My title game is still going strong. #getonmylevel
Weeelllll our original plans to go to Munich this weekend did not pan out. BUT we were not about to waste time. So we still went to Germany!
We went to Passau, which is essentially still Austria. Even when I bought my ticket at the trainstation, Passau was located under “National Ticket”, not “International Ticket”.
You can see on this map – Passau is essentially on the border. There were parts of the city where you could probably throw a rock and it would land in Austria.
Passau also looks and feels very Austrian. Not that I have experience in Germany, because I don’t, but Passau felt very homely. I will admit that no matter where I go, when I cross the border back into Austria, I breath a sigh of relief. It feels like home!
We started the morning wandering through the city, in and out of some churches.
We opted for an early lunch. We stopped in at a small patio Italian restaurant and ate outside in the beautiful weather.
After lunch we headed to the castle/fortress. We decided to take the shuttle up as apposed to climbing up, and because of our shuttle tickets, we got a discount on our entrance tickets. Which sounds pretty good to me!
We had the museum almost to ourselves! Except for the “watchers”, those people who make sure you don’t touch or break anything. There was 1 watcher who would literally walk up right behind us and stand there until we moved. I didn’t like her much.
The museum was actually pretty cool – and it had interactive parts that you could actually try on armor/medieval shoes/sit down for a feast etc. It was mostly at those parts where we were laughing or joking around that the crazy water lady would stand behind us and look disapprovingly at us.
Whatever lady.
There’s always a nice view wherever you go.
One cool thing about Passau is that 3 rivers converge in the city. Because the 3 rivers all come from different places and travel through different areas, they are easy to tell apart. The Danube river is also pretty dirty right now with all the rain we’ve been having recently.
After the castle we walked down the hill and across the bridge.
We also stopped into St. Stephan’s Cathedral, where earlier in the day there was a giant wedding. So we weren’t able to go in at the time, but in the afternoon we could!
We also had to hide out in St. Stephen’s for a bit because it started to POUR rain. Eventually we had to decide to leave the cathedral and head out. Thankfully the rain let up and we made our way through the streets on the way to the trainstation.
This time we actually made sure to get some ice cream 🙂
And it was gooooooooooooooood.
We also stopped in at McDonald’s where Paulina got a coffee and we borrowed the free Wifi. While sitting there the rain came down so hard we all just watched in awe. But as time wound down, we had to brave the sleet and run to the train station. Thankfully it was only a few blocks away. From there, we caught the train home.
Another day trip, another adventure.
This was my first time actually being in Germany. I’ve visited the Frankfurt hotel on several occassions, but that doesn’t really count, now does it?
The exchange clock has been steadily ticking down, and it has become more stressful. The “deadline” of my home bound flight is a giant red circle on my calendar that keeps getting closer and that’s stressful.
Today is a holiday in Austria so no class today! Yay!
Well, I better get back to my International Week prep!
emma.k
Wandering Miss Emma.K 