September 29 - October 1, 2017
One of the joys (meaning not-a-joy) of flying on Ryan Air is that you have to pay for everything, including picking a seat. Even though Zosia and I bought our tickets together, somehow we didn't get seats assigned next to each other. Our friends Colin and Rachel were on the same boat...err, airplane. We decided to spend a weekend together in Bavaria, visiting the place that inspired the iconic Disney castle. But since we didn't want to get sick of each other, we'd all sit separately on the plane.
Zosia was in row 2, and as I was settling into my seat in Row 30, I could hear a girl next to me literally crying that she didn't get to sit next to her boyfriend. Wah wah. She was in her 30s, so that was weird. Trying hard to withhold judgement, I asked where her boyfriend was sitting, on the small chance that it would be somewhere near Zosia. Using some of my high school math skills, I determined the odds to be less than 1%, since there would be two seats next to Zosia and at least 200 seats on the plane. "My degu-mama is also somewhere in the front", I told her. She sniffled through the tears "he's all the way in row 2." What!? It turned out that Zosia was in the exact seat next to her boyfriend. This crying girl's boyfriend, not Zosia's boyfriend. I was Zosia's boyfriend. What are the odds? Actually, I didn't have to ask that question because I already calculated the odds. See how math is useful? Anyway, I quickly pretended I'd make a huge sacrifice and switch with her boyfriend. She thanked me, and I went to sit next Zosia for the plane ride, looking like a hero to the other couple, and to Zosia for fighting to switch to the seat next to her. I'm such a good fiancé.
We flew to Memmingen, which I'd never heard of before. But it was only an hour from the Disney castle, so that was the important part. And since Rachel organized everything, that's all we needed to know. Once in Memmingen, we called a taxi from the airport taxi phone, which was exactly like a Bat-phone. There were no numbers on it, because when you picked it up it only called one place: the taxi company. On the way to the hotel, I promptly dropped my passport on the floor of the taxi and went into the hotel without it. Luckily I had taken a photo of the taxi company so the hotel reception guy was able call and ask if they found it. The driver was super nice and dropped it off at the hotel after another he completed another airport pickup. One point for Memmingen.
It was my lucky trip so far.
It's awesome going on a trip with Rachel and Colin (mostly Rachel), because she plans everything. Every excursion, every detail, even every expected dollar spent. We rented a car the next day and drove an hour to Neuschwanstein (no, I can't pronounce it either). This is the most famous castle in Europe (or most visited? I don't know, but you can look it up).
Hohenschwangau castle is next door (seriously, this language is nuts). It's the land of castles with impossible names, just so the locals can laugh at people trying to pronounce them. Just a piece of advice, if you plan to visit, leave lots of extra time for traffic. And reserve your tickets in advance. There was a huge line for tickets, and they are sold based on entry times. Most people had to wait a couple hours before entering. Luckily we had Rachel and everything was perfect. There was a lot of traffic but we rocked up to the entrance (a 30 minute hike from the parking lot) with just a couple minutes before our assigned entry time.
As you would expect, the tour was very "German", meaning very punctual. We entered exactly at our time, and the tour took exactly 30 minutes. After a few words on the audio tour in each room, we were ushered to the next room.
Neuschwanstein is nice (and yes I copied and pasted the word rather than typing it again!), but the area around it was also beautiful. I'd be OK owning a castle in the middle of gorgeous landscape, if anyone is giving them away. The weather was perfect too, even though the forecast called for rain. Like I said, lucky trip.
We spent a couple hours in the town of Fussen on the way back to Memmingen. It was a nice town and it made me wonder if every small countryside town was just as cute and interesting. Of course we also enjoyed some good German food and beer: schnitzel, currywurst, pork and potatoes. At one of the pubs I asked the waitress for a recommendation of the local beer and she responded in shock "I don't know, I'm 15." Oops.
After a bit more time in Memmingen, it was time to return back to Warsaw...a nice autumn weekend away, and new knowledge that Rachel can now plan all of our trips. Thanks Rachel!
Ps, it's been almost one year since this trip, and Rachel still hasn't planned any more of our trips. Maybe she didn't have as much fun as we did.
