ROMANTIC ROAD AND A DASH OF AUSTRIA AND MUNICH

THE JOURNEY

After a few years' break, we finally set off again…this time we're going to Germany, southern Germany, the famous Romantic Road. Accompanied by Margherita, my partner, and my four-legged furry friend Ugo Beddu, we set off. We wake up at 03.30 and after about an hour we're on the road, from Rome, taking the motorway the whole way with brief stops, we arrive around 17.00 in Berwang (Austria), on the border with Germany. The hotel Gastehaus Baldauf…………..46 euros per night, for two, dog included. An excellent choice, also for the friendliness of the owners, who welcome us with a big smile and make us feel at home. The room is spacious, with a kitchenette and windows that offer a lovely view. Despite our tiredness we go down for a nice walk, surrounded by mountains, meadows, paths and a silence broken only by the chirping of birds and the cowbells.

In the evening we decide to eat at the hotel and here too the choice turns out to be a good one. We have typical Tyrolean gnocchi, the inevitable beer and sausages for our legendary Ugo who watches us from under the table licking his whiskers. Around 22.00, exhausted, we decide to go to bed….tomorrow we enter GERMANY!!

Neuschwanstein, Wieskirche, Augsburg

We wake up at 7.00, with a breakfast brought from Italy…fruit juice and croissants…we drink and feel like patriots!! We set off for Neuschwanstein castle, arriving after 33 km of roads with no potholes and surrounded by greenery, we park right below the fortress, paying 6 euros, and then you can choose between a walk of about 40 minutes uphill, or the bus at 2 euros, or the picturesque carriage at 4.50 euros. We opt for the practical bus. For entry to the castle I recommend booking tickets online (which we did), well in advance, because this way you avoid endless queues at the ticket office, also risking not getting in.

Thanks to this trick we enter at 11.15 and the castle opens up to us in all its wonderful beauty, despite the heavy rain, the views are magnificent and the interior is incredibly rich in decorations, frescoes, furniture, some of which refer to classical music, and others still medieval and religious. The recurring symbol of all the frescoes is the swan. The structure was commissioned by King Ludwig II, a man of great culture, but a little distracted from his role as king, for this reason he was imprisoned and then mysteriously found drowned in a lake at the age of 40.

As soon as you enter you're catapulted into a fairy-tale world, captivated by the colors, the elegance, the structure and the extravagance, just think that in the fortress itself, between one room and another, there's a corridor of artificial grotto with plays of colored light, which for those times were an absolute novelty. In short, we've seen many castles, we can say that this one, if not the most beautiful, is among the best in Europe. We go out and set off for the nearby Wieskirche, in the town of Wies. A church, a UNESCO heritage site, characterized by a white exterior, with a lavish interior rich in decorations. The church is worth a brief visit and honestly we don't understand why it's part of UNESCO's World Heritage, as it doesn't strike us in any particular way. Around 17.00 we set off for Augsburg, and stay overnight at the Hotel Ibis.

The first unpleasant surprise is that to the booked price of 110 euros for two nights, I have to add another 36, for car parking (optional) and the dog…We know the Ibis chain well, but this one in Augsburg isn't the best, since the room is very basic, there are only towels for the shower and the reception seemed very rude to us. In the evening we go out hungry and set off in search of a restaurant, in Augsburg it's much easier to find international cuisine than Bavarian, there are Turkish, Chinese and Italian places everywhere. After much wandering we decide to go to Pasta e Pizza, a central place, with outdoor tables.

We have a tomato soup that is practically a heated pureed sauce and a pizza that is rubber….to forget! At exactly 22.30, suddenly fireworks go off that sound like bombs, Ugo is terrified, we have such a hard time holding him that we're forced to take refuge inside the restaurant near the bathrooms. Damn fireworks….Back to the hotel…

AUGSBURG

We wake up later and calmly begin our visit of Augsburg. The city is full of young people, colorful and multiethnic. Walking and walking we arrive at the Stadmarkt, the central city market, characterized above all by fruit and vegetables. The market is very nice, tidy, with some local oddities. There are also many stalls where you can eat. With some difficulty, since it's very poorly signposted, we arrive at the church of St. Anna, the first German Renaissance church. The interior is beautiful, with paintings and the wonderful Goldschmiede chapel, with sumptuous frescoes. Near the church of St. Anna is the Rathausplatz, the main square of the city which houses the Rathaus, the town hall, and the church of Perlach and the Augustusbrunner fountain. The square is lively, with many outdoor tables and a coming and going of people.

We visit the church of Perlach, very essential in its interior and characterized by the Perlachturm, a tower that offers a splendid view over the city (entry 2 euros). Careful, the stairs are tiring…We try to enter the Rathaus but dogs aren't allowed in, so we head towards the Dom Maria Heimuschung, the cathedral of Augsburg. Its interior is imposing with wonderful 12th-century stained glass windows. Opposite the cathedral there's a park that is a godsend for our little Ugo…In the area we look for the vegan restaurant Die Extra Veganten, sponsored by Lonely Planet, but unfortunately the restaurant no longer exists and has been replaced by a Turkish place.

