Weekend with Amy and John

On Thursday I took the train from Darmstadt to Munich and Saturday morning I met Amy and John at the airport there. We headed to the hotel, dropped of their stuff, and then headed to take the train to Fuessen. In Fuessen we saw Neuschwanstein, Mad King Ludwig's castle that Cinderella's castle is based on. It was gorgeous. I was there when I was little, but it was neat to go back. While there we met an American Masters of Divinity Student studying in Munich, so we spent a lot of the day talking to him, which was interesting. After spending the day touring the castle, we took the train back to Munich and went straight to the Hofbraeuhaus for dinner, beer, and atmosphere. Then we headed back to the hotel and went to bed since Amy and John were exhausted from their flight and traveling.

Saturday we got up, got organized, at breakfast, and headed to Salzburg. Once in Salbzurg we found our way to our hotel and then headed out for some sightseeing. We hiked up to the Festung (fortress) for some great views of the city and the surrounding area. Afterwards, we headed down to town to explore the Altstadt and Neustadt and find some dinner.

Sunday morning we got up to take the Sound of Music Tour. It was great. We were in a minibus with 2 other people. Our tour guide, Rosemarie was wonderful. She gave us lots of historical information (as well as movie facts) doing our tour. In addition to seeing the sights from the movie we got to see some of the area surrounding Salzburg, including part of the Lake District. Rosemarie dropped us off at the train station after our tour, so we could jump on the train to Innsbruck. We didn't get to Innsbruck until 5pm which gave us time for a look around the old city and a peek in the Dom (Cathedral) there. We then headed to Theresianbraeu (probably my favorite restaurant and beer in Innsbruck) for dinner. After dinner we strolled around Innsbruck, so I could show Amy and John where I lived and where most of my classes were.

Monday morning we got up hit up Swarovski and hiked up to the Bergisel (the ski jump in Innsbruck). It was used in the 1964 and 1976 Olympics. It also has an amazing view of the city. We then headed down to town for some souvineer shopping before going back to the train station. Amy and John got on their train to Venice, and I wandered around the city for a little while before catching my train back to Darmstadt. My trip home turned out to be an adventure in itself since my train had some technical difficulties and we ended up over 2 hours late! Needless to say, the Deutsche Bahn (German train company) owes me some money!

My weekend with Amy and John was absolutely wonderful. It was so great to spend time with family. Also it was wonderful to go back to Austria where I had such a wonderful experience studying abroad. It was definitely very difficult to say goodbye when they left. I'm also bummed that now I won't see any family until my parents come in May.

(The pictures are from the top of the Festung in Salzburg, the lake district outside Salzburg, and from the top of the Bergisel).