Bavarian Rhapsody — ALEXANDRA.MBK

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

But sometimes, it honestly feels like we’re living a dream. Matt and I were both pretty certain that we would end up in Lincoln - we loved the size and easy access to whatever we needed, the tight community, being near our families, and the list goes on and on. While we still want to return to the good life, we definitely did not expect to love living in a big city as much as we do. We’ve tried countless new restaurants, explored new areas of Munich, and have taken full advantage of the Bayern ticket, a ticket that lets us travel all over Bavaria and into Austria for super cheap. This blog is dedicated to these areas - it’s surreal living in a place that reminds us so much of Nebraska but has the added benefit of the Alps. Some of our favorite day trips and activities have been to Olympiapark, Tegernsee (Germany), Zillertal (Austria), and Regensburg (Germany). The other wonderful places we’ve explored within Bavaria are mentioned in the Christkindl Markets blog!

Olympiapark

From my office, I have a view of the Alps on really clear days, which is absolutely breathtaking, and of Olympiapark, where our lab is actually located. Olympiapark München was constructed because it was needed for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. It includes the Olympic area, with all of the sports facilities, the Olympic Village, and the park. It’s about a 15 minute walk to get to the lab from my office, but I get to walk through the park every time so there are no complaints here. The park is so serene and somehow perfectly embodies whatever time of the year it is - I’ve seen it when it is deeply green and teeming with life and as it transitioned into an autumnal wonderland with all of the reds, yellows, and greens intermingled. I’ve also seen it when it gets colder, and it’s eerily foggy in the early mornings but by the walk back in the afternoon, everything looks tinged blue in a layer of frost. It is one of my favorite spots in all of Munich, and I cannot wait for the summer when we get to have a picnic on the big hill, drinking some wine, eating some dinner, and listening to all of the AMAZING concerts that will be playing in the stadium (Lionel Richie, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Tyler, etc.). Because of the close proximity to my work, I had been to the park several times, but Matt had not seen it yet. So on one warm October day, he came to my office and we decided to walk around the park. I know everyone in Lincoln said that they skipped fall this year, where you went straight from a hot summer to winter basically overnight. Here in Munich, it was the opposite - we had the longest fall ever, with the leaves not fully coming off the trees until January. So with all the luck, we went to the park on one of the most gorgeous days and hiked up this massive hill for spectacular views of Munich. It was a wonderful day :)

(Click image above for more pics of Olympiapark)

Tegernsee, Germany

On another warm October weekend, Matt and I decided we wanted to go hiking, but we obviously didn’t want anything extremely difficult. My advisor recommended Tegernsee, which is about 1 hour away on the Bayern ticket, with a train heading there and back every hour or so. We left around 11 AM, got breakfast pastries (nussschnecken as they are called here), and laughed at how at least 90% of people are constantly drinking beer on trains. We decided we needed to get a can of Lowenbrau and join in on the experience on our way there :) When we arrived there, our mouths dropped. Tegernsee both refers to the town and the lake that it is on, embedded within the Southern Bavarian alps. The higher we climbed, the more of the mountains and lake we could see, and it was so stunning. We kept pinching ourselves and marveling at how beautiful this area was - note, this area was recommended for us just for it’s good hiking, but NOTHING was said of its beauty. The hike was really refreshing and we had absolutely perfect weather. We ate our packed lunches and soaked in the sights as much as we could. We definitely want to return here for a weekend one day.

(Click image above for more pics of beautiful Tegernsee)

Zillertal, Austria

Zillertal is an incredible place for skiing in Austria and it is about a 2 hour drive away from Munich (depending on how fast you drive on the Autobahn). Matt made it very clear he wanted to go skiing while we were here, ensuring that our ski gear was packed up and brought back from Nebraska over Christmas. With luck, my friend Marius from work was going skiing one weekend with his friend Pia, who is much cooler than he is :). Pia’s family has a ski lodge in Austria and there was extra space in the cabin, so they invited us to join. Everything was a blast, except for the skiing. When asked about my skiing, I said I was “okay,” thinking I absolutely was by AMERICAN standards. Europeans take skiing to a whole different level - I was having panic attacks on what they call their “easiest slopes.” All I know is that Matt, Marius, and Pia are freaks, going way too fast down the mountain, and having too much control. Never again. Next time I ski, it is drinking, eating, and hot tubbing thank you very much. But in all seriousness, skiing here felt SO different than skiing in Colorado. For one, there were so many mountains and slopes, so even though there were an insane amount of people there, it never felt busy. There is also seriously amazing food on the slopes. Pia and Marius took us to the restaurants that had the best food and the most stunning views of the Alps. They also always made us try their “classic” desserts, which were super delicious. So aside from the skiing, it was an incredible weekend and so much fun. It is so nice to really make friends here and we can’t wait for the next weekend trip with them both :) However, I will never go clubbing again on a Wednesday with you two 🙄

(Click pic below for more images of our skiing group and the amazing lodge we stayed in!)

(Click image above for more pics of Day 1 on the slopes)

(Click image below for more pics of Day 2 on the slopes)

Regensburg, Germany

Finally, a few weeks ago, we made a day trip to Regensburg on the Bayern ticket with Brian and Chaise, two people I’ve worked with in Nebraska and Munich. The Bayern ticket costs 25 euros for one person, but for each additional person up to 5, it’s only 7 additional euros. So when Matt and I travel, our full day tickets cost 32 euros. When it was the four of us, it was 53 euros total, which was obviously very cheap for four people. Regensburg is 1:30 hours away and is a super cute medieval town located on the Danube, Naab, and Regen rivers. We spent a few hours walking through Old town and stumbling upon the oldest Catholic place of worship in Bavaria (built around 1000 AD), which was extremely ornate and called the Basilica of the Nativity of Our Lady. We also saw the famous Dom (Cathedral), an incredible gothic Bavarian structure, crossed the stone bridge (a medieval bridge used during the Crusades), and walked along the river. It was not a super long day, but it was a really nice, quaint town and a great way to introduce Brian to Munich :)

(Click image above for more pics of the Basilica and Dom)

(Click image below for more pics of Old Town and Stone Bridge)

After these spontaneous and serendipitous experiences, it is safe to say that we will continue to find adventures from random day trips in and around Munich. We miss home all the time and still love Nebraska the most, but we would not trade this experience for the world.

Love,

Alexandra