Bombing Down the 'Bahn: Trip to Germany

If you've never driven down the Autobahn, I recommend it, if only to tell people that you did so. The thrill of driving 100 mph and having a BMW whiz past you at least 40 mph faster is like nothing else. I, unfortunately, had the bad luck to drive the majority of the time at night, and since I am one of the millions of Americans who suffers from the harmless congenital stationary night blindness (can't-see-shit-in-the-dark), I was forced to drive significantly slower than I would have preferred. Still, it was nice to be free from the nerve-wracking process of cresting hills at 77 mph, afraid there's a quota-filler t-rexing in the bushes below...

After sleeping in the backseat of my rental car and ensuring i wouldn't be discovered during the night by covering my car with snow before bed, I awoke on Saturday morning cold, alone, but in Munich. An interesting city best saved for the summer's biergarten outdoor drinking fests or the fall's infamous Oktoberfest, Munich was enjoyable if only to experience the Weissbier, pretzels, and Weisswurst veal sausage. (These three things made up 90% of my weekend diet). But I recommend going in the summer when you can experience it at its best.

Although I thought renting a car would cut down costs of hotels (I slept in the car for two nights) as well as provide me with the luxury of freedom, I found both to be utterly untrue. I haven't felt as shackled with something in a long time when I had the rental car parked illegally in Munich, and between the parking garage and the following general principle, I spent way way more on the car than I would've on a train ticket:

For one person:
car + gas - train ticket - hostel cost = net loss

For multiple people:
car + gas - 2+ train tickets - hostel costs for two = possible net gain

Although my Saturday was a low point of loneliness, missed opportunities, closed museums, and walking in snow, my trip was saved after I went to the world famous Hofbrauhaus, "prosted" 2.5L of beer (84 ounces, or 7 beers), and woke up with my eyes sealed shut on Sunday. For the first time in the history of the world, I think I drank away sorrow, and went on to see a fantastic how-things-work science museum (the mostly bilingual Deutches museum) and eventually Neuschwanstein Castle, the fairy-tale castle built (and never inhabited) by Mad King Ludwig II that would eventually serve as the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle.

The castle was great - don't get me wrong, and you should probably see it for yourself if you ever venture to these parts. But beware - no one ever lived there (Ludwig, and his money, disappeared when only 1/3 of the interior rooms were finished), and you should probably go to the overlook bridge, because it's impossible to see the postcard view without climbing a mountain or two, and the view from the ground makes breadth and depth hard to appreciate.

My trip to Germany was a lot more expensive than I thought it would be (round trip airfare, after all, had only cost me $35) but a good experience, if nothing more than to teach me the valuable lesson that vacations and rental cars are best done with someone else.