mmm.. Germanic Food

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Ok.. so a few notes about my last email.. even I had a pretty good laugh reading it.. don´t hold it against me.. k.. Also, I was off by a day.. My birthday was Day 69.. also officially my half way point (wasnt planned this way, just happened)..

Day 70: Monday, July 31: Vienna

Markus and I slept in and enjoyed the incredible facilities at our wonderful hotel room. We first headed off to the Fine ARts and Natural History museums.. We didn´t visit them, but the square was very pretty. We headed off to the Parlament Building and then the Rathaus (City Hall) where they are having a summer long outdoor film festival.

After this, it was lunch time, we headed into a restaurant famous for their Wienershnitzels, so big that it was bigger than the plate.. Very yummy, but I just couldn´t finish it all. We walked off lunch by going into St Stevens Cathedral and then walked through the pedestrian shopping area. We stopped off at the hotel to checkout and then met up with the group to head over to the Schnapps museum.

We got a tour on how Schnapps are made and then got to try a bunch of different flavors. After Schnapps, we went to Prater. Prater is a big park, filled with carnival rides and beer gardens. We started off with a bunch of rides, spending way too much money, then headed over to the gardens to have, well, beer and a big ass pork knuckle. Think turkey leg, but off a pig.. It was beautiful and way too much to eat. After stuffing ourselves, I went on the slingshot and then we headed back for the night.

Day 71: Tuesday, August 1: Vienna to Prague

We made it to Prague early in the afternoon and went straight into the city. We got dropped off at the top of the hill, just as it started to rain. So none of us were prepared. AFter walking quickly through St Vitus Cathedral and the Castle, we headed down the hill, through some markets. Ending up in the Town Square, we got some time to wander and grab a quick bite to eat. We went and made camp, with the rain stopping by this point. After dinner a few of us headed back into town to a 5 story night club, with different time of music on each floor, plus, 1 Euro Beers.. Cabs took us back quite early in the morning, with some stories from some of the others.

Day 72: Wednesday, August 2: Prague

Headed back into the city, with not much sleep, we emediately went for brunch. Once refueled, it was shopping time. Markus and I bought a few things and then headed over to Charles bridge, where a bunch of artists peddle their work, including a guy that paints with a marrienette. We headed back to the torture museum, which had torture instruments with instructions and information, dating all the way back to the 1300s.. Quite interesting, even Sandy, our tour manager, got a little quessy just reading it.

Markus and I walked along the river, probably the best day weather wise we´ve had.. Not too hot, and not too cold. We had dinner and then realized we still had money to spend, so we ended up in a casino, playing an electronic dice game we couldn understand and lost what we had.. I lost about 5 Euro. We came out, took some night shots and caught the train back home..

Day 73: Thursday, August 3: Prague to Munich

On the way into Munich it started to rain, and never stopped. It was actually the perfect weather to check out Dacau, the concentration camp. I spent an hour and a half walking hte grounds and checking out the information museum. Its just amazing (not in a good way) of what happened here and for how long. We got into Munich and got a city tour of the main plaza, with the rain we wanted to head back and make camp. Once ready, we headed to a traditional Beer Hall, with music and dancing. The pork knuckle wasnt as good as the last one, but I did manager to finish two liters of beer. The party continued back at camp as noone wanted to go to sleep in the rain.

Today, I´m wandering through Munich with others as Markus is visiting family. Tomorrow we head off to the Swiss Alps.. In a week, Iĺl be back in London and headed to my next destination!!

~Dave

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