Deutschland! 

So when planning my trips throughout the semester I didn't really have Germany in mind, I have always wanted to go to Octoberfest, so I figured I would save Germany for another time.  But when we were thinking about where to go, two of my roommates were going to Munich for Springfest, which is like a smaller Octoberfest.  So Marielle and I decided that it would be really fun to try out Munich. We went in kind of blind, I had no idea what to expect from the city and I really didn't know much about what there was to do there.  We ended up loving it!! Everyone was so nice, I found the people to be the nicest of most of the places I've been actually.  Also German is such a weird language that it was hilarious just trying to pronounce the words we would see around the city. 

Giant Pretzels!

We arrived in Munich in the late afternoon and since our hotel wasn't in walking distance of the center Marielle and I stayed in the hotel, enjoyed a couple of beers and I got finished writing a Research paper that was due the next day. Haha, I think it ended up being pretty good, I just got that study abroad work ethic :) The next morning we met up with Sarah and Carley and started to wander around the main square.  Above are pictures of the Town Hall in Marienplatz on the left, and a church called the Frauenkirche to the right. 

We went into some cute German stores, I liked this big beer maid cookie jar. 

Apple Strudel!  One of my roommates Carley was insistent on getting one of these, she said that it was her mom's favorite food in Germany. It was pretty damn good, we always have to get the stereotypical foods hah. 

Buildings in Marienplatz

For lunch we decided to go to the Viktualienmarket, which was a market right off of Marienplatz.  It was amazing!  There were so many awesome tents with really quality food.  We went around from tent to tent and bought little things here and there.  

There was an olive tent that had all different mixtures of olives, different kinds of hummus, pesto, spreads, and much more! hah, Marielle and I got olives and feta cheese.  Looking at all the different mixtures I couldn't help thinking how much my parents would love that tent.  I could picture them doing the exact same thing I was doing, it was cute.

Later we got some sausage sandwiches and sat down with some beer in a beer garden.  So German.

After more wandering we decided to go to Springfest!  When we got there we saw a bunch of carnival rides.  I hadn't realized that it was going to be so carnival esc. 

After looking around the fairgrounds we found ourselves in a massive tent where they were selling food and beers.  So we all bought 1.5 liter beers and started drinking!  Since we got in the tent early, around 4, it wasn't too crowded but as the night went on the place got packed!  There were people wearing the traditional German clothes everywhere.  I loved it, and wished that I had a beer maid dress to wear.

Me and some beerrrr. For the night we were in the Augustiner tent, so we were obviously drinking Augustiner.  Augustiner is a pretty famous beer in Munich, I was told that it's the oldest independently run brewery in Munich and has never put out an advertisement.  Those Germans know what they want!  Our waiter who brought us drinks was literally what you think of when you think of a big strong German man, we was very serious and would walk around carrying like 20 beers at a time.  It was amazing, he was a total beast. 

All the tents had live music the entire night, and as the crowds grew and got more and more drunk people started standing on tables.  I was into this woman bass player on the left and when I went to take her picture she saw me and smiled for the shot :))  Everywhere you looked there were German people making cheers and dancing. At the table right next to us there was a bachelor party of British guys, we made friends with them, they were hilarious! 

Fairgrounds!  We had wanted to go on the ferris wheel but clearly the weather was kind of bad.  We haven't had to great of luck with weather on our trips, it always seems to be cold, overcast, and rainy.  Oh well, can't complain when you're traveling Europe! 

Here is Carley drinking some beer, she is by no means a beer drinker so we were all very proud when she finished her 1.5 liter.  

The whole night was so awesome, it was like a big German party in a tent with live music and massive beers.  Also a lot people in Munich speak English so I got the opportunity to talk to some Germans.  I'm so glad that we got the chance to go!! 

The next morning we got up and did a bike tour!!  I was so excited to do the tour because it has been way too long since I'd been on a bike.  I realized I loved riding my bike this past summer and when I got on one in Germany it was so blissful!!  Just riding around looking at the awesome city, wind in my face.  That kind of stuff is magical.  

The whole tour lasted about 4 and a half hours, which was cool with me.  Our tour guide was pretty amusing and we got a little history about the city.  Above is Marielle rubbing the bottom of the lion shield, which is supposed to bring good luck and wealth! 

Above is a view of Odeonsplatz 

Here is Feldherrnhalle and Theatinerkirche.  Theatinerkirche was probably the best church that I have been in in Europe.  It's the big yellow building, which is really cool from the outside, but the inside is mind blowing, seriously.  It is mostly white and just has some of the most intricate details I've ever seen, Marielle and I both loved it.  We've actually come to a point where we recognize a certain smell in most churches, and are quite fond of it.  Nothing like an old historical candle smelling church to make a trip complete.  Below to the left you can see the inside of the church. 

