Italy Part 1: Venice, the Sinking (and flooding) City

And now we are off to Italy! So, to give you a brief summary, from March 22 to April 1, I was in Italy. Claire, Luke, and I spent 1 night in Venice, 2 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Sorrento, and then went on a WSA tour of Rome for 4 nights, where we met up with another friend, Mike. So we saw the canals of Venice, the art galleries of Florence, Amalfi Coast, Capri Pompeii, and then Rome for Easter. The trip was so much fun! We ate good food (pizza, pasta, and gelato), saw some great churches (St. Peter's Basilica among many others), saw tons of history (Rome, Pompeii), and lots of art (Uffizi and Accademia with David statue), and just had an awesome time. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to start my Italy posts, but I hoped you enjoyed reading about Munich, too! 

Venice. March 22-23
      First stop, Venice! We flew from Madrid, had a short layover in Barcelona, and then went to Venice. Flying into Venice airport was a little scary...the entire time I was thinking, we are getting closer and closer to the water, but I don't see any solid land! But we landed fine, and the view when we got off the plane was really cool, with mountains (Alps) on one side, and ocean on the other. We got our luggage, and then stood in a really long line to buy tickets to get to Venice by boat. Apparently the public transportation workers were on strike, so there was only one boat option for us to take. I was confused the entire time on the difference between the transportation, but I just knew we didn't want to take the 100 euro private speed boat! So we walked a little, and waited to get on our boat, and then we were off! On the open water around Venice, there are "roads", basically paths marked out on the water. All the little boats were zooming by, and our bus boat was just chugging along. We got to our stop, and found our hotel after a nice man working at a restaurant helped us. We stayed at a cute little hotel called Casa Boccassini, where a cat named Simba greeted us.

Simba at Casa Boccassini, just lounging on a table!

        After we checked into our hotel, we started exploring Venice! Venice is quite like a maze, and you come to a dead end when you reach water. Venice was not my favorite city in Italy, I thought it was cool, but the fact that the main plaza floods often, and that the city is built on wooden beams is a little unnerving. I love the ocean and all, but it can do big damage, especially when people are living somewhere they probably shouldn't (like in the middle of a lagoon near the ocean on a man-made sinking island with rising sea levels). It was a pretty city, but after a day I was ready to go somewhere else. Enough of my ranting...here are some pictures!

Rialto Bridge on Grand Canal

View from Rialto Bridge of Grand Canal

 

Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square). St. Mark's Campanile. Kind of looks like the SLU clock tower, but a lot bigger

Piazza San Marco. Clocktower, Torre dell'Orologio. The plaza itself was first used in the 800s.

Piazza San Marco. St. Mark's Basilica. The picture is not centered because they were doing work on the other side of the entrance, and I didn't want it in my picture! The Basilica was consecrated in 1650, but over the years it has had many exterior changes.

Piazzo San Marco. Doge's Palace, Palazzo Ducale. The residence of the Doge of Venice, who ruled over the Republic of Venice. The palace was built in the mid 1300s, but some fires broke out through the years and the building had to be repaired. Until 1923 the building was used for government purposes, but since then it has been a museum.

San Giorgio Maggiore is an island of Venice. And on it is the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore

           Over our time in Venice, I ate 3 cones of gelato! 3 cones in less than 2 days! That is probably not healthy, but it was so good! For the one dinner we had in Venice we ate at this little bar place, and I had pizza. It was ok, but they basically microwaved everything...so not really authentic Italian food. The second day for lunch I got a panini with ham and cheese, which was really good. Venice is famous for Murano glass, which is made on an island called Murano. All the stores had jewelry, figurines, and glassware of all kinds of colorful glass. It was so pretty! We spent one night in Venice, and then in the afternoon of the next day we took a train to Florence.

Things I learned in Venice:

• I don't like being on a marshy island that is sinking and/or flooding
• Murano glass is really pretty, and everywhere in Venice!
• Don't eat at weird bar places where they microwave food
• Gelato is really good, and kind of addicting. You just have to have it, like everyday!
• Venice is a maze. Get a good map. 
• So many canals! There are no streets/canals that look the same. Except after a while they do start looking the same, and then you get confused where you are. See my point above! 

Ciao!        

Munich Part 2: Trips from Munich - Salzburg, Dachau, and Neuschwanstein

Trips from Munich, Germany. March 16-18

Salzburg, Austria. Saturday March 16
        On Saturday we went on a day tour of Salzburg. We met up with the tour guide and group at the train station, and took a 2 hour train ride through Bavaria, into Austria. The train ride was gorgeous, as we got to see the Alps, a lake or 2, and some cute German towns.

