A country that knows what to do with a potato: Germany 2023 Trip Report

[chuff88]

Good morning! It is currently 5:16am in Munich on August 4th, and my brain and body have decided that I am done sleeping (even though it‘s about 8pm back home), so I am in the lobbt of the Platzl hotel getting started on my trip report. Today we will be meeting up with the rest of our group around 4pm, so the report isn’t going to have a lot to cover yet, but I’m trying to stay on top of it.

Just to introduce the players, on this trip are myself and my mom. My name is Caroline, I will be turning 35 on our last full day with the group, which means that Germany was my choice of destination. I’ve always loved German food and beer, and I wanted to see some of the German landmarks and experience the country in person. We’ve been all over Italy and to France (only Paris), and I’ve been to Switzerland, so it’ll be nice to see more of this part of Europe. My mom, Pam, is traveling with me. This is our 2nd ABD. Last year we did Norway, which we loved, but we’re really looking forward to a trip that’s more cultural and a little less physical. We don’t have an ABD planned for 2024 currently, opting instead for a DCL British Isles cruise, but we’re planning to do the Peru ABD in the spring of 2025.

Now to dive into the trip report! I’ll start the actual report in the next post so as to keep things a bit more organized.

 

[chuff88]

Travel Day and Day 0:

We live on the west coast of the United States in Oregon, so basically no matter where we go in Europe we always lose a day to travel and this was no different. Our travel day was Wednesday, August 2nd. We were fortunate to be able to get a series of flights that originated in our relatively small, local airport (meaning we didn’t have to make the 2-hour drive to Portland) and the first flight left at 11:40am to Seattle.

This was our first time flying Delta One for an international flight, so after landing in Seattle around 1pm we headed to the Delta Sky Club for about 4 hours before our scheduled 5:25 boarding time to our next flight to Amsterdam. I didn’t take any pictures at the Sky Club, but it was so nice to have a more private, quieter area for that longer layover. We enjoyed the access to some complimentary food and coffee, and paid for some premium drinks (beer for my mom, a cocktail for me) using miles. We walked over to our gate around 5pm, stopping at Starbucks along the way, but our boarding got delayed until about 6pm because of flight crew issues. I’m not really sure what happened, but I know there was a last-minute change in cabin crew staff. Because we were in Delta One, we were some of the first onboard when boarding did start.


Again, I didn’t do a great job of taking pictures, but here’s my mom in her Delta One pod, and my pre-departure sparkling wine. We really enjoyed all of the amenities in Delta One. I watched Legally Blonde and ate my dinner (pre-departure I had selected one of the regional specialties, a red snapper with dashi, roasted mushrooms and chestnuts, and wilted greens, and I really liked it), and then started watching The Social Network and ended up falling asleep during that. I think I probably got 5-6 hours of sleep, but my mom said she couldn’t really calm down and didn’t sleep well. After breakfast I watched most of Chicago before landing in Amsterdam.

By the time we landed in Amsterdam it was our pre-day, which was Thursday, August 3rd. We were scheduled to have about 2 hours in Amsterdam. I know people that really love this airport, but I hate it. We went through it on our way to and from Norway last year, and I didn’t like it then either. My weather app said it was about 64 degrees Fahrenheit outside in Amsterdam, but the airport was HOT. We had a pretty long wait in passport control and were both sweating the entire time. After we got through, we went to the KLM club to freshen up, but didn’t have time to really enjoy any of the amenities offered there. It is a really nice lounge, but I think I preferred the Delta club in Seattle.

We boarded our flight from Amsterdam to Munich pretty much on time, which was nice. We were about 30 minutes delayed taking off due to various issues both in Amsterdam and in Munich, but all told we had a pretty smooth travel day with only minimal delays. On the short (1 hour and 10 minutes) flight from Amsterdam to Munich, the flight crew served us a night little snack box with a shrimp salad, some rice crackers, and a delicious berry mousse with a cookie crum crust on the bottom and lemon jelly on top. It was all good, but I could have eaten about 3 of those mousses.

After arriving in Amsterdam we were able to get to baggage claim pretty quickly, but I swear our bag was one of the last on the carousel! Then we gathered it and met up with our driver, Pauls, for the short trip into Munich.

Pauls was the first example of how great ABD is when they’re doing things well. He was a fantastic driver, pointing out lots of sights and giving us a great, brief overview of Bavarian history as we made our way into town. He also recommended a restaurant to us, Spatenhaus, that we’re hoping to check out during our stay here in Munich. He was friendly and knowledgeable, and it made the trip into Munich much more enjoyable, especially since we were his only passengers.

We then checked into the Platzl Hotel, which is lovely. I was a bit disappointed when I found out we were switched from the previous hotel, the Hotel Kempinski Vier Jahreszeiten, but I’m already eating my words because the Platzl is great. We have a nice room with a complimentary mini bar that has mineral water (I brought the bottle of sparkling down to the lobby with me) a couple of Ayinger beers, and glass bottle Coke. I’ll make sure to get pictures of the room before I make my next post.

After taking a bit to get settled in, we headed out for dinner. This is where we made our first mistake. We were hoping to go to the Ayinger am Platzl Wirtshaus that is so near our hotel that they advertise it as part of their culinary offerings, but they were only able to seat parties that had reservations. The same went for the Augustiner restaurant nearby. We know we’re going to Hofbrauhaus with the group, so we didn’t want to do that. So we went back to the hotel and checked with the concierge, who suggested Ratskeller in the Marienplatz. I’d looked them up online and was already considering them, and the concierge said it’s usually easy to just walk in, so that’s where we headed. It ended up being a great choice, and we enjoyed a dinner of Ratskeller’s potato soup for me, and a shared plate of 2 bratwurst with smothered onions and a side of marjoram roasted potatoes. My mom got all of those potatoes because I had the soup, and the bratwurst was fantastic - so tender, and the smothered onions and gravy plus a side of mustard brought everything together. We also each enjoyed a beer, a Weissen for my mom and a Franziskaner Kellerbier (which is apparently an unfiltered lager) for me. Of course, the beer is the only thing I remembered to photograph.

I did also take this picture of the building that Ratskeller is in. It’s a beautiful old gothic building in the Marienplatz, and with the sun setting it just looked gorgeous.


And that about brings us up to today! After dinner we headed back to the hotel to turn in, as we were both exhausted. My decent sleep on the plane bit me in the butt, as I had a heck of a time falling asleep and then woke up about every hour before finally throwing in the towel at 4:30 and deciding to just get up. Today we’re planning to explore Munich a little and maybe head to the Englischgarten before meeting up with the group at 4pm for our welcome reception, walking tour, and welcome dinner.

Thanks for following along!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Great start and looking forward to reading more! Have fun!

 

[Mathmagicland]

Thanks for doing this report! I’ve been curious about the Germany AbD, so a current trip report is appreciated.

Had to smile at your comment about Amsterdam airport, as I am one who likes it….maybe because I can shop for tulip bulbs (when it’s the right time of year) and windmill cookies! The larger KLM Crown lounge is amazing! I hope you get an opportunity to experience it on your way back.

Have fun!

 

[SirDuff]

The Seattle Delta lounge is definitely nicer than the Schengen lounge in AMS but the non-Schengen lounge in AMS is massive and nice (with free alcohol - though that is true for all the KLM lounges (actually most non-US based airline lounges)).

 

[chuff88]

Thanks for doing this report! I’ve been curious about the Germany AbD, so a current trip report is appreciated.

Had to smile at your comment about Amsterdam airport, as I am one who likes it….maybe because I can shop for tulip bulbs (when it’s the right time of year) and windmill cookies! The larger KLM Crown lounge is amazing! I hope you get an opportunity to experience it on your way back.

Have fun!

Alas, we don't go through Amsterdam on our way home. We'll be doing BER-JFK-SLC-EUG, so an entirely different slate of airports.

 

[chuff88]

Day 1: Wilkommen

We’re back at the Platzl Hotel after our first day with the group.

