Entering Germany in itself was an experience. This is the land where no toll roads go, and, joyfully, neither do speed limits. Our drive in was steadily swift, setting the cruise control at 165km/h (102mph), which was, as we would find, a modest speed. Audis, Mercedeses, BMWs and the occasional Opel walked us like we were standing still. If we were cruising at 102, some of those ground-based jets were hovering over the roads at an easy 200mph. Easy. As we neared Munich, the intensifying rains impeded higher speeds, which gave us plenty of time to marvel at the acres upon acres of bountiful hops fields growing like giant kelp in every prairie and on every hillside. The harvest nearing fruition, whose reaping in a mere few weeks' time would become the central focus for Munich's most notable occasion -- Oktoberfest.
Though with us came the rain, which converged over Munich for all four of our days there. The steady strength and sheer volume of the downpour paralyzed much going out, but we still managed to see a good portion of the city in spite of it, and much of the surrounding lands.
Munich is big, so we were already limited in our explorations, and the hours lost to the rain forced further sacrifices. The first day, however, we made my one required trip that I missed last time around -- Andechs Abbey. Roughly 45 minutes outside of Munich we explored the hilltop, Benedictine abbey featuring the most ornate (some may say gaudy) cathedral in all of our travels. We drank the strong and delicious dopplebock liters, ate pork knuckle, sauerkraut and pretzels, and failed in our bid to rob the monks of the liter mugs. Damned be the rain! We made the most of it and the green, German countryside.
The next three days were spent exploring Munich, itself. We spent time in the main platz, marveling at the large rathaus that is the center of Munich's very democratic city; visited the main brew halls of Augustiner and Löwenbräu, as well as the famed Hofbrauhäus -- Bavaria's most distinguished brew house. While the brew halls were all very amazing, and the Bavarian people have a genuine kindness that was unrivaled in all of our travels; Munich, maybe due the rain, was rather uneventful and unimpressive. A stark difference from my experience there during Oktoberfest, when even sleeping was eventful. The best days we had there were the two days we explored the surrounding Bavarian lands: Andechs Abbey, and the sites we saw on our way out... This included an attempted visit to Neuschwanstein Castle just clear of the Alps, on the border of Austria. A two hour southerly detour didn't seem like too much to handle for a glimpse of the castle that allegedly inspired the one and only Cinderella's Castle at Disneyland. The drive was breathtaking, and at first glance of the castle on the hill we knew we were in for a treat. Unfortunately, that treat involved a 2 hour line followed by a 2 hour wait time to see the castle. This made the view from below seem much more pleasant, and we explored the shops in town and the surrounding woods instead, admiring the magical castle from afar before heading north again to Heidelberg.
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