Day 31

We had two weeks off around Easter between the intro course and the beginning of the semester, so Juliann and i decided to do some city hopping. Our first stop was Dresden! It was about a six hour train ride, and we didn’t start at the crack of dawn so it was almost dinner time when we arrived. We went straight to our hostel to drop off our bags (the wonderful kangaroo stop as suggested by Kathryn) before taking on the town. Dresden’s river cuts the city into the north and south parts. We were staying on the north which is the more modern side while the historic buildings line the south bank. Since we didn’t have a lot of time left in the day, we decided to explore the north half and take on the south half the next day.

We walked down to the river past some cool sculptures

the Dreikönigskirche (which was unfortunately closed)

and the Japanese Palace (which basically just looks like an ordinary museum from the outside.

There was a really nice park area along the river and a view of the old city.

On the way back to the hostel we passed one of the many trees that had been decorated for Easter.

After our short tour of the north side, we went to the Bautzner Tor which was recommended for its very East German food. Of course we had no idea what was quintessentially East German so i just picked something randomly off the menu and ended up with some sort of sausage,  go figure. After a couple minutes some Germans joined our table because the place was pretty full. We pretty much kept to ourselves at the beginning, but after we had eaten some we started to chat and it was super entertaining. There were two late 30’s guys and an older man. The two younger guys spoke English pretty well, but we nice enough to help us practice our German. They thought US doorknobs were dumb, but we told them putting push bars on pull doors was more dumb lol. After we finished our drinks and paid, we bid farewell and had a decently early bed time for an early start the next day.

Day 20

Our weekend trip this week was to Pottenstein and Gößweinstein. In Pottenstein we had the choice of going on a cave tour or to the toboggan park. Since we had just spent yesterday walking around in cold dark caves it wasn’t really a difficult choice. The tobogganing was sort of like a self-driven single-car roller coaster. Everyone got in their own little carts with a break lever that should be left alone, and we went flying down the mountain.

One of the girls in front of us seemed to think this was a leisurely photo tour instead of a thrill ride. While we were stuck waiting on her, i took a picture of Kathryn and you can better see the cart.

Because our first ride was so slow, we decided to go again and it was awesome! I’m glad they don’t let tourists drive the roller coasters at Six Flags.

An awesome multi-lingual sign!

After Pottenstein we took the bus next door to Gößweinstein. It had a super cool basilica! And some really good pizza =)

Then we ended the afternoon with a 6ish kilometer walk back to Pottenstein to meet the bus. I don’t think any of the students really understood why we were walking back when the bus had dropped us off to begin with, but the countryside was pretty so aside from being really dehydrated (dehydration is a normal part of German travel because anything to drink is expensive and if you can find a toilet you’ll probably have to pay to use it) it was cool.

Day 19

On Friday we had a cave tour as part of the intro program. They called it a cave tour, but it was really a series of tunnels dung underneath the city. They were originally dug as cellars for storing beer, but over time they were enlarged and connected into an awesome pitch black labyrinth. The tour was entirely in German, so i was mostly zoned out and didn’t learn a whole lot. There was one part, though, where we were led to an area that had a couple bones in the corner so i actually paid attention. It turns out there was some point where the whole city was holed up in the tunnels. The place where we were standing was the “grocery store” and the bones were from a cow. After that we were led into a room with lots of beer barrels and i got distracted taking pictures.

 

David trying to blind us all with his flashlight.

Our guide explaining that all the black on the ceiling was caused by smoke from the fires people burned while they lived down here.

A giant beer barrel!

More beer!!

Day 13

On Saturday the University had organized a trip to Munich as part of the intro course. After a three hour bus ride we were dropped off in front of the Opera house and told to be back by 6:30. There was supposed to be an English tour of the city at 2, so we just decided to look around for a bit until then. Our first stop was Marienplatz with the famous Glockenspiel on the “new” city hall. The hall was completed in 1908 but there’s another one in town that’s from the 1300’s.

The Glockenspiel is basically a really awesome cuckoo clock that only goes off at 11 (plus noon and five when the tourist season gets big). The top half plays out a jousting match for Duke Wilhelm V’s wedding. Bavaria always wins of course, and then the bottom half goes off. It depicts the barrel makers who were the first to go out into the streets after a plague and did a dance to show everyone it was ok.

On the side of the City Hall there was also this really sweet dragon!

And of course lots of tourists taking photos. I guess this guy was trying to get a picture doing karate with the Glockenspiel. I thought it was funny that his friend had a pink cover for his iPhone though.

Anyway after we’d looked at the building for awhile, we decided that it was time for lunch so we headed towards the Hofbräuhaus. Unfortunately we let Kathryn lead the way, so we ended up at the Frauenkirche. Luckily we’d wanted to go there anyway, so we stayed to look around.

This is the famous Devil’s Footprint in the church foyer. The legend is that while the church was being built the devil came to destroy it, but when he stood in the foyer it looked at though there weren’t any windows (the columns block them). He thought to himself, “This is great. Without any windows the church will be dark and damp with rats and other foul creatures and people will come here to worship me instead of God.” So he made a deal with the builder that he would help build the church as long as no windows were added. After the church was built the devil came back to check out his handiwork and was astonished to find the church filled with light. He realized he had been tricked, but the church had already been consecrated so all he could do was angrily stomp his foot leaving this imprint.

After checking out the Frauenkirche we took the map away from Kathryn and found our way to the Hofbräuhaus. It was pretty much a tourist trap, but then we were being tourists for the day and it really was a lot of fun.

The pretty menus which we read in German unlike the American tourists that sat down next to us. We did help them translate a little bit until they found some English menus though.

Prost! This is Samantha, Kathryn, Juliann, and Nastia’s beer lol.

After going to the Hofbräuhaus, we met up for the English tour. As part of the tour we went to Augustiner am Platzl because Augustiner beer is apparently the Pope’s favorite beer and thereby the best beer in the world. Unfortunately i’d already had as much beer as i wanted for the day, so i passed it up with just a small taste. The tour also told us more about the Frauenkirche, the old city hall, and Hitler’s beginnings.

Then we walked down the most expensive street in Europe. I bet they don’t give out these pens at your bank.

Yes, this watch is six figures, and no, the first figure is not a one.

This is a statue of Juliet which was a gift to the city from Verona. Young men are supposed to give her a rose and touch her breast to find their undying love, and from the looks of it, a lot of young men have been looking for love. 😉

All throughout the city there are these subtle memorials of World War II. They are kind of off the beaten track and only in German, which some people think is wrong. Others, however, think it’s their subtlety that makes them more powerful. This one says, “Here stood the Ulfelder store until year 1938.” It was one of the largest department stores in Munich at the time, but it was destroyed on Kristallnacht.

After all our touring we were looking for some famous Munich Weißwurst for dinner. We got it from this great little butcher shop/Imbiss stand and it was amazing! It was by far the best German food i’ve had, such that i even bought some at the grocery store to make at home. It was served with sweet mustard and a pretzel.

After dinner we went to the English Gardens and just relaxed by the river for awhile. Back at the Opera House Maximilian Joseph was there to greet us. Apparently he hated this statue because he thought he looked like he was waving for a waiter at a cafe. It’s hard to keep people from putting up statues after you’re dead, though, and his son liked it just fine.