot!

Day 4 Füssen, Germany 10/17/11

We had breakfast at the hotel.  We bought another day Bavarian ticket to take the train to Füssen, the official southern end of the Romantic Road, and our first trip to the mountains.  As with our last trip to the Alps, the day started out very foggy.  “I’m Fog Girl,” Connie sadly said.  But we eventually left the fog behind, and Connie finally got to see her mountains. 

View from Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

From the train station in Füssen, we took a bus to Hohenschwangau where we bought our tickets to see the Neuschwanstein castle built by King Ludwig II. Connie calls it the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang castle.  Sheila calls it that too, because despite all those years of German she can't pronounce Neuschwanstein.  We could see the outside of the Hohenschwangau castle from the ticket office but we decided to just visit Neuschwanstein. (It’s possible to reserve tickets for the castle tours on-line.  We didn’t do this, but we recommend it.)  From the ticket office we took a quick shuttle bus just up the mountain to a point just above the castle.  This shuttle drove up a narrow winding mountain road and it was a good thing Connie was sitting on the floor and couldn’t see how fast the driver was taking the hair pin turns.  From the shuttle stop at the top, we hiked just a few minutes to the suspension bridge that looks out over the gorge to the castle.  The view was stunning as long as you don’t look down and realize how high up you are.  A very nice man who spoke very little English offered to take our picture together with the castle in the background.  He and Connie fumbled handing the camera back.   Luckily, it landed on the bridge and not 100s of feet below. 

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

We saw someone parasailing above the castle.  Across the bridge there was a trail and Sheila braved it for a bit while Connie waited.   (Germany does not believe in guardrails.  Connie does not believe in walking along steep drop-offs that have no guardrails – note the theme developing – Connie is scared of heights!)  We had assigned times to tour the castle and enjoyed a guided tour in English.  The interior decoration in the castle was amazing.  There were swans everywhere, for example the door handles and fireplaces.  King Ludwig’s bedroom had a private bathroom with a leather upholstered toilet. 

After the castle tour, we took the shuttle bus back down the mountain and then caught a local bus back to Füssen.  The lovely town was so quaint that we opted to stay for dinner rather than head straight back to Munich.  We meandered through the streets and saw a wonderful modern fountain with revolving stones in front of the tourist information office.   There was another little fountain with statutes of three children playing in the water.  A grandfather was making the water squirt one of the girl statues and his grandson, about age 3, was quite tickled by it. Although, it was hard to tell who was more thrilled, the little boy by the water or the grandfather by the little boy.  The grandfather tried to speak to us but he didn’t speak English.  He didn’t need to.  His smile spoke volumes. 

Fussen, Germany

We walked around the St. Magnus Abbey below the "Hohes Schloss" (High Castle) and found a beautiful park behind it.  The shops were closing so we found a restaurant; unfortunately they had stopped serving anything but coffee and pastries.  We didn’t have a lot of time before the train would leave and since we were too hungry to wait until we got back to Munich, we broke down and walked back to a little hole in the wall restaurant we had seen with a sign for “Pizza Pasta Americano.”  Okay, we realized this was really whimpy, but we were tired and hungry.  We each ordered salad and spaghetti and it was fantastic. There was so much food we couldn’t possibly finish it all.   Connie considered this the best food for the entire trip.   Ali – the owner – entertained us as we ate and even proposed marriage to us both.  No – that was not why Connie liked the food so much, but the charm made up for the lack of ambiance. We heartily recommend eating here, - if you are hungry in Füssen.  The address is Ritterstrasse 23.

            Pizza Pasta Americano – www.pizzapastaamericano.de

Fussen, Germany

After dinner, we waddled to the train station where Connie realized that she had lost the ticket.  We decided to try seeing if just the receipt would be good enough, but turns out nobody checked our ticket. There was apparently a problem with the train because someone looking like a railroad employee came out to the platform and said something in German and everyone at the platform began to follow him.  When in Rome…. We followed him too and were loaded onto a bus going somewhere.  We had no clue.  We boarded on faith. Turns out the rest of the crowd on the overloaded bus had no clue either.  Sheila guessed that we were being taken to be eaten by Werewolves (she’s read too many urban fantasy novels).  However, that assumed that we would live through the bus ride as the driver sped around narrow curved roads through small towns.  After about 45 minutes, we ended up at another station where a dark train awaited.  We walked across multiple tracks in the dark and boarded a dark train.  Once again, we were just following the herd.  We sat in silence in the dark train awaiting our fates. We were much relieved when the train actually started and returned us to Munich, even without a ticket! 

Fussen, Germany

Day 5 Salzburg, Austria 10/18/11

We had originally planned to spend a couple of hours in Salzburg on our way to Hallstatt.  Instead, we decided to spend one less day touring Munich and take a daytrip to Salzburg.  This ended up being a great idea since there is no way we could have done it all in two hours.  We had breakfast at the hotel and then again used a Bavarian ticket and arrived in about 2 hours. (Yes, Salzburg is in Austria, but the Bavarian ticket covers travel there too.) 

