I got up at 6:15 am by waking up to Rick Astley and headed downstairs. We ate breakfast and took some pears for a snack as usual. Apples are my favorite, but sadly weren’t available. Today was our free day where we could do whatever we wanted. Some of us had the idea of going to Salzburg and doing a lot of different activities including going to the zoo, heading to the “Sound of Music” Museum, and seeing the beautiful views from the castle.

We ventured out and decided to develop a number system of 1-10, where each person was assigned a number. I was extremely happen to be number 5, right in the middle of the group. At various stops, we would all shout out our number in order to ensure everyone was accounted for. We headed to the tram station and went to Munich to catch a connecting tram to Salzburg. I had a really interesting conversation with Ravi. We talked about business, entrepreneurship, and the process of getting a patent. Upon arriving in Salzburg, we did a restroom break and grabbed a snack at the nearest Starbucks. We then proceeded to go to a castle that had insane views of the entire city. To get up to the castle, we had to travel up a mountain in a cable car. We came, we saw, we conquered. The views were breathtaking and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Here are some of the photos of the views

The classic movie, “The Sound of Music” was filmed at various locations in Salzburg. We even saw the fountain were Julie Andrews sang “Do Re Mi”. After about an hour of site seeing, we landed at a restaurant and enjoyed some beverages while taking in the view. One of my favorite moments of the whole trip happened at this restaurant. Ravi and I were served by a waitress named Barbara, and she was incredible. She saw that I was eating a pear and lost her mind with laughter. She even gave me a fist bump.

We (the boys) decided not to shop that much and instead went to McDonald’s. It was nicer than most McDonald’s in the US. We grabbed Ice cream and searched for the restaurant we would be eating dinner at. After about an hour of roaming the city, we met the girls at a pasta place. This however was not ordinary pasta place as every five minutes, someone would come out with some Gucci bag or Louis Vuitton purse. For dinner, I ordered pasta with beef, and although it wasn’t filling, it was delicious.

Sadly, plans like the zoo fell through, but the boys did manage to go to a “Sound of Music” Museum.

Here are some photos of all the sites we saw along the way

We then got back on the tram and headed to the hotel. When we arrived in Augsburg, it was pitch black outside. Upon arriving at the hotel, the entire group met for the last time. The rest of the evening was memorable. We gave out superlatives and got to hang out with all the Germans one last time. I really enjoyed this one last stand before we said our goodbyes. After a great evening with our new German friends, we all went to bed and got ready for a long flight the next day.

Here are two of my new German friends.