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This weekend marked our last international trip of the semester, and we definitely ended on a high note. Our weekend in Munich was the perfect mix of site seeing and partying, since much of the German culture revolves around beer. Although Julia, Brittany and I were hesitant at first about spending four nights in Munich, we couldn’t have picked a better city to end our semester of traveling.Â
We started our trip with a guided tour of Dachau Concentration Camp and Memorial Site. Dachau was the first permanent concentration camp and the only camp to operate for all 12 years of Hitler’s reign. Our three-hour guided tour left me speechless, as I am finding it almost impossible to put my experience into words. As the only site in Germany to still have an intact gas chamber, the afternoon was definitely an emotional one. What I found interesting about Dachau, and Germany in general, was that it is mandatory in the German education system to visit two Holocaust related sites in grade school.
That night we indulged in a favorite German pastime, visiting a beer hall. We headed to one of the most famous halls in Munich, the Hofbrauhaus, for our first taste of the world’s best beer. We spent the night chowing down on schnitzel, attempting to finish our liters and doing some major people watching.
On Friday, we squeezed in a little culture with a walking tour of Munich before continuing our weekend of beer. We visited the city’s most famous sites, including the Old Town Hall and St. Peter’s Church, both of which were redone after being destroyed in World War II. Throughout the tour, we stumbled upon a few of the 122 Holocaust memorials the city has.
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After the tour, we headed to Springfest, the reason we had picked to travel to Munich for the weekend. Springfest was essentially an excuse to drink beer all weekend and consisted of beer hall tents, carnival rides, live music and food stands. We sampled some more German beer and after, we decided to explore Munich’s nightlife with some friends we had met the day before (nothing like finding a Badger in Munich!). After getting rejected from the first club because we didn’t know the name of the DJ or the type of music he was playing, we headed to an area called Kultfabrik, where we stayed out way to late and had one of our most fun nights of abroad.
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We got a late start the next morning and eventually made our way to the Englischer Garten, often referred to as the Chinese Beer Garden. Although the forecast predicted rain, the weather held out. Well, until we got stuck in a freak hailstorm. We ended the night, and started Brittany’s 21st birthday celebrations, at an amazing Greek restaurant, sad that our weekend in Munich was coming to an end.
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After living in the country of wine for the past four months, Germany definitely turned us into beer lovers. I am adding Munich to my list of favorite cities, and it may even be coming in at number one, behind Florence, of course. Now that it’s May, the realization that we actually have to leave is finally hitting us. A few more weeks until the best experience of our lives comes to an end, so we’re savoring each day (and meal) we have left in Florence.
               Ciao a tutti!Â