prost!

Hello!

As of today it's been a month and a half since arrival in London Town. Crazy! Time has flown and my money has gone just as quickly but now that I think about it, I've done so much. From sightseeing all over the city, to museums, markets and shopping, the Beatles Tour, a trip to Oxford, nights out with friends, a wonderful trip to Galway and Dublin.. and most recently, three days in Munich, Germany!

First thing's first: slumber party in the airport.

Never again. Fun for the first 10 minutes but that's about it. All of the chairs were taken up so we popped a squat on the nice, cold, hard ground. A thin raincoat made due as a blanket and a bundled up towel as a pillow. 1 hour of sleep later and it was time to board the plane. but not without rewarding ourselves with our favorite Spoons' English Breakfast. When we arrived at the airport we were adopted by a German woman who told us that by purchasing group train tickets with her, we can save 5 euros.. so on that note, she whisked us onto the train and into the city, directing us toward our hostel. Thankfully we had her, because at point we had to switch trains due to a closure on one of the lines.

We stayed at Wombats hostel which was a 2 minute walk from the train station and less than a 10 minute walk from the main part of Munich (Marienplatz). Our hostel was awesome! The beds were super comfy, the rooms were clean and spacious, the room had it's own bathroom we shared with the 3 other girls already in the room (all of whom were really nice and respectful). After getting settled we walked toward the city center, taking pictures right and left. Here are a few!

New City Hall, the Glockenspiel (second most overrated attraction in Europe)

me, Jackie and Jen!

start of the Viktualienmarkt

Jen and I with our giant pretzel!

on our way back to the hostel later that evening

Lots of photos! Munich was such a cool looking city... so different from anything I've ever seen. Even though a lot has been rebuilt since World War II, I could still get a sense of the city's original appearance and feeling. You definitely get a different feeling in each of the cities you visit... Ireland was magical, Munich felt first of all, historically significant, second of all, just unique and fun because of the Bavarian culture.

We grabbed dinner at a beer hall across from the world famous Hofbrauhaus. I got the spaetzle for dinner.. a German cheese pasta dish with onions on top. YUM. Marie recommended I try the spaetzle in Germany so I had to, and I was not disappointed. We also got a taste of our first Augustiner beer. Also delicious.

Then it was back to the hostel and into bed after an exhausting day. On Friday we headed to Dachau training camp with the Sandeman's New Europe tour company. What a sobering, depressing experience. Some of Dachau was rebuilt, but it nevertheless retained its distinctive aura.

translates to "work will make you free"

gas chamber/crematorium

memorial at the camp

I'm happy we took the tour because our guide knew a lot of random, unique information we otherwise wouldn't have learned, but at the same time, because we were on a strict schedule, we didn't have the opportunity to look at the displays in the museums. I've always been interested in the Holocaust and wish I had the chance to linger in the museum longer.

On Saturday we joined another Sandeman's tour: the free walking tour of Munich. 

The tour brought us to a few sights we missed on Thursday, but when we arrived at the Hofbrauhaus stop on the tour, me, Jackie and Jen decided to get out of the rain and cold weather, leave the tour and grab lunch at the Hofbrauhaus. We all got bratwursts along with the liter... not sure how people have more than one of these babies... sure does fill you up!

That concludes our Munich trip! I think we were there for the perfect amount of time... I never once felt bored, but I also didn't feel rushed or stressed. We did all we wanted to do (minus seeing the Neuschwanstein Castle aka Sleeping Beauty castle) and had a lot of fun. I actually kinda miss it! My visit to Munich definitely convinced me to pursue plans to go to Berlin. I'm not done with Germany yet!

There was one down of the trip: the language. I wish I knew more German because only knowing how to say "thank you" (danke) didn't get me very far. It was especially awkward when on multiple occasions people started speaking German to us and we couldn't answer! I learned my lesson and will try to learn more than one word of the language whenever I visit a non-English speaking country.

It's hard to compare my experiences in Germany and Ireland.. they were both so different. I love love love both places and wish I could return to either of them. I think the rushed feeling I had in Ireland made the Germany trip a little better, but otherwise, I had memorable experiences in both places. I still can't believe I'm living this life.. I was in Ireland, London and Munich.. all in a 7 day span!

But just like my return from Ireland, my return from Germany was with much relief to be back in the great city of London. I am still so happy to be here!

On a few other notes: Mel (a Marquette friend who is studying in Sevilla Spain) is coming to visit me in 2 weeks! It'll be a busy few days because I'm going to want to show her absolutely everything... an expensive few days at that... but it'll give me another big dose of the city I love so much!

Also, me and Alex spontaneously booked a bus ticket to Glasgow this weekend. Call us crazy, but we're taking a midnight bus Friday night, getting in Glasgow Saturday morning, then taking the bus back to London Saturday night at midnight. Yes. 24 hours in Glasgow, two nights on a bus. We're not crazy for trying to save some money and still see Scotland, but two nights on a bus is going to be an adventure. Hey, at least it's not an airport floor.

I'm trying to figure out the rest of my travel plans because the funds are dwindling but my list of places to go is still pretty long. ahhh! I wish I could go everywhere but unfortunately... no can do. Time to cross some things off the list.

That's that. I'll update later this week!

xxxx