Servus All,
Wow. Simply put, Wow. This past 3 weeks have been amazing. Absolutely and incredibly amazing. I have visited two luxurious Castles (Luxurious is a serious under statement), explored the islands of the beautiful Chiemsee; had a great time at the cultural tradition that is Wine fest and hiked up Austrian Alps, visiting a glacial cave.
When you think of Germany you think of Beer, of Dirndls and Lederhosen, of jagged snow covered mountains, and of castles. And when you think of such castles or "Schlӧsser" auf Deutsch, one certainly comes to the forefront of your mind. One that "little princesses" dream of living in, the same one that Walt Disney visited all those years ago, inspiring the Disney Castle.
Arguably the most well known building in the whole of Europe and the most visited castle in Germany, Neuschwanstein Castle, nestled between the Bavarian Mountains near the village Fussen, is a sight to behold. Gaping in awe I stood, staring at the spires carving their way up into the sky through the early morning fog that was still thick in the valley. A light peppering of snow on the mountain behind could be seen, like icing sugar on a German Krapfern and Autumn leaves just beginning to colour made the scenery seem so much more alive and vibrant. It was the most beautifully awesome experience. Although many would believe it to be older, this castle was built only from 1869-1886. It was however designed to be middle age style.
Last Wednesday Alina and I got home from school, dumped our bags in our rooms and set off with Johanna my host mother to the great Chiemsee. At Prien, the town right on the edge of the lake, We bought a ticket on one of the Ferries, and off we went across water with the relatively short 5-10 minute boat ride to the Island of Herrenchiemsee (Very creative I know!) This is the biggest island in the lake, and holds the second of 3 Castles that King Ludwig the Second had built, Schloβ, or castle Herrenchiemsee (Even more creative) the first being Schloβ Neuschwanstein. This was without a doubt in the world, the most luxurious building I have ever, and probably will ever be in.
Its hard to explain just how extravagant this palace is without actually showing you. As we walked into the entrance hall I gave an involuntary gasp. A giant white marble staircase dominated the room, coloured marble with golden inlays lined the walls and Sistene chapel (Which I go to in 2 days!!!!!)like paintings were portrayed on the ceiling. Many beautiful sculptures were strewn throughout the immense room. It was just incredible. All completed rooms in this colossal Palace were Sumptuous to say the least. There was a theme of King Louis the 15th of France throughout the castle, he had replica desks, cabinets, paintings and even entire rooms made in honour of the man. The great hall, "The hall of Mirrors" was 98 metres long, and had over 1800 candles that took 25 servants half an hour to light them all. King Ludwig had a private bath that had a capacity of 60,000 litres and took a whopping 8 hours to heat. Mind you, everything in this castle was private and reserved just for him. An entire castle. He only spent ten days there.
Fords (Not Fjords)
German people don't prefer Fords! "That's a very bold Statement", I hear you thinking, and I agree, to someone having not experienced Germany that would sound like a big generalisation. As I walk from the Bus stop in Rosenheim to the gym after School (got to work off all those sausages and Sauer Kraut somehow), I happen to by chance pass a used car dealership or "Autoverkäufer". Now these are certainly no spiffy cars, with some up to 40 years old. In this specific car seller, they have all the Prices displayed on the windscreens, and as I speed walk by in my rush to get as much time in the gym before the next bus comes, I read all the Prices. Citroen 1,600 €
Every single ford was half the price or lower than competitors cars, same age, same style. Again and again I observed this phenomenon. And again and again I wondered why so. A light bulb lit up in my head and it hit me. No one in Germany wants a ford.
Your move Holden.
Alcohol
You know that strange little social rule in Australia and most of the world that says its unacceptable to crack open a bottle of sparkling, or pour a frothy before high noon? Yeah... Simply put, this does not exist in Bavaria.
Many traditional Sunday breakfasts of Sausage and brezl are had with a nice cold one. So there you go, from it being baked into cakes and chocolates, to being consumed at Oktober fest and even at breakfast, alcohol is undoubtedly a major part of the Bavarian culture.
Kangaroos
Recently this weekend, I attended a party with Alina where their were many young people. Word got around that I'm from Australia and people were crowding round asking questions like, "What do you like better, Australia or Germany?" and "What's the hottest it's been in summer where you live". Now one of the guys inside the circle decided to go out on limb and yelled over the music "Have you ever ridden a Kangaroo?" I replied in the true Aussie fashion of "Well of course I've ridden a Kangaroo, how else would I get to school mate".
Again, there is so much that I could write about. About Wine fest, the glacier inside a cave, and my Rambo-like skills in Laser tag, but I'm afraid I can't, as I've already almost doubled my "word guidelines". If you would like to know more, message me. I'm having an amazingly incredibly astonishingly awesome time here in Deutschland and I can definitely see my German dialect skills improving. I can almost understand what's happening in class now (good or bad? #homework) Thanks for reading, hope I didn't bore you and as Ron Burgundy says, "Stay Classy Australia"
Yours Sincerely
Clyde
PS. This weekend is Rome! I am so pumped
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