Buona Pasqua

This was the first time we have stayed in Verona for a weekend. And I'm very happy that we did! I feel like I know my 'hometown' that much better and feel very rested! I'm going to have to be rested. I counted and for our second spring break, we'll be gone 12 days and 11 nights. We head out Wednesday afternoon for Florence! I'm looking forward to seeing everything we learned about in our first block of classes. Thursday night we wanted to venture away from our go-to bar and started the evening at Camelot. The owner dated a girl from UGA a couple years back when she was on the Verona program and he is very nice to us! After Camelot, a few went home and a few of us stopped by Campus to check out ERASMUS night. ERASMUS is Europe's version of study abroad. It's more like an exchange, however, and most kids stay for an entire year.
Friday morning was the first morning I've woken up without an alarm! It was so nice. The team this weekend was a little smaller, only six of us, but we managed just fine. We went to the Roman theatre (different than the arena) and walked up to the top. This is probably my new favorite place in Verona and I will definitely be bringing the mama there when she comes in just 2 and a half weeks! There is a small park at the top and we just sat there enjoying the beautiful weather! It was the prettiest day in Verona thus far. After, we did what we always do when in town, get gelato. Mom, get ready for this...
That night we wanted to go out to eat. Marco, our nice desk-man and one of our friends, suggested a place and even came with us. I had some unbelievable duck and Marco picked our some fabulous wine. Now don't be getting Marco confused with Martin. Martin is our trip coordinator and Marco works the desk. Anyway, Marco had horse meat and everyone who tried it said it was delicious, but I wasn't ready to try it. Maybe next time.
Saturday was supposed to be a yucky day, and it was, so Kari, Katie, and I planned to check out the mall. We missed the first shuttle there, so the only one we could take was at 4 PM. This turned out to be ok though. We had been warned that the grocery store would be closed on Monday because it too is a holiday just like Sunday. So, we got the essentials until it would reopen on Tuesday. The mall was packed. And the best part was, we found Target. Ok, fine, it wasn't Target but it was the Italian's version. We didn't have time to check it out, but we will be back. Oh yes, we will be back. Wayne's World anyone? Anyone...?
Since I was confused and thought I had signed up for a semester in Antarctica, I needed a few basic warmer weather clothes. Hello Zara and H&M. I just needed enough to get me through Spain, since it will be much warmer weather. Hopefully we'll be on par with Atlanta and be enjoying some 80-degree weather. The mall was great fun and the free shuttle bus to get there wasn't bad either.
This morning a group of 5 headed to our neighborhood church for Easter Sunday Mass. We weren't sure what to expect, but I knew it couldn't be that far off. It was exactly the same. We even had a warm welcome, "Welcome our friends from America. From Georgia!"Yes, hello, thank you for having us. Like you didn't already know we're American... Sidenote: We stick out like a sore thumb everywhere we go. It's like we are dressed in Red, White, and Blue and sing the Star Spangled Banner or something. Back to Easter. Buona Pasqua means Happy Easter and everyone you come across says, "Buona Pasqua" to you. People are very kind on Easter. OH! I almost forgot! The Easter bunny came, too! The Italian Easter Bunny that is. Would the American Easter Bunny put a wine juice box in an Easter basket...I don't think so! Maybe a Miller Light's in Uncle Kevin's...? I have some little candies and a chocolate bunny that I have already eaten the ears off of :)

It is supposedly going to rain today, but for now, it is a beautiful Easter morning. I'm excited to hear how everyone's weekends were. There were a few others that stayed here that we would run into from time to time. One at Lake Como. A couple at Lake Garda. And there were two groups in Cinque Terre. I am so excited to go here with the mama. The people that have come back from the 5Terre have LOVED it. I can not wait!

Romeo & Juliet...Verona Style

Today (Wednesday) the Tesser (my roomie) and I woke up early to clean before the maids came. Yes, we've turned into those people. Normally, we wouldn't do this, however we had managed to turn our room into a zoo. The kitchen was destroyed. We ate chicken last night with spoons because we didn't have any more clean forks and didn't want to do dishes. It looks like we threw a dinner party...but only for ourselves. Last week, the maids were knocking on our door promptly at 9. It is now 9:45 and they haven't showed up yet. In other news, this is what's been going on here in Verona.

