Every 3 years, there is a trade show that happens in Munich that we usually attend. This time, we combined the visit with a supplier training visit in Barcelona and a short vacation in the Bavaria area of Germany.
We arrived in Barcelona for a 3 day training session in Alella just outside Barcelona in Spain. We chose to stay in Barcelona so we could do some touristy things during the evening.
As always, the Hop on Hop off bus was our choice of transport to get around the city's attractions. The architecture is awesome and being a European city, the history goes back thousands of years.
We visited the Basillica de la Sagrada Familia - which is an amazing cathedral designed by Gaudi. Construction started in 1882 and is still happening!
There are numerous Gaudi designed buildings in Barcelona - his was a unique style.
We walked and explored the streets of the city, enjoyed the food and marvelled at the history of Barcelona.
From Barcelona, we flew to Munich for thr trade show and while there, explored the city.
Munich is the main city of Bavaria and the place has so much to offer. History, museums, food, beer, architecture and more. It's a busy bustling city.
The photos below were taken in Munich and it's main square Marienplatz. The first pic shows the building that contains the glockenspiel, which runs every 15 mins and is a huge attraction. We also visited the markets, walked the streets of Munich, lunched and had a beer in the Englischer Garten where huge crowds gather socially. We visited the BMW museum - which is a fascinating place with great exhibits. Yes, we did attend the tradeshow, as well as the Hofbrauhaus Beer Hall - though we did hav dinner alfresco outside!
We left Munich, hired a car and jumped on the autobahn and drove at around 200kph to Fussen in Bavaria. We stayed in a quaint hotel in Fussen and that was our base to explore the Bavarian countryside.
Exploring Bavaria feels like you have stepped into a faiytale, so much so, that if Hansel or Gretel stuck their heads out from behind a tree and said hello - you would not be surprised!
Having a car allowed us to drive around to Hohenschwangau to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, Tegelberg cablecar to get a view from the top of Tegel mountain of the surrounds and the frozen lakes.
We had a fascinating tour of Neuschwanstein Castle and listened to the stories about mad King Ludwig. The castle is magnificent as are the grounds. It's the castle that the Disney Castle is modelled on.
From Fussen, we took a drive into Austria and found out that the roads were only recently opened up after the winter season. The snow was bulldozed back from the road and in parts we drove roads that had 3 metre high snow walls on either side! We stopped at a clearing and took a moment to take in a view of a frozen lake with a mountain backdrop. The lake was slowly melting and we could hear the ice cracking and water flowing underneath it.
We were told by Stephanie's sister that we should visit a village called Oberamagau, so we did a day trip stopping at Linderhof and visiting the Ettal Abbey on the way.
Oberamagau is a village in the Bavarian Alps and is known for it's Easter Passion Play and the religious murals on buildings.
After exploring the Bavaria for a few days, we had to make our way to Frankfurt for our return flight back to Sydney. We left Fussen and headed north on the autobahn and on our way we stopped at Rothenburg ob de Tauber - a walled medieval town south of Frankfurt and just west of Nuremberg.
Rothenburg has an interesting museum dedicated to torture and shows the various tortures that mankind has inflicted on mankind in the name of religion, witch hunting etc.
It is an interesting place to visit, macabre, and makes you realise how cruel the human race has been to its own kind!
We made it to Frankfurt caught our flight back home and thus ended our wirlwind tour of Bavaria!.
Comments