Berlin is cool I guess

Quick update:

Night busses are painful and not nearly as restful as you anticipate. 

But Sunday in Berlin means some pretty cool flea markets. 

Oh and we arrived in time for a little something called the World Cup!

Maria and I had a few thousand of our closest German friends cheered on Germany at the Brandenburg gate in berlin.  I can't believe we were here for this. So cool. 

And between torus and lots of walking we've been keeping ourselves busy. 

But I gotta be honest. Traveling is exhausting and our speed and motivation has taken a nose dive. Berlin has involved more sitting and people watching and sitting and more sitting than any that stop. But still cool. 

Bavaria. Check!

Well we've done Bavaria. Castles, pretzels, sausage, sauercrat, and lots of great beer. Check! 

People actually dress like this to go out by the way. I would love it so much if this could count as my "going out clothes."

Went to hofbrauhaus for a final farewell. 

And now it's off to Berlin on a night but to make it in time for the WORLD CUP.

Also. Here's hoping I'll sleep better on a bus than a 33 bed dorm with many loud snorers. We also are very excited if not more excited to a) be leaving this hostel and b) to be done with booking hostels which in the middle of tourist season has gotten a bit stressful to say the least. 

I also ought to mention too that Maria and I visited Dachau today, the concentration camp about 30 minutes outside of Munich and wow. Not much to say other than I'm glad we went and we both fell asleep on the train ride back into the city. (And then continued to ride the subway for 30 extra minutes to continue resting...clearly it was an emotionally exhausting day). 

Thanking the weather gods.

I have been throughout this trip not so subtly telling Maria that I really really really wanted to see the castle south of munich that inspired disney. It's called Neuschwanstein castle ahd the pictures looked gorgeous. 

When I saw the 65 degree high and 90% chance of rain next to a rain cloud symbol I was not optimistic. But we made the 2 hour train ride (again, Rick Steves helping us along the way). Rick also suggested we reserve a ticket the day before which saved us from waiting in a huge line. He's great isn't he? Well the forecast looked accurate.  It was a big cloudy and wet and rainy. We walked to 30 minutes up the hill and I was happy to have brought my umbrella.  

BUT the sun started to poke through and as soon as we got to a beautiful lookout point the sun shone on the castle and the surrounding countryside. I was so excited. Look at that! That's the castle that inspired disney. So freaking cool. 

The inside of the castle was incredible too. Not your average cold castle cause the kind was kind of an eccentric guy so even our short little 30 min guided your was well worth it. And of course you exit through not one but two gift shops on the way out so maybe disney was inspired by that too. But overall, SO worth the trip. Thank you weather gods. I'm sure we'll have a beer in your honor soon. 

Plus it's always nice to have a long nap on these trains. As always I'm like a small child and pass out as soon as I'm on a moving vehicle. But from the short moments I was awake it was a lovely ride through the Bavarian countryside. 

Bled. A not so nice name for a beautiful place.

Guys. Bled is absolutely beautiful. Once again, Slovenia needs more credit. Everyone talks about the coast of croatia and the mountains of Italy and the lakes of Switzerland. Well let me tell you, they're all here but in the tiny tiny country of slovenia. I'm a fan clearly. 

First day sleeping in. Until 9:15! Then leisurely walk through Ljubljana for the last time and up to the castle on the hill. 

Then took an easy 1 hour bus ride up to Lake Bled. Here's the view from our hostel. Yeah...we lucked out. In spite of almost crying the night before because almost every hostel was booked we found this gem. 

Church on an island in the middle of a lake. Doesn't get much cuter than that. 

We rented a boat and rowed out. Don't worry! Maria rowed to the island but I rowed back!

Lovely day and time to rest in our hostel for 2 nights. (6 bunk beds in my room tonight. Nice and cozy)

Munich and the One reason it's great.

So let me just set the scene for you. It was 91 degrees, humid and with no AC when I was packing for this trip. So imagine my dismay when we arrived in Munich to find 55 degree highs and pouring rain. Fairly unpleasant to say the least. 

After our last day in Bled which was spent relaxing and walking around before watching the Brazil vs. Germany game with some routy Irishmen in the hostel. Yay Germany! (Now only to decide which city to spend the World Cup in!)

Drunk Irishmen during a football match is fun. Drunk Irishmen waking you up when you only have 5 hours to sleep is not. 

