Round Two

Christmas time in Canada was great. It was so nice to experience the comforts of home- you learn to really appreciate a home cooked meal and comfortable bed when you're on the road. Seeing my friends was also a treat (there you go Kim!) and I was glad to see that everyone is doing well. I also want to thank everyone that has been keeping up with this blog! I'm sorry for not updating it as often as I should, I will try my hardest this time around to keep up with it.

Now...BACK ON THE ROAD!
I arrived in Munich in the early a.m. yesturday, and quickly found my hostel (Jaeger, named after the tasty drink Jaegermeister of course!) and my friend Val who was there waiting for me! Not wasting any time at all, we hooked up with a free guided tour of the city, which was a great way to see the sights and learn the history of each of the buildings. Strolling down the streets that Hitler himself had marched on, and seeing some of the buildings that had been re-built after the bombings during the war was incredible. This city is stunning, and is just dripping with history... I love it!
For dinner we decided to check out the famous Hofbrauhaus, a beer hall that Hitler frequented during his hayday. I don't think it can get more German than this place. You walk in to a huge hall filled with long tables and benches, covered with huge glass beer mugs and plates heaped with weiner schnitzel, all surrounded by a mix of loud and boisterous locals and tourists. A German band is playing in the center, filling the room with music that we eventually were dancing to (I couldn't help myself, a nice old German man offered to teach me how to dance to the music, of course I accepted!) We ended up meeting a huge group of people our age who were on a Contiki tour, and spent the night drinking copious amounts of beer, and breaking in to random German sing a longs with them...it was a late one.

Today, we woke up and had planned to take a trip to Dachau, the German concentration camp that is located outside of the city. However we decided to delay that trip for when Skip was with us. So instead we wandered around the city some more, and found our way to the Deutches Museum. We spent a couple of hours in there soaking up some more of the history of Munchen. I was expecting to struggle a bit more with the language here, but luckily most Germans speak English pretty well so we haven't run in to any problems yet!
Tonight we reunited with Skip, who will be my travel buddy from now on!! We wanted to show her the crazy beer hall from last night, but unfortunately it was way too busy and we couldn't find a seat, so instead we went to another famous pub that has been turned into an Oktoberfest museum. It was built in 1327, and is absolutely jammed during Oktoberfest, of course. We shared stories and caught up over some food and a pint. Tonight we're hitting the hay early, with it being New Years tomorrow!!
 We have an 11 am train to catch to Austria to meet up with more friends from home. I can't wait to see those mountains!
I hope that everyone has a very Happy New Year's!