Tegelberg Hike

Last Thursday was a public holiday in Bavaria, so we both took off Friday from work to make it a four-day weekend. After enjoying two relaxing, sunshine-filled days in Munich, we decided to head out to the mountains on Saturday for some hiking. Since Kristin had never seen “the castle,” it seemed like a good opportunity to combine our hiking plans with admiring the castle from a comfortable distance (read: seeing it from a bridge to avoid the throngs of tourists).

Neuschwanstein castle was built in the mid-1800s by King Ludwig, who is notorious for spending astronomical amounts of money on various castles throughout Bavaria. After King Ludwig's suspicious drowning death (he was known to be a good swimmer), Germany discontinued the completion of the interior of the castle after his death. Thus, with only a few rooms furnished, the most impressive part of the castle by far is the exterior. Many of you may recognize that the castle looks vaguely familiar - Disney used it as a basis for Cinderella's castle. This, along with its proximity to Munich and various other reasons, have made it one of the most popular tourist sites in Germany (more than 1.3 million people visit it annually). However, given that it is a bit overrated and very crowded, we chose to skip touring the castle in favor of just visiting the Marienbrücke (bridge) for a picturesque view:

Leaving the tourist crowd behind us, we moved on to the hiking trails behind the castle. Our real destination was Tegelberg at 1720m in elevation. Although because of our starting point, the total ascent was only 920m. It was supposed to take 3.5 hours, but since we’re practically professional hikers at this point, it took us only 2.5.

Rock climbers!

The weather was perfect and the hike was a great way to spend the day. We had a picnic at the top of the summit and also had a unique surprise: apparently, Tegelberg is known as a hang gliding haven. While we were eating, we had people shouting as they launched themselves off a small peak above our heads. It was really crazy.

While taking the cable car back down was tempting, we opted for a return trip on the same hiking trail. Our total distance for the day was 9.8 miles. The trip was a perfect way to balance seeing the castle with feeling like we accomplished something with our day and getting a good workout. We’re just glad this hike wasn’t as adventurous as our last outing…

Bis gleich,
Matt and Kristin

Budapest, Hungary

Recently, our good friend Mike came to visit us. His family had planned a European vacation and they decided to come to Munich for the final days of their trip. On Friday and Saturday, we showed them around the city and took them to dinner at two of our favorite restaurants. On Sunday morning, Mike’s family returned to the States, but he stayed a few extra days so that the three of us could travel to Budapest, Hungary. We rented a (teeny, tiny purple) car and made the 6.5 hour drive to Budapest.

Budapest is the capital city of Hungry. It is also the country's largest city. Its population is approximately 1.74M people. The Danube river runs through the city, separating the two areas -- Buda and Pest. This city has a complicated past, with invasions and settlements by various different empires. The variety of cultural influences is obvious everywhere you turn. There are a variety of different architectural styles, all coming together to create a stunning and unique cityscape.

We were immediately impressed by the city from the time we arrived. The architecture was really stunning and many buildings reminded me of Paris. The style of the streetlights also seemed similar to those found in Paris. There are many beautiful squares scattered throughout Budapest, with colorful flowers and interesting fountains and statues. This city is crazy about statues! There were so many and all of them are believed to bring you some kind of luck or good fortune when you rub them. Anyways, eventually we made it to the beautiful park, where the picturesque Vajdahunyad Castle is located. It was stunning! After exploring and snapping some photos, we headed back to the hotel to shower and change. For our first meal in Budapest, we tried a small restaurant that had amazing reviews online. Unfortunately, we got to the restaurant around 9 PM, which gave us only about an hour until they closed. So the menu was a bit limited, but we all really enjoyed our dishes. The boys both tried goulash, which is a traditional Hungarian dish, and I tried the grilled duck. We were really impressed! We also stayed for dessert and enjoyed some delicious cheesecake, yum! On the way home, we got a round of drinks at an outdoor bar. It reminded me a lot of the biergartens in Munich. We were all pretty tired after a long drive and a lot of sightseeing in almost 100 degree heat, so we headed back to the hotel shortly after.

