Bavaria: The Land of Pretzels and Beer

This past weekend I took my first big trip to Munich with a couple of friends.

I arrived Friday morning, it is just about a forty five minute to an hour train ride from the airport to our hostel in the city center, so I settled in for a pretty scenic view an relaxed. It was on this train ride that I realized I actually look German, unlike in Madrid where it's pretty obvious I'm not Spanish, I had three people approach me to ask if I spoke English and could help them figure out what stop they needed to get off and two German women sat across from me on the train and spoke to me in German for about five minutes until they realized I had no clue what they were saying.

So after arriving at the station, I dropped my stuff off at the hostel and we headed back to train staion to make our way to the Dachau concentration camp. Dachau was the first concentration camp built during World War II an the only camp to be in use for the entirety of the war, a total of twelve years. It is considered to be a labor camp rather than an extermination camp, but it still houses a crematorium and a gas chamber(there is no evidence that the gas chamber was used for mass killings but rather it was most likely used for experimentation). The camp was a lot to take in, I have done detailed projects on them before but seeing it in person and walking the grounds is a very emotional experience.

 Memorial

Barracks

Crematorium 

Gate to Camp "Work Makes You Free"

Upon returning to Munich that afternoon, we headed just off he main square to the Hofbrahaus Beer Garden for a lunch/dinner. The Hofbrahaus is famous for it's Oktoberfest like atmosphere with locals dressed in traditional German lederhosen and wear, litres of beer, and its large soft pretzels. I order the original beer brewed by monks, a large soft pretzel, and traditional Munich sausage. We befriended the older German guys all dressed up at the table next to us while we enjoyed our meal.

Litre of Beer

Our Soon to be Besties

Saturday, we woke up bright and early for a tour of the royal castles. We started at Linderhof, Ludwig's palace in the mountains that he based off of the Palace of Versailles. It was the epitome of opulence, with peacocks, gold, and mirrors filling each room. Ludwig was not a very friendly man, and he didn't really care for people so this was his home built just for him. From there we traveled on to the small town of Oberammergau, it is a very German town in the mountains that gets it claim to fame by fully reenacting the Passion of the Christ every ten years. The origins of this is due to a deal the townspeople made with God in the 1600s, if he rid them of their plague, they would reenact the play in full. The town is very cute and quaint, and aside from the play is known for it's wood carvings and the theme of Grimm Fairy tales throughout the town (the wolf lodge is very popular, and there are paintings of the stories on almost every building). Upon leaving the town we went to the real place of Fairy tales, Neuschwanstein Castle, the castle that inspired Walt Disney's design of Cinderella castle and was featured on the Amazing Race. It is located right across from the Hohenschwangua Castle. Both were Ludwig's castles and the descendants of the royal family still own Hohenschwangua. Neuschwanstein Castle was never finished as building ceased after his mysterious death with his doctor, they drowned in a meter of water but Ludwig was 6 foot and an experienced swimmer, just after he was pronounced crazy so he would no longer hold the throne. Then just six days following his death, his family opened the castle as a museum. Sadly, none of the castles allowed for pictures on the interior. We grabbed lunch half way up the mountain to Neuschwanstein in a glass restaurant with amazing views, I grabbed a brat and bread and was not disappointed one bit. 

Linderhof

Linderhof

Oberammergau

Oberammergau

Hohenschwangua Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

We returned to the city center that night after a brief stop at the hostel to rest and freshen up. We went to Augustine-Keller Beer Garden for dinner. It was here that I tried a litre of Radler, a mix of beer and lemonade that was really good. I had homemade potato soup and two soft pretzels for dinner. We explored the Munich night life following dinner and were amazed to see the difference between there and Madrid. Rather than the upbeat bars that go till seven am, Munich has a laid back atmosphere with casual beers and a closing time of one am. 

The next morning we grabbed breakfast at a local place with a lot of pretzels, I considered one but instead settled on a breakfast apple strudel. I took the morning to explore Munich before my flight, I also got to witness the thing I was most excited to see in the town square, the glockenspiel. On the main tower of the new town square, it plays (out of tune) a few songs with wooden statues dancing and jousting, and ends with a coo coo clock bird coming out from the top. I walked past the church with twin towers and the castle-esque architecture throughout the city. It is a very German and a very beautiful city.

Augustiner-Keller Beer Garden

Local Bakery

New Town Hall- Glockenspiel 

I just really liked the castle arches.

And then I returned to Madrid. But shout out to Germany for having lounge chairs in their airports which is brilliant, as well as Lufthansa for having the best airplane food ever. And that bought sums up my weekend.

P.S. If you want more pics, there is a corresponding facebook album for each blog post and general Madrid photos in the album Wanderlust

Segovia: A Winter Wonderland

To put it simply, Segovia is a magical city.

It is a small city just an hour north of Madrid. It is built upon a hill and you enter through the two thousand year old aqueducts that are still in almost pristine conditions. Segovia is very cold in the winter since it is located in the mountains and when we were there a thin coat of snow covered everything. Local shops, bakeries and cafes line the winding cobblestone streets. 

We began with one of the local cafes where I started my day off with a cafe con leche and a croissant with cream, sadly they were out of chocolate. We then explored the area around the aqueducts and learned of it's two thousand year history, how it was built when Spain was part of the Roman empire and next to no renovations have been done (minor support was added after they closed the aqueducts from being a road, the damage caused by cars in twenty years was worse than the damage over the thousand of years before). From there we went on to the Cathedral of Segovia, which from the outside was the most striking cathedral I have seen thus far, but on the inside was very alike to the new Cathedral of Salamanca. The cathedral is off the main square which consists of shops and restaurants surrounding a gazebo in the middle of the plaza. 