Tesser's mom, Deb, arrives today. It is our second batch of parents, and it is always fun to meet the rents. And by meeting the rents, we learn a little bit more about our friends. Mom, everyone is excited to meet you, too!

The class I'm taking is getting more and more interesting. I don't have much trouble paying attention in class, so I know I'm enjoying it more. I feel bad because those taking the other class are always in their room reading or studying or working on one of their projects. It's just not fair that we are out enjoying the springtime weather in Verona (and by enjoying the springtime weather I really mean eating lots gelato and hanging out around downtown) and they are stuck here at the swanky residence al adige. Hopefully the next block of classes will be a little more even in terms of school work.

Speaking of gelato...We were at Patagonia (ironic that I love the brand Patagonia and the gleateria Patagonia) the other day and I heard a group of American high schoolers with one of their moms (I'm assuming) ask if they should get gelato there. I, having tried a few gelato places, turn to them and say, "This is the best place in town for gelato." They look happy that someone is speaking english. So, they get in line and I ask them, "Where are ya'll from?" I think the ya'll threw them off and they answered, "United States." I think to myselfShocking. You're wearing hollister and abercrombie everything and you don't think I know you're from the states. AND I'm speaking perfect (ok, "southern") english. But, being the patient person I am, I asked them where, they said Maine and I replied saying I'm from Georgia. They looked a little taken aback that there would be an American in Verona other than them. Oh well, they were entertaining to talk to while I waited for my gelato. And made for a funny story...kind of.

While we were out strolling around, with our gelato of course, we stopped by the opera house. And last night, we went to see Romeo & Juliet. I was expecting a traditional (or what one would think of when you hear opera) performance. I couldn't have been more wrong. Everything was Romeo & Juliet go clubbing. Ok, to put it in better terms, it was modern Romeo & Juliet. The costumes were normal 'street' clothes. It was a little difficult to follow, especially since the sub-titles were in Italian, but it was entertaining. It last for three and a half hours! In the last hour, Juliet sang the entire time! Their voices were incredible and everyone that went enjoyed it, including me.

This weekend, I am staying in Verona to experience my hometown. I have never been here on a weekend, and I am definitely looking forward to it. I wish I could say I will be catching up on schoolwork, but schoolwork does not exist right now. It is supposed to be nice weather, so a trip to Lake Garda might be on the list of things to do. Anyway, it will be nice to relax a little before our week and half journey to Florence, Rome, then on to Valencia and Barcelona!

Prague

Oh Prague (or Praha as the Czechs call it). What a perfect weekend! Great weather, good food, and lots of field tripping.


We started our journey Thursday night. And I use the word journey because it is always one just to get to the airport. (I will never take Hartsfield for granted again. It is like the Four Seasons of airports) We figured out a better way to get to the Bergamo airport than going through Milan and it worked out just about perfectly. Oh, I guess I failed to mention our flight was Friday morning. Yes, you read correctly, we left Thursday night. It wasn't going to be possible to get to the airport Friday morning in time for our flight, so we decided to rough it and spend the night in the Bergamo airport. (There is a reason I didn't tell you about this until after, parentals) We got to the airport about 12:30. After a closed McDonalds, I had to eat my fourth meal and found a great kebob stand. So, we snuggled in (all 11 of us) and got our 3 hours of sleep until the kind men at the airport went around to wake everyone up at 3:30. I do not know exactly why this time, but I feel like they wake everyone up 2 hours before the first flight. And the guards are not very nice. If I had been in Atlanta and a police woke me up, I would kindly tell him, "No Way" and go back to sleep. However, this is Italia, and I didn't feel like breaking out my Italian this early in the AM. We went down to our check-in counter and waited out the next few hours until our plane took off.
When we arrived in Prague, it was sunny! This is such a big thing for us. After not seeing the sun in Munich, Salzburg, or Amsterdam, we have determined that good weather can make for a much more enjoyable experience. When we came up from the underground metro, I think we all fell in love with Prague almost immediately. We were in one of the centers of town and there were outdoor markets and tons of people out enjoying the beautiful weather. After going around in a few circles, we found our hostel. We couldn't check in, so we threw our bags in the luggage room, freshened up after our night at hotel Bergamo, and headed out to explore the town. After getting 100% scammed at lunch, we headed for the Jewish Ghetto. Since it would be closed on Saturday, we needed to check it out that day. It was interesting and I was happy that we were finally able to do something other than Churches for the sake of our two Jewish travel buddies. After the Jewish ghetto and exploring Prague, we needed a quick power nap if any of us were going to make it out that night. We caught a snooze and got ready to check out the night life. We found a cantina and had some much appreciated margarittas and mojitos before heading to the club. All in all...successful first day/night in Prague. I knew I was already loving this place. Sidenote: Thank you Athens for outlawing smoking in bars. I can handle the occasional cig in Generals, but waking up smelling like an ash tray is not something I particularly enjoy doing.

