Starting Back Up...

It's not easy to get back on that horse... but dammit... I'm gonna f*ckin' do it!

Coming back...

Okay this blog has been a bit of a dead weight for me. It's been what... almost a year since I last put something up here? Okay I need to brush up my blogging skills once again.


Originally this blog was meant for my traveling adventures. I did pretty good for a while... when I started my trip in France back in May 2010 I kept up with this as best as I could. I tried to write everyday, but I kept that up for about three days, I think, and then that faltered too. I opted for every week, and then ultimately settled down to one blog post per city or country. I did pretty well with that too, but then I stopped at Amsterdam. Possibly I had just way too much fun with the Dutch, that I didn't have enough energy stored to continue on from there.


My trip, by the way, did NOT stop in Amsterdam. In fact I went back to Germany and then on to Spain, Portugal and finally ended my trip back in Nice, France. I was going to finish the blog up once I got back home in LA, but once again the inevitable happened - LIFE. I got caught up in trying to catch up with friends and family I hadn't seen in months. I was exhausted, mentally and physically and just like many things in my life, this blog got pushed to the wayside.


So here I am again... just sitting at a local coffeeshop (with all the other aspiring writers), looking at my bare and empty blog, finally deciding to pick it back up.


BUT before I fast forward to present daily life, I can't possibly continue without at least doing a very very quick recap of the rest of my trip. So here we go...


AND THE TRAVELING CONTINUED...


Shortly after my wonderful and amazing stint in the city of legal grass and taxable copulation... I moved on to Köln (Cologne), Germany and couchsurfed with a young 25 year-old girl named Laura, originally from Illinois. She moved there a year prior to teach English at a local high school. I hung out and drank with her friends at night, while sight-seeing during the day. I took a boat along the Rhine River and consumed the fresh air and reveled in the captivating sights. I left two days later.


Next stop: Ibiza, Spain
My only local flight within Europe was to this beautiful party island.


This time around I decided to enjoy the relaxing beach atmosphere alone and stayed at my first hotel. I mainly did this because I couldn't really find anyone to crash with, but it turned out to be a nice little escape from crowed hostel rooms and awkward first moment conversations, that I had to endure up until this point. 


Of course I partied- how could I not? This is the party capital of the world... need I say more? The first night I went to a club with the hotel manager... this is a long story in and of itself so I won't get into details, but we can just say it was fun yet extremely awkward. She was 30+ and I went with her group of friends, none of which could speak any English. You can imagine from there how the night went. I took a cab home alone @ 3am... the party was still in full fledge but I was pretty beat. This was my first taste of how the Spanish party, and let me tell you we're wusses compared to them.


The next night I went to a club alone and met a group of girls visiting from Madrid. The best part- they were foreigners too! Two of them were from the US and one from Canada. I hung out with them the whole night and we became a little foursome. Great night but I ended up losing my purse (lost my drivers license, celphone, and hotel keys)... another long story.


Night three I went to see Tiesto in concert. This night I was completely solo, but the music was great! Had a beer, danced alone then went home to sleep it off.


Next stop: Barcelona, Spain


At first I was not impressed with this place. I've heard all the stories... "It's amazing... beautiful... fun!" Blah, blah... I wasn't feeling it for some reason. It was possibly because it was crazy humid (the kind of weather I can't stand the most!) or because I got ripped off by a cab-lady within the first 20 minutes. All I knew was that I wasn't very excited. I know this sounds quite stuck-up of me. Here I am in beautiful Spain and I'm "whatever" about it. Could I be more spoiled?


To be fair I had been on the road for about two months now, I was pretty tired (yes, yes poor little me!).


I only stayed for about a day because I was heading back to Barcelona at a later date, so I walked around a bit, but didn't try too hard to get to know the city.


The best part of this leg was visiting Park Guell by famous architect Antonio Gaudi. http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/gaudi/park-guell.html 
One word - BREATHTAKING - think of a park in Tim Burton's dreams and you'll see this place there.


