As I’ve mentioned before, cars seem to be a topic that pops up all the time on tours, partly because we’re walking along the streets a lot I suppose.  Anyways, the comments people make are quite interesting.  Americans seem to expect all European cars to be tiny.  Hell, Germans expect European cars to be tiny.  What you see when you walk down the street is a different story though.  I’ve done this many times…why don’t you try it and report back:  walk down a street downtown wherever you live and note the general make of we’ll say 20 cars.  Just note the # of doors and approximate size. 

I’m guessing you’ll have a fair mix, if you’re in the states there will be a truck or two in there, a few SUV’s, and a good number of cars. (seriously, if you do this, let me know your results, I’m interested)  Guess what you get in Munich?  almost the same, granted, they’re BMW’s and Mercedes…but the same size.

The next question people ask:  so BMW’s must be so much cheaper here, right?  wrong.  They’re about the exact same, give or take a couple grand. (at their costs, 1 or two thousand isn’t much of a difference imo)

SO, how do people afford them?  well, quite a damn few are company cars, others, well…there’re people living in debt here just like there.

Now, on to the pictures.  Since my tours are obviously in the downtown areas of Salzburg and Munich, I see a lot of damn nice cars regularly (especially in Munich).  Sometimes I take pictures of them…

The first one is a BMW Z8.  It’s a personal favorite with 400hp and no weight.  It was built for 3 years, for a total of 5, 703…I think about 500 of them are in town here.

I love vettes.  This one parked right next to me, so I had to snap a quick one.

Lotus Elise III

Anyways, the Z8 is rather normal around here…the other two are not.  The point is, we’ve got just as many SUV’s and 4-door cars as you do…in fact, we have so many damn station wagons it’s sickening.  I hate station wagons…

OK, so I’m a bit late on posting happy thanksgiving, so I added “weekend”.  What have I been busy with?  Well, not much as I’ve been home sick, umm…Civilization IV has kept me busy, with this new computer it is just FLYING.  I’m loving the new computer.  Anyways, other than that I’ve been writing travel tips for a website…and umm…drinking mango juice.  I love mango juice.

 At least several dozen times in the last few years people wanted to have a lengthy discussion about the cars here in Munich.  I intend to have a proper post on this, and by posting this first, hopefully I’ll remember to actually get the pics together to properly write on this topic…so look for that on Sunday.

In the meantime, try to stay away from shopping malls, they’re full. 

This list is taken from showing various visitors around and personal experience with their reactions…as well as looking back at my own first-time experiences with these places.

(I’m NOT going to include Neuschwanstein or Salzburg, as those are the most common ones…and let’s face it, you’re gonna go there anyways)

1. Linderhof Palace, Ettal Monastery, and the Eibsee:  All three of these are easy to do in a day, and makes for one of the highlights of anyone’s visit to the area.  The down side is, you need a car.

Linderhof

Ettal Monastery (and awesome brewery)

the Eibsee

2. Regensburg, including Walhalla:

3. Herrenchiemsee:

4. Landshut, the ancient capital of Bavaria:

Trausnitz Castle, Landshut

5. Augsburg:

1. Schleissheim Palace (beautiful very large palace just outside Munich easy to get to on the S1 line)

2. Grünwald castle ( it’s just outside munich, but it’s still within tram distance (tram 25)) (for picture, see last post)

3. Blutenburg castle (a small castle IN Munich)(for picture see last post)

4. The Bavaria (statue next to the Oktoberfest grounds)

5.  Fürstenfeldbruck monastery

Hi everybody, I’ve been too lazy lately to write much…sorry.  Last Sunday Petra and I went down to Grünwald, which is a southern suburb of Munich, to finally visit their castle.  I was very impressed with it myself, having low expectations for any castles that close to Munich.  However, I definately recommend it to anyone who really wants to see a real castle and is in the area at length.  Here’s some pics we took at Grünwald’s castle.

So basically, if you live in Munich…go see it…if you’re visiting, and it’s under 2 weeks, don’t bother…there’s just so many other things to see that I’d recommend first.

The most comparable castle in the area in my opinion is Blutenburg.  Some of our visitors we’ve dragged out to Blutenburg, the only castle in Munich itself.  Grünwald’s castle is a bit more impressive in my opinion just because you can actually go up the towers and they’ve made a proper museum out of it, where as with Blutenburg, it’s a children’s library and a restuarant…located in a park.  For those who haven’t been to Blutenburg, again…it’s not a major site, but if you have plenty of time…or happen to be in the area behind Nyphenburg palace…then go for it.

here’s a pic of Grünwald’s caste (and Petra):
 

…and here’s a much older picture of Blutenburg castle in Munich: