Munich, Germany

"The city of Monks" means next stop: Munich, Germany! #1 most liveable city according to Mike. I will be quoting this guy a lot because he gave us (the Bus2Alps group) the BEST way to tour Munich. He has/is Mike's Bike Tours (http://www.mikesbiketours.com/1.html) all over Europe and we had the original, unique tour by the man himself.  I had a tricked out cruiser that matched my outfit. Meant to be! Mike took us all around and showed us his favorite red trees. Also gave us a history of Munich and its former leaders while riding. Not only fun but educational! There were surfers, a piece of the wall of Berlin, and the IceBach in the Isar River. Here is where we jumped into the river while it was 50 degrees outside and felt about 10 inside. YES...we jumped in! Mike made us! HA! Amazing as he said it would be. Refer to video and pictures for details. We continued riding to the Chinesischer Turm which was a beer garden for lunch and famous brew. Afterwards we carried on through the Englischer Garten which is a 1000 acre park. There are supposedly nude beaches but we were the only ones with nude in the park. Oops! After the tour we had a few beers with Mike himself. He left and we headed towards the famous Hofbrauhaus. Basically a beer hall where it is produced for over 100 years. Madness everywhere and food. Who's complaining? We stumbled to the hostel and met up with some Puerto Rican girls studying abroad in Spain and Germany. Love meeting my peoples from the island. While all the guys passed out I went out with them to Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival). It is like a carnival (rides, cotton candy, & games) with a twist of two beer gardens. We did a little bit of everything than headed back home. Next day was a trip to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. A part of Germany's history that had to be seen and experienced. Mostly a slave labour camp but about 43,000 still died. R.I.P! Museum and video were graphic yet informative. On the way back we caught the 11 minutes of the Glockenspiel ring and mechanical jousting match. After this overrated site we went to eat at Augustiner which is one of Munich's oldest pubs. Had some Pork Knuckle which is delicious. After that we went to Spring Fest again to do all the things I missed before. Sunday before we departed, we went to the Olympiazentrum where the 1972 Olympics was held and the tragedy of 17 Israeli deaths were. On a lighter note, the park, venues, stadium, and lakes were remarkable. Had lunch on one of the main, popular, young streets and than we were off on the bus home....

Photos can be seen at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2571595&id=1915685&l=e8721f7a31

Paris

"The City of Lights" was the next stop. Paris for those who dont know. As soon as I checked into the hostel, I went to this club that a friend recommended, Le Mix. It was an arasmus club (for exchange students) on Thursdays and it was jumpin'! Too bad the train ends at 12:30am so I ran back to the station to catch the only way I knew to get home. The next day I randomly walked around with no direction, order, or plan. All I knew was to make it to the Eiffel Tower before the sun went down. I found the Notre Dame de Paris and its free admission so I went in.  It is massive and I sat there to contemplate my next move. Ended up following signs to the Picasso and Hugo museum but couldnt find them. From that area I walked to the Bastille where the revolution was. Its just a statue/monument now but a happening area.  From there I went by Le Louvre and did the famous walk through the courtyard, by the pyramid, into and through the garden and down Champs-Elysses to the Arc de Triomph. Very long and tiring but obviously worth it.  Next stop was the tower and it was relaxing to just sit down and enjoy the monument.  The next day I met up with Tim who spoiled me with a wonderful lunch, ride around Paris, and dinner. Caught the things I missed like Sacre-Coeur, Musee D'Orsay, and the first cabaret in Paris.  Sacre-Coeur was amazing, Musee D'Orsay was phenomenal (Rodin & Monet), and the cabaret was touristy.  Went inside the Louvre Sunday before my flight and spent at least three hours there. Huge, massive, and large do NOT describe this place. Luckily we had an audio guide to help us see the main sites (Victory, Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo, and Venus de Milo) and the history of the Louvre.  After back home...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568795&id=1915685&l=79d31293f4

Easter Break 2009

SO for Easter break (Italy gets a holiday for Easter Monday) I went to Scandinavia. Specifically Sweden and Denmark. I must say this was an incredible trip especially since I went with two people from Alternative Spring Break and I met up with a fraternity brother. 

Sweden

I got to Stockholm, Sweden and met up with Carolyn and Cynthia. I ate quickly and we head to our place of stay. It happened to be someone from coachsurfing.com and was all of our first times doing it. We got there and Helena was amazing. Recommend it to anyone traveling on a budget. She greeted us with some snacks and drinks. Great experience! We went to slept and woke up to breakfast. It never ended! Once we were done with that we hit the town and saw a lot. We headed for Old Town (Gamla Stan) and decided to make a left. Ended up in the middle of the changing of the guards ceremony.  YES, Sweden has a royal family as well.  It was interesting and included a band. Afterwards was a ton of just walking around and looking for stuff. Some important things to mention that we found include the Noble museum where the Noble prizes are given out, the tomb of Mr. Noble himself, and Old Town which has the royal palace and such. AND by the way, Stockholm is known as the "Venice of the North" so you could imagine how much water, islands,  and beauty there was. For lunch we just had a sandwich by the water and enjoyed the sunny day. For dinner we went to a bar and I had Swedish meatballs. Amazing meal I must say! The next day we attempted to see everything we didnt see the first day which includes the Globen (largest spherical structure in the world), museum campus/island, and walking around enjoying the Viking culture. We had dinner with Helena and her friends who were very interesting people. Next day we were off to Kopenhagen by bus.  The ride was serene but the best was fording the river (Oregon Trail style) on a massive boat from Sweden to Denmark. Incredible view and experience! Got to Kopenhagen and my fraternity brother picked us up and took us to his place to rest...

Denmark

We had one full day in Denmark so we needed to see and do the most we could. We saw some castles and went to the top of a round tower to see all of Kopenhagen. Afterwards we saw the royal palace of another royal family! Afterwards we went to Christiana which is known as a mini Amsterdam. Very liberal and free fallin' people around. We enjoyed the amazing graffiti and had a beer on the roof of a bar. Truly memorable! Before the sun went down we headed for the Little Mermaid which is supposed to be the original. I enjoyed it. The area around it is a park so got some amazing shots around there. Ended the day there and prepared to head home the next day...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568774&id=1915685&l=19b6205204

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568792&id=1915685&l=83bdeb0bee

Arezzo-Cortona

SO like three weeks ago I went to Arezzo and Cortona on a day trip. SOrry for the delay but Ive been out traveling, doing school presentations, and painting masterpieces. Anyways, Arezzo and Cortona are two classic, small Italian cities. I was upset because they both look like every other little Italian city we have been to but they both had very rich history and uniqueness to them. Arezzo is home to the famous movie, La Vita e Bella.  Its cathedral is huge as well and had tombs inside. Not sure who but they were there. Cortona was less exciting and its basic site was obviously the Duomo.  Both cities had spectacular views by their walls. Everything seems to be below the city. Amazing! BUT until next time...

Photos can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2568770&id=1915685&l=ff4611445e