When I came back two weeks later (my second to last stop before heading back home), I enjoyed Barcelona a lot more. I knew what to expect and just enjoyed it. AND yes everyone was right... it is
"Amazing... beautiful... fun!" How could you not love a place with architecture like the Sagrada Familia  http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng/index.php - which has been in construction since 1882 with 30 more years to go! Or the endless row of bars on the beach and $5 massages while you lie in the sand. People are friendly, the food is great and there is an infinite amount of places to discover at each corner. I'm converted and will never take this place for granted again.


Next stop: Madrid, Spain


I loved, loved, loved this place!


I stayed at Barbieri International Hostel in the heart of Gay Madrid. This ended up being fabulous because I happened to go during the Gay Pride Festival. 


One word: INSANE


Gay, straight, and bi-curious people from everywhere came to celebrate. They closed down the biggest street in Madrid and people partied all night long. Broken beer bottles, streets cluttered with trash and the fresh aroma of piss filled the air daily. Once again the Spanish had proven they can party like no other.


I even hung out with the three girls I met at the club in Ibiza. I met all their friends and had an exhaustingly fun time. 


I left Madrid three days later but came back a week later to celebrate Spain's first World Cup win! Two crazy street parties in Madrid during my trip... how could I not have a special place in my heart for Spain's capital?


Next stop: Pamplona, Spain


Incase you're unfamiliar with the San Fermin Festival http://www.sanfermintravelcentral.com/ it's basically the Running of the Bulls event people worldwide see on television; where crazy drunk foreigners and locals get run over by wild bulls, who race to the arena to meet their ill-fated demise. 


And incase you're wondering : YES... I DID RUN WITH THE BULLS!!!


One word... hell this deserve a sentence: The most intoxicatingly euphoric, adrenaline-rushed moment of the trip!


I wish I had pictures of my run... but I'll have to settle for the memories. 


P.S. If you ever do this run, you'll never forget it, but please don't be stupid enough to get super inebriated before you run with animals that have razor-sharp horns that could puncture your intestines. Common sense I think, but 75% of the people running didn't think so... mostly dumb foreigners crazy enough to run with bulls!


Next stop: Lisbon, Portugal


My stay here was far too short. I only had two nights and one full day. I decided to cough up the money for an over-priced tour bus (which I would normally never, ever do), just to get the most leg out of this short stop. 


I saw the Torre de Belem, Marques do Pombal Square, the Tower Vasco da Gama, and I also got lost for about two hours. A city of pure culture and loads of character. The beach scenery is also quite amazing. If you ever plan to visit, brush up on your Portuguese because English isn't a commonality here. Oh, and neither is Spain for that matter either. 


My one regret was not staying longer... but I had to get going... my trip was coming to an end fast. One day I hope to be back. 


Next stop: Granada, Spain


Here I stayed with my only couchsurfing hosts in Spain. I crashed in a lovely condo with the cutest couple Maria and Sergio, along with their two cats Paco and Leo. Once again... great hosts. Couchsurfing has never failed me! They cooked me paella, a traditional Spanish rice dish, that was delicious and homemade! I'm craving it right now!


Granada's not very big, it's a college town so it's good for parties, but I avoided all that. I went to the famous Alhambra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra a former mosque built in 1527. It was part of the Alhambra Moorish palaces and built for the last Muslim Emirs in Spain. A must-see if you ever go to Granada. 


Next stop: Back to Barcelona!


I won't get into this, but once again I'll say the second time around was much better. I stayed in a youth-filled hostel full of college kids and party-crazed 21 year-olds. This was a change from my normal local encounters. It was kind of relaxing though, to not have to worry about language barriers or conversations with any substance. Nothing against the crazy kids, but if you're that age and traveling in Spain, are you really going to think about Catalonia's angst against the Spanish motherland? Probably not...


Moving on...


FINAL STOP! Back to Nice, France!


Before I get into the very last leg of my trip, I want to mention the very interesting dilemma I was in trying to get back there.


First of all I missed my train back to Nice. Normally this wouldn't be a freak-out kind of issue, but I had a plane to catch back home in two days and I didn't want to chance missing it on the account of my stupidity. I can't exactly remember how I missed it... I just know I got there early and thought I was at the right terminal so I took my time, then of course found out too late that I was wrong. I tried to re-book but that ended up not being so easy. It turns out that trains going out of Spain were few and far between. The next train out was the next day. My only option was to get re-routed to a random town at the edge of the boarder between Spain and France. I was told I would have to figure it out from there. 


