Well here we go on a European adventure! All seated on a completely packed ATL flight and ready to head to our first stop, Munich Germany!! Hopefully we’ll get some sleep on this 9 hour flight. It’s going to feel like 3:50 am when we land, ugh.

Today we had a fabulous tour of Munich given by our own Herr Martin tour guide. He was an older gentleman who was completely in love with Baveria and South Germany. He showed us multiple churches with various styles, government buildings, some of Hilters builds, the princess and English gardens, beer gardens, the Marienplatz, multi floor shopping centers and more. He showed so much more that he went 2 hours over our allotted tour time! We were tired, he was great, but we stopped listening after awhile. We also tried multiple times to end it but he was insistent to keep showing us around, talking and getting us to sample foods. Would have loved to pay more attention with fresher minds. We did stop by the Hofbrau house. Unfortunately, no pictures but we did purchase souvenirs from gift store.

Some social takeaways the girls learned: Bavarians drink lots of beer, when on an escalator stay to the right(!), don’t sit around inside a shop, Germans like for you to finish all your meal (clear your plate).

Theatine Church, Munich. This 17th-century Catholic church was built by a Bavarian nobleman to give thanks for the birth of his long-awaited heir to the throne.

Feldherrnhalle (Field Marshal’s Hall), commissioned in 1841 by King Ludwig I of Bavaria to honour the tradition of the Bavarian Army.

Inside the Theatin Church.

The Bavarian State Chancellery

Haus der Kunst (House of Art): Building designed by Hilter who hated modern art.

There was modern art and sculptures on the walls that you can’t see in the picture that were cool. -L

This was Hilters building but inside was modern art -E

Crazy but you can surf in middle of Munich. It became popular after 1972 Olympic Games. The people were great at taking turns. Eisbach River

The female surfer lasted far longer than the men on the water. -L

However the men had more technique involved-E

This is was in the English Garden. No moto’s are allowed (no vechicals and no electric bikes). There is a 20Euro fine if found with a moto. Some would dump electric scooters to avoid a fine.. We saw one just beyond the rail completely under water.

Eisbach River, English Garden park

Monopteros, built in 1836 to provide a panoramic view of the city.

Chinese, Tower and Biergarten built in 1789.

The Chinese tower was as beautiful as I thought it would be. It is used as an resting place and area for eating and drinking beer. It’s a little hidden as it was on the trail though true beauty in the English garden. -E

Coaster our tour guide gave us. It represents all of the beer made in Munich. Which ever one a beer garden or restaurant chooses to serve, they are not allowed to serve any of the other brews. It’s the law!

My balance was tested in the Munich city bus. The bottom kept moving and turning whenever the bus took a turn, it was fun! -L

Heilig Geist Church (Holy Ghost).

Me and Elizabeth were blessed by a little toy figurine in the church. -L

St.Peters Catholic Church

Sparkly Cove in an alleyway in the middle of what will be an active night scene.

This is the closet we got to clubbing in Munich. -L

Pretty Lily walking in the Royal Garden.

Elizabeth took this great picture of me in the princesses garden. -L

Posing in the Royal Princess garden-E

Hofgarten Temple

Passing through the garden where the princess strolled through.-E

Little peak of one of the Theatine Church-E

Theatine Church

The ceilings were very high and beautiful. -L

Theatine Church

Just strolling through Munich past churches and statues-E

Jeweled Skeleton of Saint Munditia, her remains have been here since their transfer from the Roman catacombs in 1675. She is believed to have been martyred in 310 AD, beheaded with a hatchet.

If you are a single lady you’re supposed to tap the glass to wake her up and she will help you find a man. -L

A Beer Garden

Nice party area with lots of beer and food-E

Rathaus (town hall) Munich, the Glockenspiel is here

Frauenkirche, opened in 1494

The tallest church in all of Munich-E

English Garden

Pigeons are everywhere. -L

Not even a stone lion is safe from their clutches-E

St.Peters Catholic Church

St.Peters Catholic Church, 1368

At Linderhof Castle, more like a small palace. Smallest castle built by King Ludwig II.

One of two peacocks in the palace.

Fine fully porcelain flower arrangement.

In the mirror room. When you don’t look at the camera-E

Ludwig Castle/Palace

Flower power-E

Ironman Coke Can

Black Widow Coke Can

We drove through many small towns on the way to Ludwig’s Castle. This is just one of the many buildings we drove by.

On our way up to Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

We missed going on the bridge (in the distance) for a fantastic view of the castle so we took a picture from this side.