Saturday morning we wanted to do a walking tour of Prague. Our tour guide was a little boring, too soft spoken, but all-in-all I'm glad I saw the sights and heard the stories of Prague. We went to the Old Town, the New Town, the most well preserved castle in Europe, and the St. Charles Bridge. I loved St. Charles bridge. It had been a little cold and windy up on the hill where the castle was, but when we got down to the bridge, the sun decided to come out! Burak, Jonathan, and I were the only ones to last the entire 4 hours of the tour. And afterwards, we weren't done doing the field tripping. We went to the top of the astrological clock for a birdseye view of Prague. The astrological clock is one of a kind. And back in the day when it was first made, the ruler of Prague knew this, too. So, in order to make sure he was the only one with a clock like this, he sent his people to kill the maker of the clock. They were unsuccessful and only managed to blind him, however. So, the clock maker plotted his revenge. Right before he was going to die, he went to the clock and managed to break it. Since no one knew how to fix it, it stayed broken until just a couple of years ago. Atop the clock tower, we had a beautiful view of Prague. In the Old Town Square that is seen from above, there was Prague's Easter festival going on. This could be seen all over Prague with ribbons and eggs in just about every store window. With the sunny weather, Burak, Jonathan and I just strolled around the open markets. I got a delicious pretzel thing and thoroughly enjoyed every minute being in the square. Sorry Paris, move over, Prague has the potential to be my favorite city thus far.


Saturday night, we made reservations at the Beer Factory. Here is where you pour your own beer at the table from one of four taps. We shared some giggles and talked about how much we all had enjoyed our time in Prague. The next part is where we got most of the laughs we had today on our travels home. Jonathan had heard about this black light theatre that was doing a Beatles show. We thought, 'Cool. A light show to Beatles music. This will be a perfect ending to a perfect weekend. Wrong. We get there just in time to discover this is not a bar with a light show and some Beatles music. It is a full-on theatrical theatre. We sat through the first half until intermission when we decided to bail. We all ragged on Jonathan for finding this bust of a place, but it was all in good fun. We went to have (a much needed after that experience) beer at a bar close to our (awesome) hostel before calling it a night.

Sunday morning. Or should I say late Saturday night. Did you know the clocks change in Europe. Thankfully we knew this, otherwise we would have been an hour late to our flight. We had to take a cab to the airport because public transportation was not running at this hour. It was 3:45 in the morning, but because of the time change, it felt like 2:45. Sean Feeney specials run in Europe too, and we boarded our 6 AM flight. It was nice to get back to Verona today to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather we've been having. All in all, I had one of the best weekends in Prague. Wish you all could have seen it with me, but after taking a picture hiatus in Amsterdam, I return to Verona with TONS of pictures of Prague. There are tons more on my facebook, but here is little taste of Praha.

Sunny Week in Verona!

