Set off by train from Munich to Salzburg early this morning (well early somewhere in the world). Taxi driver nearly had a hernia picking up our 30kg bags – was quick to accept David’s offer of help for the second one.

Loaded our bags on the train, bought our coffees and we were good to go…..you know it’s a long time since you’ve had a good Melbourne coffee when Starbucks tastes OK.

Trip took two hours – I still can’t get used to the idea that a 2 hour train ride gets you to another country!

Hotel here very different to our cute little pension in Munich – not so homely – but brilliantly located – with a promise of a great night’s sleep!

Spent the afternoon roaming Old Salzburg town. Just like a picture book – pretty much preserved intact with original buildings & fabulous shops ranging from tourist kitch to incredibly elegant couture. Some glorious dirndl and lederhosen – Aaron and Caity, do we have a surprise for you!

Confucius says: “he who forsakes an umbrella for extra luggage space ends up with wet head”

A wet cold day today and being Sunday all shops were closed – meaning that our ‘buy anything we forget’ philosophy let us down in the umbrella department. So we opted for indoors (mostly).

We spent the morning at The Residenz – the incredibly opulent palace of the Bavarian Kings.

Of course all that exercise made us hungry so we headed off for a traditional Bavarian feed…..

We couldn’t believe how many Munichians spend their Sundays window shopping – even with the wet weather.

Now packing for Salzburg – booked on the 10am train.

A very relaxing day here in Munich. Started the day with a roof top bus ride to orient us to the city –

– then set off walking & exploring quaint streets, shops and the Viktualienmarkt- the biggest market in Munich.

A glorious sunny day so we finished up in the beer garden in the English Garden (along with half of the Munich population) – seats 7000 people! Fantastic atmosphere, brass band playing beer, pretzels (and size is everything when it comes to pretzels) and Bavarian sausages were the main fare.
As they say in the classics…”when in Rome……”

Note mine is a regular stein & David’s is the Gross (really really huge) stein.

Time: 33 hours door to door
Complimentary upgrades: zero 🙁

Had a smooth trip over with no delays thankfully. For all ye doubters, I did manage to fit one month’s clothes in my carry on – see photographic evidence below.

We checked in our bike bags with trepidation with hardly a gap between fragile stickers. We were very glad to see these babies still in one piece at the other end

Our hotel in Munich is a cute little Pension with the biggest door on earth, the smallest room and the most amazing view- very cute.

Arrived at hotel mid afternoon and warded off jet lag with a long walk through the old town – a beautiful picture book city buzzing with people and bikes. Have decided not to unpack our bike here despite the fantastic bike paths – the city is so walkable and we don’t want to lose one of our valuable sightseeing days unpacking it and re-packing to head to Salzburg- so it’s Shanks pony for us here!

Time started: 9.15pm

Time finished: 11.20 pm

Swear words: 2,536

Headaches: 2