I took the train and ended up in... can't remember the name (this is why I should have written this sooner!). When I arrived, I found out that I wasn't the only stranded tourist. The next train to Nice would be again... the next day. I was stuck in this border town with no where to go, but at least I was in France. I asked the local police officer where the closest hotel was and he had no cluel! This did not get my hopes up... if the local officer didn't know where I could stay how would I possibly find a place? I proceeded to walk with my heavy luggage down a desolate street hoping to find something... anything. And just like the travel Gods have always shone upon me, my saviors had arrived in the presence of Gili and Leslie, two Greek travelers in the same predicament as me. 


Gili and Leslie were a young couple from Athens, back-packing across Europe waiting for a train to Paris. Gili (the guy) helped me with my luggage as we walked down to the beach. They had decided to sleep and camp out on the sand, and invited me to join them. Upon arriving at the beach, we discovered a whole row of little restaurants and hotels, filled with foreigners enjoying the serenity of this small French town. Being the spoiled little LA girl that I am, I decided to stay in a hotel. It was the very last leg of my trip and the last thing I wanted to do was worry about protecting my luggage or fighting off mosquitos. After checking in, I did however go back to the beach to hang out with my new Greek friends for the next few hours. We laughed about our situation, shared stories of our travels and ate french baguettes, while the moonlight danced around boasting the wonder of the french riviera. A happy ending to my small misfortune. But alas I never saw them again...


And on to Nice!


Finally arriving, I settled in, took a long long nap and ate my final dinner in Europe. 


I stayed at Villa Saint Exupery Beach, the sister hostel to the one I stayed at on my first night in Europe... what a way to go full circle huh? 


My trip was practically over... but not before one last fun night!


I ended up staying in a five-bed room with four guys (all friends) from Finland. It was kind of funny because my first impression of them was based on hanging underwear on a make-shift clothes line, over the bed I was suppose to sleep in. They weren't in the room by the way, when I saw this lovely display of personal items. I didn't care too much as long as they weren't testosterone filled douchebags. Luckily they weren't... 


I met the guys a bit later... they were four friends who were celebrating two of them finishing their tour of duty with the Finnish military. They were about 19-21 years of age and they ended up being very kind and considerate young men. I saw them downstairs again while I was eating dinner and they came and joined me at the table for an hour or so. I must say I was quite impressed with these youngsters. We talked about foreign policy, traveling, politics, military agenda, and Obama's current term. They were very well informed about history and foreign affairs, and I couldn't believe they were only 19-21 years of age. My conversation with them was clear proof of the depleting and disappointing quality of our U.S. education system. I mean these boys could actually name U.S. senators and list bills passed in the Senate that current year. Most of our nineteen year-olds barely even know what the Senate is let alone current bills being voted on at Capitol Hill. 


Anyhow, the night ended with a cheers as they got ready to go to the pub, while I went to sleep to catch my 6 am bus back to the airport.  And like so many of the other acquaintances I had met throughout my long three-month-trip, I bid them farewell and deposited their presence into my little bag of traveling memories, to reminisce on at a later date. 


And so came the end of my 11 week residence in the continent of Europe! 


Four hours later I was on a plane back home! I was more than ready to retire my travel legs... for now at least. I missed home and I was ready to be an L.A. girl once again.


It was an unbelievable, astonishing, one-in-a-lifetime journey that will forever grace my soul with constant gratification. Thank you Europe for the memories! I will miss you!


THE TRAVELING ENDED (for now) SO ON TO THE PRESENT...

iPhone blogging

iPhone blogging now! Technology is too fast for me now... Can barely keep up!

New Photo Blog

I'm starting a photo blog because I'm taking photos in a few photography classes. I wanted to share this with everyone who's interested!

Feel free to comment!

-Teri

http://tjtamayophotos.blogspot.com/

Oh Amsterdam!

Oh Amsterdam! Is all the hype worth it?

Everyone goes to Amsterdam. Anyone you ask who has visited Europe (especially if they're under the age of 25), has probably been to Amsterdam. It's the hub of most vices that are illegal everywhere else but here. No wonder everyone comes here.

