Craic in Cork: It All Begins...

On Friday, we woke up pretty early to get a day of exploring in. Our hotel served free breakfast (such a plus, as well as so good), which was perfect to fill us up for the day. When we were at breakfast, our friends studying in Spain, Kate and Sarah, showed up to meet us for the day of exploring, as well as our friend Bucks, who is studying in Dublin!

After filling up on as much food as we could, we headed to the Dachau Concentration Camp. This was very easy to get to from our hotel via subway (or S-Bahn), and the weather was really nice for walking everywhere. The camp was a incredibly interesting place to visit. We went through the camp via audio tour, which provided us with a lot of shocking, but informative, history. I learned so much more about the war and the happenings at the camp than I ever did in school, and it was so heartbreaking. I could not believe I was at a real concentration camp, that was functioning in the past 100 years. It was interesting to learn about the evolution of Dachau, as well as see many of the physical artifacts of the camp and personal items from individuals that were held there.

Once we left the camp, we headed to the main town center in Munich, Marienplatz. It was lunchtime (our free breakfast wore off), so we were desperately trying to find authentic German food. When we walked out of the subway station into the town center, we were all in awe at the beauty. We entered the area welcomed by a gigantic building, the New Town Hall. It was breathtakingly beautiful. As we were staring at the building, we ran into two more HC kids, Dan and Brad, who are studying in Dublin. The group was now 10 people, and it was just the beginning! We found lunch at a German restaurant, where I had a roast and dumplings. It was pretty good!

After lunch, we explored the city a little more, and the surrounding markets (as well as searched for wifi), and then headed to the Hofbrauhaus Beer Hall. We had to prep ourselves for the size of the beers we would be having on Saturday! The ten of us went to the second floor of the hall (the first one was buzzing with people) and playing a few games and caught up with one another. It was an awesome time, we didn't even realize how long we had been there!

Our day seems to have consisted of food and more food. After the beer hall, we went searching for dinner. We ended up at a pizzeria, which was delicious! Everyone was a little wiped out from an early day, ask we headed back to our hotels at a reasonable hour. We had a VERY early morning to prepare for on Saturday!

Be back later!

XO,

Caitlin

Dachau