My European Adventure: Part 2

July 2: Munich

Today was supposed to be a recovery day with "minimal sightseeing." We got back to our hotel rather late the last night, but Kate and I were doing pretty good with our energy. So, after sleeping in a bit, and grabbing breakfast, we decided to navigate the subway system of Munich and see what it had to offer us. We made it to Marienplatz just in time for the Glockenspiel to start.
In Marienplatz, which is the main tourist hub of Munich, they have a beautiful building with a wonderful Glockenspiel bell tower. Each day at 11:00 (also a few other times during the day during the summer) the bell tower comes alive with music. There are also life sized carved figurines that are mechanized to do a little show. I got a video of this, but I am unable to upload it. However, it is a super charming thing to see.
Once the Glockenspiel was finished, we decided to wander around and see where our footsteps took us. Neither of us really knew anything about Munich, but we wanted to just find things on our own, so we just picked a direction and saw where it took us. We came across a tiny little church that was part of the block of shops, nestled right between two shops. This church is called Asam Church. It wasn't much on the outside. It just looked like a simple place. But inside was breathtaking. It had beautiful baroque architectural design.

An inside view of Asam Church



Me in Asam Church



We didn't have much option for exploring the church because of the gate, but this is a better view of me inside Asam Church.

It didn't take us too long to explore the church, as there was only about 50 square feet we could explore. But it was well worth a stop inside.
We then continued to explore around, and saw some beautiful buildings. We didn't know the significance of these buildings at the time, but they were so beautiful and charming we had to get a picture in front of them.

Me at Odeonplatz



Me at the Gardens in the Residenzplatz

Later on in the day, we found out that Odeonplatz is a square, and in the building behind me, there is a statue of the king with his wife. Odeonplatz is just outside of Residenzplatz, which is where the monarchs of Germany lived on a regular basis.
As we continued along our walk, we came across the English Gardens. I absolutely love walking through gardens. On our way there, we passed a street musician playing the French Horn. He was playing "Time to say Goodbye." I was really impressed by the talent of street musicians in Europe. It made me wonder if either they couldn't make it as a musician because competition is so stiff, or if they actually make a great living being a street musician.
After roaming through the gardens for a bit, we saw some people in wetsuits in the canal chasing after surfboards. After going a little further, we realized that people were actually surfing in the canal. At the mouth of a bridge, there must be a concrete slab or something that creates a huge wave. People take advantage of this wave by surfing. Each surfer takes turns, and once they fall, they just float down the canal while another person starts surfing. This was something we were not expecting to find, yet very entertaining to watch.

In front of the Japanese House in the English Gardens

A view of the surfers in the English Gardens



Someone surfing in the English Gardens

Munich isn't too close to an ocean, so I wondered where all of these surfers actually learned to surf. There is a sign close to here that says that only experienced surfers are allowed. It just made me wonder how they became experienced. Each surfer that I saw had some pretty great skills.
By this time, Kate and I had walked probably a good 2 or 3 miles. We still wanted to explore, but we were tired of walking. So, we found a guy who was giving bike tours. He was on a bike, and there was a little seat behind him for 2 passengers. So, we decided to take him up on the bike tour. This guy was super sweet. He was from Costa Rica. He came to Germany hoping to train for the Tour De France by biking around. He said he wasn't quite ready yet, but this job was helping him train. This bike tour was informative, and we learned all about all of the cool buildings that we saw, but didn't know what they were. He also took us back to the canal, so we could watch the surfers for a little bit longer.
After our bike tour, we were rather hungry, so we found a restaurant called the Ratskelar. It was a really touristy place, but it looked delicious. I decided to order Wienerschnitzel. I found that Wienerschnitzel is not a hot dog or a bratwurst, like I thought it was. It is actually breaded and fried veal, kind of like a country fried steak without the gravy. It was delicious, but really heavy. It seems like all of the food in Germany is really heavy.


