Munich, but mostly other places around Munich

Lords and Ladies,

Welcome back to my blog. Very exciting I know. Today I am going to tell you the fantastic tale of my time in Munich, which involved me not spending very much time in Munich at all. It is a tale of extreme contrasts, of woe and of wonder, of terror and triumph, of horror and heroes. It begins with a day trip to Dachau.

This was the woe, terror, and horror part I was talking about. It was exceedingly uncomfortable and altogether depressing, but it was an experience I believe every person should have to face once. Once. Not twice, nor thrice. I am definitely not going back. There were times when I wanted to curl up on the ground and cover my eyes and my ears. Mostly I just wanted a hug. A word (or several) of advice: DO NOT ATTEMPT ALONE.

One good thing came from that day, and her name was Chelsea. Chelsea is from England, and I met her on the Dachau tour. We were chatting on the bus ride home, and the talk turned to food that we missed from each other's countries. Eventually a bargain was struck: she would send me packages of hobnobs, jelly babies, and after eights if I would send her packages of nerds and other hard to find sweets from the states. I think this is going to be a wonderful and fulfilling relationship, don't you?

ACTUAL THING

The next day was considerably brighter, emotionally and atmospherically. I went on a guided tour to Neuschwanstein Castle, which turned out to be only about 2/3 as beautiful as the scenery surrounding it. The castle has a purposefully fairy-tale feel to it which is added to by the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the man who dreamt it up, Bavaria's last king, Ludwig II. The government has never released the files concerning what really happened the night that Ludwig, a strong swimmer, supposedly drowned in waist-high water.

After the castle itself we walked out to this bridge, the one that I am standing on in the picture, to get this glorious view of the castle and its surroundings, before walking back through the gorge to the bottom of the hill, where we took the train back to Munich. I made another friend on this tour, and we went together to get currywurst for dinner. Not my favorite, but I felt compelled.  I'm going to keep this short and sweet, because right now I don't feel like going into my three-day adventure in Berlin. Enjoy!

Charmed, I'm sure...that my life is.

On the 5^th of June, 2012, I took the most beautiful train ride of my life to the most breathtaking location I had ever seen. When I disembarked I was in Innsbruck, Vienna. While the town itself is not much to look at and requires about twenty minutes total of inspection, it is surrounded on all sides by absolutely gorgeous mountains. Welcome to the Alps.

Bright and early the next morning, I headed to the convention center, where every day free guided hikes leave at 9am. First of all, let us all just ponder this fact: Innsbruck sponsors free guided hikes every single day. As my dad wasted no time in reminding me, this would save at least one hiker from getting terribly lost, and having to be saved by search and rescue. He was wrong though. I never would have even TRIED to go hiking on my own. Even I can see what a disaster that would be. Come on people, I’ve seen 127 hours.  I am just saying that if other places did similar things, it might save a lot of lives and help a lot of people have amazing experiences that they would otherwise miss out on.

At our starting point. Mountains in front, mountains behind us

Look, its me! In the Alps!

The hike was amazing, and even now I can’t believe it was free. First they took us on an hour-long bus ride to this little mountain town where we started our trek. Then they hiked us 2 ½ hours up into the Alps, until we reached an adorable little restaurant in the mountains, serving Bavarian food at its finest. I had packed a lunch, scavenged from my hostel’s free breakfast, so I did not partake, however I did try the Schnapps that they were handing around for free. We were almost at the tree line, and the views all around us as we ate were absolutely gorgeous. I hate to say this Dylan, but it definitely rivaled Glendalough. On the hike I met a new friend, Robin, and on the bus ride home I found out that he was from Granville, where I go to college! How crazy is that? We talked about Whit’s and well that was mostly it because what else is there to say about Granville? Seriously though, how weird?!

That was it for my time in Innsbruck. I had done what I had gone there to do, and it was time to move on. The next day I took the train to Vienna.

Right away I was off to Schonbrunn Palace, which was about the only landmark within an easy walking distance from my hostel. I don’t want to sound jaded, but I have seen a lot of palaces in my recent past. This one reminded me a lot of Versailles, but on a smaller scale. So while it was beautiful and grand, yes, what really interested me was the information about the palace’s more recent past. It was in use up until right after WWI, unlike most other palaces I have visited, so seeing all of the more modern-style living spaces made this one stand out to me.

