Guten nacht! Boy, do I have a lot to fill you all in with today! I know that the trip hasn’t come to an end yet, but I believe and I have decided that today was the best day we have had during the two weeks since we have been here. Today was so much fun, and I honestly wish we could replay it tomorrow and the next day and the next. The activities for the day involved more time on the bus and traveling, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that the time spent on the bus was well worth it.

Today we woke up early and left Munich around 8:30AM. Today was the day we left to spend the day in beautiful Austria! Being only a couple hours away, me and my fellow classmates used the time to catch a little bit more sleep before being woken up to find ourselves surrounded by the Alps. We were minutes away from Salzburg and already we were amazed by the gorgeous views and atmosphere. It only got better when we got into the city, where we were given about three hours to explore the city on our own. Going in small groups, we all broke in our separate ways and with our own ideas of what to do to spend the time. First thing on my group’s mission was to find the closest chocolate shop. Everyone knows after all that Austria makes some of the best chocolate around. Salzburg is also the home of the classical composer Mozart, another thing we wanted to go and explore. With a map in hand, we found an area of the city called Mozartplatz, which contains many different shops and cafes and so many other things in the area. After finding our chocolates, we then opted to go get some lunch – this took place at Mozart Café, which had some of the best food I have ever tasted. The boys in the group chose to munch on spaghetti, while Lauren and myself chose the daily dish of the day: cauliflower cream soup, and chicken/vegetable skewers. We also each got a cup of cappuccino at a very decent price. We were filled up instantly, and we all decided it was the greatest idea to stop and eat here.

Shortly after leaving the lovely café, we decided to go through some of the shops, picking up little souvenirs along the way to take back to America. It wasn’t until Lauren and I found a shop filled with traditional Austrian and German clothing, something we just HAD to try on. All the dresses were absolutely gorgeous, and it was hard to choose just one to try on, considering we were only allowed to try on one. Also, after spending so much time at the café, we only had about a half an hour left to try on the clothing, take pictures, and hopefully find our way back to where the bus was parked. While Lauren and I picked out our traditional dresses downstairs, Wylie went up to the upper level where they had the traditional clothing for men, a mission he was trying to fulfill the moment he stepped into Germany. In the end, we all tried on clothing and enjoyed the chance to play dress up in such gorgeous (and expensive) clothing. We quickly took pictures and then hightailed it out of the store, backtracking to where we came from to get back to the bus by 3:15PM.

Next on our list was to go to Eagle’s Nest. The Eagle’s Next was a teahouse, and holiday getaway for Adolf Hitler. Located at an extremely high point in the Alps, we gathered back onto our bus and began going up the mountains, where we were struck with even more beautiful views the higher and higher we went. Unable to go any higher with our own bus, we had to transfer onto a different bus, which took extremely sharp turns, and winding roads. The higher we got, the cloudier and foggier it got, the scenery almost giving you an eerie feeling that you were in a horror film. The forecast did clear up every few minutes however, giving us the best view of villages as far as the eye can see from where we were. We went through the Eagles Nest, and went through rooms, which were used for meetings, dining, and lounging.

Though the Eagle’s Nest was a lot smaller than what a lot of us were expecting, it was still fascinating and interesting to actually be there. Still with some free time left on the mountain, the majority of us then decided to do a little bit of mountain climbing, going up a small mountain that had a large cross near the Eagle’s Nest. This cross had nothing to do with the getaway house, but rather it was there to honor those who lost their lives while scaling, exploring, and going up through the Alps. The clouds cleared from where we were and we were again finding ourselves looking down on valleys and towns below. You really had to be there to see it, because it was stunning. Eventually it got a little bit too chilly up in the Alps (there was snow visible on nearby mountains everywhere), so we then headed back down, meeting up with the bus to take us back down to our original one. It was now time to leave Austria, and we all thought it was way too soon. Others believed it would’ve been nice to spend at least a full day there instead of half.

Back in Munich a couple hours later, we found ourselves late to dinner again and having to rush straight there as quickly as possible. We were greeted with a buffet – soup, chicken, noodles, vegetables, etc. Afterwards, we were able to branch out on our own again, a lot of us going to experience some great German culture at the Hofbräuhaus. You know, where there is music and large beers and making new friends! It was also a good tie in to our World War II subject though, considering the very building was where many of the meetings for the Nazi party took place.

Now in bed, we all look forward to what is to come tomorrow – we get a better look at the city of Munich, and one last chance to allow our last full day of Europe to sink it. I still can’t believe it’s coming to an end! Good night, and until next time…