Traveling alone allows greater spontaneity. I booked a last-minute trip to Bavaria and flew for the first time on an A 340-600. The toilets were located downstairs!
Upon landing in Munich, I headed to Müller'sches Volksbad to freshen up, something that probably wouldn't have appealed to my usual traveling companions.
Built in 1901, it's the city's oldest indoor public pool.
Although I'd stuffed my Speedo and goggles into my windbreaker, the four-euro admission didn't include towel service so I photographed the unaltered Art Nouveau interior while drip drying.
On my way out, I met a couple even older than me. When they learned I was an Army brat who had lived in Munich as a toddler, the man told me he vividly recalled a nearly forgotten cliche: American GIs giving him Hershey bars after the war, the kind of soft power that changes perceptions at the most basic level.
I enjoyed my first stein of beer and some traditional German appetizers along the Isar River, just around the corner from the pool. No "prosit" toasts ensued.
My trip wouldn't have been nearly as convenient without the new luggage that Thom and Chris gave me for my birthday. Thanks again, guys!
It's funny how I missed discussing the quality of food and lodging more than the sights. I couldn't have picked five more different hotels, breakfast always included. My only multiple-night stay was at the King's Hotel in Munich with a wood-carved canopy bed and other decor to suggest a royal environment.
How's this for a picturesque German breakfast? Travel hack: eat as much as you can in the morning and skip a midday meal that can be a time-killer.
A stop at a friendly street vendor--this one spritzed my fruit--usually took care of lunch.
I miss companionship most when dining in a restaurant. I failed "How To Biergarten" in the English Garden, by not following instructions to order your beer--where the lines are longest--first, and not finishing the goose stew and spaetzle. Florian told me Germans usually order only one plate, which explains why the cashier gave me two sets of utensils. It KILLS me to discard food.
Munich's sushi can't quite compare to what you find in New York but the green tea ice cream cleansed my palate perfectly.
The hotel gasthaus in Rothenberg ob der Tauber turned me on to pancake pizza.
It also offered cheery, if faux Aryan, companionship.
And hand-carved seating!
Driving alone definitely has its advantages. In Germany, you literally can go as fast as you want on the autobahn--my comfortable Dacia Sandero routinely hit speeds of 160 kph with no nervous passenger protests--and play whatever music you fancy ("Chiffon Spins A Lifetime"), as loudly as you want. So what if you miss a turn or two without a competent co-pilot?
Hotels near Nuremberg's old town were scarce so I took a chance on the two-star Smile Hotel, which also offered free parking. The super-industrious innkeeper and her husband have operated the 17-room establishment with a single maid since the early 90s. Imagine dusting all those tchotchkes.
The toilet had to be seen to be believed (that's a clothespin holding a nose shut beneath the seat), but like the rest of my room--by far the most spacious of the trip--it was immaculate.
Despite all the toys, four other single men joined me for the 7:30 a.m. breakfast. "My husband and I alternate the early morning shift," the innkeeper announced in perfect English.
Even the boiled egg cosies grinned!
The brand new Hotel das Regensburg tipped the chic scale. Meet Barbara Blomberg a 16th-century chanteuse. She bewitched a Holy Roman Emperor while he was in town for the Imperial Diet and gave birth to their illegitimate son who became a local naval hero.
As an admiral in the Holy Roman Empire's fleet (who knew?), Don Juan d'Austria won a key battle against the Ottomans in the Ionian Sea.
I could have stayed for weeks in my perfectly appointed room. There's Barbara again, on a throw pillow. She foil-wrapped the chocolate medallion I was given upon departure, too.
Note to other hoteliers: providing a branded water bottle--which can double as a souvenir if you can afford the space in your economy light luggage--and a 24-hour, courtesy seltzer water machine in the lobby makes for a very happy customer.
I rushed to Historische Wurstkuchl for a dinner overlooking the Danube River and the Old Stone Bridge before the outdoor dining plaza closed.
The simple meal was the tastiest of the trip and I don't even like sauerkraut. I shared a table a Michael Shannon doppelgänger who ordered 12 pure pork ham sausages, instead of six. Smart move.
When looking for a hotel near Neuschwanstein, I nearly made the mistake of booking one in Austria which would have been a violation of my OK Mobility rental car contract. Fortunately, the charming Hotel Waldmann in Schwangau--where the tattooed and pierced woman who checked me in appeared in braids and a dirndl to host breakfast the next morning--was close enough to the Mad King of Bavaria's fairy-tale castle that I could get there on foot.
The last part of the 90-minute hike turned out to be nearly straight up the mountain so I worked up quite an appetite by the end of the day. My only criterion for the final meal of the trip was a restaurant that served wienerschnitzel and spaetzle, easy enough to find near the Austrian border. And that chilled beer tasted soooooooooo good.
The very well designed MUC definitely improves air travel. Dropping off the car (no bus to the terminal required), and clearing security and passport control took less than half an hour. As I said to the officer who waved me through, “There’s nothing like German efficiency.” He smiled.
King Ludwig II, the impetus behind my trip, bid me auf widersehen. You’ll be hearing a lot more about him in the posts to come.
In sum: traveling alone gives you complete control of the itinerary and an unlimited supply of "me" time. But it produces way too many selfies and I'll never be able to say "Remember when we were in Bavaria . . . "
More Bavaria:
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