My Holiday in Germany

 After a crazy end to my first semester of graduate school I was more than excited to get to Germany for a month of holiday. It was definitely a relaxing and amazing break and I enjoyed seeing new places such as Bamberg, Dusseldorf, and Cologne! Germany has stolen a bit of my heart, I'm afraid, with it's beautiful landscape and history. I can't wait to go back, for several obvious reasons, to explore more of this country. Below I've posted some of my favorite pictures from the trip--enjoy!

A day at Tubingen with Seb and his sweet mom! The town was post-card perfect and it was so relaxing to walk around during the crisp weather. There were still some lights up from the Christmas markets!

Right before we went for a sweet treat. I believe this is the Neckar river--the village holds boat races here when there's warm weather. It was quite nice just to walk by the river, talk about nothing, and enjoy the scenery (and building anticipation for "lunch"). 

Black forest cherry cake! There were only a few bites left after I massacred the heavenly treat.

*Hermine's (Seb's grandmother) apple strudel would beat this any day!*

Prost! We made approximately 180 jello shots for Silvester (New Years Eve in Germany). They proved to be extremely tasty...and potent, which is why I shall not post more pictures of that night. Ahem.  

Having some G&T's in Munich with two of the sweetest girls. Although my time in Munich was a little rainy it was still a really nice city. Can't wait to see them again this summer!

At the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich enjoying my pretzel and trying to drink my half liter of Radler. Thankfully I had some help finishing it all! ;) The atmosphere was just as you would expect--lots of cute lederhosen, long tables with strangers sitting beside one another, and massive quantities of beer. 

 I finally got to meet my friend Sina after four years of not seeing her! Staying with her family in Sprockhovel (an area near Dusseldorf) was so much hilarious fun! This day we went to Cologne to explore--here I'm standing in front of the city's most famous cathedral. Climbing the stairs to the top was quite challenging but the view was gorgeous and definitely worth it!

Apparently the random photographer thought the bicycle and lamp post would make nice additions to the photo. It was such a memorable and fun day!

A nice view of Cologne! A charming city but I still prefer the south of Germany. 

Possibly the funniest evening that I had with Sina! Her father, Thomas, decided to take us on an adventure so I could see "some art on a hill." After much skepticism we found ourselves at the base of a small mountain staring at a PYRAMID! We hiked numerous stairs made of mud and tree branches to get to the top, then meandered onto the  Tetraeder and found ourselves staring out at the foggy city. 

I was extremely pleased when I discovered the surprise artwork was actually a pyramid. Here is Sina and I standing in front of the structure before we barreled back down the mountain. As a side note, we got lost for several moments because none of us had a flashlight and couldn't remember which way we came since everything looked different in the dark! Thankfully we found our way and made it home just in time for a chicken curry dinner. 

 Wuppertal: The industrial city with the FLOATING TRAIN! It reminded me of the train from Harry Potter--however butter beer was not served and Ron Weasley was not on board. :(

My friend Kate, and her lovely boyfriend John, met up with us in Bamberg for some kasesspatzle after sightseeing for a day! She couldn't quite finish her meal so she had this humongous doggy bag to put the remnants in. 

 

 Bamberg is such a gorgeous and historic city! It's on the list of UNESCO's world heritage sites. The streets were so clean and all of the little shops and restaurants seemed so enticing. I can't wait to see it when the trees and flowers are blooming in the spring time!

I also got to meet Kate and John in Regensburg for a day--another city on the world heritage list! This town was also enchanting, especially because the Danube river flowed right through the middle (and there were several places with nice drink specials). I found this statue to be rather humorous, apparently no one can figure out its purpose but I thought the little guy was kind of charming. 

While we were frolicking in Regensburg John told us that images from popular bible stories had been painted on numerous buildings throughout the village during previous years. This is one of the only scenes left. 

Seb and I in Regensburg during our self guided tour--followed by chai tea lattes, beer, and cheesecake!