The next day, we spent a few hours on a walking tour of the city. Our guide was a young girl who had grown up in Budapest. She told us a lot about the city’s history and showed us some of the famous sites. I had no idea how many different countries and empires had invaded and ruled in Hungary. From the Austrians to the Turks to the Russians – all of these groups conquered and invaded Hungary, and then stayed for many years thereafter. We talked a lot about the different influence that each of these groups had on Hungary, and specifically, Budapest. It was really interesting. We try to do walking tours like this in all of the cities we visit – it’s a great way to learn more about the city. We definitely enjoyed this one. After the tour, we did some more exploring on our own. We went inside St. Stephen’s Basilica. This is a Roman Catholic basilica that is located in the city center. It is named for the first king of Hungary. It is one of the two tallest buildings in the city -- the other being the Parliament building. Both are exactly the same height, a nod to the belief that church and state have equal importance. This is a pretty progressive stance when compared to many other European cities where religion ruled for many years. For example, in Munich for a very long time, no buildings could be taller than the church. But back to St. Stephen's...Interestingly enough, the city kept the hand of St. Stephen after he died. It is kept in a box in the back of the church and tourists can pay a couple of Euros to see it in all of its glory. A bit strange!

We also walked through the main city center and ended up at the city’s market hall. This place is huge. It reminded us a lot of Reading Terminal Market, which is the large market located in Philly.

Market Hall

Later in the evening, we explored the Jewish Quarter of the city, which is home to many “hip” restaurants, bars, and cafes. Budapest is especially famous for “ruin bars.” The concept for a ruin bar is to take a formerly abandoned building that is in terrible shape and "renovate" it into several bars. We use the term "renovate" lightly, since it's not your typical fix-up. These bars are filled with antiques, old furniture, graffiti, interesting artwork, etc. Before dinner, we stopped in the original and most famous ruin bar, Szimpla. There were various tiny rooms and “lounges” with different decorations. There was also a huge “garden” in the back. It was filled with antiques and interesting items – an old car, colorful old chairs hanging from the ceiling, garden gnomes on swings, disco balls, etc. It was really cool. There were also more rooms upstairs, filled with old couches and easy chairs and graffitied walls. I had never seen anything like it. We also visited another one after dinner, just to see what it was like. It was similar in that there were many different rooms filled with antiques and old furniture, but it was a little more club-like than Szimpla. There were more strobe lights, colored lights, modern artwork, etc. We didn’t stay for a drink, but it was interesting to see.

Since it was our final night in the city, we walked along the Danube before heading back to the hotel. The city’s skyline and bridges look absolutely magical when lit up at night. It was a special way to end the day.

We spent our final morning in Budapest touring the Dohany Street Synagogue. This synagogue, also known as "The Great Synagogue," is the largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It seats 3,000 people! It was built around 1854, based on the Moorish style of design, so there are a lot of similarities to Middle Eastern mosques (like the ones we saw in Istanbul). The synagogue grounds now include a Jewish museum, a cemetary, and a memorial to the lives lost during the Holocaust. It’s always humbling to visit places that were so largely affected by WWII and the Holocaust. It really makes you appreciate what you have.

We finished our time in Budapest with lunch at a burrito place and then hit the road. We really enjoyed all three days here. The city is both very similar and very different to other European cities that we have visited. On the surface, it is a beautiful city with great food and drinks, lots of shopping, and cool restaurants, bars, and cafes. The city has been conquered and ruled by so many different countries, and you really see the resulting diversity and mix of cultures. If you dig a little deeper, it’s a city with a somewhat painful history and a still somewhat tense present. I must admit, I knew relatively nothing about Budapest or Hungary before this trip. But after visiting, I am really intrigued to learn more about this beautiful city’s complicated past and hopeful future. It is definitely a place where I would like to return to some day.

And here are some more photos...