Amsterdam however, has way more to offer than just good cheap weed and a quickie for your sex-deprived friend. It offers a great vibe, loads of diversity and a rich cultural history, and is by far one of my favorite cities in Europe!

The structure of the city alone is something to admire, its numerous canals and massive biking culture is unique to most European cities. I will have to say though, with all the buildings tightly structured together and all painted with a similar brown shade, doesn't do much for people with a no-sense-of-direction handicap, like myself. In short I spent a lot of time find "new ways" to get somewhere.

So far my trip has been pretty amazing. I've had great hosts, great beer and free rides with no major upsets to ruin it all... at least not yet. I was sad to leave Munich because I felt as if I didn't have enough time there, but I was glad to get out of Rothenburg. A quaint and charming little medieval town you'd want to visit - yes, but an exciting rambunctious lively town - no. My two nights were more than enough.

I was excited for Amsterdam. I've heard millions of stories about this "magical" city, as they say, with a few mixed reviews here and there. Most people love it, but others hate the insanity of it all. I can go both ways. I hate big cities with nothing but tourists, but I love thriving cities with character. I wasn't sure if Amsterdam would be too much for my taste, all I knew was that I would soon find out.

Arriving at the terminal late in the afternoon put me right in the middle of "rush hour" bike and tram traffic. A lot seemed to be going on and I had no idea where I was in the city. So far I've learned that my first stop in any city should always, ALWAYS be the tourist office. On my first trip to Europe with my friend Sonia, I rejected the idea of needing guidance from a tourist office. "I can get by," I thought. "Tourist offices are for the old tourists who wear big cameras around their necks and khaki shorts." I wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible, but on this trip I've learned my lesson. First of all there's nothing wrong with asking for help or directions (do you hear this men?) as well as getting a free map of the city and second of all it saves you a shitload of time. Most information is free and they're always helpful.

Anyhow, I went directly to the local TI. The line was ridiculously long, but I opted to wait. I knew which tram I needed to take to get to my next host Tineke's place. I had directions and gave myself ample enough time to get lost. I took Tram #13 as directed and amazingly, I didn't get lost! Once in a while my sense of direction actually works.

Tineke greeted me at the door as I struggled to carry my luggage up a flight of narrow stairs. Her place was nice. I could tell she put a lot of time into decorating it. I had read in her CouchSurfing profile, that she recently went to India. There were several pieces of Eastern influence all around. Tineke also had another couchsufer there. Apparently she messed up a little on her requests and let two of us stay at the same time. The other girl was from Sweden, but lived in Florida for a few years. Her English was good, not great, but good enough.

We settled in and talked, attempting to get to know each other in the short time that we had. Holland had just played that day, and they won, so Tineke was wearing her Orange Holland shirt to support her team. I found out that Tineke worked for the government in social services back in her home town of The Hague. She would ride her bike to the station, then take a one-hour train to work everyday. She said she loved Amsterdam so much that she didn't want to leave when she got that job, hence the one hour commute. The other chick (seriously forgot her name), was on holiday from culinary school. She was nice but seemed a bit odd. I wouldn't be surprised if she did way too many drugs back in high school.

We decided to stay in since it was already 10:30 by the time we finished chatting. The sun of course was still up. I think I'm getting too used to the long days here in Europe. I don't know if I'll be able to handle the sun going down by 7pm when I get back to L.A.

We flipped for who would get the couch and who would get the camping bed. Since I was the first one to couch request, I got the camping bed, which was actually quite comfortable. We were both in her living room and I slept soundly that night.

Day 1 Touring the city, Anne Frank and Chinese Dinner!

The next day I was ready to see what all the hype was about. As soon as I walked out the door, I could feel the charm of Amsterdam working its spell. Just watching the people go about their daily lives, biking, walking, eating kebabs or waiting for the tram, gave me a feel for the character of the city. The vibe was good and I knew I was going to like it here.

I got on the tram and headed for Dam Square where the New Europe free tour would start at 2pm. If you haven't heard of them, they're a tour company in several cities around Europe that give free basic tours of the history of a city. If you haven't used them I would highly recommend it. I first took their tour in Dublin a year ago, and ended up having a beer with the tour guide and some girls from Nebraska. Another friend recommended this same tour to me for Amsterdam, and since the price was right (free with tips), I would take up the opportunity.

