Krystal, Amy, and Mandi's European Adventures!

The big plan: Amy, Mandi, and Carsten had been scheming up a little plan. While in Munich, Carsten’s friend, Dirk, hit it off with Krystal and during our final day there, Krystal realized how much she would miss this great guy. Apparently, he felt the same way about her.  So in scheming with the gang, Dirk decided to take the 8 ½  hour train trip to meet up with us in Florence on day 2. While Krystal slept, Amy snuck to the train station at 6am to pick up Dirk and bring him to our hostel. Krystal woke to this wonderful surprise and found that Dirk would be joining us for the remainder of Florence and Rome as well! Unbelievable!!

We had a day trip planned to the Chianti Region of Tuscany and Dirk was able to join right in. We boarded a coach with 20+ other people and traveled 30 minutes outside Florence. We crossed the The Ponte Vecchio (old bridge the still remained from pre WWII) and the Aeno River as well, then traveled through the rolling hills and took in the beauty of Tuscany. 


We arrived at an establishment where we were introduced to proper wine etiquette. We learned of the different kinds of wine, how to hold the glass, smell, taste, and enjoy the wine. We tasted several of the local offerings and enjoyed the fresh olive oils and truffle oils from the region as well. Once we had our knowledge, we boarded the coach to a local vineyard and winery. We were introduced to the full process of creating wine—from the grapes on the vine, to processing, fermentation, barreling, and finally bottling…then we got to the best part—tasting the wines. We did this over a traditional Italian lunch made of breads, spreads, salads, and rice. They desert was cheese served with honey too. This whole day was just amazing as we took in the sights, smells, and tastes that were offered.


Afterwards, we boarded the coach and were brought to a smaller village of beautifully winding paths and cobble stone streets. The rain came back to greet us, but it didn’t stop our fun. Amy was able to find different pasta and Mandi some local favorites as well. We made sure to stop for a treat at the World Best Gelato Maker's shop after shopping too! (We decided that gelato had to replace Starbucks since there weren’t any to be found in Italy) Our trip ended and we took a peaceful ride back to town and returned to Plus Hostel for a quick regrouping then off for dinner. Another traditional Italian pasta dinner then it was off to relax for the night as Roma was waiting for us in the AM!

Our castle-exploring day started with a traditional Bavarian breakfast of white sausages and white beer. We were also entertained to see that this comes with bretzeln as well as a sweet and spicy mustard. Despite our intimidation, it was delicious! Good thing, because we needed this fuel for coming day trip. We then headed to the central station and took a train out to the small town of Fussen. A quick bus trip then took us to the village of Schwangau where the castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein are located. We first hiked to a historical suspension bridge named Marienbrucke for a great view and photo op of Neuschwanstein castle, waterfalls, and the Swiss Alps. This bridge was quite high up and not as sturdy as we would have liked, so we then headed toward the castle itself. Unbeknownst to us, this was quite a hiking experience and we wished we had brought our walking sticks! We explored the castle grounds and inside the doors being typical tourists. While it’d be nice to live here, we still prefer the Viennese castle with gardens and zoo! After our trip we caught a train back to downtown Munich, where we were supposed to grab pizza with our local friends. However, we realized very quickly our train was 2 hours sooner than anticipated! We quickly left with bags in tow for Hauptbanhof to catch our train to Italy. Luckily our Munich friends were able to meet with us and direct us to the correct gate and help us board. All was well and good until we realized that our tickets were booked for the wrong day…. As in, tomorrow. So, no sleeper car for us!! However, we were able to find the food cart until additional seats were prepared for us and managed to get a couple hours of rest in a compartment. A bit of sleep and Firenze here we come!!

Early morning, we ventured out to find our traditional favorite: Starbucks!! We met with a group for a tour of Dachau concentration camp memorial site. This tour was not out your average Holocaust lesson and we were enlightened about many things not found in US history books. It was very eye-opening and difficult, but we are very glad to have been able to experience this first hand. After all this heavy material, we decided to go back to our new favorite, fondly known as the HB… the Hofbrauhaus. After a quick stay there, we left to meet our Munich friends for dinner at a local favorite. After, we booked our tickets for Neuschwanstein  at the Hauptbanhof central station. We called an earlier night to get ready for our big castle-exploring day!

We awoke and decided it was time to tour Munchen. We met at the Marienplatz city center for a free tour. However, the city was also throwing us a party… ok ok it may have been soccer/futbol championships. There was also a neo-nazi protest going on at the same time, so needless to say, we learned a bit about culture before beginning the tour. On the tour, visited the new and old town halls with the famous Glockenspiel, National theater, the famous Viktualienmarkt (outdoor market) and the Frauenkirche church of our lady. We learned the history of Kristallnacht and Munich’s role in World War II, the origins of Oktoberfest, and the history of beer gardens. At this point, it began to rain, and we noticed that we were conveniently next to the Hofbrauhaus! We had to stop for a snack of bier and bretzeln of course. We went back to home base and taught one of our Munich friends, Dirk, how to play American card games over pizza. Carsten met up with us and we ventured to some of Munich’s finest dance parties. We were entertained to know that Munich bars are open past Chicago time, so of course we had quite a long night, dancing to American and German music!

