Oberammergau

We woke up early the second day in Munich, had a quick breakfast, and met the Castle Tour bus outside in front of the hotel. As we began the drive south towards the Alps, the rainy weather quickly turned into sleet and then into a blizzard….a little scary when your sitting in the top deck of a bus. The roads got pretty bad, and the bus scraped a stop sign at one point, but we made it to our first stop in about an hour and a half no problem. When we finally arrived in Oberammergau, we only had about 30 minutes to walk around before heading further south. Luckily, the snow stopped, and the weather was beautiful. We went into a few local shops, saw some of the famous woodcarvings, and even learned a little history of the small village. Oberammergau is known for the Passion Play, which began in 1634. Years before, the village was stricken by the plague, and a vow was made by the villagers to perform the Play of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ every 10 years from that point on.

Family Visit To Munich, Day 1

After a busy day in Köln, we woke up early the next morning, walked to the Köln train station, and caught the 4 ½ hour, ICE, high speed train to Munich. Once at the Munich train station, we got directions to the K&K hotel from the information booth, and headed on our way. The hotel was only a few stops by S-Bahn or U-Bahn, and we found it no problem. It was nice not lugging all of our suitcases around the city again! After we checked in and dropped our luggage off in our rooms, we quickly jumped back on the U-Bahn towards the center of the city and the Marienplatz. It was already getting very late, but we quickly swung through Marienplatz, where we saw the Neues Rathaus, the Altes Rathaus, the Frauenkirche, the Mariensäule, the Talbruck Gate Tower, and the Glockenspiel. A few minutes later, we were able to find our way to the famous Hofbräuhaus. We walked through the downstairs portion of the restaurant, where a Bavarian-dressed Oompah band had already begun to play the night’s live music. Unfortunately, the lower level was too crowded, and there were not four seats available. So, we went upstairs to the other half of the brew house, where we found a much quieter scene, a great atmosphere, and a nice table. Mom and Rachel braved the crowd to go downstairs and get us a couple huge pretzels from the pretzel stand, and we were even treated with English menus. The very first thing we ordered was the famous beer, served in huge, glass, one-liter mugs. After the 0.2 liter Kölsch served in Köln, I think my dad was finally rewarded with a beer bigger than he could ever imagine! Of course, we made sure to drink quickly so that the beer wouldn’t get warm! Our food arrived, and although we were stuck with more sausage, it turned out to be fairly good. My dad and I had some kind of sausage made right in the Hofbräuhaus’ own butcher shop, while Rachel was happy with her turkey and mushrooms on spätzle. My mom’s meatloaf turned out to be pretty funny, however. It was nothing more than a misshaped hotdog! But, the meal had been worth it just for the beer. After dinner, we caught the U-Bahn back to our hotel, where we decided to spend the following day on a castle tour in the Alps.

Family Visit To Köln

We all woke up on the morning of the 27th, dragged our luggage to the main train station in Berlin, and caught an early train to Köln. The ride was a long one….about 4 ½ hours….which in a way turned out to be a blessing, as it took about that long to get all of our suitcases up into the luggage compartment. It was actually a pretty interesting ride. We passed through a lot of country, and got to see all kinds of wildlife, including stag, as well as miniature deer (Roe deer, I believe they are called. Looking it up online says that 30-35 pounds is normal). Either way, it was pretty neat!

Upon arriving in Köln, we found some more American type food to eat for lunch: Domino’s Pizza! It was delicious! We dragged our luggage outside the train station, where we were standing in the shadow of the Kölner Dom: probably the most amazing structure I have ever seen in my life. The large, dark, gothic cathedral is absolutely enormous. It not only has the largest façade of any church in the entire world, but it has the second tallest spires as well. In fact, for the four years following its completion, it was the world’s tallest structure, until surpassed by the Washington monument. However, it’s not only the sheer size of the building that’s impressive, but its history is as well. Construction of the cathedral began in 1248, and lasted over 600 years until 1880. And, as the story is told, it houses relics of the Three Kings. It’s amazing to see such an amazing monument, especially taking into consideration that it was partially built before our country was even known to exist. After staring at the Dom for some time, we walked around the cathedral and down the street about 100 yards to the Sofitel Hotel. We walked through a maze of construction work, checked in, and dropped off our luggage. Then, me and Rachel went and met my friend, John, in front of the Dom. John had stayed with a host family in the area for a few weeks, and knew Köln well, so he offered to show us around. We walked through some of the main streets and the shopping district, before stopping for some Kölsch beer at the Malzmühle Brewery. From there, we went to a local Früh Kölsch brewery for a goulash and bratwurst dinner. As we were all tired from the traveling, we headed in for the night. However, me and my mom decided to go for a walk later that night, and ended up stopping for apple strudel and Irish coffee at a nice dessert restaurant.

The next morning, we ate a big breakfast at the hotel, and walked over to the Dom. We walked around inside for quite a while, before beginning our 30 minute climb up the circular-stair spire. From the top, the view was unbelievable, and we could see the entire city, as well as the Rhein River and the Hohenzollern, Deutzer, and Severins Bridges. We looked into taking a Rhein River cruise, but the cruises had just stopped for the winter. And, the Köln Christmas markets were being dismantled as well. So, we decided to check out the Imhoff-Stollwerck Lindt Chocolate Museum, which was on a peninsula, overlooking the Rhein. The museum turned out to be pretty big, and was actually pretty interesting. At one point, we were able to see chocolate Lindt truffels being made, and we were able to buy them fresh off of the conveyor belt. We also got to taste some of the chocolate in the Lindt chocolate fountain. After the Chocolate Museum, we walked to the German Sport and Olympia Museum. However, we decide to walk around the city a bit more instead of doing another museum. On our walk we passed numerous sights, including many more museums, numerous breweries, and the Church of Gross St. Martin. We even got to check out a Rhein River bait and tackle shop, where we learned that the owners would soon be off to Florida for Tarpon fishing! Hungry, but once again tired of bratwurst and schnitzel, we decided to eat dinner at the Hard Rock Café Köln. We got right into an empty table, where we got to listen to great music, while drinking Sion Kölsch and eating cheeseburgers….with a top AND bottom bun no less! After dinner, and trying to convince my parents that they didn’t need to leave a 20% tip in Germany, we went to a souvenir shop, where I finally broke down and bought myself a nice stein. It was an easy choice once I saw one with hunters and red stag! We headed back to the hotel, had a drink in the hotel pub, and packed our bags for our trip to Munich the next morning.

Christmas In Berlin

After spending two days in Braunschweig, we woke up early the next morning, caught a tram to the Braunschweig train station, and then took a 2 and a half hour train to the main station in Berlin. After a quick bite to eat, and getting directions to the Kron Prinz Hotel from an information booth, we headed off by tram in the right direction. Unfortunately, we were told to get off one stop too early, and although we were within a couple of hundred yards from the hotel, we could not get to it due to the way the roads were set up. We were lost for about an hour, lugging around all of the suitcases, seemingly through the entire city, before we called it quits and went back to the tram station. As it turned out, we just had to take another tram one more stop, and we found the Kron Prinz right across the street. We checked in, dropped off our luggage, and headed out into the city for a couple of hours, as it was already pretty late. After the initial trouble finding the hotel, we didn’t have any other problems finding our way by bus, S-Bahn, or U-Bahn throughout the city. We got off the S-Bahn near the center of Berlin, and walked past the Reichstag Dome and the Brandenburger Tor. From there, we walked further along Unter den Linden, to the Christmas Market near Friedrichstrasse. Unfortunately, the market was pretty much closed down for the night, as it was Christmas Eve. So, we walked to Potsdamer Platz and the Sony Center, where we checked out the Christmas Lego Land display, before warming up with some hot chocolate in Dunkin’ Donuts. When we were finished, we caught a bus back to the hotel, hoping that we could find somewhere to eat Christmas Eve dinner. After inquiring about restaurants at the hotel, we decided to take a walk up the block, and we stopped right in front of the House of 100 Beers. It was open, there were tables available, it was pretty nice inside, and above all, it had 100 types of beer. So, that’s where ended up eating our Christmas Eve dinner of schnitzel. It was actually very good!

The next morning, we slept in a bit, and took a bus to our Christmas lunch reservations at the Twelve Apostle’s Restaurant. We kept it pretty simple, but the food was great....we had a pizza that was over a meter in diameter! Surprisingly, we just about polished the entire thing off, and the waiter seemed thrilled to be able to practice some English on us. When he heard that we were from Boston, he said “Boston….that gives me….how do you call them....goose bumps.” He went on to name the Boston Tea Party, Boston Legal, and most importantly to him, William Shatner. It definitely made for a funny meal! From there, we walked up the road to pick up a city bus tour. We got great seats in the very first row of the double-deck bus, and saw, among many other sights, Kurfürstendamm, the KaDeWe, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Gedächtniskirche, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, “The Pregnant Oyster,” Potsdamer Platz and the Sony Center (which houses a small Lego Discovery Center and an IMAX theater), the Jewish Museum, the Holocaust Memorial, the many embassies, Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall Museum, Gendarmenmarkt, the Berliner Dom, Alexanderplatz, the Berliner Rathaus, Unter den Linden, the Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, the Tiergarten, the Kulturforum, the Schloss Bellevue, the Victory Column, and the Schloss Charlottenburg. As the bus began its second round, we got off at Potsdamer Platz, where we stopped for another drink before heading across the street to the BlueMax Theater for the Blue Man Group. The show was a lot of fun, and it turned out to be a nice Christmas night. After the show, we grabbed bratwurst for supper beneath the giant tubing track at the nearby Christmas Market, and then headed back to the hotel for the night. Before going to bed, we planned out the next day, while having a couple drinks in the hotel pub. Not your typical Christmas, but it was a fun one!

We woke up early the next morning, had breakfast (eggs, bread, cheese, and salami) in the hotel restaurant, and took a bus back to the Gedächtniskirche, where we spent a couple of hours in one of the large Weihnachtsmarkts. Dad got another motorcycle to add to his collection, and we got lunch while roaming through the unique stalls. From there, we caught another bus to the Siegessäule, the Victory Column, and climbed our way to the top for a nice view of the city. We then wanted to climb the Reichstag Dome, but the wait was over 2 hours long. So, we walked through the Brandenburger Tor, to the huge Christmas market on Unter den Linden instead, which consisted of hundreds and hundreds of gift and food stalls, an outdoor ice skating rink, and carnival rides of all sorts. After walking through for a while, we stopped inside a car museum to warm up, and then walked to Checkpoint Charlie’s to get a closer look. Once it started to get dark, we took a bus to Alexanderplatz, walked past the Marienkirche, and took the lift up the famous TV Turm. From the top, we could see the entire city, which especially with all of the Christmas markets, was lit up beautifully. A bit tired of schnitzel and bratwurst, we went to the Block House Steakhouse for dinner before heading back to the hotel. Hoping for some American food, we all ordered burgers. Rachel could barely help herself from laughing out loud when they came without tops. But, they were delicious….even with only half a bun! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, where we planned out the following day’s trip to Köln, before heading to bed.

Family Visits Braunschweig

The holidays were definitely a lot different this year, but they turned out to be a lot of fun. I went to my last class on Thursday, and then made sure to clean up the apartment a bit on Friday. I woke up very early on Saturday morning (about an hour after jumping in bed after another Celtic’s win), in order to catch the 6:30-ish train from the Braunschweig train station to the Hannover central station. From there, after a bit of searching, I caught another train to the Hannover airport, where I found my way to the correct gate within 20 minutes of my family’s arrival. I was great to see them all again! We dragged all of the luggage (no easy task!!!!!!) to the S-Bahn stop, and caught a train back to the Hannover station, followed by the Braunschweig main station. From there, we were able to quickly hop on a crowded tram to the center of the city, to the Deutsches Haus Hotel. We got our rooms, unloaded our luggage, and headed out to force them to resist the urge to sleep.

First, I brought my mom, dad, and Rachel back to my apartment to show them around. We had a few drinks….my dad got his first taste of German beer….and we opened up each other’s Christmas presents, so they all wouldn’t have to make the trip with us. We headed back towards the center of town, and for Rachel’s sake, quickly visited the Schloss….Braunschweig’s huge mall that is inside a renovated palace. Since they were all so tired between the flight and the 6 hour time difference, we ate at Alex’s before it got too late. It was pretty funny watching them struggle to say “BBQ Burger” in what they thought was a German accent! From there, we headed to bed a bit early, so that they could catch up on sleep.

We woke up relatively late the next morning, and went outside to the Weihnachtsmarkt….the Christmas Market….to get half meter bratwursts for lunch. They were delicious, and surprisingly, even Rachel tried and liked them. My mom tried the popular Gluhwein, but was not a fan. After lunch, we walked through the rest of the market, looking at all of the booths and stalls in the Burgplatz. We saw the Rathaus, the Dom St. Blasii, the Burg Dankwarderode, and the Braunschweiger Löwe. We actually went into the Dom expecting to be able to look around, and ended up walking right into a mass! From there, we walked around the city center to the outside ice skating rink, then went and checked out the Altstadtmarkt, including St. Martini-Kirche, the Altstadtrathaus, the Gewandhaus, and the Marienbrunnen, as well as a couple other churches. Later on in the afternoon, we met a friend and his family from Long Island, as well as a friend from Braunschweig, at the Christmas market. We all went to a great German pub for dinner, and had our fill of Franziskaner and schnitzel, before returning to the market for some Eiyer Punsch before the night was over. We headed back to the hotel and packed up, knowing we’d have to be up early the next morning, to catch our train to Berlin.

Dublin

Once again, we had another great weekend. The trip to Dublin ended up going great, and was a lot of fun. 10 of us took a flight out of the Bremen airport to Dublin on Friday afternoon and checked into our hostel upon arrival. Our accomodations were very nice for a hostel (the one we stayed at was voted one of the top 10 in the world), though anything beats sleeping on the street again! It was already getting late, so we went to an Irish pub called O'Shea's, where we went through quite a few pitchers of Guinness while we played cards. After that, we walked through the center of Dublin, checking out a few bars and pubs, most notable the Temple Bar, along the way.

After a night of rest, we woke up to a big Irish breakfast, then headed out for the day. The weather, of course, was rainy, but at least, unlike in Germany, we did get to see some sun! We visited a number of sights, including the Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Phoenix Park, before going to the Guinness Storehouse. The Guiness Storehouse was really neat, and we took a tour of the building, followed by a pint of Guinness at the top of the Storehouse in the Gravity Bar. For lunch, one member of our group wanted to see the Captain America Grillhouse, so we all ate there. It was actually pretty good.....very similar to a Hard Rock Cafe. We did a bit of shopping, then went back to the hostel to regroup, before heading out to another Irish pub for dinner, Guinness and Smithwick's, and cards. Before calling it quits for the nights, we went back into Temple Bar for a couple of final drinks in Ireland.

We had an early flight back the next morning, and all went well. The trip was a lot of fun, and I'm sure I'll be back to Ireland again to check out more!

I'm not sure what the plans are for this weekend coming up. I might just stay in Braunschweig and take it easy for the final weekend before Christmas break, but there is also talk of Venice, Pisa, and Rome as well. So, we'll have to see how things iron out!

Amsterdam

It was another pretty interesting weekend. Six of us rode the train about 7 hours to get to Amsterdam in Holland, Netherlands. It was a beautiful city, and the trip was ok, but not quite as fun as we had hoped. Upon arriving in Amsterdam, we went to tour the Heineken Brewery, only to learn that it was closed for rennovation. So, we went to take a canal tour, but we missed the last ferry by just a few minutes. I guess that goes to show how important planning is! Anyways, we went to a couple of small museums instead, then walked around the city just checking our some neat sites. The city itself is beautiful, covered in canals and lights. For supper, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam, which was terrific. The downside about the city had to be the overwhelming amount of drugs. Everywhere we went, we were approached to buy, which got pretty old fast, but was what I guess you had to expect when going to Amsterdam. We walked around for a good portion of the night, which was absolutely perfect weather-wise, until it started to pour. Unfortunately, we didn't have a place to stay, as the trip was last minute, and the booking of a hotel fell through. So, we made shelter in a pub for a couple of ours, to at least get out of the rain. But, everything began to clase down around 2:00 am, and we were stuck on the street in the cold and rain. We went to the train station to try to set up camp there out of the elements, but even that was closed. So, we were forced to sit out side under an ovehang until the train station reopened at 5:00 am. At least it was only a few hours, but it sure started to get cold towards the end. In the morning, since it was Sunday morning and so early, the only place open for breakfast was Burger King, so we grabbed a bite to eat and walked through the rain to the Maritime Museum, just to find that it was closed for rennovations as well. But, we were able to pass the morning until our train. I don't think any one of us has ever been so excited to get on a 7 hour train before! Overall, the trip was alright, but just didn't live up to what we had hoped.

I only have three days of class, and then it's off to Dublin Friday afternoon for the weekend. Hopefully everything goes well!