Ok, sorry for the double post and the huge time gap here, but I just remembered to do this. Thank you so much Peachy for all the wonderful advice you gave me :smile:
Anyway, in a nutshell, I really, really wish I could still be there. It's one of the coolest, and most beautiful places I've been. I kept your list of suggestions in mind the whole time, and tried to do at least some of them. We were lucky enough to have a lot of free time to walk around and explore the cities ourselves.
We arrived in Munich, and were based there for the first week. Munich was nice because it still had that old world bavarian charm to it.
Peachy said:
don't feel weird if you don't understand them - I wouldn't either. Their accent is a nightmare
Lol, for the first few days, whenever I tried to talk to somebody, they would end up speaking english We also happened to be there on the day of Munich's 850th birthday celebration, which was pretty big and fun. From Munich, we would take day trips to other cities. My favorite place was Füssen (just west of Munich), and there we saw the Neuschwanstein Schloss. I got lots of great pictures there which I will upload later. Also, we visited Salzburg in Austria on the day of the Austria vs. Germany game, and it was lots of fun to watch all of the fans march through the streets and sing songs. We also, visited the concentration camp in Dachau which was one of the most moving experiences of my life. It's hard to describe the atmosphere there, but I think I captured it well in my pictures.
So after a week, we made our to the München Hauptbahnhof to catch the night train to Berlin.
Peachy said:
Go up on the roof of the parliament (Reichtstagsgebäude), although you probably have to wait in line for 2 hours (it's free)
We went up there, and I got a really cool view of the city. It took a while just to walk to the top!
Peachy said:
Other than that, make sure you check out the Brandenburg Gate, the famous museums on the Museumsinsel.
The Brandenburg Gate was really cool, although I didn't get to see it lit up. I did manage to see a lot of the museums there like the Pergamon museum.
Peachy said:
For food, I suggest to have the two most famous local dishes: Currywurst and Döner Kebap. There's a Kebap shop literally (!) at every corner (outside of the immediate downtown area), and it's cheap too.
I was a little skeptical when I first tried Currywurst, but I grew to love it, and I must say I miss it now . The Döner kebabs were okay, but I'm not really sure if I liked the sauce on it or not. I'm more used to Gyros. But yeah, döner and currywurst was everywhere!
Peachy said:
Since you'll be here during the Euro2008, why not take the time to find a "Public Viewing" event, where they broadcast soccer games in public on big screens. Since the USA isn't playing, you can cheer for Germany (any help is welcome ). The "Public Viewing" events were world-famous during the World Cup two years ago and they're an experience of their own, so just join the crowd for some fun
I didn't actually go to the public viewing areas during a game, but I did see the huge crowds there. It looked like a lot of fun though. So, yeah, naturally I decided to cheer for Germany, I even bought an official jersey and scarf. Also, we went to a flohmarkt and I got the chance to have a long conversation with an old couple from Bremen (could they be Peachy's parents? ) who didn't speak any english.
I think the most memorable part of trip was one day my friends and I were walking around Berlin, and we went into that elevator that goes into the huge aquarium, and then after that, we went to LegoLand. And as we were walking out of LegoLand, we found ourselves right in the middle of Potsdamerplatz, which is where the German premiere of the movie 'Kung Fu Panda' was being held! Now, this was the one time that I didn't have my camera on me (because I was tired of lugging around a 15lbs. camera for two weeks), so I ran to the train station as fast as I could, and took the train all the way back to our hotel, and then back to Potsdamerplatz which was about 40 minutes. I got there just in time, and my two friends who had stayed behind, saved me a spot right up next to the red carpet. It was mostly the German celebrities there who I didn't recognize, but after a while, I got to meet Jack Black and Dustin Hofman! Luckily, I got them both on film, but only my friend got his autograph on a dollar bill.
So yeah, I really enjoyed Germany. The food, the culture, the sights, and I think my german has greatly improved. If our school does this trip next year, I am definitely going again.
-Kams
