Day 12: Schnitzeljagd Competition, Geschwister Scholl Memorial, Abschiedessen in the Ratskeller

 Day 12: Schnitzeljagd Competition, Geschwister Scholl Memorial, Abschiedessen in the Ratskeller

Our last day in Germany!

by Dan and Madi

As our last day in Germany, we knew it had to be special. The day started off with a Schnitzeljagd, a scavenger hunt through the city of Munich. This took us all around the Marienplatz, from the top of St. Peter’s Tower, to the basement of the new town hall. After our team came in an impressive not-last place, the whole group reunited to make our way over to the Geschwister-Scholl Platz. This place at the local university memorialized die Weiße Rose, a WWII resistance group, and is named after Hans and Sophie Scholl, siblings who were members of the group. We took some time at the memorial in the basement museum to learn how they stood up against the Nazi regime, knowing that their lives were on the line. After spending some time reflecting on the city of Munich’s history, our small group of friends made our way back to the Marienplatz where we shopped the stores and grabbed some Döner for lunch. At last, we attended our Abschlussfeier dinner at the Ratskeller and celebrated our last day in Germany.

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland! Vielen Dank für alles!

Day 11: Munich Bike Tour and Dachau Memorial Site

 Day 11: Munich Bike Tour and Dachau Memorial Site

Victoria's perspectives:

Today we went on a bike tour around Munich. We learned about the history of buildings and important people. On our bike tour around Munich, one of the tour guides talked about the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was filmed in Munich which I thought was pretty interesting because I don’t think most people knew that, including me. We also went through the English Garden. It was a pretty field that we biked through and seeing the surfers was probably the highlight of my day. It was different seeing the surfers surf on the river. I’ve never seen anything like it. I would for sure recommend the bike tour because you get to learn about the history of Munich and see fascinating structures and statues. Later, we arrived at Dachau Concentration Camp. It was very saddening to read the stories of people’s lives and about the concentration camp. It gives people more insight about WWII and I would recommend visiting. To end the day off, we went to the Marienplatz to eat dinner. Everyone went into their own groups and went to dinner of their own choice. The tipping is different than in the U.S. Usually we don’t have to tip but at the restaurant my group was at, we had to pay 10% which is lower than in the U.S. 

Maria's perspectives: 

Today was our first full day in Munich. We woke up and had a scrumptious breakfast at the hotel. Then we left so we could attend a bike tour in which I almost died in (Editors' Note: this is a slight exaggeration!!), and visited historical places like the church in the Odeonsplatz, the Englischer Garten, and the Chinesischer Turm Biergarten in the park. We also got to watch the surfers at the Eisbachwelle right in the middle of the city park! These places held a lot of historical and cultural value and they were very beautiful places. After the amazing bike tour we hopped on the train to go to the Dachau Memorial Site. Here we visited a former concentration camp from World War II. We were able to tour a reconstructed barracks in which prisoners slept, and the rest of the camp. I learned that over 11,000 people were cremated in the ovens at Dachau, even though it wasn't an extermination camp, such as Auschwitz, but rather a prison. This experience was eye-opening and made me really feel for the innocent people who were imprisoned and killed.

Mia's perspectives:

On our bike tour, we spotted various monumental architecture and uncovered the deep history and cultural significance behind each one. My favorite attraction was the Englischer Garten because of its scenic and natural landscape. Overall, I found the tour very informative and eye-catching thanks to our amazing tour guides. Later in the day, we visited Dachau, a concentration camp memorial site. We learned that rows of gravel once served as barracks used to concentrate the prisoners in. However at the site, they created a replica of the barracks to preserve a piece of the reality these people endured. Inside the main building, each room was filled with tall, educational captions and artifacts that gave us a glimpse of the struggle that was underwent here. I went to watch the thirty minute documentary about life in the camps that was airing inside the main building. Despite it being entirely in French, just looking at the photos of the treatment and conditions these people were subjected to was undeniably gut wrenching. Near the end of the day, we were given free time to explore the Marienplatz and eat dinner at our choosing.