Not a very eventful week here in Verona, but a much needed relaxing one. We have started our second block of classes. Some people are taking the 8 am or the 11 am or (in very unfortunate cases) both...I'm enjoying my 11 am easy class. Well, easy thus far. The other class has already had a test and some have had a presentation. Our teacher is 32 years old, drives a porche, and is a self-declared 'ladies man.' Call me crazy, but I have a hard time thinking this class is going to be anything but a joke. In other news, it has been beautiful all week in Verona. Yesterday (Wednesday) we went for a stroll around downtown. Tess was looking for a little side bag and the rest of us were looking for gelato. Tuesday night, Brooke's parents were in town and took us girls out to eat. My 'go-to' dish has become ham/mushroom pizza. Yes, I know, this iscrazy. (I still refuse to eat onions so don't think I've completely lost my mind). I enjoyed meeting them and especially loved talking to her mom, an Alpha Gam! She lived in Engagement, the same room I lived in! She told me that when she lived there, she had 5 girls in her room! I couldn't imagine that; team enGAGment would have been crowded! She also told me how close she remains with her sorority sisters. Barb cracked me up when she asked if we should do the handshake...which obviously we did! We are headed to Prague this weekend. I have heard lots of good things about the city. Our flight times are crazy early, so it's going to be weekend without much sleep, but bring it on! After a week of resting, I'm ready for Prague!

Since I don't have any new photos, I'll entertain you with a few from around Verona.

This is the whole group in the arena:


This is the bridge leading from CastleVecchio (Old Castle). In case Verona was ever attacked, the king could run across the bridge and burn it...


Piazza Bra from the top of the arena:

Amsterdam

Well, after having some difficulties with my flight (let's just say the dumb-ness continued), I made it to Amsterdam. Kari and I had booked through KLM (don't worry Dad, I got the miles), so we were on a totally different flight, in a different terminal than the rest of the group. Kari and I had a great flight experience. We got to the airport with plenty of time to grab a fantastic little sandwich and browse the designer shops. Only in Milan will you find Armani, Longchamp, Gucci, etc. in the airport. Definitely not in the other terminal where our friends were. We were even able to change our seats and sit next to each other. KLM fed us lunch. and we each had a Heinekin (free of charge, thank you KLM)...we were on our way to Amsterdam! After landing, we were worried we weren't going to be able to meet up with our friends. Amsterdam's airport is HUGE and just about every international flight goes through there. Lucky for us, we are good at finding each other in situations like that.


We made it to our hotel. Yes, we splurged in Amsterdam on a hotel and not a hostel. It being Amsterdam and all, we didn't want to end up in some sketchy place. The boys, being boys, didn't splurge and went to check into their place. We won in this city, for they only had two bathrooms in their entire building. HA. We ventured out to find some grub before heading to bed. I thought it was easy to get around, but trying to find MyBurito was difficult and we had to settle for TacoMundo. Mexican food...yuuum!

The next morning we had plans of taking a walking tour of Amsterdam. It was raining and cold, so we changed our itinerary (compliments of yours truly...logistics never fades), and headed towards Anne Frank's house. I truly enjoyed this tour. It was so interesting and shed a whole new light on the history of the Halocaust. I was only 13 when I read her diary and will definitely be reading it once I return home. The Pancake Bakery was our next stop. I was feeling a little saucy and decided on the banana and...wait for it...bacon pancake. And, it was delicious!


After walking around Dam Square, we headed up toward the Heinekin Brewery to do the Heinekin experience. And what an experience it was. The tour was super interactive and I really enjoyed it. I did not realize that Heinekin had horses and they were neat to see. GUUS who would have been my favorite had he been in his pen, had to fall second to Karel. I also liked the commercials section. I want to tour Budweiser now!

That night, after stumbling upon a Saloon, I had the best hamburger I have ever eaten. Yes, sorry Deer Valley, but you have been beaten. After that, we wanted to go back and get ready to go out. But somehow, David convinced us all (with his gypsy powers) to do a pub crawl that was about to start. Merrills went downtown. Yikes. But, it ended up being a really fun time and we met a lot of people!


The next morning, we grabbed a bite to eat really quick before heading to the dum dum dum...VAN GOGH museum. If you don't already know, I love Van Gogh and I was most looking forward to this. And it definitely held up to my expectations. It was a great to hear all about Van Gogh and his difficult life. The only thing I didn't like was that a majority of his most famous pieces, like Stary Night, were not there. Still fascinating to me, nonetheless.

