Venice and Munich

Francesca in Venice!

St. Mark's Basilica

Our gondolier

View from the gondola

Frühlingsfest!

A liter of beer

The Devil's Footstep

The two P's (Paolo and Peter) in the beer hall

At the carousel bar

I returned to Dublin on Wednesday from my trip to Venice and Munich, which was probably the most fun trip I have taken so far. I spent three days (Friday-Sunday) in Venice and two days (Monday-Tuesday) in Munich.

Venice is a very difficult city to navigate, as we learned very quickly when we got lost on the way to our bed and breakfast. Thankfully, we were not in a hurry... we spent most of our first day there wandering around the city and eating gelato whenever we encountered it. We made extensive use of the "waterbus" that ferries people around the city.

On Saturday, we visited the Piazza San Marco and St. Mark's Basilica before continuing to explore the city - taking periodic breaks to enjoy some authentic Italian food (I don't think I have ever consumed more pasta over a three-day period). That evening, we took a gondola ride - which featured a song (unfortunately, the gondolier was not a very good singer).

On Sunday, we took the "waterbus" to the islands of Murano and Burano - where we did some souvenir shopping and exploring. Murano is famous for its glassmaking, a fact quite evident from the contents - and prices - of its souvenir shops. Burano is covered with brightly colored houses, which are quite unusual sights for a resident of central Pennsylvania.

Early (read: too early) Monday morning, we took a train to Munich. The train itself was very nice (quite Harry Potter-esque), and the ride featured many beautiful scenic views... unfortunately, I slept through some of them. Upon arriving in Munich, we stopped at our unexpectedly nice hotel before eating lunch (wiener schnitzel, of course) and heading to Frühlingsfest - which is essentially a small-scale, springtime version of Oktoberfest. What more could one ask for than carnival rides and beer halls?

On Tuesday morning, we took a guided walking tour of Munich. The tour was very interesting, despite the cold and rainy weather we had to endure. One of the most interesting stops on the tour was the Frauenkirche, or "Church of Our Lady," which has a very interesting backstory. Built in the 12th century, it was completed in 20 years (then-record time) - supposedly with assistance from a very unlikely source, the Devil. As the story goes, the Devil promised the church's builder a speedy creation provided he refrain from adding windows to the church. Cleverly, however, the builder tricked the Devil by adding side windows which are not visible from the front of the church. Enraged, the Devil stomped his foot in the church's foyer - leaving what is known as the "Devil's Footstep."

Thankfully, the weather had cleared up by the time we returned to Frühlingsfest for a second day of fun. After several liters of beer, it was time to call it a night before our return flight to Dublin on Wednesday - which ended up being an adventure in itself, as we spent much of Wednesday morning attempting to find a way to get to the airport. After several options fell through, we took a taxi - which got us to the airport just in time. Mission accomplished!

Now, back to studying for finals...