Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
Writing something is better than writing nothing, even if I don't have time to write everything, right? Right.
Germany! And Austria. (Munich, Salzburg, Heidelberg/Mannheim & now Frankfurt.) Items:
I've discovered the secret phrase to happiness in German-speaking countries: ein weissbier, bitte! All the wheat beers are so straight up delicious I can't handle it. It's strange being in countries where I don't have any background in the language, apart from the distant cousin relationship between English and German. Luckily my boyfriend is German-Jewish -- his grandparents emigrated just before the war -- and took five years of it in school. He's never been to Germany before, though, and to our mutual surprise he turns out to ... speak German! Super convenient.
Facts about Munich that turned out to be true for the rest of the country: there are often two or three H&Ms in a two block radius -- ditto United Colors of Benneton. There's no ticket gate for the subway or the buses, and no one checking tickets anywhere. Honor system rules, even at crosswalks, when whole crowds of people will wait patiently at a Don't Walk sign with nary a car in sight.
The part of the post where I'm an indefensible caricature of an American abroad: it turns out I truly hate German food! Maybe hate is a bit strong, but I usually LOVE eating local food, and I'm not feeling this at all. Everything's so ... meaty, and it's not even that I hate meat, but it's all so heavy and unseasoned (boiled potatoes) and unpleasantly textured (Spam-esque meatloaf). I'm ashamed of myself. At least there are pretzels and beer and apfelstrudel and Turkish food.
We did a day at Dachau, which I can't really talk about. I knew it would be brutal, which it was and then some. I cried the whole five hours I think, but I'm not sorry I went.
On the train from Munich to Salzburg the countryside just got lovelier and lovelier, rolling green hills and finally the Alps in the distance, and the ridiculously picturesque little city. When the bells ring they sound exactly like the bells in The Sound of Music, a movie I watched approx.10,000 times growing up. And yes, I did the Sound of Music tour. Which is about one degree of cheesiness away from those people who have Disney-themed weddings, I know, but I REGRET NOTHING. The best part was going up into the mountains, past Alpine lakes and cliffs. What an astonishingly beautiful country.
Wifi access is so awful everywhere! Everything locked or broken; booo.
Also I managed to catch the second half of Eurovision! How I've missed it! Oh my god, Moldova, I will never stop laughing.
Germany! And Austria. (Munich, Salzburg, Heidelberg/Mannheim & now Frankfurt.) Items:
I've discovered the secret phrase to happiness in German-speaking countries: ein weissbier, bitte! All the wheat beers are so straight up delicious I can't handle it. It's strange being in countries where I don't have any background in the language, apart from the distant cousin relationship between English and German. Luckily my boyfriend is German-Jewish -- his grandparents emigrated just before the war -- and took five years of it in school. He's never been to Germany before, though, and to our mutual surprise he turns out to ... speak German! Super convenient.
Facts about Munich that turned out to be true for the rest of the country: there are often two or three H&Ms in a two block radius -- ditto United Colors of Benneton. There's no ticket gate for the subway or the buses, and no one checking tickets anywhere. Honor system rules, even at crosswalks, when whole crowds of people will wait patiently at a Don't Walk sign with nary a car in sight.
The part of the post where I'm an indefensible caricature of an American abroad: it turns out I truly hate German food! Maybe hate is a bit strong, but I usually LOVE eating local food, and I'm not feeling this at all. Everything's so ... meaty, and it's not even that I hate meat, but it's all so heavy and unseasoned (boiled potatoes) and unpleasantly textured (Spam-esque meatloaf). I'm ashamed of myself. At least there are pretzels and beer and apfelstrudel and Turkish food.
We did a day at Dachau, which I can't really talk about. I knew it would be brutal, which it was and then some. I cried the whole five hours I think, but I'm not sorry I went.
On the train from Munich to Salzburg the countryside just got lovelier and lovelier, rolling green hills and finally the Alps in the distance, and the ridiculously picturesque little city. When the bells ring they sound exactly like the bells in The Sound of Music, a movie I watched approx.10,000 times growing up. And yes, I did the Sound of Music tour. Which is about one degree of cheesiness away from those people who have Disney-themed weddings, I know, but I REGRET NOTHING. The best part was going up into the mountains, past Alpine lakes and cliffs. What an astonishingly beautiful country.
Wifi access is so awful everywhere! Everything locked or broken; booo.
Also I managed to catch the second half of Eurovision! How I've missed it! Oh my god, Moldova, I will never stop laughing.