I hate it when clouds get in my food.

Hello!!! We’ve been having terrible wifi problems lately, which is why there’s been no posting, so I’m trying to catch up on the past few days here.

 

It’s been an incredibly busy time filled with lots of celebrations, essays, and hiking! We celebrated America’s birthday at a little bar called Kennedy’s, it was a lot of fun for everyone to go out and celebrate together.  We met up with a ton of Americans at the Hofbrauhaus and ended up singing the national anthem.

The next day we went to LMU, one of the most prominent universities in Germany to get a lecture on the White Rose Resistance Movement, led by six students and professors who called for the end of Hitler’s regime.  They were caught, tortured in interrogations for four days, and then convicted of high treason and beheaded four hours after the proceedings.  They are a large symbol to Germans that not all Germans in the 1930’s and 40’s were Nazis.

We then took a walk through the English gardens to a lecture hall to speak to the head of the Political Science Department.  It was especially interesting to hear about the differences in education – political science in Germany is something completely different than political science in the US.  

We had an essay to submit that night, so we ran home, but not after trying the German version of McDonald’s – because you have to try it at least once in a foreign country!

The next couple of days were by far my favorite so far on the trip.  The next day, we essentially did a triathlon –  we hiked up the German Austrian alps to go see Neuschwanenstein Castle – the castle they based Cinderella on! We hiked up the alps, explored the gorgeous, ancient castle, trekked back down a gorge next to a waterfall, rode a toboggan, biked around the countryside surrounding the alps, and swam in Swan Lake.  It was an incredibly beautiful, fun, TIRING day. I’m still sore.

 

The next day was our free day, so, naturally being the young, enthusiastic, energetic people we are, about eight of us chose to wake up at 6 am and travel a total of 7 hours on public transportation to go visit Hitler’s Mountainside Retreat.  It was absolutely worth it.

Hitler had most of his meetings with international leaders at his retreat, and I can see why.  It is an incredibly impressive and intimidating place to be. Located 6500 feet up in the alps, we had to take two buses to get to it (both of which had special engines so they could go literally straight up the mountain).  After that, we had to walk through a dark, dank, chilly tunnel to reach a gold-plated elevator that rose another 500 feet up and ended inside this huge mansion literally on the edge of a cliff.  The retreat is so high the home was inside clouds. It’s now been converted into a historic center and restaurant,  so we ate where Hitler used to eat breakfast (I ate off the kids menu and had a Mickey Mouse) and then we went exploring up some more into the alps.  We ended up so near the Austrian border we all received welcome to Austria text messages.  It was a beautiful, difficult hike through rocky gorges and the edge of cliffs.  

The next day was my birthday!!! I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to know everyone on this trip, everyone was excited to go out and celebrate together, including out professors!! It was actually someone else’s 21st birthday as well, so we had double the reason to celebrate. It was a fantastic night, and we all had an amazing time going back to Kennedy’s and singing karaoke all night. 

Tonight’s our last night in Munich, so it’s time to pack, finish some last bits of homework, and get ready to go on to Nuremberg! I can’t believe the first leg of this trip is already over.  I’ve learned and gained so much that I didn’t expect to gain from this trip, I’m really excited to see what the rest of this trip has to bring. 🙂