MurkTravels

Cities and Castles

Our final destination on our tour of Germany was the large metro and capital of Bavaria, Munich. It has so much history and tourist attraction options, it's tough to summarize what your options are. This is the second time I've spent 3 or 4 days in Munich and mostly saw all new stuff this time and still haven't run out of things to check out. This time included a couple day trips a little further outside the main city center.

We went north to check out the Dachau concentration camp memorial site. Another day we headed south to check out some of the most well known German castles and their local small villages.

Highly recommend:

• Marienplatz
• Christmas markets
• Dachau memorial
• Linderhof castle
• Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles
• Theresenweise / Oktoberfest grounds

Other sites to check out:

• 1972 Olympic site
• Nymphenburg palace
• BMW museum
• Royal Residence & theater
• Hofbrauhaus and other brew pubs
• several local churches, universities, museums, markets, and parks

Trip Map

Pictures

Munich Christmas markets

Bavaria countryside & Oberammergau Passion Play site (only happens once every 10 years since the 15th century)

Linderhof castle

Hohenschwangau castle

Neuschwanstein castle

Videos

The Hofbrauhaus beer hall

Linderhof castle

Neuschwanstein castle

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

Castles and Cars

We spent a few days checking out the main towns of Heidelberg and Stuttgart. Heidelberg is a cozy little university focused town, but is also know for it's picturesque castle. Stuttgart is a larger metro that is the birthplace of the automobile (Daimler, Mayback, Benz, and Porsche) and has a few lesser known castles of it's own.

Highly recommend:

• Heidelberg castle
• Heidelberg Christmas markets
• Stuttgart Christmas markets
• Stuttgart Königstraße (King's Street) pedestrian area

Other sites to check out:

• Philosophers Walk
• Heidelberg old bridge
• Stuttgart new and old castles
• Mercedes Benz museum
• Porsche museum

Trip Map

Pictures

Heidelberg markets and some food you can get there:

Heidelberg castle, views from across the valley and by the old bridge:

Heidelberg castle up close:

Stuttgart Mercedes musuem, from the original modal to older cars to new expensive cars and fast racing styles:

Videos

Running down some stairs across the river from the town and castle:

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

German country tour

In one day, and a couple hours worth of train rides, we left Luxembourg and checked out a few cities in the south western part of Germany: Saarbrucken and Mannheim. Saarbrucken is the capital of the smallest German state, Saarland, and within shouting distance of the French border. Mannheim is the "city of squares" in Germany, since it's main city center area is set up in grid pattern. Each block has a number and letter designation (like R4) and their address is based on that since there are no street names.
The people were friendly and sites were interesting. However, we didn't find anything that would be considered Must-See, knowing that we did rush through both areas in a day.

other sites to check out:

• Saarbrucken castle, church, and gardens
• St Johanner Market
• Mannheim Wochenmarkt
• Planken pedestrian mall

Trip Map

Pictures

Saarbrucken castle and church

Saarbrucken modern art museum display

Mannheim palace

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

the Grand Duchy

Luxembourg is the world's only remaining grand duchy ... just meaning that the ruler is royalty with the title of Grand Duke. It's the 7th smallest country in Europe, and 28th smallest overall. It's quite the blend of French, German, and Belgian culture. Luxembourg City is one of 3 official capitals of the European Union.
We decided to check it out as part of our German Christmas markets tour in 2017. The main reason being that I found really cheap flights going there instead of the main German airports, but it's less than an hour bus ride to the border. It also allowed us some time to get over any jet lag and relax a few days before the crazy German markets tour. We were pleasantly surprised, and they have incorporated their own markets (like much of central Europe now).

Highly recommend:

• Bock Casemates (UNESCO World Heritage site)
• Place Guillaume II square
• Christmas markets

Other sites to check out:

• Notre Dame Cathedral
• Grand Ducal Palace (only open for tours a few weeks in the summer)
• Villa Vauban & the Municipal park

Trip Map

Pictures

A panoramic view across the Alzette river and valley.

One of several Luxembourg City christmas markets

A decorated tree in the markets.

