Germany by Rosemary Barrass

From Vienna, you will take a series of buses to Munich, one of the big, bustling cities of Germany. You can exchange your dollars at the airport in Munich, with the exchange rate from euro to dollar at $1000 to 733.70€. For the first two nights, you will stay in the Hotel Dolomit at about 47€ a night, totaling to 94€ for two nights. Renting an economy 4-door car from Munich airport will cost a total of 140.29€. On the last night, you will stay at the Golden Leaf Hotel Frankfurt, which will be about 42€. You will be left with 723.71€ to spend on fun activities.

The first thing you will do in Munich is to visit the Alte Pinakothek. This museum of art is the most important art museum in Munich and has one of the most significant art collections in Europe. They have art ranging from the 14th to the 18th century. It was started by the royal Wittelsbach family in the 1500s. It will take quite a while for you to see even half of the items they hold there, but we recommend you make sure to at least see Self Portrait by Albrecht Dürer, his final and greatest work. Admission is 5€ each, totalling to 10€.




After the museum, head to Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady), which was reconstructed from the rubble and remains of the church after the bombings in 1945. The twin towers strangely survived unharmed have been the city's landmark since being created in 1525. Most of the windows, you will notice, are hidden by pillars. Legends say that the devil danced with glee at the covered windows and left a foot-like mark called "the devil's step" in the entrance hall.



The next day, you will visit Schloss Nymphenburg. This was the summer home of the Wittelsbach family. The house was started in 1664 and finally finished in about 1814. The final plans were made in 1702 when they decided to enlarge the villa by adding four pavillions. The French style is eminant in most of building, which makes it look like a subdued baroque.

Later in the day, you can go for a fun visit to Hellabrunn Zoo. It is one of the largest zoos in the world with hundreds of animals in a natural habitat. This zoo can be fun for everyone, even people who aren't zoo buffs. They have a large aviary and big children's zoo that both have a wide array of animals. Admission is 9€ each, totaling 18€.













For dinner, you will dine at the Spatenhaus, one of the fabled beer houses of Munich. The wide windows of this restaurant overlook the opera house on Max-Joseph-Platz. The restaurant makes its own beer, which we recommend you give a try, called Spaten-Franziskaner-Bier. They have extremely well-propared, traditional Bavarian food that will futher enhance your experiance. Average meals cost between 14€-25€.

The next morning you will drive to Frankfurt. You will visit the Altstadt, the old town from before World War II times. It has many attractions that will take at least half of the day to even begin to cover it all.
First in Altstadt, you should visit the birthplace of Goethe Haus, one of Germany's greatest writers. Goethe spent his early life living in Altstadt and wondering its streets. You can follow in his footsteps. Then, off to the Dom, which was consecrated in 1239. The Romans used this cathedral as the electoral site of their kings in 1356. Between 1562 and 1792, ten corronations happened here.
Then, you will continue your tour of Altstadt at the Römer, which is an interconnected set of medieval patrician's homes. It was used as the city hall of Frankfurt as early as 1405. It's still the official seat of the lord mayor. Near Römer, the Römerberg was the core of old Altstadt, famous for the houses reconstructed after bombings according to their original plans.