In Salzburg we walked from the train station towards old town which took about 20 minutes.  Connie was going to mail her post cards until Sheila pointed out that they had German stamps and probably needed to be mailed from a German post box – not Austrian.  Duhhh.  On this walk, we actually passed a Sound of Music site but didn’t stop.  The Mirabell Gardens are where part of the do-re-mi song was filmed.  They looked quite lovely, and would have been worth a visit if we had more time or energy.

The old town is across the river.  Above the town is the Hohensalzburg Castle.  On the pedestrian bridge over the river into old town, there were padlocks and combination locks, hung on the bridge fence with the names of individuals and couples painted on them.  This was almost heart-warming enough to make up for the unattractive chain link fence lining the bridge. 

Once again, the old town was full of little shops and restaurants.  We shopped a bit as we walked toward the castle.  We took a funicular up to the castle. The entrance to the funicular wasn’t particularly obvious because you enter a building and buy your ticket and then board the funicular from inside.   It was nice getting to look out over Salzburg as you rode.

The castle is built right out of the stone in the mountain and was very impressive.  There were Roman portions of the castle still to be seen in parts.  The best part of the castle was the view overlooking Salzburg on one side and an incredible view of the Alps on the other side.  We enjoyed one particular lookout point where there were lots of ladybugs on the castle wall.  They flew around the tourists and landed on our hands, our clothes, and even on the back of Connie’s ears.  We toured the inside of the castle fairly quickly, mostly enjoying the view out of the windows.    We had a drink (Coke, of course) at the little café, visited the gift shop, and then headed back down the mountain via funicular.  On the exit from the funicular, you are led through a store that sells amber jewelry and candle holders, etc.  There was also a display about the aquaduct system and a water mill.  Sheila was enchanted by a display of polished spheres representing all the rocks and minerals of the region.  Meanwhile, Connie was entertained by a funny statue of a face that sticks its tongue out and rolls its eyes at you.

We wandered through a beautiful old cemetery of St. Peter’s but much to Sheila’s disappointment, the catacombs cut into the cliffs were closed. Alas, no bones.  The markers were elaborate metal work and the gardens on and around the graves were beautiful.  Mozart’s sister is buried in this cemetery, but we didn’t try to find her tomb.

We shopped only briefly as we headed out of old town but we found a great little souvenir shop and picked up a few things.  Enamel ornaments were very popular everywhere and this store had a number of small, more affordable pieces. 

We passed by Mozartplatz, with a statue of Mozart at the center. Then we decided to catch a city bus back to the train station.  We ended up confused about the cost of the bus and Connie didn’t have the right change.  The driver either took pity or was too irritated to care because he let us on.  After our two hour return trip to Munich, we ate Chinese food at a little fast food style place near our hotel.  When we got back to the hotel, Sheila took her shower and then realized she’d left her backpack at the restaurant.  We ran back and, believe it or not, it was still there on the floor right where she’d left it probably a half hour earlier.  Her camera had been in the bag and losing it and all the pictures would have been really disappointing. We each carried our passports and cash in small shoulder bags which we wore slung over our necks. Those never left our bodies outside our hotel.  No point wasting a day in the US Embassy over a lost passport.

Day 6 Obertraun, Austria 10/19/11

We took an early train to Salzburg and then on to Obertraun.  This involved a couple of transfers.  We almost missed getting off at Attnang-Puchheim because we didn’t see the sign.  Some of the newer trains have computerized signs in each car that announce the next stop.  In the older trains, you have to listen for the announcement.  Sometimes, these can be really hard to hear if the speakers are bad, so you have to be alert in looking for the city signs as you pull into each depot.  On that same trip, we almost got off the train a stop early because we couldn’t hear/ understand the conductor’s announcement and we didn’t see the sign.  We were standing at the door of the train ready to jump off and made a split second decision to stay on.  Luckily this was the right choice. 

Sheila in Obertraun, Austria - As the Hike Begins

When we finally arrived in Obertraun, a very tiny, very lovely little town, we went to the tourist information office to find out how to get to the Dauchstein Ice Caves and the 5 Fingers lookout point above the caves.  The very nice woman at the information office gave us a map and asked us something like, “Do you walk or drive?”  Since we didn’t have a car, we said “walk” and she showed us where to follow the path to the cable car up to the cave.  Unfortunately, what we realized about 20 minutes into the hike (straight up the mountain) is that she probably meant did we want to catch a ride as we later learned there was a bus available.  Arghhh!  The hike was lovely and breathtaking (literally!)  When the signs posted the estimate of “x minutes from this point”, we finally learned to multiply the estimate by 1.5 to get a more realistic timeframe for us, especially when the hike was steep.  

A View from Five Fingers at Mount Krippenstein

It took two different cable cars to get up to the top of Mount Krippenstein, elevation 6916 feet, where there is the viewing point called the "5 Fingers."   This involved about a 30 minute walk, for us anyway, along a path with no guardrails and often, no shoulder, just a sheer drop. Connie’s fear of heights almost won out several times.  (It wasn’t entirely sheer, but nothing Sheila could say would get Connie close enough to the edge to look.) At about the 80% point, Connie’s nerve was failing.  A right angle turn in the trail ahead had greatly exacerbated her rising panic.  Realizing she would be completely irritated with herself if she turned back now, she literally put her hands up to the sides of her face, shielding her peripheral vision, to create a blinder effect.  She shuffled about 2 feet behind Sheila, looking only at Sheila’s feet as they made the last stretch.  

