On Tuesday we took a bus tour from our hotel into Munich. The tour guide walked us around some parts of town, then we were able to tour on our own.
Glockenspeil
Glockenspeil
Hofbrauhaus
Lotsa beer at Hofbrauhaus
Taxi Line
Monday we visited two castles and a palace near Fussen, Germany. They were a little west of where we were staying, but the quickest route to get there was to go south into Austria then back up into Germany. We thought we would be able to get our passport stamped each time we went into another Country. Unfortunately, it was no different then driving between States, so no border control.
The first castle we visited was Hohenschwangau Castle.
The next castle we visited was Neuschwanstein. This is the castle that Disney’s castles are modeled after.
Those two castles were both near each other. After we were done, it was late afternoon, so we decided to find the Linderhof Palace. En route, we came across this lake -
Then, we finally arrived at Linderhof.
On Sunday, we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp, which was near Munich. Oh yeah, in Germany they call it Munchen, not Munich. Dachau was the first Nazi Concentration Camp in Germany. It was pretty interesting to see. They had many of the buildings still standing.
Entrance to Dachau
After Dachau we headed back to Garmish and took a gondola up to the summit of Mt Zugspitze. It started out clear as we headed up the Mountain. However, once we reached the top it was all cloudy and it was even snowing. It was amazing how nice the temperature was up there. Too bad we din’t know it was going to be that nice, or we would have skied. As a lift ticket was the same price as just going to the top.
- Heading up
Cloudy view looking down
We arrive in Munich around 10am. The flight over was pretty nice. We were a little worried as we left on Friday evening and just two days prior flights were resumed (from the grounding of the volcanic ash), so we were still afraid the flight was going to be canceled. Flying in upgraded seating is so nice! No feeling smushed in your seats. We even got complimentary little bottles of wine on the flight with dinner.
We rented a car, and our rental car was a Mini Cooper D. They gave us the choice of the Mini or a Ford Focus Station wagon! Geez, which would you have chosen?
The resort we stayed at was in Garmisch, which was about an hour south of Munich. It was a pretty quick drive along the Autobahn. Didn’t push the Mini too hard, stayed around 100mph the drive.
We stayed at a military resort, The Edelweiss. It was a very nice place and located at the base of the largest Mountain in Germany (Zugspitz).
View from our room
At the Edelweiss
After we checked in, we were pretty tired from the flight and time change. We decided to hike around one of the mountains for a bit and then walked around town.
This is the town of Garmish -
Garmisch
Garmisch
We started the day off at Diamond Head. It took us 23 minutes to hike up it and 20 minutes down. Here’s a view from atop Diamond Head.
After Diamond Head we drove up Mt Tantulus. It is higher then Diamond Head and has some great views. Here’s a pic from up there. That is Diamond Head in the background
After that we headed to the base to shop, then back to Waikiki to our hotel (and it wasn’t even noon yet). I took a nap for an hour and then we went out surfing in Waikiki. You longboard in Waikiki and the waves aren’t huge, but it is still fun.
Then after surfing, we were exhausted. It is so much work to paddle out, espically in Waikiki as the waves break so far out. We had to paddle about 150 yards out and 300 yards over!!! In the evening we just bummed around Waikiki.
Today we started out at Sea Life Park. We have been there many times and we weren’t planning on going. But then we found out that we could do animal encouters. So, we went today and swam with a sea lion. Then, we went into the Hawaiian ray tank.
After that we needed a break from the beaches so we just went around Waikiki in the afternoon. Then, in the evening we went to Ala Moana Mall and shopped.
Today we started off at Kualoa Ranch. That is basically a big outdoor movie set. Lost is almost completely filmed there. As was; Might Joe Young, Godzilla, Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Magnum PI and many more movies and shoes. We took a jungle trek tour there where you rode in the back of WWII missile transport vehicles. It was neat but it was very bumpy. Then, we took a movie set tour. That was in an old school bus with all the windows taken out so you could take good pictures. But, it also stopped at quite a few locations and let you get out. Below is are a couple pictures where most of Lost is filmed and it is also where Jurassic Park and Might Joe Young was filmed.
