We made it back to Munich (two hours later than originally intended, thanks DB Bus system). Things got ridiculously Bavarian.
We went to the Hofbräuhaus and had a stereotypical German meal, I tried on a Dirndl, we went through Nymphenburg and the Residence Castle, touched the noses of the four lion statues for good luck, had a cake picnic in the English Gardens, visited a royal crypt, got to listen to/take a picture with a street yodeler (I was just standing there listening to him in a crowd, not even taking a picture, and he asked me if I was from the U.S.A.! Am I that obvious? I thought I could pass for German...), and I stayed at my first youth hostel. A surprisingly nice one. It rained off and on for most of our time there.
After the one full day in Bavaria, I then got four hours of sleep. I had to get up at 3:45 to go to the airport (thanks, taxi driver Erik). At the Munich airport, I got to dine on youth hostel cheese for breakfast by myself.
My first plane was to Amsterdam where I ended up having to go through a passport check after landing and while in an extreme hurry, so now I have a Netherlands stamp in my passport! Then I had to run to get to my plane to Edinburgh. First thing I see in the terminal: a guy who looks an insane amount like Daniel Radcliffe (picture in the "Pictures" page). It wasn't him though.
But I'm finally here! I met six of the other students doing the intern program (apparently there are 20 of us total). We got to walk around Edinburgh for a bit, get lost, find our way back. It's really nice. Everything is so beautifully old and quaint.
A lot less Yes/No propaganda than I thought there would be.
But I did notice (proof of my advertising nerdy-ness) the Edinburgh logo about town. I actually read through all of Edinburgh's brand book a couple months ago (http://www.edinburghbrand.com/using_the_brand/edinburgh_brand_guidelines.aspx). There it was, looking just like it was supposed to!
It's also unbelievablely wonderful to have English back, as cool as other languages are. Not being in an English dominated area really made me realize that most of my humor is based on the English language and wouldn't translate well. Or I'm just not funny. That could also be it.
Apparently our family stay is also this weekend, so we get a few hours to move into our flats on Friday, then it's off to spend a weekend with hospitable strangers. Then classes start on Monday. Insane.
I made it to Scotland was the important takeaway from this, though.
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Another post already? Yes. Lots of things happen in a short amount of time as a tourist.
I got lost alone in Germany (again). I ended up having to use my rad German speaking skills to ask an old lady how to get back. To my credit, I was getting pretty close by myself. But I was pretty proud of that. I also met a bunch of people who work for Volkswagon (pretty much every car in Germany is a VW, surprised?). Then yesterday we headed out for our one and two halves days (or two days, if you prefer) in Prague. The trip involved leaving at 5:30 a.m. to drive to the train station, taking two trains, then a long bus ride (which, unfortunately, means I don't get a Czech Republic stamp in my passport). We finally arrived in Praha seven hours later. Since arrival we have stared up at all of the beautiful buildings, spent time on Charles Bridge, gone through the Franz Kafka Museum, gone to Namesti Republiky (accent marks omitted, sorry), saw the Astronomical Clock, gone up the Astronomical Clock Tower to see all of Prague, hung out by the Vltava River, stumbled upon the Czech parliament building where the senate meets, met some peacocks, watched the changing of the guard, spent a few hours at Prague Castle, saw the house where Franz Kafka wrote The Metamorphosis (now a small shop, quite disappointing), gone through St. Vitus cathedral, gone through two old synagogues, walked through the old Jewish cemetery (featured here: http://www.cracked.com/article_19511_the-7-creepiest-places-earth-part-3_p2.html), eaten dinner in the Dancing Building, walked a myriad kilometers, and taken an insane number of pictures. Wow Prague is cool. A couple of weird things though: cheese is served by itself both for breakfast and dessert, pretty much everyone smokes (it's like the '50s here! I'm also pretty sure someone threw a cigarette butt at me...), and you have to pay to use public bathrooms (come on Prague, we know you only like us for our money, but do you have to be that obvious about it? How about a compliment on our hair once in a while or asking us if we've lost weight when you know we haven't?). Alas, the Prague stop is now almost over. We have half of a day here tomorrow, then we're taking a bus to Munich (which I'm also excited for). Wednesday I'll fly out of Munich and finally arrive in Scotland; my new home for the next four months! I'll continue to upload ridiculous numbers of pictures so you can feel like you were there too. Also, If you're interested: http://www.famous2wear-shop.de/ (I'm an advertising major, I can't help myself.) It took the help of no fewer than nine complete strangers for me to arrive at my German destination. (Pictures now up.) In less than one week I'll be sitting in a large metal beast, hurdling through the clouds at ruthless speeds. So, naturally, this week I'm trying to whittle my most necessary belongings down to a weight that will appease the beast's preferences when it comes to checked baggage.
But it's hard. There's too much clothing I think I'll need and too many hobbies to abandon for four months. All I REALLY need is myself, a passport, and a raincoat, so everything else is really just extra. I'll get it figured out. Plus, in case I forget anything essential, I hear Europe is now selling goods (beyond watches, fine wines and cheeses, and continental breakfasts). That'll probably come in handy at some point. I'll check back in either the day before I leave or after I arrive (assuming I'm able to navigate through all the legs of my transportation). Wish me luck! |