Well, we missed our original train from Vienna to Munich. Really!? This was because we failed to realize we were leaving from a different station than where we arrived. No worries... 2 hours later another train came to bring us to lovely Munich! We were met at the train station by our friend Carsten, who we have known for a couple months. He lives in Munich and showed us how similar the U-bahn was to Berlin. After a quick train ride, we were able to drop our bags and find a local Bavarian restaurant and brewery. We sat at a huge wooden table with about 12 other people we didn’t know/could not speak to and ordered food we could not pronounce from women in traditional German attire. Amy had the special (a mix of all kinds of delicious things!), Mandi had the pork knuckle, and Krystal and roast duck. Sounds a little crazy, but we all shared these traditional meals, which were delicious. AND we found our pretzels and liter beers, ie brezeln and bier! After our delicious dinner we discovered that some toilet seats in Munich put on a show. While the gals went to the bathroom, Amy shouted that her seat would not stop moving! The seats rotate for cleaning, but Amy’s seemed to be on a mission to become clean and would not stop! After figuring this out, we ventured to the Hofbrauhaus for more bretzeln and liter beers! We learned the traditional Prost or “toast” song and enjoyed live Bavarian music. Yes lederhosen are hot. Carsten’s friends joined us and we had a great night learning about German culture.

Waking up to a rainy day can be a battle when in Europe.  The sound of the rain pelting the rooftops and pavement gives you that all-too-good feeling of wanting to stay curled up in bed all day, but when in Europe and having only the day to explore the city of Vienna before heading to another country; the rain can be a devastating situation.  However, lucky for us, as we walked to the next Wombat Hostel the weather was on our side as Mr. Sunshine came out to party for us and off we went to accomplish as many tasks as humanly possible!

We used a ‘One Day in Vienna’ flier from the hostel to get an idea of where we wanted to start our journey, and of course we choose to head straight to the Viennese Palace of Schonbrunn!  Needless to say, while the palace itself was enormously beautiful, that is not the piece of the grounds which took our breathes away.  All we had to do was turn the corner to start our walk around the side of the castle to find our utopia, the amazingly intricate Schonbrunn gardens and hedge labyrinth that appears to be never-ending…I could definitely run a marathon just in that section of the grounds and never retrace one step!  After frolicking through the labyrinth and gardens while taking some time out for photo opportunities we headed to the zoo (the oldest one worldwide), which was on the castle grounds!  Here we decided to not spend the money to go in, but we did FINALLY find our first pretzel of the trip, and needless to say…it was definitely a ‘venti’ and it was beyond delicious!

After we had our fill of the palace, well not really our fill, but we knew we would have to leave immediately or we would find a way to live there forever, we jumped on the U4 and headed to Karlsplatz.  Directly upon getting off the U4 we headed to Ring Road which circles the center of the city.  Soon after we began our journey we found ourselves directly in front of the State Opera House where we intended to try to find standing seats for a show later in the day.  However, the Opera was sold out for the day, but we were stopped by two men dressed in costumes and they informed us of a smaller show that would take place in the MuseumsQuartier that would consist of classical music, opera singers, and ballet; we were sold.  As we continued our journey on foot through the city we came upon St. Stephen’s Cathedral which is the highest religious building in Vienna.  Next came souvenir shopping on our way to the Gr4aben which is decorated with fountains and memorials.  Since we had tickets to a 6:30pm show we felt it might be getting late, but to our shock it was only 1:30pm and we had accomplished almost everything we had set out to that morning.  Banking on the fact that it was five o’clock somewhere we found a beautiful area outside in the sun, surrounded by trees and umbrellas to sit down and relax with a nice cold Viennese beer before trekking back to the hostel to get ready for the rest of the evening.

Dolled up and ready for an evening of new experiences we arrived at Palais Auersperg to watch the Mozart and Johann Strauss Concert put on by the Weiner Reidenzorchester (Vienna Residence Orchestra).  While it was not at the Opera House, this show was lovely as it was performed in a cozy room that allowed for the audience to participate in some of the numbers.  If you ask any one of us what our favorite part of the show was (classical music from the orchestra, opera singers, or the ballet) we will all give a different answer, but in all reality the entire show was out of this world and an experience we shall not soon forget.  Towards the end of the show hunger overtook us and it was time to find dinner, but the temperature had dropped significantly since we had went into the show and our shoes were killing our feet (except for Amy) so we decided to head back towards the hostel and find a restaurant along the way. 

During our travel to and from the show, it appeared that everyone was staring at us men and women alike.  However, the women would point or give evil glances, and the men many times stopped in their tracks.  Turning to the girls I (Mandi) said, “Why do you think everyone keeps staring at us?  Do women not wear dresses around here?”  Amy and Krystal stated that they did not understand what everyone’s problem was because our dresses were simple, cotton, and appropriate in length.  I then came to a conclusion, they do wear dresses, but they always wear those hideous spandex leggings or pants underneath them; what a strange cultural difference!  Regardless we got a kick out of it all night and enjoyed another amazing meal consisting of dumplings and cheese, gnocchi with bolognese sauce, garlic soup, and meatballs with mashed potatoes. 

