The Holy Roman Empire

Our Third Rick Steves Tour - Munich, Salzburg, Vienna - with a stop in Prague

EUROPE

5/6/20267 min read

"This body which was called...the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."

Voltaire

Munich & Dachau
Greater Salzburg
Salzburg City Proper
The Wachau Valley
Vienna
Prague

Munich

Bavaria's capital city - and Germany's third largest (1.6m people) - felt open, approachable, and comfortable. The ethos of the beer garden is one that resonated with us - from the flexibility to bring your own food from the nearby markets to the family style tables where you can't help but meet people and discuss the news of the day. Every beer hall and garden is aligned with one of Bavaria's breweries (there are six primary ones). We only managed to sample three on this trip (Hofbrau, Lowenbrau, and Hacker Pschorr). While Germany is experiencing its own political polarization and right wing resurgence, Munch recently elected its first gay mayor and celebrates its growing Jewish community and vibrant arts scene.

This was our first time traveling abroad with friends. Marshall and Michelle were wonderful travel companions and really made this trip that much more special. The new friends we made on the road and in the beer gardens were pretty cool, also!

Meal highlights: A Little Lost for coffee and cake by the Hauptbahnhoff; Emmi's Kitchen, for brunch or a mid afternoon snack, and Prinz Myshkin for a wonderful vegan dinner - fried zucchini flowers, seitan filets, local salad, etc.

Aviation nerd report: Finally got to check the A380 of my fly list. Wasn't allowed upstairs but got to see the staircase at least.

Munchen ("Of the Monks") City Center

We had a wonderful local guide, Michael, a local high school teacher. He really brought Munich's long history to life and spent quite a bit of time (and energy) explaining the city's central role in Nazi Germany, from Hitler's failed coup, the crystal nacht, his war against the Jews, to the complicity of populace. On the lighter side, he gave us the cheat code to Rococo style - look for the asymmetry in design and the presence of 'C's in the ornamentation. One also has to appreciate the nod to beer on the manhole covers - thank the monks!

We also visited the Nymphenburg Palace and grounds - beautiful. The pool house was my favorite. Along our walking tour there were stops in the Heilig-Geist-Kirche (Gothic style) not far from the wonderful Viktualienmark and the Theatinerkirche in Odeonsplatz (Baroque style) and Asamkirche in Bavarian Rococo style.

Dachau

Just a 20 minute train ride from Munich lies the Dachau concentration camp memorial. By May of 1945 over 30,000 prisoners were housed here in a facility designed for 6,000. Originally a work camp, by this time it too had become a facility for genocide and extermination. Dachau was the Nazi poster camp for propaganda and lies. There was an elaborate system of patches used to mark prisoners as political, criminal, Romani, Jewish, homosexual, etc.

"Arbeit Mach Frei" - "Work makes one free" - viewed by the Nazis as a (false) promise that work would lead to release. Perhaps viewed by some of the prisoners as work hastens the inevitable.

Greater Salzburg Region

Crossing into Austria from Bavaria, we paid a visit to the Trumer Welt experience at the Trumer brewery in Obertrum am See. Tasty beer from a family brewery led by generations of Josef Sigls since 1601. The beer was reminiscent of Miller High Life (in a good way). Love their motto: Einfach Leben - Live Simply.

We also visited the Bio-Hofkäserei Fürstenhof, a family farm and educational center outside Salzburg. Producers of wonderful cheese, honey, jams, and cosmetics, the owners have a pretty pragmatic view of their work - cheese is their way of turning grass into protein. In addition to raising a family and caring for elders they have somehow found the time and energy to champion small-scale ecological farming in northern India.

Salzburg

Most of the Sound of Music is bullshit, or so we learned in Salzburg. The music is not traditional, the family story is directionally correct at best, and escaping over the hills lands you in Bavaria, not Switzerland. We had a great walking tour with Sabina from Arnold’s home town. Salzburg is reminiscent of Coimbra - on a river with city hills, a pedestrian old town core, a university, etc. It was nice but touristy and there probably isn't more than one could see in a couple of days. We enjoyed walking the path from the Moenchsburg Aufzug (elevator/lift) to the fortress overlooking the city and the surrounding valley. Great dinner at Furo. Vegan/Vegetarian Mediterranean.

Our group had a tasty traditional goulash lunch that accompanied a class in traditional apple strudel cooking.

Meals: Fantastic dinner at Furo, a vegan/vegetarian mediterranean restaurant serving amazing bread, cheese, hummus, roasted veggies, etc. We also continued our sampling of the popular regional wine, Gruner Veltliner

The Wachau Valley

Formed by the Danube River, the Wachau valley is very pretty and rich in agriculture as the heart of Austrian wine production. After a visit to Kaiservilla and lunch in Bad Ischl we found ourselves in Emmersdorf an der Donau where we got to experience a May day (5/1) May pole raising at the local fire station. We visited the Melk abbey and sailed down the Danube to Krems where we re-boarded our bus and headed for Vienna. Our brief stay of the Sound of Music is bullshit, or so we learned in Salzburg. The music is not traditional, the family story is directionally correct at best, and escaping over the hills lands you in Bavaria, not Switzerland.