My Wienerschnitzel that I had, along with fries and a salad

Once we finished eating, we headed back to our hotel. We were just relaxing, with the curtains open, not really focused on outside. However, we looked up, and were blessed to see an absolutely gorgeous sunset, which was the perfect ending to such a wonderful, but tiring day.

View of the sunset from our hotel room



Another view of the sunset with different lighting.

July 3: Vienna
Today started very early, as we had a long bus ride and a concert to Vienna. It was Sunday, but we did not have any church services. It was kind of a "do your own church on the bus" kind of Sunday. I have got to say that Austria is beautiful!!!! We passed beautiful mountains and lakes. After being away from Utah for a week without seeing many mountains, it was refreshing to see them. They are also taller than our Utah mountains. But of course, the Alps are bigger than the Rocky Mountains.


A view from the bus right outside of Salzburg Austria

It was rather disappointing when we drove right past Salzburg without even stopping. I love the "Sound of Music." The musical is amazing. However, the real story of the Von Trapp family is also a wonderful story. Hopefully someday I will be able to return and explore Salzburg.
Once we drove into Vienna, everywhere your head turned, there was a beautiful, gorgeous building. Kate's fiancée served his mission for 6 months in Vienna. Kate was texting him, and he was telling her all of the places she needed to go visit. However, we were there for a concert, and not for sightseeing.
We arrived to the place where we would have lunch before our sound check about 20 minutes before lunch was ready. This gave Kate and I a bit of a chance to walk around the block and see more of the beautiful buildings of Vienna.
After lunch, we had about another half hour before we had to be at our sound check, so we decided to explore a little more. We passed lots of gorgeous buildings that I have no clue what the significance of them are, as well as a lovely rose garden, where the scent of roses is very strong. I really wish we had more time in this beautiful city.

In the Rose Garden

In front of a building that I do not know the significance of



In front of another building. I think this was a government building. However, all of Vienna looks like the building behind me.

While out walking, we came across a protest that police were making sure didn't get out of hand. Because of this protest, we decided it was time to turn around and start making our way back to the sound check. It was a good thing that we turned around at that point, because we were a little late getting to the busses to load.
Our concert was in Musikverein in Vienna. This is a very significant and historic concert hall. This was the concert hall that Brahms and Mahler were the principal conductors at different times. Also, this was also the concert hall that the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, Brahms Symphony 2 and 3, Mahler's 9th symphony, and many other important works were premiered. It was amazing being on the same stage as many of these significant people from Music History that I spent years studying and performing.

Me in front of Musikverein

There were Hollywood like stars right outside. The one on the right has Anton Brukner's name on it.



Another star. The one on the left is the name of Franz Schubert. Go ahead and call me a geek, but I thought these were pretty cool.
 

After our sound check, we went back to our original stopping place in Vienna for dinner. They fed us dinner in a gorgeous hall with beautiful chandeliers. 

This is where we had dinner

After dinner we headed back to Musikverein for our concert. Since this was a Sunday, the choir organization wanted to make our concert as appropriate for the Sabbath as possible. They still charged money for the tickets, but they ended up donating all the proceeds from that particular concert to a fund in Austria that helps the refugees. This concert was probably the most squished and uncomfortable concert that I played. Our stools were very skinny, and not much room to sit on, but were also very tall. The screws in the stool that I had that allowed you to adjust the height were stuck, so the entire concert I was playing on a too tall stool. This makes for a very sore back. However, the sound was amazing in this concert hall. We were also seated very close to audience members. During intermission, we talked with a man and his wife who were from Salzburg. They were so excited to come hear us, and they told us that probably the entire Salzburg stake was at that concert that evening. I think talking with the audience members was the best part of this concert. Our concert was awarded with a standing ovation again. Again, probably not as rare as they originally told us they were. 

A view from the back balcony of our concert

After our concert, we needed to load on the busses as quickly as possible, as we had a 6 hour bus ride ahead of us. We arrived at our hotel in Munich at 4:00am. We quickly went to bed with no set time for us to wake up the next morning.

