Where did September go?

The weekend after Krakow I stayed local- no adventures. Billy was arriving on Sunday for his visit, so I couldn't go far...
I did manage to make it to Bad Durkheim, a town next to Mannheim, for their annual wine festival. I live right next to the wine region in Germany (yes, I realize how fortunate I am!) and there are all kinds of wine festivals this time of year. I went with Avi and Erik...

They had several tents as well as places to sit outside. It was like a big fair- with booths and rides and good food.

Erik and Avi with round number two. Most glasses were actually like Eriks- half liters. Wow. The wine was awesome

I had to throw Mr. Mais in here. When Avi and I saw this we had to get a picture. This freaky, glowing ear of corn was the only way I could ever find my way back to our tent. There were so many people and so many tents (and so much wine) that navigating became an issue. Luckily Mr. Corn saved the day.

Just me with my water glass of wine. I liked this glass because it actually said Bad Durkheim on it. I like it so much, in fact, that I brought it home with me, along with another random glass. My collection of glasses continues to grow- I'll need another suitcase just for them.

So Billy arrived the morning after the wine fest and I even managed to make it to the airport on time to pick him up! That week we hung out in Mannheim and made a trip to Heidelberg. That next weekend we went to Switzerland for Friday and Saturday night.

We stayed in Luzern. It was absolutely gorgeous...

I took this from a boat on Lake Luzern

On Saturday we did a tour on the lake and then up into the Alps. We had to take "the steepest train in the world." This picture shows the gondola that takes people back down- it was pretty incredible. The views from the top were amazing...

This is what most of the town looks like

On Sunday we headed back to Germany, but we stayed Sunday night in Munich before heading back to Mannheim. Even with Oktoberfest going on we still had to stop at the Hofbrauhaus for Billy's first liter

Then we hit the fest. Since it was Sunday night it was pretty easy to get in. The place was still packed though and the atmosphere was incredible.

That next weekend Billy took off for home, and I went back down to Oktoberfest with Erik and Avi. We stayed with my friend Robert, who is actually the boyfriend of one of the girls I knew in the Ulm summer program.
It was the last weekend of Oktoberfest, and so we had a much different experience than the previous weekend. The only reason we got into a tent at all, and then found anywhere to sit, was because Robert is German and could actually communicate with people. I don't know how he did it, but we got some seats...



This is the tent we sat in- they were all like this. There were bands that played and people dancing on benches- it was SO MUCH fun!!

Erik and I with our first liters of the day. They tasted great.

This is Robert, in awesome lederhosen!

And finally, us making our way back to Robert's from the fest. Yup, we were all pretty special by this point! We were done by about 6:00, and we got there at noon!

Well, I guess I'm all caught up with the pictures. I think this is a first! My Eurail pass ends this weekend, so my adventures will be much closer to home from now on...

Krakow...

As I mentioned, Avi and I left for Krakow two days after our very long trip home from Belgium. I had a week off in between my August language course and the regular semester, and it was the last chance I would have to get to Poland while I'm here. We stayed three nights in Krakow, which is a beautiful city.


This is the big square at the center of the old city. We had our first (of many) pierogies that weekend at a cute restaurant in the square. Deeeeeelicious.


This is a huge and beautiful church that's also in the square. The picture below is of the inside, which was more ornate than any church I've seen yet. That is saying something, because I've probably seen about 400 churches in my travels...

After taking this picture of the insiden I was informed that photos weren't allowed. So, once again, I was a criminal with my camera.

We did more walking in Krakow than I think I ever have in my life, and a lot of my pictures (like this one) are just of buildings that I thought were pretty and cannot remember now what they were. Oops. The city is beautiful, though, and it was largely undamaged in WWII, unlike most of the places I've visited.

This is a shot of the castle in the old city- it's actually the side of it. I tried to get as much of it in the picture as I could. To the left was the cathedral, which was huge itself. There was a square and a green with gardens in the center.

This picture is of the same side of the castle from across the green...

It was an absolutely gorgeous day.

This is just a random shot of one of the streets downtown...



And this is one of the gates to the old city.


Avi and I also did a day trip to Auschwitz while we were in Krakow. It's only about an hour outside of the city, and it was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Poland. It was obviously an intense and overwhelming trip, and I just don't feel right posting the few pictures I took there on a blog. However, it was the most valuable trip I've made and I'm so glad that I had the chance to see it.