This morning we went up to the hotel breakfast around 7:30 because I was starving after being up since 4:30. Europe remains undefeated in terms of breakfast buffets. Below is my first plate, I forgot to get a picture of my second.


In addition to a lot of breakfast staples, I was surprised to also see a place where you could make your own mimosa, as well as a selection of cakes. After breakfast, we headed back to our room before meeting up with our guides. On this trip, our guides are Zuza, who I know has done the Germany trip in the past, and Winston, who we found out usually does the tours out of Austria. This year Winston is in Germany because a lot of his usual tours got cancelled. We asked why it seemed like a lot of the Germany trips had been cancelled, and apparently it’s because of the ongoing war in Ukraine. It sounds like people are reluctant to travel to this part of the world right now.

After meeting the guides, we walked to the Residenz Museum and explored that for a while. Even though it was only earlier today, I’ll admit that my memory is fuzzy. A lot of the building was damaged or destroyed during WWII, but they’ve done a lot of work restoring it. Some pictures are below.



After this we walked to the English Garden and saw the surfers in the Eimbach river, and then we went to the beer garden near the Chinese Tower for lunch. I didn’t get any pictures during this part of the day, but I had a Currywurst and my mom had a salad and a roll. We also got beer, and I was confused at first by the tokens we were given, but it‘s because they charge a 2 euro deposit on the beer mugs so people don’t steal them. When you take your beer glass back with your token, they give you a 2 euro coin back.

After that, we headed back to the hotel because we’d be meeting up with the group at 4pm. We had a small reception where we were all treated to Aperol spritzes and everyone introduced themselves. It’s a great group, everyone’s very engaged and there’s only one couple on their first ABD, the rest have all done at least 1. We were also introduced to the undisputed star of the Munich leg of Germany, MICHAEL!! Michael led our walking tour through the oldstadt, including a viewing of the Glockenspiel, and was every bit as entertaining and engaging as everyone has said he is. He is truly a pleasure to learn from, and we’re looking forward to hearing more from him the next couple of days.




After the tour, we ended up at the Franziskaner restaurant for dinner, which I of course forgot to take pictures of. Both my mom and I ordered the “pork knuckle,” which is really more like a pork shank, and it was delicious. We also had beer included, and I enjoyed another lager and my mom had a dunkel. For dessert we got to have apple strudel, which was also fantastic.

Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Dachau for the tour with Michael, and afterward we’ll be having a beer tasting at Weihenstephan. I am very much looking forward to visiting the oldest still-operating brewery in the world, and I think visiting Dachau will be a moving and important experience.

 

[sayhello]

Sounds like your tour is off to a very good start! I haven't seen a report for this trip in a *very* long time, so I'm looking forward to hearing about this trip and your impressions!

Sayhello

 

[abdgeek]

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the beginning of your ABD Germany tour. I stayed at the Platzl for my post days after the ABD Danube River Cruise and loved it. You‘re doing a lot of the sites I did OYO, so I will be interested to see how you like them.

If you have time, get tickets to the Disney 100 Exhibit while you’re in Munich. It’s in the Olympic Park which is across the street from the BMW Museum. There’s a metro stop very close to both. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the exhibit was there when I was in Munich and missed it. Hopefully, you can profit from my mistake. I can’t believe the ABD guides didn’t let us know it was there.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Ds and I stayed at the Platzl in December and I really enjoyed it. The location is excellent, the rooms perfect and the front desk staff was very nice. Loved the breakfast room and the food was good too! I'd definitely stay there again if I were to find myself in Munich once more.

 

[chuff88]

Day 2: In Remembrance

Today we had an 8:30 meet time with the group for our trip to Dachau. As has become my usual routine, I was awake by 5, but my mom slept until 6. We headed to breakfast right at 7 when it opened, and then back to the room to get ready. We were a few minutes late down to the lobby (truly only about 3 minutes) and were shocked to discover that everyone was gone! We called Zuza and it turns out that Michael was just a bit overzealous in getting out of the hotel and had taken off with little warning, but Zuza walked back to meet us and we made it to the coach.

