Munich and Interlaken!

Whew! It's been a crazy couple of days. The night of the 10th, Alex, Morgan, and I got on the night train to Munich, but Daniel and Kerry missed the train by just a couple of minutes. It was kind of a big deal, especially because Daniel was holding my booksack for me, which had my computer, all my underwear, and all my makeup. So that was a mess. But we arrived in Munich on the morning of the 11th safe and sound! It was super easy to get around in Munich. Their metro system was great. Thankfully, our hotel room was actually ready when we got there. It wasn't fancy or anything, but it was clean and we had a bathtub, which is all I really care about!

Once we all got cleaned up, we headed to the Dachau concentration camp. It was definitely a powerful experience. It's shocking what humans are capable of doing to one another. But I appreciate being able to see such a place. It definitely made it more real to me. It was such a huge part of history and the fact that it really didn't happen that long ago is still mind boggling...

When we got back to the city we decided to book our bike tour of Neuschwanstein Castle and Swan Lake for the next day. The bike shop to make the reservations is right next to the Hofbrauhaus, which is like this huge bar/restaurant. So of course we went and we all got big German beers! I know, I usually hate beer, but I got a kind that they mix with lemonade I think...it was really good! Then we went to this amazing park that was playing the World Cup finals on a big screen. There were so many people there! It was a really fun night. We left after the game ended and caught a taxi home because we had an early start the next day...

The tour of the castle and the lake was amazing. I actually skipped the lake tour because I went PARAGLIDING! It was by far the most beautiful view I've ever seen. It was so peaceful and so serene...if I lived in Munich I would definitely be paragliding as often as possible. There was one casualty, my left Converse :( but it was well worth it.

The castle was so cool because it was totally different than anything I've ever seen. The story of King Ludwig was so interesting! He was definitely a character. And boy, did we have a character for a tour guide. He was literally the creepiest person I've ever seen in my life. He was like 23 years old but he sounded like he was 1,000 and he looked like Clay Aiken...if Clay Aiken had been dead for three weeks. He will definitely give me nightmares, probably for the rest of my life. But it was just as hilarious as it was scary, so that's okay.

When we got back to Munich, it was already like 8:30 PM, so we decided to eat an American meal at the Hard Rock Cafe'. We had such a great time. Great food with great company!

The next morning we said goodbye to Morgan (she's going to Australia with some friends for 2 weeks! So jealous!!) and headed to Interlaken! We weren't really sure what to expect, but it was definitely even more beautiful than I could have imagined. The train ride in Switzerland was breathtaking. I could definitely see myself with a summer house there! We stayed at the famous hostel, Balmer's Herberge, and we were a little nervous because all that was available was the 8 person dorm. But guess who was in our room! Two boys I went to middle school and high school with! I mean, what are the chances? I have really lucked out this whole trip! We just explored Interlaken and hung out at the hostel for the first day and night, and the next day we went on a ropes course. I thought it was going to be super scary, but it really wasn't. In fact, I was kind of good at it! But I didn't get pictures, I was using my hands the whole time. When we got back to the hostel, Alex had signed up for paragliding. I had already done it in Munich, so I just hung out with Barry and Matt (the guys I went to school with). Later that night Daniel and Kerry made it to the hostel! We were so excited to see them! And I was so excited to have my makeup/underwear/computer!! Haha

The next morning it was raining, so most of the activities were cancelled. It was so nice to have weather that wasn't scorching hot though! We left that afternoon to head to Rome, and we got here a couple of hours ago. We haven't done much yet except shower and book some tours for our stay. I think tonight we'll be going to the Colosseum to take pretty pictures with Alex's nice camera. I'll keep you posted!

Talk to you soon!

Love and miss y'all!
Allie