The decorated cathedral of Notre Dame (Lux version).

The UNESCO site of the Bock casemates.

A panoramic view across the Alzette river and valley.

Videos

Our ride up a glass elevator:

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

SLC

It's only an hour flight from Denver; and since we have free flights on Southwest (well, gotta pay $11 in federal fees), but might as well check out the "Crossroads of the West", an apparent nickname of Salt Lake City. While we were there, the highs were between 98 and 102 every day !

Who knows about SLC? Who's been there? Would love to hear your experiences and thoughts on the town.

Recommended

These places were awesome and we recommend checking them out:

• Settebello Pizzeria - true Naples Italy style pizza that was Delicious !
• Capo Gelato Italiano - Italian gelato that was much needed on the day it got up to 102 degrees C
• Pulp Lifestyle Kitchen - healthy, delicious, and affordable
• Saturday Farmers Market - chance to interact with the locals at Pioneer Park
• City Creek center - yes, there is a creek

Activities

Here are some of the fun things we did and enjoyed.

Urban Adventure Quest : This was a blast and a great way to get to know a city. You get clues (and hints if needed) via your smartphone about your next destination. When you answer correctly, you get directions there and some history or interesting facts. You can compete against other teams for high score or fasted time to complete. We took about 3.5 hours and saw 20 different tourist sites.
This website has tours in most large US cities.

Temple Square : The headquarters of the LDS. You can take a self led or guided tour (both free) around the campus to see the temple, the tabernacle, the visitors center, the ancestor family search library, assembly hall, and a number of exhibits. Enjoy, but just don't get brainwashed !

Grand American hotel : Check out the fancy shops, courtyards, ballrooms, pool, or take a self led art tour of their collections around the property.

Wiseguys Comedy Club : We saw Orny Adams. Never heard of him before, but he was hilarious, with his connected 1 hour bit about how the new Millennial generation needs to toughen up. #OrnyAdams #CoalForOrny #LowerYourExpectations

Things we would like to do next time:

• Park City & Sundance
• Salt lake boat ride / tour
• Winter Olympics site
• Hiking

Pictures

Panoramic from the Capital:

After Jesus disappeared from Jerusalem, he showed up in SLC:

Get coffee-faced in Pioneer Park

Yes, they have made a Polygamy beer there. The back of the label promises that you can love this beer equally with others. Ha.

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Youtube - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

Colorado Rockies baseball

Every once in a while, you need to get out of work a bit early and catch a sporting event. When I'm in downtown Denver, it's easiest to catch a baseball game at Coors Field. With tickets at $5 to get in the outfield "Rockpile" section, it doesn't break the bank to check out a game (and I feel it doesn't contribute to the over-paid athlete syndrome).

This summer I caught 2 Rockies games at Coors Field. The first was a thriving 5-4 win in the 9th over the NY Mets. The second was a rough 10-4 beating by the Atlanta Braves. One of the games, we won some free beers (hint: keep an eye on the big screen to enter to win) and the other we won some free sandwiches. Both times we witnessed center fielder Charlie Blackmon crush home runs.

Pictures

the main entrance area of Coors Field:

View from the cheap seats:

View from the cheap seats and our winnings:

Blackmon home run!

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Youtube - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen

Camping Trip

We took a long weekend trip over the border into Nebraska to relax on the shores of Lake McConaughy (as far as I know, it's not owned by Matthew McConaughey). Some (fun) facts about the place:

• Nebraska's largest lake
• The lake is over 20 miles long
• The state record for walleye (16 lbs 2 oz) was caught there
• ... and you can camp right on the beach

Here's what we did:

Pictures

Our home for the weekend:

Our camping neighborhood:

View from the water with some SUP action:

Relaxing on the water:

Got in a beach workout (shoutout to our friends at Monkii Bars)

Links

MurkTravels Vimeo - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Youtube - videos of my trips & entertainment
MurkTravels Facebook page - pictures, posts, and regular updates
MurkTravels Facebook photo albums
MurkTravels Instagram - my attempted at artistic travel images
MurkTravels Travel Map - all the places that I've been and the things that I've seen