Munchkin

Friday, May 25: It was a busy week at school. It's weird going back to a full class day like in high school, after having spaced out classes for three years. Anyways, this weekend's trip was to Munich. We had a bit bigger group this time: Jeff and I, plus 3 of our new sigma chi friends, Danal, Andrew, and Mike. We were all on the same train, leaving Metz at midnight, arriving in Munich at 7:15 the next morning. We were planning on hanging out in Metz for a little bit, before getting on the train, but wemissed the last bus to the train station at 9:00 and were going to have to wait for another hour for the night line. We still had plenty of time, so we decided to walk. We found a neat little wine bar near the station and had a local beer. They bar was slow so the bartender sat with us and him and Jeff had a conversation in French. After that we made our way to the station to board the train. Jeff and I had reservations for a couchette, which is a small room in a train car that has 6 bunk beds. They are a must for overnight trips. When we boarded, there were already four people in our little room. 3 guys from Miami, Ohio and 1 random guy who sat in his bed and played on his phone all night. We chatted with them for a while and then hit the hay, getting well rested for Germany the next day.

Saturday, May 26, "Hofbrauhaus Day": We woke up at around 7, just before the train came to a halt at the main station in Munich, Muechen Hoptbahnhof. We rendezvoused with the rest of our group, who were a little groggy from the ride. They had decided on just sitting in regular seats instead of a couchette, and that, along with what sounded like some pretty interesting folks in their train-room, led to not a great night's sleep. We made our way out of the station to our hostel, which was a YMCA in the immigrant part of town, only a 5 min. walk. We checked in, dropped our bags, and picked up some brochures and maps of the city. We all decided that we would take the short train to Dachau, to check out a major piece of WWII history. After a about a 20 min. train ride and a 10 minute bus ride, we found our way to the concentration camp memorial site. We signed up for an English speaking tour at 11, for only 3 euro. It was a 2.5 hour tour through the whole camp. Our guide was a German-native with a thick accent, but a very vast wealth of knowledge. He gave us a ton of historical, political, and logistical facts of the camp in a new perspective, that I wouldn't have had if we had just walked around ourselves. It was a very enlightening experience to walk a plot of land, so rich in recent history, but so haunting at the same time. These are some of the more moving pictures that I took that morning. I'll try to explain as best I can in the captions.

(This quote was on the gate, as prisoners would enter the camp. It means "Work will set you free.")

(A hallway of single holding cells for prisoners receiving further punishment. Our guide referred to them as about the size an upright coffin. They would stay in there no less than 42 days.)

(Inside the barracks. The buildings were originally built and sized to hold 200 prisoners. Not long after, they housed 2,000.)

(A fake shower room, complete with fake faucets, where prisoners were led to be gassed.)

(Furnaces in the crematorium.)

(A memorial sculpture to the survivors, "Into the Wire".)

While the whole experience was moving, it was very dark, and it was time for something a little more light hearted. The sun was shining bright and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the best day we have seen in Europe so far. After the easy commute back to the central station, we set out to the Englischer Garden, a large park in the center of the city. We made our way through Marienplatz, a bustling shopping street, in the center of which lies a big beautiful building that is a landmark in the city. 

We found our way through the city to the park, thanks to my trusty map handling skills and set out in search of a classic German Biergarten. The park was beautiful, as well as massive. We wandered for about an hour and only made it about a fifth of the way through it. We stumbled upon some river surfing, a game of cricket, and an enormous open field with hundreds of people picnicking, tossing frisbee, and just laying around.

(Rushing water under this bridge hits a ridge in the canal to slow it down and it creates this wave.)

We finally found a small biergarten on the border of the park, a small branch of the big boy in town, Hofbrauhaus. We drank a liter of lager, and relaxed at big picnic table with some other travelers. After this, we headed back into town to have dinner and drink more at the main Hofbrauhaus, the royal (government owned) brewhouse. We found a big table and sat ourselves. We ordered a round of beers for the 5 of us. We tried the dark lager, which they call Dunkel, and it was oh so delicious. We ordered dinner, Mike and I very excited for a big plate of sausage and sauerkraut. Another group of GTL students met us there and sat at an adjacent table. We had another round, and enjoyed the experience of a big German brewhouse. Most of the other group left, except for one girl, Cara, who was staying in the room with the sigma chi's at our hostel and was joining our band of merry men for the rest of the weekend. Here are some photographs.

(From left to right: Me, Jeff, Cara, Danal, Andrew, Mike)

We left at about 10:30 and went back to the hostel to grab some jackets. We had 3 man rooms, and Jeff and I found our roommate, Mason, getting ready for bed. He was a Chinese student, studying in Edinburgh, Scotland. We invited him to come join us at a hookah bar down the street.

(Mason exhaling like a champion)

We returned to the hostel and climbed in bed after an incredible first day in Germany. 

