When in Germany, do what the Germans do...

This past week has flown by and I cannot believe that I only have a few more days here :(. I have been so so busy that I haven't had time to write, but I imagine that will change once my internship actually begins next Monday (Montag in German). The language class has been very interesting and I have learned a lot; however, the culture here has made even more of an impression on me.  It is amazing how much beer the people in this city consume... At any hour of the day, the biergartens are packed.  Since I haven't written in a while and soooo much has happened since then, here is a brief overview of the past several days...

Wednesday night, I went through the Hofbrauhaus experience with the group.  It was amazing!!!

Last Thursday morning, Kelsey Sweeney joined me in Munich after finishing a semester in Granada, Spain.  Later that night, Kevin also traveled down to spend the weekend with us and see how they do it in Bavaria.  While they were here, we mostly hung out with my friends from my language class and toured around as a group.  Below is a picture that I took at Marienplatz of most of the people I have been hanging out with (other than Kevin and Kelsey)..

Friday morning we went into Odeonsplatz and visited the Residenz Musuem.  Kevin took all the pictures there, so I can't post any.  While in class on Friday, Kevin and Kelsey went to get lunch at the Hofbrauhaus.  Friday night, we had our first European clubbing experience at the Kultfabrik, which is a district with about 13 different clubs and diskos.  We had a blast; however, it was very tiring!

Saturday morning, we caught the 9:42am train from Hauptbahnhof Munchen to Salzburg, Austria!  Salzburg is such a beautiful city with lots of gardens, a river passing through the middle, and a castle on the hill.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  On Sunday morning, Kelsey left early and Kevin and I went in to Marienplatz and bought souvenirs and ate lunch there.  Then I brought him through Englischer Garten, past the Nudist section, to Eisbach.  Eisbach is an area of the Garten where people surf on this wave of rushing water.  Pictures below. Then, Kevin and I headed to Luitpold Park, which is right in my neighborhood.  We brought strawberries and laid out on a towel and relaxed until he had to leave to go home to Halle around dinner time.  As soon as he left, I took a much needed 4 hour nap and then got a good night of sleep.

Also, tight rope walking is a popular thing found in the Englischer Garten.  It is a beautiful park with many trails and biergartens and I have spent a lot of time there.  It is bigger than Central Park in New York City.

Yesterday, Monday, I went to Olympia Park with Panida, Xingbo, and Jelena.  Olympia park is the location where that 1972 Olympics were held.  Xingbo has most of the pictures but I will also post one..

Last night (Monday night), I went to a biergarten in Englisher Garten near the lake in the northern section of the garten with my friends.  It was the best biergarten I have been to so far! I got a huge pretzel with the best mustard ever, pommes (french fries), and kartoffelsalat (potato salad).  Below is a picture of my group at our table in the biergarten.

Once we were tired of the biergarten, we wandered a few kilometers south to the Monopteros Temple and ended the night after that because it was getting too dark.  Below are some pics of the temple. (I didn't take the blurry picture but I think its a nice memory anyways..)

And now I am off to Maximilianstrasse and Marienplatz to shop and enjoy the beauty of Munich!!!

-Katie