Auf Wiedersehen München! (Goodbye, Munich! )

Some more observations about this city: so many beautiful/elegant people; impressive engineering and energy efficiency; super clean and environmentally conscious; delicious food- I had no problem finding vegetarian dishes loaded with organic everything to make it better; great cheese; month-long Christmas celebrations that locals of all ages attend and it's still not commercialized; every neighborhood feels safe; super duper friendly people; drinking beer is always okay. HAHA....yet everyone is still so orderly!

The last few days have been spent sleeping in way too late and then realizing we don't care at all. Of course we are doing workouts in the mornings now that we know how terrible a month without it feels!  While we've done a few tourist things, for the most part we have been exploring this beautiful city and soaking it all in.  We also ran into someone I grew up with in Rocklin at the train station, which was so random and such a reminder that it really is a small world!

Our friend recommended the beer at Andecher am Dom, so we checked it out. In addition to delicious Helles beer, we enjoyed a great dinner and the people we sat near were so nice that we actually laugh about it....like, "really?".... You sit at a community table and the old German couple next to us flagged down the waitress to get us an English menu and the young German couple next to us told us to enjoy our meal when our food arrived.  Then to top it off at the end of the meal, all of a sudden a Golden Retriever pops up by the old couple and we realize he'd been waiting patiently under the table for them to eat. So of course we pet the dog and they tell us about how much they love him.  On our way out, everyone wished us a Merry Christmas....I love these people!

Here's how we've spent the last few days:

SPOTTED and PURCHASED: the most perfect Christmas tree there ever was!

Matt was probably the happiest person that has ever explored the BMW museum....haha.

I love Gluwein!

We made our way to the Neuchwanstein Castle.  It was absolutely beautiful but admittedly full of tourists, which took away from the experience for us. However, this castle from the late 1800's was truly something out of a fairy tale, built by Bavaria's King Ludwig II who died a mysterious death not long after moving into the castle.  The train ride over was really pretty and overall I'd recommend the trip to visitors.

First sighting of the Alps on our way to the castle (on the train)! 

Cute town of Fussen near the castle

Another castle of a Bavarian King

I got so excited when the guy let me feed them our apple cores!! 

Neuchwanstein Castle 

Neuchwanstein Castle

Our last tourist attraction was the Dachau Concentration Camp, one of the first Nazi concentration camps which was used as a model for all future camps.  It was of course a somber experience, but extremely eye-opening.  It's just shocking to see what humans are capable of. I CANNOT imagine living through something like that.

The gate that locked thousands of people out of their worlds forever

Where the prisoners lived

Lots of disturbing images, but the one with the crowd is the day in 1945 where Americans liberated this camp and you can finally see people smiling 

This camp was HUGE

We found Tallwood Festival where lots of locals like to go check out international food (100% organic) and free concerts! Fun but packed! 

Tallwood Festival 

This is what happens when I take pictures of Matt.  Btw, he's enjoying a fresh pizza!

Our last evening here has been a really quiet Sunday, people don't do much and a lot of business are shut down.  We strolled through the English Gardens which are stunning and larger than Central Park, and of course found another adorable Christmas Market.  I can't get over how beautiful all of the neighborhoods are!

Matt overlooking the Isar River by the gorgeous English Gardens

Back in the Marienplatz, I just can't get over this City Hall building!

*We had a delicious meal with Asian and Indian influence at Pavesi Picnic, and another deliciously fresh meal at Preysinggarten Restaurant (see pictures).

Matt is LOVING the traditional cheese Spaetzle which is topped with fried onions.

My fresh salad with grilled veggies and nuts; I'd normally avoid cheese but this sheep's cheese grilled then lightly fried and topped with honey is SINFULLY good.