Eurotrip 2017: Bayern ist am Besten

I genuinely have no idea where to start this blog because I'm still soaking in the surreal time that was the last few days in Bayern. So apologies for rambling, incoherent thoughts and random German words that may end up scattered throughout this post.

I am so unbelievably happy I saved this portion of th trip for last. I was able to spend more time with friends, truly take in my old home, and I wasn't spending every minute thinking of things I needed to do back home. But I realize not all of you may know the backstory here, so...in 2007 I did a 6 week exchange program with a wonderful girl named Petra. She came to live with my family in Woodbridge that fall, and I went to live with her family in Kirchberg (about an hour from München) the following Summer. While there we did SO much. I went to school with Pezi, we went to Volksfest (a small Oktoberfest), did an overnight at her school, went to clubs and parties, traveled with her dance team, and also saw Neuschwanstein, Nürnberg, Regensburg, Berlin, and many small towns in Bayern. It was INCREDIBLE. And honestly, I could not be more thankful for the time that I spent there. When I went there were plenty of other Americans I could hang out with. But, instead I chose to spend my time with Pezi and her friends which in the long run has made all the difference. Yes, my German was being well used at the time due to Governor's School and German class etc, but spending every waking moment for 6 weeks with a Germany family, going to school and really doing life there made my German (und auch a bissal Bayerisch) SO much better. There is something truly magic about being able to understand someone in their own language. I firmly believe people's full personalities simply cannot always be expressed in another Sprache. For me, being able to speak German has allowed me into the lives of so many wonderful people and I am beyond grateful for that.

Okay---moving on. That was TEN YEARS AGO. And Pezi and I have written back and forth a number of times since then, but never seen each other. Well, the time had come to fix that. So for the last 4.5 days, I got the chance to hangout with Pezi, her family, and friends in small towns about an hour north east of München. It was SPECTACULAR. Every moment simply felt surreal; from walking into the house that I had previously called home, to seeing her Tante und Oma, to chatting away in German and laughing about how difficult it is to understand the Bayerisch dialect. I could talk forever about how much it meant to be to be back in what feels like my second home, but I will move on to the actually interesting things, like what I did :)

Day 1: I arrive Thursday afternoon into München, and after hopping on a train into Moosburg, finally got wifi--walked out and for the first time in 10 YEARS (AHHHH!) got to see Pezi. We may or may not have both teared up a bit. Afterwards, we drove back to the house I had once lived in where I got to see Robert, Pezi's brother!! After catching up a bit and having a great meal, Pezi and I went to Dance Training where she is a coach for one of the Dance United Teams.

Day 2: Friday was FULL of moving about the city. I started off my morning by heading out to München to see TUM and wander my favorite city while Pezi headed off to work. Nothing overly spectacular to say here. I didn't do anything insane because I've seen most of it already---so it was just a lot of walking around and smiling :)

That afternoon I headed back to Moosburg where I met up with Pezi and we drove about an hour to Augsburg where her Mutti wohnt jetzt mit ihre Neuer Mann. It was SO incredible to walk up to the apartment and see her! Helmut, her husband was so lovely and they both did a great job of showing Pezi and I the city and explaining a bit about the city. Afterwards we came back to a delicious dinner that Andrea had made and just talked about home, and how much has changed.

Day 3: Saturday was INSANE. I slept in a fair bit, but once I was up it was game on! First I met Pezi and ihre Tante, Onkel und Oma. Her aunt and Grandmother live next door (fairly common around here) and they were making this DELICIOUS bread that I have OF COURSE forgotten the name of. I'll be getting the recipe though, so don't worry! After working on that a bit and chatting with her Aunt and Uncle about life--crazy to see all these people again, ya'll!--we headed home to prep for what would be a giant night of dancing. 

