Germany > Switzerland

We have had such a fun last few days! Our second, and last, day in Switzerland started early. We were on the train by 9:04 headed to Interlaken. Interlaken means the city between two lakes. It is supposed to be a town for young people to enjoy visiting. Our friends from the cultural festival suggested that we go visit. Since we had already visited everything to visit, and because the train travel was free thanks to our Eurail pass, we headed to the mountain town. The train ride only took about an hour so it was a nice day trip. It was a very cute little town. Swiss Army knives were visible in all the shop windows as we walked by. We thought finding the two lakes would be idiot proof since we thought it was kind of named after them but not so much. We walked and walked before getting on a bus that took us to the best lake, as the bus driver put it. When we finally found the lake we were so hungry. The only restaurant was connected to the hotel. We sat down to have lunch and while eating noticed that we were for sure the youngest people in the whole place. I felt like we were having lunch at a retirement home. We looked up and realized that all the young people were skydiving and hang-gliding instead of eating lunch. It was good though and just what we needed! We walked down by the lake to enjoyed the view. The Alabama girls both had chill bumps from the cool mountain air. The Swiss girls were decked out in bathing suits enjoying the "warm" weather.
Anna and I headed back to the train station and then arrived back to Bern. We collected our bags and got on the train again to make our way to Munich. I absoultely love public transportation. I have always loved to fly and just to be in an airport people watching. The European trains have taken this love to a new level. I think riding the train around Europe is part of the fun. However, somehow Anna and I ALWAYS end up on a plane or train with a shrieking child. On the train from Bern to Munich we had two children who made the ride oh so enjoyable. I was sitting next to a man who ate a whole chicken, two rolls, two beers, some chocolates, and some mints on the train. Who eats that on a train ride? I wanted to hand him a sandwich. Anna sat next to hair girl. She would not leave her hair alone. It was super gross. All these people make traveling even more fun! I still love riding the train. We arrived in Munich late Sunday night and fell straight into bed after our day of traveling.
Monday brought all kinds of Munich fun. We started the day at the Marienplatz. The Neues Rathaus, new town hall, provides visitors with a show at 11:00 every morning. The figures at the top dance around and music plays for a solid ten minutes. We enjoyed getting to see this. Next, we climbed the steps, over 300, to the top of the Peterskirche clock tower. The view was amazing! They also have a great outdoor market in the area. We loved seeing all the fresh fruits and veggies. Anna and I split some blueberries for a snack. Aunt Mary, how are the blueberries at home coming along??? They are one of my favorite fruits! We also saw the beautiful Frauenkirche church. It is topped by onion domes and is known as Munich's symbol. It was nice inside and out. Of course they were doing restoration work so some of it was covered up. This seems to be our luck everywhere! We left the old town area and made our way to the Olympiapark. I LOVE the Olympics and everything Olympic related. Being in this park was so fun for me! I will go to the Olympics one day. I am determined. We wanted to eat lunch in the Olympic tower but it was not open for the day. We did take the elevator to the top to get a nice view. After the tower, we walked around the park to find the festival that was going on. It is called the Tollwood Festival and it celebrates different cultures. We had lunch at the festival. It was a fun afternoon.
The largest beer garden in Munich is the Hirschgarten. We headed in that direction next. After getting lost in the large park and having a nice little stroll, we finally found the actual beer garden. It can hold 8,000 people. So HUGE! I will say that I think we were the only tourists there. After being a little confussed about what to do, we thought we had it figured out. Anna walked up to a counter and pointed to a name. The man handed her a glass. I told him I wanted something different and he handed me a glass too. When we started to pay the man asked Anna if she had apple juice. Again we were super confussed. Anna accidentally ordered fizzy apple juice. We laughed so hard! We both enjoyed our afternoon then headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. We read about a place with Bavarian food and decided to give it a try. It was great! I had farmer's duck, potato dumplings, and red cabbage. The couple next to us kept looking at us and we wondered why. Finally the man turned around and said, "Are you girls from Alabama?" Yes we told him and asked how he knew that. He had been to training on the Arsenal in Huntsville and said he could pick out the accent anywhere. We talked about all his favorite places to eat in North Alabama. Big Bob Gibson's BBQ was his favorite. We had a great discussion about southern food. He and his girlfriend were from Connecticut. We had planned on going to the Hofbrauhaus after dinner. They were going too so we walked together and ended up sitting with them for about two hours. We all had a great time chatting and people watching in the beer hall. Anna and I both love the beer gardens and the beer halls. We want to open one in Auburn. Our new friends walked us to the metro station and we told them good bye. We have been so lucky to meet the best people all over.
Today we started with a train ride to Dachau. Most people ride the train to Dachau and then take the bus straight to the concentration camp. We had not decided how we were going to get there yet. We exited the train and saw a family walking together. The dad had a Kentucky Wildcats hat with him. After pulling the Go Wildcats/SEC card, Anna and I were in the middle of a family vacay. Our luck continued as we discovered that the family we were with was complete with a German cousin who lives in Munich. We followed them and had a nice walk through the neighborhood. As we neared the camp, in one block the scenery changed from happy suburban backyards to a chilling Concentration Camp. Anna and I broke away from the family and headed into the main building. They have done a wonderful job with the displays and memorial throughtout the building. We spent about two hours walking through the rooms and reading all the information. Thank you Coach Hass for providing me with a world class education. I could never have asked for a better World History teacher. You prepared me for all the information that came with the camp this morning. It was a somber way to start the day, but I am so thankful to have had the experience. It was a learning trip for sure and a morning I will never forget.
Our next stop was the University district for lunch. I had a salad. I don't know how the Germans eat meat all day everyday. The English Garden was next. The garden is huge! Kind of a Central Park for Munich. We watched tons of people sun bathing, biking, running, and walking. After a loop around the park we went to the Augustiner-Keller beer garden. Again we were so confussed. The locals are serious in this garden. They have tables wating for them that are decorated with the family name. It was interesting to see all the locals coming by after work. Anna and I had dinner in the beer garden. After dinner we decided to check out the Munich Film Festival we keep seeing publicity for. We made it to the site no problem but then realized that we had no clue how this worked. We can just get a tee shirt we decided. But no tee shirts were to be found. We asked several people. I guess we are a little tee shirt crazy in the United States. We checked out a different beer hall, the Augustinerbrau, but it was not nearly as fun as the night before. So we ended up back at Hofbrauhaus. We even made a visit to the gift shop. We've decided our favorite Munich drink is the Radler. It is half beer and half lemonade.
We are really loving Munich! One thing might be that we are in a HOTEL! We have our own room and bathroom. So nice to not be in a hostel for a few days. We have also mastered the metro system. It is so easy. We feel like locals getting around on it. Another fun day in Germany tomorrow!