Once the visit is over we decide to go back to the hotel and leave Ugo in the room, so tired that I'm forced to carry him in my arms too…so much effort for me and so much delight for him, with Margherita's support….We leave Ugo to rest and we set off again, for lunch we have two salads, buttered bread and a vegetarian taco. We return to the Rathaus and paying a 2.50 euro ticket we visit the splendid Goldener Saal, Golden Hall, an elegant and refined hall, used for banquets, characterized by a golden ceiling and numerous frescoes. We set off for the Fuggerei district, for some "Fregene", the first public housing estate in the world!! Entry is 4 euros per person, but it's undoubtedly worth it. It was built to provide housing for poor Catholics, it's a complex of characteristic apartments.

The district also offers a visit to the museum, the bunker, an old apartment and a modern one….very interesting!! On the way out we buy the first gifts, a beer mug for dad and another for us…Back to the hotel, where Ugo awaits us….In the evening we go out in Augsburg and dine in an Asian place, spending 30 euros….

Donauworth, Harburg

We wake up around 07.00 and after about an hour of getting ready we leave Augsburg and set off for Donauworth, a cheerful little town of about 20,000 inhabitants. We park in a garage and discover that we don't have to pay anything because it's Sunday, but out of solidarity with Germany my Margherita pays 20 cents, to be safe, she says…ehhh women, who can understand them?? Donauworth opens up to us with its colorful houses, little squares and fountains, all surrounded by an almost eerie silence. We eat a delicious walnut cake and a coffee in a place in the center and first visit the Rathaus, (Town Hall), characterized by a very beautiful carillon that for some reason doesn't play, then we visit the Liebfraukirche, a beautiful central church, with very interesting frescoes, beautiful stained glass windows and characterized by a bell tower (closed) that houses the largest bell in Swabia.

The church is very particular, in fact it was built on a sloping floor, with a height difference of 120 cm. Dogs can also enter the church….We continue our walk and arrive at the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, located near the Wornitz river, in Baroque style, it houses in the beautiful Gnaden chapel a splinter of wood that is said to be part of the Holy Cross. At the time of the visit Holy Mass is being celebrated and so we also try to understand the celebration in German. From the church, in the company of our legendary Ugo, we go down along the river and go to discover the ancient walls that surround the town. The first stretch has been turned into a kindergarten for children…(bad idea), before returning to its old use as a defensive wall.

The landscape is beautiful, walls on one side, greenery, river, romantic bridges and the islet of Ried, we take countless photos, even though the main character always remains him: Ugo Beddu!! The little dog, now tired, we leave in the car in the cool of the garage, while we set off again to visit Donauworth. Last stop the Kathe Kruse Doll Museum, entry 2.50 euros, a small but interesting museum that displays about a hundred dolls handmade by the artist Kathe Kruse. Unfortunately the displays are all in German and you understand very little….but at least in English, no?? As we leave Donauworth bids us farewell with the sight of two wonderful storks perched on a building….magnificent!! Around 12.30 we set off to visit the nearby Harburg castle, outer courtyard € 3.00 and guided tour of the rooms € 4.00. Dogs can only enter the outer courtyard.

The castle is one of the largest, oldest and best preserved in southern Germany and is characterized by towers, walls and bastions. The outer courtyard is splendid, with brown windows, red roofs, yellow-red flags everywhere (daje Roma dajee), it feels like being in a movie!! The interior tour starts at 13.00 and unfortunately is only in German, they give us a booklet in English and we try blindly to understand what we're seeing. The visit is nevertheless interesting, you discover the prisons, some halls, the granaries and enjoy beautiful views.

Here too, though, you don't understand why the guides have to be only in German and why people are forced to stay in groups where you can't understand a thing! Once the tour is over I pick up the legendary Ugo and take him into the courtyard, we eat in the castle restaurant and for 30 euros we get two generous portions of pork in beer sauce, with a side of something that looks like gnocchi, water (4 euros for a 0.75 bottle) and two espressos that are practically two half-litres...Around 15.30 we set off for Nordlingen and almost all the roads leading to this town are closed for roadworks, we don't know what to do, even the sat nav is on the blink…we join a line of cars and just as we're arriving in Nordlingen a sudden storm of wind, rain and hail hits us head-on, we look for shelter somewhere and line up with other cars under the roof of a petrol station, we wait about 30 minutes and the

sun comes out, thank goodness!! We arrive at the Guesthouse Sina (72 euros per night, for a double room with breakfast) and here too we have a surprise…there's no one there and a sign informs us that we should check in at another hotel, the nearby Goldener Schlussel. We arrive, they ask me for my first and last name, they check on the computer, they don't ask me for any ID and they give me the room key….that's just great!! But didn't Merkel teach you anything??? We arrive at the hotel, the rooms are spacious and well-kept and we relax for a couple of hours. In the late evening we manage to set off to discover Nordlingen, with a walk on top of the walls, in fact, thanks to a passageway, it's possible to walk the entire perimeter of the town's historic defenses.

