Tom (Holger)!!!!!

Day 39. I woke up with just enough time to shower, eat, and say goodbye to Alvaro with perfect timing to catch my morning train to Freiburg. I got to ride through the Switzerland countryside again, which is still beautiful, and then crossed over into Germany where all the roofs have solar panels on them. Wicked. I really like German! Spanish sounded too upset and fast for my taste and I loved French, and so far I really like all the German I have heard (*I like spoken German, when German is shouted at you it's scary). I wish I could understand and speak the language, it sounds so interesting and intriguing. Maybe it’s just because I have never really heard German before, and I speak some French and Spanish can be quite common in the States, but irregardless I like it. I arrived to Freiburg and Tom met me at the train station. I was so excited to see him again!! It has been such a long time since we last saw each other in Ireland but we were instant best friends as if there had been no separation at all. We dropped off my stuff at a library for safe keeping and then Tom proceeded to show me around the city. Freiburg is a lovely town and follows the German ideals of everything being neat and orderly quite closely. As we crossed a bridge we walked high up along the railing which is apparently totally normal, and sure enough there were people sitting along the tops so I had to Spiderman down. We stopped by a fantastic spot for lunch and I got my first taste of German/Freiburg cuisine. Yummy!! As I couldn’t read anything on the menu, Tom explained some of the traditional and delectable meals. I was torn between a few, but eventually decided on Spanferkel ,Bragele ,Salat (Piglet and potatoes) with a local Ganter beer to wash it down (My first legit German beer!!). Oh my goodness it was amazing. So tender and in this amazing sauce with the potatoes seasoned just right. The salad we got was also delicious and the beer was sweet with perhaps a hint of banana in it. And I got to try some of Toms food as well, Tagesessen, fantastic noodles with cheese, herbs, and veggies. After enjoying our meal and catching up Tom gave me some German candy (Thanks Tom!! Definitely going to snack on that on the train ride to Munich) and we strolled through the city and moved my stuff from the library to one of his friend’s flat as the library was closing. We stopped by an art store for a “project” I had to do later and then continued through the town to the cathedral and the mountainside. Freiburg has several clock towers that make up the entrances to the original town and all the buildings almost look like dollhouses with how neat and orderly they are. The city is in the middle of a valley and is surrounded by lush green trees, pretty much the definition of spring time. The weather was warm and lilacs and flowers were in bloom. We bought some strawberries and headed up the mountainside to a beer garden. I had another delicious local German beer and I got to do my challenge. I drew a tree blossoming on a cloth bag and Tom gave me some of his traveler Lego creations. Yippee!!! I was so excited! He gave one to one of the girls we were with in Galway and promised me a necklace as well but had just given his last away. Now I have one to wear and one to pass on to another traveler and several pins too! He also gave me a great list of artists/bands that I will definitely be checking out (Thank you so much Tom!!). After spending some time in the beer gardens we made our way up the mountain and over an old castle/fort. I had a train to catch onto Munich so we didn’t have time to go all the way up the mountain, but we still enjoyed a nice view of the city. Back down we went and scooped up my stuff and then walked to the station with plenty of time to spare as the trains were running a bit late. Saying goodbye (No not goodbye, just see you later) again was so hard. Tom is so wonderful and I wish there was a way to bottle him up and take him with me wherever I go. I love the way he thinks and his youthful spirit. We WILL see each other again! The train was ridiculously packed so I sat on the floor for a bit, and then snagged a seat halfway through the journey. It was also running so late that I missed my connection onto Munich so had to go to a different station and catch a later train. The train kept starting and stopping, adding to the delays. I found my hostel easily enough and after a couple quick messages I am definitely ready for bed! Tomorrow I will be exploring Munich!

