Sono andata in Germania! (I went to Germany!)

Last Wednesday I left Florence by myself for my first big adventure. I went to Germany to see my friend Bekky who was a foreign exchange student at my high school 3 years ago. I stayed with her family in Tapfheim which is about an hour and a half by train from Munich.

Wednesday:
I left Florence in a hurry after class and started out from the Santa Maria Novella train station. When I arrived at the station it took me a little while to find where to find where to buy a ticket, but once I did it was easy. In fact, I ended up helping 2 other Italians figure out how to use the automatic ticket machine-all while speaking Italian! I had a little trouble finding the track I was leaving from because with the automatic ticket machine it doesn't put the track number on the ticket, you have to look at the time monitors. Luckily I asked the help desk and they pointed me in the right direction. Once on the train it was pretty smooth sailing. I did get hassled for the first time while on the train for money by a guy. I had to be very emphatic (in Italian) that I didn't have anything for him and I wanted him to leave. My heart was a little sad having to get frustrated with him, but he had started reaching for my purse and getting very close to me (while I was sitting) so I had to be stern.

I had to change trains at Pisa Centrale and fortunately I saw the train I needed listed on a sign so I didn't even get lost finding the other platform. Once I got to the airport it took a little time to get oriented, but I arrived even before the desk opened to check-in for my flight so I was fine. I got checked in, went through security and waited to board my airplane. When I arrived into Munich-Memmingham West Bekky was not there. That morning I had received a message from her saying that she had earlier thought I was flying into Munich, not MMW (I didn't know there were two) so I was worried that it was a lot of trouble for her to get to MMW. Then I saw her and her dad, Michael, come through the doors and I had the biggest smile on my face ever. It was so amazing to see a familiar face after being away from home for a month. Her dad drove us back to her house in Tapfheim where he had a simple dinner of small sandwiches-which actually tasted quite good after being on a pasta diet! Here dad and the twins, Tabea and Lena, were there for dinner that night. They also have mayo in Germany, which is not found in Italy, so I enjoyed having that on my sandwiches.

Thursday:
Bekky and I drove to Donauworth to take the train to Dachau. We changed trains in Munich and ate a Leberkase on a bun. Leberkase is basically a roast that tastes like a hot dog and they slice off a piece and put it on a fresh bun. Once we were on our second train, we accidentally missed our station and had to wait a little while to go back to the Dachau stop. I told Bekky it wasn't a trip without getting a little lost at least once! When we arrived by train in Dachau we took a short bus ride to the Dachau concentration camp. It always sounds so bad when I say that I have always wanted to visit a concentration camp, but it's true. It's one part of history that we always learn so much about in school and I was excited to finally see where it happened. It was a very surreal experience. I definitely felt very close to a part of history that I have always felt very removed from.

On the way home there were some massive train issues, so instead of going to visit the Munich city center we just headed home to avoid the train mess. It ended up being a very long train ride. That evening it was just Bekky and I for dinner and we had cold sandwiches again. Later that night her dad made an awesome mixed fruit salad. It tasted really good to have a big bowl of fresh fruit!

Friday:
OKTOBERFEST DAY!!! Bekky and I got a lift to the train station from her Dad that morning and at the train station we met Katha and Johannes (nickname Mari). They didn't really talk to me on the train ride because they were too shy to speak English. I was having doubts about the day because the train ride was so bland with them all speaking German, but the day only got better. At the Munich train station we got a Leberkase sandwich again. After we went to the bathroom (where I had my first experience of tipping the lady who hands you paper towels and cleans the bathroom during the day) we followed the crowds to the festival grounds.

Wow is that place ever HUGE! I was in awe of the immensity of the whole site. Everything there seemed so permanent that it was really hard to imagine it being an empty space for the majority of the year. They had roller coasters as big as ones at Six Flags! Even the beer tents are not actually tents. They are huge buildings that have tables and benches inside, podiums for musicians and different corrals for different seating areas. It was insane. We found a beer tent that had free seating until 3:30PM (we arrived around 12). We sat down at a table with 2 guys and ordered our first beers. After a while I noticed the guys next to me were speaking English (while Bekky, Katha and Mari were still speaking a lot of German) so I started talking to the guys. They were from Australia and were touring around the world for 8 months. What a life! After a while Bekky, Katha and Mari started talking to them too, and me! in English which was nice.

About every 10 minutes (at least) someone would stand on a table and chug and entire mug of beer and everyone would cheer, or boo if they couldn't finish. About every 30 minutes we would sing "I'm prosting" which is the same as "I'm toasting" and then some other German words about living a good Bavarian life. We also sang this really cool song: So a Schoner Tag
I only really sang the "la la la" part and "schwim schwim schwim" which is "swim". It was cool seeing and hearing some German traditions. However, I also got some good American moments in when they sang "Hey Baby" and "Amazing Grace"! It was awesome. By the time we finished our second beer we were being kicked out because it was 3:30. We tried finding another seat in a tent but it was full everywhere. Since we had drank our fill of beer we headed back to the train station and went home.

When we got back into Donauworth Bekky's dad was swimming and couldn't come pick us up so we went to a Turkish restaurant and had Doners. A doner reminds me of a pita so it tasted delicious after drinking!

Saturday:
Saturday the whole family ate breakfast together: Michael, Andrea (mom), Hannah (oldest of Bekky's younger sisters), Tabea, Lena, Bekky and I. Michael cooked the famous German white sausage and I tried one. I wouldn't say it was my favorite, but it was ok! For lunch Bekky and I were invited to Simon's house (Bekky's boyfriend). His parents made schweinshaxe with kartoffelknodel. Schweinshaxe is a cut of pork that is roasted and kartoffelknodel is a type of potato ball. It was delicious. Then for dessert we had a little bit of black forest cake :D After lunch Bekky and I stopped at the store to buy some medicine (I had started a cold) and I wanted some chocolate! I bought some delicious little chocolate snack cakes with wafers in them and a few chocolate bars. That afternoon we just hung out at Bekky's house-I watched Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother.

Then came the EPIC NIGHT! Bekky and I headed back to the train station and left for Nuremburg where her friend Manu was having her birthday party. The train ride took forever, but it was totally worth it. We hung out at some friends' apartment and pregamed for a while. Then we headed to a club where Katha, Alex, Mari and I were the only ones to go into the dancing part. We had a blast though! The night was a ton of fun and we stayed out until 4 AM because Bekky and her friends didn't want to stay the night in Nuremburg so we took the 5AM train back to Donauworth! We got back at 7:10 AM and then started to rest.

Sunday:
I only slept until 11 but Bekky slept until 1 so I actually got a little homework done. Then once we were both up and ready we went into Donauworth with Tabea and Lena to walk around a bit. We all got delicious hot chocolates and even ended up in the middle of a fireman's parade! Then that night Michael cooked an AMAZING dinner. We had rindsroulade with spatzle. The rindsroulade was the beef dish, I think. It was beef rolled around a little bit of cheese, boiled egg, and pickle pieces. The spatzle was a homemade type of pasta. There were also carrots and potatoes with it. Just writing about it makes me hungry! Make sure to look at my photos to see!

Monday:
We left Bekky's house at 7AM to head to the airport. Everything went well getting back home. On the train from Pisa to Florence I met 2 older couples from the states who were just visiting Florence for the day. I offered to help them find the market when we got in and to show them my favorite panini shop. When we got to the panini place one of the men bought me a sandwich! It was a great end to the trip.

Make sure to look at my pictures online!