Cute German town with church and Alps!

The Alps!

        Once we got to Salzburg, we started our tour! The first stop was the Mirabell Palace and Gardens, a palace built in the early 1600s for royalty, some from Bavaria. The Palace was rebuilt in the early 1800s after a fire and is the building that can be seen today. Some scenes from the Sound of Music (one of the best movies ever!) were filmed here, like in the song "Do Re Mi". At the end of this song, the Von Trapp children and Maria dance in these gardens, and run through the tunnel of trees. Here is the YouTube video of it (start at 4:00 if you want to see just the Mirabell Palace and Gardens).

Maribell Palace and Gardens. To the left is the tunnel of trees

Maribell Gardens, with the Pegasus fountain

Stairs that the Von Trapp Children and Maria danced on

      Salzburg was also home to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and we saw plenty of shops and things commemorating him. Mozart was born in 1756 and was a musical prodigy who composed many masterpieces. Watch below if you want to listen to Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik".

Birthplace of Mozart, the window that is under the crest.

Where Mozart lived later in his life.

           We then crossed over the River Salzach. Salz is salt in German, and the river was named this because salt would be shipped down the river. Salzburg was also named because of this. People flocked to Salzburg once they discovered the "white gold", salt.

River Salzach, with mountains and fortress

           We then walked down a street called Getreidegasse (Grain Lane in German) that was full of shops. Most of the shops keep the tradition of hanging signs outside, which were used a long time ago to depict the service the shop provided, since most people were illiterate. 

Getreidegasse. You can see all the signs! And a steep cliff in the background

      Our stop after this was Salzburg Cathedral, which we didn't get to go in. But it was pretty on the outside! Mozart was baptized here, and the Cathedral was founded in the 700's, and and the modern-day building is from the 1600s.

Salzburg Cathedral

Front of Salzburg Cathedral

           After that, we went to St. Peter's Abbey Church, which is considered one of the oldest monasteries in Germany and Austria.

Steeple and front of St. Peter's Abbey Church

Inside of the church, with organ

        Right next to St. Peter's Abbey Church is most likely the oldest restaurant in Europe, maybe even the world. It was founded in 803, and is called Stiftskeller St. Peter. Botin in Madrid holds the Guinness World Record of being the oldest restaurant in Europe, but it was only started in 1725. 
        We then had some time to walk around on our own, so we got some pretzels (I got a cinnamon and sugar pretzel, so good!), and we walked up to the fortress a little bit to get a view of the city. 

View of Salzburg

             We then did a bit of shopping in Salzburg and went back to Munich!

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Sunday March 17
        On Sunday we took a tour with Sandeman's again (with our very knowledgeable guide Marcin) to Dachau concentration camp, which was about 30 minutes outside of Munich. The site was first an ammunition factory, and in 1933 it was opened as a concentration camp, and first held mostly people that did not agree with the politics of the National Socialist Party (or Nazi Party). As it was the first concentration camp to be used by the Nazis, it became the model for all other Nazi concentration camps. Eventually, eventually Dachau was used to imprison German Jews, and other groups of people the Nazis hated. Many people died died from harsh conditions, disease, and forced labor in the camp over 12 years, about 41,500 out of the 200,000 prisoners. In 1945 the camp was liberated by the U.S. Army. Until 1960 the site was used as a refugee to camp to house displaced Germans. 
        The site has some of the original buildings left. Our tour guide told us that not one concentration camp is still fully intact, but Dachau might be the most intact. The memorial site now has a museum inside the buildings where new arrivals would go. The original entrance, guard towers, buildings with individual cells for certain prisoners, administration buildings, and crematorium are still intact on the site. The buildings for the barracks were torn down, and 2 were rebuilt to show living quarters. Now, memorials are set up across the site, with 4 chapels for different faiths. 
        

Entrance to Dachau concentration camp

Memorial to those who lost their lives at Dachau, in multiple languages: "May the example of those were exterminated here between 1933-1945, because they resisted Nazism, help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men"

        The site was quite eerie, and although our tour guide told us the brutal and inhumane conditions and punishments that were going on inside the camp, it was impossible to imagine what the prisoners went through. It was definitely not my favorite part of my trip, but it was important to see as it contributes to the history of Germany, and also the history of all humans. Genocides, concentration camps, and persecution have plagued many nations' histories, and can be found in the near past, and even today. The site is a reminder that we shouldn't ignore or forget the past, so that we can learn from it in the future. 

