The 7 of us ended our winter break in Austria: Salzburg and Vienna. I was sort of the "tour guide" in Salzburg, since I had gone there with my family, so I took everyone up to the fortress, past Mozart's house, and through Mirabell Gardens. The city is cute and quaint, and it only takes a day or two to see all the touristy sites, but Salzburg is still one of my favorite places in Europe. The sun was out and we could see the Alps everywhere you looked- so gorgeous. We took the Sound of Music movie tour our second day in Salzburg, which was amazing. I wasn't sure I was willing to pay 33 euros to re-do the tour since I did it when I was younger, but it was SO worth it. Even if you haven't seen the movie, the sights on the tour are gorgeous. We saw the gazebo for the young love scene, the (two) homes where they filmed the exterior of the Von Trapp house, and then went up to Mondsee, a cute town where they filmed the wedding scene. Mondsee is in the lake district outside of Salzburg, and the view of the Alps and the crystal-clear lakes is absolutely breath-taking. Everyone was extremely glad I convinced them to take the tour.
We then took a train to Vienna, and spent two days exploring the city. I loved Schonbrunn Palace and the streets around Stephensplatz. My friend Connor and I went off on our own and just randomly walked around Vienna taking beautiful churches and museums. Embarrassingly, we were craving McDonalds and ended up eating dinner there. The McDonalds in Europe are AMAZING: this one had chandeliers, roman candles, computers, and servers coming to the tables. I guess I'll always be American in that I crave french fries more than anything...
It was a great break and I loved getting to know the others I was traveling with. Each of the cities were great: both the new ones and the ones I was visiting for a second time. I'm sure I'll be back again at some point...
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Munich & the Bavarian Alps
Our first night in Munich, we did as most tourists would: went to Hofbrauhaus, a world-famous beer hall. I had FOUR hotdogs, delicious potato salad, and of course their traditional liter of beer. I thought food in Paris was good, but food in Germany is amazing! It was great to branch out from our daily Parisian diet of croissants and baguettes. The next day we did another free walking tour of the city, saw Marienplatz, the glockenspiel, a few churches, spots where Hitler gained his fame, etc. At night we did another pub crawl, which took us to a few bars and back to Hofbrauhaus haha.
On Monday, we took a (rough) bus ride up into the alps, and toured Schloss Linderhof and Neuschwanstein! (Those of us who were on time and caught the bus, that is!) Both castles were built by King Ludwig II, who put all of Bavaria in debt in order to build his personal castles (of which only one was completed before his death). Also, Neuschwanstein is the castle in which all the Disney castles are modeled after. You have to walk up a mountain for a good 20-30 minutes before you reach Neuschwanstein, and I remember from the last time I went there with my family how cold the hike was! I thus wore three jackets, and our friend from Brazil wore two pairs of jeans because he had never seen snow before (and it was snowing like crazy). Both castles were absolutely gorgeous, and cheesy as it sounds, we all described the day as magical. For dinner, we met up with Karl, a friend from ESCP who is actually from Munich. He took us to his favorite restaurant, and while everyone order one meal (for most, wienerschnitzel), I ordered FIVE things. Honestly, German food is SOOO good.. and I'm weirdly always hungry? Karl also recommended Radler, a light beer that is actually half lemonade- very tasty!
The next day, everyone else went to tour the Dachau concentration camp, but I opted for a happier tour of Nympheburg Palace (yet another home of King Ludwig II). The palace was incredibly ornate, and I saw all the royal carriages- they were straight out of Cinderella! I also made friends with a few swans.... That afternoon I met up with the others and we climbed to the top of a church tower and had a great sunset view of Munich. We all stood at the top of the tower speechless, enjoying the sun on our faces, and taking in the view. It was the perfect way to end our German adventure. We then grabbed one last traditional meal and hopped onto a train towards Salzburg......
On Monday, we took a (rough) bus ride up into the alps, and toured Schloss Linderhof and Neuschwanstein! (Those of us who were on time and caught the bus, that is!) Both castles were built by King Ludwig II, who put all of Bavaria in debt in order to build his personal castles (of which only one was completed before his death). Also, Neuschwanstein is the castle in which all the Disney castles are modeled after. You have to walk up a mountain for a good 20-30 minutes before you reach Neuschwanstein, and I remember from the last time I went there with my family how cold the hike was! I thus wore three jackets, and our friend from Brazil wore two pairs of jeans because he had never seen snow before (and it was snowing like crazy). Both castles were absolutely gorgeous, and cheesy as it sounds, we all described the day as magical. For dinner, we met up with Karl, a friend from ESCP who is actually from Munich. He took us to his favorite restaurant, and while everyone order one meal (for most, wienerschnitzel), I ordered FIVE things. Honestly, German food is SOOO good.. and I'm weirdly always hungry? Karl also recommended Radler, a light beer that is actually half lemonade- very tasty!
The next day, everyone else went to tour the Dachau concentration camp, but I opted for a happier tour of Nympheburg Palace (yet another home of King Ludwig II). The palace was incredibly ornate, and I saw all the royal carriages- they were straight out of Cinderella! I also made friends with a few swans.... That afternoon I met up with the others and we climbed to the top of a church tower and had a great sunset view of Munich. We all stood at the top of the tower speechless, enjoying the sun on our faces, and taking in the view. It was the perfect way to end our German adventure. We then grabbed one last traditional meal and hopped onto a train towards Salzburg......