Day 10: Linderhof & Tegelberg (Maria's bday!) & Munich Arrival

 Day 10: Linderhof, Tegelberg & Arrival in Munich

By Ross and Nate 

Today we started our trip to Munich by stopping at the grotto at King Ludwig II’s hunting estate. The grotto was his personal man cave literally, as it was used for his own entertainment and was inspired by a Wagnerian opera, the goddess Venus, and the blue lagoon grotto in Italy. In addition to our a completely German spoken grotto tour we also visited the rest of the estate including the castle the surrounding grounds. His lodge was a modest outer size for a kind of the time however the inside was as grand as could be. The estate consisted of stunning views such as his front prayer garden and swimming pool and fountain as well as the Alps fed waterfall in the rear of the house. Both of our tours today were spoken in almost entirely German and gave us a lot of insight to how the royals lived in Germany during the late 1800’s.

After our adventurous trip to the Venus Grotte and the Wittelsbacher family hunting grounds, we took the bus to the Tegelberg, where we started off with some fun right off the bat. Frau Bauerlein surprised us all with tickets to ride the alpine coasters right at the base of a mountain. The alpine coasters took us down about a few hundred feet while going as fast as you pleased. We had so much fun we insisted on going a second time to see who could go the fastest. (Editors’ Note: We can tell Victoria is a competitive downhill skier!!) The coasters weaved around sharp turns at high speeds-filling the body with loads of adrenaline and dopamine. When we were finished with our coaster riding, we took a quick walk to the entrance of the gondola. We got on a gondola that would take us up to the top of the mountain. As we climbed higher and higher, soon came some of the best views of the countryside. Aside from the countryside, a main attraction that was also visible was two more castles here in the state of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Though we didn’t tours those castles, their beautiful architecture and size were enough to fill our imagination with an idea of what it may look like. Soon, we reached the end of our gondola ride at the top of the mountain. There were many areas to take pictures and admire the countryside and mountain ranges that went on for miles. It was certainly much colder up there than it had been at the base-but that was no issue for us. Thanks to Frau Bauerlein and Bird, we were able to not only celebrate Maria’s birthday (Happy Birthday Maria!!!), but able to have some warm desserts and drinks in the Panorama Restaurant as well. (Editors’ Note: They all tried the Bavarian dessert Germknödel  with vanilla sauce and it was a hit.) Sadly we were not able to hike up or down the mountain because of time constraints, but we did catch a little free time to explore the top of the mountain for some time before taking the gondola back down. And we saw paragliders take off from the top of the mountain! After saying a sad farewell to the Alps for the remainder of our trip, we hopped back on the bus for a two hour trip to Munich!!! After checking into our hotel and settling in, we all got ready for our group dinner at the Augustiner Bierkeller und Biergarten. Finally, after a delicious meal - and some time on the playground — it was time to get ready for bed and prepare for our next day in Munich.

Day 9: Zugspitztag!! (mit Eibsee)

 Day 9: Zugspitze and Eibsee

By Molly and Lia

Tuesday 7/9

Today was Zugspitztag!!! We started out our day at 7:30 for breakfast and walked to the train that takes us to the Zugspitze. We got our entrance cards that allow us to gain access to and from the mountain, without them we might have been stuck on it (not that that’s a problem)! We first landed at what Frau Bauerlein calls the “fake summit” which consisted of a delicious cafe and outdoor restaurant. We first stepped outside to inches of new snow and freezing cold air! Everyone got to go sledding, which was super fun as a result of the fluffy new snow! It wouldn’t be a German class experience without some fun, so a “little”snowball fight took place. We managed to have only one minor injury😉. 

Following that we got to go from fake summit to the tip top of the Zugspitze! This was super fun getting to see the famous gold cross at the top and we even got to walk across the border into Austria! With lots of wind and snow we couldn’t quite see the amazing Alps all around us, but we still got to make good memories with friends. We also got to indulge in some delicious food from the fantastic restaurant at the top. (Editors’ note: Danke, Bavarian Club Edelweiss!)

Following our great trip up to 8,000 feet, we traveled partway back down the mountain, this time by cablecar, where we got to swim in the Eibsee. Regardless of the cold air the water was just as fun.

The water of the Eibsee is fully clear, with some parts being a very light blue and other parts being a little bit darker. Being able to swim in the crystal clear water after being at the top of the zugspitze was really incredible. As we were playing in the water, the clouds cleared and we could see the mountains towering above us. The Eibsee is very pretty, but the zugspitze in the background made the view even more amazing. Knowing that we were up there just a few hours ago in very cold weather but now we are swimming at the base of the mountain was truly incredible. After a long day, it is safe Zugspitztag was a blast!!