Day 40. Well that sucked. I went to bed last night so incredibly exhausted and tried desperately to get some sleep, but I tossed and turned all night long. I had three people snoring loudly in their sleep, one person huffing and puffing, another squirming in the bed right above me, loud music and people talking right outside my window, and to top it all off noisy people slamming the door about a million and one times. Lovely. So little to no sleep for me! Oh well, I can sleep when I am dead. First day in Munich!! I may or may not have politely snapped at the guy slamming the door 12 + times in the morning, kindly teaching him in a particularly stern fashion how to shut the door without making obnoxious noise. But in the process I made some friends, haha, Laura and Chris from Canada. They thanked me for doing what they wanted to do and we got up and got some breakfast together downstairs (Free breakfast buffet = win). We were all planning to go on the free walking tour later that morning, so we decided to go together. I love free walking tours and this tour was once again, excellent. We had a great guide who walked us around and gave us more than just the history; she gave us loads of tips for what to do in the city. At the start of the tour we saw the second most overrated tourist attraction in Europe, the Glockenspiel. Bells ring (out of tune) and characters dance (spin in circles) and two knights on horses are jousting (they ride past each other and one slightly leans backwards), haha, but I enjoyed it all the same. We also got to see a church with Satan’s footprint, lucky lions that you rubbed as you walked past, several spots where Hitler made public speeches (crazy to stand where he stood), and then my favorite, alternate routes where Germans would bypass hailing Hitler. The tour was great and after the tour I met two new friends, Luke and Kurt from Australia. Apparently this weekend in Munich is Springfest. It’s similar to Octoberfest, but on a much smaller scale with more locals and is far less touristy. AND the Munich soccer team is doing really well (I guess I picked a good weekend to be in Munich!!). After the tour we all decided to head towards the English gardens where we heard there was a surfer’s wave and nude area in the park. Confused about the wave and even more confused about the nude area we set out. The wave apart of a small river and was really cool. There was a line of surfers on either side of the river waiting to take their turn on the natural currents. We continued walking through the park which was very crowded as it was at least 24 degrees, roasting hot (I think it was hotter in the city because it trapped the heat or something)! The park was nice and sure enough, we got to the center and there was a field of naked people. Yes, an entire field. Not only that, but they were right next to all the clothed people by the river side and NO ONE even cared. Haha, it didn’t seem to faze anyone at all and everyone just went about their business relaxing or playing in the sun. We walked up to a nice gazebo and then to a small beer garden in the park and found a nice spot to drink our tasty beverages and relax. There was a soccer game on tonight that we wanted to watch so after a while we headed back to the city to find a sports bar, we spent a little too long relaxing in the sun and caught the tail end of the game with currywurst for dinner (German sausage with ketchup and mustard curry powder, actually pretty good). We were all pretty drained from the sun and walking around all day, so we split up and planned on meeting back up in a couple hours for some dancing and nightlife. My cold shower was heavenly, and my shoulders loved the moisturizing lotion Laura let me use (Thank you Laura!). We all met back up at 7:55, and then realized that all the stores close in Germany at 8pm… but we managed to find a couple of stores in the main station that were still open. Drinks acquired we went to a park and sat on a bench, listening to music and enjoyed the wonderfully warm night. After a while at the park and a quick stop back by the hostel, we caught the metro to Ostbahnhof which we were told is supposedly an area full of 24 plus bars and clubs all right next to each other. Which it definitely was. The area was bumping.  We got off the metro and just like a school of fish followed the crowds to all the clubs. Lights everywhere, music blaring, and so many people! We got a wristband that let us in 5 different clubs and danced the night away. Laura and I gave each other fake names (Leom and Amber) and I was her fake boyfriend for the weekend. It was so much fun and the clubs were awesome! We weren’t sure, but thought that the last metro back to the city was at about 2:30 and we were cutting it pretty close getting to the station. So when we got there we raced to catch the train and we jumped on what we thought was the correct one (the station is massive with 30 ish platforms and every platform can have two trains along either side that go in different directions). So we got to the right platform and because we had cut it so close we just jumped on the first train we saw assuming it was the last train going back to the city…which unfortunately for us, it was the last train… but it was going further away and outside of the city. Hahahahaha, so we missed our train, were further outside of the city, and there were no more trains going back towards the city. Perfect. We had no way of getting back but to walk along the tracks, following them back to the Ostbahnhof station (We were 5 people so we couldn't all fit in a taxi). So we did just that! We had victory doners (kebabs) at the station and we were able to catch a super late train back into the city another 40 minutes later (the correct one this time, I triple checked). Victory! And now that we all made it back to the hostel safely as I promised Laura when the night began, sleeeeeep.