Looking Back on Our Germany Trip (One Year Later)
The Alps
The Sports Chief/Garett
One year ago today I was fortunate enough to take the biggest trip of my lifetime. I had never been out of the country before, so taking an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean to Germany was a huge opportunity. Though most of our trip took place in Germany, we also ventured into Austria and Italy as well. Being that we are now a complete year from the day we embarked on our journey, I wanted to take a look back and remember some of the things we were able to experience.
I’ll try to remember the events in the order that they occurred as I write about my memories. Of course, I have to start with the plane ride. We still talk and laugh about how we all assumed we would sleep the entire plane ride over there. After preparing by buying neck pillows, we all thought we’d eat the meal on the plane before catching about eight hours of sleep to be well rested to begin our trip once we landed in Munich at six-something in the morning. How wrong we were. None of us got a bit of sleep and began our day at six in the morning there, already running on a full day of being awake. I remember how tired I was toward the end of that first day. It’s a great thing we were able to get a great night of sleep that first night in Austria.
Upon landing in Munich, Germany and renting our car for the week, we needed to find something to eat. We also still laugh at the fact that our first two meals in a foreign country were McDonalds and Subway. I guess we needed to slowly adjust to being in a foreign land. That first day was brutal. Though we were all excited about what lied ahead of us that week, we also felt so lost, out of place, and collectively wondered what we got ourselves into. “Maybe we should just stay in America from now on,” we all were thinking. It’s crazy the comforts that Americans get used to, and also take for granted. But we quickly realized that over there. We would eventually settle in, however, after that first day of adjusting.
Munich, Germany
The Sports Chief/Garett
One of the first things we realized was just how beautiful the landscape was over there. Driving along somewhere close to the Germany/Austria border, we rounded a turn and a huge mountain (from the Alps) revealed itself to us as we came out of the turn. At the same moment we all were mesmerized, and quickly agreed we needed to pull over to take pictures. The Alps were absolutely stunning. For me, and probably for all of us, it was like being inserted into a movie.
Going to the top of the infamous Eagle’s Nest was one of the first things on our weekly agenda. Located in the very southeast corner of Germany was Hitler and the Nazi Party’s former meeting place. We took a charter bus ride around some sharp turns, rode an elevator, and eventually made it to the very top where the Third-Reich era building stood. It is now used as a restaurant, so we had lunch there and took in the views. The two things that still stand out to me now are the peculiar feeling of being in a place where Hitler and the Nazi Party met and planned some evil things, and the beauty of it all. I can’t describe the peculiar feeling, but it was strange to say the least. It wasn’t eerie or anything, it just felt very odd being in a place where Hitler frequented and planned destruction many decades before. And the beauty was something else. The views at the top of the 6,017-ft peak were tremendous. We snapped pictures and just walked around for a while on the half snow-covered mountain, taking it all in and hardly believing any of it was real.
The Eagle’s Nest
The Sports Chief/Garett
One of the reasons we timed our trip to Germany when we did was because it coincided with the world-famous Oktoberfest. However, we went on the very last day of the multiple-week long festival and realized that was a mistake. Also going on a weekend didn’t help either. It was so crowded that we didn’t get to experience it like we had planned, where we envisioned going into one of the big beer tents and going straight to a table to get served beer. Every big tent we walked into was so crowded that we could barely walk around in it, much less find a table. We had to settle for one of the smaller beer tents where we stood up at a round table and drank. But nonetheless, we were there drinking beer at the actual Oktoberfest, which was a really cool and unique experience.
Something else that we were excited to get to on our agenda was Neuschwanstein Castle, the beautiful castle built for King Ludwig II in 1886. You may have seen it in pictures before, but it is one of the most picturesque and well-known castles in the world. Seeing it in person was like being in a fairy tale. Everything about it was extravagant. From someone who has seen the Biltmore House several times, this castle completely blew me away. It made me wonder why we don’t have castles like that in America, besides the Disneyworld castle, which was actually inspired and built like that one in Germany. The place was so big and beautiful that just being there seemed more aligned to a dream than reality.
