The night before departure I received an email saying the
tour guide for the trip’s flight got delayed so I’d either have to go to Prague
instead or cancel the trip altogether. This was extremely disappointing, but
with a few emails and phone calls we convinced Euroadventures to just organize
the transportation and hotel for us and drop us off in Munich without a planned
schedule and without a tour guide… which I preferred anyway!
Thursday night around 8pm (March 22nd), I
wheeled my suitcase through the cobblestone streets of Florence to the Santa
Maria Novella train station across town and snagged a seat on the bus. I’m
really surprised by how much my suitcase has been through and that it’s still
surviving. Thank God! The bus ride was a long eight hours, driving through
northern Italy and part of Austria, to the doorstep of our hotel in downtown
Munich. It was 4am when we checked in and we were able to sleep a few hours
before starting the day.
Euroadventures bumped us up from hostel accommodations to
a hotel, and the breakfast alone definitely showed the difference. It was the
best, most unique breakfast I’d ever had! As much as I love Italian food, I was
dying to have something different for a while. I didn’t think there was much
variety in German food, but I was pleasantly surprised. The breakfast consisted
of multiple types of cereals – granola, cornflakes, etc. - dried fruit, yogurts,
hams, cheeses, vegetables (including pickles! Italy seems to not know they
exist…), pastries, croissants, pretzels… is your mouth watering yet? I
certainly ate more than enough and tried everything at least once. One of my
goals throughout this trip has been to try as much foreign food as I can from
every culture I experience. So far everything has been wonderful!
We had a lot to do in two and a half days and thankfully
my friends had done a little planning beforehand. It was also nice that
Katherine knows German so we were able to communicate better with everyone. We
made our way to the city center first to watch the huge clock tower (called the
Glockenspiel) strike 11 o’clock and play music while the figurines rotated and
spun around. Apparently it had become a huge tourist attraction as was evident
by the crowds of people gathered around to watch. The rest of the city center
was gorgeous and extremely clean. I especially liked the large fresh fruit,
vegetable and flower markets we found at Viktualienmarket. Again, I was
surprised at the variety in German foods – I was honestly expecting a diet of
sausage, potatoes and beer for my stay there, which definitely is delicious,
but not so healthy. But the market had everything you could think of (more
pickles!) and then some. There was also a cute outside café, and with their
plate of lunch, I swear EVERYONE had a huge glass of beer – even the little old
ladies. It was fantastic!
Next we split up – Katherine went to explore the art
museums while Lindsay, Molly and I headed to Dachau concentration camp. It took
a while to figure out transportation but with the help of a few nice locals we
got our tickets and were on our way. The transportation in Munich was great –
our group train ticket was good for the metro, tram and bus as well and could
be used the entire day! Everything was prompt as well, so we had no trouble
making the best use of our time there.
The concentration camp was a completely different
experience compared to the tourists sites I had been visiting, but I felt like
it was an important part in history that I had to see. It was located in a huge
open space inside a quiet German town. There was a somber feeling throughout
and everything looked the same as it had during its use, with a few less
buildings and barracks. The gate to the entrance displayed a phrase in German
that translated to something like “Work Sets You Free”, which was obviously a
misleading message to all who entered. We did an audio guided tour throughout.
It was such a weird feeling walking through areas where executions were carried
out and marches had been conducted. We also saw what the barracks looked like and
walked through the process leading up to the gas showers. I honestly hadn’t
heard much about Dachau before I went, but the experience helped me understand
so much more than what textbooks could about the Holocaust.
It was nearing the end of our first day when we all met
back up for dinner. We decided to eat at the world famous Hoffbrauhaus (I kept
thinking my friends were saying “Opera House” all day). It’s a huge beer hall
with long tables, live music and the most warm, welcoming atmosphere. I knew as
soon as I walked in I would love the place! We found empty spots at a table
next to two American couples, right in front of the band. It’s a pretty popular
tourist attraction so we expected to see a few more Americans there than we had
elsewhere. For dinner I ordered bratwurst and German potato salad, with a huge
raddler – which is half lemonade, half beer. German beer may have changed my
mind about the beverage I usually disliked. It was delicious! And the largest
glass I’d ever had. I finished it all! Even though it technically was only half
beer, I’d still like to think my German ancestors would be proud. Haha!
As we finished our dinner and were getting ready to
leave, an elderly drunk man grabbed Lindsay’s hand as she passed the table and
began to introduce her to his “grandsons”. She called me over and we chatted
with them for a bit but were hesitant to stay. We grabbed the other girls and
decided to sit a while with the guys. I struck up a conversation with Oliver, a
guy who had traveled to Munich from northern Germany just to party a little
with his friends. We talked about everything from politics to religion to
fashion. I noticed he was wearing a Hollister sweatshirt which I was curious
about because I had noticed a lot of European guys wearing the American brand.
