Back in Germany

From Ljubljana we began our drive north to Munich, passing through Austria. It signaled the final phase of the trip, we returned to Germany where the three of us met and began our adventure. The drive was fine, we left Ljubljana pretty early and hit no traffic. Arriving back in Germany was a bittersweet experience. I love Germany and it was nice to be back in a country where I speak the language, my Slovene, Croatian, Italian, Czech, French, and Flemish are nonexistent. However this also meant the trip was nearing its end.

Munich is a city quite unlike any other I've been to. It is steeped in traditional Bavarian culture, which they will remind you of every chance they get. The food is mainly wurst and schnitzel, every sign says "Bayern"(Bavaria) or "Suddeutschland"(Southern Germany), and the Bavarian flag along with the jerseys of FC Bayern Munchen are found all over. It's almost as if the Bavarians wish they were still an independent country, Germany's Texas of sorts. We spent quite a bit of time at the Haufbrahaus, which is the most famous biergarten or bar in the world. Much of the Oktoberfest festivities happen there. Sarah and I also took another New Europe tour which showed us some incredible sites. The street the Nazi party marched down in an attempt to overthrow the German government, the Rathaus and Glockenspiel, and a church rebuilt to exact specifications after World War II were quite impressive to see.

We left Munich after three days. You could spend a week or two there, especially if you like to drink and have the money to do so, but we experienced a lot and had to move on. The next stop was Frankfurt, where we stayed in a hostel right in the middle of the red light district. Hilarious is the best word to describe that neighborhood, it was not like the classic image of a red light district. We met up with my friend Ben who lives in Frankfurt and was my room mate at TCNJ for a semester. He had us over his place for awhile and we had a great time watching late night German "sexy" commercials. Ben took us around the city a bit, showing us the multitude of clubs, but we ended up at our hostel and hung out until 4:30 AM. Ben was a partyer at TCNJ too haha.

Yesterday we made it to the final stop on our road trip and returned the car in Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf is crazy city on the Rhine river. People were all over the streets wasted out of their minds. Chants, cheers, and songs filled the streets during the world cup games, and Germany wasn't even playing! There were also tons of bachelor and bachelorette parties going on. This morning Randall got on his flight home, and then there were two. Sarah and I will be back at Peter's house tonight, and the trip will wind itself down.