Vajdahunyad Castle

St. Matthias

Bis Später,
Kristin and Matt

Lisboa

A few weeks ago, Kristin's mom was here visiting us. We spent some time showing her around Munich in the summertime. She was first here in November, but Munich is 100 times better when the weather is pleasant. And the weather was beautiful while she was here, that's for sure! After a few days in Munich, we traveled together to Lisbon, Portugal.

Lisbon, or Lisboa as it is called in its native Portugese, is the capital and largest city of the country of Portugal. About 3 million people call Lisbon home, so it's a decent sized city. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Tagus River, so the views are really beautiful from pretty much anywhere in the city. Surprisingly, Lisbon is actually one of the oldest cities in Europe, older than London, Paris, and Rome. The architecture throughout the city is stunning, and there are several very interesting neighborhoods, each with their own "personalities." We really enjoyed exploring the city, despite the weather, which was really cloudy and a little cooler than expected for July in Portugal. However, given the number of steep hills throughout the city (basically, everywhere you walk is either up or downhill), we were relieved that it was a bit cooler. Mom compared Lisbon to San Francisco -- between the fog, the hills, the street cars, AND a Golden Gate Bridge look-alike. Although Matt and I have never been to San Fran, from photos I have seen, I don't think it is too far off. Our favorite neighborhood in the city was Bairro Alto. This area had tons of shopping, cafes, bars, and restaurants. Apparently, it is really popular with the young, hip crowd in Lisbon. We really enjoyed experiencing the culture of this area.

On one of the days, we ventured out to the town of Sintra, which was about a one-hour train ride from Lisbon's city center. Located at the foot of the Sintra Mountains, Sintra is known for its Romantic architecture, stunning parks, and interesting castles. First, we visited the Pena Palace, which is located on top of a hill above the town. In 1838, King Ferdinand II acquired the old monastery that was located on the site and transformed it into a palace intended to be the royal summer residence. The palace's exterior is stunning and the interior houses old furniture from that period. Unfortunately, the heavy fog prevented us from being truly able to appreciate the palace in all its glory. But we were still impressed.

After exploring the Pena Palace, we moved on to the Castle of the Moors, which is a hilltop medieval castle. It was first constructed during the 8th-9th century. We walked along the walls, but again, the fog prevented us from enjoying the otherwise stunning views. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see. We finished the day in Sintra at an adorable cafe near the train station. We weren't expecting such a delicious lunch, so that was a pleasant surprise!

One of the highlights for us was definitely all of the amazing food and wine that we tasted while in Lisbon. Everyone in the city was so friendly, especially the waiters and waitresses at the various restaurants and wine bars that we visited. On our first evening, we went to an outstanding tapas restaurant. For those who are not familiar with tapas, they are a variety of appetizers or "small plates." It has become trendy in recent years to make an entire meal by sharing various tapas. This type of cuisine is typically Spanish; however, considering Portugal's proximity to Spain, there are many tapas restaurants in Lisbon, as well. On the first night, we shared a sausage dish, delicious baked brie, a mixed cheese plate, olives, bread, and a delicious beef dish. We also had an awesome bottle of Portugese red wine for about $12! We were off to a great start in Lisbon. Throughout our 4 days in Lisbon, we tried some other tapas places, as well as a more typical Portugese restaurant where we enjoyed some great steak. We also continued to enjoy various Portguese wines. Matt found us a really unique wine bar where we had the chance to taste some really special wines from all over Portugal. It was a lot of fun! We finished our trip with a fantastic dinner at another really cool tapas place. The food was just outstanding.

Note: We only had small glasses from each of these bottles, NOT the entire bottle!

We did have some sunshine (a lot of sunshine) on our final day in Lisbon, which was absolutely gorgeous! We soaked up the sun by exploring the nearby beach town, Cascais.

Overall, we had a really great time in Lisbon. The people were all so friendly, the city was beautiful, and the food was fantastic! Plus, it was just nice to spend some quality time with Mom. Not sure when we will make it back to this beautiful country, but I'm sure we will return at some point. We would love to see some other cities in gorgeous Portugal.

Up next... Our friend Mikey's visit and our trip to Budapest, Hungary!

Bis Später,
Kristin and Matt