The walk lasts 40 minutes, but honestly once we reach the halfway point we turn back, in the end after a few towers, the landscape is fairly monotonous, with steep red roofs and little else. Margherita gets excited at the sight of a squirrel….It's time for dinner and in the guest house restaurant, we have two beers, two soups, made with meat broth and a kind of crepe cut into tagliatelle, and then a plate of vegetarian burger, with salad and mashed potatoes for Margherita, and chicken skewers and salad with mashed potatoes for me (27.80 euros). Under the table, Ugo devours everything. In the evening we return to the hotel. Another unpleasant surprise…the wi-fi doesn't work!! Around 22.00 I turn on the TV and while channel-surfing I discover they're showing Roma Juventus live in German….how can you turn it off?

Nordlingen, Dinkesbuhl

We wake up fairly early and after an abundant hotel breakfast, with Ugo devouring sausages and cooked ham, we decide to leave Ugo to rest and set off to visit Nordlingen. We start with the church of San Giorgio, the central cathedral, characterized by a very tall bell tower…The interior of the church is Gothic and essential while to go up the tower you have to wait until 10.30 and not 9.00 as erroneously explained by the Lonely Planet. We have about an hour of time and so we visit another part of the walls, the church of San Salvatore and get lost among the colorful little houses of the town. We return to the tower and climbing a good 350 steps you reach the top. First, though, you find the watchman with a cat with an unpronounceable name, who after a few strokes immediately starts purring.

It's a famous cat, the tower cat, just think there are even postcards dedicated to him!! The view from the tower is breathtaking, you can clearly see the entire perimeter of the walls, with Nordlingen inside, just think that this town was born on a crater left by a meteorite!! We take photo after photo and for anyone visiting this area, this attraction absolutely must not be missed!! We leave Nordlingen, return to the hotel and pick up Ugo, we set off for Dinkelsbuhl. We try to refuel the car with gas, but unfortunately in Germany the adapters are different, for anyone visiting these areas you need to be prepared….unfortunately I haven't and soon I'll have to resort to petrol!! In a supermarket we buy salads, salmon and the inevitable sausages, this time organic, which will be for Ugo.

The Dinkelsbuhl hotel is in a very central location and is called Goldenes Lamm (92 euros per night, for a double room, parking and breakfast). The rooms are very nice, with a convenient bathroom and the lady at reception is a German gendarme!! Be careful not to contradict her…We have lunch with the salads at the hotel and go out to visit the town of Dinkelsbuhl, starting with the Monastery of San Giorgio, with a Romanesque portal, and a very tall bell tower. We look for the walls for the walk, but at the Tourist Office they inform us that here it's not possible to go up on top but you can simply walk alongside them. We then do the most beautiful stretch, the south-west one where there are five towers lined up, between cobbled streets and colorful houses.

A shame only that along this road the passage isn't pedestrian-only…We also visit the Karmeliterkloster church, to visit only if you have free time left and then we amuse ourselves around the town, sipping a good espresso (at least decent) and a slice of berry cake. We visit some picturesque houses, the hospital of the Holy Spirit from the outside, the Town Hall and the Rothenburg gate, when I discover that my Margherita is very tired…She mixes up the name of the restaurant Vito with the wine market we were looking for and thinks she's in Rothenburg instead of Dinkelsbuhl….yes yes..it's time to go back to the hotel and rest a bit!! Time for a shower….Around 20.30 quite hungry we go out and after careful study we follow the Lonely Planet and set off in search of the Weib's Brauhaus, a restaurant widely recommended.

The owner is a master brewer and many of the dishes are served with the house beer. We start with two delicious beers and have an excellent veal roast for me with a side, and pork for Margherita with vegetables and salad with yoghurt sauce. Cost 30.20 euros. Excellent dinner, dishes of great quality and a lively and welcoming atmosphere. To digest we walk around Dinkelsbuhl and try to immerse ourselves in the soft atmosphere of the dimly lit street lamps….In the evening we go back to bed. Tomorrow we'll visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Rotheburg ob der Tauber

We set off after a good breakfast and arrive in Rothenburg ob der Tauber around 10.00. The hotel is the Rothenburger Hof, 65 euros for a double, with dog, breakfast excluded. The rooms are basic but tidy and clean, the hotel is fairly central, unfortunately though check-in is at 15.00, so we leave the car in the hotel car park and set off for Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The climate is scorching, 36 degrees, poor Ugo feels it immediately. Rothenburg is the most visited town on the Romantic Road and as soon as we enter we immediately understand why.

Various colorful houses, cobbled streets, walls, towers and fountains open up before our eyes…a fairy tale tailor-made for tourists!! At 11.00 we visit the Alt-Rothenburger Handwerkerhaus, the Old Craftsmen's House which houses various old workshops of different craftsmen, shoemakers, weavers, potters and much more….Entry 3 euros but it's undoubtedly worth it!! We go out and continue our visit towards the Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum, the Torture museum, (ticket 7 euros). The museum, which in its genre is one of the most important in Germany, houses various instruments of torture, including a cage for bakers guilty of fraud, the original outfit of an executioner and various books and historical documents relating to the subject of punishments and torture.

