Austria loves me. I love Austria. We have a connection that is deeper than words can explain. I say this because I was allowed in the country without having my passport checked. By the way, slightly disappointed because that means I didn't get a stamp. But thats okay, because Austria and I understand each other.

I really do like Austria. Today we were supposed to visit the Salzburg Fortress museum but we had options about what we wanted to do. Because I was a little museumed out and I decided to just explore the town. I visited, I think, about every shop around the Christmas market. I realized that I had been in Germany for about 9 days and bought only a couple of gifts. And most of the gifts that I bought were gifts that were intended for other people, but I decided I wanted them for myself. So now, I was back to no gifts and no time. So I figured, because me and Austria had this connection, I would buy the gifts for other people from Austria. These gifts came in the form of Christmas eggs. They are eggs that local school children create and sell at the market. There were literally millions of eggs throughout each store. I question whether all of these were made by children because there were so many, it would have taken them forever. Either way, I bought a dozen for family and friends and some for myself.

I also was told that Austria had good wine. I am not sure who told me this, but it was in my head. So I went to a store that sold just about anything imaginable, including Absinthe. I talked to the wine guy about buying wines for my mom. I enjoy alcohol to the extent of liquor. Beer and wine are not so much my thing, although believe me I have tried. Do you know how expensive it is to prefer liquor over beer? Anyhow, I told the guy what I thought my mom would enjoy, bought two bottles, and later found out she didn't like either. Oops. But, I did buy three different flavors of the after dinner drinks, pear, rasberry, and cherry flavored. Delicious. And most of my family enjoyed these although all of them felt they were too strong. Of course, this was back in 70 degree weather Florida so they don't have the same effect as they do in, say, 20 degree weather.

Also, I figured I should buy some chocolate. Just cause. I always think you should try chocolate in different countries. So I did, and they were delicious. I bought a bunch, some for the plane ride, some for family, and some just to try.

Talk about being scared going through customs when the food dogs come out. Remember this was my first time traveling alone and I was told to write 'no' to all of the questions, so 'no' I didn't have any food or drinks.
I held my breath as the dogs walked past my backpack full of wine, alcohol, and chocolate.

I am going to conclude this trip here. It was amazing! My first trip alone was successful, fun, and inspiring. Traveling is now like a drug to me. Germany was like my gateway drug to many more wonderful adventures. I learned a lot about myself in those short 9/10 days, I learned that I can be on my own, I learned that even though I don't know the language, I can get by with a little effort, bad pronunciation, and a lot of hand gestures. I also learned that even if you don't know anyone, you can have an amazing time and make memories that will last a lifetime.

So, go out and travel. Break the bank and have an adventure!

Gorgeous.

We took a train from Munich to Hohenschwangau. On the train I tried to sleep, but for some reason I couldn't. I think I have gotten three hours of sleep each night on this trip. From waking up early and going to bed super late, I haven't slept much. And when I do sleep, I twist myself in the bedsheets and apparently talk in my sleep, so I know that I am not fully resting. But also, I have not been tired at all. So, on train rides and down time, I have tried to write in my journal about all of the wonderful events of this trip.

Anyhow, today, first we went to Hohenschwangau castle where Ludwig grew up. We took a tour of the castle and then walked over to Neuschwanstein. And when I say walked, I mean climbed a mountain. As I have mentioned before, I am from Florida. Florida barely has hills. And a hill is classified as maybe ten feet high. So for those who wouldn't call walking to Neuschwanstein climbing, I beg to differ. Anyways, about fifteen hours after the climb, we made it. We took the pictures that everyone takes. We went on the tour and through the gift shop. It was absolutely gorgeous and much like a fantasy. It was really cool to see something that is so famous in person. It was so amazing too because it had snowed before we arrived so there was fresh snow everywhere. It was like a winter wonderland. Everything was so picture perfect that I didn't want to take any pictures, I just wanted to stare at it all.