Neuschwanstein Castle. Monday March 18
          On Monday I went to Neuschwanstein by myself because my friends wanted to explore Munich some more. Neuschwanstein Castle was on my to-do list from the beginning, so I wasn't going to go to Munich without making a visit! Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the late 1800s for Ludwig II of Bavaria as a summer home, or personal refuge for thing king, who died while the castle was still being constructed. So, there is not really much on the inside to see, it mostly the outside and scenery that attracts people, because it is so pretty. The castle has also been in a lot of movies, and was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland.
         As it turned out, I can say I've been to Neuschwanstein, but I'd be lying to you if I said I actually could see the castle. I could see some of it, but not a whole lot of it. It was like a repeat of Mount St. Helen's on the SLU EAS department trip last year....we got there and it was snowing and we couldn't see Mt. St. Helen's! Now I will have to go back to both of them. Oh well, gives me an excuse to go back to Germany! But it was fun walking around in the snow, and the town where the castle was located was cute. I also got to go into some shops and look around. 

Cute Christmas shop in the town of Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau Castle, on a cliff above the city

Snow! Path I walked on to get to Neuschwanstein.

After a nice trek up a hill, here is Neuschwanstein! This was the most I got to see of it. I went to the bridge where you can normally have a good view of the castle, but I literally just saw fog and snow.

This is what Neuschwanstein is supposed to look like. I didn't see the lake or mountains.

       And that was my trip to Munich, Germany! We had another layover in Zurich, Switzerland on the way back to Madrid, but it went better because we knew where to sleep. I was sad to leave Germany!

 Things I learned in Munich:

• Sleeping in airports isn't fun, but we all survived!
• Don't be surprised if I talk about wanting to live in the countryside between Munich and Salzburg with the Alps in the background, with a bunch of horses. I can picture myself living there!
• German food is really good...although I think I already said that
• The German train system is easy to use, and always punctual
• Don't go to Neuschwanstein when it is snowing, you may not be able to see the castle. But it will give you an excuse to go back!

 Auf Wiedersehen!
 

Munich, Part 1: Around Munich, BMW museum, Hofbräuhaus

Munich, Germany. March 15-18

I made it back from Italy and Spring Break! Before I start about talking about my adventures in Italy, I thought I would blog more about Munich and Salzburg.
       The cheapest flight we could find to Munich had an overnight layover in Zurich, Switzerland...fun. But it wasn't too bad. We found some comfy chairs to lay on, and I was able to kind of sleep. The good thing about taking this flight was that we got the entire day Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to be in Munich, as we left Madrid Thursday night and got back to Madrid Tuesday morning, so the 2 overnight layovers were worth it! 
Friday March 15
        The first day, we found our hostel and then walked around Munich. There were multiple stores of lederhosen and cute German souvenir shops. I got a pastry for breakfast, apple strudel, or Apfelstrudel, in German. At 12 we stood in the Marienplatz (St. Mary's Square) and waited for the "most underwhelming tourist attraction in Europe", according to Claire's guidebook. What it was referring to was the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a clock tower that chimes and acts out stories with figures. I thought it was kind of cool, but it lasted for about 20 minutes....so you only needed to watch it for like 5.

The Rauthaus-Glockenspiel, connected to the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall), in Marienplatz

 

Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) built in the 1300's, and has had some reconstruction along the way, including after WWII

New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) built late 1800s

       After walking around in the cold, we went on a free walking tour with the tour group Sandeman, and it was great! Our tour guide Adam was from Australia and he sails professionally when he is not in Munich...he was a pretty interesting guy. We walked all around Munich, and Adam told us about most of the sites, and also about the history of Munich and Germany. He told us, half joking, that Bavaria (region of Germany where Munich is located) is like Texas and Catalonia (region of Spain where Barcelona is located) because they are so different from the rest of the country and want to become their own nation!

Frauenkirche, Cathedral of Our Dear Lady.During WWII, the 2 big towers or steeples of this church were left standing because they were good reference points in the city

The Devil's footprint. When the church was being built, the devil stopped by and saw that there were no windows, and a church has to have windows to reach God. So, the devil made an offer to the builder - he would finance the rest of the church as long as there were no more windows put in. When the devil came back, he found that he was tricked by the builder, as windows had been put in behind the large columns. The church was already consecrated, so the devil couldn't enter it, only the foyer. The devil was so mad, that he stomped his foot (in the foyer area) and it left an imprint in the tile.