Continuing on from the main square, we continued on to the monastery which is located at the bottom of the hill, on the outskirts of town. It is a very simple monastery, except for the crypt of a saint from the area which is very ornate but off to the side. We took the same path as the monks up the hill to the city, passing by to admire the castle. Yes, the castle. It is located on the edge of the mountain where the aqueduct ends, and is absolutely beautiful. You enter through the gardens and then must cross the mote into the castle. I didn't enter but I can only imagine the ornateness of the interior.

We returned to the main square for lunch, a simple ham and cheese toasted sandwich at a small local place. They are known for cochino, small roasted pigs, but I couldn't bring myself or my budget to get one. I did easily convince myself to visit a pastry place after lunch to try out the typical Segovian dessert, ponche segoviano. Its a small marzipan cake esque thing that is small but very very rich. I'm not entirely sure  of the flavors, my guess is pumpkin-almond-vanilla, but whatever it was it was very very good. 

I was a little nervous at first that whenever i said I was going to Segovia people would respond with "Es muy muy fria", but it truly turned out to be a winter wonderland.

Aqueducts

Snow! Castle in the Background

Castle

Ponche Segoviano and Cafe con Leche

Plaza Mayor 

Monastery

A Little Place Called Salamanca

Yesterday I spent the day in a small town north of Madrid called Salamanca. It is a beautiful historic town built upon a hill, and is filled with history and sights. To enter Salamanca we had to cross an old Roman bridge that was absolutely stunning. Once we arrived, we started off the day in Gossip Girl fashion eating chocolate filled croissants and drinking cafe con leche on the church steps. We then toured the new and old cathedral of Salamanca which are massive and so elaborately decorated throughout the ages that each little alcove has it's own sort of identity.  We also visited the House of Shells, the Jesuit Church, and Dominican Church. We also spent some time at the University of Salamanca which is by far one of the prettiest universities I have ever seen, it also happens to be the university which my host parents met at and attended. In the decoration of the main building their is a fog hidden on one of the corners, if you find it it is supposed to bring good luck or something, I managed to spot it so we shall see. We grabbed lunch at a local place right off of Plaza Mayor, which was super similar to the Plaza Mayor in Madrid that I know and love. It was a beautiful little town, and definitely worth the visit.

Roman Bridge and View of City

Catedral de Salamanca

University of Salamanca

Dominican Church

House of Shells

La Semana Uno

So it's been a week since I last posted, and what a week it has been.

Last Friday I started my weekend in traditional Shannon style, shopping. Grand Via is known for it's cute boutiques, high class stores, and chain department stores; there is literally a shop for everyone. Surprisingly, I didn't buy anything but I it's always fun to look and I still have four months to go back. We then went to El Tigre for lunch, which is a tapas bar that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Madrid. You pay for your drink, which in my case was Sangria, and you get unlimited tapas of all varieties. Following lunch, we went to the Catedral de Palacio Real which is the old Cathedral of the Royal Family, it is absolutely beautiful.

Saturday, we grabbed lunch at a local place and ate outside since it was an absolutely beautiful day. I finally tried chorizo a Spanish sausage and I was quiet impressed. We then spent the afternoon exploring El Museo del Prado, we got through about half of the museum and saw some pretty remarkable pieces. Then on Sunday morning we woke up early to El Rastro, a huge outdoor flea market spanning multiple blocks. There are local vendors selling everything from clothes, jerseys, and bags to antiques and collectibles, to even live chickens. This weekend I just looked, but I plan to return again probably more than once and will eventually fins something up my ally. We continued to explore the areas around the market, Sol, and Plaza Mayor during the day. Then that afternoon we made our way over to El Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the Real Madrid Soccer stadium, it's about a ten minute walk from our flats. It is massive to say the least, I have done my research and learned the most important thing about the team which is that a good portion of the team are above my height and good amount of them are near my age. 

Following the weekend I began school, since technically it is a STUDY abroad. I'm currently tking four classes and considering adding one more. I have a design class taught by one of the founders of the Barcelona Center for Design, a class on the contemporary politics and government of Spain, Managment, and ITM. The week started out well with chocolate and churros after my first day of classes, and then a visit to La Reina Sofia (which requires a return visit as I did not see the famous Picasso housed within). But then it took a slight turn for the worse when lucky me got strep throat, luckily the doctor here is super nice and with antibiotics I should be back to 100% soon!

Keep an eye out for a new post or two soon as I visit Salamanca and Segovia this Friday and Sunday respectively. Both are towns in Northern Madrid and have a lot of really neat sights and great history.

La Reina Sofia

Chocolate and Churros at Audrey's

Prado

Royal Catherdral

Royal Cathedral

Real Madrid Stadium

Welcome to Madrid

So I have now been in Madrid for about 36 hours and it has already stole my  heart.

I arrived early Wednesday morning after a pretty easy flight, only to be unable to find my way out of the baggage claim. Eventually I made it out of the airport and to my host family. If I had to sum up the people who have allowed me to live with them for the next four months it would be simply perfection. Cristina and Antonio are a young couple who are both math teachers, they have an adorable six year old son named Alfonso. Between my basic broken Spanish and their English we communicate quite well. Cristina loves to cook and she is very very good at it. Alfonso loves to play games so before dinner we sat in the living room and played a few, he wasn't too happy I won

After attending orientation this morning, which was pretty useless, we traveled a bit around Old Madrid to see an Egyptian temple with great views of the city and then made our way into Puerta de Sol and la Plaza Mayor which is the city center. Cute shops and restaurants line the streets and there are street performers throughout. We explored the area around my host family as well, which isn't too far from campus. There are tons of bakeries lining the street on my walk to school and it is quite hard to resist, one day I will have to give in.