Kualoa Ranch
Kualoa Ranch
Lost was supposed to be filming this week, but they canceled at the last minute and switched to next week. They film 85% of the TV show here. After the tours, they had a buffet lunch as part of the tour.
After that we went to the North Shore, to Halewia Beach Park. The waves were way too big for me to surf. But, Mike figured he’d try it and he did decent. But, they were breaking so far out, it probably took him 15 mins to paddle out there. Most of the locals were sitting on shore with their boards because they didn’t want to try it, and surf advisories were posted to warn against conditions. But, he didn’t get hurt so that was good. And, I sat on the beach and was able to see the sea turtles get washed ashore again. I just wish it wasn’t so quick and sporadic that it happened so I could get a picture. This was at the same place it happened before.
After that we just shopped around and we were back to the hotel by 6:30pm and just stayed in. I was so tired from all the sun, I even took a nap when we got back in.
Sea Turtle
After Hanauma Bay we headed to Bellowes. That is our favorite beach on the island. Perfectly sandy bottom. And, it is so uncrowded during the week. It is private beach that is on an old military base and it is now a “Military Recreation Center” so you need your ID to get in. The beach is about 3 miles long and we only saw two other families there while we were there. I tried boogieboarding but just couldn’t catch any waves. They were not very powerful and breaking pretty close to shore. We saw a couple man-of-wars though. Thankfully we didn’t get stung though. Oh well, there are more days left.
Bellowes
On the way home, we stopped at the Pali Lookout. Which, is just this lookout way up in the mountains and you could see for miles. All the times we’ve been up there it has been rainy and dreary. This is the first time we’ve ever seen anything. I never knew there was a golf course right below!
View from Pali Lookout
Then tonight we met our friend Amanda for dinner. We went to Ruby Tuesday’s and chatted for a few hours. Hopefully we’ll meet up with her again while we’re out.
I forgot to mention one of the neatest things about Sunday. While we were at Halewia I was sitting right on the shore drying off and I see this big circular thing washed to shore. Then I realized it was a sea turtle that was washed into the shore. He popped up a few times for air and then swam back to shore. Then, when Mike came up to shore another one came up so he saw it as well. I have only seen sea tutles in the ocean in the coves. I have never seen ones where it was completely open, much less onshore. Unfortunately they scurried out so quick I didn’t get a picture.
We were up around midnight HI time (5am WI) due to the whole time change and had to try really hard to go back to sleep.,,,, Then, we got up for good at 5am. We had a great breakfast buffet at our hotel. yum, coconut syrup for your waffles, we’ve been dreaming about that for years….
This morning we started at the flea market, which is at Aloha Stadium. It is not used stuff though, it is all new and mostly touristy stuff. I bought a couple pairs of board shorts and one matching bikini (yeah because the 8 swimsuits I already brought weren’t enough). They also have a ton of luggage and really cheap at the flea market. We got a cool blue suitcase with aloha flowers all over it. It will really stand out.
After the flea market we headed to the North Shore. This is the best surf in the world, with 40′ waves in the winter. Fortunately for us, the surf was not at 40′! It was calm in a few coves and we snorkeled at Shark’s Cove.
Shark's Cove
After Shark’s Cove, we headed to Haleiwa. There were some good waves out there. Filled with surfers. I’m still afraid of boarding, as last time I really went I got smacked up pretty good (smashed into rocks and came up and literally thought I broke all these bones in my face, and I was pretty bruised up). So, Mike went out. He got some good waves. I decided against it, because it was pretty rocky. I will get over my fear though while we are here and get back on. While on the North Shore, we ate at a shrimp truck. They are all over the place and they cook up plates of shrimp and rice right there.
After that we headed back to Waikiki and just bummed the strip there. And, then we were back to our room by 7pm and we’re heading off to bed now at 8:30pm, hopefully tomorrow night we’ll be able to stay out later 
Diamond Head