London Spring 2011: Munich, Germany

Well, its sad to say but my last and final trip of my semester has happened. This past weekend I went with my old roommate Greg to Munich to meet up with my AKPsi friends Jess and Morgan who are studying there. Jess and Morgan have only been in Munich for a few days since their program is just starting and continues until the end of July, which sounds crazy since I return to the States on Sunday. Once I got to Munich on Friday morning, I waited around the airport for about 2 hours for Greg to arrive from Rome. After figuring out the train system, we then checked into out hotel.

For lunch we went to a local restaurant where we each had our first beer in Germany, Ausustiner Edelsoff, which is really really good. We got an attitude in the restaurant since we didn’t speak a word of German, but we were successful in getting food before we left. After eating we headed down to the city center where we walked around for a little while exploring the city. Munich is a very pretty city, filled with really nice building sand towers. After seeing a bit of the city we meet up with Morgan, Jess and their friends and went to one of the most famous Munich spots, Augustiner Bierhalle. All of the workers in the Bierhalle were dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing, the beer is sold by liters and it was a great place to experience authentic German culture. After a few drinks in the Bierhalle we headed to the student dorms where Jess and Morgan live to hang out for a few hours. Overall it was a great first day in Munich and I enjoyed hanging out with my friends.

On Saturday, Greg and I went on a 3-hour walking tour of the entire city, which was very interesting. We were able to hear about the Nazi history of the city and about the culture and traditions of Germany. After the tour we grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch (I had no idea what I was eating) and then headed to another famous beerhall, Hofbräuhaus, which is abbreviated to HB. HB is the royal brewery of the city and it is one of the most famous places in the entire city. It is absolutely massive and it was completely packed. HB was easily one of my favorite places since coming abroad, and I enjoyed the beer and pretzels that I had there. After going back to the hotel to rest for a little while, Greg and I meet up with Jess and Morgan at their student dorms. We spent the night hanging out in one of their friend’s rooms and it was a fun time overall.

On Sunday morning, Greg had to head back to Rome so I spent the afternoon seeing the city myself. First I headed over to the Olympic park of Munich, which held the 1972 Olympics. I was able to see the Olympic Stadium, the aquatics center and I took a trip up the Olympic tower, which gave me a great view of the city. After the Olympic area I decided to do something a bit less fun by taking a trip outside the city to Dachau Concentration Camp. Dachau was the first concentration camps and served as a model for all of the others. It was also one of the largest, with an estimated 100,000 people dying there. At the concentration camp I was able to see the barracks where prisoners stayed, gas chambers, incinerators and many other aspects of the camp. The experience was not something that anyone can enjoy, but I think it was something that was important to see, as the holocaust was such a big part of history. I was at shock by some of the things I saw at Dachau and I don’t think I will ever return to a concentration camp in my life, but I do recommend that everyone goes to experience a concentration camp once.

Overall, Munich was a great last trip for me. It was great hanging with my old roommate and one of my best friends (somehow) Greg and my AKPsi friends Jess and Morgan. Most people were pretty friendly in Germany and the culture is definitely one of the most unique I have experienced. It is really hard to imagine that in just 6 days I board my flight back to the US. Traveling through Europe has been absolutely amazing and I have surpassed my goal of visiting 10 countries 5, with my total now being up to 15 countries with Germany.

My next few days I will be finishing up my work, attending my last class here and then interning for my last two days. Although I am ready to go home and see my friends and family that I miss so much, I’m going to get really sad these next few days as I come to the realization that my 4 month vacation is over. I will hope to update you all later on in the week with my final thoughts from the UK.