On the way down from the mountain, we took a different path. This was a more direct path down but not paved. So we basically walked in the snow, making footprints the whole way down. It was so cool. I saw, for the first time in my life, yellow snow. Pretty funny because they obviously tried to write their name. We couldn't make it out that well. We had snowball fights the whole way down. And we also hit branches to have the snowfall on each other. I felt about 10 years old, but it was so worth it.

After we came down from the mountain, we wanted to go back to Munich so we could have our farewell dinner. The next day was a trip to Salzburg and our professor wanted to give us time to pack and get ready for our departures the following day. So we were all starving and cold. Apparently, snow is made from water. Water, just like in Florida, gets jeans wet. And wind blowing on wet jeans in below 25 degree weather is even colder than just below 25 degree weather. Needless to say, I was miserable. I was so tired but couldn't sleep on the train because I had a seat close to the door. The door that opens to the outside, where the wind is, the cold wind. I don't think I have ever been colder.

But I survived. I made it back to the hotel and took a warm, scalding shower. We got dressed, went to dinner, and had a great time celebrating the trip. We talked about places we had seen, things we did, and jokes of the trip. It was quite fun.

Today was a whole day excursion to Regensburg. The main reason for the visit was to go to Alte Kapelle, the "Old Chapel" and they call it old because parts of the church are from the 9th century. The 9th century, now that is old. Old and beautiful. It is a sight to see.

After visiting the Cathedral, we were free to go shopping. The Christmas market was just starting and was selling some pretty cool things. I spent some money on Christmas gifts for family. I bought these pretty cool handmade stars, because I have a unhealthy obsession with things in the shape of a star (although it has to be a straight star, not these squiggly shaped things, but neat and clean). I also bought some handmade jewelry.

We also visited the Old Town Hall with the Imperial Hall guided tour. This was really interesting although I didn't understand much. The tour was mostly in German and I had to have parts translated from friends. The first part of the tour was through the Town Hall and this part had to be translated. Then we went to the second part of the tour and this was in English, which was interesting because there was a torture chamber. Now, I am not a fan of torture chambers or anything to do with them, but when you see things on Discovery or History channels that show this stuff, I am sure it peaks most people's interest. Its one of those weird fascinating things, that I am slightly creeped out that I think of it as fascinating. Anyways, they showed us some of the torture devices. It looked like a movie set, it didn't really strike me as realistic. It didn't help that the tour guide was making jokes and funny comments about the devices. However, it was interesting to see some of the things and the stories of what happened in the past.

Moving on, we also visited Oskar Schindler's apartment by standing outside of it and looking at the plaque on the wall. Again and obviously, in German so I had to have this roughly translated.

After the excursion, we headed back to Munich. There was an important event (important for college football (American) fans everywhere), the Florida vs Florida State game, the Gators vs the Seminoles, the greatest college rival game in college football. Being a Gator, of course I was psyched. They were playing at Florida this year and we were in Germany.

So immediately, once we got back to the hotel, we all showered and changed into our Florida gear. We went downstairs, claimed a computer as our own, got drinks from the bar and began to watch the updates on gatorzone.com. Now I am a football fans, I bleed orange and blue, and when presented with a bet, I will always bet on the Gators. This US army guy and his friend came to the bar that night. One was a Seminole and the other was looking for girls. We, of course, bet on the game and put 20 euro on each quarter and 50 for the final.

The poor guy. The first quarter he was safe, the score stayed 0-0. The next three quarters were rough. Needless to say, I took home about 90 euro, which is around 100 American dollars. Hmm... let's just say I may have made about 90 euro but spent about 100 euro that night. Drinks for everyone. Drinks for Gators. Drinks for army men. Drinks for bartenders. Drinks for strangers. Let's just say I am friendly to everyone when I win.

I will end this saying that I have had a good time, again, met more cool people, and had a memorable time.

Today the group visited Dachau Concentration Camp.
Because of our professor, we talked with Albert Knoll, who brought out artifacts that belonged to some of the 'prisoners.' He told us stories of what they knew about each artifact. It was really interesting to hear the stories of some of the inmates, but so unfathomable to think of what happened to them.
They also have a movie about Dachau that is shown in the exhibition. Some of the footage is taken by Nazi soldiers.