Rather than going out dancing like we originally planned for the night we decided to have a relaxing evening at the hostel WomBar because we had many extra WomDollars for free beers.  While quickly switching our shoes we met our new roommate from ‘Canadia’ (as we call it) and invited him to meet us in the bar.  After getting our drinks we found our roommate from the night before at the other Wombat Hostel in Vienna and went to check in on how his day went.  Shortly after our new roommate and friend appeared and the five of us enjoyed a couple hours filled with fun, stories, YouTube, and laughter before we all headed to bed in preparation for tomorrows travels.  However, upon reaching our room us girls realized we had to new roommates who had just arrived and were headed to bed.  Since we are obnoxious and ignorant we kept joking with our new Canadian friend despite the fact that the other two were trying to sleep.  However, the other girl laughed it off and said she didn’t mind, and even made fun of her male companion for his ridiculous and ceaseless snoring; the thought of smothering was brought up many times…haha!  Good night to all and best wishes until we reach our next destination in Munich J!

  Our train ride from Vienna was a bit less extravagant then the one to Berlin. Nevertheless, our first class ticket provided us with private quarters. We learned from our previous mistake of jumping off the train when Vienna was announced and arrived perfectly to our stop (the second one into the city)! Our hostel was situated closely to the U, which we took from the train.  Once situated in our favorite Wombat Hostel, we quickly made a new friend and went exploring in the town. We wined and dined and decided that the long commute and rainy weather called for a night in at the hostel. Thus, we played billiards, card games, and just grabbed a bite to eat in the WomBar as we anticipated a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

We started out early on day two and had a traditional Czech breakfast which consisted of a plate of ham, salami, liver, assorted cheeses, along with bread. After this interesting meal, we decided to head out and find our more traditional morning spot—Starbucks. On our way to the Old Town we were able to visit a few shops that lined the cobble stone road. The sites were beautiful the whole way and it was interesting to see that none of the roads went in a straight line—all curvy and unique. We were able to navigate the map quite well thanks to Amy (even though there were no street signs) and we made it to Starbucks, followed by our meet up point for our walking tour.

The walking tour, which lead us all around Prague, introduced us to the history we not aware of. Prague is an extremely beautiful city and while they did experience the Town Hall and part of the Clock Tower being destroyed during WWII , they were able to keep much of the history intact. The tour led us to the recovered portion of the Clock Tower which displayed the Astronomical Clock representing just about EVERYTHING! The standard time was represented, the Czech Name Day (literally every day in the calendar is represented by a name), the agricultural calendar, the sun calendar, time of day, color, and the astrological calendar. There was a breathtaking glockenspiel as well, that performed every hour.  The artiest that designed the clock and aided in constructed it was actually rewarded by being blinded. Yes blinded. When the clock was completed the governors’ of Czech decided that ‘no one in the world shall have a clock more beautiful’.  Weren’t those just the days? Our tour also took us to the Jewish district. The majority of the Jewish population was sent to concentration camps during Hitler’s reign and good ol’ Hitler decided that he wanted to keep this district in tact to serve as a museum for the race he destroyed. After the war the Jewish district was respectfully given back to the Jewish community. Some of the historical churches still provide service and others serve as a house for historical materials.  One of the inactive churches housed pictures that were colored by children  at concentration camps. These pictures were more significant then just keeping children in good spirits; it was actually the only way to determine that these children even existed (as their passports and birth certificates were destroyed as the Nazi power attempted to cover their tracks). At one point in time the Jewish were only allowed to be buried in one specific cemetery. Once the plots were full, bodies were buried on top of other bodies. The number of individuals were not consistent and this created a terrain that would rise and fall (similar to stairs). This grave yard is said to be the inspiration for the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin—interestingly enough, we had already viewed this and we certainly understood the meaning. There were other great monuments that were able to see in Prague including the Karluv Most (Charles Bridge), Agricultural Museum, the Prague Castle, Old New Synagogure , Goelum, Kinsky Palace, Powder Room,  and the many churches of Prague.

After this heavy history of the town us ladies decided we needed to do some shopping. We ventured to the Town Square and were able to accomplish the shopping. The Czech Kron really goes a long way! Afterwards we headed towards the river to have some traditional Czech dinner at a local Pub.  Goulash, beef, dumplings, and potato cakes YUM! It was a rainy night and the city seemed to die down and we decided to enjoy the last night with our newest friends at the Chili Hostel.

A free round on the Wombat Hostel Bar...there were many of these...don't exactly know how many to be honest...

Everyone making new friends

The American Girls invite the rest of the world to join their party...enter Aussie's, Irishmen, the Boston Girls, Canadians, and the British Blokes...

We are ignorant Americans, and after several attempts to read the menu (that we could not understand to save our lives), we choose to move on to a different area of food options...

German Holiday...enough said (says Krystal)