48 Hours in Munich -- Beyond the Food and Beer How Munich Will Captivate You



Beer Garden at the Chinese Tour in the Englischer Garten 

Yes a brief stop in Munch is much about visiting the beer gardens and halls, and both were on a list of must-see-dos on a trip through Germany, but there is much more to this old and new beautiful city. We stayed in a hotel off the Englischer Garten (English Garden) about 15 minutes by taxi to the center of old Munich.   Since we were planning to visit several museums and wanted to spend time at the beer garden in the English Garden close by, this was a perfect location.

After quickly dropping off luggage in our room mid-afternoon, we headed off by taxi to the Deutsches Museum, passing by and snapping a quick photo of the Ishator Gate en route.   Like much of Germany, at the time, the 14th-century entrance to the old city was under some kind of restoration when we drove by.  The Deutsches Museum, opened until five everyday, is the largest scitech museum in the world. As an airplane enthusiast I was eager to see the early German aircraft.  The German engineer Otto Lilienthal was the first man to launch himself into the air, fly, and land safely. He also was an important source of inspiration and information for the Wright brothers in the next decade. He built his first glider in 1891. the one pictured below was built in 1895.

Early the next morning we headed out to the Alte Pinakothek, one of the oldest art museums in the world with one of the largest collections of old masters.   Beforehand we stopped for breakfast at a near by cafe housed in a building from 1900, Tresznjewski, and were overwhelmed with the abundance of both intriguing and good food.

The Alte Pinakothek, is one of three Pinakotheks in the museum area -- the Alte focuses on old masters, while the Neue (New) Pinakothek covers the 19th century and Pinakothek der Moderne exhibits modern art.  The collection is so staggering that its difficult to grasp it all in one visit including major works by Ruebens (one that is so large a gallery was designed specifically for it), Rembrandt,  Goya, El Greco, Fragonard, Bouchard, Da Vinci....

Leonardo Da Vinci's "Virgin and Child"

From the Pinakoteck we took a bus to the Old Town to see Munich's famous glockenspiel with its 43 bells and 32 figures.  We had to get there by noon to watch a representation of the 1568 tournament by the figurines and the Cooper's Dance below.

Just off Marienplatz, the old town's main plaza, sits St. Peter's Church, the oldest parish church in Munich  badly damaged as much of Munich was during World War II, but beautifully restored,  You can climb some 300 plus steps for a stunning view of Munich (we didn't make this), but we just spent  some quiet time  in this splendid place admiring the recreated ceiling murals, frescos and statuary.

Then it was off to the must-do Hofbrauhaus, the world's most famous beer hall founded in 1589 for a Duke,  for  lots of big beers, German music and more wurst, pretzels and potatoes than we needed.

After a stroll through Dallmayr's, the luxury food store dating back to the 17th century, just to browse, we called it a day.

On our last morning in Munich, we made our way to the monumental site known as the Residenz. a complex of 112 rooms parts dating back to the 15th century, which served as the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918.    The primary focus of our time there though was to see what is thought to be one of the finest representations of Rococo architecture in the world, the  Cuvillies Theatre.  Originally in the space where the new national theatre stands, the major pieces of the original  Cuvillies were preserved during WW II by literally dismantling them  for safety in 1943.  The theatre was then in 1956 reassembled in a new building near theApothekenhof (Apothecary Court) in the Residenz. The Cuvilliés-Theater – also known as the Altes Residenz-Theater, now reached from the Brunnenhof (Fountain Court), was a bit tricky to find, but the search was well worth the treasure found at the end of it - a Gesamtkunstwerk, as it is called, a totally comprehensive piece of art in its own right.. And while we were visiting we were privileged to hear a mini-concert, by the pianist rehearsing for a sold-out concert that evening.

Certainly, Munich is a place to linger and explore longer.

Travel to Lijiang along the Old Silk Road In Southwest China

The ancient city of Lijiang owes much of its unique character to its crossroads location on the old Silk Road also called the Ancient Tea and Horse Road or Ancient Tea Route. The Ancient Southern Silk Road starting from Burma, wandered across Lijiang, traveled through Persia (Iran) and wound its way to the Mediterranean Sea. Travelers en route brought along with their goods, their religions, their customs, their languages, their science, their philosophy and their cuisines much of which remained and blurred into local culture.

