Anecdotes: My Vacation in Germany or the Time When I Visited an Old? Friend: The Two Cities

So I took the train to Ingolstadt.

"Ingolstadt? Why Ingolstadt?" said everybody I talked to. "Audi's museum is right there," "Oh, so it's a day trip then!" "No, I'm staying there for 3 days." "WHY?"

Well, during my studies in Canada, I made a friend, her name is Das Bayerische Mädchen. I've been planning to meet her during my trip in Germany since last year, when she's still in Canada. Not really, it was just a brief mention like "Oh hey, I will be going to Germany!" "Hey, I'm from Germany, we should totally meet up!" kind of thing. But then, things tend to spiral out of control and now here I am, at Ingolstadt. "Unless you really like Audi, there's no reason to go there," everyone German I talked to, 2016.

Ingolstadt isn't a bad town, its a small peaceful little town inhabited by old people. Almost everything is in walking distance and you can walk from one end of the main town square to another in about 40 minutes? The problem with it is that it isn't really a tourist spot (except for Audi), as it is located in between tourist powerhouses Nürnberg und München.

Figure 11.1: Bavaria is a fantastical place

Das Bayerische Mädchen just moved to Ingolstadt 2 weeks prior to my arrival for her Masters degree, so she was very busy and could only spend time with me when her classes are over. I was there for 3 days, so I toured around Ingolstadt first, then I moved on to the two cities the following days: Nürnberg und München.

The Audi Museum was pretty damn cool.

Figure 11.2: Only 7 of this was produced

I had dinner with Dem Bayerische Mädchen in some really old school Bavarian diner. The food was good and the beer was cheap and there was a lot of meat and I don't think I can enjoy Canadian potato salad anymore now that I've tried Kartoffelsalat. Moving on.

The next day, I went to München. The first place I went to was of course, Allianz Arena. I left quite late in the afternoon, and the stadium tour closes at 5pm. And that was pretty much the highlight of my München tour. Don't get me wrong, the Old City is BEAUTIFUL, but it had all been turned into shops. Thankfully, the very same night, was the Athletico Bayern Champion's League game. After the stadium tour, I went back to the old city and basically scout out a pub to watch the game. I had dinner in the pub, and basically sat there for the next few hours. When a major game will be going on, you definitely want to find yourself a seat first before the place gets too cramp and you're forced to stand because there will no chairs left for you to sit.

Figure 11.3: A typical Bavarian meal

After the game (Bayern lost 2-1), I took the train back to Ingolstadt and called it a night.

The following day, I took the train to Nürnberg. Nürnberg's old city centre is filled with beautiful gothic churches. I personally feel Nürnberg was way way more beautiful than München but that's just my opinion. My day at Nürnberg was also one of the strangest, as every time I exit a building, the weather changes. While I was in the train, the weather looks horrible, it was raining and the sky was gloomy, I was super unenthusiastic about this day trip (because it was an impulse decision), but as soon as I stepped out of the train, the rain stopped and it became extremely extremely sunny.

With a new disposition in life, I then visited the majestic St. Lorenz church. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, all of the churches are amazing. Nürnberg has in my opinion, the best churches amongst all the cities I visited in this trip.

Figure 11.4: St. Lorenzkirche

As soon as I stepped out of the church, it was raining heavily. My spirits was dampened again, so I decided to just walk around the old city, sight see as they call it. Despite the rain, the city still looks beautiful. The lack of people walking out in the open gives it a serene, peaceful feeling. I bought some kebab for lunch, and ate it under an awning, as I watched the people frantically run out of the open to avoid the rain.

I visited the some other churches and the Nuremberg Castle, and went back to Ingolstadt early, as it was my last day, and I want to have one last dinner with Dem Bayerische Mädchen. We ate some pizza, and I packed up my things and went to the Hauptbanhof, ready to take my train to my next destination, Dresden.

I missed the train unfortunately but that's some other story. Here are some pictures I took.