Germany Revisited

I have been thinking about doing a series of travel posts for a while now to share some trips I went on long before I started blogging. This idea came to me mainly because I have nothing else to blog about, but also so I can reminisce about traveling to all these cool places in the midst of my lack of traveling this summer. Therefore, this will probably be the first of many throwback travel posts. If you don't recognize the girl (aka: me) in any of these pictures that is because all of these photos were pre-brunette and pre-rhinoplasty Jacki. Fun fact that most of you already know about me...I had blonde hair from birth to age 21, although the shade of blonde varied greatly especially from age 19-21. Fun fact most of you probably did not know about me...I had a rhinoplasty during college, but that is a whole other post for another day. Back to my travels...

I decided to start with Germany today, in honor of last night's episode of The Bachelorette. Des and her men journeyed to Munich for some good 'ole German fun. I spent the entire two hours of the episode pointing at the TV saying, "been there...been there...been there", to my mother-in-law who was watching with me. I love seeing places I've traveled to on TV. It always gets me excited. I know, I'm so lame. Alright, on to the slideshow!

May 2007 - Munich, Germany

The summer after my sophomore year of college, my mom and I went on a little European vacation. One of our stops was in Munich, Germany. I loved Germany and I have wanted to go back ever since we left. The two best things in Germany...castles and beer. What's not to love?

Everywhere you go there are beer gardens ("Biergarten" to the Germans), outdoor seating areas with girls in lederhosen bringing you as many beers, brats and pretzels as your little heart could desire.

Linderhof Palace in the Bavarian Alps

Nymphenburg Palace 

Swans are everywhere in Germany, they are like as populous as ducks here in America.

Mommy and me at the Marienplatz

(Des and Chris were frolicking around here last night on The Bachelorette)

The Bavarian Alps

I may or may not have frolicked around on this hill singing The Sound of Music, oh just kidding, wrong country...don't worry I do dance around singing in Austria...but that will be another post.

Right outside of Munich is this little town called Oberammergau. 

All of the buildings in this town are hand painted with these elaborate frescoes. 

Oberammergau is most famous for the stage pictured above that I got to visit. This is the site of the world famous Passion Play. Every 10 years, the residents perform the Passion Play which is a reenactment of the life and death of Jesus Christ for visitors from all over the world. Back in 1633, the inhabitants of Oberammergau promised God that if he spared them from the bubonic plague, they would perform this play in his honor. Their town was indeed spared and it's residents have been performing the play every decade since then, keeping their promise to God. Back when the play first originated, there was only 1 single performance every 10 years. One man in the town volunteered to play the part of Jesus and he was actually crucified on stage. The role was a great honor in the town; however, that element of the play was of course changed as time went on. Now, the performances take place for 6 months during the designated year. What keeps the play unique is that the only people who are allowed to participate in the play are actual residents of the town and every resident is involved in some way. The next Passion Play is scheduled for 2020. 

Head outside of Munich and up into the Bavarian Alps to visit the castle of Neuschwanstein.

Walt Disney used this castle as his inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland. 

Our tour guide then invited those brave enough to hike up the mountain with him and walk out onto a wooden swinging bridge to get a spectacular view of the castle. So of course I did. You know if there is going to be a good photo op then I am going to take it, no matter what I have to do to get there. 

We then went on a tour of the castle, but of course I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside. Trust me, if you ever travel to Munich, you need to visit here. It is amazing. This may have been my favorite part of the trip. 

A visit to Munich is not complete without a beer at the famous brewery, Hofbrauhaus. I think mom and I went to Hofbrau everyday that we were in Munich. Don't judge. When in Rome Munich right? Prost!