Matilda and Munich!

Feburary 24th-27th

The best weekend yet! Went to Matilda The Musical on Friday night in London and it was so cute! Great show and very well done. Early flight to Germany Saturday morning out of London. 

Our first stop in Munich on Saturday after we got settled at the hostel was the Dachau Concentration Camp site. It was a very sad experience. Really makes you appreciate what you were born into. Incredibly interesting though. 

After the concentration camp, the girls and I went into Munich's city center and definitely cheered us up! It is such a beautiful town with a lot of fun things to look at. We explored the town, got macchiatos, and then went to dinner. 

The Largest Beer Garden in Europe! 

Where beer is sold by the liter! 

And they have pretzels the size of my head! 

German sausage and sauerkraut. Don't know if I would order sauerkraut again but it was a great experience and the brat was delicious! 

The tables are huge so you sit with random people. We met some fun loving German people that really knew how to drink. The guy with the glasses was on his 8th liter when we left! 

Such a fun and rowdy environment! Great beer, great food, great people and a great first night in Germany! 

Sunday we took a tour to two Bavarian castles in the German Alps. The Alps and the castles were absolutely gorgeous! You couldn't take pictures of the inside of the castles but they were beautiful. Lots of gold and extravagant decorations. The Alps were gorgeous and I loved being in the mountains. We also found some fun souvenirs that were not overly expensive. It was a great tour and nice to see a different side of Germany.

1st castle. It was King Ludwig's hobby to build castles and this was the only one that was finished in his lifetime. 

2nd Castle. Literally at the top of a mountain! By far the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. We drove up most of the mountain and then had about a half hour walk up the rest of the mountain to get to the castle. Do not know how they build it into the mountain but it is an amazing sight! 

Alexa and I, the castle is just to the right of us in this picture. 

We had a late flight on Monday night so we had a chance to see more sites around Munich during the day on Monday. We went to St. Peter's Cathedral, which was beautiful and right in the middle of the city center. 

At St. Peter's there is a huge bell tower that you can pay 1 Euro to walk up. The view from the top was outstanding! Well worth the hundreds of stairs. 

I love Munich <3

After the cathedrals and a few other stops, we found a huge farmers market where we got lunch. 

It was cheap and delicious! Fresh bread, olives, juice, pickles and cheese! 

Munich was by far my favorite trip so far! I had such an amazing time, saw the most interesting things and met some really fun people. We stayed in a nice and clean hostel and were very close to everything we wanted to see. The food was delicious even if I didn't know what I was eating part of the time. The language barrier was not bad either. The Germans were very friendly and most spoke some English. Overall, fantastic weekend! 

Off to Ireland this weekend, post soon! Can't believe how busy I am and how fast this trip is going.

Thanks to everyone supporting me back home and to my family for allowing me to have this unbelievable experience. I miss everyone!!

I am so blessed <3

London and Life in Winchester

February 13th-23rd

Valentine's week was a fun but tough week. Definitely was missing home but I got great packages from my three favorite people! My mom, Lucas, and all of Luke's family! It is so sweet of all of them to think of me and really cheers me up when I am over here. Love getting little bits of home.

These past two weeks have been fairly low key, no major trips. I have started to get crazy busy with homework. Writing or working on papers almost every night. It feels good to start getting some of them done though! We got a little bit of snow last week! Everyone freaked out even though it melted within a day. The weather lately has been beautiful, 40's and 50's every day. 

Went to London last weekend and had a blast exploring the city! Went to some fun shopping markets and got Chipotle. My camera died so I don't have any pictures but I will be sure to take some next time I go.

Went on another field trip with my class to a place called the New Forest. It is about a 30 minute train ride away from Winchester. It was not as interesting or scenic as my first field trip but it was a real look into English farming country. 

My first assignment is due on Tuesday! I finished it mostly last night and I can't wait to turn it in and cross it off my list! Still loving my classes and can't believe it is already half way through the semester! 

Snowy Winchester from my window

The girls before a night out

Goofing around with new friends :) Love everyone I am meeting here!

Winchester Cathedral at night! Plan to visit it in the next few weeks! Can't wait! I will be sure to take lost of pictures

My new late night food craving. So bad for you but so good! Cheesy chips with ketchup and burger sauce, YUM!

Loving trying all the new beers. Germany will be great for that this weekend :)

Couple friends I found wandering down the street on my field trip?

Adorable farm houses! 

Good Friends Great Time :)

Going to Matilda the musical tomorrow (Friday) and then Munich, Germany for the weekend, I can't wait! I will take lots of pictures and post them asap!! 

Miss everyone

Manchester and Liverpool

February 10th-11th

This weekend Jamie, Hannah, Alexa, Anthony and myself went to northern England to visit Manchester and Liverpool. This is a completely different scene than Winchester! It is very industrial (especially Manchester) and their accents are so strong I could hardly understand them and they could barely understand me. 

Friday we took at 4 1/2 hour train ride to Manchester and spent the night there. We had a really fun hostel that took us on a pub crawl in the evening. We spent most of Friday evening wandering around town and ate dinner in China town. It was an experience. My food came 45 minutes after everyone elses and it was not good! Still very fun though! The pub crawl was a riot and we met a group of crazy Irishmen! Saturday morning we woke up early and went to the Manchester United Stadium (Sean's favorite premiere league team). We got some great souvenirs and then headed over to Liverpool for the day.

After the hour train ride to Liverpool, we walked to the Beatles museum. This was really fun and had a lot of interesting exhibits and great music. After the museum, we wandered around town for a little bit and then caught a cab to the football match. We had 7th row seats at the Chelsea vs. Everton game. It was a great game even though Chelsea lost. The craziest atmosphere I have ever expereienced! Constant cheering and chanting it was so much fun!

Finally took the train home after the game and got home late Saturday night. Overall, it was a great trip and it was fun to see a completely different side of England! 

China Town in Manchester 

Ferris wheel we went on in Manchester. Not the greatest view but still fun. Hannah was terrified and shut her eyes the whole time!

First thing we saw when we walked into our hostel in Manchester. Definitely a quality choice on hostels. 10 pounds, 4 pubs, free or discounted drinks at each pub.

The girls :) 1st pub

The gay bar ;) Anthony was loving it here....

Manchester United Stadium. Wish you were here Sean! 

Ferris Wheel in Liverpool

Beatles Museum 

The whole crew at the Beatles Exhibit 

Liverpool is right on the coast! This picture doesn't do it justice but the bay was really pretty. 

Football Match! Great Seats :)

The three of us actually made it to the game on time. The other two girls did not show up until half time. 

Great Panoramic from my friends camera!