So...on Saturday the 3rd I flew down to Munich where I was supposed to meet the girls after their connecting flight in Madrid. As you could probably tell by the italicized "supposed," the meeting did not go as planned. The girls were stuck in Madrid due to missing their connecting flight, and rather than meeting them at noon they weren't able to get to the hostel until about 8:30pm that night. As soon as they had arrived and showered off the travel-stink, we didn't waste any time in experiencing some German culture. Of course you know what I'm talking about - we went to the Hofbraeuhaus. A round of liter-sized beers, a sausage sampler platter and some pretzels improved the night exponentially. After taking advantage of the free mini-beers at the hostel we made it an early night in preparation for the next day.
Andie and I at the Hofbraeuhaus
Nikki, Kelsey and Andie at the Opera House in Munich
After being seated in one of the last available booths (it was Easter Sunday and the place was packed), we were served by a very frantic waiter who proceeded to clear the already set table, then re-set it again, throw down the menus on the table and frantically tell us (in an almost agitated tone) "Two minutes!" We then figured out that the area where we had been seated was supposed to have been occupied by a larger party which had canceled. This poor guy was then given about six tables which were all seated at about the same time. He gradually warmed up as
the night went on, and he quickly gave us our new catch phrase for the entire trip - "You know me!" He also had a fantastic reaction to the stereotypical annoying (and drunk) Americans at the table next to us. They were doing that game where you flip a pile of coasters in the air and try to catch them...let's just say it was getting out of hand. Coasters were flying everywhere and they had pulled the tablecloth away...our waiter dude came flying in with "What is this?!?" and quickly re-set the table. You tell them, Mr. Waiter! It really was a nicer restaurant, and not exactly the type of place for drunken frivolity. Fantastic food though, and Andie and I both found the Dunkles Bier (dark beer) to be quite tasty...
The following morning (Monday) was very very verrrrrrry early in order to catch our flight to Stockholm. Good-old RyanAir...cheap flights, shitty times & airport locations! I think we had to leave the hostel at about 5am in order to catch the 1.5 hour train ride to the airport outside of Munich. After arriving at a similarly small airport in East Jesus Stockholm, we eventually madeit to our hostel in the Gamla-Stan (old town) area of Stockholm. The Gamla-Stan area is basically an island, and our hostel was located right on the water - great location and it was nice to have a private four person room even if it smelled like there may or may not have been something decaying under our floorboards. It was a bit dreary that afternoon (luckily the only bit of rainy-esque weather that we encountered the entire trip!), so we decided to freshen up and head straight for food. The super awesome girl who worked at the front counter suggested that we eat at Kungshalle, which was basically a self-serve place with tons of international food chains so everyone was happy.
After dinner we made it to what was probably the highlight of Stockholm - the Absolut Ice Bar! I'd be as tempted as the next person to say that it was overrated, but truly - it was not! It was absolutely fantastic...before we went in these huge poncho-esque coats were thrown over us, which served not only to keep us warm but also to keep our clothes spill-proof. Genius! When wewent in we received our complementary free drink (read: shot or two with a bit of mixers thrown in)in a glass which was made of ice at the bar which, yes, was made of ice! We only had forty-five minutes total, but our feet were cold by the end of it and we had plenty of time to down some drinks and take some great pictures. We then rounded out the evening with a few drinks afterward...you know, for good measure!
Me and Andie at the Ice Bar in Stockholm
Glasses made of ice!
Tuesday was our big day exploring Stockholm, and we sooooo lucked out with the weather! We went on a boat tour of the city which was a bit chilly, but gorgeous, and got some great burgers for lunch. In the afternoon we went to the Vasamuseet, or Vasa Museum where they have a 17th century ship on display which sank on its maiden voyage and wasn't recovered until the 60s. We then had drinks at a cafe along the water and went to have a traditional Swedish dinner at "The Pelikan" - another recommendation from the fantastic hostel girl who never led us astray! Andie and I went with the Swedish meatballs, which of course were only called "meatballs" there...fantastic. Like, mouth-watering fantastic. The other two went with salmon...didn't say it out loud then, but Andie and I totally won as far as dinner-choices went. The evening once again ended in a bar - this time a jazz bar called "Stampen" which had some very tasty pear-flavored cider and great live music...
Waterfront area in Stockholm...boat tour!Wednesday morning, once again thanks to RyanAir's inability to have a flight leave from a location within an hour of the city where it is "located," we left very early for our flight to Paris. After the long trip and being deprived of food during said trip, we checked into our hostel which was right at the foot of Sacre Coeur, my favorite place in Paris, grabbed quite possibly the best chicken sandwiches in the world (at least they seemed like it after not having eaten anything all morning), and we ate them on the hill in front of Sacre Coeur.
