Walking in a Winter Wonderland

As I sit down to write this I can’t believe it is already December. I just got off the phone with my dad and he told me he would see me next week. I think in that single moment it hit me…my time here in Italy is coming to a close. Wednesday was the last day of reviews. Finals begin Thursday and carry on until Tuesday. That same evening we will be packing up and heading home. It’s a strange feeling, knowing that we are actually going home after living her for the past three and a half months.

This weekend I went on my last trip of the semester. It is hard to remember what my first weekend traveling was like, and it also makes me grateful for how much better I have gotten at using the trains and using charades to communicate when I have trouble speaking the language. Visiting Munich lets me mark off the last place I really wanted to visit before heading home. Now I can say I am officially ready to hit the road back home.

Munich was absolutely amazing, just like everyone said it would be. It might actually even be my favorite place of the semester. My journey to Munich was a littler different than most of my other travels. My friend Lindsay and I signed up with a travel company called Euroadventures. They organize different tours for study abroad students throughout the semester. You pay one flat free and you get transportation, a place to stay, breakfast, and a guided tour of the city. It worked out great, we even ran into fellow Stonehill-er Kait Mendell. So after boarding the buss Friday evening we drove for almost 10 hours before reaching Munich. Every year Munich decorates for the holidays and celebrates with famous Christmas markets. You can buy all sorts of holiday presents as well as food. If you can believe it, I held off my shopping/ eating bug just long enough to take a walking tour of the city and see some of the highlights…did you know there were surfers in Munich?? Here are just a few picts from around the city.

The old town gate

Town hall and the famous clock

Old town hall

Lions are the symbol of Munich, you can rub their noses for good luck.

Later on Saturday afternoon the three girls and our new friend Jose headed about 20mins outside of Munich to Visit Dachau. As a history major, WWII is one of my favorite time periods to study, and so I was really grateful to get to visit this piece of history. Even though it was mid afternoon, the weather that day made it dark and dreary. Being on the grounds of Dachau, which was the first concentration camp established, was very sad and eerie. We had just enough time to see the memorial museum, view the video explaining the background of the camp and view a few of the remaining structures. It is nearly impossible to imagine the atrocities committed there.

Later that night we headed out to experience what Munich and Germany is known for….beer! Lots and Lots of it. Anywhere you walk in Germany you can see beer gardens and beer halls. Our Euroadventures group headed to Hofbrauhaus house, one of the oldest, biggest and arguably the most famous in all of Germany. I have never seen a three storied restaurant so packed at 7:30. We had some traditional German food, sausages, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut, and a big stein full of beer to wash it all down. The entire hall is packed so you just join people already sitting at the long wooden tables. By the end of the night everyone is friends, eating, drinking, and singing together to the house band dressed in full lederhosen. Sunday morning we slept in before heading out to fight the crowds at the Christmas Markets. The entire main square is turned into a Winter Wonderland. Sunday became a day of eating local treats and shopping. We also took a shopping break to watch the Glockenspiel clock go off. For as famous of a clock as it was I was slightly disappointed by the show. But my huge pretzels, 4th or 5th bratwurst of the weekend seemed to make up for it. Before calling it a day Kait, Lindsay and I had a glass of Gleuwine which is a warm spiced wine. I have to say, that it is not my favorite German holiday food.

We finished our weekend with a trip out to see two of Mad King Ludwig’s castles about two and a half hours south of Munich. Apparently, the mad king got his name by spending tons of money on building castles all over the German country side. We got to see the castle he was born in and one of the ones he built himself. I am sure most of you know what the Disney’s Cinderella’s castle looks like. Well you can thank good ol’ Mad King Ludwig for providing Disney with inspiration. The castle itself I absolutely beautiful by itself, but the foot or so of fresh snow made the trip feel like a winter wonderland. The whole day we drove home was like driving though a picture.

I can’t believe that in less than a week I will be back home in Texas where a white Christmas is only a dream. Good luck to everyone with finals!

An Italian Thanksgiving

Can Thanksgiving really be Thanksgiving without a Turkey? Last week one of the quintessential holidays transpired without me, or the hundreds of other students studying abroad…Thanksgiving. Now I love Thanksgiving as much, if not more than the next guy, and not being home for this holiday centered on family and food was very strange. Every year I look forward to being with family, cooking all morning, eating all afternoon and watching football all night. Thanksgiving in Italy transpires much differently. Instead of awaking to the smells of the turkey already cooking in the oven I awoke to the smells of my granola and yogurt breakfast. Instead of spending the morning watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, I spent it in Italian class. Instead of helping cook in the kitchen, I helped my friend to research online. Right about the time the Titans and Lions kicked off back home our Italian Thanksgiving here finally began. We had arranged to do our own makeshift version of the classic, complete with food, and friends who have become like our family here over the past 3 months. There would be no turkey, but rotisserie chickens would make a great substitute. By the time everyone came with their favorite Thanksgiving dishes we had assembled quite the spread. Stuffing, mash potatoes, green been casserole, cranberry sauce, and bread, even pumpkin and apple pie, not bad for a bunch of 20 year olds. And as we all sat down to a very late Thanksgiving dinner in my tiny apartment I realized I had something to truly be thankful for…great friends, great food, and a great semester.

Sam and I working on the apple pieIt looked even better once it came out of the oven

Our friend Matt making green bean casserole and a mess of our kitchen

Thanksgiving with the Italian fam