The New Europe Amsterdam tour took about three hours. I learned a few nifty things about Amsterdam, like how several corners of buildings had "pee-deflectors" to keep drunk men from peeing on the walls. Or how Amsterdam got its name because it was the "Amstel next to the dam." I was also able to observe how bike riding was an art over here - this was proven when I saw a man who had his celfone in one hand and a cigarette in another, making a left turn at a street light; and that it was no joke that they'd try to run you down if you were in their way - don't ignore the bells!

After the tour, I learned a lot about the history of the city and the Dutch, especially during the war, pointing out the infamous Anne Frank House around the corner. I was also hoping the tour would help me orient myself better around the city, but by the end of it I realized that would be a lost cause. Every street, building, corner looked the same! All the buildings were pressed against each other, preventing me from seeing the next closest landmark. I found many "interesting" routes to a destinations during my stay, with highlights such as the Red Light District and innumerous "coffee shops" with potent smells of freshly lit cannabis.

Afterwards our tour guide invited us to go eat some "Stampot" a native Dutch dish of potatoes and sausage. I joined half of the tour group for this traditional dish, while watching the next football match on a big screen. I sat next to a white boy from Arizona, who was cool at first but ended up being a little ignorant and racist. To be fair he was 19 quite too young to know the error of his ways and he was from Arizona. He made a racist comment about Mexicans and I think the unsaid rule still stands, that if you're white you can't openly comment about other colored races in an ignorant and offensive manner. Isn't that why Jesse Helms got in trouble? I'm not saying it's fair, but I didn't make the rules.

I proceeded to the Anne Frank House. I was excited to see where the famous little girl wrote her diary and hid, from a book I read over ten years ago. I knew I would be humbled by the experience, but that was a bit of an understatement. As I said in a previous blog, I want to write about my WWII remembrance experience in a separate blog, along with the Dachau Concentration Camp experience. So I'll save it for that.

The day ended with me meeting up Tineke for dinner at an Asian restaurant. It wasn't that interesting so I'll spare you the details.

Day 2 Van Gogh and pub crawling!

The next day I visited the Van Gogh museum. It was a must-see on my tourist list. Although the art of Van Gogh was impressive to see in person, it wasn't the best layout for a museum. I did learn a lot about the life of Van Gogh as an artist. Since he only painted for about 10 years, there wasn't an explosive amount of work to be displayed. It was fascinating however to see his progression as an artist within the 10 years. He went from very traditional painting to abstract and impressionistic; the gradual change was evident throughout the years of his work. I was bummed that the famous "Starry Starry Night" painting wasn't there, but I already knew that going in. His famous "Yellow House" was displayed and it was again an impressive piece to observe.

Afterwards I met up with Tineke again and signed up for a late night pub crawl! It was with the same tour group company New Europe. We joined the special 15 Euro Red Light District pub crawl with free shots of jager and tons of drunk foreigners. The night ended up being a lot of talking, beer and jager -which by the end of the night ended up being the most disgusting thing to taste. I met two girls from UCLA who were studying abroad in Paris for the summer and two guys from Long Beach. No matter where I go, home is always close behind. The night ended with a headache but lots of fun conversation back and forth. Soon the night was over and It was time to sleep.

Day 3 The Heineken Experience and saying adéu to Amsterdam!

The Heineken Factory was next on my list. I compared it to my Guinness Factory tour in Dublin and assessed that the overall layout of Guinness was better. However Heineken did surprise me with a lot of cool and interesting interactive activities.

First of all they had a ride, yes a ride! Okay not a real ride, but nevertheless a ride. What beer factory has that? It was basically you standing on a platform in front of a screen that took you through the beer-making process as if you were one of the ingredients. The platform moved and wobbled as if you were right on the assembly line. And it played along with temperatures too. If you were "dropped in water" they splashed you with a spray of water; or boiling, the red lights turned on and the heat went up; or if you were about to be cleaned and bottled, they blew wind in your face; just enough to make you squint and want to fix your hair. Afterwards they treated you with a nice cool glass of beer for being such a good sport.

