Ελλάδα-Italia 2012: Transition- Salzburg & Munich

Hello all!

I apologize I haven't been able to update the blog in a few days. As I write this I am sitting in my new apartment in Rome. But let's back up a bit. Last time I updated the blog I was in Athens, awaiting class finals and getting ready for fall break.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
-Spent most of these days studying for finals and enjoying the last days in Athens. We did some shopping for souvenirs.
-On our way through Plaka, we happened upon a movie set. An entire block was closed and redesigned as a 1960's cafe restaurant. Naturally we were intrigued. We watched them shoot a few scenes a couple times. Eventually we recognized the actors- Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane from Spider-man) and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn from Lord of the Rings). It was awesome to see them shoot a scene, even though we were at a distance. The movie is called the The Two Faces of January, and comes out next year.
-The entire group went out for one last taverna dinner. We went to a place that played live Greek music. The food was great and we danced the night away.

And now on to my mid-semester travels:

Friday
-We (Aaron, Kevin, Kayla, Becky, and myself) got up early to catch our flight to Munich, Germany. We said goodbye to our neighborhood and made it to the airport on time.
-We landed in Munich and experienced another culture shock. We always joked that living in Athens is like living in the late 90's/early 2000's. Everyone has really bulky cell phones, the fashion seems a little off, and the music is very dated. Germany was like stepping into the future. Or at least 2012. After getting out of the airport and feeling the crisp fall air, we all agreed that Germany felt like a bigger Minnesota. It made us proud to have German blood.
-We took the train into the center of the city. From this point, the others I was traveling with split off and went to their hostel. I stayed at the train station to wait for my train to Salzburg, Austria. Before heading off I had the best Burger King burger I've ever had. I had been craving beef for about two months in Greece and their was nothing better.
-I got on my train without much difficulty. The ride was about two hours, going through the German countryside. I arrived in Salzburg around 3:30 and met up with Dan, Matt, and Jake, who are friends of mine from SJU studying there.
-I dropped my stuff off at their apartment and then we walked through the town. What surprised me about Salzburg is how small it felt. It's a pretty big city but you get the feeling that you are walking through a small mountain town.
-We ran into some other Johnnies in the main city center, including my good friend Ben who traveled to Austria from Ireland. After walking through the center, we climbed a hill to look out over the city.
-For dinner, we went to the Augustiner, a large social hall with lots of food and great beer. This was my first experience with the German/Austrian culture and I immediately loved it. I ate some great sausage and then drank some of the best beer I've ever had.
-After exploring the city a little more at night, we headed to an Austrian pub to meet up with some other people. A band was playing that night and it was a really fun atmosphere.

Saturday
-My train back to Munich was around noon that day, so we got up a little early to see some more sites in Salzburg. We saw where Mozart was born, and then walked through the Salzburg fall gardens.
-I finally got back to Munich around 3 that day and I immediately checked into my hostel and met up with Becky, Kayla, Kevin, and Aaron again. We had a big hostel room all to ourselves, which was a huge plus.
-We walked around Munich for about three hours, starting with the main square of Marienplatz, and then walking north to the English Gardens. The gardens were huge, and the fall colors made them all the more beautiful. We watched the sun go down over the city and then began heading back.
-We ate dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus. It may be a little touristy but there is a reason it is the number one attraction in Munich. The food was great, the beer just as good, and the atmosphere was perfect. It was one big hall with everyone eating and drinking and a German polka band playing songs in the background. Every once and a while the band would play "Ein Prosit" and the entire hall would sing. We learned the song in choir so I had no problem joining in with the Germans. We thought Greek food was pretty good, but the German food blew it out of the water. It was like having Thanksgiving every night.

Sunday
-We woke up early to catch 10:00 mass at Frauenkirche, Munich's most famous church and the former parish of Pope Benedict.
-After grabbing food at the bakery, we headed to the art district of Munich to go to a few museums. Luckily for us, admission was only 1 euro on Sundays.
-We started with the Pinokothek de Moderne, a museum dedicated to art of the 20th Century. I never really understood modern art, but luckily we had Kayla to explain everything. Kayla is an Art minor, and she actually made me enjoy modern art. We saw a lot of Andy Warhol and Picasso. We also found an entire gallery by Hans Hartung. Possible relative?
-After taking a break sitting outside, we went to the Brandhearst museum, dedicated to mostly modern art. We saw a lot more Warhol and Cy Twombly.
-We walked back to our hostel and then went to Theresienweise, a large park and site of Oktoberfest. The festival finished up last weekend, so it was like looking at the empty state fair grounds.
-We went to another Augustiner beer hall. Again, the food and beer was excellent.

That's all I'm gonna do for now, I'll have updates on Prague in a little bit.

Here's some pictures from Salzburg and Munich: