Jan. 20
A great first weekend out of Switzerland! On Friday afternoon, we left the beautiful Lugano at 2:15 heading to Zurich, Switzerland to catch a train from there to Munich, Germany. The train ride to Zurich was pretty painless because the train was basically empty other than us so we got to spread out. The train rides after that were tighter and pretty uncomfortable. In Zurich, we had a one-hour layover so we decided to get dinner in the city. Our hunger took precedent over our cultural side and we chose a Chinese restaurant.
We arrived in Munich around 10:45pm. After checking in at Wambat hostel (MUCH nicer than Balmer’s), we decided to explore the city. Regardless of the fact that no one knew anything about Munich, everyone (about 35 of us on this trip) seemed to have a different opinion about the direction in which we should start walking. We split up into small groups, walked around for a couple hours, and ended up at the bar right next to our hostel.
Jan. 21
Saturday began with an all you can eat breakfast (and coffee!) before our walking tour around Munich. It was below freezing and snowing. But I came prepared with hand-warmers, my giant parka, underamour, hat, gloves, three pairs of wool socks…. And boots that were most assuredly NOT waterproof. So although I did learn a lot about Germany’s history and saw a lot of amazing buildings, my feet were soaking wet and well on their way to frost bite.
What I thought was going to be a warm outfit...
Two things that stood out to me during the tour were the Neues Rathaus (the new town hall) where the beautiful building had a show built right in the middle where figurines danced around twice a day, telling a few different stories to music. This was awesome to watch, and cool to see this beautiful, old building. The second stand out part of our tour was the Hofbrauhaus. This beer hall has existed since 1944, and we learned all about its history- they are famous, too, for their 1-liter beers.
The figurines in the Neues Rathaus
After the tour, four of us (Whitney, me, Kelly and Valerie) went to get a hot lunch and warm up. After lunch came some good old fashion shopping. We explored the shops for a few hours before returning to the hostel to get ready for the night activities.
The beer challenge we signed up for started at six. We went to three bars (including the Hofbrauhaus and the bar we went to Friday night). Although we were kicked out of one bar for being too loud (not sure what they were expecting with 35 college kids at one bar), we had a great night and are continuing to grow closer.
Jan. 22
Sunday started off with a giant cup of Starbuck’s coffee! A very exciting find for me since the only coffee I have found so far is tiny shots of espresso… The Europeans know nothing about sipping and enjoying coffee for an extended amount of time!
Starbucks!
On a sadder note, we visited the Dachau concentration camp on Sunday. I knew very little about this horrific time in history, so I learned a lot. Dachau was one of the first concentration camps and it was the only one to last all 12 years of Nazi rule.
The original entrance to the concentration camp: "work brings freedom"
After Dachau, we went back to Munich and explored the city for a few more hours before we had to catch our train home. We saw a very impressive band (piano, violin, flute and cello), a painter creating an amazing painting, and an all-girl group of street performers dancing for a small crowd. We ate chocolate covered fruit and enjoyed a day without snow.
A very successful, entertaining and fun weekend overall!
