I was fortunate enough to go to Munich and Salzburg last month. Living in Europe made me long for more time on that continent. And my wish came true when my youngest daughter invited me to spend some time with her while she was taking a whirlwind tour over her 60 days of leave.

She allowed me to choose anywhere I wanted to go. And if you’ve seen some of my other posts, you know that my bucket list of places I’ve yet to go is extensive. I toyed with the idea of going back to Italy (my favorite country) and seeing other cities I hadn’t seen. But then I really wanted to check another country off of my list.

I decided upon Munich because one, I hadn’t visited any castles and two, my daughter did a research project on The White Rose society and they were based out of Munich. That didn’t solve my “I need another European country” desire but it was close enough that we could get to Austria by rail. Mission accomplished!

So off I went. I arrived on a Sunday morning and I worried about having things to do since most of Europe closes on that day-at least shopping! I shouldn’t have worried. Madeleine wanted some street food so we wandered around the streets of Munich and ran into a festival. Turns out it was Pride and they had two stages set up with speakers, musicians and contests. It was such fun to see the main government building flying pride flags out front.

After we ate our lunch, we continued our wandering and came across a live rehearsal of the Munich symphony orchestra and a world-renowned Russian pianist. How cool is that? Apparently there were outdoor concerts all month and that particular concert was later on that evening. I stood there and told my daughter that I love Europe.

We ended our night at a Hofbrauhaus where we heard an Oompa band. It doesn’t get more traditionally Bavarian than that!

Monday we headed off to one of the main reasons for this trip-the castles! We started at Linderhof, which is the smallest of King Ludwig II’s palaces. We found it interesting that he was obsessed with Versailles.

Then we made our way to Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the iconic castle that inspired Walt Disney to create Cinderella’s castle in DisneyLand. It didn’t disappoint! Again, Mad King Ludwig had his obsessions. He loved Wagner and his operas. It was prominent throughout. The sad part about both of the castles is that there are no photos allowed. Boo hoo.

Tuesday, we wandered through the city once again. Our mission was to try and see some of the White Rose important locations. We made our way to the University of Munich which was where the students dropped their pamphlets condemning Adolf Hitler and his policies. While there, we popped into the exhibit they had about the students who participated in that group. We learned a great deal and were surprised that this isn’t necessarily a hot location to visit.

That evening, we had a bad thing happen-I smashed my head. Who knew that switching pillows can make you bleed. But it can and it did. I say that it’s an additional souvenir I took home from Europe!

So what else is there to do in Munich once you’ve conked your head? Nothing. So we headed off to Salzburg. What an adorable town! We stayed at the Goldener Hirsch hotel right in the old city center. It was a treat! The hotel had just reopened a few days before we got there. The location made it easy to walk everywhere.

Walking was the word of the day in Salzburg. We walked the streets, we went into churches, we climbed towers. It seems that every day we logged at least 10 miles. But the views and the experiences were worth every step. I even booked a nighttime concert on top of Hohensalzburg Fortress. It was impressive to hear Mozart’s works in his hometown.

So now I’ve checked off another country box and I’m back on U.S. soil. I can’t say that I’m not happy to be home but I sure do miss European living. Until next time….