Germany details

This weekend I went to Germany; Munich and to the Bavarian alps. We left Friday morning, and after 6 hours on the train we arrived in Munich. Luckily for us our hostel was super close to the train station, so we didn't have to waste too much time looking for it. By the time we got settled in and ate something, it was about 7pm or so. We headed over to the English gardens, trying to see the sights before dark. The garden was very nice and very large. There were a lot of people out playing music and socializing. It reminded me of the Boston common but on a much bigger scale. I guess there is a nude beach there, a beer hall, and a few other things, but it became dark quickly and we didn't get to see too much of it. it was nice nonetheless. Then we wandered around the city a little bit. We mostly stayed in Marienplatz, which is a square in "the heart" of Munich. There old and new town hall, many places to shop, and the oldest beer hall in the world (hafbrauhaus) were there. We went to hafbrauhaus later in the evening. It was very German and fun. They had a band and lots and lots of people. And I got to drink out of a liter sized mug.

The next day was dedicated to seeing Ludwig's castles, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Neuschwanstein is the castle that the Disney castle is based on, and is sometimes called the "Cinderella castle." Hohenschwangau was actually built by Ludwig's dad, Maximilian, but it is where Ludwig grew up. Both were absolutely beautiful, and of course the location made it even better. I think that the Bavarian alps and Ludwig's castles are the most beautiful things that I have ever seen. I actually started my obsession with Ludwig and his castles in 10th grade, so seeing them in person was really wonderful. We climbed one of the mountains near the castle, so we had an amazing view of the valley, the mountains, and the castles.

After that we went back to Munich and went to the hofbrauhaus again. How could we pass up good, cheap beer? Later in the night we met some Swiss guys that taught us a little German. shizzer means shit. And ausgang means exit. And I forget the rest. But it was fun. They also told us a little bit about Switzerland, which is cool because I am going there next weekend. On Sunday we went to see the glochenspiel. At certain hours of the day the toy people in the glochenspiel dance around and play music. It was entertaining. I read in the tourist pamphlet that it is "the most overrated thing in Munich," but that made me want to see it even more. It did go on for awhile, but it was still cool. Then we went to the residenz, which is a very large palace. We weren't that impressed with it, but apparently a lot of it was destroyed in the war. After that the plan was to go shopping. However, Munich is a very religious city, and we found out, much to our dismay, that everything is closed on Sunday. It was quite disappointing. I wanted to buy some birkenstochs and some German gifts. I was able to get a some things though.

This weekend, tomorrow actually, I am leaving for prague. I don't have too many expectations for it yet, which I like to do for each city so that I won't be disappointed if I don't like it, or I will be that much more delighted if I do.

Midterms are over! I've gotten back two so far, and I did pretty well. So I think it's time for a celebration.

jaeger's hotel/ hostel rating: A-, it was clean, we only had 4 beds in our room (I'm used to 6-10), the staff was really nice and helpful, but our roommate sucked and got up and went to bed really early.

Munich's rating: A-, I don't want to rate it in depth since I didn't get to see it too much, but it seemed very nice. And there's a lot to do.

Bavarian alps/ Ludwig's castles: A+, they are gorgeous and most definitely worth the two hour train ride from Munich

courtesy of kellyn...

Munich gets the award for.... most unique display windows, most broken bikes, and most lacking of benches

... today is jane's birthday! happy birthday to her! and jane is german!