Sunday, May 27th, "Augustiner Day": We woke up at about 8, showered and headed downstairs for a continental breakfast of deli meat, cheese, kaiser rolls, fruit, cereal, coffee and orange juice. After feeling well energized we decided on going up to the Bavarian alps, to check out Neuschwanstein, the magnificent Cinderella castle. We had originally thought there was a short 30 minute train from the city, but the attendant at the front desk informed us that we were mistaken. The trip would require a 3 hour regional train ride with a train change  in the middle. We agreed it would be worth it, so the now 7 of us (Mason included), headed to the train station. This is where I would like to comment on the incredible usefulness of the Eurail pass. We just hop on the train at each stop, flash our pass as the attendant comes by, and are on our way. No hassle, no additional transportation cost. Besides the whopping total of 3 euros for our bus rides to Dachau and up the mountain to Neuschwanstein, taking the rail and walking through city led us to zero cost of transport for the whole weekend. Back to our journey. We boarded our train at 8:42, just in time for its 8:45 departure. The train was packed, so must of us had to split up. I found a small fold down seat by myself in the front of the train car where people store there bikes. I sat in between a younger (25-30) couple and a pair 

of Asian travelers. I overheard the guys next to me talking quietly and thought I heard something familiar. "Oh yes," I thought. "That's Japanese." I immediately seized the opportunity. "Nihongo de hanashteimasuka?" I asked, meaning, "Are you speaking Japanese?" Both of their faces immediately lit up, so surprised to hear their native language coming from the mouth of a young American. I had an awesome conversation with them about, traveling, learning the language, among other things. It was so cool to finally be able to use my years of study for something other than school, and who would've guessed this chance would come in Germany? After that I turned to the couple and asked them if they too were going to see Neuschwanstein. They weren't, but rather riding the train through our first stop, to his apartment on the outside of the city. They were from Boston, and he was studying beer brewing in Munich for a few months, with hopes to return home and join the elite team of brew masters at Samuel Adams. We talked of beer craft, music, European travelling, and they told me about a neat little bar in Prague that is known to have the best IPA in Europe. Boarding the over crowded train turned into the best rail trip I've had to date. We got off the train at Keurbering (or something like that), and had a 45 minute layover until our train into Fussen, the small town at the foot of Neuschwanstein. We left the station just to wander around the town for a bit and check out a small dose of Germany. We crossed a road about 200 yards down from the station and I pointed out what looked like a neat little park. We went down the stairs and into the coolest little place that we just happen to stumble upon. I'll let the pictures do the talking here.

(Mason was a great photographer)

(Swans, ducks, and decent sized trout littered the stream)

(Mini Neuschwanstein on the mini Rhine River)

We were so proud of ourselves for being adventurous and finding that. We made it back to the station in time, but it was much different than when we had left it. There were swarms of young German teenagers in traditional garb. Lederhosen and the whole shebang. They loaded onto the train with huge boxes of beer, heading to a festival halfway to Fussen, drinking and laughing the whole way. It was hilarious.

Jeff and I got seats with a Swiss father and daughter, also headed to check out the castle for their long weekend. He had loud hearty laugh, spoke decent English and acted as translator for his daughter, who was amazed that you have to be 21 to drink in America. He told us about some really neat things to do in Switzerland, and showed us some pictures from his recent trip to Mexico. They were a fun pair to ride with.  

We made it to Fussen at about noon, after a beautiful ride through German farmland and great view of the Alps in the distance. Jeff, Andrew, and Mason were ready for lunch, so we split up and made our separate ways to the castle. Danal, Cara, Mike, and I boarded the bus and headed up to the base of the trail. Once we got there, we could see the the castle in the distance. A bit disappointed, as all we could see was scaffolding up the walls for some sort of renovation.  

Nevertheless, we headed up the trail, about 20 minutes to the castle. When we got there, there was an incredible overlook of the town below on a crystal blue lake, as well the castle just above, and yes, not covered in construction.

We made our way up to the castle to find that the next open tour of the inside wasn't until 6. Mason's train ticket was for the train leaving at 4, so we decided to keep hiking and make the most of our time and gorgeous scenery. We came up to another overlook of a smaller castle and lake down below. I'll steal a couple photos from Jefferson, as their group went to base of this castle. 

(Panoramic setting on Jeff's camera is boss.)

Most of our group pictures were on someone else's camera, so I'll add those later once I can get them from Cara or Danal. We kept going the trail to a bridge that crossed the big gorge and had an overlook of Neuschwanstein. Truly spectacular.

Words can't describe the view from this spot, but I'll try. Huge mountains shooting up both sides and a glorious look and the extravagance of the "Cinderella Castle." There were a lot of people on the bridge and I could feel the boards moving as we walked. If I have some small bit of acrophobia, I was definitely feeling it here. My hands were drenched with sweat when we came off. 

