On the road

It's been about a week since I left, and I've been covering a fair amount of ground since then. I am writing from Florence, Italy, having just gotten in on an all/day train ride from Paris. I spent four days in Paris. Before that, the few days I spent in Munich were distinguished by serious jet lag, but were quite lovely. The parts of the city I visited (Marienplatz, Kaufinger Strasse, Viktualienmarkt, etc) were beautiful and very busy. I was unprepared for just how serious Bavarians are about their beer -- almost everyone in restaurants has a glass of beer in front of them, for both lunch and dinner (it remains yet to be seen if beer has a place in the German breakfast). My German served me pretty well. It was definitely challenging to understand conversations on the street, but I could carry on basic conversations pretty well and could generally get the gist of what others said to me.

I spent a lot of time in museums in Paris, which I hadn't been anticipating, but was a good experience. Versailles, the Musee dOrsay, and Notre Dame were all wonderful and interesting places. Although after watching people walk through museums at warp speed with their cameras permanently out, I think I am ready to take a break from the museum tourism for a few days. Luckily, I am headed off into the Cinque Terre tomorrow and should spend the next couple of days hiking and taking it relatively easy so long as the weather cooperates.

I will be going to Austria (Vienna and Salzburg) instead of spending the rest of my trip in Italy. I'm looking forward to practicing my German some more. I should be back in Munich on the 16th, and am looking forward to getting settled in...

Obligatory Itinerary Overhaul

It was bound to happen. Here it is, the next three weeks of my life:

Arrive in Munich February 27
March 1-5 Paris
March 6 Florence/Siena
March 7-10 Rome
March 11-12 Hiking in the Cinque Terre
March 13-16 Venice
March 17 Back to Munich!

I'll try to write some notes from the road!

Pre-departure

I'm into my last few days stateside. I leave for Munich on the 26th and will be traveling pre-program from March 1 through March 17. I've "finalized" my itinerary for those couple of weeks (this has been a massively drawn out, indecisive process). It looks something like this:

Arrive in Munich on February 27th. Lay low and recover from jet lag until March 1, which is when my train pass becomes valid (!).

Head to Paris (jet-lag and all) to visit Jessica from March 1 through 5.

Night train to Tuscany, arriving March 6. I'll be going to Siena to sate my urban-design-classes inspired curiousity.

Leave for Rome on March 7. Arrive midday, plan to wander, get lost, and see cool stuff.

of course, an edit: Head for Matera via Bari (southeast Italy) on March 11. Stay in Matera for three night, Brindisi for two. Make day trips to nearby towns.

Return Munich-ways on a night train from Bari on the 16th. Settle in to my new room on the 17th. The JYM program orientation starts on the 18th!

This is a really farflung itinerary, but hopefully it will go off relatively well. I really couldn't decide on a more compact area to explore.

Here is my contact information for while I'm away:

Mail:
c/o Junior Year in Munich
Richard-Wagner-Strasse 27
80333 Munich Germany

Skype: lauren.white89

Email: untravelledworld at gmail dot com

That's it for now! I'll post something new when I get computer access somewhere along my travels.