After prepping, we had a quick bite to eat with her aunt and Manu (Pezi's bf). From there we drove out to meet the bus where we would begin our trip to 3 different dance locations. These weren't competitions, just places that had hired them to dance. But INCREDIBLY different places. The first was outside of a toy store in a small town, the second at a black tie ball where older couples were CRUSHING it on the dance floor and living my dream life, and the final one was at a Faschings party where people were getting cray. We were on the road from about 1pm and then finally made our way back home at about 6:30am. So it was quite the night.

Me being part of the team on the bus

Black tie ball

Faschings Feier

Me not able to keep it together--also we were both Pezi for the evening

Day 4: Sunday was our lazy day. We woke up late, headed to Manu's house (where he had made a very delicious Deutsch meal), went Schlittenfahren, then that evening headed over to Lydia's (Robert's gf) Haus to see Robert and Lydia where we all made Chili and then chatted the evening away. 

Day 5: A perfect end. Pezi and I woke up and made a big breakfast of breads, meats, cheeses and various toppings before we both headed out to see Sabsa (another trainer for the dance team) and go to Europe's largest Thermal bath! We spent the day in as many pools as possible, heading down all of the best water slides and getting mud facials that burnt like hell (but worked pretty friggin well). Given that I started my trip with a thermal pool, it seemed only right that I ended with one as well.

But genuinely, my favorite part of our day was that evening. One of Pezi's friends, Wieser, was having people over for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Wieser is another guy who I knew from way back when! So I arrived and got to see not only him, but his gf Jule, Cheesey, Lalle, and of course Pezi, Manu, Robert and Lydia. It was so joyfully overwhelming to see so many people that I had known in one place. I have truly missed them so much. And so we spent the evening laughing, asking birthday questions (brought it to Germany ya'll), talking about what everyone had been up to, doing blind beer tests and generally enjoying being together. Es war echt ein phantistiches Abend. I hob sie alle ganz veil vermisst, also es war unglaublich da zu sein.

From L-R (Wieser, me, Lydia, Robert, Jule, Manu, Pezi, Cheesey)

And--for comparison...here are some of us 10 years ago:

Me, Wieser, Cheesey and Jule

And that brings us to now. Pezi woke up SO early this morning to take me to the train station. She had packed me a lunch with snacks a water bottle, a Dance United tea mug and genuinely jut everything I needed. It was so hard to say goodbye to her. Hopefully it won't be another 10 years before we see each other again.

And now, I'm on a bus headed towards London. Well, Köln and then after 3 hours, another 10 hour ride to London. So, we'll make it eventually. Miss you all loads and can't wait to see you soon!

Eurotrip 2017: Wieder Wien

Day 1:

Arrived in Vienna, and right after I go to my hostel picked up a döner kebab--which i have not had in AGESSSSS. It may not be Deutsch or Viennese..but it is by far my favorite food on this side of the world. And 2 Euro for a döner and soda? YES PLEASE.  

After my stomach was adequately filled, I wandered the city a bit unti I found the Albertina. Nearby here was an info booth, where I picked up every available pamphlet to read and consider in order to pick the perfect itinerary for my trip.

 Since I only had the afternoon, I decided to just wander and figure out where things were. In the process, I saw the first cafe that they go to in the movie Before Sunrise, and where they stood overlooking the city at sunset.

Then I crossed the city to where the university is and got a great dinner for 5 euro at an Indian pay what you feel place---every city needs one. When I lived in Melbourne they had 2 and we went there probably 2-3 times a week!

Day 2: 

Day two started with a wander through a park to find Brahm's memorial statue.

Then a quick jaunt to Cafe Sperl, which came highly recommended by everyone--AND was the second cafe the couple from Before Sunrise go to (with the famous telephone scene). After having a delicious piece of Sacher Torte (and Austrian specialty) I made my way to the Naschmarkt.

The Naschmarkt is basically what it sounds like--a continual marketplace. Here you could buy spices, great Turkish food, basic Viennese dishes, cheeses, meats and giant things of olive oil--as needed. It's a favorite place of many chefs in Vienna.

