Munich Then and Now

This is my entry to Lola's Diner's Cabin Fever Margaritaville Carnival. It's been a long winter and we all crave for warm weather. What better way than to blog about our favorite summer vacation, and pretend it's warm outside.

I will be talking about a part of my family's Europe summer vacation which I blogged about before and my summer vacation to Munich when I was 15 years old for my entry to Lola's Cabin Fever Margaritaville Carnival. (You can find the links to some of my Europe vacation posts on the left sidebar)

It was a great summer vacation. We visited 7 countries: Italy, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany. Each country has it's own charm and we enjoyed the food and the sights. In Germany, we visited the cities of Trier, Kaiserslautern, Kohl, Berlin and Munich. Germany and Munich has always been a special place for me. It was the first European country and city that I visited.

I first went to Munich during my summer vacation when I was 15 years old. The first photo above was taken somewhere near Marienplatz. That's me on the left getting some coins from my purse. I remember having a photo in front of the city building in Marienplatz but I couldn't find it, so this will do. I fell in love with Germany especially the Bavarian countryside with its' green rolling hills and picturesque villages and houses. I even had my first taste of french fries in Munich. That's why until now, I eat my french fries with mayonaisse, just like the Europeans. :o)

It was a short trip, just a week but I made a lot of good memories and I promised myself that I will be back someday.

Fast forward 23 years later. When our vacation was still in the planning stage, I told my husband about my wish to go back to Munich. He agreed and I added it to the list of cities we will visit. On the last week of June, I finally fullfilled my dream of going back to Munich. This time, I was with my own family. We were on our last leg of the month-long tour, after visiting 6 other countries. It felt awesome going back and seeing it from a different perspective.

I had fun touring the city with dh and my kids, going to the most famous beer hall in the world, HofBrauhaus and the restaurant Ratzkeller. Walking around the city brought back memories. It was great seeing my kids enjoy the Deutsches Museum (Science and Tecnology museum) just as I did when I was younger. I also took home the ultimate Bavarian souvenir, a limited edition authentic Black Forest cuckoo clock which you can see here.

A lot of people were amazed that we brought the kids with us. It's a no brainer really. We are lucky to have such well-behaved kids and had no problems whatsoever. We wouldn't have enjoyed our vacation if it was just dh and I. I know some people think otherwise but to each his own. So would we do it again? Yes, we will. I want them to have the love of travel just as I did.