As soon as class ended on Friday, we all ran for the bus stop unbelievably excited to visit Munich, Germany this weekend! We had heard so many awesome things about the city and were excited to experience the German culture.
After a fairly short and semi productive 7 hour train ride, we stepped out of the Muenchen train station and began our very short walk to our hostel. When we arrived at the Jaeger Hostel it was only customary to accept the free shot of Jaeger at check-in which surprisingly was not that bad?! As usual, we quickly unloaded our stuff before we were on our way to exploring the city.
I have to admit that my first impression of Munich wasn't all that great. The streets were filthy and filled with cigarette butts and the architecture reminded me of any other US city. I was hoping for the traditional Bavarian style buildings but had yet to see them. That night we met up with a large group of our friends, walked around Munich, and finally called it quits. As cheap college students, we elected to book the 40 person hostel room, which didn't turnout too bad since my bed was far in the back corner away from the light and front door, but I can't say it worked out all that great for many of my other friends.
The next morning we woke up and followed a recommendation from Jack's boss at GE to do a bike tour of the city through Mike's Bike Tours. What a great experience that was! Our tour guide, Chris, was from Australia and really made the tour interesting and fun. We stopped at many buildings along the way and learned more about Munich's history then we ever would have on our own. Unfortunately, so many of the traditional buildings have been destroyed in the various wars over time, but they've still managed to keep their history alive. One of my favorite aspects about this city was that any building built with glass represented a building that had been destroyed by war. This was their way of saying they accept their past and want to be translucent about it rather than cover it up. Another cool stop along the way was the famous Hofbrahaus where Hilter gave his infamous speech to begin the Nazi party. Munich was the city where the Nazi party was formed so a lot of its history was fairly recent. I wish we had been able to go outside of the city to the Dachau Concentration Camp but unfortunately we ran out of time.
During the bike tour we stopped at a beer garden and had a traditional German lunch of potatoes, bratwurst, beer and Bavarian pretzels. Following our great lunch, the tour took us through one of the largest parks in the world called the English gardens. There was a small section tucked away where the river flowing through had enough rocks and moving current to allow people to surf. They call it "surfing on the river" and apparently many celebrities have been seen there doing it including Jack Johnson :)
After our tour we all headed over to a little market in the main square where I bought some fresh cherries from Spain to munch on. We then climbed the stairs of the bell tower near Marienplatz where we got an amazing view of the city. Soon after we ate dinner at the famous Hobrahaus beer hall (which is like a giant restaurant that consists of huge tables, traditional German food and music, and beer by the liter.) I again ate sausage, potato salad and beer for dinner that night. On our way back we fulfilled Jacks desire to go to a casino where we spent 30 minutes and 10€ on learning how to use the German gambling machines.
The next morning we truly were part of a fairytale as we took a two hour train ride to the quaint town of Fuessen, Germany. As the train pulled up to the town we sat in awe as we stared out the window at the beautiful lake and greenery that we passed. We took a 5 minute taxi ride up the mountain and hiked the remaining 45 minutes to the Neuschwanstein Castle. This day will most likely be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The Neuschwanstein Castle was the model for Disney's Sleeping Beauty and was absolutely beautiful. The views of the castle, the surrounding woods, waterfalls, lakes, and towns were just breath-taking. We stopped on our way at a little restaurant where we got bratwurst sandwiches and fries then headed up the mountain to the castle. We found so many incredible photo spots and views that just left us in awe. We were told by two very nice German siblings on the train ride there to make sure you go to the bottom of the waterfall. We spent about 20 minutes looking when we finally ran into the "No Trespassing Sign". We knew we couldn't miss the opportunity they described so we wiggled our bodies around the fence and found ourselves at a massive flight of stairs in the woods leading to the bottom of the waterfall right below the castle. (Don't worry, Mom, there were lots of other people down there too). We spent about an hour just playing in the water, taking pictures, and enjoying the scenery. We then headed to the bridge that provides the most breath-taking views of the castle. Following all of our sightseeing we took a 40 minute tour through the inside of Neuschwanstein where we learned about the history of the castle and its' rulers.
We stopped at a quaint pizza place for dinner then headed on the train at 6pm to leave Fuessen. Luckily there was a group of about 10 other GTL students on the same train route as us since we had about 6 layovers, one being 4 hours from 11pm-3am. After cramming 7 people into a 3 bed couchette on the train and sleeping on the floor of the Salzburg train station (cuddling our belongings) we finally made it home at 6am Monday morning. Just enough time to get an hour of sleep before our 8:30 am Electronics and Circuits class.
Overall, it was an AMAZING experience and an AMAZING city.
Next weekend: Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic!