Bad Ischl is a neat little town, reminiscent of Pula in Croatia. The story of Elisabeth is interesting and a bit tragic. She seems like a radical character - educated, athletic, of the people but also vain and status driven. People here seem to love her story. Franz Joseph, her husband and first cousin, was also interesting character. Skilled as a carpenter and book maker as all the empire heads had to experience the life of the common worker.

Photography of the Kaiservilla and the Melk abbey is limited as the residence is still occupied by a descendant of Franz Josef and the abbey is still home to 23 monks who teach a few hundred students in the attached school.

Vienna (Wien)

Rolling into Vienna, the city immediately strikes you as something different. Crossing the Danube and then crossing the Ringstrasse (ring road) into the historic city center you are surrounded by the regal buildings of an empire gone but not forgotten.

Our local guide Gerhardt is also the curator of the Third Man museum which was a cool view into post WW2 Vienna, the early days of the cold war, and the making of movies in the late 40s. Gerhardt also guided us through the Kunsthistorisches Museum (national gallery). As a fan of Caraviaggio I was surprised to learn he was such a psycho - venturing out at night to stab people to get the adrenaline rush to then go paint. There were also some amazing Raphael, Velasquez, Bruegel, and Rubens works. Gerhardt, a bit of a socialist and very anti-Putin, mentioned that 60%+ of housing in Vienna is rent controlled (not verified). The massive Naschmarkt with its large number of shops and cafes was great for people watching.

We attended a Latin/German/English mass to see the Vienna boys choir - Mozart+VBC in Vienna - check. Departing for Prague we had our first chaotic train travel experience. After departing Vienna and traveling 10km or so, our train was parked and it was (eventually) announced that 2KM of overhead power cable was down on the tracks ahead. It took 5 hours (!) to bus people around the difficulty. Our 4 1/2 hour train trip ended up lasting 9 stressful hours.

Meals: We had a fantastic dinner at Tisch (best of the trip, perhaps). Their website says it best: "We bring people together to create a table, a place for a world worth living in! Tisch is a sustainable soul food restaurant in the heart of Vienna, a place for enjoyable experiences on equal footing. We offer high-quality yet affordable gourmet cuisine. Everything is purely plant-based and sustainable, without tasting "vegan," good for your body without smelling "healthy," good for the world without requiring anyone to sacrifice anything." The owner/chef had her staff call out that day, leaving her to act as the front of house, back of house, dishwasher, bartender, etc. She never broke a sweat, was pleasant, and even found time to sit and talk with us a bit.

Prague

Despite our challenge in getting to Prague, it really was too close to Vienna to pass up. And our two days there were just perfect. Definitely less crowded than Vienna and definitely grittier - but in a good way. Reminiscent of how Split felt compared to Dubrovnik. Our local guide Darina gave a great tour, meeting us at our hotel (wonderful! Hotel Agnes Residence) in old town, taking us across the Charles bridge into Mala Strana, and back across into new town. Stopping in Wenceslas square to describe her first hand experience during the velvet revolution and rise of Prague from out of the Soviet bloc. Of course we paused at the astronomical clock to watch the show.

Czech legend has it that construction began on Charles Bridge at 5:31am on 9 July 1357 with the first stone being laid by Charles IV himself. The Holy Roman Emperor was a believer in numerology, hence the palindromic: 1357 9/7 5:31.

We visited the Klementinum library and camera obscura in the astronomical tower. Einstein, Kepler, and others lectured here. And Mozart performed here (The claim is that he preferred Prague to the more stoic, proper Salzburg. He also objected to the Salzburg bishop with his fifteen children).

We toured the Jewish museums and synagogues in what turned out to be an interesting morning. It was a long walk on a hot day from old town through Mala Strana and up the hill in Hradcany to the Prague Castle (checking off the fourth of four districts in downtown Prague). It was very interesting to be on the grounds of a functioning state facility. EU dignitaries were on site for a conference called ‘Europe as a task’. Nice to see the Finnish flag flying over the castle as their PM spoke.

Meals: We were served a wonderful meal at Strecha in new town. Creatively vegan and with a worthy mission (see the pictures) but probably held back a bit by their focus on veganizing traditional Czech food. Perhaps we had just had our fill of goulash and dumplings and schnitzel by this time. Vegans Prague was the highlight - wonderfully fresh from the spritzes to the appetizers to the mains. Sharing an app, main, and dessert is hopefully our new strategy for eating when traveling (but there's so much to taste...)