Michael gave us a very good overview of the rise of the Nazi party in Germany on the short drive to Dachau, as well as during the tour of the site. I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of how the Nazis operated having been to the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C, and also from my various studies, but I learned a lot from Michael during his tour. It really is sobering to hear about the tactics that Hitler used to get the German people on board with his plans, and difficult not to see some contemporary parallels.

I was under the impression that photography was not allowed at Dachau, but apparently it is. That said, I didn’t feel it was appropriate to be taking pictures and instead opted to just take in the experience and appreciate the solemnity of that site and the very dark period in our collective history. I took only two pictures, of two of the memorials erected over the mass grave area near the crematorium and gas chamber.


Everyone in our group of ~26 elected to participate in the tour of Dachau, which it seemed like the guides appreciated. It is a very hard place to visit and experience, but personally I felt it was an important part of visiting Germany and I’m thankful to have had the opportunity.

After leaving Dachau, we took a short drive to the Weihenstephan brewery, which is now run by the state of Bavaria, and is the oldest still-operating brewery in the world, having begun production in 1040. We enjoyed a tasting of 4 of Weihenstephan‘s beers, led by a female brewmaster who studied brewing and beverage science at the nearby University. Personally, I was excited to see a young woman leading the tasting, as like so many culinary fields I believe brewing is fairly male-dominated. It was very cool to see a woman as a brewmaster even in a brewery with a tradition as old as Weihenstephan’s.

I have had the opportunity to try Weihenstephan beers in the past, as I’m lucky to live in a “beer town” that sometimes has some of these available. I truly could not pick a favorite of these, as they were all excellent representations of their respective styles. I am generally a lager girl, so the Helles was one that I really enjoyed, but the Dunkel was also very complex in flavor and delicious. The Vitus won the award for best beer in the world three years in a row, which is very impressive. With lunch, we had the option of ordering another beer, and I ordered a special Pilsner that is put in the keg directly from the tank, so it is both unfiltered and unpasteurized, and is therefore only available at the brewery. It was delicious, and nice to get to try something unique. The options for lunch were a beef goulash, roasted pork, or kasespaetzle, which is like a Bavarian version of mac and cheese. I went with the goulash and my mom went with the spaetzle, and both were excellent. The food on this trip so far has been outstanding.



After lunch, we all took pictures with the bear outside the brewery, who represents the symbol of Freising, the town where Weihenstephan is located. I also bought my first souvenir, a stoneware .5L stein from the brewery that shows the year it was founded.


After that we headed back to the hotel for our evening on our own. It had started raining on the drive back, and we were very tired and had done a lot of sightseeing yesterday, so we took the opportunity to take a short nap. We had originally planned to go to the Augustiner beer hall for dinner, but Zuza and Winston suggested to everyone that, when on our own, we take the opportunity to eat some non-German food, as the German food is very heavy and can get overwhelming eventually. Winston had mentioned that his favorite burger restaurant, Hans im Glück, had a location nearby, so we opted to try that. It was a very cute little restaurant where we had excellent burgers that I unfortunately didn’t get pictures of. My mom had a classic burger with a side of coleslaw, and I had a burger with lingonberries and Camembert that was very good with a side of fries. The restaurant also had a ton of vegan and vegetarian friendly options, which was cool to see. My mom and I agreed that, despite the great burgers, the highlight of the meal was the fantastic flavored iced tea. She ordered one with mint and blueberries, and I ordered it with blackberries and rosemary. Both were absolutely delicious, and I wish they sold it by the bottle to go.


And that wraps up day 2! Tomorrow we meet with the group at 8:45 for our trip out to Neuschwanstein castle, which I know that many of us have been really looking forward to, and tomorrow evening we’ll be having dinner together at the Hofbrauhaus. We’re really enjoying the later starts, as most of our star times in Norway were on the earlier side.

 

[aggiedog]

That's one of my favorite beers!