A museum not to be missed!! A day of museums and we visit the nearby Reichsstadmuseum (3 euros), a museum that displays weapons and clothing from the imperial era. The museum is interesting but undoubtedly if you have little time you can also skip it. Furthermore the Lonely Planet mentions the oldest convent cuisine in Germany, but honestly we didn't see it!! Leaving the museum, a few meters away is the tourist trap of the Deutsches Weihnachtsmuseum (4 euros), Christmas museum!! Before entering the museum you must pass through a shop of Christmas items, the atmosphere is nice, with balls and bright Christmas trees everywhere…what can I say, Christmas in August!! The museum itself is quite disappointing, with a few Santa Clauses and an old tree, but little else.

The ticket is very expensive for what it offers…if you can, skip it! It's 13.00, the heat is scorching and our four-legged friend is visibly tired, his tongue hanging out almost touching the ground, so we decide to head towards the hotel. We stop at a bakery with outdoor tables and have salad, with excellent bread and water to drink. We arrive at the hotel and settle into the room.

We leave Ugo to rest and set off for a supermarket to buy water…bear in mind in Germany it's hard to find still, non-sparkling water, we finally see some bottles and buy them, but as soon as we get to the hotel we realize they taste of strawberry, it's like drinking a big babol…disgusting!! We leave Ugo at the hotel and begin the tour of the walls, no ticket is required, the landscape is very beautiful, you walk above roofs and characteristic corners of the town to end up in strong towers complete with cannons!! To top it all off, we climb 220 steps up the Rathausturm (entry 2.50 euros), the town hall tower, and enjoy a fantastic view over the town.

The climb up the stairs is not recommended for those who aren't well trained and for those who are obese, the last part is really difficult!! We go down, it's almost 17.00 and so we try the Schneeballen, the most famous specialty of Rothenburg, balls covered in icing sugar, hazelnut, coconut, chocolate and much more. We get 2…good but we expected more, for an Italian finding worthy desserts is really difficult!! It starts to rain slightly, tired we go back to the supermarket and ask for normal water…they look at us like aliens, finally a worker takes bottles from the storeroom and brings them to us! Thank goodness….This evening we decide to stay at the hotel, it's raining and tomorrow we'll set off for Wurzburg. Until tomorrow then…

Wuzburg

We set off early in the morning and finally along the way we find a Total that has various adapters for gas and we find one for us…perfect, we fill up with gas and set off again! We arrive around 10.00 in Wuzburg and we've booked one night at the B & B Hotel Wurzburg (83 euros for a double and dog, breakfast excluded). Check-in unfortunately is at 14.00, we leave the suitcases in the hotel lobby and in the company of Ugo and Margherita we set off to visit the Festung Marienberg, the town fortress that offers wonderful views over the city. The fortress presents itself with walls, elegant windows and towers and inside houses two museums, the Furstenbaumuseum and the Mainfrankisches Museum, which describe the history of the city and house paintings, statues, armor and much more. (Total price 8.50 euros for the two museums).

To visit everything properly allow at least 2 and a half hours!! We leave the fortress, we're hungry, hot and thirsty, we head towards the center, where the most important attraction of the city awaits us, the Residenz. First we eat a few sandwiches and drink water, leave the car with Ugo in a garage and then arrive at the Residenz, a UNESCO heritage site and an authentic artistic spectacle. Entry is 7.50 euros, you can't film or take photos. The Baroque-style Residenz is a wonderful palace, with large gardens and above all magnificent halls. Careful, some can only be visited with a group and a private guide, a service that is free anyway.

The halls you can visit are about 40, and some are truly an explosion of colors, refinement and splendor, such as the Hall of Mirrors, the Imperial Hall, the HofKirche, a Baroque church and the fresco by Giambattista Tiepolo, which with its 667 sqm is the largest ceiling fresco in the world. We leave the Residenz and in a hurry pick up Ugo and set off on a nice walk in the center of Wuzburg. We visit the adjacent churches of Neumunster and the Duomo Sankt Kilian, more beautiful outside than inside. We walk far and wide around the town, visit the Markt Platz and the Alte Mainbrucke, a splendid bridge with statues on the sides, the views are truly magnificent. Wurzburg is a city full of young people and life and the streets are super crowded….Around 18.30 we return to the hotel, tired but satisfied at having seen such a beautiful city, we shower and get ready for a tasty dinner.

In the evening we go out but for some strange reason our furry friend Ugo doesn't want to walk, so we opt for a nearby restaurant called Monte St. Mikel. As soon as we enter the garden, a little mouse starts running on one side….the German customers smile and so we trust it and have two Wiener schnitzels with salad and chips, a small beer for Margherita and a half glass of Franconian white wine, really very good. Total price 29.30 euros. We return home fairly early…tomorrow we'll set off for Bamberg.

