Prague

While waiting in Munich we decided (as we had time to kill) to head off to Prague, Czech Republic for a couple of days. It was super close to Germany and we were told that the Christmas markets where worth checking out.

A 6 hour train ride and we had arrived, it was insane that in such a short amount of distance we were in a new country with a completely different language and culture. We were unable to find a host on such short notice so stayed in a hostel instead. The hostel was amazing we decided to go for a private room for a little bit extra then shared and ended up getting this huge room on the top floor!

 We only had 2.5 days in Prague so we made the most of it; the first night we checked out the christmas markets. The markets were similar to the ones in Germany and Austria but a little different again. Everything was made out of wood, food or plants. Such a change especially coming from North America where everything is mass produced and made out of plastic.

Day 1: In the morning we made our way to the huge gothic Prague Castle. It was awesome, my favorite parts of the castle were 'Golden Lane' a small street of tiny homes where the castle's servants lived (it was fun to stand next to and in the homes and feel like a giant), St. Vitus Cathedral was bloody huge (so big I struggled to get a picture of the whole building with my camera) it was a very dark gothic church with amazing decorations, tombs of kings and emperors.






























After the castle we made our way to lunch and to warm up, playing tourist in winter is not really that much fun as it is super cold especially when visiting huge old cold buildings! A short walk to the top of the hill where the Strahov Monastery was located we stopped for lunch and some beer samples at the 'Strahov Monastic Brewery'. The beer was really good, Marc loved the IPA and the food was pretty good but the lack of service was a little strange; but with a little bit of patience we managed to have a lovely break and warm our bones.


In the afternoon we were off to see some more sights, lovely views of Prague from the monastery, the Lennon wall, Charles bridge, dancing house and then stopped in for some more beer and warmth at the 'Pivovarsky Dum' another Prague brewery. They had a pretty large range of different beers, Marc liked the beer but I really enjoyed the sour cheery and banana beer.

That night we returned to the hostel for a quick break before we headed out on a pub crawl around Prague. The pub crawl was fun but a little too expensive for what it was. We visited 3 different bars, they were all super different; the first 2 where both underground and full of cigaret smoke (a big change for us), the last bar was more of a night club and was loads of fun because it was bigger the smoke was not as bad. We had a great time, it was quiet being a Tuesday night but luckily there were some really nice people on the tour who we got along with really well and ended up dancing the night away with. Needless to say we did not get home until after 4am!

Day 2: Well Marc and I can party... however we can't recover as well! After a bit of a sleep in and rainy weather outside we spent most of the day resting our sore heads in the hostel. After such a big day 1 having a rest days was exactly what we needed.

Day 3: Our train back to Munich was leaving mid afternoon so we were up early to see a few more sights before we left. First stop a walk around Vyšehrad, another old castle with a crazy cemetery and more views of Prague. The rest of the day we joined a free walking tour to learn and see more of the city. There was just so much to see, we wish we had more time to check out more of the sights but it was still cool to see the main sights in a highlighted tour.

We picked up our bags from the hostel and made our way to the train station where I thought we were right on time about 45 mins before our train left... however I had miss read the 24 hour time and we were 2 hours early oops. Not too much we could do about it so headed to starbucks for some tea while we waited.

Prague was an amazing city and if we ever get a chance to go back it will be in spring when it is warmer and I will make sure we have more then just a couple of days.  

Munich, Innsbruck then back to Munich

After a few days in Munich we made our way to Innsbruck, Austria to see the area and look into finding jobs for the winter. The train was a little expensive to go to Innsbruck so we organized ride share; you pay 10 euro each to catch a ride with someone who is going from Munich to Innsbruck. It was a brilliant idea and really cheap too!

 In Innsbruck we had found another couch surfer to host us for 4 days while we looked around. Innsbruck was a beautiful city and a bit bigger then what we were expecting (Pop: 100k). No snow in the mountains yet so had a look around the city and took in some sights. After talking to a friend of my brothers we found out that because the snow had not started to fall yet we would be struggling to find work as all the positions had been filled in August; additionally we could not speak German and did not have visas which made it all a little more difficult. We were starting to realize we should have looked into work before we left canada but you live and you learn!

We still had fun in Innsbruck; the christmas markets had only just opened up so we enjoyed strolling around checking out the little stalls, eating the delicious food, drinking gluhwein and jagertee. The old town of Innsbruck was really cool too with the famous 'Golden Roof' and tiny winding streets.

 A little lost and not too sure what to do for the winter we talked to our host in Munich who advised he might be able to get us work in a German snow town called Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but first we would need to apply to become residents of Germany so we can stay in the EU for longer then 90 days. After some time to think we decided to return to Munich to become residents and find out more details about the job. Luckily or couch surfing host had room for us to return, after finding another ride share we made our way back to Munich.

Back in Munich we applied to become German residents (with a bit of help from our host), the process was pretty easy we simply filled out some forms and showed evidence that we had enough money to support ourselves and adequate health insurance, by the end of the day we were official residents for the next 12 months!

The possible job would not be available until the week before christmas, but first we needed to meet up with the owner of the hotel who was on holiday for another week. We decided to chill in Munich and send off some emails to other hotels in the area looking for work incase the other job fell through and also started to look for somewhere to live if we were not able to find work. Apart from this we also got out and enjoyed some more of what Munich had to offer; more amazing christmas markets, Tollwood (a massive christmas market held in the same area as Octoberfest), BMW world and the 1972 Munich Olympic Stadium.

 

Europe; First Stop Munich

We flew into Munich on the 16th November, the original plan was to stay in Munich for a couple of days before heading to Innsbruck, Austria to try and find somewhere to live and work for the winter.

In Munich we found a really nice guy to couch surf with while we were there. Upon arrival we were surprised to find that we were not the only couch surfers and learned that most weeks our host would have multiple guests which was extremely generous of him.

We had a wonderful time in Munich and managed to see some amazing places while we were there. The first night we were taken to the famous Hofbräuhaus for our first Maß of Weißbier and some delecious Bavarian dishes including Pork knuckle and a pretzel mmm. After dinner we made our way to a second beer hall the Augustiner am Dom where Michael surprised Marc with a small birthday cake for desert and we got to sample some more German beer.

The next day was Marc's birthday and we ventured out to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was a 3hr train ride from Munich. The train ride was really cool just a little long. We arrived at the castle (which is famous for being Walt Disney's inspiration for the Disney Castle) and managed to make our way up the big hill to the castle gates for lots of photo ops and a small tour of inside of the castle. The highlight of the tour was the cave room king ludwig the 2nd had designed. That night we went out to a couple more beer halls for more traditional german cuisine and to continue celebrating Marc's birthday.



The next few days we toured around some of the sights of Munich, walked around Nymphenburg palace grounds (unfortunately all the statues were boarded up and the lakes water drained for winter, but still pretty), went on a 'free' walking tour of munich (which was not free as you were asked to pay the guide at the end what you thought the tour was worth) the tour guide was excellent and we learnt a great deal about Germany and the local area of Bavaria as well as seeing all the major sights and the Bavaria statue above the Theresienwiese (where october fest is held).

After a couple of days in the city we made our way out to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp. It was free to walk around the camp but to learn more we both got the audio tour. It was really interesting and sad to learn so much about the first camp. It was not a 'death' camp persaywith gas chambers but it was still a horrible camp where prisoners were overworked, punished for nothing, starved and used for human experiments. We really learnt a lot more about the type of people in the prison, they were not just Jews but Poles, Russians, French, Yugoslavs and Czechs as well basically anyone who stood up against the Nazi government or who where not seen as 'German'. It was also interesting to learn how the locals in the area where not aware of the terrible conditions within the camp and we got to see photos of the Nazi propaganda which made the camps look like farms with humane living standards. Dachau was extremely sad but a really good memorial for all the prisoners who where killed or died while there.

3 week intermission...

23rd Oct to 16th Nov 2011

The Great North America road trip was over (sad face); but we were super happy to be back in Calgary living in a house with a bed, couch, kitchen, bathroom and really good friends for a three week break. It's crazy how much more you appreciate the basics of a house after living in a car for 4 months.

 

Both Marc and I managed to find some work while we were back in Calgary which was a massive help to boost the savings before part 2 of our big adventure.

After a day of relaxing our schedules picked up again with loads to do before we left which included selling Hank, ship our stuff back to Aus, book flights to Europe, close bank accounts, say goodbye to all our awesome friends and work!!   

Selling Hank was a bit of a worry especially trying to sell him just before winter. We advertised him for about a week with a little bit of interest but not a lot. Having no issues with Hank the whole road trip (except for an annoying beeping noise when the drivers side door was open) we did not want to have to get rid of him for a crazy low price. We did get one last service for Hank and had the beeping issue checked out. The beeping noise was fixed in only a second (to our absolute surprise). The beeping was caused by a simple little F*&%^#@ dial that turned the interior light off or on... so 4 months of annoying beeping fixed in a second (if only we had asked the mechanic at our first oil change). 

Luckily our friend Kate mentioned Hank to her dad Brian who was looking for a Dodge Grand Caravan. It was crazy how it all worked out, 2 days before Kate's dad saw the car we were driving home from a hockey game when the power steering went, more luck it was only a hose so an easy fix! Brian was the easiest customer as he already knew all about DGC and was more then happy to buy him after a quick drive around the block YEAH!! Plus Brian let us keep Hank right up until we left which could not have worked out better.     

The last three weeks were amazing and some highlights include:

- 2 Amazing Halloween parties

- Michelle had a wisdom tooth removed

- A couple of flames games

- 2 delicious dinners with the McManus family

- Family dinner with the Dagnall's

- A final farewell gathering at 'The Wistow'.

 

The worst part about coming back was knowing that this time it was the last for a while. We had an awesome time, but leaving was really hard and there were lots & lots of tears at the Calgary Herald and airport before we left :(