My Easter break (Spring break to all you Americans!) started with a stop in Munich, Germany. Sydney, Steph, and I flew from Dublin to Munich where we met a strange assortment of people at our hostel on Friday night... Sydney's cousin Frances (She lives in Spain and teaches English in a middle school there) and Sebastian (one of my German friends from UL) with his brother, Benedikt, and their friends Mischa and Stefan.
Friday
Our first stop in town clearly had to be somewhere with a good beer selection! Our group of 8 hit the streets in search of the perfect place. Munich was beautiful in the dark... all the old buildings looked magical when they were lit up for the night! We enjoyed dinner, beer, and slightly awkward, bilingual, conversation with our new friends! I have to give the German boys major credit thought... although they all continuously apologized for their 'poor english' they were great! After a little while everyone was finally comfortable enough to talk and get to know one another!
Saturday
We got up bright and early to make our way to the train station to head to Schloss Neuschwanstein (New Swan Palace).
My first view of the Alps from the train!
The palace, nestled in the Alps, was commissioned by the certifiably insane Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 19th Century. He died before it's completion and the palace was turned into a museum six months later. The interior of the castle (I couldn't take picture) was terrible! The man loved swans and they were everywhere to prove it... in framed paintings, carvings, murals, even a life-size porcelain swan humidifier! The outside of the castle, sadly under restoration during my visit, was the inspiration for the Disney castle. Although the castle wasn't spectacular, we spent an amazingly, sunny, beautiful day enjoying radlers (beer and lemonade) at the beer gardens around the castle!
Stefan and me at the beer garden down the hill from the castle.
Mischa, Benedikt, and an oblivious Sydney!
The view of the Bavarian countryside from the castle hilltop.
The non-Disney side of the castle (the part not covered in scaffolding)
The view from the back side of the castle. Look... short sleeves!
When we'd seen what there was to see at Neuschwanstein we caught a train back to Munich for a quick dinner and some much needed sleep!
Sunday
In the morning Sydney and I caught up with a tour guide at the train station who brought us and a group of other international college students on a guided tour of the Dachau concentration camp museum and memorial. We spent the morning in the camp looking at old photos, watching a movie, and trying to understand, at least slightly, what went on inside the walls of this horrifying place. The camp museum has been constructed by actual survivors which really make it a powerful place to see. It was an amazingly emotional experience... the strength that the surviving prisoners have shown in order to tell their storied and remember those that were lost was unbelievable. I'm glad to have had the experience to see their nightmares and feel their triumph.
"To honor the dead. To warn the living"
-the memorial erected by the survivors-
In the afternoon, when Syd and I got back to Munich, we wandered to town in search of the English gardens and stumbled on some pretty impressive buildings...
When we reached the English gardens we enjoyed the sun, with a ton of other people, and made our way to the Chinese Pagoda...
We finished Sunday off with a few drinks in the bar right in our hostel (dad... that brings out the worst in people even more than a wedding reception in the hotel you're staying in!) and enjoyed out last (real) night in Munich and our real last night with Bene, Mischa, and Stefan!
Sydney, Frances, and me in the hostel bar
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