"Yeah the truth is that I miss you so."

Like I promised yesterday, I will today, my last full day in Darmstadt, be writing about my experiences in and around Munich with my parents, so here goes!

My flight from Riga to Munich proceeded without incident, and I arrived in Munich on Monday, July 21st around 1:30 PM, roughly two hours before my parents. I found a grocery store in the airport and made a big lunch for myself. My parents and I had established a number of plans to find one another at the airport, and in the end I ended up waiting for them at the exit to their gate. With a swift "Kehoe Whistle" contact was established. Mom and Dad were very tired after nearly a day of travel but were overjoyed to see me. It was great to see them as well. We took a train from the airport to the main train station in Munich, and then walked to our hotel which was extremely close. After settling in, we went to dinner at Augustiner, a famous biergarten, and ended up running into some students from the University of Indiana who had been studying in London earlier in the summer. After dinner, everyone was pretty tired so we went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

On Tueday, we all got up for breakfast in the hotel and then walked to the city center to see the sights. After stopping at an outdoor cafe, we went to the Deutchesmuseum, exploring the various exhibits concerning aviation, power generation, and the environment, among others. It was a pretty cool place with more to see than could be done in a single afternoon. Afterward, we regrouped back at the hotel and then went to dinner at Rechthaler, a restaurant near the train station. After dinner, we returned to the hotel to relax, playing cards and watching the BBC.

On Wednesday, we took our first of two day trips. After some breakfast, we took a train through the beautiful countryside with a tour group to Schloss Neuschwanstein, a castle built (but never fully finished) in the late 1800's for Ludwig II of Bavaria. I can understand why it is supposedly the number one tourist attraction in Germany as the the castle and surrounding area were quite beautiful. After checking out a nearby lake, we took a bus up the mountain, and then walked to a bridge that overlooked the castle and the surrounding area. The bridge was extremely crowded and the wooden planks did a lot of moving around when people walked on them, which made Mom pretty uncomfortable. Despite (or perhaps because of) the spotty weather, the view from the bridge was great. After a little while, we walked down to the castle itself and embarked on a guided tour of the inside. Sorry, but no pictures were allowed of the inside. Once again, the view of the surrounding area was marvelous. While I always really enjoy castles (and this was certainly no exception), I was shocked by house gratuitously lavish the decorations were. For example, in the master bedroom, Ludwig had fifteen wood carvers working for four years on his bed alone! Since the castle was initially designed by a theatrical set designer and not an architect, I think that Ludwig's priorities were pretty clear. Having said all that, it was by far my favorite castle I had ever seen although I had only seen three other castles up close before that. After a while, we returned to the hotel and then went to dinner at Andescher am Dom, a restaurant with tables looking out on a busy pedestrian courtyard. For dinner, we sat down at a table of six where three other people were already dining. They spoke in a foreign language that I eventually recognized to be Spanish. Eventually, I decided to see where they were from (northern Spain near the border of Portugal) and ended up having a forty five minute conversation with them, even talking to their youngest son (who is an architect) on the phone. It was a very pleasant (but exhausting) exchange. After dinner we went back to the hotel for the night.

On Thursday after breakfast again at the hotel, we began a bus tour of Munich, seeing many of the famous sights of Munich as well as getting off and exploring a few of the more interesting places. We visited the Palace of Nymphenburg where we explored the grounds even ran into the Spaniards from the previous evening! We also took Where's Michael? and Where's Kevin? pictures for you to enjoy. Can you find us? Another site that we visited was the Olympic Park which was created for the 1972 Olympics. While here, we once again explored the grounds, going to the top of a tower for a great view of the city and also eating some lunch despite the bees that were extremely interested in our beverages. The final site we visited was the Schwabing/Siegestor, walking to the English Garden where we enjoyed a drink under a Chinese tower. After finishing the tour, we ate dinner at Bratwurstherzl and had a drink at the Hofbrauhaus, eventually returning to our rooms once again.

On Friday, after once again eating breakfast at the hotel, we took our final day trip, this time via train to Salzburg, Austria. Along the way, we had to take a detour involving a crowded bus because one of the cars in a train on the track in front of us caught fire. On the bus, Dad lost his hat. This might be the last picture taken of my father with the hat. On the bright side of things, as you will see Dad did get a pretty good replacement once in Salzburg. When we arrived in Salzburg, our guide took us through the city and then we were free to explore by ourselves for a few hours. On a hill overlooking the city was by far my favorite castle to date, Festung Hohensalzburg, and it was there that my parents and I, along with a grandmother and her granddaughter from The States whom we befriended at Nueshwanstein, would spend the majority of our free exploring time. The reason I like this castle so much more than the others is because it was so formidable with very little parts of the structure built purely for aesthetics. Plus, it was by far the most zed-proof castle I have seen, complete with gates, cannons, and a well. All things considered, Salzburg was a really neat city and Austria was probably the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Eventually we took a train back to Munich, this time without any delays or transfers, and then ate dinner at Nurnberger Bratwurst Glockl am Dom. What a mouthful! Dinner would once again be our last major activity for the evening.

On Saturday, our final full day in Munich, we decided to check out some of the museums we had seen during the tour on Thursday. We traveled via electric trolley which was a fun experience. First, we went to the Alte Pinakothek, which has art from the 13th to the 18th centuries. After spending a couple of hours seeing the various displays, we ate lunch at Tresznjewski, a restaurant near the museums. When we had finished, we started making our way to our next and final museum of the day, the Neue Pinakothek which focuses on 17th and 18th century European art including art from Leonardo da Vinci, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh. It is always pretty amazing to be able to get so close to the work of such famous people. After seeing all the rooms in the museum, we made our way back to the part of the town where we were staying, getting a drink and a snack at a biergarten on Augustinerstrasse while waiting for Mass. We went to Mass at a Jesuit church named after St. Michael. It was a beautiful service. After Mass we ate some dinner before heading back to the hotel. Mom and Dad had a really early morning the following day so we tried to get to sleep as soon as possible. Speaking of sleep, even though our hotel was near the train station and even though we had to sleep with the windows open due to the heat, we were able to get a lot of sleep thanks to Mom bringing ear plugs. Mom and Dad woke up the next morning at 3AM and were out the door before 4AM. After seeing them off, I continued to sleep until eight o'clock, ate some breakfast, and checked out of the room in time for my 9:39 AM train back to Darmstadt.

It was really great to see Mom and Dad again. While this may sound cheesy, the highlight of the trip for me was not the awesome castle in Salzburg or the beautiful countryside but rather being able to spend some time catching up with my parents. I know that I learned a lot about their history that I had either forgotten or never knew in the first place, and I think that they learned some things about me as well. More generally, we had a really good time simply hanging out. I am thankful that I have two such wonderful parents with whom I can get along so well.

As I mentioned before, today is my last full day in Darmstadt. It is hard to believe how quickly things have been going, but my summer in Europe is not quite over yet. After checking out of my apartment and taking care of a couple of other administrative issues, I will be leaving for Berlin where I will remain for a few days. On August 4th, I will travel to Frankfurt in preparation for my flight to the US which is the following day. As this will be my longest trip by myself and as I will be exploring such a historical city, I am very much looking forward to this last adventure before my European experience ends. I will update you when I can, although I do not know whether that will be in the hostel in Berlin, the hotel in Frankfurt, or my room at home. In any case, I look forward to seeing how this goes and sharing my experiences with you!