Afterwards, I decided to spend the day learning a little bit about one of the most famous Hapsburgs--Sisi. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pics, because the museum doesn't allow it, but I got to explore the Hofbug, which was the winter palace for the Hapsburgs. Sisi, in particular, had a museum all to herself--where I got to see how she took care of her stunningly thick, ankle-length hair, and how she came to be such an icon. With a mother-in-law who scared her, a job (as Queen) that she felt like killed her spirit, a daughter who died at two and a son who committed suicide--she became recluse fairly early on in her career as Queen. She took to traveling around with the excuse of sickness in order to escape her duties. When she did perform as Queen, however she took the Hungarian interests under her wing and truly helped make a difference in the eyes of her people there. The Bavarian girl who moved to Vienna to become princess at 15, was eventually assassinated during one of her trips. One of the most beautiful women of the era was gone. Basically---look her up. She's fascinating.

Outside thee Hofburg

the inner courtyard of the Hofburg

And if we're being honest while I do LOVE museums and the history that come with them, I was really just killing time until...THE SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL. Guys--I could not have geeked out more. Ugh, I miss riding so much. So here's to me starting that again once I get a proper job. Unfortunately you can't take pics of the stallions, because they're fussy--but I got pictures of the arena, stables and tack room. Here are a few fun things I learned while there:

1. It's called the Spanish Riding school because the horses are of Spanish descent (though they are now bred in Piebe)

2. Out of nearly 300 applicants each year only 1-2 get chosen to be riders

3. In 2008 they finally began allowing women and non-Austrians to apply--there currently is only 1 female rider

4. Schooling for riders can take from 6-10 years

5. One of the tasks they have to complete once they become an assistant rider, is to pick a stallion from Piebe and train them in the old Dressage style movements for the show. In order to do this, they must learn the natural abilities of the horse and use those as a guide. Obviously you can't rush how quickly this training takes place, hence the length of time it takes to complete schooling.

6. When the Spanish riding School was being constructed, people weren't OVERLY happy about it. They took to referring to things that they found strange or different as Spanish--something that Viennese people do even today

7. The horses have a VERY distinct look about them. With a baroque look and a lip that hangs down--people used to say the Habsburgs had bred horses to look like themselves LOL

The arena!

the Summer arena, and where they exercise the stallions

the Stables--and our guide who was the sweetest.

Tack room--the white show saddles (covered in red now) are worn without saddle pads and therefore have to be made to fit each horse perfectly.

The FINAL event of my glorious day was heading to the Volksoper to see Der Barbier Von Sevilla. The production was entirely in German, and while the Opera building is not as regal as the Staatoper, it is primarily visited by locals who want a nice night out, rather than tourists. And it was a GREAT night. I had read up a bit on the Opera beforehand so that I wasn't completely lost, but I actually was able to follow it fairly well (Cheers to 6 years of Deutsch). It was spectacularly funny, the backgrounds were fabulous, the songs were impressive and it was generally just a wonderful night!

Day 3:

My final day in Vienna was another day of just wandering. First, to Schönbrunn Palace, then to find more Before Sunrise movie locations. So off we go:

Schloß Schönbrunn--the Summer palace of the Hapsburgs

the view from outside the palace looking into the gardens--I need to come back during spring--the gardens are INSANE

Oh HAYY look it's that bridge they walk on in Before Sunrise!

And the Ferris Wheel! WOOO!

Oh yeah, I went to the national library too. Okay, well I didn't REALLY go because it cost 7 Euro to get in, but I stared through the doorway and ya'lll....you would think that someone had straight up copied the Library from Beauty and the Beast. Built by the Hapsburg family to hold their vast book collection--the library is UNREAL.

finally--Augustin Kirche where Hapsburgs got married, and also where they store their hearts after death because...they can?

Anyways--that's all for Vienna. It was fabulous. I want to come back in the Spring to see the gardens of Schönbrunn, and in January to go to a Viennese ball (bucket list item, people!). But now, it's on to Munich to see the one and only PETRA! AHHH!!