My Summer is almost over. :(
I definitely have mixed emotions about this..
I've been more concerned with spending time with my family than blogging, so prepare for this one to be a tad bit lengthy.
The last few weeks of my Summer vacation have been amazing. Just last week Dad took leave so that we could do a little bit of traveling before I had to go back to the states. (: (What a good dad I have)
That thursday we loaded up the car and headed to Munich. One of the main things I wanted to do while I was here in Germany is visit one of the concentration camps. We decided to visit the first camp, Dachau, in Munich, since it's close and the town has other things to offer. It's only a couple hours away, too. Early that morning we began our adventurous weekend.
The first stop was obviously at the concentration camp, which was REALLY cool. When we entered the memorial we stopped in at the information center to check out some audio guides. Each section of the camp had a sign with an assigned number to punch in on the deal, when you held it up to your ear it talked about whatever we were looking at.
The camp/memorial itself was so big. It had a cool set up and was really informational. It was such a weird feeling to walk on the same grounds, and through the same buildings, where so much evil took place. We saw where innocent people were tortured and abused. I took a million pictures, so I'll post a separate blog for those. Seeing the showers, the bunks, and the crematory was just... incredible. Moving, even. The information posted throughout the camp was so informational.. I learned about things that were never taught to me in school. I mean, not only were Jews taken.. criminals and random innocent people were arrested too.
I never knew that within the concentration camp they had a library or that they were able to write letters to their loved ones. While in school they mention all the men in the camp, I learned about all the horrifying things that happened to the women. It was one of the coolest experiences I've had, though.
While we were walking through the camp the temperatures rose quickly. By the time we walked out we were so hot and sweaty. We stopped to grab a water and then got back in the car to head to our hotel.
Our hotel was surprisingly big. It was the size of a normal room in a US hotel, but for a hotel in Europe it was REAL big. The beds were actually comfortable and they had wifi!
Once we settled into the room we walked downtown to go to the barbarossahof (sp). It's a real big tourist attraction but if you're in Munich, you HAVE to go. It's a real big restaurant that shows off what the "real" german picture is. It's basically a replica of like Octoberfest. There are men in lederhosen, the beer is seriously oversized, and the have girls walking around with their baskets of pretzels. They have a band playing litte german tunes and everybody basically shares a table with strangers.
Sadly, we forgot to bring our camera in.
We sat there for a little while, laughed at all the people, and had some drinks.
We began to get hungry, so we left and walked across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe to grab a bite to eat. We sat outside under a big umbrella. (:
After we ordered our food we started to see some black clouds forming in the sky. Just to play it safe I suggested we move our table closer towards the umbrella so our table would be covered. GOOD CALL... just a few minutes later it started POURING. I mean, it hasn't rained like that since I've been here. We were covered though, so while everyone else was running for cover.. we were enjoying our meal. After we paid, while it was still pouring, we decided to make a run for it to a taxi.
We made it safely back to the hotel, showered, and hit the hay!
We were pooped!
The next morning when we woke up we began looking at where we wanted to travel for the day. We ended up going to a small town named Garmish.
We left the hotel to get going that way, but we made a pit stop about half way.
We stopped to go tour the castle that inspired Walt Disney.
It was seriously the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
We got to the bottom of the mountain to stand in line to get tickets. Usually people stand in line for 2 hours, but because it was sprinkling a little bit we only stood in line for 20 minutes(:
The walk up to the castle is a pretty steep, and long hike.. so we decided to take a horse carriage instead. We all piled into this horse carriage with this mean old German man and began the journey up. The old man was SO funny.. I seriously thought he was going to let his horses run over the people in the road..
After about a 10 minute ride up, and a short little hike, we were standing in front of the most beautiful castle in Germany. Unlike other castles that are run down, and brown this one was being renovated (on the outside) and it was white..
Just like the one that shows on the screen before a disney movie plays. (:
We waited hours before it was our turn to go in, but it was definitely worth it. The king who had this castle built had it done for only himself. He only lived in the castle for a short period of time, while it was still being built, before he was pronounced dead. Apparently some doctors claimed he was insane and was no longer fit to rule.. just a little while later they found his body in the lake. The castle remains as it was when he left. Only 16 out of the 200 rooms were finished.
Everything on the inside was SO extravagant. They kept the original furniture that he used in there.. Of course it was guarded off though. No pictures were allowed either.
We got to walk through a few rooms, and a tour guide explained what they were.
I'm sure if you look up the castle online you can check it out, too. It is AMAZING.
Neuschwanstein.
After we left the castle, we drove a few more hours to our hotel.
It was located right above a restaurant, so after we set our bags down we had dinner.
This hotel was definitely a downgrade.. (for the same price)
The beds we slept on were like box springs, there was no wifi, and the church bell across the street rang once an hour all night long.
The only good thing was the AMAZING view we had of the swiss alps.
We were glad to get out of there in the morning.
The following morning we set out for our last day of vacay.
That day, we would go to the top of the very same swiss alps we woke up to.
We went to the top of the HIGHEST mountain in Germany.
We took a little boxcar/lift to the top of the mountain. The view was incredible. The mountain itself was above the clouds. Stepping off of the boxcar was a bit scary. Just thinking about how high we were was mind boggling. We also took lots of pictures here.
Being on top was pretty cool, but the view from the gondola thing was really the best part. (:
After that we got back in the car for the long drive home.
It seriously felt like forever.
I was glad to be home though.
What a bad habit that is.. calling this place home. :( I guess it's not much of a home if I'm only here once a year.. booooo!
I miss America, but I'm not ready to leave Germany & my family for a year. Growing up sure does suck sometimes! haha.
Other then vacation I've really just been spending time with my family.
Tomorrow is my last day here in Europe. I really can't believe how quickly time has passed.
This summer has by far been the best one I've had.
& I'm so thankful I got to come here.
I'll miss my family, but it's not goodbye.. It's just a see ya later(:
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