Today travelers this way continue to leave behind their culture to the consternation of the purist. In fact, many of the more seasoned explorers advise avoiding Lijiang with its western influences,  fast-food restaurant chains, faux historics structures and costumes, and flocks of Chinese and western tourists. To us, Lijiang was just the degree of exotic we wanted to explore in this region of China, and only a short distance from the place which Hilton in Lost Horizon dubbed Shangri- la.

The hotel where we stayed in Lijiang meanders around the foothills, lower ones, that run below what ultimately leads to the Himalayas and some of the highest peaks in the world.   

Lijiang is full of stories.  Stories of an orchestra that survived the communists who tried to eradicate them during the cultural revolution.  Tried to take away from them their history, their culture, their music.  It survived. And now the ancient orchestra plays with joy to visitors who come throughout China to hear them.

Other stories revolve around people who live near Dr. Joseph Rock's old house and bedeck visitors with flowers.

And others are around  exotic foods being sold in the markets and around people full of humor and casualness so unlike Beijing.  

And around a society led by women where men play instruments and lead a more leisurely life.   And where anicent 

Here we had a Dongba shaman inscribe an anniversary message in the ancient Dongba script. 

Although now crawling with tourists (mostly Chinese), Lijiang is  a World Heritage Site worth adding  to your bucket list.   

Breakfast in Beijing - First Glimpses of China

After flying through the night amidst mostly Chinese whose constant chatter made sleep hopeless, I dropped into the comfortable bed at the Fairmont with a serious headache and finally fell into a blissful coma.  In the morning, after not having seen much through the foggy or more correctly smoggy ride from the airport, we were eager to explore the place where we seemed to have arrived at in a dream.

Under a hot, grey, cottony sky, we embarked on our first journey in this astonishing land.  Right across from our five-star hotel, lanes, jutting into the main street, were jammed with  improvised, shabby-looking outdoor stands where proprietors cooked breakfast for Beijingers emerging from the nearby subway on the way to work.

Cooks prepared delicious looking egg sandwiches, sesame dumplings, meats on sticks and other easy to-take-away style food.

Young Chinese grabbed bytes on the way to modern office buildings that loomed above what appeared to be remnants of China past both the old hutongs from the 13th  century  and drab, low-story housing complexes with window air-conditioning units from the Communist-era of the 50s and 60s,.  

Taking a full tour of the immediate surroundings which was in the business district of Beijing, we came across a  so-called entertainment district and encountered our first example of "Chinglish," funny, weirdly written English, on a sign.

The contrasts between the old, the new, the poor, the rich, the west, the east were thrown together in this short walk in a hodgepodge that made clear the stark reality of Chinese ambiguity.  We watched as mingled traffic of dogs, people, carts, autos and buses navigated the cross streets without much guidance still managing for the most part to avoid collisions.  We marveled at modern, clean subways with an amazingly seamless security system, and the landslide of new construction wherever we looked.

While we gaped at all we were seeing, Beijingers gaped at us. When we finally arrived at a dim sum restaurant (Din Tai Fung in the Sun King Place mall) for our late breakfast, the waiters and other patrons stared openly at us as we devoured mini dumplings and amazing vegetables.

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Planning Italy -- By Rail

It started with the Eurorail passes which were easy enough to order online.  We purchased them through Eurail, they came in the mail, and were filed away.  Then with further research, we learned you would also need a reservation on high speed trains, and since we we wanted to travel from Rome to Florence on one, we started looking at ways to reserve.  That's when it became interesting.   Here were the instructions on the Eurail website:

You can make reservations at larger train stations in Europe, including ones with a Eurail aid office. Just show your Eurail pass at the ticket office and explain which train(s) you want to reserve.

In Italy, you can also make reservations at the ‘Self-service’ machines to avoid queues, including stations in Bari, Bologna, Florence, Genova, Milano, Naples, Pisa, Rome, Turin and Venice. On these machines, select the train you want to use and then click on the 'Global Pass' button (see example screenshot). You can pay the reservation fee by cash or credit card.

