Parents in Germany, Part II

Right, then.  Parents’ European exploration, round two.  I had a hard time deciding what to include, so I’m going with the most replicable activities, for all of you planning to visit Munich in the next few months.  That means that once again a few things are missing.  Like the time spent in my husband’s hometown and a few side trips that aren’t relevant unless you have a penchant for Christmas stores and heavy equipment engineering.  Call this the non-Long Tail version.  But by all means, if you’re headed this way and you want additional details about something in particular, please let me know.  Just keep in mind that most of what I’m listing here requires stepping outside of that Oktoberfest tent at some point.  I’m not saying you have to.  I’m not even judging.  I’m just sayin’.

Flowers and Chocolate
Insel Mainau is literally an island of flowers, rooted in Lake Constance (Bodensee), which itself is bordered by Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.  It’s a big lake.  And a big island.  It took us a few hours to see all of the sculptures, arboretums, and gardens.  Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy (and had been) so we didn’t get the full, bloomy effect.  But still, it’s worth the trip, and I imagine that the rose garden—in season—is stunning.

My favorite bit was the butterfly greenhouse, which was tropical and swarming (maybe fluttering?) with all shapes, sizes, and colors of butterflies.  Afterwards, we found a café on the island and ate so much Schnitzel and Spätzle (affectionately referred to by my mom as “Spritzly”) that it was suggested that we head back to the warm butterfly tent and take a little butterfly snooze.  We didn’t, but only because my mom had Switzerland on the brain.  See, my mom’s side of the family is Swiss.  Obviously, if you’re negligibly partially Swiss, and on Lake Constance, you should make plenty of time for a detour around the other side of the lake, through Switzerland…which looks exactly like the German and Austrian parts.  And once there, you should stock up on an unreasonable amount of Swiss chocolate.  (That sounded sarcastic, but just to be clear, I was totally on board with all this.  Especially the chocolate.)

BMW World
One of the obvious braking points for my dad and father-in-law was BMW World here in Munich.  Just a short subway ride from our apartment, it is an exhibition center where you can learn about BMW cars, motorcycles, and even regular bikes, I’m told.  If you happened to have ordered a new Beemer, this is also where you can pick it up, post dog and pony show.  If you’re more of an Audi type, I’ve heard there’s something similar in Ingolstadt, which is about an hour away.  Other brands are also possible; just a but more complicated.

Cheese, Nuns, a Castle, and a Grotto
On one particularly ambitious day, we saw yet another castle, a convent, a cheese factory, and rounded things out with Alpine village shopping.  The cheese factory was similar to this one.  The village was called Oberammergau (which no one could pronounce, so at some point it turned into “Obama’s House”), and the convent was Ettal Abbey, in Ettal.  But the real highlight was Linderhof Palace, which is another castle built for King Ludwig II.  It’s less imposing than Neuschwanstein, but incredibly interesting, in part because he really lived there.  And what a fascinating life it was!  The design of the castle and its outbuildings clearly accentuate his eccentricities:  the idolatry of Louis XIV (plenty of Sun King symbols and references), his reluctance to interact with [real] people (the dining room table, raised through the floor from the kitchen below, so servants needed not enter the room), and his patronage of Richard Wagner (the grotto, created after and for Wagner operas).

Gemütlichkeit, Biergartens, and Time for Brotzeit
We did do central Munich a few times during the two weeks my parents were here, but I think you’ll hear enough about Munich itself elsewhere on this blog.  For now I’ll focus on the food, drink, and food/drink culture…because on second thought, some of you really might not leave that aforementioned tent.

You (and I’m looking at you, dear brother-in-law) may already be familiar with some of the most popular German drinking songs.  In the main toasting song, which you will hear no less than five hundred times at Oktoberfest, there is a word Gemütlichkeit, which is difficult to translate.  It means sort of like German coziness, peace, and hospitality.  At Oktoberfest, it might seem a bit ironic, but that’s not the case in your average beer garden.  My parents and I spent some time in our local one, and we had to admit that there’s just something really special about the atmosphere of a Bavarian beer garden, even for us non-beer-drinkers.  You can eat things like Currywurst or bring in your own food, if you want.  People hang out in the shade of the chestnut trees and chat for, like, half a day.  It’s really lovely.  It’s the essence of a Munich summer.  It’s…  Gemütlichkeit.

On a related note, our gloriously culturally mixed families passed many an hour over Brotzeit.  Brotzeit is a cold meal consisting of heavy, dark bread (or pretzels) and cheeses and meats in a variety of formats (including, in both cases, spreadable).  It might also include whatever other Bavarian specialties you have on hand (white radish, anyone?).  And when America comes to Germany, it also includes peanut butter and jelly.  Man I love my parents.  I do wish America could come to Germany more often.  Then again, we’ll always have Oktoberfest.

Tagged as: Bavaria, Castle, family, Munich, Travel