After having a late lunch, we took a stroll through the Red Light District. I know this is what makes Amsterdam famous, but I was not looking forward to seeing it. I found it to be quite sad that people can live like that. I was happy when we left. We strolled around a little until we experienced our first pick-pocket of Europe. Carla, one of the girls traveling with us, had her wallet (passport included) stolen from her purse. I like to think I pretty street smart and very cautious, but this put me on even higher alert. After being at the police station (to report the pick-pocket) and seeing some of the craziness of Amsterdam, I was ready to head home to Verona.

I really enjoyed Amsterdam and the city as a whole. I think the canals were beautiful and like the idea of everyone riding bikes to get around. There were definitely parts of it that I also did not enjoy, like the Red Light District. It was good to see though. After seeing all of these places in the winter time, I have made a promise to myself to come in the summer time and see all the beauty that has to offer.

Sorry for the lack of photos. I've gotten lazy! Next weekend we are headed to Prague! I will try and update before we head out. I started a new class today and am very excited about it!

The Hills Are Alive...With the Sound of Music!

On the way to Salzburg, Austria, we stopped at the Salt Mines. Salz=Salt. Salzburg. Get it? Good. After hearing stories from the Mama, I knew what to expect. However, Martin told us to dress warmly. Thinking it was going to be freezing in there, I piled on the layers. I was wrong. And as soon as I put on my jump suit (think Michelin Man in a blue jump suit), I knew I needed to drop a few layers. (Seriously, what was I thinking...it's always the same temperature underground...duh) I got situated and then the little tram came. It was a fun ride into the mountain and reminded me of a ride at Six Flags or something. When we stopped, we got to go down a big wooden slide to continue our tour. Our guide did not speak English and there were other German speaking people on the tour. The tour man would speak in German, get some laughs out of the crowd, and then turn on the speakers for us. Our explanation we always half as long as what the man said, and nothing about it was funny. I'm really curious as to what was said. The tour itself was interesting, I wouldn't call it exciting, but still a fun touristy thing to do. My favorite part of it was 'mirror lake.' I was one of the first people to come down the slide and get to the lake. At first, I did not realize it was a lake. Because it was mirroring the ceiling, I thought it was just an open space of dirt. Nope, I saw a ripple and realized I was just having one of those days...a dumb-day if you will.

After the salt mine, the Michelin Man and the rest of the group loaded back on the bus to head to our hotel in Salzburg. By this time it was snowing pretty good. And by the time we arrived to our hotel, it was snowing harder than I have ever seen it snow before. I don't know how this snow compares to Attica snow, but it was a pretty heavy snow and the flakes were almost as big as my hand! We checked in and were let loose to find some lunch. At 4 o'clock we met Martin for our city tour and a break down of our itinerary. We saw all of Salzburg and he pointed out all of the things we would be doing the next day. At the end of our tour, Martin informed us that the hotel would be streaming "The Sound of Music" in all of our rooms at 9 o'clock. So it was settled, no going out on the town...we were staying in to sing along with Maria.

Tuesday was packed full. We had to get an early start and had to fight off the Italian 16-year olds for breakfast. Man, they can be rude. The funny thing is, I've started to be able to understand a little of what they're saying. They were making fun of us Americans, saying that the kitchen was on fire, talking about the dead cow in their hotel room, and about the tornado that was coming through Salzburg that day. Yup, my Italian is really coming along...

We started out at 8:30. It was about a 30 minute walk to the Fortress. The Fortress sits atop Salzburg and was built to be able to see out over everything and make sure Salzburg was safe from invasions. Each new Arch Bishop would build onto it, so it has very interesting architecture. We took a little car up to the top and got our audio guide. The audio guide took us through the torture room (no one was actually tortured in here, it just housed the equipment...it looked rough), up a winding staircase to the top (where I have never been colder in my life; it felt like the wind was blowing through to my bones, but great pictures were achieved), and through all these secret passages. It was interesting to see and had one of the best views of Salzburg. Martin said he usually takes his group there in the afternoon because there is a great little restaurant at the top to grab a beer in...however, this trip it was too cold (and too early) for a beer. Martin also informed us that due to the Snow, Ice, Sleet, Rain, Frigid temps, that he will never bring another group to Austria and Germany in March again. He also was kind enough to inform us that this time last year they were in short sleeves...



