Days 14,15, &16: SURFING in Munich, Dachau memorial, and Prague puppets

Location: Feurstenhof Hotel

Hours of Travel: 94

Cleanliness: 5 (took a shower today, but was in the blazing heat wearing sandals all day...)

Comments:

-Things have been happening so fast. Plus we haven't had internet for quite sometime. The time we have internet Trent wants to check his e-mail and gets too bored when I write a blog so I haven't been updating for a while. He's in the shower right now so he's not bored now. hehe

-We arrive in Munich around 7:30 am where our friend Dusty picked us up. He asked us if we wanted to go surfing in the afternoon after his morning class. Trent and I were a little confused but since he was hosting us we agree. Plus, anything that involves water, Trent and I are down.

-Trent and I slept while he was in class.

-When Dusty came to his place he explained to us that on the river, there are some manmade waves, kind of like a Flow Rider. It's a real "local thing" so not too many tourists know about it. It's gotten to be such a big thing that Munich has a few surf shops!

Trent with Dusty and his board at the metro station. See the orange towel? That's mine and it's super mildewy (sp?)

center of town

one of the waves called the Secret Wave. obviously by the line, it's not too secret!

Dusty riding the wave!

right by the Bavarian palace

Bavarian Palace Gardens

-After our short sightseeing tours, dusty walked us through a lot of Englisher Gardens. We had so much fun with Dusty and really appreciated him showing us around the city from his point of view as a visiting student.

Munich beer kegs in the Beer Garden

thanks for letting us stay at your place Dusty!

-The following day, Trent and I left for our own day trip to Dachau, the first concentration camp during WWII. It was a difficult choice to go because we knew it would be hard to experience. But we were really grateful we did because it helped us understand our history, the impact America had in it, and how difficult and sad things are still just as important to remember. To everything there is an opposite; it is important for us as human beings to understand the darkness to better appreciate the light.

"Work makes you free"

pictures of the survivors

part of the memorial

entrance to the gas chambers disguised as showers

this large field with the rocks were other buildings of torture and imprisonment that have since been destroyed.

- After this experience Trent and I had to say goodbye to Munich as we loaded up for our trip to Prague. This time the Europass reservation was actually through a bus. Trent loved this bus ride because we were able to see parts of the country side not usually seen on the train. Plus it was still light outside so we could enjoy the view.

Bus to Prague

Beautiful yellow fields of the country (does anyone know what flower this is? They smelled so good!)

-Trent and I arrived in Prague at 9:30 at night and still had to find our B&B. We knew it was close to a castle so we followed the signs to it. When we got to the castle we asked EVERYONE if they knew were our place was. NOBODY spoke English. We were afraid we'd have to sleep outside again. But eventually we figured it out ourselves. We probably walked 15 Km that day with our packs on. I have bruises on my hips...

-We ate dinner at like 11:30 at this authentic Czech cuisine. It was a...cultural experience. At least it was cheap!

Prague by night

-Trent and I woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready for the day. We found an adorable puppet shop! I was seeing the Lonely Goatherd song from Sound of Music all day after that.

puppet store!

street performers!

the castle had a changing of the guards ceremony right when Trent and I arrive there. We were thrilled.

The great cathedral INSIDE the castle walls. It was SO AMAZING!

-Trent and I needed a good meal since we hadn't eaten well for a while. We went to a delicious Italian place (we'd already had our Czech food experience) and had a relatively inexpensive lunch/dinner. However, there must have been something magical about the water because they charges us a whole 80 Ckz!

-We had a rather dramatic experience this day when Trent thought he lost his jacked and I thought I lost a $100 bill. Fortunately we didn't. But we probably walked up and down this one hill 3 times before we figured everything out.

happy trent with his jacket

happy me with my money

-At the end of the day went on a boat tour despite the rain. It was so fun and beautiful! Afterward, we went to the train station for our night train to Vienna (which is certainly another story). I'll get back up-to-date in Florence (Sunday) hopefully.

For now sbohem!