Life starts when you step outside your comfort zone. Without question the best and craziest week I have ever had. Logan and I left for Munich Tuesday night with a backpack and a bag of snacks and met Mariah at the Munich airport-she flew in from madrid.
Together the 3 of us traveled to meet Julian, a "couchsurfing host" that I reached out to the day before. He was kind enough to host us last minute. We arrived at the mama pizzas restaurant at midnight, he lived in the apartment right above it and I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous about meeting strangers for the first time to sleep on their couch. If it didnt feel right, the 3 of us decided we would go to a hotel. But as soon as we got there he and his other 3 roommates were so welcoming, they got us a beer and we spent the next hour or so talking and hanging out. We knew immediately that we were safe and that they were awesome and this week was going to be an experience of a lifetime.
(Johannes missed the smiling memo.)
The next morning Julian and Johannes
went out of their way to help us figure out the city and the metro. They lived a 5 minute bus from the city center. It was so easy thanks to their instructions. We spent all day Wednesday in Munich exploring the city, we saw the pinoteck modern museum and the famous clock tower and had coffee and dessert in the square and went to the hipster town and went to Gartnerplatz. It was a full day!
We then went back to the apartment and got ready to go out. They suggested we go to one of their favorite wednesday night clubs, So we ventured out there and on our way we met 3 guys from Tennessee who were in Europe traveling. We decided to all go to a bar together and finally settled on americanos, after the first club wouldnt let logan and our new guys friends in. It was 2 for 1 at Americanos so it worked out perfectly. We took full advantage. The music was great, the dancing was fun and it was all around quite the night. Lol *more to come later* We got back to the apt around 230am and thank god I set an alarm before going up, because we needed to be up at 8 to make our tour to Fussen and Linderhof. (We had to stop and take a picture at the infamous Hofbrauhous)
We pre-bought tickets to see sir Ludwig castle and the Neuschwanstein Castle! We barely woke up in time and ran to the central station. Thank god again for Julian's instructions, they are what saved us. We just made it on the bus and then slept on and off as we drove for an hour through Germany's country side! Omg it was stunning. Sir Ludwig seemed like a pretty cool guy with incredible taste! His gardens and castles were incredible! We stopped in the beautiful quant town were we walked around an stood at the base of this huge mountain! We couldn't help but think how smart it was to book a tour, we were too hungover to have to plan anything on our own. this way we were forced to get up and make a bus, sleep on the bus and then wake up in a beautiful place and explore. It was mindless and beautiful and just what we needed.
Then we got back on the bus and went to the Neuschwanstein castle, this castle inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella's castle. And for good reason. I honestly haven't seen something so beautiful. We saw people hang gliding, and I promised myself that I will be back and next time I'm going to hang glide!
After our big adventure we went
back to the apt and got ready to go out once again only this time with our new friends:) we met Julian Martin Johannes at their favorite bar and started the night with a few beer and sambuka shots! These were way fun, you rise your mouth with the alcohol and then you have a friend light it on fire! So your whole mouth is on fire! It was so much fun! I thought forsure I would be the one to burn myself but I didn't so it was good. Haha we then contained to an electronic club where at first I really didn't want to pay to get in, but once inside it was incredible the walls were projectors and kept flashing images and shapes in different colors, it was wild. We didn't leave the club till 3am.
Again, made it back to the hotel and had to wake up super early to make our your to Salzburg. It was so hard getting up this morning. We had to find out way to a train and were seriously running through the train station looking for the track. I felt like we were in a movie, but we made it.. Barely. Hahaa we got on the train with the group and immediately fell back asleep. And hour and half later we woke up and made one of our famous pita, nutella, banana sandwich combo.
We got off the train and got a walking tour of Salzburg and hit all the infamous spots where the sound of music was filmed. The three of us were slap happy (probably still drunk) at this point. We couldn't for the life of us stay with the group, we kept getting lost. Finally the guide started bribing us with chocolate smarties- which worked a little better. Then we were given 4 hrs to explore on our own.
We immediately thought food and wandered down a hill a found a festival where everyone was singing and drinking in the giant tent and we decided this was a good place for us. We ordered this amazing meal and each one beer. Well after one beer we were encouraged to try ... Which a kind of tasted like wine. The guy who recommended it spoke broken English but said watch out, it's good but it's "surprising you later". We went to order 2 each bc they were in relatively small glasses (in comparison to the beer mugs we had been drinking out for the 45 min prior) but the guy behind the counter looked at us sideways and said "ni". One each to start.