July 4: Munich
We woke up this morning at around 10:30am. We wish that we could have slept longer, but we also realized that we were in Munich and wanted to go out and explore. We felt that our first day in Marienplatz gave us a good feel for Munich, but we wanted to see something outside of Marienplatz. So, we decided to visit the Nymphenburg Palace, which is the summer home of the monarchs of Germany, when they still were under monarch rule. Although it was quite a ways from our hotel, it was really easy to get to. We just hopped on the subway, and then on a bus.
The Nymphenburg palace reminds me a bit of Versailles, but on a much smaller scale. There is a beautiful palace, and massive gardens to walk around in. Kate and I decided just to take a tour of the palace, and then wander around the gardens.

On the balcony of the palace, looking out into the gardens

The Nymphenburg Palace Gardens

This was above a door in the Grand Hall inside the Nymphenburg Palace

Another photo inside Nymphenburg Palace

Me inside the Grand Hall of Nymphenburg Palace

The ceiling of Nymphenburg Palace



Right outside Nymphenburg Palace

While touring this palace, we learned about the history of the Monarchs in Germany. This was also the palace where King Ludwig, who is the owner of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, was born. The palace is very ornate, decorated in the baroque architectural style. As beautiful as the palace was, the gardens were even more exquisite.
It was very relaxing walking around the gardens. Around the gardens, they had several small buildings, houses and churches. We didn't pay for a ticket to go in those, but we were able to walk up to the doors and have a quick peek inside.

Another just outside of the palace

The gardens were massive, and this was a little further into the gardens, which offers a better view of the palace in regards to its size.

There were several statues of Greek Gods in the gardens. This is just one of many.

We were well into the gardens at this point, but there was a clearing in the bushes that we could see that palace from where we were.

A beautiful fountain in the furthest spot of the gardens

Another view of the palace, even further away



A beautiful view of a gazebo in the gardens

After wandering around the gardens, Kate and I realized we were hungry. There was a cute little café just a block away from the palace that we passed on the way there, so we decided to go there. When we got there, we realized that the cute waitress did not speak any English, and we did not speak any German. The entire menu was also in German. So, instead of ordering a lunch, we just ordered chocolate milkshakes, which satisfied us until we found something of more substance. The milkshakes were just a scoop of ice cream, with some milk and chocolate shaken up. It really was a literal milk shake. However, it was delicious. The setting was also charming. The neighborhood just outside of the palace is super cute. We also saw a group of school kids (probably around the age of 5 or 6) singing and walking to their field trip destination. If I lived in Germany, I could see myself living in that neighborhood.
After that, we headed back to Marienplatz to find a more substantial dinner. We found a pizzeria, and as we were sitting down, we ran into our fellow bass player, Daniel with his wife Emily, so we decided to join them for dinner. I decided to order bruschetta and pasta. The bruschetta was the most delicious I ever tasted. After dinner, we wanted to climb to the top of St. Paul's cathedral to get a view of the city, but we got there just as they were closing, so instead we just went back to our hotel. We were very tired from our long day yesterday. I think this day has been one of my favorite non-concert days thus far. Also, Happy 4th of July America!!!!

July 5- Neuschwanstein Castle
In order to go to Neuschwanstein Castle, we had to sign up for it beforehand. Kate was so busy, that she never got around to signing up. However, the first bus left at 5:00am, so she got up early hoping to get on the bus, and hoping that someone didn't want to get up that early to go. She lucked out and got on the bus. My bus didn't leave until noon. So, I had all morning to relax. We were on our own for breakfast that day. By this time on tour, I had a love hate relationship with food. The food is delicious, but I felt I was eating too much. So, I wanted to find something light for breakfast. Just a block away from our hotel, there was a café, so I decided to see what they had. It really was the perfect breakfast, but they way it was presented was so picture worthy, that I had to take a picture of my food.


My breakfast of Museli, Yogurt, Orange Juice and Hot Chocolate

I caught my bus to go to Neuschwanstein Castle. The drive was a couple of hours. I went to the grocery store beforehand and bought stuff for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Once again, I'm sick of being constantly full. I needed something light for lunch. The castle is in the middle of the Black Forest in the Bavarian Alps, so the drive there was absolutely beautiful. As you drive down the road that takes you to the city, you can see the castle from a distance.

