I can't believe I have ridden my last train in Europe for who knows how long; that makes me very sad! My last free weekend was spent in Muinch, Germany and I loved it. Hands down the Germans have had the friendliest culture, I felt right at home. I also have to say that the Germans were the best looking people, or I guess I could say the least "European". We arrived in Munich around 11:00am on Friday and had an adventure finidng our hotel. There was a group of about 8 of us and we had to get from the train station, to the subway, to our hotel. Eventually, we found it and it was well worth the trek. I was surprised to find a very nice hotel with down comforters, free breakfast and wonderful service for the small price we paid. Once we found our hotel we realized how hungry we were from all the traveling, so we immediately found a local BierGarten and ate some delicious sausage as you can see in the picture. Delicious! The next part of the day we spent on a bike tour with a company called Mike's Bikes and they were nothing compared to Fat Tire Bike Tours (who I went with in Paris). Even though their service was not as great, I still enjoyed seeing Munich. My favorite part was the English Gardens; this park is twice the size of Central Park and even has a nudist meadow. Along the tour we also learned a lot about the Bavarian region and Hitler's regime. At the end of the Bike Tour we stopped at the Chinese BierGarten and hung out; I have to say that I don't think that was the best choice for some people considering they serve liter beers. We had to make a few stops on the way home to help some people get back on their bikes...whoops. After the Bike Tour we found a great place for dinner where I ordered a not so great meal. Do not ever order a sausage salad here, for a mental picture imagine a bowl of cold, coin-sliced Spam. Blah! Luckily, everyone was kind enough to share their meals with me, so I got the try a wide variety of German dishes.
My Saturday started around 9:00am and I was thankful because that is the latest I have slept in about 3 weeks! Jen and I decided to visit Neuschwanstein Castle for the day while everyone else went on a walking tour of Munich. Little did we know this would be an all day trip, we had a 2 hour train ride to a picturesque mountain town called Fussen and 2 more bus rides to make it up to the castle. The train ride went by relatively fast though because we met someone from UT and had a lot to talk about. Finally, we made it up to the castle and the views were well worth the all day trek. For the first stop we went on Mary's Bridge where you can see the whole castle in the distance and the magnicient views. Then we walked around the castle and took in some more of the fantastic views. I think part of the mountains we were looking at are the Swiss Alps and I wish the pictures could have caputred the perfect blue color of the surrounding lakes. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, I would go back in a heartbeat and be more prepared for hiking, jeans and flats were not the best choice for this day. Around 5:00pm or so we made our way back to the train station to catch the train back to Munich and little did we know that we were about to miss the last one. Fortunately, we made it on the train just in time and did not end up stranded in the little mountain town. On the train ride home we sat by two girls from San Diego State. Meeting people from all over the world has been one of the best parts of my study abroad. Everyone has something different to offer and a new story to tell...I love it! When we returned to Munich, we ran into our newly found UT friends and invited them to hang out with our A&M group for the night because our group had decided to go on a Pub Crawl. The Pub Crawl was definitely not my first choice of how to spend the evening, but it ended up being a blast! We got to venture around Munich and embrace their wonderful techno tunes, it was interesting to create dance moves for this music...but we made it work hahah. And to top off the night, I started talking to one of the UT guys and found out he is buddy, buddy with all of the Bunker Hill Bunch; what a small world!
Sunday was a very somber day since we decided to visit Dachau, the concentration camp. I am not sure that this was the best choice for me, but I learned a lot. We had a guided tour and saw all of the camp from the barricks to the newly built monuments. The climax of the trip was when we went to visit the gas chamber and crematorium and I lost it and could not even walk through the building; this area reeks of death and drenched me in an overwhelming feeling of sorrow. During the whole tour I wondered at how any human could committ such heinous acts. The part I enjoyed the most was the final monument we saw and it said "Never Again" in 5 or 6 different languages, it was very powerful. Then we headed back to the hotel grabbed our belongings and got onto the train back to Strasbourg. But before we got on the train, I had one last sausage sandwhich. Yum!
I think I needed one more day in Munich to fully experience the city. I wanted to take a relaxing day, have a picnic in the English Gardens and hang out at the BierGartens. I also would have loved to meet more of the German people, especially the ones who still dress in the traditional lederhosen. Only a few more days and I will be home...yay for some sunshine and lake time!
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