Bavaria

We had returned home from Poland on Sunday night. Two days afterwards on Tuesday morning, my host family and I took off for the 6.5 hour car ride to Munich, where we would be staying until Saturday morning with my host mom’s cousin and her family (they live about 30-40 min from the city). Bavaria is in the southeast of Germany. I have heard Bavaria be compared to the Texas of America: different accents, different traditions, different culture, and different vocabulary. The Bavarians think they are better than the rest of Germany, and the rest of Germany doesn’t really even consider them part of Germany. While there are considerable differences between the two, the whole ordeal is a bit exaggerated in my opinion. Bavaria, I will say though, is how people picture Germany as a whole, when in reality most of it is only in this region. The best examples are Lederhosen and Oktoberfest.

Each day brought a completely different adventure, and my goal here is to give a brief written summary complete with many photos.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather the entire week. I have very high weather standards (thank you, California) but this weather was simply perfect. Each day got better with clearer skies and a warmer sun. It made the trip that much better, considering we were outside for most of the time. 

Day 1: Munich

The city is pretty to walk around, but that is about it. To be honest, the city did not live up to my expectations. The landmark of the city, the Frauenkirche, was under contruction on the outside and the inside looked like any other ordinary church. It let me down. The city isn't actually that big, or at least not as big as I figured it would be. We went to the Olympic park from the 1972 games in Munich. That was really cool and the park is quite pretty.

The park

The Stadium

The Stadium seats

Munich Town Hall

Day 2:  Neuschwanstein Castle & Zugspitze
The castle was beautiful, as expected. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside, but there is a reason it is one of the most visited castles. There is a smaller castle nearby that we also did a tour of. It is not as grandiose, but you get to see more of this castle than Neuschwanstein. Our tour was given in German, but our guide of Neuschwanstein was actually an American (I didn't ask, but the accent was a giveaway even though her German was obviously great). Irrelevant, but I thought it was cool. After visiting the castles, we drove over towards the German-Austrian border to go to the Zugspitze, which is the highest point in Germany at 9,718 feet. We rode up the mountain in a cable car, and at the top we enjoyed a panoramic view of the Alps from Germany's highest Biergarten. The view was beautiful: perfect clear blue skies with snow-covered mountains

typical tourist photo, typical Bavarian hat

We found some nice English people to take our photo in front of the castle while waiting for our tour to begin. 

Hohenschwangau Castle: built by King Maximilian II of Bavaria and where his son, Ludwig, grew up. He later became King Ludwig II of Bavaria and built Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwantstein Castle

Eibsee Lake: photo was taken on the way up to Zugspitze

It is a solid 15-20 minute ride in the cable car, and also very steep.

At the top and not even that cold. 

Day 3: Tour through Oberbayern
The last day we spent with our relatives, with whom we were staying. We visited different lakes and cute, small towns in Oberbayern, which is a region in southern Bavaria. For example, we went to the Tegernsee and Spitzingsee (both lakes) and a cute town called Bad Tölz. We quickly drove over to Lake Starberg, which is a popular place for people to come and hang out for the day, go swimming, have a BBQ, etc. during the summer. For those who come from Northern California, it reminded me a lot of Lake Natoma. Fun fact about Lake Starberg: King Ludwig II drowned there although it is unknown if it was suicide or murder; his death was a bit mysterious. This day was probably my favorite because of the amazing weather, the great company I was with, and the beautiful places I saw. 

Don't let the frozen lake trick you...it was very warm outside. This is the Spitzingsee.

Me, my host mother, my host mom's cousin, and her son. We were waiting for the others, which meant the perfect photo opportunity.

Notice how the side with the sun is more crowded than the sun with shade. Whenever there is sun and warm weather, you'll find the Germans outside because of how rare it is. 

Main street in Bad Tölz. This was probably one of my favorite places we visited that day.

Bad Tölz: a cute little town we walked through and got delicious ice cream. 

There is an art in Bavaria that is very traditional and typical. It is called Lüftlmalerei and it is decoration and painting on houses in the Alpine region. Sometimes the paintings are of bible stories, folk festivals, or fairy tales, or sometimes they are simply decorative. 

more Lüftlmalerei

All seven of us

It is a well-known fact to the Germans that know me that I love German cuisine. Needless to say, I was prepared for the different/(possibly) interesting types of food I would be trying in Bavaria. 

White sausage with sweet mustard and a Bretzel: delicious and according to my host mom's cousin, the stuff tourists usually buy is nasty.

I did not take this picture, but this is what it looks like.

Kaiserschmarrn: sweet, but not too sweet. Delectable dessert that is similar to a fluffy pancake but so much tastier. It should be eaten with applesauce and sugar.

My host mom took the photo after we ate it, but at least you can get an idea of it. 

Little sausages with sauerkraut and a Bretzel: bretzel is a soft pretzel, and I don't think they realize that we have this in America. It is pretty much the same thing, though. I had tried sauerkraut before while in Hamburg, which was a bad decision because it wasn't the real stuff. Tried it again at a restaurant while in Bavaria and the whole meal was amazing. It is probably the most stereotypical German thing I have eaten.  

I must say this trip with my host family has been one of my favorite trips I have been on while in Germany. I got to try and experience new things within the country I've been living in for the past 8 months.

Yes, you read that correctly.. I have been here for 8 months, which means in a little less than two months I will be home. It is very sad, but in the mean time I will enjoy every moment until I am on the train to Frankfurt to leave. 

Shannon