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Published: September 23rd 2011
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I haven't updated this in a long time! A lot's happened in the past two weeks, including a weekend trip to Munich! Last week we went to a couple of museums with our classes, including the churches of Santa Trinita and San Lorenzo. Although class is somewhat boring, it is very interesting to get to see all of these places after learning about all of the history that's happened in them. Also, Anna finally came home (meaning no more of Letizia's dinners!)
On Thursday night we ate dinner, packed up our suitcases and headed towards the train station. It was about a 25 minute walk through the city while carrying all of our things and ended up being somewhat of a straggle. We finally met up with our tour group and headed onto the bus for our 8 hour journey. There was very little space on the bus and we had to sleep sitting straight up, not the most comfortable trip we've ever taken! Luckily we were able to sleep for a while and arrived in Munich around 9. We left our luggage in the train station and got a quick coffee from Starbucks (!) and met up with our
friend Natalie very quickly for our first tour of the day. Our tour guide took us through the town hall, the royal residence, the Hofbrauhaus, and to a couple important sites such as where the original tribute to Hitler once was. We also got to watch the famous glockenspiel around 10am.
After our tour ended, our guide Curt told us that he led another tour of the Dachau concentration camp around 1 and we decided to join his second tour of the day. We met up with our friends Leigh and Marissa and got on the train towards the concentration camp. Although some of it has been torn down, most of the original buildings still remain and they've converted the main building into a museum. We got to see the crematorium and watch a video of the American liberation of the camp. I'm so glad we got to go and at the end of the tour Curt told us that 10 years from now we probably won't remember that we ever met him, but we'll always remember Dachau. Kind of a corny line, but I know I'll always remember it.
After our tour we picked up our
luggage and headed to our hotel. Our hotel was called Central Hotel-Apart and was about a 15 minute train ride from the main station. We found it pretty easily and checked in. Our room was actually really nice for the price we paid and we had our own kitchen and balcony. Lucky for us there was enough space to fit 6 girls in one room! We went out to dinner at a place across the street where we were able to try some authentic German food (and beer!) and catch up about the past couple of months. We all fell asleep very early after a long day.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early, 7am! We got dressed very quickly and went to the hotel breakfast and ate pretzels, pastries, eggs, and cappuccinos. We went to the main train station and met up with the rest of the Bentley students and then started walking towards Oktoberfest! As we walked closer we saw all of the rides and so many Germans dressed up in the traditional German clothes. We knew that we had to get to the tent we wanted to go to as soon as possible because opening
day is the most popular at Oktoberfest. We chose the Hofbrauhaus which luckily was the right decision! We waited from 9 until 12 when the owner of the tent came out and tapped the keg. It was crazy! Within an hour everyone was dancing on tables and singing both traditional German songs and American songs. We made friends with some Australians at a table near us and unfortunately learned very quickly one of the traditions of the Hofbrauhaus...the boys literally rip other boys underwear off of them by holding them in the air by the underwear. After they rip it off, they dip it in beer and throw it up at the giant angel hanging from the ceiling and try to get it to land. We happened to be standing right under this angel...we moved pretty quickly.
We stayed until around 4 and then wandered around outside to get food. We were safe and sound back in the hotel by 9 and were ready for another day of touring on Sunday. We watched the parade of all the different districts and bought some souvenirs and then just hung around in the main train station to escape from the rain
and and wait for our bus. After another long 8 hour bus ride, we were back in Florence by midnight and very happy to be back in our own beds.
This week we successful booked our fall break plans. We're going to Dublin to stay with our friends, Barcelona, and then I'm heading to Paris with my mom while my other friends take off for Amsterdam. I'm so glad we decided to book it on our own rather than go with a student travel agency. They might have made it easier, but I think we'll get so much more out of actually figuring things out on our own. I'm so excited!
With my classes this week I went back to Santa Croce and the museum of San Marco. Although I already visited Santa Croce with Kristy, I enjoyed going back with my teacher and learning things I didn't already know. Today we went on a picnic at the Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace. It was a hike but definitely worth it, plus the entrance was free with our museum passes! We plan on going back later on when it's not as hot. Tomorrow we're off to Cinque
Terre!
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