Germany Pictures

Ludwig's Castles



Munich

Travel Break and Weekend in the Netherlands details

Paris
We arrived in paris on friday afternoon (october 1st).  We checked into our hotel, and then we went to the Louvre.  Since emerson is disorganized, we ended up getting there late, having a 1 hour lecture and then, 25 minutes to look at the louvre on our own.  25 minutes in the louvre!!   I had to run to see everything that i wanted to see.   I did get to see the mona lisa, the bound and dying slaves that michelangelo did, a sculpture with cupid and psyche, and the venus de milo. Then on saturday we went to see notre dame and saint chappelle.  notre dame is amazing. ive been in a few cathedrals here already, and they are all great.  We only had like 15 minutes in notre dame too. saint chappelle was nice.  a little too ornate for my tastes, but still cool.  then we went to versailles which made saint chappelle look like a shed.  (hah well not really)  it was super decorated.   the gardens looked really nice though. i heard they are the best part but i didnt get to see them beyond looking out of the window.  That night we went to the eiffel tower.  the eiffel tower is cool.  not as cool as big ben but still nice.  casey and i were sitting out in the open area in front of the eiffel tower, and people constantly kept coming up to us trying to sell us wine or drugs or souveniers.  Saturday night was "nuit blanche." I dont know what that means literally just that its a night that they have once a month where paris stays up all night and parties.  so we went to this big gathering w/ fire dancers and drums on top of this museum.  Sunday i was required to go to two museums (musee d'orsay and the centre pompidou).  We had two hours to roam around the musee d'orsay on our own. The centre pompidou is modern and interactive art so i really liked it.  that night we went out and wandered to the sacre oceur. It looked a little like the Taj Mahal.  We had to climb like 200 stairs or something to get to the top, but the view was awesome.  We sat on the stairs for awhile and looked out over paris while some guy was playing drums and singing.  It was a lot of fun.   

Spain
Monday night we left Paris and took an overnight train to Barcelona. We didn't want to pay for a sleeper (since our reservations were already 40 euor), so we didn't sleep that well that night. Finally at about 8am, we got to Barcelona.  we searched for our hostel while being tired and hungry and hot (it was in the 80s there) with all of our luggage for the week on our backs for about an hour back and forth.  It was all worth it though when we got to our hostel, which was right on the beach. We decided that we need a little relax time, so we bought some wine and food, sat on the beach, and went swimming.  there was no seaweed at all and no jellyfish.  On wednesday we went sight seeing.  barcelona has all of these pretty buildings and mosaics everywhere and palm trees.  we climbed to the top of another mountain and had an awesome view of the city.  we went to Park Guell which was really nice. It had many mosaics and artwork by Gaudi. My favorite was the lizard. The next day we left barcelona.  we had planned on getting on a 11:00 train to madrid, but it was full, and so was the train leaving madrid to get home.  so we didnt get to go to madrid.  Instead we went to Zaragoza for an extra day.  we didnt have a place to stay though so we had to stay up all night.  We were chauferred around by some spaniards for a few hours, and then we killed time by sitting on a bench and talking to ranom people who walked by. Luckily for us the nightlife in Spain is very hopping, and we had things to keep us entertained until morning. The train station reopened at 5:30, so we went there to sleep for a little bit.  We thought our hostel would have let us check in at 10 like every other hostel, but as we later found out, we couldn't go there til 12:30.  To make a long story sort of short, we finally got to our "hostel" which was really a bed and breakfast in some older woman's appartment.  We were so tired that we slept all day. Then the next day we left for our 23 hour train ride home.   On the night train I saw one of the funniest things that I've ever seen. This very intense man was playing with neon colored paper fans.  At first, he was fanning himself very quickly like he was hot, and then he started tapping the fans together (while looking out into space) then he would fan himself with one fan, close it, open the other and then fan himself with that one.  Then he put both fans away and started making a fan like motion with his fingers against his face.  Then he put on sunglasses and a hat and left the train.  it was hilarious.

My weekend that I stayed in Holland (oct. 15-17th)
I went on a long bike ride to a thermal spa. We went in outdoor giant hot tubs.  Then i went into the saunas and there were about 50 dutch people just wandering around naked.  old and young.  men and women.  The rest of the weekend i just hung around the castle and caught up on sleep and homework.

Travel Break Pictures

Paris Pictures

Barcelona Pictures

Zaragoza Pictures

I'm going to post some stories from my travel break a little later. Right now i need to study for midterms.