The 5 Fingers Lookout - http://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.com/en/summer/above-ground/5fingers/

Atop Five Fingers - Obertraun, Austria

There was snow on the ground and there we were looking out in every direction on the Alps in all their glory.  Heart racing, they arrived at a point where the Austrians build 5 projected steel lookout points extending out over the edge of the mountain.  One had a picture frame suspended so you could have your photo taken with the Alps behind you, nicely framed.  One had a diving board extending out that you couldn’t get to so its purpose seemed a perverse temptation.   One had a telescope.  One had a hole in it to put your camera and take a photo straight down.   Finally there was one with plexiglass on the bottom to see through; however, it was too dirty to work.  Sheila braved each of them while Connie tried not to hyperventilate.  

Two young girls did take our picture and we took theirs.  They too had a brave soul and a wienie.    As we returned to the cable car, Connie once again shielded her vision in order to only see Sheila’s feet.  The return trip was easier for Connie because there was no longer any choice involved.  Refusing to go back down the mountain was not an option.  Sheila was very patient and let Connie know when they had reached a part of the trail that actually had a significant shoulder so she could look up and enjoy the view again.  However, any peek at the upcoming trail’s absence of a shoulder, sent butterflies racing.  The walk to Five Fingers isn’t particularly arduous, and although there are some sections with long inclines there are also benches where you can stop and catch your breath.  The views are stunning, even if you don’t walk all the way to the Five Fingers.

We then took the cable car down to the Dachstein Ice Cave.

The Dachstein Ice Cave  http://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.com.

The Giant Ice Cave - Dachstein Ice Cave - Obertraun, Austria

The website was confusing because there are actually two caves:  the Giant Ice Cave and the Mammoth Cave.  The Mammoth Cave does not have any ice and is much like the caves we have in central Texas, so we skipped it.  We wanted to see an ice cave.  There was no snow at this level but the hike was steep.  Once again, the sign indicating it was an easy fifteen minute walk to the cave entrance was hysterically laughable in retrospect.   Once we were clearly close, the sign for the Giant Ice Cave confused us.  It was like a modern sculpture with multiple angles with an arrow that could have been read to be pointing both directions in the fork in the trail.  We, unfortunately, guessed wrong, and after climbing and climbing up the mountain trail, we unwittingly ended up at the locked exit door.  When the time for our tour had almost passed, we raced back down a ways to find the entrance locked as well.   The last tour apparently had left just a couple of minutes early, locking the cave entrance behind them.  We were lucky that an employee happened to be passing by and he allowed us in and then we followed him as he practically jogged to catch us up to the rest of the tour. 

Sheila in the Alps - Obertraun, Austria

The caves were cold and the ice formations were impressive, but the tour was in German and we had only little cards in English to follow along.  Sheila did not enjoy the ice caves at all.  Of course, the hike to the mountain, and then the steep trek up the mountain to the cave exit, and then back down to the cave entrance, followed by a race through the cave to catch up with the tour, and then the several hundred stairs during the tour probably didn’t help her perspective.  The cave was cold, wet, and involved a ton of stair climbing.  Once inside, there was no option other than to push on, up the never ending staircases.  By this point Connie tried not to make eye contact with her for fear that looks actually might kill.  (Sheila and Connie disagree whether the ice cave was worth the effort.  Our best advice is to be aware that it is not an easy thing to do.  Leave yourself enough time to make the walk to the cave, and to catch your breath before going on the tour).  After the tour was finished, we rested before slowly making our way back down the mountain to the ticket station. We were exhausted.  They were closing but the nice woman at the ticket office explained that the last bus to Hallstatt would be arriving in 10 minutes and could take us almost directly to our hotel.  This was a welcome relief.  As we sat gratefully waiting for the magical bus, a bee decided it wanted to join us.  It kept following us no matter where we walked and even came onto the bus with us when we boarded. 

As we rode the 15 to 20 minutes to Hallstatt, the weather began to change.  A storm was rolling in and we could see the snow clouds pouring over the mountains.  The bus let out by a ferry stop on the lake and the view of the mountains and the little town was lovely.  We stopped at a grocery store to grab a little something for a snack just in case we were too tired to go out for dinner.  We found our hotel easily because we had seen it from the bus as we rode into town.  We checked into the hotel (Gasthof Pension Grüner Anger) and had cheese and bread (OK, it was actually cheese and Pringles) on the balcony, all bundled up in our coats, watching the storm roll over the Alps.  Heaven!

The Hotel Grüner Anger   http://anger.hallstatt.net/?lang=en

Obertraun, Austria

The hotel was small and quaint.  The owner was apparently a rock collector and rocks were used to add to the décor in every nook and cranny which delighted Sheila.  Connie, on the other hand, was more impressed by the stuffed gopher - looking creature and the spinet piano in the hall outside our room.