Being as anal as I am, I wanted to make the reservations ahead and spotted the tab on the Eurail site for on-line reservations.  From there, the following was noted:

How to make online reservations

Reservations can be made on the Trenitalia website. If you want to receive an invoice of your order you'll have to register before making your reservations. If receiving an invoice isn't necessary, you can start right away.

Follow these steps to make your reservations:
1 Enter your departure city and city of arrival.
2 Choose your preferred train connection and click Select

I challenge you to find the word "reservations" on this website.  I did figure out what to do, but I could never recreate it for you, and since it didn't work for me anyway, I will tell you what I did do, and what I would suggest doing.  I went to a US-based company, Rail Europe, which has a slick easy-to-use website.  But this process was far from clean.  The problem I first incurred when trying to order reservations for the train I wanted to use was that it wasn't there.  It was there for earlier dates but not for the date 3 months hence that I wanted.   Why?  Because the "schedule" wasn't ready yet.  After emailing Rail Europe they agreed to notify me when the reservations could be ordered.  But even after they were available, I still got a message from their website after making a payment that the order was in progress, and I would be contacted when reservations were available.  After many emails and a phone call or two I learned that the schedules were being loaded, but for the trains I wanted to schedule they hadn't been as yet.  

The above problem ultimately was resolved and I received the reservations suddenly in the mail.  Hallelujah!  Then as I finalized plans for the trip, there was learning about the validation process for the Eurorail pass before getting on the train.  Prior to using your pass, you must have it validated at the train station.  The problem is that if your train is an early one that means you have to arrive very early to have the pass validated before finding your train and getting on.  According to Rick Steves you can do it a day before, but that could be problematic too -- allowing time in your itinerary for this as well as the confusion of validating before the day of your trip.  

Bottom line.  If you plan to travel by train, and plan to use a Eurorail pass, make sure to get your reservations, and then make sure you allow time to have your pass validated.  Also I realize as I laughed over the extraordinary process involved with just getting on a train that I needed to lighten up and just accept the bureaucracy of it all and work with it.   It will all fall in place -- at least I hope.  Next chapter on this topic will be using the trains in Italy.  I will let you know how the whole process works out.  

Taking the Road Less Travelled to the Hanging Houses of Cuenca, Spain

When planning our three some week venture into Spain, I had pretty much decided that Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, and Barcelona were the musts, but all the while, even though it was off path, a journey to Cuenca persistently pushed its way back into my travel plan.  I do not regret that this off-guidebook destination... dismissed by some of the major savants of travel as too far from the main sightseeing priorities.. clung steadfast to our itinerary.


I researched the journey to Cuenca ad nauseum.. concerned that it might take our auto-based trip off on desolate roads far from civilization -- yeah yeah, I know -- using google earth et al to explore the terrain long before our rental car began the five-hour trip through the rugged, rusty-colored land of central Spain from Granada to Cuenca. No matter,  I just had to see the houses that had clung desparately to the edge of a cliff for over 500 years.


Cuenca like much of Spain retains the mysterious blend of Moorish and Christian stemming from its history of conquests.   When the Moors conquered Spain they spotted a limestone ridge between the Jucar and Huecar rivers and built a fortress-town from which to control the vast area known as the Kura de Kunka ), in the center of the caliphate of Córdoba -- in Spanish, Cuenca was born.  In the era of the crusades (12th century), a Christian town was built over the Moorish one spreading  down from the crest of the hill.  As the population expanded, the fortified upper town became dominated by Cuenca's churches and convents. The famous World Heritage Casas Colgados (Hanging Houses) are but a few remaining of hundreds of cliff-hugging dwellings built in the 15th century. These were originally part of a palace that later served as the city's town hall. 

Our plan with respect to Cuenca, in addition to seeing the famous houses, was to tick off another goal of the trip - to stay at many of the paradores of Spain ( a topic for another post).  So our journey after rolling through the oddly manicured lands immediately outside of Cuenca's more modern section took up us the winding road to the Parador of Cuenca.  This Parador noted as one of the best in Spain is in the former convent of San Pablo overlooking the Hoz del Huecar gorge with its sheer walls and luxuriant vegetation. The open courtyard, cloistered hallway that surrounds it, former chapel (obviously identified because of the religious paintings) now the hotel bar all added to the historic charm of the hotel.  While accomodations were modest, they were pleasant and comfortable enough, and we loved lingering at the tiny bar sipping Spanish wine with tapas as we chatted with the bartender and gazing at the overwhelming views of the ancient casas clinging precipitously to the edge of a natural wonder. 


