München

The first time I looked at München on a map I thought, “Munchin? What the heck is that?” Well, that’s the place we like to call Munich. Sounds a lot better than Munchin. Friday, Wanda put me on a train and I went solo into the city. It was a bit different being on my own. I had the freedom to go where I wanted, but next time I’ll take someone with me, because it’s always more fun when you have someone to laugh at obnoxious people with (cue large groups of tourists. Now I know how all the locals felt in Spain).

I arrived right in downtown Munich and was there for probably four hours. First, I saw the glockenspiel on the city hall building. It plays at 11:00 and noon, and I got there just in time to hear it at noon. It was really neat. Some guy there asked me to take his picture and then asked if I were a professional photographer. That just made my day. I’ve learned when you start carrying around a nice camera, lots of people ask if you will take a picture for them. It’s all about looking the part, and apparently I do it quite well.

Downtown Munich

Glockenspiel

Then I stopped in a little shop called Dallmayr. Wanda and Carina said I absolutely have to go in there because it smells so good. They were right. It was DELICIOUS! Lots of sweets and pastries everywhere. And the chocolate, oh the chocolate. Everything looked so delectable. I ate a little piece of sweet bread, and it was just wonderful.

Next, I made my way to a park, where I was lucky enough to stumble upon this little man playing the cello. I love, love, love street musicians. Almost as much as I love the street artists. He sounded really nice so I listened to him for a little while. There was a little Asian girl who was just fascinated by him. It was adorable. I’m glad I was there to snap some pictures.

I spent the rest of my time browsing the stores and walking up and down the main street before heading back to the trains. I forgot what the train station looked like, so I walked right past it. Luckily, I gave myself plenty of time. No problems there. My train was a little late, so I ended up missing my connection. Good thing I was only a couple towns away, so Wanda came and got me (she is a saint!). No big deal. All in all, I’d say it was a rather successful day. And now I can say I’ve explored a big, foreign city all by myself. Next time though, I’ll bring a friend.

White asparagus. Yuuuummm.

Deutschland

Sorry I am such a slacker, but I am too busy loving Germany! It’s so green and full of quaint, little towns. I’m told it’s like this everywhere in Germany, so hands down it’s the prettiest country. All the towns remind me of ski villages, which means I’m basically in heaven. And I’m with family now. Yup, heaven.

Gert and Wanda’s home is beautiful. They’ve been so welcoming. I couldn’t thank them enough for letting me stay with them and showing me around. They live in a little place called Neuötting (pronounced “new-urting”, roughly), which is right next to Altötting (alt-urting). Together they have about 25,000 people. Just right. These two towns are located in the German state of Bavaria, about twenty minutes from the Austrian border (which means I’ll spend a little time in Austria too!).

Neuötting was an important trade city, especially for salt, and trading would take place right in the middle of the square. They were also allowed to mint coins here, which only the really important cities had the right to do.

Coining house.

While Neuötting is the trading city, Altötting is the religious capital of Bavaria. There are like five churches or chapels around the town square. This town is famous for the black Madonna, which resides in a small chapel in the square. Tradition says that this small statue has miraculous healing powers and thousands of people pilgrim (is that even a verb??) here to pray for healing. Whenever someone is supposedly healed by the Madonna, they make a little plaque and hang it in the chapel. The walls are COVERED in these plaques. It’s really cool.

After showing me around the two towns, Wanda took me over to the Burghausen Castle, the longest castle complex in Europe (over 1000 meters, or 0.64 miles, long). It’s made up of the main house and six courtyards, where people still live today. Those people can actually say they live in a castle. Lucky ducks! Wanda and I renamed the castle: Wanda and Emily’s Castle. I know, real creative. It just came to us, I guess. So feel free to come visit us in our castle. There’s obviously plenty of room!

Burghausen

Taken from Austria!!!

On a side note, German food is amazing. Fresh rolls all the time; delicious pork; great produce. Most importantly, the ice cream is excellent.