We did a Danube cruise and DH and I decided that we needed to do one excursion of the same type. Remembrance is important, even if it's painful.

 

[sayhello]

Sounds like quite a day!

Sayhello

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I'm amazed that everyone decided to visit Dachau. Honestly that's something I have never quite managed to do. I found the eternal flame in Munich to be upsetting enough and the Jewish parts of my family had all left Europe during the persecutions at the start of the 20th century. Traveling around Europe now it is hard to fathom that within the living memory of a not an insignificant number of people the continent was at war.

Someday when my kids are older we may go to a camp or to one of the museums and talk about the evil that exists in the world. There's a huge difference between learning about it at school/in books and actually seeing something in person. My son (14) says he isn't ready yet and my daughter (10) is extremely tender-hearted so she may never be.

 

[sayhello]

I'm amazed that everyone decided to visit Dachau. Honestly that's something I have never quite managed to do. I found the eternal flame in Munich to be upsetting enough and the Jewish parts of my family had all left Europe during the persecutions at the start of the 20th century. Traveling around Europe now it is hard to fathom that within the living memory of a not an insignificant number of people the continent was at war.

Someday when my kids are older we may go to a camp or to one of the museums and talk about the evil that exists in the world. There's a huge difference between learning about it at school/in books and actually seeing something in person. My son (14) says he isn't ready yet and my daughter (10) is extremely tender-hearted so she may never be.

I agree with this. It's one of the reasons I haven't taken the Germany ABD, as I feel if I go to Germany, I need to visit Dachau, but I just never quite felt ready to do so.

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

I agree with this. It's one of the reasons I haven't taken the Germany ABD, as I feel if I go to Germany, I need to visit Dachau, but I just never quite felt ready to do so.

Sayhello

I will say that I perhaps mentally over prepared for this day, because while it was heavy I didn't find it to be overwhelming like I expected to. The tour does ease you in to your surroundings, so while you do see and hear about some of the most horrible atrocities committed in human history, you aren't "thrown into the deep end" right when you arrive.

For me personally, visiting Dachau was no more difficult than the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC. In some ways I think the Holocaust museum was even more difficult, as I particularly struggled with the room full of shoes.

That said, the Central Europe tour goes to Aushwitz, which I think would be a heavier experience.

ETA: I certainly don't want to minimize the seriousness of what happened at Dachau, as like at all of the concentration camps, truly horrible and unimaginable things happened there. However, one thing we learned was that while Dachau was a labor and concentration camp, Aushwitz-Birkenau was truly an extermination camp with only one purpose. Many lives were lost at Dachau as the result of the cruelty of the Nazis, but especially initially it had a different function than Auschwitz-Birkenau or some of the other "death camps."

One reason I would recommend this tour is that I learned a lot about the differences between the concentration camps, which has really helped contextualize what has turned out to be an incomplete understanding on my part of the history of Nazis in Germany.

 

[chuff88]

Day 3: Bavarian Beauty

I didn’t get a chance to post my update last night, so I’ll post about yesterday and today.

Yesterday was the day we go to to go to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, once again with the wonderful Michael. Unfortunately we were not blessed with good weather, and it was cold and rainy most of the day. Despite that, the beauty of the castle is almost too much to be believed, and it was amazing to get to visit it.




Photography is not allowed inside the castle, but it’s as opulent as you can imagine. The throne room in particular was magnificent, with a beautiful mosaic tile work floor and frescoes on the walls. After we were finished, we had the option of walking back down the mountain or taking a carriage. We opted to walk, just because it was faster and we were cold and hungry. This was a lunch on our own, and we went to the Alpenstuben restaurant and I had käsespaetzle and my mom had some noodle soup and a salad.

After that, it was back on the coach for the ride back into Munich. This was the first time the box of snacks came out, and it was packed with Kinder and Haribo treats. As we rode back into Munich, Michael regaled us with some stories of notable Munich residents, and we were shocked to learn that he was school friends with Lou Bega (of “Mambo No. 5” fame), who was of Italian and Ugandan descent, but was born and raised in Germany. We then said or thank yous and goodbyes to Michael before heading back to the hotel before dinner at Hofbrauhaus.


