Wie war München?

So, as I said earlier I would need to make an entirely separate post to try to discuss our first weekend in Germany. On the whole, it was exactly what I had hoped my first excursion would be like when trying to travel without the guidance of my host mom, Dr. Wasser, or the rest of AIB. Things started off innocently enough, with our train ride to Munich being relatively uneventful, if not kind of long. However, as soon as we got to Munich, things started to get interesting. It was really too late to get food anywhere by the time we got into town at around 10 or so, and after we had wandered for a bit we decided to just make our way by taxi back to the hotel. Now, if you've read anyone else's blog you know this is where part of our group got to have their first unplanned "adventure". While my taxi and the third taxi made it to the hotel quickly (and very, very, very awkwardly silent in the case of my taxi), the first taxi that left did  not. After driving them to the wrong destination a couple of times and turning off the fare since he had messed up so much, the taxi driver dropped them off at the wrong location, forcing them to walk about 40 minutes in the middle of the night to the hotel. Now, from our point of view things were pretty cheery. In the meantime, the wonderfully nice woman who owned the hotel had told us where to go get pizza so we could eat, and we wandered to the small hole in the wall, ordered 3 pizzas and a bottle of wine, and proceeded to sit and wait for our food, part of the group content with the bottle of wine to share. After getting our pizzas (partially a welcome gift since we knew the others were having trouble) we went back to the hotel and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally Dae texts to let us know that they have to walk 40 minutes still, and of course we start to panic just a little bit on whether or not we need to call Dr. Wasser (doing great in the whole not needing help area right). Luckily they show up, eat pizza and end up with a story to share.

Day two was a trip to the Dachau concentration camp, an experience you cannot afford to miss if you are here. There is something indescribable about being in that place, and the weight it leaves you with is something that history books can never convey. It's a somber day, and you have to anticipate the aforementioned weight and gravity of the complex and the effect it has on your mood. It's not a place for much laughter. That being said, it was my second time to go and it was probably even more impactful than the first. Don't miss it if you go to Munich. That occupied most of our day on the first day, and we had late lunch at this random spot we found because things close here a little after lunch time as if they need a siesta or something... anyways it was delicious as usual and afterwards we wandered back towards town to meet the rest of our group at a beer garden for dinner and a classic giant beer. The atmosphere was excellent, an all-outdoor area with trees creating a canopy over everything, and people were vibrant and jovial to put it lightly. We stayed there for maybe 2 hours where I had a single beer because why are they so big, then we took the journey back home for the night.

Day 2 we said goodbye to the hotel owner who took photos because I wasn't joking when I said she's the nicest woman ever, then we went back to Munich to use our few hours before the train came. We reserved seats (quite the ordeal because they were all full) then our small group went to the Olympic park in Munich. I had never been to an Olympic area and it did not disappoint. Rolling hills and green grass throughout, with amazing architecture even by today's standards, all capped off with a great climb to the top of a hill for one hell of a view. Eventually we made our way back to the station, got on board the train and started the trip back. Of course that couldn't be met with no issues, so our train was delayed 51 minutes for a really nondescript fire (we don't know where it was or if it was an issue, they just kinda said fire). But after the "fire" was gone we got moving again, and I ended up at home at around 11:15, closing the night with my first long call home to update everyone. That's a long post so sorry world, but it's kinda hard to condense such a packed in trip. Basically go to Munich if you can because it's super cool. So wie war München? München war super.