Today was one of those days that you just couldn't believe that people allowed that to happen. With my naive view of the world, I thought that people just didn't know what was happening in the camps. I thought that everything was a big secret and once people found out, that is when resistance happened. Its not though. People knew. People watched this happen. People helped and allowed this to happen. I just cant believe it...

So... the first day was really exciting. Very invigorating. The next couple of days were about the same, exciting, new, and full of wonder.

My background is education, elementary education to be exact. What I learned of Hitler was from the very biased and half story, history books of high school. The reason I went on this trip was to travel more than it was to get history credit or learn about the history of Hitler. What I realized over these few days was that history is so important. People should really study about the past because it reflects so much in the present and future. I saw so many different places throughout Munich, I was just in awe. The neatest thing about this trip was my professor. He shared all of his knowledge with us and gave us really interesting tours around the town.

* If you visit Munich and are even slightly interested in history, I suggest finding a tour guide of some sort that can give you the history of the places of Munich. *

There were so many buildings that had a history. There weren't many signs around that pointed out each building, so if you didn't know before or have someone point it out, you would have just walked right by it. For example, the birthplace of the Nazi party, Sterneckerstrasse, is now a bedding store. Also, be sure to look down because there were a lot of signs or monuments that were on the pavement.

Some very interesting things that I saw and really recommend anyone to see:
· Bayrischer Hof Hotel, this is where Kurt Eisner was murdered. The monument to his is on the ground and looks like a metal chalk outline.
· Viscardigasse, this is also known as dodger's alley, behind the Feldherrnhalle. There is a place where Nazi soldiers stood and when you walked by, you would have to salute to them. The alley is a place where people would walk through to "dodge" the soldiers and make it so they did not have to salute the soldiers.
· Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where the White Rose memorial is located. On the ground, there are replicas of the leaflets and other papers memorialized on the ground in front of the main building.

These are just some of the places that I saw while doing the walking tours of the city.


Now, to change the subject a little bit. I have had a wonderful time with the people in the group, as well as the people that we met at the hostel/hotel we stayed at. The Euro Youth Hotel (which I really recommend for tight budgets and younger people) has a bar on the first floor! Maybe you haven't understood me, but they have a BAR downstairs. How convenient and genius is that! And the bartenders, not only very cute, but very friendly. Every night I was down there and every night I met some new and interesting people. I had an hour conversation with a guy from Australia about tv shows and politics. It was quite entertaining.

And of course, during this time we visited the Hofbräuhaus. Amazing and everything it is claimed to be. It was so much fun and we danced to the band that was there. It was really cool because not only were there a bunch of tourists but there were also locals there. And when we went there, a football (soccer for Americans) match had just ended so there was a group of guys that kept singing songs from their team. The beer that is sold there is apparently good. I tried the 'lemonade tasting' beer. As far as beer goes, it was good. They also sell them in the steins, which is about as big as your head. It was fun.

Also, I have to admit the food is getting better. I have tried other types of sausage and they are better than the ones I had the first day. I have also had some really good sauces. Although, admittedly I have started to spend more money on drinks here than I have on food. I'm not a drunk or anything, they just have a lot to offer. They have these after dinner drink/ palate cleansers. They have all kinds of flavors, cherry, orange, and pear. Pear is the most popular, although I am partial to cherry. And they are strong, but delicious. And besides it is cold outside, and I need to stay warm. I am from Florida, I have an excuse. But anyways, try them. They are very good.

So, up next we are visiting Dachau, which I am a little nervous about that. We are also visiting Regensburg, Neuschwanstein and Salzburg.

Munich!

