Last Night in Europe...
Okay, so Monday night I got to Munich, and right off the bat I met a guy named Frank from Florida and a Korean girl whose name I regretfully can't remember. I think it might have been Hyun-chen, but I'm not sure. Anyway, about an hour after I checked in, I joined them in the lobby here at the Munich hostel and we got a group of people together to go to Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in Munich. Great place. I had three of their trademark dark beers, each in the LITER sized mugs they have there. Well, technically there was so much head on each beer that each one was only three-fourths of a liter, but that's still plenty to mess you up, especially when you have three of them. No worries though, I didn't do anything too stupid or embarrassing, just had a lot of fun that night. I also had the Schnitzel, which was pretty great. That was a fun night, and thankfully I had no hangover the next day.
Tuesday I spent the morning walking around Englischergarten, one of the biggest city parks in all of Europe. It was awesome. Beautiful wooded paths, branching rivers throughout the park, wide open lawns for picnics and sunbathing, and a really pretty pond with ducks, swans, and fish living in it. I walked through the park for about three hours, and I only saw half of it. It's that big. Oh, and did I mention the beergardens? Yeah, there are three of them, some of the biggest you're going to find anywhere. I had a currywurst at the Chinisescher Turm (Chinese Tower) Beer Garden, which was pretty good.
After that, I saw the Deutshes Museum, which is devoted to the history of human achievement in industry and science. That might sound a bit boring, but trust me, it was awesome! Real sailing ships, hawaiiand and eskimo canoes, and tugboats in their marine travel exhibit, historic planes in the aeronautics exhibit, and a real suspension bridge passing over part of the exhibit hall devoted to bridge building. They had a scale model of a human cell that was about the size of a bus, and you could walk inside and learn about how cells work. Collections of musical instruments of every shape and kind, dating from centuries ago to the present day. All kinds of interactive exhibits, too...I saw only about a quarter of that place in three hours, and I was totally hooked. I didn't even see the planetarium, which is also supposed to be really cool. I'm definitely coming back to spend a whole day a that place sometime.
Today I took a morning train to Salzburg, Austria. I got to see a lot of the old churches there, with all their ornate artwork and beautiful vaulted ceilings. Really impressive and moving. In the afternoon I went on a tour of the fortress on the hill, a huge walled complex where the archbishop princes of Salzburg held authority from at least the 1400s to the 1800s without ever being taken by force. Lots of interesting history there. I got to see some of the Archbishops' apartments in the fortress and look out from the top of the fortress at the whole green valley and the mountains around it. I didn't go on the Sound of Music tour, but I did see a few of the sights from the movie, like the horse fountain in the center of the old town (Residenzplatz) and the church where Maria was living at the beginning of the movie. I think Salzburg pushes that part of its fame a little too far, but I guess it's good business sense for their tourism industry.
I indulged in a chocolate covered pretzel the size of a large dinner plate right before I left the town, and it was totally awesome. Great way to end my day there.
So now I'm back in Munich, and this is my last night in Europe. Tomorrow I leave Munich airport at 7:05am for London Heathrow, then I fly back to the states at about noon London time. I'll get to Minneapolis Airport at 7:48pm Central time, after about 20 hours of solid traveling. Ugh. Don't think I have a book long enough for that. I'll be so glad when I'm home.
Overall, this trip has been awesome, and I'm so glad I took the time to go on this adventure. I'm definitely coming back as soon as I can, and I already know some things I'm going to do differently:
I'm not going to rush from place to place quite so much next time, since I kept wishing I didn't have to move on from each place quite so soon; and I'm going to try not to travel alone, because it's fun to see this stuff with your friends. Also, I'm going to see about bringing a bike next time. All this walking may be healthy, but it's really hard on the feet.
Well, that's all from Europe for a while. I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about it, and if you're interested I'll be posting an album of some of the cooler pics I've taken once I get home. Wish me luck on my marathon of airline travel tomorrow. *shudders* Twenty Hours...
Tuesday I spent the morning walking around Englischergarten, one of the biggest city parks in all of Europe. It was awesome. Beautiful wooded paths, branching rivers throughout the park, wide open lawns for picnics and sunbathing, and a really pretty pond with ducks, swans, and fish living in it. I walked through the park for about three hours, and I only saw half of it. It's that big. Oh, and did I mention the beergardens? Yeah, there are three of them, some of the biggest you're going to find anywhere. I had a currywurst at the Chinisescher Turm (Chinese Tower) Beer Garden, which was pretty good.
After that, I saw the Deutshes Museum, which is devoted to the history of human achievement in industry and science. That might sound a bit boring, but trust me, it was awesome! Real sailing ships, hawaiiand and eskimo canoes, and tugboats in their marine travel exhibit, historic planes in the aeronautics exhibit, and a real suspension bridge passing over part of the exhibit hall devoted to bridge building. They had a scale model of a human cell that was about the size of a bus, and you could walk inside and learn about how cells work. Collections of musical instruments of every shape and kind, dating from centuries ago to the present day. All kinds of interactive exhibits, too...I saw only about a quarter of that place in three hours, and I was totally hooked. I didn't even see the planetarium, which is also supposed to be really cool. I'm definitely coming back to spend a whole day a that place sometime.
Today I took a morning train to Salzburg, Austria. I got to see a lot of the old churches there, with all their ornate artwork and beautiful vaulted ceilings. Really impressive and moving. In the afternoon I went on a tour of the fortress on the hill, a huge walled complex where the archbishop princes of Salzburg held authority from at least the 1400s to the 1800s without ever being taken by force. Lots of interesting history there. I got to see some of the Archbishops' apartments in the fortress and look out from the top of the fortress at the whole green valley and the mountains around it. I didn't go on the Sound of Music tour, but I did see a few of the sights from the movie, like the horse fountain in the center of the old town (Residenzplatz) and the church where Maria was living at the beginning of the movie. I think Salzburg pushes that part of its fame a little too far, but I guess it's good business sense for their tourism industry.
I indulged in a chocolate covered pretzel the size of a large dinner plate right before I left the town, and it was totally awesome. Great way to end my day there.
So now I'm back in Munich, and this is my last night in Europe. Tomorrow I leave Munich airport at 7:05am for London Heathrow, then I fly back to the states at about noon London time. I'll get to Minneapolis Airport at 7:48pm Central time, after about 20 hours of solid traveling. Ugh. Don't think I have a book long enough for that. I'll be so glad when I'm home.
Overall, this trip has been awesome, and I'm so glad I took the time to go on this adventure. I'm definitely coming back as soon as I can, and I already know some things I'm going to do differently:
I'm not going to rush from place to place quite so much next time, since I kept wishing I didn't have to move on from each place quite so soon; and I'm going to try not to travel alone, because it's fun to see this stuff with your friends. Also, I'm going to see about bringing a bike next time. All this walking may be healthy, but it's really hard on the feet.
Well, that's all from Europe for a while. I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about it, and if you're interested I'll be posting an album of some of the cooler pics I've taken once I get home. Wish me luck on my marathon of airline travel tomorrow. *shudders* Twenty Hours...