After we left the fortress, Martin let us have a hot chocolate break at the Mozart cafe. Overpriced hot chocolate was just what my body needed to gear up for our next touristy attraction, Mozart's house. It was interesting to see, but I have to admit, not terribly exciting. It didn't take us very long and I was craving some McDonald's french fries for lunch. So we went and I discovered one of the best things McDonald's Austria has to offer: curly fries with a SOUR CREAM sauce. Anyone who knows me knows my love of some good sour cream, so this was PERFECT. Enough about food...now onto the BEST part of the entire trip.



Do. A Deer. A Female Deer. Rae. A Drop of Golden Sun. Me. A Name. I Call Myself. You get the idea. THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR! Not only did Martin arrange this for us. He had the bus come pick us up from the hotel. Pretty sweet deal. The bus has Maria and the children painted on the sign and I knew I was in for the best 4 hours of my day. I remember getting the Sound of Music for my birthday from Aunt Marg. (Thank you for sharing with me one of the greatest movies ever!) We got to see so much! The pond where Maria and the children fall out of the boat, the gazebo (where our tour guide said we were not allowed to go in anymore due to an 80 year-old woman trying to run around and jump from bench to bench singing "I am sixteen going on seventeen." true statement), the house, the road where the children are hanging out of the tree, even the church where Maria got married. Not only was it enjoyable for all The Sound of Music enthusiasts like myself, but it was a great tour of Salzburg and the surrounding lake towns. GREAT end to a GREAT trip.

That night, while my own family was enjoying an ATL birthday celebration (Happy 42nd birthday, dad. HA.HA.), we had our own 'family' dinner in Salzburg. Martin arranged a traditional Austrian meal for us at the hotel. We got all dressed up (dressed up by our standards, or whatever was still clean in our suitcases) We had salad, warm bread, a stuffing/pasta dish, and fantastic mashed potatoes with chicken and rice. I was stuffed! It was so fun to again have the entire group together, including Martin. Also on our trip was his future-daughter in law. She speaks German so she was our translator for the trip. She is super nice, and us girls enjoy asking her questions like, where to get our hair cut in verona, or where to shop, etc. Back to the dinner. Stories were shared, toasts were made, jokes were told, and all in all it was the perfect way to spend our final evening on our first group trip together.

The next morning (St. Patrick's Day), I had one of those forgetful days again and left one of my coats in the closet in Salzburg. Do not fret, for Martin has already arranged for it to be picked up and brought back to Verona! Again, Martin is the best. It was an easy trip home. We stopped in Innsbruck to drop off six girls who were going to go skiing there (Katie Hardaway included) and ate lunch at the most beautiful McDonald's I've ever seen. The view as incredible! And like every McDonalds should, they had wifi...We made it home to go out and have a green beer for St. Patrick's day before heading to Amsterdam in the morning! Are you tired yet, because I sure was!

4 Countries. 1 Week.

*The pictures are from the Carriage house, Dachau, Marienplatz Clock, and the Roman Bath House in Verona.




Free falling just came on my iPod while flying home to Verona (Well, first to Milan, but home to Italy nonetheless)> Funny song to come on during a flight, but thanks to KLM (who puts RyanAir to shame), I'm not worried one bit sitting here eating my inflight meal. Free falling made me think of some camp friends, who I can't wait to see once I get back in the states! I am excited to see one of them, Jenna, in Rome in a couple of weeks. Now, onto the life update. (I know every one of you reading this has been checking at least 14 times a day to see when I would actually update this silly thing). Whelp, here it goes. I've got to back up a lot. Let's see if I can remember it all.

