June 10th Munich and Bled

Saturday 10th June

Munich and Bled

My Internet connection was so bad, I could post no photos. I could have added the photos when the connection improved, but the tour was very busy, the weather was unexpectedly hot, and I was constantly tired.

After a whole day of traveling yesterday, we arrived in a very comfortable hotel just opposite the station in Munich for an extremely late dinner - it was well after nine. 

This morning, we had a few hours in Munich to sightsee, and the sun was shining and everything looked very attractive. Our tour manager had said she would walk us down to Marienplatz in the old city centre, which wasn't far away.

It was only a few minutes walk along a Main Street, Bayerstrasse, to get to Karlsplatz, a main square at one end of the pedestrian street that leads to Marienplatz. Bayerstrasse itself was fairly unpleasant, as the whole street was being dug up for the trams. Many buildings were shrouded in scaffolding and screens so photography was very difficult.

Karlsplatz is a picturesque square with an enormous water fountain.

 At least one of the buildings in the Square is fifteenth century, but I'm not sure which. There is a gothic looking gateway leading into the pedestrian street, but it looks to me like a modern replica.

It was an interesting walk down the pedestrian street, past the Frauenkirche, (Church of Our Lady) which is apparently the most visible symbol of Munich. It has two onion domes, so it is very distinctive. Unfortunately, it was one of those buildings which was shrouded in scaffolding and screens, so a photo was impossible. I have managed a view of the domes from a more general view of Marienplatz.

The street itself is lined with the shops you see everywhere - you could be anywhere in the world. But you pass the most astonishing building, the Church of St Michael, which the map supplied by the hotel described as 'a Renaissance jewel'. It is certainly eye-catching. 

Paul was disappointed with the inside, which was Baroque. There is also the tomb of King Ludwig 2nd, the mad one who built the fairy-tale castles, but I was so overwhelmed with the symphony of white and gold on the inside I forgot to look for it.

The most amazing building on Marienplatz is the neo-gothic new town hall, which is absolutely smothered in statues, carvings and curlicues, and houses Germany's largest Glockenspiel, which plays jolly tunes when the clock strikes. It is adorned with Bavarian knights who apparently do things at 11am, but we were elsewhere by then. 

There's also an impressive Opera Museum in the Square, but it too was shrouded in screen and scaffolding. And in addition, everything was hard to photograph because of all the people, the street furniture and the many delivery vans! 

There were at least 4 accordion players, some better than others. The one I photographed wasn't the best musician but he was wearing lederhosen!

Before  midday, we were back at the station so we could catch a train into Austria. Engineering works on the line meant that we could not catch a train all the way to Bled, but only to a little place I had never heard of, called Schwarzach St Veit. From there, we would need to have a coach.

The train was no longer the fast Intercity express, but a much slower one, and which had old-fashioned looking compartments and no wifi.

We began by crossing a flat plain, but were fairly soon in the mountains which was much more scenic and interesting. There were many long tunnels as the mountains became higher. I had hoped to take photos but the train windows were too dirty. We were really only aware of crossing he border into Austria because our mobile phones changed provider. 

As we approached Salzburg around 2.15 or 2.30, we got a fleeting glimpse of the castle, and about an hour after that we arrived in Schwarzach St Veit and got off to find our coach. The place was full of Rail replacement buses - quite like home really!

It was a 2 or 3 hour drive from there to Bled, and again we appreciated the beautiful mountain scenery, much like Switzerland. 

In spite of this, we travelled on fast motorways and sometimes across enormous viaducts. We crossed the border into Slovenia, avoiding huge queues of local motorists.

By 6, we had arrived in Bled and were in our hotel. Our tour manager tells us it is really beautiful and worth the two long days of travelling to get here. We shall see tomorrow!