Well thank god we only got one.. we later found out that the one guy was right.. it caught up with up. A little bet went a long way. Long story short, we befriended these older adults next to us. they cane from Edinburgh and Barcelona. They were great and we became really good friends with them, they even invited us to come over for dinner back in Edinburgh when we go next month. We exchanged contact info, so hopefully well get a good free meal haha.
Anyways in the middle of taking shots with 85 yr olds we realized that our train was leaving in a half hour and we wanted to buy a lederhosen and a dirndl! We're drunk running around the city looking for the booth that had all the dresses and we finally found it, we literally grabbed like 7-8 dresses and hopped in the back of the guys van to try them on. (Not as sketch as it sounds-don't worry dad, my drunk judgement is unmatched). After all the effort of trying them on we left with a white crop top and 2 aprons. (the next day we realized we should have went for the whole dress but thats okay, mariah made it work! she had a dress that looked perfect and i had a shirt that i was happy wearing.) Anyway after getting them we ran through salzburg looking for our group. We were so drunk, i went up to a lady and instead and said excuse me but instead of saying what i actually needed i fell to the ground in laughter. We were too drunk to function. That "wine" guy was right..one drink was enough.
Well, drunk us navigated very well and found the bridge with the locks on it and got to the train seriously just in time. We had a ceremony on the train for Mariah's lost scarf and finished the Nutella and snacks as celebration for another unreal day. We slept for the 2 hours on the way home. We woke up, still feeling pretty good and went back to the apt where Johannes and Martin had prepared a homemade traditional German meal for us! It's called Käsespätzle. It was amazing. It had a special kind of pasta with cheese. We all sat around, ate together and had a few beers, It was amazing and exactly what we needed!
That night we played kings cup with rules they had collected from all the people they met in their travel. Best game of kings cup yet, and I will forsure bring some of the rules back with me! We also met the 4 other couch surfers that night! They were four girls from northern Germany that were here for Oktoberfest. They went to bed pretty early to prepare for the next day, we decided to go out yet again. We went with Martin and Johannes to Johannes' friends apt about 10 min away, we had wine and talked with their friends there, it was so relaxing to sit and enjoy new friends with wine and candles. We were there for what felt like 20 minutes, but if was actually 2 hours. After Martin and Johannes wanted to show us they're favorite bar and so we went there. It was so local it wasn't even funny. You walk in to this place on a completely residential street and the whole interior was decorated with red leather and felt chairs and curtains and mirrors and a huge wooden bar. It was carpeted and honestly felt more of a lounge for rich politicians. Lol there were maybe 15 people in the bar. It was perfect, had another huge beer which I didn't come close to finishing, we left the bar around 4am and we walked back to our apt and got back around 430am. We went straight to sleep.
Martin slept over on the couch with us bc it was too late for him to get home and he set the alarm for 630am. He woke me up by startling me and then licking my face hahaa. Julian and I got squirt guns and woke up Mariah and Johannes with them. We got dressed really fast, and Logan for to wear a pair of Johannes old lederhosens. Everyone looked so great.
We got to the park after buying about 12 pretzels in the train station and cut the line with all of martins German friends. We, still being pretty drunk, were talking and social inch until they finally let us in. We walked around the building and inside and saw Mariah and Johannes already there with a table right up front! It was perfect. We all sat there and played UNO until noon when the owner of the brewery opened the first barrel. It was a huge deal and the crowd was cheering and chanting, it was a blast! This parade came right through our tent and people with whips came from no wear and started standing on the tables and cracking the whips in tune to the music. It was amazing. We got our first mugs of beer and we were thrilled. We all cheered and started drinking. Half way through the mug I knew that the day was only going to get better!
We got through the first in 15 min and then nursed the 2 and 3 mugs for the next 3 hours, sang songs and ate pretzels. It was indescribable.
Later, Logan and I left the tent and had an awesome sandwich and then on our way back to the tent we got seep rested. He wandered from me and I couldnt find him. I went back to the tent without him thinking he would find his way back. I go there and continued to drink and sing the rest of the night. Mariah put her head down around 830. She was tired. But me and the Germans had a great time. I was still a little worries about Logan because at this point it had been about 6 hours since anyone had heard from him, but we kept singing anyway.
When Oktoberfest ended I made sure to grab a mug for myself, Mariah, Mariah's camera and phone and Logan's jacket. Then me Johannes and Julian and I carried Mariah back to the apt around 1230. It was quite the night, when we got back everyone fell asleep, so I packed everyone in the respectful suitcases and cleaned the kitchen. I called the police station and the hospitals in the area looking for Logan. We had to leave for our plane that left at 630am. At 330 I woke Mariah up gave her some water and explained to her that Logan's missing. We didn't know what to do. We had to get to the airport which was 30 min away, and we were honestly about to leave Logan in Munich. Julian said that he would be welcome to stay another night when he found his way back to the apt. So Mariah and I were 2 minutes from walking out the door when the bell rings and you hear Logan stumbling up the stairs asking for 5 euros to pay a taxi. Mariah and I were so relieved and still so drunk, I seriously couldn't stop laughing. The combination of the whole day was comical. I felt like I was in the movie The Hangover. Where the hell had Logan been the last 12 hours. I still don't think I have the full story. We took Logan's cab to the airport (thank god, I have no idea how we would have caught a cab at that hour) and said goodbye to our new friends and then to Mariah at the airport.