A view from the bus on the way to Neuschwantstein Castle



Neuschwanstein Castle from the distance

We walked off the bus and were handed tickets for our tour. We were told to be at the front of the castle on the time indicated on our ticket for our tour. We had about an hour and a half, and they told us that it takes about a half hour to walk up to the castle. A member of the viola section, Jules, wanted to go hiking around. I wanted to do the same thing, so we set off trying to find the longest route to the castle. First, we wanted to take a few pictures from the bottom of the hill, since it was absolutely beautiful.

There was a beautiful lake at the bottom of the hill. I really wished I had my kayak so I could kayak around. Later, I found out that we could have taken a boat around the lake.

There was another castle just across the way from Neuschwanstein. I do not know the significance of this castle, but it was still beautiful.

A further look of the other castle (not Neuschwanstein)



A view from the bottom of the hill looking up at Neuschwanstein

I heard about a bridge that takes you up to a beautiful lookout spot of the castle. On our quest to find an alternate route to the castle, we found the trailhead for the bridge. Unfortunately, a couple years ago they had a rock slide, and the trail was closed. I have never been more tempted to be an annoying tourist that does not follow rules. But, I decided to be good, and not go on the trail. We eventually found a route up to the castle. It was a little crowded, but not too bad. The hike up to the castle took us just under 20 minutes. It was rather steep, but we were going at a good pace, and both of us were in decent hiking shape. It also felt nice to hike around a bit after an entire week and a half of heavy eating and mild exercise. Once we made it to the top, the views were breathtaking. I was already jealous of this king who got to live in a place as beautiful as this.

A view from the top of the hill

Another view from the top of the hill



I like being in the pictures with my view

Once we got up to the top, we still had about a half hour before we had to be there for our tour, so we decided to explore a little more. There were lots of places for us to hike around and explore just around the castle. We also found a hiking trail that we didn't have time to explore at that time, but we could go back after our castle tour.

Me with the castle in the background

Looking right up at the castle

A close up view of the castle

Another view from the top of the hill



I think this is my favorite view of the castle. I felt so luck I was able to snap this photo without any people in the background

We finally made it for our tour of the castle. The castle is absolutely beautiful inside, but I think the grounds of the castle are really the highlight. Neuschwanstein Castle was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was also built in a tribute to Richard Wagner. I learned at the Nymphenburg Palace that King Ludwig was an outcast to the Royal family. He built this palace as a personal refuge. However, King Ludwig was not able to enjoy this castle for very long, as no more than 6 months after he moved in, he died. The circumstances surrounding his death are to this day considered mysterious. The castle has themed rooms, mostly centered around several of Wagner's operas. One of my favorite places in the castle was called "The Grotto." This is a hallway that had the look of a cave. Unfortunately, we could not take photos inside this castle.


Jules and I right outside the gate of the castle

After we got out of the castle, Jules and I decided to go explore the trail that we found before our tour of the castle. This trail was extremely steep, and we were only able to go up for 20 minutes, due to time constraints. However, we were able to hike above the famous bridge that was closed. I was hoping for a breathtaking view of the castle, but unfortunately, there were too many trees. But it was well worth the extra hike.

Another view from the castle

At the top of the hike we took. You can kind of see the castle through the trees in the background.



Another similar picture. This is harder to see the views of the castle

We then made our way down, and had about 45 minutes to grab some dinner before we had to get back on the bus to return to our hotel. By that time, all the restaurants were closed except for one. However, it was a good one. I ordered kasespatzl, which is a German mac and cheese. It was very delicious, but I always love mac and cheese. Overall, this was such a beautiful, wonderful trip. Even though I loved Nymphenburg Palace, this has taken place of my favorite day so far.

A picture of me by the sign letting tourists know the bridge was closed. I was really sad.

A panoramic view of the castle

The view coming down from the castle



Back at the bottom of the hill, with the castle in the background.