Hello lovely readers! I just got back from a wonderful adventure in Munich where I spent the weekend with my friend Naomi. She has lived here for almost a year as an au pair, so she knows her way around the city pretty well. Naomi met me at the train station Friday night, and we went back to her apartment where we made dinner and stayed up late talking. Unfortunately, the weather was not very nice, but that did not stop us from exploring the city. On Saturday, we walked through the English garden where we made our way into the city center. We had delicious cake and coffee at a local cake shop, and walked around the local farmer's market (I can't remember the name for it in German) and went inside a few churches. I felt really lucky to be in Munich with someone who knows the city well, as Naomi pointed out different sites of historical importance--including the building with where Nazi rallies were held and a modern art museum that was rebuilt after WWII. The most unusual sight I saw during our adventure was a person surfing. Okay, so Munich may not the first place one would think of for surfing, but there was a river we walked by where the waves are conducive to surfing. Despite the weather, we saw people watching a guy surf.
This morning, we went to a Lutheran Evangelical church. While German churches have a reputation for having good music in churches, the music was a little too traditional for my taste. Also, the service was in German, so I could not full understand everything that was going on. However, attending church in another langauge was a pretty cool experience in itself. Afterwards, we went to a cafe where I had Jamie Oliver's (a famous chef on Food Network, for those of you non-foodies) famous hot chocolate--hot chocolate in a huge mug with marshmallows and mini chocolate pieces--SO GOOD! A few hours later, I went to the train station where I was homeward bound--my temporary home, that is--to Salzburg.
I know this post is about Munich, but I cannot forget to share my adventures in Salzburg with you all. On Wednesday, our group went to a salt mine in Hallien, which is on the Austrian-German border. We had to wear these white suits that were supposed to prevent our clothes from being stained with salt. Frankly, those suits made us look like Oompa-Loompas and we didn't see the point of wearing them since there was no salt in the mine that would stain our clothes. Looking like Oompa-Loompas aside, the mine was very cool. There were no stairs when the mine was built, so we had to slide down two slides--amazingly enough, I did well on, given that I do not have the adreniline gene. We also took a boat ride in the mine, saw statues of miners and saints of salt (can't remember their names). Best of all, we got free samples of Austrian salt! After leaving the salt mine, we went to Berchtesgaden, where we had lunch at a traditional German beer house. From Berchtesgaden, we made our way to the Nazi documentation center--this place essentially had information about Hitler's life right before he came to power (I even saw copies of his famous book, Mein Kampf) to a year or two before the prisoners in concentration camps were liberated.
Well, it's late here so I should go to bed. Gut Nacht (good night, in German) everyone!
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