The palace at night

I hung around there for a while, because the highlight of the day was taking place at at Schloss Schonbrunn, the gardens behind the palace, at 9pm. I met Robin, my friend from the hike, near the Gloriette, a structure in the gardens, at 8pm and we set about looking for a good spot to see the show. We ended up behind the stage with hundreds of other people. We figured they must have set up speakers so that we would be able to hear, or why else would this many other people be here with us? Well at 9 when the Vienna Philharmonic began their yearly free concert in the park, we could not hear a thing. Disgruntled, we moved around for a while until finally making the trek around to the front of the stage, where we could listen to the beautiful music emanating from the stage, and watch the conductor cavorting.  Yeah. Vienna Philharmonic for free in the park, NBD.

The effect of full length solid colored stain-glass windows

The next day, I did a lot of wandering around in the city center of Vienna, which is full of glorious old buildings. It looks exactly like the city of Mozart should. I saw the library that I swear was the inspiration for Beauty and the Beast’s library. St. Stephen’s Cathedral is particularly gorgeous. I may have mentioned at some point that each new cathedral was beginning to feel like a new hole in my head, but this one was special and worth remembering. I think a picture will do best, so I won’t try to describe it.

I also went to the Kunsthistoriches Museum, or the Art History Museum, which for some reason I absolutely loved. I don’t know whether it was because I had gone through withdrawal after an entire week without entering an art museum, or because this place had some sort of magic, but when I was done going through all of the galleries, I honestly had the urge to start all over again. I didn’t. Still though, I give this museum an A++, because although it had no special “Mona Lisa” or “David,” it still held my attention, and for the first time in an art museum, left me wanting more. I had to leave though; I had an appointment at the Vienna Opera house. A mere hour standing in line in the back of the opera house 2 hours before show time got me a 4euro standing room ticket to see Tosca, an Italian opera which, okay I had never heard of before but I am sure it is famous because it is old and Italian.

It just so happened that I was standing next to an Austrian music student who came to the opera absolutely all of the time, so before the curtain went up I learned several interesting things. One, I learned that a long time ago the Emperor or Duke or something had ordered that the same opera never be played two nights in a row. To this day, the opera house has around 5 productions that they stagger, so that you can go to the opera several nights in a row without seeing the same show. Two, I learned that Austria still had mandatory military service. The boy I was standing next to was graduating the Austrian equivalent of high school next week and preparing to go into the army for 6 months. He confided that he wanted to go into the special corps that patrol the Italian border on skis, with guns on their backs. I think it was the skis more than the guns that he fancied.

The opera itself was performed very skillfully. The sets were surprisingly elaborate. Okay, you got me, turns out opera isn’t really my thing. Don’t get me wrong, seeing an opera for 4euro in Vienna is not something I regret. It just hasn’t exactly inspired a fascination with the genre, that’s all I’m saying.

TLDR: Over the course of three days I went hiking in the Alps, saw a free concert by the Vienna Philharmonic, and saw an opera in the Vienna Opera house. My life you guys. My life.

Well that was it for Vienna, and that was it for Austria. I don’t think any country has offered me so much in such a short time span. Only one question continues to plague me: what the heck am I going to do when I get home this summer?

Relaxing my way through Florence and Venice

For once I have no stories about the train ride. I made it from Rome to Florence and even to my hostel with no problems at all. My hostel was almost right on the beautiful river, which I spent a lot of time walking along. I went to the Ufizi Gallery first, which was a really nice art gallery because it seemed to understand the importance of quality over quantity. It didn’t take ages to wade through, but everything there was beautiful, including the Birth of Venus, and Primavera, as well as some Van Gogh, Picasso, all that good stuff. You may not be aware of this, but I am swiftly becoming an art elitist.

So next I wandered through the San Lorenzo market, which is this massive street market with stalls selling all sorts of leather goods and touristy things. I bought myself a nice new journal (I’m almost out of room in my first one). I meandered over (I say meandered because I took a...circuitous...route) to the Duomo next and had a good ogle. It is absolutely gorgeous! From the name, I kind of just expected a church with a dome...but it is actually magnificent, which was a nice surprise.

Day two: The highlight of today was the Church of Santa Croce, which is really gorgeous, and boasts quite a few celebrity graves. I saw Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli! Santa Croce also had some really pretty cloisters, which I had a nice walk through.  I also spent some time today in the Boboli gardens, which are absolutely beautiful, and very relaxing.