Neuschwanstein Castle
The Sports Chief/Garett
Later that day after going to the castle, we went to Zugspitze, the highest mountain peak in Germany at 9,718 feet. For someone like me who enjoys heights, it was such a cool experience. A few weeks earlier I had been standing at the top of Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina (over 6,600 ft.) and felt like I was on the top of the world. But being at the top of Zugspitze was on another level. We took a cable-car ride to the top, which was awesome in itself. For the first half of the ride we looked out of the cable-car windows and saw nothing but mountains surrounded by the color green. Then everything went blank as we went through the clouds for a minute. As we emerged from the clouds we still saw mountains, but the green had turned to white. I can’t even describe how breathtaking the views were at the very top of the mountain, all I can say is that they were absolutely incredible. We walked around in the snow, freezing because it was around 20 degrees with the wind blowing, taking pictures and gazing for as far as we could see. On one side lay Germany, and on the other lay Austria. You could actually cross the border at the top of the mountain. It was so surreal, it felt like we were walking on another planet.
If I remember correctly, the next day we drove across the Italy border and journeyed into Venice. For me, Venice was the coolest city that we went to, and the coolest city that I’ve ever been to in my life. There is no place in the world like Venice, Italy. The canals that flowed through the town were awesome to see, as well as the romanticized gondolas passing through. There is only two modes of transportation in Venice: by water or by walking. The city is so rich with history that it’s almost impossible to fathom all of it when you walk from building to building. St. Mark’s Basilica was a place that I remember being blown away by walking inside, seeing the beautiful golden interiors, and being in the presence of the relics of St. Mark. Almost every building in the city has a rich history to it. Going to the top of the bell tower was a very cool experience as well. It allowed for a 360-degree view of the ancient city. We learned the best thing to do in Venice is to walk around, get lost, and explore everything you can. And I can’t forget to mention eating their food. Eating authentic Italian food and drinking wine on the streets of Venice was the perfect ending touch to a perfect day on our trip. I wish everyone could experience Venice at least once in their lives.
Venice, Italy
The Sports Chief/Garett
The rest of our time, besides a day trip to Rothenburg, was spent in and around Munich, Germany. Munich was a cool city, and while it was modern, it felt very traditional in many ways. Eating/drinking at the famous Hofbrauhaus was something I’ll always remember. Several of us ordered the sausage and when it was served “white” we instantly thought we should have ordered something else. But it was maybe the best-tasting sausage I’ve ever eaten. And of course the beer, served in its famous liter-glasses, was something to remember as well. One thing we learned over there was that the German portions of food and drink were always large. It was a fantastic experience eating in the famous building, built in 1589, and drinking Hofbrau beer in their famous liter-sized glasses.
Hofbrauhaus
The Sports Chief/Garett
Walking around and exploring Munich was very neat, too. They had a lot to offer for every traveler and the smells of sausage filling the streets were a nice touch. There were many beer gardens as well for people to sit down and enjoy a great German-brewed beer. Which brings me to another thing we learned while over there: every German beer is great. It’s not like in America where there’s so many different styles of beer and some just aren’t that good. Every single one was fantastic. You could stop at a gas station, buy different solo beers, and they all tasted great. Even if you can’t hardly read what the beer says, if you get it, you won’t regret it.
This wasn’t our last day, but our day trip to Rothenburg was my second favorite part of the trip. If we hadn’t gone to Venice, that would have been the coolest city that I’ve ever been to. That’s because it’s a medieval town. Like other places we visited on the trip, being in Rothenburg felt like we were dropped into a movie-set. The buildings were all old and medieval-looking and there was even a wall that encompassed the entire town, built originally to help protect it from intruders. You can go into the wall and walk around the entire town, taking in the views the old town has to offer. Rothenburg had one of the best-tasting beers that any of us had ever tried in our lives, too. As soon as we got there and found this small building that served food, we asked the waiter about the beer options and he recommended one that was brewed about a mile away. It was one of the smoothest and tastiest beers any of us had ever had, and along with a great meal, was a perfect way to start our day in the medieval town.
Rothenburg, Germany
The Sports Chief/Garett
Along with all of this, there were more things that we were able to accomplish and see on our trip. But these were some of my main takeaways and memories from a year later. It’s cool to look back on trips like those and I’m so glad I took plenty of pictures to capture the memories forever. We all had a great time, though it wore us completely out going at full-speed for an entire week to experience all that we could. But we wouldn’t have done it any other way. If you want to read even more about the trip, check out my 7-part blog from last year. Shortly after getting back from the trip, I broke down each day into much more detail than I did here. Click on the links below to read about each day’s adventures, and hopefully we’ll be able to take another international trip that I can write about soon!
Germany Day-By-Day Blogs
Garett