Here's the jist: This past weekend I went with my friend Steffi to her home in Bavaria, roughly 100km south of Munich. We left Wrocław at about 9:00pm Wednesday and arrived in Augsburg at roughly 9:00am the next morning. Steffi's mother picked us up from the bus, took us to the "Wolf Bakery" for breakfast (which lived up to all the hype that the German student in Ołowek had surrounded it with), and drove us back to Steffi's village, Langweid am Lech, which is home to about 500 people.
New life goal for when I am old and a multi-million dollar lottery winner (the millions are needed to ship all my belongings to the other side of the Atlantic): move to a small Bavarian village. It's absolutely gorgeous.
The "winter garden" in Steffi's house (her father built it) that over-looks their garden.
The "winter garden" in Steffi's house (her father built it) that over-looks their garden."Opa's Garden" behind Steffi's house. Her grandfather aka Opa, is a wonderfully funny man who doesn't speak any English. That didn't stop him from giving me the grand tour of his garden upon our first meeting; he laughed as he gestered to the entire yard saying "All Opa."
This is Opa's dog Teddy, the most important member of Steffi's household.
It was only a 15 minute train ride from Steffi's village to Augsburg where she goes to University. I got the grand tour of the city by a native who knew all the best coffee shops and cocktail bars. 
Augsburg is just a little smaller than Wrocław or Lincoln...but I like it so much better than either of those cities. It's also the second oldest city in Germany.
The Fuggerei House--it reminded me of a really fancy version of Westside Park in Loup City. It's the oldest social settlement in the world, where at one time many nobles and other important people lived for next to nothing. Today, it's inhabited mostly by older people who pay about one Euro a year to live there.
Architectually, it's a pretty cool place.
It started raining while we were touring the one apartment visitors can actually go inside, so we hung out and debated what in the apartment was "stealable." Almost everything was chained down, including this lovely portrait of Fuggerei.
You can even sit and watch TV in the Fuggerei House...as long as you want to watch a German documentary about the complex itself. Don't try to change the channel--it doesn't work.
The house where Brecht was born. This photo is especially for Jay.
A Bavarian pony in Steffi's village. And yes, I do have flowers in my hair.
A May Pole in the center of the village--almost every village we went through had one of these. Steffi said that it's also a tradition for each village to attempt to steal the surrounding villages' May Poles. 
The Langweid am Lech firestation!
The Motzart house...where the grandfather of the great composer was born. It's a landmark, though it seems a little contrived.
The clock tower in the Old Town city center.
A view from the top:
The lake in Augsburg where we wandered for about two hours. 
The site of the Kayaking/canoe competition during the 1972 Muinich Olympic Games.
Steffi's University. She also showed me all the newspapers she has worked for in the past and took me to where the presstige, an Augsburg University student publication is headquartered. She showed me all the previous issues she has worked on, and next semester she's going to send me the newest issue which will include more articles that she wrote. Since I'm only smart enought to look at the pictures, I will have to recruit Lacey to decipher German for me next semester.
Ah...dark beer. I still have that glass.
On Saturday, Steffi and her father took me to Neuschwanstein Castle near the Swiss boarder. This was the last castle to be built by King Ludwig II, who my dark beer was named after. Just a side note, this guy was crazy. There's a cave in this castle for no reason at all--it's on the fourth floor where a hallway should be.A view of the mountains and the castle from the side of the road:
It was a 40 minute walk up to the castle (at Steffi's dad's insistance, we took a horse and buggy on the way down--he was really excited about that). During the walk, I saw a guy wearing a Huskers jack and had a tiny freak-out. By the time I got Steffi's attention and explained why that was important, he was gone. I was slightly sad.
The castle, which was built in the 1860s. Ludwig died mysteriously at another one of his catles, so it was never completely finished.
Guests are not allowed to take photos of the inside of the castle (which is ridiculously extravagant) because of copy-right laws. However, there's no rules on taking pictures of the view from the windows.
Before our walk back down.
This is kärspätzle, or as I like to call it "Bavarian Macaroni and Cheese." It will completely ruin the kraft version that everyone loves in the US just because it is so much BETTER! (Side note: this picture is a testament to how badly I need a haircut)
The streets of Füssen, another villiage.
We missed Nina...and Shail.
The village church.
The church where Steffi's parents were married. It's really beautifull Barrock interior, but the side alters are sort of creepy. There's people burried underneath each of the alters, and then above each there's a glass case with a human skeleton in it. Three of the four look fake, but one is so really-looking it's scary.
A quick photo of the church's exterior as we ran from the rain:
Another May Pole:
The last stop on our "Tour of Bavarian Churches":
The interior (this is also the church where Steffi hopped the gate to the choir loft to try and play the organ...which was locked up. She was very disappointed.): 
Random Adventures: The whole reason for the trip to Augsburg was for Steffi to have a problem with her tooth taken care of; that was the first thing we did on Thursday afternoon. Then, we headed to the city. She showed me around, and then we met a few of her political science friends at "The Onion Bar" for cocktails. It was happy hour, so everything was half price. So, we had piwo...and a mixed drink. By this point, we were both pretty tired from the day of wandering and the bus ride. We caught the 12:05 train from Augsburg back to Meitigen. The funny thing is, I don't remember falling asleep. The next thing I knew, a conductor was hitting my knee and asking (in German) for our ticket. Being the sound sleeper that I am, I had no idea what was going on. The whole incident was very reminisant of the train to Warszawa, so the first words out of my mouth were, "Where's Nina?" Thankfully, Steffi was able to pull herself into a descent state of conciousness and gave the man our ticket. The conductor explained that we didn't have enough punches on our ticket to be riding the train. We were both a little confused, since it only required eight for the two of us to get to Meitigen from Augsburg. The conductor laughed, we weren't in Meitigen, we were in Donauwörth-five stops past where we were supposed to get off. This was the last train; we were stuck. It was a true"Oh shit" moment. We panicked for about 30 seconds and then found a cab. Our train nap was a slightly expensive mistake...but we did end up with an entertaining cabbie. He thought it was funny that we were students in Poland and he was very interested in the American Democratic Primary. He kept asking what I thought about it (via Steffi), and then she had to translate my answers back to him. We also gave him a groshe (Polish penny)--he thought that was pretty great.