After some biking we stopped off at a beer garden in the English Gardens, with 7,000 seats this beer garden is the second largest in Munich.  I got some beer and bratwurst as we sat outside and enjoyed the only sunny day we had in Munich.  In the picture above to the right you can see the Chinesischer Turm, which means chinese tower, it's the centerpiece at the beer gardens.  I thought that the whole concept of beer gardens was awesome, it's pretty much like an established picnic space were people can enjoy nature and beer together!  Sounds like a good combo to me. 

There is a river that runs through the English Gardens and at one point their is a standing wave that's created from the water pumping system in the river.  And people try to surf on the wave!  It was cool because the surfers just take turns going on the wave and stay up for as long as they can.  Some surfers were amazing and were doing like jump spins, while others fell almost as soon as they got on the water.  It was pretty freaking cool. 

The one thing that was kind of frustrating about Munich was that after 5 or 6 almost everything closed except restaurants and pubs.  So after the bike tour we worked to try to find something that would be open for us to go to, unfortunately everything we tried was closed.  So we walked around the city and came across this really bizarre art gallery.  The art work consisted of weird sculptures made of clothing, above and to the right you can see a shirt like, materializing out of a suitcase or something like that.  The whole thing was really weird, but that's modern art for ya. 

That evening we went to the Hofbrauhaus, which is probably one of the most famous beer halls in Munich.  Hofbrauhaus has a strong history like during the 30 year war, Sweden agreed to leave the city of Munich in peace for the release of hostages and 600,000 barrels of Hofbrauhaus beer. The Hofbrauhaus has also had many famous visitors such as Mozart, Hitler, and John F. Kennedy.   

Another great part of Munich that we got to experience was HOTEL LIVING! Marielle and I completely procrastinated booking somewhere to stay in Munich.  So, a week before we our trip we were scouring the internet trying to find a cheap, conveniently located hostel.  Since it was Springfest, we had no such luck.  Instead we found an decently priced hotel and it ended up being a really good investment.  It was a nice place and a good change from the typical 16 people room hostels we are used too.  It was definitely more fun to come home to a freshly made bed, and our own clean bathroom. 

The next day we went to the Munich Residence, which was where royalty lived in Munich.  On the outside it looks like nothing special, but once you are inside it is insane.  Not only is it enormous and a complete maze but the decorations are wild, it was very similar to Versailles actually.  We went through three sections, first we saw all of the art pieces like crowns and elegant table wear, then the living areas, and finally the theater.  It was all pretty amazing, it's just crazy to compare the way that these people lived to how we live today.  The standard of living for royalty was just out of control, especially when you consider what the common people were living like. 

Theater 

Not too far outside of Munich is the concentration camp Dachau. This camp was the first Nazi concentration camp to be opened in Germany and was used as a design for 30 other concentrations camps around Europe.  The gate at the entrance of the camp says "Arbeit mach frei" which means "Work will make you free".  Since I didn't have the opportunity to go to Poland and see Auschwitz I really wanted to go to Dachau to see a concentration camp.  Needless to say it was extremely heavy and depressing and Marielle and I barely spoke the entire time we were there.  Walking around it's hard not to imagine all the terrible things that happened there. Also it was raining while we were there, to really set the mood for the vist. 

This is the hallway of a building where they would keep prisoners of special interest, ones that had committed crimes and were being punished.  A lot of torcher occurred there, reading about the different methods was astonishing. 

Grounds of the camp

Crematorium, obviously a really difficult place to walk through.  

Shooting range towards the back of the camp

After an extremely intense day at Dachau Marielle and I tried to get to the Aquarium because we knew that that would be the perfect place to raise our spirits. Unfortunately it closed too early for us to get there and have enough time to really enjoy it.  Instead we wandered more of Munich and took in what we could from the city.  It was funny cause we noticed a lot of tourists walking around just like us, clearly everyone wanted to be doing some shopping but all the shops closed at 5!  We found a random church and went in it, and it seemed like everyone else did the same just for something to do!

After working up a bit of an apetite we went to a very German restaurant that my tourism book had suggested to us.  It was a nice last meal in Germany for sure.  Above is a plate with different types of German meats with potatoes and sauerkraut.  After dinner we headed back to our hotel for a good night  sleep because we were leaving at 6 am the next day for Athens!  Like I said, I really enjoyed my stay in Munich and I would go back to Germany in a second.