Day three: Laundry day! Seriously, when you live out of a backpack, if one thing starts to smell, everything starts to smell. It can be real trouble. After laundry I went to see Michelangelo’s David. He was pretty much all he is supposed to be. Gigantic and beautiful. I can’t imagine the talent for detail that Michelangelo needed to sculpt all of those muscles. Then, in keeping with the theme, I went to the Piazza Michelangelo (THE THEME IS MICHELANGELO), which has an absolutely wonderful view of the rest of Florence. I sat for a while just soaking it in. Sometimes I have to remind myself that my life is way beyond average. It is easy to just follow my plan and my map and forget that what I am doing is actually completely wonderful and I am one of the luckiest girls in the world.

View from the Piazza

Tonight I treated myself to a real dinner at a real restaurant next to the Duomo, which consisted of a GIANT bowl of the best tortellini I have ever had. I almost forgot that Gelato was not your average dinner fare, having subsisted on that for the last two nights.

Florence was very relaxing. Clearly I had no large adventures, because this is possibly the shortest post ever. However I also had no major mishaps, which was nice. Florence itself is beautiful, and much quieter than Rome, which I appreciated. I left Florence feeling refreshed and ready to explore Venice.

AHH VENICE. First of all, when you exit the train station in Venice, the first thing that confronts you is the Grand Canal, so that is a really exciting first impression. After I finally dropped off my stuff at the hostel (yes I got lost on the way to my hostel) I headed over to the old Jewish Ghetto. It is the oldest in all of Europe, but it was actually dissolved well before WWII, so it was not in use as THAT kind of Ghetto. I took a tour, which went through three synagogues, and I learned a lot about the history of Jews in Venice. Unfortunately, there are barely any Jews left in Venice today, but there used to be a very large, thriving population.

After getting lost some more, which I really didn’t mind because I was getting lost in Venice, I found my way to the Piazza San Marco, which was pretty, but it was too late to go into the Basilica, so I just had a look around. Then, to my extreme surprise and delight, I managed to find the Church of San Barnaba, the exterior of which was used as the exterior of the Venetian Library in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where “X marks the spot.”

The next day I woke up early and got a Vaporetto, a water bus, to Murano, where they make all the fabulous glass. Zooming through the water, I totally felt like Indiana Jones. I wanted to jump onto the boat next to us and demand to know where they where holding Sean Connery. Remembering at the last minute that I was not in fact Harrison Ford, I refrained. At Murano, I went a little souvenir crazy, but that is okay, because most of my family, including myself, benefit from this fit of madness. On the way back, with my wallet empty, lest just say I felt less than Jones-like. After taking shelter from a thunderstorm for a few hours, I went back out to San Marco and went into the Basilica, which was very pretty. Then I went to the Doge’s Palace, which, while expensive, was really interesting, because I learned a lot about Venetian government, and I also got to see the old prisons which was satisfyingly creepy. I never knew that Venice has such a successful history as a republic, before they became part of Italy! I really need to expand my historical studies.

That was it for Venice; I only spent about 1 ½ days there. It was the right amount of time though, because although yes Venice is very beautiful, there is not a lot to do besides walk around, and there are tens of thousands of other tourists doing the same thing. It was not as crowded as Rome, but the tourist-to-local ratio was higher, so I rarely felt like I was in Italy, and mostly felt like I was in some beautiful theme park where the main attractions were the buildings.

When in Rome...

(Could I really give this post ANY other title?) 

Oy vey, did I have a trek from Avignon to Rome. I took a train in the morning to Ventimiglia, a little Italian town on the border of France and Italy. It was charming enough, but with my backpack slowing me down, I did not do much exploring. I did make it down to the seaside, and help myself to my first Italian gelato.

At the train station in Ventimiglia I met absolutely the most charming woman in Italy. We struck up a conversation, and although her English wasn’t grade A, we covered topics varying from religion to the superiority of big dogs over small dogs. Meeting with such joy and welcome after just crossing the border into Italy was extremely heartening. 

After a 5 hour layover, it was time to get my overnight train to Rome. I was excited, having never taken an overnight train before, and immensely disappointed in the experience.  I chose not to pay extra for a sleeper, and just had a normal chair, a situation in which I had fallen asleep numerous times. The man across from me, being rather portly, decided it was necessary for his comfort that his legs be extended all the way across the aisle until his feet were under my seat. Not wanting to play footsie with the large Pakistani man, I was forced to fidget and wriggle the whole 6 hours, as he dreamily shifted his bulk according to his whims. I have never hated anyone so much.

