May 22-24. 2010
So I really really enjoyed Munich. It is one of my favorite cities in Germany so far. I feel like everyone in Munich has so much pride for there state. Also it was during the final game of Bayern Munich against Milan so I think that had something to do with it as well :) It was nice to see everyone in lederhosen and there outfits, true Munich. Everyone loves to drink here and they have a great time. It was Kim, Chenin and I that were on this trip. Ryan came to join us as well. The first night we got settled into our hostel which ended up being ok. It was the majority males, but it didn’t bother us too much. We didn’t hang out at the hostel so it wasn’t a problem. We had our first German meal on Friday night, which actually wasn’t so good, but at least we ate German food. Then Saturday we went to Dachau Concentration Camp. Which actually was the first concentration camp, and all the rest were followed by this design. It was neat but also weird to go there. The grounds are empty and most of the buildings that held people (living quarters,etc. ) were not there anymore. Only 2 which showed an example of what it used to look like. There bunks were 3 beds high, and I think in 1 building it was made to house I think around 200 or a little more, but when they kept bringing people in there ended up being 2000 in a building. Way over crowded. It was really weird going to the crematory, and how the process from one room to the next. There was this one room, that they disguised to look like showers. So they had the shower tops on the ceiling, and in the room they had secret areas, a peep hole, a area where they would have the gas come out, and a water pipe to flush out the room and clean it for the next group. Going to Dachau took the whole day because its train ride from Munich. At night we participated in a Beer Crawl which was a lot of fun! There we went to 3 places and had beer, and our last stop we watched the soccer game in a beer garden. We actually met up with two guys that Kim, Ryan and I met in Switzerland, so that was fun! On Sunday our day was planned for Neuschwanstein. That was another full day activity. We went with a group, because it was cheaper, only 30 euros and that included transportation round trip, which is 2 hours away from Munich, so well worth it. Also we had a guide, which he told us lots of information on the castle and the family. King Ludwig II built this castle. He actually built several castles and I think only was able to complete one. He liked to keep building but was in a great amount of debt. For the Neuschwanstein castle, he had someone create a sketch of it, and then was like build it. Haha, seemed very difficult, but was done. This is the “Sleeping Beauty” castle that Disney based it off of in Disneyland. It was one of the prettiest things that I’ve seen, naturally beautiful.
Later on in the evening when we came back to Munich we went to the famous Hofbräuhaus. There were many stories of the building, but the main floor is where most of the fun is! There are tons of long tables, so your sitting next to those you don’t know, and everyone is drinking and having a good time. The standard beer is 1 liter; you won’t get anything smaller than that, haha. We watched the Oompa Band playing all night, which brought a lot of character to the place! I ended up buy a souvenir 1 liter glass! Its so heavy J I order Pork Knuckle which is a common thing to eat in Munich so I had to say I had it. It wasn’t too bad, but I’m not a fan of pork, sooo… Then on Monday morning we did a free walking tour, around the city. I wish we did it before on Friday or Saturday but there was no time. It was really interesting everything we saw. I have to say I want to go back to Munich. I didn’t see all that I wasn’t too, so it will be another trip for me in the future!