Details:
Fri, May 23rd, - Sat, May 24th : Munich, Germany
Sun, May 25th : Neuschwanstein Castle
Hostel: Jaeger Hostel, 40 person dorm room
After a fairly short and semi productive 7 hour train ride, we stepped out of the Muenchen train station and began our very short walk to our hostel. When we arrived at the Jaeger Hostel it was only customary to accept the free shot of Jaeger at check-in which surprisingly was not that bad?! As usual, we quickly unloaded our stuff before we were on our way to exploring the city.
I have to admit that my first impression of Munich wasn't all that great. The streets were filthy and filled with cigarette butts and the architecture reminded me of any other US city. I was hoping for the traditional Bavarian style buildings but had yet to see them. That night we met up with a large group of our friends, walked around Munich, and finally called it quits. As cheap college students, we elected to book the 40 person hostel room, which didn't turnout too bad since my bed was far in the back corner away from the light and front door, but I can't say it worked out all that great for many of my other friends.
The next morning we woke up and followed a recommendation from Jack's boss at GE to do a bike tour of the city through Mike's Bike Tours. What a great experience that was! Our tour guide, Chris, was from Australia and really made the tour interesting and fun. We stopped at many buildings along the way and learned more about Munich's history then we ever would have on our own. Unfortunately, so many of the traditional buildings have been destroyed in the various wars over time, but they've still managed to keep their history alive. One of my favorite aspects about this city was that any building built with glass represented a building that had been destroyed by war. This was their way of saying they accept their past and want to be translucent about it rather than cover it up. Another cool stop along the way was the famous Hofbrahaus where Hilter gave his infamous speech to begin the Nazi party. Munich was the city where the Nazi party was formed so a lot of its history was fairly recent. I wish we had been able to go outside of the city to the Dachau Concentration Camp but unfortunately we ran out of time.
During the bike tour we stopped at a beer garden and had a traditional German lunch of potatoes, bratwurst, beer and Bavarian pretzels. Following our great lunch, the tour took us through one of the largest parks in the world called the English gardens. There was a small section tucked away where the river flowing through had enough rocks and moving current to allow people to surf. They call it "surfing on the river" and apparently many celebrities have been seen there doing it including Jack Johnson :)
After our tour we all headed over to a little market in the main square where I bought some fresh cherries from Spain to munch on. We then climbed the stairs of the bell tower near Marienplatz where we got an amazing view of the city. Soon after we ate dinner at the famous Hobrahaus beer hall (which is like a giant restaurant that consists of huge tables, traditional German food and music, and beer by the liter.) I again ate sausage, potato salad and beer for dinner that night. On our way back we fulfilled Jacks desire to go to a casino where we spent 30 minutes and 10€ on learning how to use the German gambling machines.
The next morning we truly were part of a fairytale as we took a two hour train ride to the quaint town of Fuessen, Germany. As the train pulled up to the town we sat in awe as we stared out the window at the beautiful lake and greenery that we passed. We took a 5 minute taxi ride up the mountain and hiked the remaining 45 minutes to the Neuschwanstein Castle. This day will most likely be one of the most amazing experiences of my life. The Neuschwanstein Castle was the model for Disney's Sleeping Beauty and was absolutely beautiful. The views of the castle, the surrounding woods, waterfalls, lakes, and towns were just breath-taking. We stopped on our way at a little restaurant where we got bratwurst sandwiches and fries then headed up the mountain to the castle. We found so many incredible photo spots and views that just left us in awe. We were told by two very nice German siblings on the train ride there to make sure you go to the bottom of the waterfall. We spent about 20 minutes looking when we finally ran into the "No Trespassing Sign". We knew we couldn't miss the opportunity they described so we wiggled our bodies around the fence and found ourselves at a massive flight of stairs in the woods leading to the bottom of the waterfall right below the castle. (Don't worry, Mom, there were lots of other people down there too). We spent about an hour just playing in the water, taking pictures, and enjoying the scenery. We then headed to the bridge that provides the most breath-taking views of the castle. Following all of our sightseeing we took a 40 minute tour through the inside of Neuschwanstein where we learned about the history of the castle and its' rulers.
We stopped at a quaint pizza place for dinner then headed on the train at 6pm to leave Fuessen. Luckily there was a group of about 10 other GTL students on the same train route as us since we had about 6 layovers, one being 4 hours from 11pm-3am. After cramming 7 people into a 3 bed couchette on the train and sleeping on the floor of the Salzburg train station (cuddling our belongings) we finally made it home at 6am Monday morning. Just enough time to get an hour of sleep before our 8:30 am Electronics and Circuits class.
Overall, it was an AMAZING experience and an AMAZING city.
Next weekend: Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic!
Details:
Fri, May 23rd, - Sat, May 24th : Munich, Germany
Sun, May 25th : Neuschwanstein Castle
Hostel: Jaeger Hostel, 40 person dorm room