While seeing first hand this amazing World Heritage site is enough of a reason to visit Cuenca, you can also wander into the old town of Cuenca (if you stay at the Parador -- you can get there across the iron-fortified stone bridge that crosses the gorge or take the road and get there by car.)  Once across the gorge you can visit the Muiseo de Arte Abstracto housed in one of the casas.  For the non-vertically challenged there is also a restaurant, Meson Casas Colgadas, next to the museum with vistas of the gorge.

Getting there: A fairly new AVE high-speed rail train connetcs Madrid – Atocha station and Cuenca – Fernando Zobel station, providing travellers with frequent  everyday accessibilit, reducing the journey to only 50 minutes. RENFE also operates a non high-speed service that gets to Cuenca  in 3 hours from Madrid. Auto Res, a bus operator, links Madrid to Cuenca with a 2 hour or 2:30 hour trip duration. The A-40 motorway, connects the city with the A-3 at Tarancon, 82 km away from Madrid.

There is Something I Love About Ducks Worldwide

There is something I just love about ducks. Maybe its their resiliency. Maybe its their discipline. Maybe its their ability to work together. Or maybe its just that they are so darn cute.. like in the video below... Caught in the gusty wind of a hurricane blowing on shore in Atlantic City yesterday, check out how these little fellows deal with it, and resume their lives as nature has taught them.

The Astonishing Vineyards of Lavaux -- a World Heritage Site on Lake Geneva in Switzerland

On route from Geneva to eastern Switzerland, .....

The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, run for miles along the south shores of Lake Geneva from the Chateau de Chillon to  outskirts of Lausanne and cover the lower foothills of the mountainside between villages and lake. Evidence, according to the World Heritage website, points to the vines being grown during  Roman times, and present vine terraces can be traced back to the 11th century, when Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries dominated the area.

Normandy - a Journey Not to Forget on the Anniversary of D-Day

Travel connects one to historic experience in ways that reading or hearing about it never can.  I will never forget certain moments in certain places where for an instance I have felt the link across time and space in a way I never could before.   Visiting Normandy, being at the place where American soldiers waded through those rough waters, climbed those steep hills only to be met by gunfire and for many death.  The field of white crosses extending to the end of the plateau that meets the drop onto the beach below is so stirring I cannot find the words that don't sound trite in describing it.  Only the pictures tell story well.  And in humble tribute to those soldiers that died 68 years ago, the American Cemetery at Normandy remains.

The Flowering Patios of Cordova Spain -- A Crossroads of Culture

There are always regrets with travel.  Mine frequently involve two categories...  the roads not travelled. .. and the stays too brief.  Oh and one more has to do with timing.  So it was with Cordova, there were roads untraveled, the stay was way too brief and yes timing was off by just a day or two.  Nonetheless, in the 24 hours more or less we spent in Cordova, we did manage to catch the flavor of an enchanting place - a crossroads of culture, a capsule in time, a cornucopia of scenes, smells and sensations.

 And while we missed the critical window of the opening of Cordova's patios at the beginning of May (I thought we would be catching the end of this event, but we missed it by one day), while winding our way through the ancient narrow pathways of the city's historic district, it was hard to miss the Andalusian windows overflowing with geraniums and other colorful flora.

Too, as we wandered through the lanes too narrow for autos, it was easy to casually peak behind the wrought-iron gates of the endless little courtyards to see flowering blue pots pinned to white walls and pebbled floor patios decked with various pots overflowing with colorful blossoms and to listen to the trickle of lovely centerpiece fountains,.

Almost by accident we happened upon one of the most  photographed streets in Cordoba, Callejon de las Floras,  a cobbled narrow alley between whitewashed houses.  The balconies and walls are covered with vividly colored blooms in terracotta pots. The street literally bursts with pink, purple and vibrant red in a theater of color.