That evening we decided to go to the Latin Quarter near St. Michel to grab some great French cuisine. There's this whole street just lined with restaurants, so the waiters do their best to entice prospective customers. Our garcon began wooing us the minute we walked by - we got a table right by the front of the restaurant (which was open because the weather was gorgeous), and I don't think we've all been called beautiful so many times within five minutes. Kelsey even got a kiss on the cheek from our frisky waiter! Seriously, the food did NOT disappoint - best duck I've ever had in my LIFE! It's too bad that Andie had a cold and couldn't taste anything that night...at least she got her taste back by the last day in France!
This is when the night got interesting...we were supposed to go on a pub crawl, but for some reason it never met up at the meeting place! Therefore, we decided to go out exploring the French bars on our own. Piano bar? Why not! And this decision made all the difference. At first when we went into this bar, I wasn't so sure. It seemed a little pretentious, and I felt a bit out of place with the whole piano and the singer and everything. After a couple glasses of wine we were getting into the music and really started to enjoy ourselves. Then, these two older French men in business suits, about 75 years old and clearly done with a day of work, plop down at the table next to us and one proceeds to grab Andie's wine glass and stick his nose right in it. We were totally thrown off but had to burst out laughing, and we quickly learned that these two guys couldn't speak a WORD of English, and we couldn't speak a word of French. Great situation, no? Hilariously enough, we managed to become best buds with these guys buy the end of the night (I know I know...older guys flirting with four twenty-something American women. But hey, it was harmless...and we got free wine out of it!). After having made friends with the singer and these two guys, we decided to call it quits and head home. We'd all had more than enough wine, and when the guy sitting next to Andie dropped his wine glass on the floor we figured they were about done as well. Stellar night all in all - Who said the French aren't friendly?
Despite the large quantities of wine consumed the night before, we managed to wake up early on Thursday in order to see Paris in all its glory! First thing we did was hit up the Louvre right when it opened...we lasted about 1.5 hours there, but after that we were all pretty museumed-out. After leaving the Louvre we walked down the Champs de Elysee all the way to the Arc de Triomphe. Desperately needing food we took the metro back to Montmartre (the area where we were staying at) and got some grub (ps - apparently in France when you order a hamburger you get a beef patty with a fried egg on top. Lesson learned). Then we did what I had been trying to do the last two times I was in Paris - a tour of the Montmartre area, which had previously (and still partially remains) the artist-center of Paris. Now it's a bit more expensive to live there, but for example the Place du Tetre still has painters and artists all over the place. On the tour we got to see Van Gogh's house, Picasso's house, and several places where the movie "Amelie" had been filmed.
We were then all in desperate need of a break - the others showered and napped, and I ran to the grocery store across the street to grab some wine, bread, cheese, water....I was feeling very French. We also had a terrace connected to our room with a view of the Sacre Coeur, so I played solitaire and enjoyed the view while the others napped. The evening was relatively calm as well - after visiting Place du Tetre and buying some paintings we had dinner and rounded out the night by drinking some wine in front of the Eiffel Tower, which, by the way, lights up and sparkles at night. Great way to end the night.
Wine at the Eiffel Tower - Me and Kelsey
Wine at the Eiffel Tower - Me and Kelsey
Nikki, Kelsey and I at Place du la Concorde
On our last real full day we had to scramble to fit in the other "musts" in Paris. We went back to the Eiffel Tower to take some daytime pics, went by Notre Dame, the gals did some serious souvenir shopping, and then we decided that it was only appropriate that our last real meal be a good one (unfortunately Nikki was sick for this meal, so she and Andie switched places as to who could taste it and who could not). We even decided to get some fondue in addition to our course meal. Hey, if you're going to do it then do it right! Wenn schon, denn schon.
Kelsey and I with our fondue
Kelsey and I with our fondue
Andie, Nikki, Kelsey and I at the Eiffel Tower
Andie, Kelsey and Nikki at Notre Dame
As you can imagine, at this point we were all exhausted. We had just enough energy to grab some massive waters at the grocery store and get to the train which would take us back to Munich. Six hours of doing nothing but sitting was a welcome change of pace. We didn't get back to Munich until about 10pm so that left just enough time for a BK dinner, and then Andie, Kelsey and I ventured back out to find a Hofbraeuhaus mug which Andie wanted. We literally got to the Hofbraeuhaus FIVE minutes after the store had closed, so I ran across the street and finagled a couple of mugs from the rival (and locally adored) Augustinerbraeu. It's times like that when I am very happy that I'm able to speak German...
Not too much exciting from that point on - we all got about three hours of sleep total since the next morning was another early one. I went as far as the Munich airport with the girls and we said our goodbyes - it was a wonderful vacation and it was so great to see all of them and to share this experience. Now all I have to do is wait less than three months to see them again in the burg!
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