We spent our very last trip and weekend abroad in Munich, Germany at Springfest! As soon as we woke up Friday morning we went on a walking tour of the city that just so happened to have two huge kegs following us. No where else in the world except the beer drinking capital would this be acceptable. We didn't get a single judging glare the entire time which, was awesome. Our guide was hysterical and had us doing all different kinds of embarrassing things. I even got down and did 10 pushups in front of everyone. In my opinion the coolest part was seeing the steps that Hitler used to stand on to give his speeches to the tons of people crowding around listening. Our tour ended at the largest beerhouse in the city. We all agreed that it was by far the best tour we had been on all semester. After the tour was over we headed straight to get our little German dresses for the beerfest. It took a decent amount of time to find the perfect ones. Not gonna lie, they were pretty expensive but so worth the time and money. It wasn't long before we realized that they really gave the experience the full effect. We put them on right away and headed straight for the tents. We weren't wasting any time. After a little while we even ran into Ashley at one point! We were so happy that we got to hangout with her for a while. Me and Jaclyn ended up leaving a little bit earlier than everyone else because we wanted to make time to go on all of the rides. We were legit running around holding hands like little girls. We had sooo much fun!!!! My favorite ride was the swings that were up really high and gave you an amazing view over the entire carnival which, was all lit up.

The next morning we got ready quick and headed straight back to the tents. We actually ended up being the first ones in line. The enormous tent was completely empty when we walked in so we were the first ones to choose whatever table we wanted. We claimed the perfect spot right in the center. We spent the next 12 hours or so hanging out in there. The beers were the best that I had ever had before. They were extremely light and tasted amazing. The steins were so big that I had to hold them with two hands. Each one cost 10 Euros so they really added up. Every once and a while this song would come on in German and after a few times we all eventually caught onto the words. We were singing: "Cheers to a good time!" At the end everyone would raise their big mugs and clink them together. To entertain ourselves all of my friends and I would play the game zoomie zoomie which, I loved. Of course I made time at some point during the day to make it back onto the swings!

 

 

On our last day we took a train to go to the Dachau Concentration Camp. It ended up being a pretty emotional day. It was by far one of the most moving things I had seen over the entire four month span. Each of us was quiet for the most part and just kept to ourselves as we walked around and saw the horrific sights. We got to see everything from the open area where they had role call every day, twice a day to the prisoners' sleeping quarters to the gas chambers. It was crazy to picture these things actually happening on the very land that I was walking on. I am glad that I got the chance to go because it definitely changed my perspective on a lot of things.

Germany/Springfest definitely made it into my top three trips! It was the perfect ending in my opinion. Overall I liked the city a lot more than I expected to.

We chose the following weekend to stay in Florence. We felt it was necessary because we were leaving so soon. We spent a majority of each day walking around the entire city and shopping. We also got all of the souvenirs that we still needed. It was also one of our craziest weekends in my opinion. We stayed out the latest we had pretty much all semester these few nights. We had soo much fun!! When Monday came along our entire group of friends got tickets to go to the Fiorentina soccer game! We had a huge pregame at the boys apartment beforehand and hungout on the terrace. Everyone brought food and we made it into a bbq. Once we got there the stadium was pretty rowdy. I was a lot more into the game than I expected to be. I was glad I finally got to make it to one because I didn't want to leave without getting the chance to.

Next came what would end up being my absolute favorite trip of them all: Amalfi Coast! The hotel that bus2alps put us in was located in Sorrento. Although we slept and ate there I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the actual city a little more. My mom's boyfriend, Anthony, has a house there so I would have liked to have gotten to walk around the town a little bit. We didn't arrive until very late Thursday night so we went straight to bed. The next morning we took a bus over to Positano!! It dropped us off at the very top of the cliffs to let us walk the rest of the way down. The view from up there was breathtaking. The walk down was pretty long but I did not mind it one bit. We spent the entire day hanging out on the black sand beach. It was amazing to look around you and be surrounded by colorful houses built right into the sides of these huge cliffs. Although the water was not too warm I went in it a few times! This was after intensely checking for fish of course lol. What I had heard multiple times was 100% true: the Mediterranean is salty enough that you float automatically a little bit without even meaning to. This was by far the best day I had had abroad all semester. I really did not want to leave to get back on that bus when it was time to go. Later on that night we went to this beer garden that the company had recommended to us which, was pretty cool.

The next morning we had to be up super early to head over to Capri. We took a ferry this time. Once we got there they split us all up onto smaller boats and we got to go on a tour of the island. The first thing that they showed us was the White Grotto. At one point we drove straight through this small hole in a cliff that is randomly placed in the middle of the water. It was an extremely tight squeeze I was so nervous that we were going to crash. Also, we passed a light house that they told us is the second most important one in the world because Capri tends to get very, very foggy. Our last stop on the tour was the Blue Grotto. They informed us that this was one of the seven wonders of the world!!!! We got lucky that the weather and the tide were perfect so we were given the opportunity to go inside of it. Most people don't get the chance to do so. The opening to get inside was literally a small hole at the bottom of the cliff where it meets the water. Me, Natalie, Taylor and Elyssa all got on a little row boat (you were only allowed up to 4 people at a time). When it was our turn to go in the man guiding our boat told us to lay down in order to fit. My heart was racing. He grabbed this rope, pulled it hard and then laid down on top of us. Once we were inside he told us we could sit up again. As I did I saw one of the most spectacular things ever. I was inside a cave echoing with the sounds of the guides singing in Italian. Our guide told us to look back at the hole that we came in. When you did the way that the light reflects makes the entire cave look like it is shining neon blue. The water looks as if it is glowing. It is indescribable. It was definitely a great end to the tour. The Amalfi Coast is known for their lemons and oranges. You can see trees growing them everywhere. So once we were back on land we got one of their famous drinks which, is a lemon slushy combined with an orange slushy and some alcohol of course. It was sooo good and refreshing. Once we were all finished we took a chair lift to the very top of the island. The sights on the way up were beautiful and apparently we were told that they were even better once you reached the top. Of course once we did it became so cloudy that we couldn't see a single thing! We were all pissed. I could literally see the clouds moving past me as I was standing up there. When it was time to leave we took a convertible taxi back down which, was awesome! By far the coolest cab I have ever been in.

 

On our last day in this gorgeous place we went to Pompeii. We got a tour around the ruins. I didn't  even need it because I already knew all about the history of this city. We had learned a lot about it in my Ancient Rome class. It was awesome to get to see everything in real life though. I was glad we made a stop here.