Logan and I went to get our boarding pass, still drunk he went to the bathroom and I went up straits to find a place for us to sleep for the next hour and a half bc security was closed, I found a bench in a restaurant cafe and Logan never found me. Fortunately he found the gate and I set my alarm for 20 minutes before boarding which was literally just enough time. I could have used 30mins- but hungover and navigating an international airport was an experience, I was just happy to see Logan at the gate we got on the plane and slept the whole way. I don't even remember taking off. But an hour later we landed and made it back to copenhagen. The perfect trip! I was hungover all day Sunday and most of Monday. Absolutely worth it, the stories from this week will be some I will have forever.
I woke up at 530 and got ready to head to the airport for my 8am flight. I booked a walking tour for 10am so I was a little worried I wasn't going to make it. It was my first time traveling internationally by myself and I was nervous I wasn't going to be able to find my friends bc I don't have an international SIM card. I got off the plane with my small backpack and walked outside. I managed to find my way to the bus station and which bus I needed to take, it was a small miracle. I got off the plane and to where I needed to be in 25 minutes with no mistakes. I know, it's hard for even me to believe. Anyway got on the walking tour with my friends and we walked for four hours on the tour. The tour was awesome, our guides name was Rick and he showed us all the main highlights. My favorite was learning about all the history of Berlin and Germany during that time period. I really enjoyed the memorial sight. It was a very unique design with cinder blocks of all different heights and sizes. It was amazing. There were no signs describing it but its meant to look like a wound or a scar, so that people will never forget the holocaust.
After the chocolate shop, we went a museum and walked around and then went to dinner at an italian restaurant. We weren't originally going to go there but a guy dressed as an Italian chef offered us each a free shot, so how could we say no? We ate there, had a great dinner and another bottle of wine. Kyle met us there for dinner and then we all went to a bar and had drinks. Elise met us there and then we went back to Kyles families apt. and stayed there. Kyles grandpa was awesome, his life story is incredible! He's traveled everywhere and flew planes. Now he lives abroad with his girlfriend, he is truly living the life.
After the Palace, Elise and I went to the hostel and got ready to go out. We decided we wanted to go on a boat tour at night. It was so much fun, we got hot chocolate and got to see the city at night. It was beautiful!
Then we got off the boat and went to get italian food again, we went to viaspo, it was a new restaurant that is starting to open in the united states. Its SO good and a super creative way to make pasta. After we went to a happy hour across the street. We got drinks for 4 euro, i ordered 2 sex on the beach drinks and they were amazing! After we made friends with out waiter and he said that we need to go to the club down the street, so we did and it was a blast! We go there and they wanted 15 euros each to get in, and I didnt want to pay before i saw the inside, so the lady let me in alone to check it out and I knew immediately that this was the place to be.
As I was taking the elevator back down, Elise was getting on and said they let us both in for free! Too excited. We danced and drank the whole night. I was given a bracelet by some random person and then your allowed into some vip area where you get free unlimited alcohol. I dont know who sent me the bracelet, but I had a blast at that section. I left after some time and danced and then got a different colored bracelet, so I left the dancing area again and got to go to a different vip level. I only wish I could take pictures, it was so cool with so much free alcohol and everyone was so nice, and seemed to think it was cool that i came from california. So much fun. At around 430 Elise had sobered up and said it was time to go home, i really didnt want to, i was having so much fun, but knew that I wanted to see more of the city tomorrow, so we went back. We got up at 8 and had breakfast at the hostel, it was surprisingly really good. Then we went on a 5 bike tour, Im surprised I didnt get a bui lol but we met these really nice people from Australia and San Francisco! 
After we saw all the graffiti on the wall we went to an Indian restaurant- I was dying for indian food (my favorite). I was good, i was happy to have it and now I'm on a mission to find a great place in copenhagen! After the indian restaurant we went back to the hostel, grabbed our bag and went to the airport in just enough time! The bus and metro system is so easy, they take you right there! We got on the flight, and again i was so tired, i honestly don't even remember taking off. I fell right asleep. It was an easy one hour flight and overall a fantastic weekend. It is definitely a place I will want to come back to.