Throughout the factory were other cool things like a sing-along karaoke green screen that recorded you and you could send to your email. They had electronic postcards you could take your picture with and also email to yourself. They had techno-looking brightly lit green chairs with an interactive video and a lounge with images projected all around playing loud music - possibly the Heineken "Coffee Shop?" Finally at the end of it all, you got yet another beer in a bar/lounge you could stand and drink with your friends. Unfortunately I went alone, but the beer was still good to drink solo. I bought a few souvenirs and was on my way to Vondel Park.

I chilled in Vondel Park after a bit then headed back to town do a little shopping. This is when I ran into the two girls from LA who was on the pub crawl. They were headed to a "coffee shop" and invited me along. Now in the spirit of Amsterdam, I tagged along. But I'll leave that story for my informal one-on-ones.

Enjoying the city and spirit of Amsterdam was an experience like no other. Its spell and charm fully worked on me and I will be one of the positive reviewers to come back home with only good stories to tell about this hyped-up city. My fond memories will include, couch surfing, getting lost, watching football, having too much Jager, smelling sweet "fresh" aromas of coffee shops and windows full of low-priced hot/ugly prostitutes; just a block away from a 2 Euro/2 min pep show theater, full of horny dudes who didn't have enough money for the real thing.

Oh Amsterdam I will never forget you!

Medieval charm on Romantic Road

Rothenburg ob de Tauber

A medieval town trapped in time.

Rothenburg ob de Tauber is a small well-preserved medieval town in Germany. Towns in the medieval ages were surrounded by long and high walls, to protect them from their enemies; Rothenburg ob de Tauber is still protected by its walls today. During the the 1150 to 1400 century, this town was well known and important on the trade route along the now famous Romantic Road. It lies between Frankfurt and Munich and is buzzing with tourists all year long, especially during the summer.

Rothenburg survived the war because its political influence was lost centuries ago, and therefore had little importance on its outcome, which is why it was never attacked and still preserved from the Middle Ages. According to my travel Guru Rick Steves, it was worth the trip and deserved a nights stay to avoid the day tourists. After arriving I wasn't sure if my guru would be right on this one.

After arriving at my near-empty hostel, I settled in and went out to explore the city. It was about eight o'clock, but the sun was still out and by now I was used to bustling cities that didn't die down until after one in the morning. Expecting to see a little of that, I found out just how small Rothenburg ob de Tauber really was. I walked for about five blocks before I saw another human being. "Oh thank god," I thought to myself, " I'm not the only one in the town."

Most of the shops were closed and the streets were quite with an occasional car passing through. The old cobblestone streets amplified the echos of feet hitting the pavement making the town seem a little spooky at night. The sun was starting to give way as I arrived at the Market Square - the center of the town with the historic town hall and tower. Streets were barely lit by small dated street lamps worthy of the towns architecture. The "night watchman" was in the middle of his Nightwatchman Tour (which I recalled reading about in my travel book), as he held a single light for his "followers" to easily see him. Strangely it almost looked like a cult following their leader to the next mob attack only with middle-aged tourists using cameras as their weapons. I walked around for another hour, then called it a night.

The next day I was one with the other tourists. By the time I got back into town, all the tour buses had arrived and the place was swarming with people flashing their cameras left and right. I joined a tour guide to learn a little about the history of Rothenburg. Was it fascinating? Yes, but could I repeat it back to you? Probably not. It was fascinating to find out about how the town expanded its walls and the infamous political power struggles they used to have when they had power. Legend has it that back in 1631, the town was attacked by the Catholic army and when the mayor approached the general in a plea, they made a deal that if the mayor could drink an entire three-liter tankard of wine, the town would be spared. And so he saved the town by drinking his way out of it. True story? Still TBD. The outline the wall made around the city was also quite interesting, it formed the shape of a head with a large nose and open mouth.

Later, I trekked to Saint Jakob's Church, a Neo-Gothic style church with one of the best wood-carved altars in all of Germany. By now I've seen a million churches, but I have to say that the altar was quite impressive. Did people really hand-carve all that wood and stone back in the day? The patience of people from the former centuries for the sake of quality and beauty is truly amazing and it still boggles my mind.