Snuck a quick picture from out an open window, Neuschwanstein Castle. Apparently taking photos even from here was a no no.

Baveria is so beautiful!

In the background is castle Hohenschwangau where King Ludwig II spent a lot of his childhood.

As soon as our excursion ended, Elizabeth slipped and fell down the carpeted stairs of the double decker bus. Ouch!

Little tip don’t fall off a bus-E

Horses are beautiful-E

Cute German Humpty Dumpty just hanging out in the town of Oberammergau.

Here at the Olympic tower in Munich-E

Olympiaturm

A nice view of the city from the top of the Olympic tower-E

At top of Olympiaturm

I’m gazing out plotting secret plans-E

We all giggled at the low lying ceiling in the shower at he Amsterdam hotel.

The shower has no door!?-E

Posing in the shower-E

Cheese! Tall people in the shower!

Outside the Ruks Museum

Boathouse on one of the many canals.

Another canal.

Some weird design choices here-E

I thought it was a cute way to travel! Bikes are notorious in Amsterdam. They are everywhere and you will get run over if you don’t watch out. They have their own lane, don’t get in it!!

St. Nicholas Church

It’s a historic Catholic church located in the center of Amsterdam. The church was built in the late 19th century, in a neo-Gothic style designed by Dutch architect Adrianus Bleijs.

The St. Nicholas Church was built to replace an earlier church, which had been located on the same site since the 16th century. The original church was a small wooden chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, and served as a place of worship for the many sailors and merchants who passed through Amsterdam's busy port.

Department store in Amsterdam. In many cities with old buildings they are converted to either apartments or shopping centers.

Skinny bridge Amsterdam

Handicap mini car allowed to park pretty much anywhere they want.

AM driving tour and these two struggled to stay awake.

Yes Lily was sleeping without a seat belt and almost toppled over several times. -E

Such an Angel. This was a street store with Boba teas, ice creams and candies.

Had some delicious mango fruit drink with brown sugar boba in a cute cup with ears.-E

Royal Palace Amsterdam constructed 1648

Lego land windmill.

Another canal but this one with the only windmill in the city still in view.

Here I am walking through Amsterdam-E

Enjoying dinner at the Hard Rock!

I had a good time and my first shot after this picture. -L

Lily was a little loopy and was hilariously fun after some alcohol-E

We’re at the windmills in Amsterdam having fun!!

A clog maker. He enjoys this job!

Seeing a really cool demonstration on how they make clogs today.

A really huge clog right outside the souvenir shop.

We set off via boat to head to a cheese factory in Volendam.

Lots of boats line up on the outskirts of Amsterdam.

A boat cruising through the water.

Mary blessing us as we make our way through into the town.

Volendam!

A cool demonstration and explanation of Gouda cheese and how it’s made by one of the workers.

We made it to London Central Station!

At Harry Potter World London!

Lily’s acceptance into Hogwarts!!!

By Lily, learn lots at Hogwarts!

On my way to hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry!

The Hogwarts Express train from platform 9 and three quarters.

The dorm room set for Harry Potter and roommates.

In the great hall with 400 ‘lit’ candles. Only two long tables remained. Two where removed to allow visitors to pass through.

Up!

Training with a broom, on my way to becoming part of the quidditch team!

Full replica of the hogwarts school of witch and wizardry. This was used in filming.

Lily standing on the great winding bridge that Neville and Seamus \240blew up in the last movie.

Elizabeth traveling through the winding bridge.

The Burrow!!! The Weasley’s house.

Spiders!!!!! In the forbidden forest.

A hippagriff named Buckbeak.

Here at the Ministry of Magic.

A Centaur.

The famous Weasleys flying car.

The entry to the headmaster’s office, Dumblefore’s for most of the series.

In the movies they have halls of moving paintings, it was cool to see it in real life - L

The dragon in one of the high security vaults deep inside Gringotts.

Just hanging with a dragon.

Getting a withdrawal from a goblin at Gringrotts.

The Gringgotts entryway.

Thestral is so cute!

Tunnel in the chamber of secrets.

Inside Bellatrix Lestrange vault.

Lily, a hufflepuff, with the sword of Gryffindor.

A slytherin with the sword of Gryffindor.

The dragon escaping Gringotts.

Strolling through the Diagonally set.

The puking pastille at Fred and George’s shop.

Pretty flowers.

The London Tower bridge.

Elizabeth finally got a hat for her burnt scalp. It came from our nice tour guide.

Sitting in a dog seat in London.