I disembarked eagerly at 6am. I was determined that even with my mental and physical state what it was, I would continue with my original plan and go to the Vatican first thing after dropping off my pack at the hostel. Well the Vatican went off without a hitch. I saw the beautiful Sistine Chapel, as well as the countless other glories that the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica have to offer. My favorite painting was by an artist I had never heard of before, whose name I do not recall. It was of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by lush plants and colorful animals. The detail was amazing, and all of the animals were in pairs, mimicking the first couple. It was just stunning. Look it up. Although, the real version is about the size of a wall, so I doubt your computer screen will capture it. Wow, how elitist did I sound just then? I studied at Oxford. NBD.

Next up I was going to traipse cheerfully to the Cimitero Acattolico, the cemetery for non-Catholics and non-Romans who have the audacity to die in Rome. Unfortunately, being me, this was rather difficult. By the time I found it, I had managed to walk all the way around the walls bordering it before finding the entrance, and I was absolutely shattered. Lack of sleep, physical decomposition, and the mental exhaustion that comes from trying your hardest to find something for 30 minutes when you know it is mocking you from only 5 minutes away completely overcame me. The only thing that alleviated the situation was the fact that no one could really think me strange for sobbing in a cemetery. Once I had regained a semblance of control, I went and visited the graves of Keats and Shelley. Keats’ tombstone, which reads “Here lies one whose name was writ in water,” was extremely moving. It made me think a lot of thoughts that I will not bore you with here, but you should consider having some of those same thoughts. They are quite beneficial. I also paid a visit to the grave of the father of the man who assassinated Rasputin. His grave was a big elaborate cross with Russian writing on it that I could only assume read “best dad ever.”

I took the metro home.

The next day I woke up feeling refreshed and emotionally balanced. I did a lot of sightseeing that day, I went to the Roman Forum and the Colusseum, both extremely impressive and extremely old. My favorite was the Pantheon though. The way the Roman exterior and the Medieval/Renaissance interior work together is astonishing and fascinating. I thought it was really beautiful. Most of the rest of the day was devoted to wandering and eating. Gelato, mostly.

Silly Jews and their horns

Then my last day in Rome I made a few important stops. I went to St. Pietro in Vincoli, or St. Peter in Chains, to see the statue of Moses by Michelangelo that is somehow both hilarious and extremely offensive: he has horns. Next up was the Capitaline Museum, for the exhibit of the Vatican Secret Archives, which was awesome. There were so many documents of extreme historical significance, documents that it would bore most people to read about another person seeing. Still...it was really cool. Then I wandered over to the Trevi Fountain, gorgeous as advertised, and the Spanish Steps, where my first thought was “like hell I am climbing those.” Since I am on my own, I have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone, and, well, I did not climb them, and I do not regret it. Lastly I went with my book to the Botanical gardens, and wandered around and had a nice read. The Botanical Gardens, while beautiful, are outrageously expensive, and if I hadn’t wandered hopelessly for 45 minutes trying to find the place, I would not have paid. As it was, I was so determined to see these elusive gardens that I paid the 8 euro.  

So that was it for Rome. Overall, I loved it as a tourist for a short stay, but I don’t know if I could bear to live there (sorry Inbar), or even take a long vacation there. It is extremely crowded and very much a big city, despite all of the Roman ruins strewn dramatically around the place. Still, its importance and impressiveness cannot be denied, and I had a really good time. 

I think that is enough emotion for one blog post. I would just like to add that although hostels may not be the peak of luxury, they promote such a wonderfully social culture. I have become so much more open and friendly, just because that is how you have to be when you live in a room with 20 other people. I just had a girl I have never seen before come up to me and ask to plug her phone into my computer so that it could charge. In most situations, I would think that is weird, but here I gave her a big smile and let her plug away. Here in this hostel we are all experiencing the same travel woes, we all have advice and stories, and the small fact that we have never met before and may never meet again will not stop us from sharing them.  

 I continue to lag further and further behind, as Rome was over a week ago I believe, and I am currently in Innsbruck, Vienna, which is absolutely gorgeous. Parts of this post were written in Florence, and parts in Venice. I'm taking my time. I hope you enjoy my adventures!