Buongiorno (good day) from Italy. This week was spent exploring Germany with my parents and enjoying Christmas in the eternal city of Rome. Monday was our first full day in Germany, and it started with an early morning train ride to Salzburg, Austria (my 10th country in the past four months). Upon arriving in Salzburg, we hopped on a tour bus and headed back into Germany to visit the Bavarian Mountains and the town of Berchtesgaden. The tour took us to a salt mine where we got to ride some slides and learn about the mining process. After heading back into Salzburg, we went up to the main castle and explored the museum there. Following the castle, we headed back into the city for a late lunch and then explored the Christmas markets before heading back to Munich. Tuesday consisted of a visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. The camp was covered in snow, and it was a moving experience to see the beauty in a place that had caused so much death.
Woke up early again on Wednesday and hopped on a bus for a tour filled with castles. We learned the difference between a castle, on a hill and used for defense, and a palace, not used for defense. First, we visited the Linderhof Palace which was modeled after Versailles in France. Next, we visited Neuschwanstein Castle and got lunch at the bottom before going on our tour. Upon arriving back to the bus, we where handed beers by the bus driver and headed back to Munich. Thursday was spent exploring Munich with a stop at the Glockenspiel to see the characters move around. We then headed to the Five Continents Museum. Afterwards we headed on a short walking tour of the city before stopping at the Munich Residence, the palace that the royalty stayed in when in the city. We explored the Residence and the adjoining Treasury for a few hours walking through various rooms.
Friday, we flew back to Rome to close out the last few days in Europe. After arriving in Rome, we made a quick stop back to a very quiet campus to pick up my luggage before heading to the Air BnB we got for the week. After getting checked in we went to the grocery store to grab some food for our time in Rome. We had an early dinner ate 433, a place I had wanted to eat all semester but never made it. After dinner we grabbed some gelato and headed back to the BnB for the night. Christmas Eve started with a tour of the Colosseum where we got to explore the underground portion, something we did not do in class. Our tour also took us back into the Roman Forum. After the tour we walked around the city, and I finished picking up souvenirs and gifts. That night I made spaghetti for dinner. Woke up on Christmas morning and had a slow start to the day. We headed to St Peters to see the Pope’s blessing to the world. Both the Swiss Guard and the military branches of Italy paraded into the square. After the blessing we headed back to the bnb to eat lunch and saw some wild boar on the way. After lunch we headed back into the city for a walk visiting the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We had drinks and an appetizer at Abbey Theater before heading back to the bnb for supper.
Ciao, Ann
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