My first final went well and I"m anxiously awaiting my grade. Wouldn't it be nice to get an A for three weeks of work! I asked Martin when we usually get our grades and he said Tony (our professor) gets them in by May...hmmm a long time to wait. I'm not wasting any time thinking about it though; I've got too many things to see and do. After our final exam, Martin took us around Verona again. I look forward to anything Martin wants to show us because it is NEVER boring. This time on the tour, he took us to the Duomo of Verona. It actually isn't THE largest church in Verona, but because it was for so long, it still gets the title. Before going inside, in true Martin fashion, we got our history on. He took us to the first Christian church (I can't remember if it was the first Christian church ever, or just the first in the HRE {Holy Roman Empire}, but I'm guessing the later). He also showed us an old Roman bath house. It is now a nunnery. And judging by the wine bottles in the windows, these nuns like to booze. The courtyard of the nunnery was the bathhouse. It still has all the columns surrounding it and the tile is there as well. There are actually quite a lot of Roman artifacts let by the empire in Verona, something I had no idea about until I got here. Martin, he's the best. After our tour of the Duomo, which also included more Roman artifacts (a few tombs, some tile, the usual), Martin treated us to pizza. It was a nice little celebration to the end of our first painstakingly difficult course (enter sarcastic tone here). After a stop to Patagonia, my favorite gelato place in town, we were headed back home to pack for our next trip.

Friday morning we all piled in the limo (charter bus) and headed through the Alps to Munich. What a beautiful drive! It was quite an incredible sight those Alps! Two stops and one kit-kat mcflurry later, we arrived at the North Pole. Just jokes, it only felt like the North Pole, but H-E-L-L-O chilly Munich. Martin took us on a quick walking tour so we could get a feel for the city we were in. One thing I really like about Martin is that he is very good about making sure we know where we are and how to get home to where we're staying. At the end of our little tour, he showed us the Hofbrauhaus. This world famous beer hall in Munich was a unique experience. Let me set it up for you. A huge open space filled with large tables (and even bigger beers) and german music playing by a band dressed up as yodlers. We got our beer, our dinners, had our laughs, and headed home for the night. Did I mention the ground was covered in snow? Yup. I'm not complaining however; anytime I get to break out the bean boots, it's a good (and comfy) day.

Saturday morning in Munich: We ate our breakfast in the hotel, a perk of traveling with Martin, and headed out to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp. It was a very interesting experience. I can't believe that people are capable of doing such horrible things to other people. I think it was good to see and made everyone in our group think about what had happened, especially because it didn't happen THAT long ago. After leaving Dachau, we grabbed lunch on our own and I treated myself to my first Starbucks of the trip. Haven't found one with crumb cake yet, but the hunt continues. We met back up with Martin and because of the balmy 18 degrees and snowy weather, we did our city tour from the bus. Munich was a lot more modern than I expected. I like it, and like many European cities, easy to get around. I especially like the large open "walking streets' that only pedestrians are allowed on. American, get with the program. That night we ventured to another beer hall for dinner. This one was a little smaller but just as much fun! Afterward, we decided it was finally time to test out our first European discotecta, or club. Without going into all the details (you're welcome, mother), tequilla was a flowing and so were the dance moves. I totally abided by all sorot rules...

The next morning, which was extremely too early for our discotecta butts to be out of bed, we headed to the Nymphenburg palace and park. It was built as a present from the king to his wife as a thank you for giving him a son. What ever happened to a hug and a kis and I'll tell ya I love you? Anyway, it was grand and the carriages these people had were nuts. After the palace, it was time for a kebob. These are very popular all around Europe, but especially in Munich. We learned that this is because of the huge Turkish population in Munich. (Athens folk: Think Pita Pit but waaaay better) And then to Marienplatz to watch the clock...? Yes, this is THE thing to see in Munich. It is in the middle of the 'walking street.' We weren't sure the clock was going to do it's thing being a Sunday, but with the number of people around, we knew we were in the right place. That night it was time to really emerge ourselves in German culture. Party of 27 at the Hard Rock Cafe. Absolutely. It was a nice touch of home. Except for the ice cream. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I've ever eaten bad chocolate ice cream, but damn you Italia and your gelato. Others just don't compare any more. Dinner was great fun, and having the entire group together is always nice. The next morning we were leaving for Salzburg and someone needed to pack up her suitcase. (and by pack I mean sit on it my suitcase and pray that it zips). My suitcase zipped (barely) and it was off to Salzburg!