This was a statue Egyptian Queen in the Egypt section. behind her are the human headed winged bulls. - L

This was the Rosetta Stone! I was very excited to see it since I had studied it for a project in my History 1111 class. The inscription is written in three different languages and lead to the understanding of hieroglyphics. -L

Me with a porcelain and magnificent art piece that was once part of a structure in one of Chinas dynasty’s.

Just hanging with one of the judges of hell.

Here with the monkey god.

Exquisitely beautifull piece of artwork made in Korea.

Here with some weird minions.

It was awesome to see Greek statues in real life. -L

The London tower, looks more like castle and currently holds the Crown Jewels.

Another pretty picture of the London tower.

According to our guide, the London eye is the cities eyesore but tourists attraction. Also, in the background is a governmental building.

On a tour bus heading to Harrods for tea.

Atop an old double decker bus.

Looking at Elizabeth’s clock with the bell Big Ben inside.

View out the window along the way to Edinburgh.

There are lots of these long steps and corridors in Edinburgh.

Looking back down from the corridor.

Very windy here but pretty.

Up in the Edinburgh castle grounds with a great view in the background.

This crazy crow hung out on the ledge. He or she didn’t mind being petted either. Great place to hang out with that view of the city.

Prisons of war.

Prison/ jail for the military.

This was underground in Edinburgh during the ghost tour. Wine and other goods were kept down here.

Didn’t hear what this was used for but apparently there’s a ghost that likes to hang out around it.

Archway in Edinburgh.

City of Edinburgh.

Guide took us to some waterfalls. People with ailments and asthma come here for fresh air and freshwater..

Be careful. You could fall and die here. This sign is likely a result of some stupidity.

The Queen’s View

Fortingall Parish Church, tree right by the church has been carbon dated 5,000 years old. A stone wall was built around it as it attracted souvenir hunters, who were picking away its bark, limbs, and twigs.

5,000 year old tree.

A Scottish cow. The guide said a trip to Scotland, was not complete without seeing a Scottish cow.

Scottish sheep.

On the plane I offered a stewardess a few pounds we had leftover. Knowing it would be some time before returning to the UK, I thought maybe a member of the crew could benefit. She was taken aback. It was only about $6 and change I gave but she returned the kindness in $100’s with her service and gifts (cookies, chips and drinks). She gave way more than I gave her but glad it made her day.

Final Thoughts:

My favorite city we visited was Edinburgh and I would love to return to the UK; especially Scotland. I enjoyed how proper the English people were. They all had a friendly attitude and would say sorry with accidental bumps while walking in public.

In Munich I learned the German people can be \240rudely blunt and I didn’t care for that trait.

During the trip as a whole there were some challenges in the language barrier but I felt I was pretty flexible on the food and just going with the flow. My least favorite part of the trip was not being able to be on the right day trip in Scotland. -Lily

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My favorite cities were Munich and Edinburgh. I loved Munich for all the beautiful sights and loved the architecture. In Edinburgh the locals were extremely nice and the sights were more beautiful. I would like to return to Scotland mainly because I feel we only saw such a small part of the country. The most challenging part of the trip was the language barrier however we managed fine. My least favorite part was throwing up in Edinburgh because I ate too much. -Elizabeth

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Oh what a trip! I found adjusting to Europe time wasn’t as bad as I envisioned. I do think the girls got a bad impression of the German people. Lily had two instances of cultural differences and felt chided: she sat on a ledge in a marketplace and a lady yelled at her for sitting there; a guy got on to her and snapped his fingers right by her ear for not moving to the right on an escalator. The people there are actually really nice. They value punctuality, rules and order. They also value a clear boundary between work and family life. Spending time with family and friends are very important. The Germans are famous for loving beer, bread, and sausages. With all the walking I’d love these things too!

My favorite parts were the times we went out of the city. We did this in Munich, Amsterdam and Edinburgh. All three offered beautiful countryside. The Bavarian mountain Alps outside of Munich were beautiful. Learning the history and seeing Markermeer Lake and the windmills outside of Amsterdam was fascinating. My favorite was seeing a small portion of the Scottish countryside. It was our greatest disappointment to miss the day trip where we were suppose to really see the Scottish highlands and country landscape. What little we saw was breathtaking and only solidified my desire to return and see more of this beautiful country.

Did not have the opportunity to go outside of London but it’s also a place I would love to return. I would like to spend more time at the British Museum and see more of the older buildings this city has to offer. The famous fish and chips were truly delicious. -Joie