My final European trip for the year was a four day cameo back to the favourite country I'd visited during the year, Germany. I was quite keen to check out some of the Xmas Markets around the traps and decided that Bavaria would probably be my best bet. Grabbed a reasonable last minute deal with Swissair and was in Munich by the Monday afternoon back at Wombats Hostel where we'd stayed four years previously.
It took a little while to find my bearings but once I dropped off the gear at the hostel I had a walk around the city and went and checked out the beer halls and some of the buildings around the old town in Marienplatz. There was also an ice-skating rink set up for the xmas markets which was good to witness some quality stacks! It was pretty cold now - about -1 or -2 degrees for the most part.
The next day I purchased a Bayern Ticket which meant I could travel anywhere in Bavaria for 20 euro on the regional trains. This was such a good bargain and I had a great day checking out Nuremberg and Bamberg. Nuremberg is a pretty decent sized town but still has a lot of character, and obviuosly quite a bit of history due to World War II. Whilst here I checked out the old town and also took a tram out to see the Nazi Rally Grounds and the Congress Hall which was absolutely massive - Hitler had intended it to be bigger than the Colloseum but it was never finished. It now houses a museum but I didn't have time to visit.
I then hopped on another train for the trip to Bamberg. This was a great little town and felt a lot like a village. Probably the most impressive thing about the place was the architecture and the stilted houses that are nestled alongside the river that flows through the town. As an unexpected bonus I got a cracking deal on a jacket in the town so that was good. I finished my visit there with a German pancake which was top shelf!
Returned to Nuremberg and had about an hour or so in which to grab a bite to eat and I couldn't go past the Bratwurstglocklein - Nuremberg is the place where they invented the sausage and they do a great deal with 3 small sausages in a bread roll for 2 euro! Trained back in to Munich, arriving at about 9am.
The following day I decided that I'd grab another Bayern ticket and head for Regensburg. After a bit of a comical trip there (I managed to get off a stop too early and had to lurk around this town with nothing to do for an hour!), I checked out Regensburg on foot. I didn't rate it as highly as either Nuremberg or Bamberg but it was still ok. Once back in Munich I went on the underground and visited a uni before returning and grabbing some dinner which ended up being Thai. The hostel was full tonight and it was a bit ordinary as there were a couple of chronic snorers who were very ordinary - I was quite glad to only have one more night there!
My final morning I covered quite a bit of ground on foot and walked through the Englischer Garden, checking out the make shift wave that comes out from this drain. There were a couple of surfers having a crack at the wave (which basically is never-ending) and it is really random to see. Apparently someone has drowned in it before and the council are trying to ban surfers from using it but it has turned into quite a popular tourist attraction. Further up in the gardens I walked around this lake which had iced over so that gives you an idea of the temps!
After a final walk through Marienplatz I grabbed my gear and headed for the airport. Caught up with a friend who I met at Oktoberfest for a Gluwhein and then it wast time to board the flight back to London via Zurich.