We woke bright and early (5:45am) to head back to Ljubljana where we caught a bus to munich. Maria and I slept the entire bus ride so so much for seeing some of Austria. I'm sure it was lovely. 

We arrived in munich, Maria mastered the public transportation system and we made our way to our hostel and settled into our 33 bed dorm...yeah. 

Cosy right? 

In spite of the weather we headed downtown and watched the world famous glockenspiel which, unless you have my moms bizarre fondness for moving clocks is probably a bit of a disappointment. 

Our next destination was h&m. Again, our favorite tourist destination this far. With some warmer clothes (I should also mention I felt crazy European in my new outfit) we walked around, ate some delicious soup and to bring in our first night in munich properly headed to the world famous beer hall hofbrauhaus. 

The second day in munich was ever so slightly warmer but more eventful. We loved our 3 hour free walking tour. This is where we learned that out guide would ask us questions and 90% of the time the answer would be beer. Our guide was awesome. Then we explored the outdoor market before finding a cafe with three requirements: cheap coffee, a bathroom, and wifi. The three essentials in life really. 

Then it was off to the BMW Welt where we saw some fancy and expensive cars and probably used the cleanest and nicest bathroom I've used this entire trip. 

I don't even like cars all that much but I was pretty excited to sit in those cars knt gonna lie. 

And now, following the lead of our tour guide we ask, why, in spite of the weather is munich great? The answer of course is beer. 

This is us at a different beer hall. (Unfortunately beer gardens though lovely are off our itinerary because of the fact that it's freezing. But no matter the weather it's always time for a beer the size of your head. Here we are drinking the former popes favorite brew at Augustiner! 

Caves, castles, horses, and the sea!

Maria and I treated ourselves to another long daytrip with a small group. Cost justifications took a while but hey we wouldn't have been able to see half of these places on our own and especially in one day. Plus sleeping past 8 is overrated. So overall a long day trip but here are the highlights! 

We traveled south of Ljubljana to the Karst region. First stop: Castle!

The biggest and most impressive cave I've ever seen called Skocjan Cave. We descended about 2 miles deep (mom you would have hated it. All ramps) and then 400 steps later we made it out. According to my good friend rick steves there are two famous caves in slovenia. Ones easier to get around and one is more impressive and more challenging. So good for us. We've done a lot of steps this trip to say the least. 

And enjoyed a lovely wine and meat and cheese tasting. 

Saw some famous horses at the Lipica farm that are the horses of the Hapsburg empire apparantly they're a big deal. So check! The females are all enclosed but live in a huge pasture and are essentially wild. When we got there there was a huge group galloping beside the car. It was like out of a freaking movie. 

And then FINALLY made it to the coast. Piran is the adorable little coastal town of slovenia. Slovenia a tiny country with a tiny coast but since Maria and I thought we'd be chilling on the coast of croatia we were determined to see the sea. And hey, I bought a brand new swim suit for this trip and there was no way I wasn't getting in the damn ocean. The water felt wonderful after sweating up all of those steps today. So mission accomplished! 

And I also ought to mention that the food we stole from the hostels breakfast lasted us most of the day. So extra great. Spent €5 euro on food today. 

Piran kind of juts out too so on your left you see Croatia and on your right you see Italy. Overall a great and exhausting day. 

I don't want to leave you the impression that it's all sunshine and roses over here. We got back to the hostel and it took us 3 exhausting and stressful hours to realize our little plan wasn't possible with the train connections/bus connections and prices available. So we have at least tonight booked and then well figure it out. Our new rule is that we won't try to plan when were exhausted and without a glass of wine/beer in our systems. 

Slovenia!

Quick Slovenian updates: After

Waking up bright and early to do some shopping (hey we have this Croatian money right?) we had a bit if a journey to slovenia. Our 2.5 hour trip turned into a 5 hour debacle after one man didn't have his passport at border control. Thank goodness for snacks. 

Ljubljana is adorable and cool and the best people watching ever. (Rick Steves never steers me wrong). After a cheap meal (yay for visiting underrated countries) Maria and I sat on the main statue in the central square and people watched for hours. Accordion playing, plenty of people, delicious ice cream all while gazing at a castle on a mountain. 

We witnessed some intense street performing politics in action and some very high spirited bridal parties celebrating the day before the wedding (and drinking plenty of Slovenian alcohol)

All in all a successful and busy day. Tomorrow well be waking up bright and early to join a small tour group which will take us to some just see sights in slovenia.