Prague: The Heart of Bohemia
Once again, I've been so busy exploring in Paris that I haven't found the time to write about my travels during last week's Winter Holiday! I spent 10 days exploring Prague, Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna- it was amazing! I did not want to leave any of the cities! There were 7 of us total on the trip: 3 from Wisco, 2 from Illinois, 1 from Texas, and 1 from Brazil. Not all of us knew each other before the trip, but we've all become close since!
Our first stop was Prague, Czech Republic; this city was at the top of my list of places I wanted to visit this semester, so I was really excited to finally go there! I'd heard great things about the city, and although many people would never have considered visiting it 20 years ago, it is rapidly becoming a tourist hotspot. We flew into Prague late Thursday night (some struggled to find the airport), we then struggled to catch our bus once in Prague (we missed it twice), and then struggled to find a taxi. But once we made it to the hotel, everything was great! Our hotel was very nice and charming, small, and very European. The next day, we took a tram to Old Town Square and did a free walking tour of the city. Our guide was very informative, and the city of Prague is walkable enough that we saw most of the main sites. I had never realized how much history the city holds: it played a major role in the World Wars, has a huge Jewish quarter, and is in the heart of Bohemia. All the buildings are so cute and painted in pastels. Prague has a very Eastern European feel, but a good mix of modern and traditional stores and sites.
We spent the rest of the day walking around and seeing the Powder Tower, Municipal House, Astronomical Clock, Wenceslas Square, and finally Charles Bridge. From this gorgeous bridge, one is able to look across the river and up towards Prague Castle. After crossing Charles Bridge, we ended up at the John Lennon Peace Wall, which is basically a wall of (amazing) graffiti to symbolize peace and the end of Communism. (Note: Lennon, not Lenin)
The night ended with a pub crawl, which was recommended to us by almost everyone who had traveled to Prague. Basically, a tour-guide took us to 4 bars, where we had free drinks (we spent an hour at each bar). The pub crawl ended at Karlovy Lazne, a 5-story dance club with a different type of music on each floor. It was a crazy night, but really fun because we met a lot of amazing people from other countries. Interestingly, there were a lot of Australians, as it is their "summer vacation".. many of them were traveling around Europe for a few months.
The next day, we hiked up to Prague Castle, which has amazing views of the entire city. Unfortunately, we got there after the castle had closed for the day... We spent the rest of the day shopping and walking around the Mala Strana quarter. One of the girls I was with, Chelsea, had heard of an amazing beer hall at a monastery (ironically), so we ended the night there. The monastery is at the top of another hill, so we were once again presented with a gorgeous view of all of Prague at our feet.
On Sunday, we woke up early to catch a train to Munich. The train ride was about 6 hours long, but we had a compartment to ourselves, which was fun. The views out the window were gorgeous, although we spent much of the time reading and napping. It was sad to leave Prague, and I wish we would have had more time, but I was really excited to get to Munich as well. I had been there before (and loved it), so it was exciting to get back to Germany! I will continue with Germany in my next entry...
Our first stop was Prague, Czech Republic; this city was at the top of my list of places I wanted to visit this semester, so I was really excited to finally go there! I'd heard great things about the city, and although many people would never have considered visiting it 20 years ago, it is rapidly becoming a tourist hotspot. We flew into Prague late Thursday night (some struggled to find the airport), we then struggled to catch our bus once in Prague (we missed it twice), and then struggled to find a taxi. But once we made it to the hotel, everything was great! Our hotel was very nice and charming, small, and very European. The next day, we took a tram to Old Town Square and did a free walking tour of the city. Our guide was very informative, and the city of Prague is walkable enough that we saw most of the main sites. I had never realized how much history the city holds: it played a major role in the World Wars, has a huge Jewish quarter, and is in the heart of Bohemia. All the buildings are so cute and painted in pastels. Prague has a very Eastern European feel, but a good mix of modern and traditional stores and sites.
We spent the rest of the day walking around and seeing the Powder Tower, Municipal House, Astronomical Clock, Wenceslas Square, and finally Charles Bridge. From this gorgeous bridge, one is able to look across the river and up towards Prague Castle. After crossing Charles Bridge, we ended up at the John Lennon Peace Wall, which is basically a wall of (amazing) graffiti to symbolize peace and the end of Communism. (Note: Lennon, not Lenin)
The night ended with a pub crawl, which was recommended to us by almost everyone who had traveled to Prague. Basically, a tour-guide took us to 4 bars, where we had free drinks (we spent an hour at each bar). The pub crawl ended at Karlovy Lazne, a 5-story dance club with a different type of music on each floor. It was a crazy night, but really fun because we met a lot of amazing people from other countries. Interestingly, there were a lot of Australians, as it is their "summer vacation".. many of them were traveling around Europe for a few months.
The next day, we hiked up to Prague Castle, which has amazing views of the entire city. Unfortunately, we got there after the castle had closed for the day... We spent the rest of the day shopping and walking around the Mala Strana quarter. One of the girls I was with, Chelsea, had heard of an amazing beer hall at a monastery (ironically), so we ended the night there. The monastery is at the top of another hill, so we were once again presented with a gorgeous view of all of Prague at our feet.
On Sunday, we woke up early to catch a train to Munich. The train ride was about 6 hours long, but we had a compartment to ourselves, which was fun. The views out the window were gorgeous, although we spent much of the time reading and napping. It was sad to leave Prague, and I wish we would have had more time, but I was really excited to get to Munich as well. I had been there before (and loved it), so it was exciting to get back to Germany! I will continue with Germany in my next entry...
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