Bamberg

Today as every year is a special day….it would have been my grandmother Mimma's birthday…a big kiss wherever you are. We wake up fairly early, it's raining and cool, our parents tell us instead that Italy has practically turned into the Sahara….We arrive in Bamberg around 10.00, the hotel the Bamberger Inn, is located slightly outside the town, in a place called Hallstatt. The hotel unfortunately is badly organized and from 14.00 until the following morning there's no one at reception. For this reason we don't recommend it…Check-in is at 14.00, we leave some suitcases and set off to visit Bamberg, which thanks to its historic center rich in works of art is a UNESCO heritage site. We go into the center of Bamberg with the car and finding parking is really difficult, we decide to put it in a paid garage near the tourist office.

The visit starts with the Domplatz, the cathedral square which houses many historic buildings. The impact is surprising, on one side the Cathedral, with all its majesty, on the other the elegant Residenz, in the middle the Historical Museum, with its courtyard with houses with flowered balconies, all crossed by picturesque cobbled streets. Beautiful! We start with the Neue Residenz, the New Residence, entry 4.50 euros, visible only with a guide, only in German…(they give us leaflets in Italian). The residence was an episcopal palace and we visit all the halls, honestly bare, and the impact is decidedly inferior to that of Wuzburg. You can't take photos or videos. We stroll along the small but elegant Rosengarten, rose garden, from which you enjoy a beautiful view over the roofs of Bamberg.

We leave around 13.00 and visit the Cathedral, made up of spires and a bell tower, inside which there are interesting works of art. Unfortunately there are some restoration works that ruin the atmosphere. We go out and go up a small slope that leads towards the Kloster Sankt Mikael, convent of Saint Michael, a Benedictine cloister.

Unfortunately once there we have a bad surprise, due to restoration works the convent is closed…and couldn't they put up a notice?? We then visit the nearby Frankisches Brauereimuseum, (4.00 euros), a small and interesting beer museum, which displays old equipment, bottles, caps and much more….You can't access the tasting room since there are works there too…it's a curse!! We return to the city center, pick up our legendary Ugo, have lunch with squid for me and salad for Margherita, with two beers to drink…23 euros the price and we set off for the center of Bamberg, the atmosphere is lively, many tourists, locals, students walk along the picturesque streets, all touched by colorful houses, little squares and alleys.

Splendid is the Altes Rathaus, the Old Town Hall, completely frescoed, which leans almost on the river, with a picturesque bridge full of statues…splendid….We also visit the Klein Venedig, little Venice, a series of half-timbered houses, which was the fishermen's quarter, today these characteristic dwellings are supported by poles driven into the water. Still in the historic center we go along the central shopping streets and arrive at the Maximilian Platz, with the new Town Hall and a central statue, honestly more than the square what remains impressed is the street that leads you there….with typical shops, a fruit market and the beautiful church of San Martino. It's 17.00, we pick up the car from the garage (8 euros) and set off for the hotel for a refreshing shower.

Around 20.30 we go out and go to the Schlenkeria, a place very popular with both tourists and locals, famous for its Rauchbier, the smoked beer of Bamberg. We have a complete meat platter for two, with pork knuckle (very good), sausage and potatoes and to drink precisely the Rauchbier, a smoked dark beer, with a delicate and enveloping flavor. Total price 31.40. We stroll through the center of Bamberg, a city that in the evening becomes almost magical, thanks to the soft light of its street lamps. We also get an ice cream and tired we return to the hotel. Tomorrow we'll set off for Nuremberg

Nuremberg

We set off around 08.30 and after about an hour we arrive in Nuremberg, where we've booked at the Ibis Budget, a double room, with dog for two nights 109 euros. We arrive at the hotel but the room is free at 14.00, so we leave some suitcases and set off to visit Nuremberg, the second largest city in Bavaria by size, a city with a rich history and sadly also famous for its Nazi past. With the car we immediately realize that the idyllic atmospheres of the enchanted villages of the Romantic Road are over, here there's much more chaos, roadworks everywhere and difficulty finding parking. We try from the Kaiserburg fortress, but since they don't let dogs in and the car park is in the sun we decide to first visit the Deutsche Bahn Museum (6 euros per person + 1 euro for the Italian audioguide).

The museum traces the history of the railway, Nuremberg in fact is the city that hosted the first railway line in Germany. The museum is very interesting and shows historical uniforms of the conductors, model trains and above all many historic carriages, including that of Prince Ludwig II. We leave the museum, get a coffee to refresh ourselves and seeing that the weather is decidedly cooler and breezier, we set off again for the Kaiserburg, the imperial fortress, located right above the historic center of Nuremberg. The ticket that includes the visit to the Palas (residential wing), the Kaiserburg museum, the Sinwellturm tower and the Tiefer Brunner well costs 7 euros. The Palas and the Kaiserburg museum are very interesting, in fact they display armor, the halls of the emperor and the knights, thrones and various exhibitions.

The tower instead offers a certainly not unforgettable view over Nuremberg and finally the Tiefer Brunner well, built into the rock and 48 meters deep, is a bit disappointing, since you can only see it from above and the guide's work of throwing water and slowly lowering a candelabra to see the well in its deepest part serves little purpose. We leave the fortress and in the company of our Ugo Beddu, we have lunch with fish at Nordsee and visit the churches of Sebalduskirche, Lorenzkirche and Frauenkirche, all three in Gothic style, very similar, although thanks to the external statues and its stained glass windows the one we appreciate most is Sebalduskirche, the oldest in Nuremberg.

