Güten Morgen!

After the lovely landscapes in Austria we were off to Munich, Germany! Before leaving Austria we stopped by the Swarovski crystal factory! The show room was very impressive, lots of shiny things! It had some cool statues and gardens too, even though the guys weren't too interested in the crystal they didn't mind roaming around the gardens and it was a good souvenir place for them too. Then we hit the road, saying goodbye to the rolling hills for the most part. When we arrived in Germany, before going right into the city, we went to Dachau concentration camp. This was such a different experience on the tour. I'm really glad we stopped there. It really put things into perspective. It was crazy to actually walk around the place after learning so much about these places. When we got back on the bus Ryno handed out rocks to us. He said he picked them up as he walked around. He wanted us to have them so when our lives become hard we can hold that rock and think of how things could be. I know I have so much to be grateful for, and I will always remember that!

After leaving the camp we headed right into the city. We got to check out the famous Glockenspiel. Which is along the same lines as a giant coo-coo clock. Not that amazing to be honest, but legendary I guess. I wondered around with some friends and got some bratwurst for lunch, there was meat everywhere!! All delicious. We also checked out the devil's footprint in Frauenkirche Cathedral. (which is number 3 on a top ten list of things to do in Munich! Glockenspiel #4 and Dachau #8) There is also a great view of the Alps from the top. We wondered around and got some good ice cream as well. Some people did some shopping which was near the area we started from.

From there we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at the famous Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich. There we enjoyed a huge German buffet! Lots of meat and vegetables! All very tasty in my opinion! Speaking of tasty, the beer was good too and came in large quantities as could be expected in Germany. The folklore show that we saw during dinner was great too! They did everything from cutting a large log to cultural dancing. Oh the dancing was good! Kevin from our tour got up there and slapped some knees with the best of them! It was very entertaining!! You can check out his skills on youtube as well. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=sqWyv0FM9AE) After dinner I just headed back to the hotel on the coach, with my buddy Christine. We were told to take out some Euros to exchange when we got to Prague because the ATMs there can be kind of funny and they use the Kronas. So Christine and I decided to talk a stroll to the nearest ATM. It was funny because we were suppose to take our first right and it was right on that block. But we started talking and kept walking straight for five or six blocks instead. Did I mention this was after the beer hall. So we had a little adventure but we found the ATM shortly after and headed back to our room for some nice bonding time. I'm so glad we met and got a chance to room together for the last 3 nights!! Next stop Prague!