This past weekend my friends and I traveled to Munich, Germany to attend the annual Springfest carnival. We went through the program Bus2Alps who set us up in a hostel, a bike tour, and a trip to a concentration camp. First, we arrived at our hostel, which was certainly not what any of us were expecting. It was filthy and the beds felt similar to what I would imagine prison cots feeling like.We squished into a 10 person room and went straight to dinner. We stuffed our faces with Italian food since that is all that we could find and then went straight to sleep.
The next morning was our famous bike tour around the city. I haven’t ridden a bike in close to 5 years so it was a struggle in the beginning. After a few minutes however, I got used to it. We rode in the streets of Germany seeing famous building and then ending at the famous beer gardens. Here we ate bratwurst, big pretzels, french fries and of course…HUGE BEERS. After this was over we drunkenly rode our bikes back to where we began. We had time for quick showers and then if was off to the Springfest carnival. Day 1 was complete insanity. We went straight to the hippodrome where we say every person we knew from abroad, home, school, camp etc. We got humungous beers and danced as the band played. We got home at around 11 when the festival ended and passed out knowing that we had a long day ahead of us.
Day 2 went a little differently. When we first arrived we all thought it would be a great idea to go on this upside down, spinning ride that held you hundreds of feet in the air. BAD IDEA. I was of course hysterically crying the entire ride and saw my life flash before my eyes. It was something I will never forget and never want to experience ever again.
After the ride...
After that traumatic experience we decided we were in desperate need of a drink. We went back to the hippodrome, found all our friends and began to drink again. Keep in mind it was 11 AM and we had till 11 PM. We drank, ate, drank, ate until we decided it was time for some more rides. We went on the bumper cars multiple times, as well as this not-so-safe roller-coaster, which turned out to be my favorite ride of all time. We had such a blast and was sad to see the day end. However, we knew the next day was going to be unforgettable.
The next morning we awoke and got transported to Dachau concentration camp where we were given as much time as we needed to look around and take it all in. We walked around for hours just trying to fathom what went on during the time of the Holocaust and everything we saw was so powerful. It was a depressing note to leave on, but definitely a necessary place to visit while in Munich.
Overall, Munich, Germany was my favorite trip of abroad so far and I am so happy I got to experience it with all of my closest friends.
The Amateur Traveler 