Munich Day One

*Apologies for such an overdue post*

 Last weekend for Thanksgiving, my friend, Nicola, and I went over to Munich to visit the Christmas markets and tour the castles of "Romantic Road." While I had class and a group meeting on Thanksgiving, it was so lovely to escape London for the weekend with a fellow American missing the turkey and cranberry sauce!

We had an early flight out of London Gatwick via Easyjet. For once, I have to applaud Easyjet for being a friendlier budget airline! The flight was about an hour and a half followed by an hour train ride into the Central Station in Munich. We were luckily staying at a hotel right next to the station, so we dropped out bags and set out to explore!

The concierge at the hotel suggested we do the hop-on-hop-off tour in order to see some of the attractions outside the main city centre since we had limited time. We're so glad we did as we were able to see the BMW Museum/HQ and the location of the 1972 Olympics.

BMW Museum

Location of the 1972 Olympics

After the tour of the city, we set off to explore a few things on our own. We stumbled upon the famous Opera House,Marienplatz, the Royal Gardens, and the Church St. Peter, to name a few.

The Royal Gardens

At Marienplatz, we discovered the largest Christmas market. Fun Fact: Munich has over 60 Christmas markets including a medieval one…that we never did find.  The markets sell everything from wood crafts to ornaments to mulled wine to bratwurst to candy. The list goes on and on for the variety of items that the different stalls sell.  It can be a bit overwhelmingly to decide what to even eat!

Mulled Wine

Merry Christmas!

In the evening, we took off for traditional beer and food! While it was a bit cheesy and a tourist destination, we knew we needed something authentic!

Cheers!

Stay tuned for another overdue post about the day trip we took to see the famous castles!

Let's Recap...

Now that I've survived math camp, real classes begin tomorrow. I just finished reading through the first chapter for class tomorrow, and I must say that I am happy to be back in the world of academia. To be honest, I sometimes dislike not having a busy work schedule, lots of meetings, and homework. My schedule on my iCalendar already looks pretty insane...and that is just for this week...the first week.

After my math test on Friday, we had quite a busy day. Arielle, Jenny, Kaitlyn, and I headed over to Shakespeare's Head for some traditional English breakfast to reward ourselves for surviving math camp. We may have all been tired and still discussing the intense, non-graded test, but we quickly moved away from that subject.  Running over to catch a few seminars on how to sign up for language courses, tips on writing essays, we then attended the MPA course fair. It was helpful to hear about all the courses including the one I've finally decided to take as well as the options for next year.

I also got to meet both my curriculum advisor  and supervisor on Friday. My curriculum advisor moreover helps us decide what classes for options in both years. He's actually going to be teaching one of my courses this year. As for my supervisor, he's in the Department of Economics, and we discussed a lot of different things related to opportunities both internally and externally. And while, it was a meeting unlike one that I would usually have with Coplin, he's given me a lot to think about in terms of future plans already.

Emma, Kaitlyn, and me

View of Tower Bridge from the boat

Friday evening was spent with the entire MPA program including the second years. A bunch of us started off at the George for a drink before heading to the MPA reception. The reception included brief appetizers that allowed everyone in the program to interact with each other before heading over to the MPA Boat Party. Yes, that's right. Our program hosted a boat party on the Thames. An eight pound ticket for four hours of dancing, friends, and the famous sights. Plenty of memories to last for the year and beyond.

Borough Market

Delicious

Yesterday, a big group of us headed to Borough Market to explore all of the food stands. While we ate our way through the stalls, I finally got to check something off my London Bucket List. When I was hear in 2010, I never had a chance to make it to the market. I picked up a bunch of veggies which I used to make dinner tonight as well as indulge myself with a fresh ham, chicken, and leek pie.  From there, we took a walk along the Thames to St. Paul's Cathedral. No re-enactment  of "feeding the birds" as I did in 2010, but I do plan on going back for a tour again!

St. Paul's Cathedral

The Thames

Today was spent making dinner for the week, running a few errands, and getting ready for classes to start tomorrow. Hard to believe that I've been here for three weeks already!