Munich

Since I'm lazy, I'm just going to list the things we did while we were here.

• Spent lots of time in Munich's beer halls ("biergartens" in German)
• Ate lots and lots of Bavarian food (sausage, sauerkraut, and potato pancakes....mmmmm :))
• Visited the BMW Museum, which was largely uneventful (though the building itself was pretty cool)
• Visited Dachau concentration camp, which was a very sobering experience (pictures below)
• Shopping (after Christmas sales here are amazing!)
• Drinking hot wine and watching ice skaters downtown (which we had intentions of doing but never got around to it)

And things we didn't do (which I really wish we had…):
• Visited Neuschwanstein Castle (which just means I'll have to come back... :))

And finally, some interesting facts:
• Germans use the letter ß in place of "ss"
• Most luxury car manufacturers in Germany follow what is known as a gentlemen's agreement by limiting the top speed of their cars to 250km/hour (155 miles/hour), though this is easy to remove
• Doing the Nazi salute is punishable by a fine of up to 10,000 Euro
• 80% of Munich was destroyed in WWII
• There were 42 assassination attempts on Hitler during WWII, most of which were by Germans
• BMW, along with many other companies, employed slaves from German concentration camps to work on their assembly lines during WWII
• The tea party in America has used propaganda identical to the propaganda used by the Nazi party
• Oktoberfest celebrates the anniversary of former German King Ludwig I

Trip to Munich (on the Autobahn!)

This has been the best trip ever. Here we are cruising the Autobahn at a cool 180km/hr (113 miles/hr., and possibly the top speed on this car):

Some other highlights:
• We haven't gotten lost once
• Saar taught me how to drive a stick
• For some reason, we've have been listening to '80s music nearly all the way here (which Saar is so graciously serenading to me at the moment)
• Lunch cost us a mere fraction of what it would have cost us in Switzerland

Switzerland (Things I Love About This Country)

As follows:
• The McDonald's, which remind me a little of Starbucks (and they charge Starbucks-like prices, too... meals are like $13)
• Driving through endless tunnels
• How easy it is to navigate the freeways here
• German words like "die" and "und" and "tunnelstrasse"
• Swiss food (fondue, sausages, and chocolate!)
• All the towns here are decorated with Christmas lights
• There are like 50 varieties of chocolate in every grocery store
• People will speak to you in German even if you express that you have no idea what they're saying
• Our rental car (a Renalt Twingo... see below)
• The currency

And some things I don't like about this country:
• Paying 20 cents for ketchup, paying $20 for meals, paying $5.80 for bottled water, paying $15 for road maps, and paying $1.70/L for gas... I'm sort of eager to get to Munich...

Interlaken (Sledding)

Though it got off to a pretty slow start, Interlaken was amazing. It's situated at the base of Jungfraujoch Mountain, and is flanked by two lakes, so the scenery is unbelievable. We spent the afternoon sledding (or, as the locals call it, "sliding"), which required a steep drive up to the town of Isenfluh (which our little car did pretty well on!), followed by a tram ride up to another town called Suwald. It was worth the effort, though, as we were rewarded by this view along with a sweet 4km run down the mountain.

Zermatt (Last Day Already...)

What a beautiful place to wake up to on Christmas morning:

It doesn't feel like Christmas without family, but it is nice having Saar here.

Anyway, we woke up this morning, took one last walk around the town, and left for Interlaken (which we had to drive through St. Niklaus to get to - very cool on Christmas day!). In hindsight, we probably should have spent the day skiing, as Interlaken was somewhat of a ghost town on Christmas, but it was kind of nice not having anything to do. Saar and I were planning on going out for dinner, but in the end, we ended up napping and then eating at McDonald's. Not necessarily how I imagined my Christmas, but being that I'm in Switzerland right now, I guess I really have nothing to complain about :)

Zermatt

What a quick few days we've had here. Some of the highlights:
• Teaching Saar how to ski (thanks to my excellent instruction, he was expertly navigating beginner runs - which are nothing like beginner runs in Michigan - by the end of the day)
• Riding up the mountain in gondolas (so much more comfortable than chairlifts!)
• Seeing a ram (or at least I think that's what it was) on a chairlift ride up the mountain
• Trying to ski down steep, long runs in deep powder at an elevation of 4000m (this is incredibly tiring to try to do)
• The following conversation I had with this 8-year-old I met on the chairlift:
○ Kid (before I made up my mind as to whether I would introduce myself or continue listening to my iPod): So where are you from?
○ Me: The US
○ Kid: Cool, me too. Which state?
○ Me: Michigan… what about you?
○ Kid: New York. So how long have you been skiing?
○ Me: Since I was about your age. You?
○ Kid: Six years.
○ Me: How old are you now?
○ Kid: Eight. So where else have you skied?
○ Me: Only the States.
○ Kid: Oh. You should go to [some resort in Europe whose name I didn't recognize]. Is this your first time in Switzerland?
○ Me: Yes.
○ Kid: Do you speak German?
○ Me: Not really, no.
○ Kid: What languages do you speak?
○ Me: A little Spanish. What about you?
○ Kid: Oh me, too. And also German, French, and Italian.
I don't really remember what else was said, but those are the good parts. Seriously, I'm pretty sure this is going to be our future president.

Zermatt (Finally!)

After a treacherous six-hour drive (which was only supposed to have taken us four...), we finally made it! (This portion of the trip is the one I'm most looking forward to.) And although we could have stopped in any number of towns along the way to go skiing, I'm glad we made the drive all the way down to Zermatt... this place is breathtaking. It's a car-free city, so the only way to get here is by train. And it snowed earlier today, which makes it even more spectacular!

Just look at this place:

Zermatt (Finally!)

After a treacherous six-hour drive (which was only supposed to have taken us four...), we finally made it! (This portion of the trip is the one I'm most looking forward to.) And although we could have stopped in any number of towns along the way to go skiing, I'm glad we made the drive all the way down to Zermatt... this place is breathtaking. It's a car-free city, so the only way to get here is by train. And it snowed earlier today, which makes it even more spectacular!

Just look at this place:

Zurich (Things I Love About This Place)

After only four months off, I'm traveling again... this time with a companion (Saar) and for a much shorter period of time (two weeks as opposed to three months), both of which make this a much different experience. Anyway, I arrived in Zurich early this morning and have already seen much of the city. My favorite parts so far:

• How everything in this city is reminiscent of IKEA
• The view of the Alps from our hotel window
• Eating chocolate (which costs a small fortune here)
• The building made of train cars, which was decorated in lights at night (see photo below)
• Drinking mulled wine outdoors, which Zurich had perfect weather for (it was 40 degrees tonight!)
• Walking around the Christmas market (Christkindlimarkt)