Sleeping my way through Germany

I slept through most of Germany. I’m being serious. In a 30 hour time period, I slept for 25 of them. I woke up in Venice, ate breakfast, got on the bus and slept until we stopped for lunch in Austria, got back on the bus and went back to sleep until we stopped for dinner in Munich, Germany. Then I went back to sleep until we got to our hotel. Then I went to bed and slept 8 hours. Then I got up and went back to sleep on the bus. This is when my cold really started to kick my butt! I felt terrible! 

Pit stop on the way to Austria

Restaurant in Austria

Desert in Austria

Munich was CRAZY!!! We were supposed to stay the night there but Munich made it to the finals in some football tournament and the hotel realized they could make a lot more money by canceling on us and charging the fans an arm and leg. Tens of thousands of fans came to Munich to watch the game in a bar! What??? Of course that may be because the cheapest nosebleed seats were over a thousand euros. These people really like their football. The Superbowl does not come close to comparing. The city was packed with drunk people in red or blue. And they walked around chanting and yelling at people supporting the other team. Think of the crowds in Bloomsday but with everyone drunk. There was broken beer bottles everywhere. I didn’t have the choice of avoiding stepping on glass because there was not a clear space in the entire city. I didn’t see anyone throwing bottles (at least before the game) so I think it was more of a Thor “This is good, I want another” SMASH kind of thing. Insanity. I think I am glad that the hotel canceled on us because we were a good two hours away when Munich lost the game. Having seen them when they were celebrating, I would hate to see them when they were drinking away their sorrows. Scary thought. 

Street in Munich

Crazy fans!

We went to a traditional beer hall for a German dinner. Three types of brats, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. It was pretty good but the drama outside kind of overshadowed the food. The restaurant even had a security guard checking to make sure we weren’t smuggling in whiskey and such. As soon as we could, we got out of town. Too much for us. The game started while we were on our way to the bus and the streets went from being packed to completely empty. Still loud though. 

The next morning we actually got to sleep in for a few extra hours and then we were on our way to Boppard Germany. We drove for an hour or so and then we explored this tiny town. We entered this wine shop and overwhelmed the employees. I think some of the group tried ever single thing they carried . . . twice. People were so impressed with this peach brandy that they would buy it for 20 euro and then ship it home for 90 euros. What??? 

Screw buying a bottle, I'm going for the entire keg! 

After eating lunch, we went on a river cruise on the Rhine. That was fun. I felt like death but there are worse places to feel terrible at. :D We took a million more pictures and at one point the young married couple wanted to take a Titanic picture. We all had to pitch in with advice for the perfect angle and when they had finally taken it, the song from titanic came on over the speaker. In German. We were all trying to sing along and then went, Wait. What? Why isn’t this working out right? 

My quail salad. Delicious! 

I love Germany thiiiiiiiis much!

The cruise ship

When we got to Boppard we walked around town and then after dinner we went down to the river and sat talking for hours.  Almost half the group came out. That was probably my favorite part of all of Germany. I’m sure I would have liked Germany more if I hadn’t been sick and if we hadn’t have been stuck in football fever. Even with it, I really liked the hometown feel of most of the towns we stopped in. 

Is it weird that I find these adorable?

And I loved being able to say that I had breakfast in Italy, lunch in Austria, and dinner in Germany. How many people can say that?