IM ON A BOAT!!

We have just pulled out of the port of Venice on a Greek cruise boat headed for patras Greece. It has been a long day of traveling to get to Venice (via a night train from Munich) and we still have 27 hours on this boat with no room or bed. But among all this traveling, 30 minutes of watching the floating city go by has truly allowed the gravity and wonder of this trip to set in for me. It is truly unbelievable to be sailing along the Italian coast towards Greece and I am so thankful to have this opportunity. But enough of that, on to other things.

I know Dave will update soon with a thorough report on Munich, so just a few thoughts from me. It is truly my kind of place. Most people reading this know I am a fan of good beer and good food, and they do both better than anyone in the world there. All over the city there are beer halls and biergartens (beer gardens) with large wooden picnic tables. At any of these you can get a great Bavarian beer, a meal of large portions of meat and potatoes, and an environment full of singing, tuba playing and just plain old good fun. We had the pleasure of meeting a group of American girls from new York who were studying abroad in frieburg and on their way to a second month of studying in Berlin. Shout out to them if they are reading our blog, YOLO! In addition to the beer and food, Munich is home to the largest municipal garden in Europe known as the englisch garten. The outdoors is another one of my favorite things, and this park does not disappoint, kinda looks like the shire. It is enormous and contains a small river, a Chinese tower, and it's own beer garden.

We also spent a day at the dachau concentration camp, this was a truly chilling experience. It is one thing to see museums dedicated to the holocaust, and a completely different experience to stand on the same grounds where the terrible acts occured. I could not put into words the emotions that came over me while standing in a gas chamber. Yet, I must say, it is still quite difficult to really imagine what it must have been like there between 1938 and 1945.

We decided to only spend half a day in Venice because we heard its expensive and more of a place for lovers. (No comments please, we all know that there is a serious love triangle on this trip.) we took a quick cruise down the main canal this morning and then slowly weaved our way back through the city to the port. We saw San Marco piazza which is as beautiful as in all the movies you've seen it in. The canals were also unbelievable to see in person after seeing them so many times in movies as well. I hope I can get back to venice for longer some day when I can afford to fully enjoy it.

For now, the skies are clear as Venice shrinks behind us. Hopefully the weather remains nice as way continue to Greece.

Ciao!
-The Bear