The origins of the patios are said to go back to when Rome controlled the city and houses were built around open areas.  The Moors augmented the courtyards adding fountains, arabesque arches, and flower beds.   What's a bit puzzling is that the patios are primarily in what is labelled the "Judica" section of Cordoba, where the Jewish community lived in the middle ages during the time of Caliphate rule when Cordoba was the largest city in Europe -- said to have had over one million residents.   Yet, there is no mention of the Jewish involvement in the design or promulgation of these lovely spaces...  That said, this earthly paradise has obviously been touched in one way or another by each of three major cultures.

Why Are Some International Carriers Charging a Low Fare and Tacking on a High Fuel Charge -- Frequent Fliers Beware

True at the end of the day the price is the same.... whether a carrier accurately and fairly charges you an airfare plus tax versus charging you a lower bogus base fare and tacking on a fuel surcharge.  Here are some reasons it matters.

• Travelers who think that they have socked away enough for "free" frequent flier awards and companion tickets will be surprised that after using their hard earned points they are still charged more than half of what the flight would have costed had they paid cash.   You might have bought into a frequent flier program thinking you were going to have enough mileage for two tickets to Europe say as advertised by their program .... only to find out that the surcharges make using the points cost prohibitive.   

• In countries other than the US which has laws against this deceptive practice (such surcharges have to be bundled into the base fare though airlines are US airlines are trying to get this changed), airlines can make their fares look much lower than they really are, at least in countries where they're allowed to post fares that way.

• Airlines may be able to  lower the  commissions they pay by paying commissions only on the "fare" portion of the total cost to the passenger.  

• Airlines  may be doing this so they can raise the true fares on routes where fare increases still need some sort of outside approval— if this is true it may be a legitimate reason.

It is fortunate that  the U.S. government won't let airlines feature fares that exclude fuel surcharges; the only way to find them is to click on separate "explanation" boxes.  But some third-party sites—still post fares that exclude the surcharge.

Personally I think these surcharges are a scam simple as that.  A scam that those of us who accumulate  frequent flier mileage on business trips so that we can take our families on vacations for reasonable prices need to be aware of.   You can get ripped off in particular if you transfer points to use on a foreign carrier who has such charges.   

If you try to get around a carrier's bogus upcharge on their frequent flier tickets by trying to buy  tickets through them on one of their partner airlines, they will still charge you the outrageous surcharge.  Why would they charge a fuel surcharge on another carrier?   Could it be because in fact what is really happening is they are not giving you an equal deal for your points.  While they are advertising that you can buy a ticket to Europe on their airline with say 60,000 frequent flier points (this is the typical amount charged for airlines like American, Iberia who do not charge a fuel surcharge), they are in fact charging you the points plus $400 or more some dollars not including the typical taxes ( other airlines do, of course, charge taxes on such tickets).   This means that your points have been depreciated some 50% on a typical $800 ticket versus what you would have paid on an airline that does not have the surcharge.   Sure somewhere in the fine print they tell you all this.  Nonetheless,  I find it hard to believe that some of these companies have reduced themselves to participate in such obviously deceptive practices, but it appears they do, and as the old adage taunts -- let the buyer beware.   

How some Jack Daniels and Ducks Made a Hotel Famous -- The Peabody Ducks

About 80 years ago, the then General Manager of The Peabody in Memphis, Tennessee, and a friend, had just returned from a hunting trip.  They had a little too much Jack Daniel's, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys  in the foutain of the Peabody. Three small ducks were selected and the rest was history.

Then in 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, began guiding  the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March.  Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster and served in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.

The Peabody ducks have been a long-time attraction -- drawing visitors to the Memphis hotel.

And since opening  in 1986, The Peabody Orlando has continued,  the tradition of The Peabody Ducks  March.  Each morning, promptly at 11 a.m., the Duckmaster of the Peabody Orlando leads the ducks usually with a young helper down a special elevator, and they march towards the fountain and up a red carpeted staircase.

On a recent morning, as guests at the Orlando Peabody, we watched the Duckmaster lay the red carpet and waited as other hotel guests gathered near the spectacular marble fountain for the daily ritual.  Sure enough, on cue, the Duckmaster and helper led the mallards down the red carpet and into the fountain where a sumptuous meal was waiting for them in the pool.    It's an event to see -- at least once.