I have been terrible at taking pictures on this trip, but dinner at Hofbrauhaus was a salad, followed by roast chicken with German potato salad, and finally a custard dessert with fruit on top. I only have a picture of the entree, but it was all delicious. Beer was also included, and some of us were ever able to order a second round of beer. I had the Dunkel, which was great.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to pack up for bag drop, which was at a luxurious 7:30am, with an 8am departure. The timing was nice, as we were able to drop our bags and head out for breakfast at 7, then go back to the room to grab our hand luggage before meeting at 8am.


I bought this souvenir at the Neuschwanstein castle, a pullover sweatshirt with this sketch drawing of it. I had to laugh, because it looks so much like Sleeping Beauty castle at WDW that I’m sure people will wonder what store I bought it at when I wear it there.

That’s about it for Day 3! Today was Day 4, and we moved on from Munich to Röthenburg by way of Nürnberg. I’ll put details about today in the next post.

 

[sayhello]

I have to admit, as I was reading the text above the last photo, and saw it, in my head I was thinking "why is she posting a photo of herself in her Disney sweatshirt?" D'oh!

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

Day 4: Romantic Road

Today we left Munich at 8am and headed to Nürnberg (known to English speakers as Nuremberg) for a visit to the courthouse where the Nuremberg trials took place, as well as a culinary tour of the city. I didn’t take pictures at the courthouse, but they showed a brief film about the trials and the decision to have them that was very interesting. We were then split into two groups for the remainder of our tour of the city.

Once again, my pictures are limited, but here are some pictures from the fortress looking out over the city.


Once again, the weather was not on our side, and it was pretty cold (but fortunately not rainy) throughout our visit. Because of that, I wasn’t really focused on taking pictures. But we had 4 food “stops.” First, as we entered the fortress, we were treated to a fresh pretzel with butter. There was so much butter in it, and it was fantastic. Then we came down from the fortress and stopped at a brewery where we had some beverage options, and my mom and I elected to try the specialty - red beer. It was also delicious, and I did get a picture of that.


The brewery also sold Whiskey, which was too expensive for me, and some unusual liquor called “Brand” that I gather was made from the mash for the beers. I bought two small bottles, a “Bock Bier Brand” and a “Schwarz Bier Brand” that I’m planning to take home, so I haven’t tried it. I honestly have no idea what I bought but I’m excited to try it.

The third stop was for the famous Nürnberger sausages, which came three on a bun and I ate with mustard, as recommended. As our guide, Ingrid, described it, the ingredients are “pork, marjoram, salt, pepper, and secrets.” Again, I could have eaten about 3 of those sandwiches. The sausage was so fresh and delicious, and it was warm and perfect on a cold day. Finally, at the end of the tour we were all given a lebkuchen, or gingerbread cookie. We then had an hour to ourself, during which we elected to dip into the nearest coffee shop for a nice warm chai latte.

Ingrid, our local guide in Nürnberg, was incredible. She took us into the art bunkers where the residents of Nürnberg hid their precious art from the Nazis as they started to take power. They had a complex cataloguing system, and once the war was over all of the art was returned to its rightful owner. It was wonderful to have someone with so much knowledge of the area leading our group.

After Nürnberg it was back on the bus and on to Röthenburg. We had a brief “orientation” walk around town with Michael and Zuza before being released for dinner on our own. The guides recommended Don Gallo, a Mexican restaurant in town, and we decided to give that a try. After several days of German food it really was nice to have something more familiar (though don’t get me wrong, the German food is amazing).




Tonight is the tour with the Night Watchmen, and unfortunately my calves and ankles have gotten so swollen that I decided to opt out. My mom is on the tour however, and she told me she’d take lots of pictures. Tomorrow we get to sleep in and meet with the group at 9:30 for chocolate making!

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

If you can rally the Night Watchman tour is fantastic! And be sure to check out the Christmas store before leaving.