Travel Log: Munich & Nuremberg, Germany

Germany is now one of my favorite countries. I got the opportunity to visit a family friend, Kathi and her wonderful family while I was studying abroad in London earlier this year. I packed up and made my way to the airport by myself for the first time and boarded a plane to Munich, Germany for a long weekend. Upon arriving, I could already tell how friendly everyone seemed! Especially thanks to the man who helped me find my way out of the terminal because I got lost. I have gotten lost in airports trying to find my way out on more than one occasion. Not sure if I should really admit that....

It snowed almost the entire weekend while I was in Germany which felt somewhat magical because I hadn't seen so much snow since the previous year. The day that we walked around Munich, Kathi took me to the English Garden. It was this massive park that's twice the size of Hyde Park in London! Despite the freezing temperatures and snow, there were SO many people out walking around. One of the things I was shocked to see during my adventures throughout Europe is how much more time Europeans spend outside compared to Americans. Living in Philadelphia, there's usually a decent amount of people out and about but when I think about the small town that my parents live in sometimes you won't see a single person outside unless they are headed for their car. Above, you can see the Chinese Tower Beer Garden as well as the Monopteros on the hilltop, which children were eagerly sledding down throughout the day. Also, above, you can see a glimpe of Olympiapark, which was constructed for the Summer Olympics in 1972! The architecture was unreal.

Kathi's family was so incredibly sweet, they wanted me to see another city in Bavaria so they drove out to Nuremberg! Nuremberg was absolutely breath-taking and there were so many glimpses into traditional Germany. One of my favorite parts was seeing this huge castle, Nuremberg Castle (Kaiserburg Nurnberg). Climbing to the top, there was a breath-taking, panoramic view of the city below. Knowing that parts of the castle were constructed further back than the year absolutely blows my mind! Being from the United States, our country wasn't even founded until the 1400's so seeing something that old is so surreal. The food was also so delicious - I had a variety of sausages as well as sauerkraut and potato salad which were unimaginably delicious (about 100 times better than any of those things that I've had here in the US).  We stopped in another town in Bavaria on the way home and overall, Germany was so breathtakingly beautiful and looked like it was straight out of a fairytale! Seeing Kathi was also great because I hadn't seen her since she was in America a year or so before this trip! Maybe someday I'll get there to visit her for Oktoberfest. 

More European Adventures....

London, England

Brussels, Belgium

Oxford, England

Budapest, Hungary