Arrival. Mind you this is the first time I have ever traveled by myself, let alone to another country. So I woke up early that morning after trying to pack my entire life for a nine day adventure the night before. My mom and dad took me to the airport where I tried to assure them I could get a refund on my trip if they just let me stay. I could spend the whole week home hanging out, helping clean, cook, redo the pool screens, paint the outside AND inside of the house, whatever they needed me for. Oh, and I was missing Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. And I was missing the UF vs FSU(cks) football game! But my pleading didnt get me anywhere besides on the plane. A short flight to Chicago and then a long flight in the middle of the middle section on my way to Munich! (I have since realized that I do this before every trip... try to get out of it but then go and have an amazing adventure.)

Once I was on the plane, my stomach butterflies and apprehension left and in came the excitement of it all. I was traveling by myself to another country where I did not know the language and was supposed to meet the rest of the group, who coordinated plane flights. I was excited, nay ecstatic! I was ready. And then we land. (I have been born and raised in Florida. I have never seen snow. My mom grew up in Michigan and never felt that it was important that we be exposed to snow. I had been checking the weather of Munich for the last month to see if there would be snow. There was a chance, a really good chance.) So, the plane lands. If you have ever been to the Munich airport, you know that a lot of the building is made of glass. You can see right outside and what I saw was pure white beauty! Snow, glorious snow! I must have looked like the biggest idiot. I was walking around aimlessly with a goofy smile on my face looking out the window and seeing snow, for the first time in my life. I will truly never forget that moment. And then walking around, there is this open space in the airport. I walked out there and it was snowing. I just stood there in the middle of it looking up at the snow.

So back to the trip. We were supposed to meet at a ticketbooth for the train into town. Well, that didnt quite work out the way people planned because I arrived in a terminal completely opposite of where they arrived. And therefore we did not meet up, but instead I traveled to the hotel/hostel we were staying at.

My first adventure! I was given some directions about where I needed to go. I was confident with that. What I was not so confident about was the ticketing process. I had to buy a ticket out of a machine. A machine that was in German. I, a person who had a crappy German language book which does not translate what is on the machine, was buying a ticket from a machine only written in German. So I closed my eyes and pushed a couple of buttons and out popped a ticket for the train, the S-bahn. A train came and I jumped on. After obsessively checking my information about the stop I was supposed to get on, I snuggled into the fourty minute or so ride. I stared out of the window the entire time just looking at the snow that had accumulated on the ground. It was beautiful, so white and clean looking. And the cars are so much different in other countries. It seems everyone has the tiniest car they can find.

So once the train came to the station, Hauptbahnhof (Central Station), I took out my directions from this station to the hotel. It was super easy and I was so happy that I made it. It's such a wonderful feeling to be able to travel through a country or place that you are unfamiliar with. It gives you this incredible boost of confidence, its weird.

So I get to the hotel, check in, put my stuff in the room and then head downstairs where most of the group is waiting. We are given some time to go to our rooms, introduce ourselves to our roomates and then head back down to go to lunch. As we are walking to lunch, our amazing professor is listing off buildings that we are walking by and a short description of why they are important. We make it to lunch where he wants us to have a traditional bavarian lunch, sausages! We go to a place that is famous for its Weisswurst veal sausage. To be honest with you, and dont tell anyone, but they were okay. Other people really liked them, I think I was expecting something different. I would try them again though.
Oh- and something I kept forgetting is to ask for water without gas, otherwise its seltzer water and I'm not a fan.

Then we walked around the town some more, saw more amazing sights, and then had a couple of hours off to relax. I took a nap. That night we went to dinner and had spatzle, which is a typical German food that is kinda like a noodle but tastes more like a dumpling. Hard to explain but it was okay. (Please dont think I am this incredibly picky eater, its just not that good.) The sauces that came with it were delicious and the meat was really good, its just the spatzle. After that we went to a pastery place where we had dessert which was delicious! We also tried some wine!

While walking between dinner and dessert, we had a mini snowball fight. I explained to people that this was my first time in snow and really wanted to have a snowball fight. So they were nice enough to oblige and we had one. Pretty cool!

That was just the first day and we already tried different food, saw a lot of Munich through a walking tour, and I met some pretty cool people.