To sum up the rest of my day, I had myself a Schneeballen treat or "Snowball," basically fried dough shaped in a ball and covered in sugar or chocolate. It looked pretty good in the window and was a somewhat satisfying treat.

Oh and how could I forget the Germany vs. Australia game, where the Germans beat the Aussies 4-0 and the local Germans in Rothenburg got crazy and paraded around the streets honking horns and waving flags. I wish I could be in Europe during every World Cup.

Loving Munich and beautiful Bavaria

Surfing in Munich

Mexico vs. South Africa World Cup game.

Hohenschwangau Castle where King Ludwig II grew up.

Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen, Germany - the castle they based the Sleeping Beauty castle on.

*Note to self - traveling and writing is not an easy task.

Anyhow I will attempt to recap my amazing time in Munich and the rest of Bavaria.

Germany was definitely what I expected it to be - full of beer, fun and amazing tales of history and fairy tale lands. I couldn't be more satisfied with my time there and despite my three days, I wanted to stay longer.

Gaby and Zimmi turned out to be amazing hosts! They showed me around almost everyday, driving me in their scooter. Unfortunately it was only made for two, so Gaby had to take the subway often! Sorry Gaby! I basically got to see all of Munich on the back of a scooter, even until the last second when I was about to board my next train.

They invited me to a private football game event for the Mexico vs. South Africa, the first game of the World Cup. I wasn't certain if I would enjoy it since I'm not really into football/soccer, but I decided to give it a try. I ended up having the best time - free beer, a large screen, and eighty screaming Mexicans yelling "Me-hi-co!" It was a private party held by the Mexican consulate of Munich. Was I back in LA? Overall a lackluster game, but a great party with Mexico and South Africa tied 1-1. Since then I've been keeping up with football all over Europe!

Afterward, we walked around the massive English Gardens (possibly bigger than Central Park), and saw all the young kids in their bathing suits drinking beer and jumping in the river. The best part was the section where they actually go surfing! Apparently people have been surfing illegally there for 20 years, but it only became legal a year ago. The fast shift of water from the river to the canal, causes a big rift which results into an amazingly consistent wave. People line up in rows to surf, and after one wipes out, then next person in line is on their way. Simple yet very dangerous, considering you could hit your head against either side of the two narrow walls surrounding the river.

Finally it was time for dinner! Off to the famous Hofbräuhaus München, where getting pints of beer is a must and fellow tourists are just a table away. According to Zimmi, this is where Hitler used to hang out and have a beer when he needed a little R & R. I drank a full pint (bigger than the size of my head) and Zimmi and Gaby were quite proud. I had my wiener, my sauerkraut and my beer; I was good to go.

On one of my days there I took a train to the town of Fussen, about three hours away, to go and check out one of King Ludwig II (King of Bavaria) castle, Neuschwanstein. It was his very last castle before he died, and he lived in it less than a year. It took 17 years to build, but was never finished, and construction stopped as soon as he died a mysterious death.

King Ludwig II was obsessed with castles - seven in total; with Neuschwanstein as his last and best obsession. It was a true fairytale castle, also why Disney used it as their muse for the now famous Sleeping Beauty castle. I took a tour inside and it was as amazing inside as it was outside. With a luxurious chapel and chandelier that weighed over 2,000 lbs, a music hall with built-in sound enhancements, a bedroom that took wood carvers three years decorate, and an artificial cave leading to his private study, no wonder it was his greatest treasure. Had it been finished, it would have truly been the fantasy he always dreamed of. I have no photos because it wasn't allow, but being a rebel, I secretly took video with my camera as I hid it under my sweater. Totally worth the risk.

And to cap off my time in Munich, I visited the infamous Dachau concentration camp.

Dachau concentration camp- now a memorial; was certainly the most depressing, surreal and sobering part of my trip. For this reason, I choose to write about it in a separate entry, along with my Anne Frank House experience in Amsterdam. I want to concentrate and go into depth on my thoughts and feelings as I walked through this former death camp and give it the attention it deserves as a sobering remembrance of a sad and regretful past.

As of now, I wanted to focus on my positive experiences in Munich and how I will always have fond memories of the beer, monuments, and my MJ enthusiast hosts Zimmi and Gaby.

Munich is by far my favorite place in Germany!