He said brands like Hollister and Abercrombie are extremely popular in Europe
and pretty pricey – he paid 80 euro for his. I thought it was funny that people
wait in long lines to buy those brands in Europe, brands that were popular when
I was in middle and high school. We talked for around two hours and it was one
of the best conversations I’ve had with a European so far. He knew English so
well compared to Italians I’ve interacted with and I felt bad for not knowing
any German. It also didn’t hurt that he was pretty attractive. I was intrigued,
needless to say. :)
Our trip the next day was what I was most excited for. We
took a train through the beautiful green and foresty German countryside to
Fussen, a small town just outside Munich where Neuschwanstein Castle is tucked
away in the mountains. We woke up pretty early and were all tired – poor
Lindsay kept falling asleep everywhere. The two little old German ladies next
to me on the train thought it was hysterical when I snuck photos of her.
When our train arrived we took a bus up through the
mountains and had a better view of the castle. Sadly, part of it was covered by
scaffolding so we couldn’t see the beauty in its entirety. But it was
magnificent and I can definitely see why Walt Disney was so inspired by it. The
castle was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was actually never finished.
The colors – oranges, pinks, whites, grays - made it look like a castle
straight out of a fairytale! I was deeply saddened that we couldn’t take the
horse drawn carriage up the mountain to the castle. Wouldn’t that have been
perfect?! But we had to hike instead. And a gorgeous hike it was! We had a
great view of the countryside, forest and snow covered mountains. Halfway there
it began to rain on us. There was something so thrilling about watching the
dark storm clouds roll in and us having to run and take shelter in a castle.
Like something out of a fantasy movie – it was one of those happenings you’d only
day dream about.
The tour throughout was brief since there were only
certain rooms and floors open to the public. Everything was so fairytale like
that I kept forgetting an actual king lived there. One room had a Tristan and
Isolde theme, another was built to resemble a cave, and another had swans
everywhere. Apparently the King was nuts about swans ever since he was a child.
Leaving, we caught the bus just in time to miss the next storm and make our way
back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.
To continue with our German beer drinking experiences, we
decided to have dinner at Lowenbraukeller, another beer hall that is part of
Starkbierfest. It was a huge hall full of tables and a stage, along with a
second floor, which is where we sat. It eventually was packed with Germans all
in Bavarian costume. The festival isn’t as well known as Oktoberfest, so it was
nice to not be around tourists and see what German life was like on a typical
night. This time I ordered a full liter of beer and it was just as good without
the lemonade! I imagine if I had studied abroad in Germany I’d have
ridiculously good arm strength; it was such a struggle lifting my stein for
every picture and every sip!
As the night went on there was a German band playing, a
beautiful woman contest and a strongest man contest. We eventually joined a
group of rowdy English and Irish men who were sitting at the table next to
ours. They were in Munich celebrating their friend’s bachelor party. I never would
have thought the English to be wild and loud drunks, but they were crazier than
some of the Americans and “bros” I’ve seen partying back home. At one point,
one of them spilled their beer on a German guy sitting nearby, who then turned
around with a glare like he was about to kill someone. But a few drinks later,
all was merry and well.
For some reason I was singled out by the groom to be
picked on for the night. It was my first encounter with British humor… which
basically consists of making fun of someone or trying to get under their skin,
in a very slapstick and sarcastic manner. So he kept calling me by a different
name, even though he knew it was Carly, or he kept pretending to give me a high
five and then pull his hand away. Silly stuff like that, which probably was
partially due to his drunkenness as well. It was just sort of… bizarre. If I
hadn’t known he was kidding around, I would have been really annoyed. But every
now and then he’d say “you know I’m kidding” or “I’m glad you’re taking this in
good heart”. And eventually towards the end of the night – after he reappeared
from a drunken disappearance caused by several consecutive shots – he bought me
a drink and we had a bit of “real talk” on the restaurant’s terrace. I had another
cool conversation with one of the guys who lived in London. I was talking about
how much I liked the city and that I was excited to return in a few months. He
told me places I must go to and wrote down some British slang on a napkin for
me so that I’d be a little clued in on the conversation.
By the end of the night, the entire place was so lively.
Everyone was dancing – on chairs, tables, the floor – or they were sitting down
having conversations with big grins on their faces, still drinking the beer
like water. Walking back to the hotel I had such a great feeling and was
already starting to think Munich was my favorite trip so far.
Our last day in Munich, we had only half a day to explore
before heading back to Florence. We took the subway out to the Olympic Stadium.
Unfortunately the stadium was closed to visitors, but we were able to see the
swimming, soccer and hockey arenas. We then climbed a huge hill in a nearby
park and had a great view into the stadium where the 1972 Olympics were held.
We still had time to kill before we had to go back to the hotel, so we decided
to go to the BMW factory and museum that was right next door. The museum was
massive and so innovative, with touch screen and interactive... everything. There
were cars, motorcycles, engines and inventions from the company from all eras.
And in the modern part of the museum we were able to sit on several motorcycles
and cars. We couldn’t drive them, but it was a great photo opportunity!
We made it back just in time for the bus to pick us up.
It was full of students who had gone to Prague for the weekend, and everyone pretended
to be asleep so they wouldn’t have to give up their seats for us. Such a
familiar atmosphere had returned. Ha. The ride back was beautiful as we drove
through Austria and the Alps. Austria was one country I wanted to visit but I
figured with seeing Germany and later the Czech Republic, I wasn’t missing
much. I tried to keep my mind off the fact that I had three research papers due
in the next days. I instead was looking forward to spring break that was a week
away, and all the trips I had planned!
Here are more pictures from my time in Germany!
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