xxA Grand Tour

Getting to Europe in the summer can be torture. Why? Because you and everyone else is flying there for vacation and the airlines, most of which have drastically cut back on flight routes, overbook flights by as much as 35% which means somebody doesn’t get on the plane.

That meant me on a recent trip to Bavaria and Austria. I felt like a soccer ball that kept missing the goal, but finally, after 24 hours, with much luck and chutzpah, I was in the Munich airport reuniting with Adir, my friend who had flown in from Israel. We rented a cute itsy-bitsy banana yellow Ford, ready for a stein and an exit leading AWAY from the airport.

We maneuvered our way into Munich, parked at the Hotel Exquisit and took a trolley to a bier garten. During the 40 days of summer, everyone goes to his or her favorite beer garden This is a way of life in Munich. Families and older couples bring picnics and gather at the long wooden tables, while neon-haired teens rollerblade around the fountains. Friendly chestnut trees spread their big leaves like an umbrella over the convivial assembly. There are over 300 beer gardens in Munich and 36 of them accommodate over 1000 people.

The sound of clinking steins and laughter surrounded us. As I watched and listened and gnawed on a salty pretzel, a man across from me encouraged me to try the whole mackerel grilled on a stick offered at a nearby food booth. He then filled me in on a few facts: the beer in Germany has no chemicals or additives in it because of a “purity law,” and that Munich is the most democratic town in Germany due to the beer garden where throughout history, everyone has sat next to everyone else. There is no first class seating, just coach, and this has created a democratic environment. I’ll raise my glass to that!

That night we attended a spectacular outdoor music concert by the Munich Philharmonic. Just as the conductor lowered his arms at the last crescendo, a boom and burst of lightening lit up the sky. He regally turned toward the crowd and directed the deluge with his baton as the rain surrounded him like sheets of crystal.

The next morning we started out on our journey to the destination that had lured me across the Atlantic: the call of a castle in Bavaria. Fantasies of dungeons, knights, court intrigues, and kings’ eccentricities, mingled with funny images from Monty Python’s Holy Grail. A castle is the stuff of fairy tales for modern people all over the world and I wanted to indulge in my fantasy.

We drove two hours to Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, the penultimate of sugar-coated fairytale castles and the inspiration for the Fantasyland castle at Disneyland. From our room at Hotel Jagerhaus we looked up at the surreal edifice which was built by eccentric King Ludwig II. After a highly creative and scrumptious dinner at the Lisl restaurant in the hotel, we attended the elaborate musical “Ludwig II” which brings the late ruler alive in a fantastic production at the Musical Theater Neuschwanstein. During the intermission, we sipped bubbly Prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine) and wandered the theater gardens on the edge of Lake Forggen. Across the water the castle shimmered in the mountains, the sunset turning its turrets apricot.

Adir and I lost track of time, our days spent leisurely exploring the region. We would hike, swim in the lake and meander, then come to roost at wine hour, taking our glasses out to the garden where fireflies flitted about our feet like fairies, and lightening bolts cut through the dusk. The weather was symphonic – thunderous clouds and chilly drizzles followed by white-heat days.

It was time to move onto Innsbruck with an eye-popping stop at Swarovski Crystal Worlds, a subterranean adventure of crystal fairytale installations by famous artists including a giant blue crystal dome meditation chamber with tunes composed by Brian Eno.

After being in the quiet of the countryside, it was refreshing to be in a city amidst vital energy. Every fourth resident in Innsbruck is a university student. We also hunted out culture, going to museums and attending a modern dance performance by the Netherlands Dance Company presented as part of the Tanzsommer Program at the Congress Hall. I particularly enjoyed this performance, because dance transcends language.

We visited Schloss Ambras, 10 minutes from the town center. This curiosity museum houses artifacts from the true Beauty and the Beast story and evidence of Dracula. They also allow kids and adults to try on real armor. We then drove a short distance on the autobahn to the town of Hall, a salt mining and artist’s enclave with a charming medieval quarter and shops.

Vegetables don’t grow in the Austrian Tyrol due to the cold climate and short summer, thus—aside from cabbage and root vegetables—they’re not a big part of the diet. This fact prompted Adir and I to drive to Italy for a change of diet and facial expressions, as the conservative Austrians are fairly stoic. We felt the need to be in a more animated culture and away from “speck” (ham) so we drove 90-minutes over gorgeous Brenner Pass to Bolzano, home of the 5000-year-old Ice Man who resides at the archeology museum. A day of pizza and garlic gave us our fix. We returned to Innsbruck late at night and indulged in a delicious sacher torte at the eponymous Sacher Café.