Woche in Deutschland!

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately, but my last couple weeks have been absolutely insane! Since my last post I have spent: a week traveling around Germany with my parents and Annie, a week in Denmark with my parents, a weekend in Paris with Mike, and a week back in Copenhagen with Mike! I thought I should first sum up the Germany trip. I hope to also post about everything else very soon but I can't promise anything because I leave for Milan tomorrow (I can't believe I just said that)! Anyways, here's the breakdown of our German adventure!

Saturday:

• Annie and I met my parents in Berlin!
• We walked around the city and visited Checkpoint Charlie, which is the famous crossing point of the Berlin Wall. We also went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.
• Then, we went to Ritter Sport and made our own chocolate bars!
• We finished off the day with a great dinner and our first (but most certainly not last) German beers at a cozy brewhouse called Brauhaus Lemke.

My Chocolate Creation

Checkpoint Charlie

Brauhaus Lemke

Sunday:

• We did a fat tire bike tour around the city. It was much different from any tour that I have ever been on (in a good way)! It was much more personal and laid back. I thought it was a great way to see the city!

Fat Tire Bike Tour!

Part of the Berlin Wall

What's left of the Berlin Wall

Brandenburg Gate

We deserved a beer after a long day of biking... :)

Prost! (German "Cheers")

I got a kick out of the stoplights in Berlin

Monday:

• We flew from Berlin to Munich in the morning.
• We stayed at Hotel Laimerhof, which was run by the sweestest couple (they even put tiny bags of gummy bears on our pillows)!
• We spent the afternoon walking around the Marienplatz, the central town square. We saw the infamous Rathaus-Glockenspiel do its thing at 5pm and then we walked around a market nearby. There was a whole street of meat shops at the market--Dad was in heaven to say the least!
• No trip to Munich is complete without a visit to the Hofbrau Haus, so we went there for dinner and beer. It was everything I imagined and more! We had a great night of giant beers, giant pretzels and traditional German music.

The Rathaus-Glockenspiel 

Dad enjoying the polka music at the Hofbrau Haus 

Now that's a lot of beer!

Hotel Laimerhof

Tuesday:

• On Tuesday we drove to Dachau Concentration Camp. It was not an easy day by any means, but an extremely interesting one. After our 2.5 hour guided tour, we were all physically and emotionally drained. However, I am glad we made the trip, and it is something I will never forget. 
• In the evening, Annie and my mom and I took a long walk around Nymphenburg Palace, which was right by our hotel. The palace was the main summer residence of the rulers of Bayerische (aka Bayern--the southern state of Germany). 
• Side note: We were in Bayerische for the last part of the week and saw "Bayer" written on everything, which was so much fun! We even found "Bayer Street" in Munich!

Nymphenburg Palace

"Bayer Street!!"

The gate at Dachau Concentration Camp
Translates to: "Work brings freedom"

Wednesday:

• We packed up the car Wednesday morning and headed to the Alps to a cute little German town called Oberammergau (such a fun word), which just happens to be the wood-carving capital of the world! The town is also famous for the frescos that cover many of the buildings.
• After walking around Oberammergau, we visited Linderhof Palace. Linderhof is the smallest of the three castles built by King Ludwig II, and it is also the only one that he lived to see completed. Ornate is and understatement to describe this castle. The majority of the walls were covered in gold! One fun feature the Ludwig added was the "magic table," which was a dining table that could be lowered to the servants quarters and back up so that he did not have to go downstairs to eat...
• We then drove to Garmisch-Partenkichen (another fairytale-like town in the alps) and checked into our hotel. We spent the afternoon walking around the adorable little town and then came back to our hotel for a traditional German dinner complete with authentic alpine dancing!

Frescos covered most of the buildings in Oberammergau

Oberammergau 

A woodcarver at work 

So many cuckoo-clocks!

Linderhof Palace

My parents view of the alps from their balcony in Gamisch-Partenkirchen

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

The alpine dancers in their lederhosen :)

Thursday:

• On Thursday we journeyed up to Zugspitze, which is the tallest point of the German alps. To get to the top we first took the "Bayer" train, and then we had to take a cable car to the summit. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking. We lucked out on the weather and had a clear day, which allowed us to see five alps and three countries! We also were able to cross a bridge into Austria at the top of the mountain! It was unreal. 
• That afternoon we drove to Hohenschwangau where King Ludwig II's other two castles are located. I studied German in high school, and seeing Neuschwanstein Castle has been a dream of mine for years. Needless to say, I was freaking out when we got our first glimpse of it after arriving in Hohenschwangau. Then to top it all off, our hotel room had a balcony with a great view of the castle! I was one happy lady!!

At the foot of Zugspitze

The "Bayer Train" that took us up the alps!

Heading up the mountain!

The Bayers in Bayern

Greetings from the top of the German alps! (That really is me waving)

We reached the summit!

Friday:

• Friday was a fairytale. By the end of the day it was very clear why King Ludwig II was nicknamed the "Castle King," the "Fairytale King," and "Mad King Ludwig."
•  First, we toured Hohenschwangau Castle, which was the official summer and hunting residence of King Ludwig II. The inside of the castle was unbelievable. Nearly every wall was covered with paintings depicting scenes from Richard Wagner's operas. King Ludwig was clearly a creative man and added various features to the castle to make him feel like he was truly living in a fairytale. For example, his bedroom ceiling was painted like the night sky complete with little holes that his servants could light up with oils lamps to look like stars and the moon.  
• Then my dreams became a reality--I visited Neuschwanstein! I was geeking out the whole time. I honestly don't think I stopped smiling throughout the entire visit! The castle was never completed, but the rooms that were finished are unbelievable! The walls were covered with paintings and the woodwork was incredibly detailed. It took 14 woodcarvers four years to finish the woodwork in his bedroom alone! I was completely in awe looking at both the exterior and interior of the castle.
• Just a little interesting history: 


• He spent the majority of his time as king designing new castles and spending all of the states money on his ornate plans. On June 12, 1886, Ludwig was declared mentally unfit to rule Bavaria even though he was never formally examined. The following day, Ludwig went on an evening walk with his doctor around Lake Starnberg in Munich. Later that night, both men's bodies were found in the lake. To this day, it is not known if King Ludwig's death was an accident, suicide or murder.

Hohenschwangau Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle!!

Saturday:

• On Saturday, we drove to Rothenburg, Germany. Rothenburg is one of the most well-preserved medieval towns in the world, and I am convinced it is also the cutest town in the entire world. We stayed at the most charming hotel that was built in the 1500s and still has most of the original woodwork. Words cannot describe how endearing Rothenburg is, so I will just post a bunch of pictures so you all can see for yourself :) That night we had the best dinner at a cozy little restaurant called Zur Höll that also dates back to the 1500s. It was a fantastic ending to a fabulous trip!