I'll give you three guesses where I've been!
What an exciting couple of weeks it’s been! The more time I
seem to spend in Germany, the more I fall in love with it, and the less I want
my year abroad to end.
Last weekend I headed back down to Bavaria with some other
ELAs for Munich, round two. Though the weather remained below freezing for
almost three days straight, we battled against the elements to spend three days
sight-seeing, eating cake, drinking beer and of course taking many-a touristy
photo.
Getting there was a bit of a fandango, to say the least,
mainly because the more experience I have with the German transport system, the
more I loathe it. Deutsche Bahn and I will not part on good terms when I go home. The Germans are renowned the world over for their efficiency
and time-keeping skills. The German people, yes, their transport system…not so
much. I have yet to go on a journey where all my train connections have been on
time. Anyway, there I was, sitting on the train to Munich, feeling very happy with myself as
I had managed to find a direct train from Bensheim that worked out a lot
cheaper, casually ignoring the fact that it was running forty minutes behind,
when the train conductor suddenly announced that the train would not be stopping
in Munich today. Errrrr, say what now?!?!? I may not be a train connoisseur,
but I can say with some certainty that it’s a bit off to suddenly announce that
the train will not be stopping somewhere once
the passengers are already on the train! Anyway, the long and the short of
the story is that I found myself abandoned in some random place in the south of
Germany, in a town I’d never even heard of, trying to get to Munich. I did have
visions of myself remaining stranded on this platform for the rest of my days,
unable to find a connecting train, but as it was a nice business man kindly
took pity on me and told me the best way to get to Munich. Panic over. If
anything, it was a character building exercise. (At least, that’s what I keep
telling myself when any of these sorts of things happen to me!)
So, once I had safely arrived at my destination, warmed up a
little, eaten something and met the others, it was time to turn our attention to
all the tourist activities we had planned for the weekend. For any tourist in
Germany, no matter which website you look at or guidebook you read, a visit to
the Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen in southern Bavaria is always at the top of
their recommended list. “You’re travelling to Munich – oh, you must visit
Neuschwanstein,” they say. It’s the castle that was used in Chitty Chitty Bang
Bang and also the castle that a lot of Disney ones are based on. Well, being
a humongous Disney fan myself, it was something I just had to see. I would
heartily recommend it to anyone! The higher into the mountains we travelled the
colder it felt and the deeper the snow became. If you google pictures of Neuschwanstein, a significant proportion of them will be of the castle in the
snow. It looked like something on a postcard. Absolutely beautiful!
Saturday was mainly spent seeing the sights in the centre of
Munich, trying to do as much walking as possible to prevent our toes from going
numb in the sub-zero temperatures,taking every opportunity to dive into
coffee shops and patisseries to escape the snow and sample even more of
Germany’s delicious pastries. We also paid the Olympic Park from the 1972
Olympics a visit. Being a biased Brit, it wasn’t quite as impressive as London,
but an enjoyable experience, nonetheless. No visit to Munich, however, would be
complete without a trip to the ‘Hofbräuhaus,’ the most famous of Germany’s beer
halls. I really don’t think you could find something that was more typically
German if you tried! Hundreds of people line wooden benches, drinking beer
from a tankard with one hand, eating a pretzel with the other, as waiters and
waitresses dressed in lederhosen and dirndls serve you typically German meals.
Naturally, we embraced this wholeheartedly. I think I definitely must be
embracing German culture, as my love of beer has definitely grown somewhat
since living in Deutschland.
One of the many cake shops we spotted en-route
A view from one of the highest points in Munich - quite impressive, no?!
Ich liebe Bier <3
It just had to be done...
Sunday was a bit of a slower day, as we walked a little way
through the English Gardens in the morning, a park that is apparently bigger
than Central Park in New York, and came across some crazy daredevils who
thought it would be a good idea to surf in the river that runs through the
garden. In all honesty, I’m not sure if they were incredibly brave or
incredibly stupid, but either way it was exciting to watch them! Then there was
just enough time for a quick pit-stop in Starbucks for a hot drink and one last
pastry before facing the long journey home, and yet more delayed connections. I
was grateful to get home on Sunday night and took full advantage of my lay-in
on Monday.
You have got to be off your rocker to try that!
This weekend is known as Karneval
in Germany; where adults and children alike dress up in crazy costumes,
sing crazy songs and drink crazy amounts of alcohol. (Well, not the children,
at least I hope not!!) I’ve experienced Fasching, as it is also called, once
before, and though I didn’t really mark the occasion this year, it didn’t stop
me enjoying the bank holiday the Germans are given on Monday. I travelled over
to Heidelberg, a city that I could definitely see myself living in, to meet up
with a teacher from school and explore the city away from the tourist path. She
took me up into the hills above the city, where the view of the castle and the
bridge is unrivalled, showed me the cafeteria and the library of the
university, (it made me miss Warwick) and showed me some very traditional
German pastry shops. I tell you know, I am going to be the size of a house by
the time I go home. It was a really lovely day, and a great way to round off a
really great couple of weeks.
Whoooooo, Heidelberg!
Much love
Emily
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