One of the joys (meaning not-a-joy) of flying on Ryan Air is that you have to pay for everything, including picking a seat. Even though Zosia and I bought our tickets together, somehow we didn't get seats assigned next to each other. Our friends Colin and Rachel were on the same boat...err, airplane. We decided to spend a weekend together in Bavaria, visiting the place that inspired the iconic Disney castle. But since we didn't want to get sick of each other, we'd all sit separately on the plane.
Zosia was in row 2, and as I was settling into my seat in Row 30, I could hear a girl next to me literally crying that she didn't get to sit next to her boyfriend. Wah wah. She was in her 30s, so that was weird. Trying hard to withhold judgement, I asked where her boyfriend was sitting, on the small chance that it would be somewhere near Zosia. Using some of my high school math skills, I determined the odds to be less than 1%, since there would be two seats next to Zosia and at least 200 seats on the plane. "My degu-mama is also somewhere in the front", I told her. She sniffled through the tears "he's all the way in row 2." What!? It turned out that Zosia was in the exact seat next to her boyfriend. This crying girl's boyfriend, not Zosia's boyfriend. I was Zosia's boyfriend. What are the odds? Actually, I didn't have to ask that question because I already calculated the odds. See how math is useful? Anyway, I quickly pretended I'd make a huge sacrifice and switch with her boyfriend. She thanked me, and I went to sit next Zosia for the plane ride, looking like a hero to the other couple, and to Zosia for fighting to switch to the seat next to her. I'm such a good fiancé.
So happy that we sat together
We flew to Memmingen, which I'd never heard of before. But it was only an hour from the Disney castle, so that was the important part. And since Rachel organized everything, that's all we needed to know. Once in Memmingen, we called a taxi from the airport taxi phone, which was exactly like a Bat-phone. There were no numbers on it, because when you picked it up it only called one place: the taxi company. On the way to the hotel, I promptly dropped my passport on the floor of the taxi and went into the hotel without it. Luckily I had taken a photo of the taxi company so the hotel reception guy was able call and ask if they found it. The driver was super nice and dropped it off at the hotel after another he completed another airport pickup. One point for Memmingen.
It was my lucky trip so far.
It's awesome going on a trip with Rachel and Colin (mostly Rachel), because she plans everything. Every excursion, every detail, even every expected dollar spent. We rented a car the next day and drove an hour to Neuschwanstein (no, I can't pronounce it either). This is the most famous castle in Europe (or most visited? I don't know, but you can look it up).
The Disney castle
Beautiful view from the Disney castle
Hohenschwangau castle is next door (seriously, this language is nuts). It's the land of castles with impossible names, just so the locals can laugh at people trying to pronounce them. Just a piece of advice, if you plan to visit, leave lots of extra time for traffic. And reserve your tickets in advance. There was a huge line for tickets, and they are sold based on entry times. Most people had to wait a couple hours before entering. Luckily we had Rachel and everything was perfect. There was a lot of traffic but we rocked up to the entrance (a 30 minute hike from the parking lot) with just a couple minutes before our assigned entry time.
Very beautiful traffic, if such a thing exists
As you would expect, the tour was very "German", meaning very punctual. We entered exactly at our time, and the tour took exactly 30 minutes. After a few words on the audio tour in each room, we were ushered to the next room.
Neuschwanstein is nice (and yes I copied and pasted the word rather than typing it again!), but the area around it was also beautiful. I'd be OK owning a castle in the middle of gorgeous landscape, if anyone is giving them away. The weather was perfect too, even though the forecast called for rain. Like I said, lucky trip.
Very natural posing
We spent a couple hours in the town of Fussen on the way back to Memmingen. It was a nice town and it made me wonder if every small countryside town was just as cute and interesting. Of course we also enjoyed some good German food and beer: schnitzel, currywurst, pork and potatoes. At one of the pubs I asked the waitress for a recommendation of the local beer and she responded in shock "I don't know, I'm 15." Oops.
Picking our favorite wedding pose
After a bit more time in Memmingen, it was time to return back to Warsaw...a nice autumn weekend away, and new knowledge that Rachel can now plan all of our trips. Thanks Rachel!
Ps, it's been almost one year since this trip, and Rachel still hasn't planned any more of our trips. Maybe she didn't have as much fun as we did.
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