Munich and Berlin Thus Far

I can't believe it's six days until I'm on a plane back to Arizona. But, I'll have to save that for another post.

Right now, I'm going to talk about the beautiful city of Munich, the charms of Bavaria, and Berlin thus far.

Munich was an unexpected surprise. I'll admit, Germany was last on my list of places to go, and I was much more enthusiastic about Berlin than Munich. But, I must admit, it blew me away. Good beer, fun people, and so much history, it just takes you away. There's much more to Germany than WW history, but since that's what interests me most, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of history it has to offer. It's otherworldly to think that on the street we walked, brave people turned to be arrested rather than salute a Nazi memorial. That in these squares, people fought, and died, in a kind of battle the world will hopefully never see again.

Fussen was charming, on the other hand. Blue skies, and white puffy clouds. Little shops, and kitschy gifts, and really good ice cream, lines the streets. The castle that inspired Disney still stands before a waterfall, and the mountains near by are higher than any I've ever seen.

When we went to Rothenburg, the best preserved medieval city in Europe, I was amazed at how the buildings and fountains had been able to stand that long. It was touristy, sure, but so worth a visit.

Now, we're in Berlin. There's some history for you. I will have to post more about it soon, but for now, know we've been on a walking tour where we saw much of the city, the zoo with the largest collection of animals, and the aquarium. We saw the Holocaust Memorial, which really is a visceral experience, saw parts of the wall, visited the Sony Center, and Brian discovered his love of currywurst. We saw a video game museum, too, which was pretty fun!

On some random notes about beer, while I am on the subject of fun, we tried the current Pope's favorite beer, which is only served in Munich and in the Vatican. It was a pretty good lager. ;)

I'll post soon and in the mean time, enjoy your own adventures at home and away!