During this visit I see a guy playing the piano in the street…human ingenuity, this piano had wheels….a legend! We try to visit the interior of the Rathaus, the town hall but they tell us it's closed and so we postpone this visit to tomorrow. We return to the hotel, it's 18.00, the rooms are clean but perhaps too small, anyway we relax a bit and around 20.00 we set off again for dinner. We stop at a place right opposite the Rathaus, with outdoor tables, right under a lit-up tree…the atmosphere is very nice, the city is lively, with many tourists, locals and some artists playing in the streets. We have the famous Nuremberg sausages with potato salad and dark beer for me and light for Margherita. Price 23.60 euros. We stroll around Nuremberg, buy an ice cream cone and get lost in the magical evening of the city. Tired we return to the hotel…tomorrow another day in Nuremberg.

Nuremberg

We sleep slightly longer and dedicate the morning to the sad Nazi history of Nuremberg. We first visit the Memorium Nurnberger Prozesse (5 euros the ticket), today housed in the Palace of Justice, where you can visit the courtroom, the famous room 600, where on 20 November 1946 some great Nazi criminals were tried. The upper floor instead houses some historical documents connected to that trial and to Nazi history in general, but in our judgment, the exhibition is a bit too cold and without emotion, this because the glass panels with writings and images just don't reach your heart. We go out and set off for the Reichsparteitagsgelande, (5.00 euros) a colossal complex that houses various documents and film clips of the Nazi rise in Germany and in the world. Some film clips are moving and thanks to headphones, listening to Hitler's voice haranguing the people literally gives you chills.

Leaving this center you walk alongside a beautiful lake and arrive at the Zeppelinfeld, the place where the Nazi rallies and parades were held. It's a grandstand, today in a state of near abandonment, (it seems as if the Germans want to erase their recent past), 350 meters long. The photo in the same spot where Hitler spoke to the crowd is a must….A place literally steeped in history!! With our legend Ugo Beddu we take a walk along the lake and have two rich salads in an adjacent place, while for Ugo sausages galore. Around 15.00 we return to the center of Nuremberg and go to visit the Mittelalterliche Lochgefangnisse, some medieval prisons, complete with a torture chamber. The place is interesting but slightly claustrophobic (3.50 euros).

Once finished we take a tour of the center, almost to say goodbye to Nuremberg, we go to see the beautiful and particular Ehekarussel Brunnen fountain, located right below the Weissen Turm tower, it's a fountain that depicts six moments of married life, starting from passion and ending in murder….of the long live love series!! We're tired, tonight we'll eat directly at the hotel, we buy some cold pasta and salad from a supermarket and return to the room. Tomorrow we go to Munich.

Munich

We wake up fairly early, go out and immediately notice how much the temperature has dropped, we're around 18 degrees. We set off for Munich, a journey of 160 km. We get gas and I have an argument with a German idiot Nazi at the supermarket checkout…nothing serious but I make myself respected anyway…We arrive in Munich, we've booked for 3 nights at the Super 8. The room is free at 15.00, we leave some suitcases and set off for the Residenz, the main attraction of the city. A little scared we go into the center with the car, reading online and some accounts it's said that it's really difficult to find parking in the center of Munich, and if you do find one it would cost as much as a restaurant dinner.

Maybe because it's Sunday and Munich is practically deserted, we find various free car parks in the center and so we have no kind of problem…we'll see tomorrow! Arriving at the Residenz and having wasted more than 30 minutes figuring out where the entrance was, we pay for the full ticket 13 euros for the Residenz, the Cuvilliés theatre and the treasures of the Schatzkammer der Residenz.

We start the visit with the Residenz and the expression "left open-mouthed" will never be more apt again….It's an authentic marvel, rooms of astonishing elegance, fantastic paintings and tapestries, wonderful furniture and furnishings, the Antiquarium, of pure Renaissance style, the prince's apartments, the precious rooms, the gallery of the Ancestors, every room hides absolute masterpieces…Splendid…We visit the Schatzkammer der Residenz, which conceals a series of works in metal and precious stones, including the jewels set with rubies and diamonds of Queen Teresa. Next to the Residenz is the Cuvilliès Theatre, an elegant theatre, among the most refined in Europe, built in the mid-eighteenth century which hosted Mozart's opera Idomeneo and today is still in operation with concerts of classical music and opera.

Very important: both in the Residenz, the Theatre and the Treasure Room you can film with a video camera and take photos. We leave after about 3 hours of visiting, in the meantime we visit the Theatinerkirche, a church located right opposite the Residenz, it's cold and raining and so we decidedly change our plans, we wanted to take a tour of the center, but with this weather we go more for indoor and safe things. We set off with the car towards the Allianz Arena, to the delight of Margherita who couldn't wait to discover the secrets of the Bayern Munich football team.