We made our way back down and proceeded to do something a bit naughty... We passed a door underneath the main castle where people were exiting from their tours. A sign said "NO ENTRY EXIT ONLY." Needless to say we entered. We swam upstream against people going the right way, and worked our way up into the castle. We ventured through the twisting bowels of Neuschwanstein, and came upon the castle's kitchen, lined with shiny copper pots. We then came up on a room on one of the walls of the castle, and I got a picture of the bridge where we standing earlier, from the viewpoint of a castle dweller. We then made our way up into the first room we had seem yet that was heavily decorated and extravagant. Right when I was about to break out my camera and get some pictures, one of the ladies working there saw us going the complete opposite direction of everyone else, and asked us what we were doing. I told her we were on our tour earlier and I had left my camera somewhere. She seemed a bit suspicious, but after a clever tale, she kindly pointed us in the direction of the lost and found. We then headed back out knowing we had gone as far as we were going to, giggling at our small bit of mischief. 

Great times. We journeyed back down the winding trail, content with our visit, only to be stopped in our tracks by the second greatest aroma I've ever smelled (freshly opened can of tennis balls still ranks first). Think of funnel cake times about a billion. They were called "snowballs". Little fried pastries covered in powder sugar. The 3 guys each got a few, 3 for 2 euro. Cara was content with her apple. 

We continued down the mountain, and I found a tree with a butthole. 

Once we got to the bus stop, we decided that it would be more worth our time to just walk the rest of the 3.5 km back into Fussen, since we had the time before our train. Here are some pictures from the walk.

(Cara skipping through a field)

(Yak!)

(Amazing scenery the whole way, that I completely missed on the bus up. This silty river was a very weird almost grey/white color.)

Once we got into Fussen, we still had a little time for lunch. We found a small little restaurant that sold kebabs (giant slab of lamb that is seared and shaved off onto a sandwich roll, much like a gyro) and had a beer to reward ourselves for the extra walk. We reunited with our whole group at the station and everyone swapped stories of their unforgettable day at Neuschwanstein. After we arrived back in Munich, we returned to the hostel to rest and get rid of some extra weight before going back out into town. Mason made his own way to check out some sights, while we headed back towards the Englischer Garden. We found a smaller park with a biergarten, tucked underneath some trees. It was a smaller branch of Augstiner, the other big brewhouse in Munich. We had a couple of delicious beers, and enjoyed the last bit of sunlight after a long day.  

Jeff got what is called a Radler, a mix of a Weiss beer and lemonade. It sounds strange, but it was SO good.  We all finished up and decided to head to the big Augustiner house for dinner, inspired by our transition from little Hofbrauhaus to its big brew house the previous night. We came in and were immediately seated by a really fun older man. He brought us big liter steins of the house special, and gave us menus to look over. Mike and I decided to keep the tradition going, and got sausage and sauerkraut. That way we could have a fair comparison between the two houses. Andrew and Danal got a sausage sampler, which came complete with 3 kinds of sausage, mashed potatoes, and a little sauerkraut. Jeff got what was called a sausage salad, which was cold sausage, tons of swiss cheese, onions, and a vinegar dressing. Cara got a salad... We all swapped plates and had a taste of everyone's meal. They were all beyond incredible. One of the best meals I've ever had. I liked the sauerkraut at Augustiner much better, and it was less of a tourist attraction. However both nights were well spent, and we had a blast at both places. We left the restaurant, everyone exhausted from the weekend. Cara and Mike were ready for bed, so they went back to the hostel while Danal, Jeff, Andrew, and myself went back to our little hookah bar from the night before. We talked for a while and enjoyed some Tutti Frutti to cap off the night. 

Monday, May 28th, "Bye-bye Day": We woke up around 8:30, showered, packed our bags, and had breakfast. We said our goodbyes to Mason, who was on his way to Berlin. Jeff and I checked out of our room, thanked the very helpful front desk attendant and headed to the station to find our train back to Metz. We got in our wonderful reserved seat, and rode 3 hours to Mannheim, Germany. I got my statistics homework done on the train so it was time well spent. We got off and met up with Andrew and Danal who informed us that Cara hadn't reserved the train back to Metz. Mike stayed behind to wait on another non-reserve train back. We hopped on another line from Mannheim to Saarbrueken, and there we had an hour and a half layover so we set out to look for lunch. We found a small German restaurant and were seated by an older lady. She was very happy to have us, and was very helpful as she spoke no English. Andrew advised me to try schnitzel, which was fantastic. Jeff and Danal got chicken wings. We left there just in time to catch our last train back to Metz. Once back in home base, we hopped a bus back to school and here I sit.

The whole weekend was incredible, building off what we learned last week in Paris, we are becoming skilled travelers, maximizing our time and dollar. Germany was full of English speakers, which made life easy on us, but I fear the language barrier might become more prevalent in other countries where Jeff's French skills won't save us. The weekend was full of gorgeous scenery, delicious food, good company, and of course hearty German beer. We look ahead to this school week, ready to hit the books, and prepare for next week's adventure in Barcelona!

Check back later for picture updates.