My Germany Top Ten

This past week we had off work for Semana Sanata (Holy Week). Having a whole week off work means one think for your typical travel bug: GO! Thus, my sweet friend Megan and I packed our bags and headed to Germany! This trip was by FAR the best trip I have ever been on but more on that later. I will write another blog telling you about my adventures. For now, I'm going to leave you with the top ten things I loved about Germany. By the way, these are not in any particular order.

1. BERLIN.



Berlin. Berlin. Berlin. I am officially obsessed with this amazing city. There is so much history everywhere you go. The city has encountered an enormous transformation since the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's like as soon as the wall came down the city completely revolutionized. While it's not the most beautiful place I've been to, Berlin is edgy, trendy, and full of character. I completely loved it :).


2. Take away food and drinks

Go ahead and laugh. I know what you're thinking, "You traveled all the way to Germany and THIS made your top ten list? Something that is so prevalent in America??" Well, the answer is yes. Germany is a lot like America in the "go, go, go" sense. Germans pick up their coffee and pastry or sandwich and are literally eating it on their way to wherever they are going. Spain has no concept of take away coffee. So many times I want to grab a coffee on the way to school but the people in my favorite cafe always look at me like I'm crazy when I ask for a to go cup. It was nice to order my coffee and not have people look at me like I'm an alien. Don't get me wrong, I like the "no pasa nada"-take a break-enjoy life kind of atmosphere that Spain provides. But I also don't like to be forced to sit down and eat for three hours. It was a nice change of pace.

3. Beer












LeftPicture: the middle drink is Bananenwiezen.

There is really nothing to say here except that German beer is phenomenal. ESPECIALLY this interesting mix called "Bananenwiezen" which is Wiezen beer and banana juice. I know it sounds disguising, but it is the best drink I think I've ever had. I am SO bringing that back to the states.


4. Bratwurst





Yum. The first thing on our list to eat was Bratwurst and it surely did not disapoint us, as we would continue to eat Bratwurst almost every day. My favorite was getting a Bratwurst sandwich, with roasted onions on top. YUM. You can order Bratwurst at almost every restaurant or you can stop at one of the MANY local bratwurst stands and get one to go.

5. Restaurants

A cool thing about many of the restaurants in Germany is that they have long tables and you just fill in the seats (meaning you basically eat with complete strangers). I found this really cool because it kind of forced you to talk to the people next to you. You could try to keep your conversation secluded, but that would only work for so long. We sat next to Americans, Italians, Spaniards, and of course Germans. Prost! (cheers)

6. Susi










One of the highlights of my trip was getting to visit my sweet friend, Susi, in her university town of Dresden. It was so nice to catch up with her, laugh with her, and spend time with her. She even was a tour guide, despite having a neck injury. Miss you, Susi!













7. History



Left: Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe.
Right: What's left of the wall


It's no secret that Germany has a painful history. Although extremely sad, it was very eye
opening to learn more about the horrors of WWII and how the country has revolutionized since then.












Top Left: Crematory at Dachau Concentration Camp.
Top Right: Dachau Concentration Camp


8. Wombats City Hostel










Best hostels ever!!! We stayed at the Wombats City hostel in both Berlin and Munich and it was such a great choice. The facilities are great and each hostel organizes walking tours, pub crawls, and many other activities. They also have bars in the hostel (the one in Berlin is on the roof....sick!) which were a great way to meet new people.











9. Language

I'm not going to lie, the German language is CHALLENGING. Especially since it's so different from English and Spanish. I always thought that the language was so rough and hard and I guess comparatively to English and Spanish it is...but it's not near as rough as I thought. After listening to it for a week, I really wanted to learn more but Megan and I completely butchered everything we tried to pronounce. Maybe one day I will learn....until then, I'll continue doing what we did when we were looking at our map, "Turn left at the 'S' word, then go straight by the long word that starts with a 'd'." :)












10. Neuswanstein Palace












Coolest part of my trip was seeing the Neuswanstein Palace! This is the castle that inspired Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty and let me tell you, it was a fairy tale experience. We enjoyed a beautiful day exploring this castle as well as a nearby waterfall.