The ticket is very expensive, 19 euros per person for the museum visit and the guided stadium tour, plus 5 euros for parking!! We go in anyway, what don't you do for the world of art….Before visiting the museum we're hungry and get two sandwiches and a taco, 15 euros, in the stadium's internal kiosk and to drink two small bottles of water..8 euros…you heard right, 8 euros!! A colossal rip-off…but did I make a mistake? Isn't it maybe the Juventus museum? Finally satiated we visit the museum, with trophies, including the famous Champions League cup, another UEFA, various film clips that trace the history of Bayern and then end up in the shopping room…Then at 16.30 we begin the stadium tour, first you go outside in the curve, then to the central part, you visit the interview area, the changing rooms and finally the tunnel that leads the players into the stadium, complete with Champions Leagu

e music…chills for me!! The tour lasts about

Munich

In the morning around 9:00 we leave the hotel, which offers guests free coffee and croissants, and set off for the centre of Munich. First stop the Viktualienmarkt, one of the most beautiful food markets in Central Europe. There you find typical German products such as sausages, meat, spices, honey, sweets, then also Italian wine and fruit and vegetables. With Margherita and Ugo in tow, enjoying the smells, we buy honey, jams and honey liqueur for our friends and family. Once the shopping is done we are again at the Marienplatz, the central square, where various important historic buildings of Munich look out, such as the Neues Rathaus, the new town hall, wonderful, dark in colour, with many statues and below it the tourist office, where a map of Munich costs 0.50 cents.

We wait for the Glockenspiel, a picturesque carillon that should play at 12:00, made up of 43 bells and 32 figures representing the Rittertunier, a knights' tournament of 1568 and a coopers' dance. Let's say it's much more fun to watch the many tourists with their faces turned upwards than the attraction itself….Careful, Margherita doesn't agree…for her it was very nice!! In a small shop on the Marienplatz we buy some sandwiches and head to the Hofgarten, a small and elegant garden, with paths and the beautiful Dianatemple, a lovely pavilion built in honour of the Roman goddess of the hunt. Ugo has fun and walks…he also eats ham and cheese, who better than him? We leave Ugo in the car in the shade and visit the Sankt Peterskirche, a church with works of different styles inside but which fails to move us.

We climb the church tower (3 euros), 306 steps, and enjoy a beautiful view of Munich, the guides say the best panorama of the city. Undoubtedly seeing various monuments from above is exciting, the only flaw? The number of people at the entrance should be organised in blocks…too many people on the tower and too much waiting. We go down and in a rush go to visit the Frauenkirche, the cathedral of Munich, very beautiful outside, thanks to its very tall spires, disappointing and bare inside. We go back to the car to our little Ugo, who is waiting for us half asleep, and set off for the Schloss Nymphenburg, an imposing castle of great effect and elegance, completely white and above all characterised by wonderful gardens. The entrance ticket includes a visit to the palace and its rooms, the porcelain museum and the Marstall Museum. We decide to see only the palace and its rooms (6 euros).

The entrance is stupendous, thanks to the stucco and marble works of the Great Hall, the rest of the rooms are interesting, but undoubtedly after seeing the Munich residence and that of Würzburg it is very difficult to be moved. Beautiful and peculiar nonetheless is the Schönheitengalerie, the Gallery of Beauties, the portraits of 38 women that Ludwig found attractive…you understood this old rogue Ludwig? We go out and walk through the gardens, with a central pond, various statues, splendid lamps, ducklings and swans everywhere…beautiful!! Towards 17:00, tired but still with strength, we visit the Englischer Garten, one of the largest parks in the world, bigger than Hyde Park in London.

The park is fantastic, at times it feels like being in a forest, paths, bridges, vast meadows open up, a lake where you can rent canoes, various temples, we visit the Chinesischer Turm, the Chinese tower, a tower that strongly recalls oriental culture and the small Greek temple of the Monopteros to get to the surf on the Eisbach, a crazy place, where surfers try to ride a single artificial wave. Careful, you have to be good, the spaces are narrow and you risk getting hurt….Ugo is exhausted and our legs ache too, around 19:00 we go back to the hotel where a refreshing shower awaits us. Around 20:30 we go out for dinner and go to the famous Hirschgarten, an enormous beer hall with 8000 seats!! We order two beers and three pieces of pork with mushroom cream and their typical noodles (small gnocchi) and a salad.

(41 euros) We remain quite disappointed by the quality of the food and the coldness of the staff….maybe it's normal, working for 8000 people is not easy, but it's a place I wouldn't recommend to anyone, if not to have a beer. Back to the hotel, tomorrow we go to Dachau.

DACHAU AND MUNICH

In the morning we leave for Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, about 20 km from Munich. Entry is free, while parking costs 3 euros and if you want the audio guide, another 3 euros. In this camp there were more than 40,000 victims and the entrance to the camp bears the infamous inscription Arbeit macht frei (work sets you free). I have also visited the concentration camps in Poland, Auschwitz and Birkenau, and I can say that this one in Dachau is the one with the least powerful impact; everything is a museum, with documents, photos and some objects that recall those terrible periods. In the central hall we watch a 22-minute film in German; it's also available in Italian but only at certain times, and the images are powerful... among the most shocking images in the exhibition are those of the experiments the Nazis performed on prisoners and the block used to beat the prisoners.

