Munich

Ok, so I know I said Salzburg was the most beautiful city I've seen...but I take it all back. Munich...I love you. But I'll probably say that about Vienna when we go there next weekend.

Munich really felt like EUROPE, ya know? It seemed a llliiitttllee less set up for tourists then Salzburg did, and felt more like the Big Apple of Germany.

We started our day at 8:20, meeting in the parkplatz. There we took about 4 vans to get the 21 ACA students to larger train station. Goodness, I'm not sure how many times we had to switch trains...I think it was around 4 times. And all I can say is that I'm happy Markus (our excursion planner guy) knows what he's doing. Although we did get on the wrong trains twice lol.

We started off at the Allianz Stadium. It seats 66,000 people and since it opened in 2004, every game has been sold out. With bigger games they sell standing tickets and can cram 69,000 people in. The stadium changes colors at night. The outside is made of a really tough, thin plastic that heightens the reflection of the different color lights.

We went into the changing rooms and I was kinda surprised to see how simple it all was. The guide said it was because many of the players come from very simple backgrounds and prefer things to remain that way.

The green, the most important part of the stadium, is maintained unbelievably. The sprinkler system that runs over the field has UV lights on the bottom, as to give the grass even expsore. From the months of August to about April the grass is heated from beneath. They have a series of pipes under the field and they heat the water, no more than 50 degrees F, to keep it growing.

After that, we hopped about three more trains and ended up at, what I call the Munich Empire State Building. It was pretty small actually...only one elevator for about 20 seconds. But it was right over the Olympic park. So we got to see a lot of the stadium that was used for the Olympics a few years back.

After that we went into town farther and ended up that this magnificently...indescribable castle, palace, church thing. Honestly, I have no idea what it was but it was.....wow. I really couldn't pry my eyes off it. It's incredibly gothic influences. Creepy Gargoyles everywhere, so much ornamentation...incredible. and HUGE. ENORMOUS. The thing didn't come even close do fitting into my camera picture, no matter where I stood or what angle.

After that we just kinda roamed around and did our own thing. Three of us were so exhausted from the heat and running around we just gt ice cream and french fries and lazily roamed around town until we all met but that ridiculously awesome castle, palace, church place again lol.

Classes are getting harder and harder to focus in. We are CHECKED OUT. We just want to party it up, roam around the country side, and work on our sleep. I'm not sure if we're jet lagged still, but our bodies are definitely still trying to adjust. When I get up at 6:30am it really DOES feel like the 11:30 pm my friends and family are enjoying.

But again, I freakin' am in love with Austria. I couldn't be happier with my decision to come here, more thankful for my parents helping me get here, and my friends for pushing me to go through with it. I owe you all!