week 1 of my vacation

before we begin there are two things i want to say.
first, i made this face A LOT:


second, germans like to call things by completely different names than the rest of the world.
Germany= Deutschland
Lake Constance = Bodensee
Baveria = Bayern
Munich = München

so i went to Bayern. first in the country, then to Munich. keep going and see.

on the second day, We went on a long hike and ended up going from wet grass to snow. it was so wonderful to see snow again. here i am at the germany austria border.


we went to austria to eat lunch. here are the For alps. not even the real things, but very impressive.


the next day we drove to the Bodensee... Lake Constance. I was very excited and nearly had tears in my eyes when i saw this view. you cant really tell in this picture, but it was just these huge snow capped mountains behind this lake. AHHHH!


this is the harbor at Lindau, Germany. i climbed the tower. again, awesome mountains.


The Bodensee. we were on the very far eastern tip, if you want to look on an atlas. so this is just a piece.


We took a train to Munich. it was very very punctual. i was shocked.
this is the Rathaus. which means, city hall. there is a famous moving bell show in the tower. with figures that dance and knights that kill each other.


it was so huge, i couldnt get the whole thing.

the world capital of Beer... and outside, under the trees. it was very nice. i have also realized, that ive never had beer before. natural light and budweiser is not beer.



and you see this sort of thing a lot. i didnt even inquire as to how much the pants cost, but they were pretty neat. bavarian music is something that only exists here. it is certainly a... treat.



cool fountains


here is a library. i was happy there were so many bicycles outside. granted it was near a university, but it still looked very perfect. this part of the city looked a lot like St. Petersburg.


clearly an emergency exit. i am happy they actually drew the fire in the picture. or maybe they are swords. or canoes.


and that is munich.

we went hiking one more time before i left. up in the mountains. ive never climbed a whole mountain before. it was very cool. we ended up walking along a cliff, with precipices on both sides. i am standing on the same level as this little tree. and that is a house.


and me looking like a man, with hiking boots, and a big back pack. and picking my nose, of course.

the sticks are to help you work your upper body. nordic walking. all the rage in germany. and it gives you an extension of your arms, so you can sort of walk on all fours. its hard to explain. sometimes pretty akward, and not really that great of a workout for your arms, but it makes one feel more professional.

thank you for being patient,
and to end, my favorite picture of the whole trip south: