May 29, 2019 Bavaria and Austria / Bavaria, Tyrol and Vienna - Winter Holiday

Bavarian Cars and Beers, Tyrolean Alps, and Viennese Waltz

Our Family’s Tales from Last Winter

Day 1. We arrived at Flughafen München (Munich Airport) just when the city was waking up to a foggy winter morning. The first leg of our trip was in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is known for Oktoberfest, traditional Christmas markets, bratwurst, beer halls, Biergarten, and according to my boys, cars…

A few months before our trip, I gathered the family’s wishlist: car museums for Joaquin, snowboarding for Benjamin, and a massive glass of beer at a beer garden for the hubby. For me, it would be a traditional celebration of Christmas.

So I came up with some exciting ideas! How about Munich where the car museums and manufacturers are located, Salzburg which was celebrating Silent Night’s 200th anniversary, the Alps where the kids could snowboard and Vienna where we could join their customary street waltz to welcome the New Year…

77e1b9d8-8968-4ccf-b615-3246726ea1e6 — ***Rathaus-Glockenspiel at Marienplatz, the Altstadt’s most famous square***

The minute they stepped out of the airport’s glass doors, the boys started blowing around to make ‘smoke’ come out of their mouths. Perhaps trivial to many but to us who came from an all-year-round 33-degree Celsius tropical country, that smoke marked the start of exciting winter adventures. I’m really glad that I took a picture of that scene because looking at it now brings back all the fun memories of last winter.

***Blowing ‘smoke’ at the airport marked the start of our winter adventures***

From Munich Airport (also known as Franz Josef Strauss International Airport), we took the Lufthansa Express Bus (45 minutes) which brought us to München Hauptbahnhof, the main train station at Munich. From there, our serviced apartment was just a kilometre away, but that one kilometre proved to be too far for a family of 4 with 6 pieces of luggage on uneven pavements.

The 13-hour flight from Singapore hadn’t taken its toll yet so right after dumping our luggage at the aparthotel concierge, we decided to walk on foot to explore a little bit of the Altstadt (Old Town).

***We came across a small Christkindlmarkt at Sendlinger Tor, just across the bakery where we had breakfast***

After pretzel, cinnamon rolls and coffee at this bakery called Kamps Backstube along Sendlinger Strasse, we continued walking and came across a Baroque-looking building sandwiched between what looked like several apartments. Lo and behold, inside was a small church with luxurious Baroque-inspired interiors. I then realised that it was actually the Assam Church (Asamkirche in German and also known as St Johann Nepomuk Kirche), a private Catholic church built by the two Asam brothers during the mid-18^th century. Trivia: one brother was a sculptor and the other a painter, that explains the ornate sculptures and frescoed ceiling.

***Asamkirche sandwiched between apartments***

***The church was so small there was only one column of pews.***

***We felt blessed and grateful that our holiday started with a church visit***

The day had barely begun and my hubby and older son were already asking about the beer garden that I promised them. You see my son is 16 years old, and in Germany, he would be allowed to taste beer, hence the excitement between him and his dad. That’s to come in my blog… xoxo

Some practical tips and info:

Lufthansa Express Bus – this is a great alternative to trains. No need to pre-book, it comes at the airport terminals every 15 minutes. Euro37 for a family of 4. Only two other stops before the Hauptbahnhof.
Asamkirche – do enter the church even if you’re not Catholic. You’ll be awed by the grand interiors.
Munchen.de – the official website of the City of Munich. I used it a lot.
MVV Journey Planner – I used this to search for Munich connections
Rick Steves Audio Tours – I downloaded his Audio Tours on my phone. I like his practical tips and guides.

Here are the other posts during our Bavarian and Austrian holiday: