Cat in a Bag..

We kicked off our weeklong break from school in Frankfurt, Germany. What Ryanair forgot to mention was that Frankfurt-Hahn airport is about 2 hours outside of Frankfurt proper. No wonder Ryan Air has such cheap tickets—cool. After a long unplanned delay, we had no choice but to catch the 5:30 am bus into Frankfurt after spending the night in the airport. We didn’t let this little set back bring us down for the weeklong adventure ahead of us though. After all, we are so savvy (just like Johnny Depp).

We arrived to Frankfurt at about 7am whereby we were greeted by Jacky, the beloved older brother of Izzi’s good friend, Jill. We were able to stay at his commune style living apartment in Frankfurt where we spent the first part of the day sleeping due to the lack of sleep the night before. After a few good hours of rest, we walked around the neighborhood where Jacky lives. That night Jacky made us, what he considered, an authentic German meal- mashed potatoes, cabbage, sausage with mustard and some delicious apple wine (made right there in Frankfurt).

The following day, we took the train to Stuttgart where we met our lovely friend Liz, older sister of Anna… Thank you again baby schnizz. We avoided the roads on our way back to Liz’s and took the Subway because of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart_21 check it out.  

Upon arrival, we hit up the local markets and shopped ‘till we dropped. We got everything we needed for a good ‘ole American Halloween feast. In Halloween spirit, we made caramel apples, carved a pumpkin, enjoyed some tasty Stuttgart beer, and were entertained by our favorite Halloween flick- Hocus Pocus. The Sanderson sisters sure did show us a good time. 

Halloween weekend continued with a visit to Hohenzollern Castle. The castle sat atop a grand hill (which was actually a serious hike from the bottom) covered with the reds, oranges, and yellows of fall. Finally, we experienced a season we so longed for. We joined the local Germans at a home-style restaurant for a goodbye dinner with Liz.

The next morning at the train station, we met Susan. Was she a man? Hard to say, but we do know she had a cat in a bag.

The train took us to Munich. We were hungry for some schnitzel and thirsty for some beer. We met up with Chloe’s good friend Mal, and because it was a holiday, there wasn’t much to do other than go to a local beer hall. After dinner, we returned to the hostel bar. Turned out it was a hopping spot—for men that is, we were the only 4 girls in the place. It was an interesting knife…we mean night. We’re still a little tripped up by the knife threat we received during a debate over religion. Thanks, Mike Fishbone--who is pictured below. We took that as our cue to retire back to our room for the night.

The next day we took a tour of Dachau, a concentration camp located just outside Munich. There are very few words that can express the emotions we felt as we walked the grounds of this historical atrocity. Although depressing and heart wrenching, it is so essential that you see this for yourself one day. 

That night we took a beer and food tour with the company of 4 new friends—a couple of Aussies, one Brit, and the last, an American. We experienced a few of the best beer halls Munich has to offer—ending at our favorite- The Haufbrauhaus. We returned back to the hostel bar, once again. It was a night of new friends and our fill of beer for the year.

Germany was great, but we were ready to move on. Our last leg of the trip was Prague. What was supposed to be a 5-hour bus ride turned into an 8 hour one after our bus driver made friends with a parked car. After a few free hot chocolates and the viewing of a few Nancy Meyer classics, we made it to the Florenc Bus Station in Prague.

After check-in at our hostel, we decided to take a late night stroll through the city. It only took 5 minutes on the Charles Bridge to understand why Prague is the favorite European city of so many.  The towering gothic statues on either side of the bridge create a sense of engulfment as they stare you down along your walk. The bridge divides the Lesser Town from Old Town—but don’t let the names fool you. We found them both to be equally magnificent. We were completely in awe of the magically lit landscape.

Our first day in Prague began with the exploration of Prague Castle. Because the English tour was not until later in the day, we resorted to plan B—the audio phones that took us back to the 80’s. Well, only Caitlin knows what that’s really like.

 Like we read in Rick Steve’s book, the Cathedral was the only part really worth seeing. The Roman Catholic cathedral, St. Vitus, housed countless tombs of deceased Bohemian Kings and Holy Roman emperors. The audio guide was a bit overwhelming with the amount of information shared- but it was nice to see a cathedral quite different from the many we have visited with our school in Spain.

That evening, we went out for some (authentic) Czech Chinese food before catching the Prague Symphony. If you’re ever in Prague, live classical music is a must. It was a wonderful night of culture and music.

The following morning, we met in the Old Town Square just in time for a free tour in English. Our tour guide, Jeff, was straight out of Hollywood and made us miss home in California. We covered all of Prague in about two hours and learned everything there was to know about Czech History. After the tour, we spent the afternoon in the Mucha and Salvador Dalí exhibitions. For lunch, we finally gave in to the Doner Kebab stand after walking past it for the hundredth time. It was obviously worth it. That night we walked to the famous Lennon wall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lennon_Wall . A pretty cool sight to see, definitely see it for yourself if traveling to Prague.

Our last meal was quite an interesting one. We dined at the local pizza joint where we became entertainment for the loud and overbearing Czech men at the table directly across from us. To answer their question honestly now- no, we did not like your band’s heavy metal music playing as we ate, and we actually quite hated it. That night we said goodbye to Prague and slept the night away one last time in the cozy Little Town hotel. 

A week off from school was just what we needed. We saw new beauty and made new friends. This has been our routine for the last few months. We miss home, but we are prepared to make the most of this next month and 11 days. There is so much left to discover, and we are excited for the unknown. See you soon.Vale.