Schloss Nymphenburg and the Ratskeller April 20th, 2011 Day 8

Today was quite warm and a beautiful day to explore the summer castle of Maximillan and Ludwig 1, son and father, and both former kings of Bavaria.  Ostsentatious is the word that comes to my mind when seeing the castle:  everything is way over the top, from the size of the castle to its contents and grounds.  Beautiful is the second word that comes to mind.


Rear View of Schloss Nymphenburg



South side of the castle.  It was too big to get it all in one picture!

The inside of the castle was even more over the top! 

Side wall in Stone Hall



Painted ceiling of Stone Hall

They also had displayed the carriages and sleighs used by the royal family.  Sadly I was not able to get the pictures I wanted as they did not allow flash photography.  Interesting part of Bavarian history to be seen here!

Our last dinner was at the Ratskeller.  Plenty of good Bavarian food is found here and the atmosphere is great as well.

Some interesting observations from our trip:

• In Germany, there is a 19% tax added to almost everything.  Leo says that only essential foods from the grocery store are exempt, but these items still carry a 9% tax.
• In Austria, the tax is a whopping 30%!!!
• Tipping is different:  usually you round up to the next euro or so.  For larger restaurant bills, you can add a few euro tip, but not the 15-18% we are used to in the USA
• Munich is VERY expensive:  a cup of coffee can cost about 5 euro or about 7 US dollars
• I did not see diet drinks of any kind on this trip and it is often impossible to get bottled water that is not carbonated.
• I was never offered ice on this trip, nor did I see anyone with ice in their drink.
• It seems there are less overweight people in Germany.
• Cabbage aside, I did not see vegetables on any dinner plate during our stay in Germany.  I did see them in Austria. 
• People are much quieter here, you do not see loud and obnoxious behavior.  We saw a loud group today and it was the first experience with this.
• The German people were very friendly with us, very mannerly and helpful.

So tomorrow morning we say goodbye to Munich.  It has been an outstanding experience and trip!

Auf Wiedersehen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!