Once out of the museum, there are the places where the detainees slept (all reconstructions, since the camp was practically razed to the ground by American bombings). The camp also houses some religious buildings, such as the Carmelite Convent of the Precious Blood, the Jewish Memorial, some Catholic churches and the Russian Orthodox Chapel of the Resurrection. Another terrible place is the former crematorium area, where you enter the ovens, the disinfection rooms and the rooms where the detainees had to undress before they believed they would be showered...We leave the camp and take Ugo, visibly tired, back to the hotel; we eat in an Italian restaurant called Mezza Via, a buffet salad, a good plate of penne all'arrabbiata and some mezze maniche all'ortolana for Margherita, and a bottle of water (26.30 euros).

Around 14:00 we head to the Deutsches Museum, the science museum, the most visited in Munich. Admission 11.00 euros, but be careful: if you want to visit the Planetarium you have to add 2 euros, and the shows are only at 12:00 and 14:00. Unfortunately we arrive at 14:00 and so we skip the Planetarium and delve into the beauties and peculiarities of this extraordinary museum.

To see it all properly you need a whole day!! There are interactive installations, a very long reconstructed coal mine, the possibility of entering a human cell, no fewer than 3 sections dedicated to astronomy, a floor dedicated to navigation, with entire ships, and to the history of aviation, with planes and small hot-air balloons, and also a section dedicated to ceramics, paper, metals, a space for children, steam engines, the history of radio and so much more...you can even find reconstructions of the graffiti of the famous Altamira cave in Spain. A museum worth a 10 but not a distinction; in fact, we discover that besides the Planetarium, the flight simulation also closes at 15:00...but why close these attractions so early? And why not inform visitors about this? Around 17:00 we leave the museum very satisfied and go back to the hotel for a shower.

We go out in the evening for dinner, and we couldn't miss a visit to Munich's most famous beer hall, the celebrated Hofbrauhaus, three floors of a beautiful building in the very center of the city. We arrive and are immediately in the midst of the crowd, the din, with an orchestra playing typical German music; the atmosphere is phenomenal! We look for a seat; we ask a guy who tells me we have to go upstairs; we go upstairs and a very arrogant guy tells me I have to go downstairs...I get quite annoyed, not so much because there's no room but because of the superior attitude a waiter can have. We go back downstairs and finally find a place; a waitress dressed in typical German costumes arrives and tells us we have to order right away because things are running out. We get a mug of beer to share between two (enormous) and two pork stews with potatoes and bread (35.50 euros).

Ugo looks around, eats a lot of pork, and a couple next to him even brings him some porchetta and some coppa...we're doing well!! We leave and it's raining; the Hofbrauhaus is absolutely not to be p

GARMISH PARTENKIRCHEN

In the morning, under a rather cloudy sky, we leave Munich and arrive in Garmisch Partenkirchen, a tourist destination very well known because it is a meeting point for many ski enthusiasts in winter and for various nature excursions in summer. We have booked at the Buchenhof, a lovely apartment (85 euros per night) complete with kitchen, balcony with a beautiful view...The apartment is already ready and we leave everything and set off for the nearby Zugspitze (51 euros + 4 for the dog), a picturesque cogwheel train that takes you along the slopes of the Zugspitze mountain, the highest in Germany. The train passes through a tunnel completely carved out of the rock, a masterpiece of engineering. When you get off, the panorama is wonderful; before us rise various mountains, all touched by white clouds and a perennial glacier.

We take photos nonstop; the weather improves and we enjoy an unforgettable view!! With a cable car you go even higher, where further magnificent views await us along with a small restaurant where we eat something vegetarian with a bitter and sour flavor....disgusting!! These Germans only know how to cook wurst! We begin to descend slowly, first the cable car and then the train again, aware that our journey is drawing to a close and aware that we have enjoyed yet another splendor. As soon as we get off, we go to the nearby Eibsee lake, a picturesque alpine lake, lined with bicycle and walking paths, beautiful...It is 17:00; on the way back to the hotel we first stop at a supermarket where we buy food for dinner; today in fact we will take advantage of the kitchen...penne with tomato sauce...tomorrow we return to Italy.

return journey

What can I add about this trip? I had set off a bit hesitant, because of some stereotypes we unfortunately carry with us, the coldness of Germans, Germany offering little...instead I must contradict all of this; I found kind, warm people, who respect others, who have a great love for the environment and above all I saw extraordinary places, both of art and of nature. To finish...I would like to thank my partner Margherita, good at sharing the same way of traveling, eager to discover, always full of energy and with a great desire to smile...thank you my love!! And then him, the legendary Ugo, my faithful friend, a great traveler, who even when tired always follows me and undaunted comes to every place until the end...I love you with all my heart. A greeting also to those who had the curiosity to read my journey...until next time....