Munich

This past weekend a group of us went to München, which is by far my favorite city in Germany now. Expect to spend way more than you expect on food and beer if you go here! (And not because its expensive either!) Our first night we accidentally took the train farther outside of the city instead of going into the city. We finally got off and decided we would get some food at what looked to be a suitable square. Really we just saw lights and stuff, turned out there wasn't much food choice. I'm proud of myself though because I went up to this younger man and asked him in German where a good place to eat was in the area. Turned out it was right down the street, and although we thought it may be too expensive, we went for it anyways. Best. Food. Ever. We sat in a beer garden! I got the schnitzel, potato salad, and beer. They brought us some pretzels out, which introduced me to my first encounter with German mustard. Please note, if you don't like mustard in America, or even if you do, you must try German mustard. I hate mustard back home, but this stuff is on a complete different level. Words can not explain it. I bought a few jars already :) oh the pretzels are wonderful also!
I love the people I traveled with on this trip, they were an absolute blast. It was actually five of us girls and one guy, but it was really awesome, and I look forward to next weekend!
On Saturday I really wanted to see Neuschwanstein, the fairy tale castle, and everyone decided they wanted to go too. It was a few hour train/bus ride, but totally worth it. We saw the Alps, and a few huge lakes...we were only two hours walking distance from Austria! I know a few people were upset that it wasn't sunny, but I thought with the amount of walking we did uphill, it was perfect! I also thought the mist made the Alps and the castle look more mysterious :) Our tour guide was from Liverpool and he was only 18!! it was nice being able to relate with him though.
We went to the Hofbrauhaus Saturday night. It took us forever to find! Again I used my awesome German skills to ask for directions. At one point I walked up to this really weird looking Italian guy..or maybe French? Anyways, we all decided later he looked like someone who would probably be a pick pocketer, but it didn't matter for me, because I walked up to him, and he looked really suprised. lol I asked him if he knew where it was, and his response was "Naturlich" with this weird seductive look, and he drew that word out so long. I laughed. :) Anyways we found the place, and my God, was it crowded! We forgot the USA/Great Britain game was on, but we found some seats outside, and it was such a great atmosphere, and we got to laugh at all of the drunk Americans. They tied by the way! Anyways, definitely recommend the place. Good food, good portions, GREAT beer, low prices. I was the only one at our table to dare trying the one liter stein of beer. I'm proud of myself for finishing it!
Sunday we went to Dachau. I expected to feel really overwhelmed, but I really didn't feel anything. I feel bad for not feeling anything. Does that make sense? We did the walk along with it..its about an hour and it follows the trail that the prisoners walked from where they were dropped off. We thought it would be a good starter for the trip so we could put ourselves in their places. I thought the showers were a bit creepy. Apparently they also hung people in front of the burning ovens in the crematorium which is really disgusting. We walked around Dachau for about 2 1/2 hours and headed back to the train station. Bought some last minute souveniers and pretzels! I got back at about 9 pm and my host mom asked if she could make me some dinner so I was really excited...she made me weisswurst! (A Bavarian specialty...btw Munich is in Bavaria). And mustard (yay!) and potato salad! Perfect ending to the weekend.
Today we got our tests back, and I didn't do half as bad as I thought. Also talked about our trip to Berlin this week with the class which I am really looking forward to. Came home a bit early to just chill out and catch up on some stuff around the house. Can't believe I'll be home in exactly four weeks!