Germany

May 23, 2004

After a whirlwind orientation in Rome and 4 days packed with school and other activities, I decided to take advantage of the group trip to Munich, Germany!

Thursday, May 20, the bus departed for Munich, Germany at around 2:30. A 30 minute walk to the train station got me there just in time to hop on the bus for our 7 hour bus ride to Munich. The ride was long, but we watched movies :) We finally pulled up to the Easy Palace hostel in Munich around 10 p.m. and I went to bed right away :)

Friday morning started early. Breakfast at the cafe next door and another 2.5 hour bus ride to the Neuswanstein Castle, a beautful castle on the top of a big rock overlooking the germany countryside. It just happens to be THE castle Mr. Walt Disney used as a model for castles at his themeparks. We started with a hike through the woods up the back trail to the castle, but found out soon after that it was closed because of safetly concerns. The priests, being cautious of angry phone calls from parents (but not caring much about our well being) decided against breaking through the barrier that separated us from the trail. (I was kidding about them not caring--they are taking very good care of us). A 30 minute hike up one very steep hill left us not only completely out of breath, but also at a bridge built over a waterfall and with a view of the castle with the German countryside in the background. It was amazing :)

Back on the bus, we drove to Dachau, the concentration camp used by the Nazis in WWII. I was disappointed that the museum was closed because I think it would have added a lot to the experience, but the buildings were quite enough to humble anyone. Many of the buildings have since been torn down or fallen down because of their poor construction, but it wasn't at all difficult to imagine the horrific conditions they lived in. Walking through the camp, it was hard to imagine that soldiers described the place as a "hell on Earth" when they found it because the flowers, trees, and grass that have since been planted seemed to wipe away any sign of misfortune. Sure the buildings were there, but all that was left of the people were a couple of signs and 4 mass grave markers. No doubt that the museum had a lot more information to offer, but like I said before--it was closed.

Friday night was spent at a large Beer Hall, which was quite appropriate considering we were in the beer capital of the world. It was called the Hofbrauhaus and has been providing 64 oz. steins of beer to all lords and ladies since 1589. The huge hall consisted of one huge room filled with oversized wooden tables and benches, over 300 people, and more sweat, noise, and second-hand smoke than you can imagine. It is kind of a free-for-all in choosing seats--many people ended up sitting next to strangers--because you squeeze in wherever you can find room. To say the least, it was a great experience--so great in fact, that almost everyone went back for seconds the following night, but I'll get to that later.

Saturday was both wonderful and wretched. Wonderful because it was the first day probably since we arrived in Rome that we had completely free with nothing at all planned. Wretched because it was rainy and windy and freezing freezing cold. After a long night at the HB (Hofbrauhaus), we voted to get on our feet right away in the morning. First we headed to the Deutch Museum, a huge 6 story building crammed with any and all science, technology, engineering, and industry related exhibit imaginable. My favorite were the astronomy and anatomy sections. I won't bore you with details, but needless to say I had a lot of fun being a kid again. We got lost in the mine exhibit too. It was on the lowest floor, which I believe was 2 stories underground and went on FOREVER. We either missed the exit signs or kept taking wrong turns because we spent a good 2 hours wondering around the exhibit. The remainder of the day was spent in Munich walking, talking, and enjoying eachothers company. It was so cold that I had to buy a long sleeved shirt to add to my four layers I was already wearing...gloves and my down coat would have been appropriate.

Munich is a wonderful city. Very different from Florence in that it is much more technologically up to date, but there is definitely a historical aspect that is very prevalent in all the buildings. The culture is also very alive. Not only did the HB offer a wonderfully exciting atmosphere, but it also provided authentic German (Bavarian, maybe?) music! And walking around the open-air market downtown, there were brautworsts and saurkraut at every corner. Like I briefly mentioned before, we returned to the HB for a second night on Saturday. I, however, could not handle the smoke and gladly went to bed early :)

Sunday's long 7 hour bus ride was started in Salsburg, Austria. We drove from Munich to Salsburg (where it also was very cold and rainy) in hopes of taking the Sound of Music tour. Salsburg is the home to Mozart and the filming location of The Sound of Music. Unfortunately, the weather interrupted our plans for the Sound of Music, so Mozart was the alternative. We toured his family's home and took a very cold stroll around the town for the remainder of our alloted time there. Again, very different from Italy, but beautiful all the same. There was a sense of timelessness there, one I have never felt before. It seemed to be like the quaint little town Belle described in Beauty and the Beast ("...there goes the baker with his tray like always..."). I am not sure why I know the words to that song or why I had the incling to mention it, but if you watch it, you'll know what I mean. Or, the more logical option would be to watch The Sound of Music...:/

We returned late on Sunday night, around 9:30. But I am safe and sound and glad to be back at Manola's House :)