#Frühlingsfest

     This past weekend Megan and I traveled to Munich Germany for Springfest! Our weekend began with an early wake up call at 4am to get to the airport for our 7am flight. It was a rough morning, but luckily the flight was easy and short and we made it to the hostel in no time! Since we arrived SO early in the morning we decided to spend the day sight seeing and do a little shopping for some traditional attire. We spent a good part of the day going in and out of so many different stores just trying to find an affordable dress. Just when we were beginning to lose hope, we finally came across a costume store filled with dirndls! For those of you who don't know a dirndl is a traditional dress in Germany that is commonly worn during these types of festivals. It is consisted of a small tight dress, an off the shoulder crop top and a little apron to top it all off. We were so happy to finally have found these dresses for the festival that began the next day!

     On Friday our friends had finally arrived and we made our way to the center of Munich for a beer walking tour!! The Beer tour consisted of three full kegs being pulled on wagons, a hysterical tour guide and about 50 college kids. The tour was fun and we were able to learn about the history of Germany as well. But what made this tour so much fun were the drinking games that the tour guide had us play. As we were walking down the streets he would yell, "Grenade!" and everyone would have to duck down as fast as they could. You could see people would stop and stare, wondering what was going on, and why we were all on the ground! It was so funny and we all had a great time!

     After our two hour walking tour of Munich, we heading back to the hostel to put on our dirndls for the festival! Once we were all dressed and ready we headed to the grounds were everything is held. The environment was very cool with the carnival atmosphere, the traditional dress and of course all the beer! We headed to the first tent, where we all just hung out and talked for a while before the tent really got crowded at night. We ordered some beer and pretzels which were HUGE!

     A little while later we decided to walk around and explore to see if we could get into a different tent. After we started walking we all got so distracted and wound up going on so many different rides at the carnival. It was a lot of fun and it felt like we were kids again enjoying all rides there. Once we were done, we made our way to an outdoor area that had lots of tables to sit, eat and drink! We spent the rest of our night here, which was so nice just being with all of our friends!!

     On Saturday we spent the whole day at spring fest enjoying our last day at the tents! We were able to get into the big tent, where there were so many people and live music! Everyone was dancing on the tables and singing! It was just so much fun to be able to get to experience this with all my friends!

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     On sunday before our flight we were given the chance to go tour the Dachau Concentration Camp. I was hesitant at first to go see this memorial sight because I knew it would be very difficult to see and experience, but I am glad I got to see this. During our time there no one really talked to each other. It was silent as we toured the grounds. I've never see anything like this and it was very heavy emotionally to think about all the terrible things that have happened there. It was an eye opening experience seeing this first hand after learning about this horrible time during school. I remember walking through the camp and seeing the bunkers, the grounds, where the slept but the gas chamber was something that too much. It was horrible to see and to think that this is how these people were living during this time. It was emotional day one that will never be forgotten.

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     Overall, Munich is defiantly a trip I will never forgot. We were able to see our friends from home, and experience a real Frühlingfest! It was so much fun and I am so happy that we went. But not only did we get to experience spring fest, but we got to see this memorial sight which was an amazing learning experience that I will always remember. Thank you Munich for giving us a great weekend full of good friends, good times, and amazing experiences that I will hold close to my heart! xoxo

Ireland

      Last week the girls and I got the chance to travel to Ireland for the weekend. The trip started out like every other trip as we raced to the airport trying to make our flight. But to our luck the flight was delayed, allowing us all to catch up on some homework before arriving in Dublin. After hours of waiting, our two hour flight and what seemed like a never ending bus ride we finally made it to the hostel at 3:30am. It was a long day and we all needed some sleep before we began our weekend.

    Friday was our first full day in Ireland and we began the day with a walking tour of Dublin City. Since I have already been to Ireland twice before I was pretty familiar with the city but learning the history behind the city was a pretty cool experience for me. I learned a lot of new things about the Dublin Castle, Trinity College, the Christ Church Cathedral and so much more. The tour was so much fun and our tour guide Carl was really funny and made the 3 hour tour fly by. 

     Next the girls and I made our way over to the Guinness Storehouse and Brewery. We had free tickets to tour the Factory and see each of the seven floors to learn how they create the perfect pint. As we made our way up each floor we learned that the Storehouse is actually in the shape of a Guinness pint all leading up to the Galaxy bar with a breathtaking panoramic view of Dublin. Of Course we each were able to have our pint of Guinness to get the full experience of this tour. And sure enough it was truly the perfect pint!

      That night we all decided to explore the Temple Bar Area, and what better way to do that then a pub crawl! With a group of almost a hundred people we bounced from bar to bar all having the time of our lives! 

      On Saturday, we were up bright an early as we embarked on our journey to the Cliffs of Moher! The last time I got the chance to see these amazing cliffs, it was a dark and foggy day out. So I wasn't able to really see the full beauty of them so I was really praying that the weather would hold out if for only an hour and sure enough…it did! It was a chilly rainy day but lucky for us the sun was able to make an appearance long enough for us to see the cliffs and take some awesome pictures!

       After visiting the Cliffs we toured other small cities on the Western side of Ireland including Limerick and Galway Bay. Both were beautiful and brought back many memories of being here as a child. It was in these moments that I felt truly blessed with my life. I am so lucky to have had the chance of not only visiting Ireland once, but three times through out my life. Many people cannot say they have been able to do that and I am blessed to have been given that opportunity!!  After a long day of traveling, we all decided to go out for a big Irish dinner and of course a night out in Temple Bar. 

Overall Ireland was an amazing trip! We all had so much touring Dublin and getting a feel for the night life that Temple Bar has to offer. Getting to experience Ireland again for the third time with these amazing girls was something that I'll never forget. From all of our crazy traveling experiences to the inside jokes we have all formed a friendship that will never be replaced. So as the Irish say, "Thanks a Million!" I will definitely be seeing you soon!!  

xoxo