The large columns

Monument that now honors the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, which is located outside the hotel he stayed at when he was in Munich.

Feldherrnhalle monument built mid 1800s to honor Bavarian army

Munich Residenz, Royal Palace. They put fake columns on the building to make it look fancier and grander.

Lions outside of Munich Residenz. If you rub the lion's head on the armor, 3 or 4 of them, you will have good luck. There is debate over if you rub 4 of them if you are considered greedy and then will be cursed, or just have extra luck.

Our tour guide Adam pointing out the path people took in WWII to avoid passing Nazi guards and saluting Hitler in front of the Munich Residenz, now commemorated with bronze bricks

A really expensive watch

Bavarian State Theatre

        After our tour of Munich, I got a really big pretzel to eat for a snack, and then we went to the Munich Olympic Park where the 1972 Summer Olympics were held, which was also near the BMW factory and museum. Many people we had talked to and things we had read told us to go visit, but it wasn't really all that great. The architecture of the buildings were cool, but you couldn't go inside of anything. There were quite a few buildings, and some of them looked like they were still in use, like the swimming pool, and the Olympiahalle, for concerts.

The Autobahn and BMW factory

Olympiaturm

Architecture of the Munich Olympic Park

              After looking at some of the Olympic Park, we went to the BMW museum, which was a lot of fun. They had a lot of cars, and some of them you could sit in. 

Cute BMW. Later one of the ladies working drove a little boy around in it, so cute!

Rolls-Royce Phantom....fancy. You couldn't get in this one

This is probably the closest I'll ever get to a Rolls-Royce

 

Electric concept car

Mini-Cooper convertible...I want this one!

            After having fun at the BMW museum, we went back to our hotel and tried to find a place to eat. We found this little German restaurant, and had I Käsespätzle, which is like mac and cheese, but better! It was really filling too. 

Food
     My other post on my trip to Munich will be about Salzburg, Dachau concentration camp, and Neuschwanstein Castle, so I will talk about all the wonderful food I had in this post. I think I had a pretzel almost everyday, and they were so good! And very big...some of them were literally the size of my head, or bigger! I had normal pretzels most of the time, but when we were in Salzburg I had a sweet pretzel, so it was lighter and fluffier and had cinnamon and sugar on it. Most of the time we just had pretzels for lunch, and then had a big dinner. 
      The second night, we tried to go to the Hofbräuhaus, but it was really crowded! Apparently there was a soccer (football) game going on, so everyone was there to drink. So, we found another beer hall that was less rowdy, and it was called Weisses Brauhaus. They had a menu in English and put us in an area with other English-speakers...it was kind of funny. I was hearing people talk, and I was like, everyone is speaking English! But the meal was so good, I had Schneider's Aventinus beer roast, "crisply braised breast of pork, basted with Aventinus, served with sauerkraut and home-made potato pancakes". I was too eager to eat my food that I didn't get a picture of it! But the pork was absolutely amazing...and it was a big portion of meat too. And part of the reason I got the meal was because of the potato cakes, which were also really good. Just thinking about that meal makes me want to go back! I also tried a Radler, which is lemonade and beer...I didn't like it too much.

Radler - Lemonade and beer

          The third night we were there, we got into the Hofbräuhaus! The Hofbräuhaus is a famous beer hall in Munich, and was founded in the late 1500s, and it is quite big. You find a sit at one of the big long tables, and a waiter comes over and takes your order. It was all pretty crazy! Everyone is laughing, joking, and singing...it is a great atmosphere. Since I got pork the night before, I figured I couldn't go to Germany without getting some sort of wurst (sausage), so I got the bockwurst with potato salad. Bockwurst is a smoked sausage and I think it is made of veal and pork. It was pretty good! Oh, and of course you couldn't have that without a basket of bread that had 2 pretzels, a roll, and a slice of bread. I brought one of the pretzels back with me because I was too full to eat it, but I ate the other pretzel and roll!

Bockwurst and potato salad with basket of bread...meat, potatoes and bread seem to be the main food staples in Germany!

Door to Hofbräuhaus

Inside of Hofbräuhaus

       So that was Munich and all of its food! The next post will be about the trips I took from Munich - Salzburg, Dachau, and Neuschwanstein Castle.

•  Bavaria is different from the rest of Germany, but it is picturesque Germany
•  Munich has a lot of history behind it
•  German food is really good, and also really filling
•  So. Many. Pretzels.
•  It was cold...It snowed on our tour of Munich. But when the sun was shining it was better 
• I want to go back to Germany!

  Auf Wiedersehen!