It was a 40 minute walk up to the castle (at Steffi's dad's insistance, we took a horse and buggy on the way down--he was really excited about that). During the walk, I saw a guy wearing a Huskers jack and had a tiny freak-out. By the time I got Steffi's attention and explained why that was important, he was gone. I was slightly sad.
The castle, which was built in the 1860s. Ludwig died mysteriously at another one of his catles, so it was never completely finished.
Guests are not allowed to take photos of the inside of the castle (which is ridiculously extravagant) because of copy-right laws. However, there's no rules on taking pictures of the view from the windows.
Before our walk back down.This is kärspätzle, or as I like to call it "Bavarian Macaroni and Cheese." It will completely ruin the kraft version that everyone loves in the US just because it is so much BETTER! (Side note: this picture is a testament to how badly I need a haircut) The streets of Füssen, another villiage.
We missed Nina...and Shail.
The village church.
The church where Steffi's parents were married. It's really beautifull Barrock interior, but the side alters are sort of creepy. There's people burried underneath each of the alters, and then above each there's a glass case with a human skeleton in it. Three of the four look fake, but one is so really-looking it's scary.
A quick photo of the church's exterior as we ran from the rain:
Another May Pole:
The last stop on our "Tour of Bavarian Churches":
The interior (this is also the church where Steffi hopped the gate to the choir loft to try and play the organ...which was locked up. She was very disappointed.): 
Random Adventures: The whole reason for the trip to Augsburg was for Steffi to have a problem with her tooth taken care of; that was the first thing we did on Thursday afternoon. Then, we headed to the city. She showed me around, and then we met a few of her political science friends at "The Onion Bar" for cocktails. It was happy hour, so everything was half price. So, we had piwo...and a mixed drink. By this point, we were both pretty tired from the day of wandering and the bus ride. We caught the 12:05 train from Augsburg back to Meitigen. The funny thing is, I don't remember falling asleep. The next thing I knew, a conductor was hitting my knee and asking (in German) for our ticket. Being the sound sleeper that I am, I had no idea what was going on. The whole incident was very reminisant of the train to Warszawa, so the first words out of my mouth were, "Where's Nina?" Thankfully, Steffi was able to pull herself into a descent state of conciousness and gave the man our ticket. The conductor explained that we didn't have enough punches on our ticket to be riding the train. We were both a little confused, since it only required eight for the two of us to get to Meitigen from Augsburg. The conductor laughed, we weren't in Meitigen, we were in Donauwörth-five stops past where we were supposed to get off. This was the last train; we were stuck. It was a true"Oh shit" moment. We panicked for about 30 seconds and then found a cab. Our train nap was a slightly expensive mistake...but we did end up with an entertaining cabbie. He thought it was funny that we were students in Poland and he was very interested in the American Democratic Primary. He kept asking what I thought about it (via Steffi), and then she had to translate my answers back to him. We also gave him a groshe (Polish penny)--he thought that was pretty great. Overall, my weekend in Bavaria was absolutely glorious. It was great just to be in someone's house again and not in an Ołowek flat or some random hostel. Plus, Steffi's mother is an amazing cook, and her family is wonderful. When I move to Bavaria (even if it's only in my imagination), I will have to visit them...and of course, Teddy all the time.
In other news, Megan, Alicia, Lacey, and I have a place to live next semester. It's non-campus housing, like what real grown-ups have! Kudos to Megan for finding this place and ensuring that those of us that are abroad don't return to NWU homeless.
Now, I know this blog has gained a following, so I'm going to be mean and use that to my advantage for one moment....I need a bed (preferably twin) for next semester. Does anyone have one that they would be willing to sell/allow me to "store" for them for a year? Please help. And for putting up with my moment of self-interest, you get a sunset.
Now, I know this blog has gained a following, so I'm going to be mean and use that to my advantage for one moment....I need a bed (preferably twin) for next semester. Does anyone have one that they would be willing to sell/allow me to "store" for them for a year? Please help. And for putting up with my moment of self-interest, you get a sunset.
See. It all evens out in the end.
3 comments:
Oh my god, Maggie...those pictures are stunning. Steffi's village looks absolutely gorgeous. I don't even have anything else to say because I'm still in love with looking at the pictures.
Oh, except, I think you falling asleep and missing your stop was hilarious, and I have a twin bed that you could "store" for me if you like, but it's a regular, not one of the longer ones...and you're pretty tall. But let me know if you need to preview it this summer--it's in Nebraska at the folks' house.
I absolutely LOVE these pictures. The landscape is incredible! I would love to see a picture posted of Grandpa "Opa". That was very nice of Stephi to share her family with you. Thanks Stephi!
As I look at these pictures over and over, I now want to jump into one of the outdoor-meadowy ones and burst into song singing, "the hills are alive.....with the sound of music!" Just for you SG!
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