As much as I loved being with the group and exploring Germany, today was by FAR my favorite day. I got to see Harry Styles perform live on his “Love on Tour”. I went with Lauren, Colleen, and Jules. The concert wasn’t until 7 pm, but we had to get there earlier for several reasons:

1. We were in Augsburg, and we had to take the train to Munich AND we didn’t speak German…
2. We had general admission tickets, so based on how early you got there determined where in the crowd you were (the earlier you got there, the better your spot is…. AKA THE BETTER YOU CAN SEE HARRY!)
3. We wanted to get merch, and you can never know how long the lines are going to be for that
4. We also wanted food, so we had to leave the hotel even earlier for that

I woke up around 10:30 AM, and I knew that the hotel breakfast at 10 AM ended. Fortunately, when I went down, the breakfast was still out, but they were just starting to clean up. I was able to eat some of the fresh food. I was also able to try out the fancy-looking waffle machine. Thinking back on it, I’m sure that was a very regular and traditional waffle machine for Germany, but compared to the ones in America, it seemed a lot fancier.

Tasting the waffle, I was able to compare it to the American waffle. In my opinion, the waffle (the batter) I had was sweeter than the batter in America. Additionally, the waffle maker made the design a lot more intricate and crisper. Of course, I know this waffle maker is probably available in stores in America, but it is not traditional, in my opinion.

After I had some breakfast, I went up to my room to finish up cleaning some of the room and continue packing a little more. The time had flown by. Soon enough, it was 12 PM, but Lauren still hadn’t texted me. I stopped by her room and knocked on her door. Sure enough, she opened the door still in her pajamas. Soon enough, we were both in my room getting ready. Colleen ended up joining us, and bought last minute tickets.

We ended up leaving around 2:40, and got some McDonald’s to go. Unfortunately, we hit a little bump in the road when we got to the train station. First, almost all of the machines were all in German, and none of us spoke German. A few minutes later, we figured out that those machines were actually NOT the machines we were supposed to be using to buy the tickets. It was quite embarrassing because there was a line of locals behind us that definitely knew we were American. Finally, I called Claire, and she was able to help us out. She directed us to the machine that we were supposed to use. It was the only blue machine there was. The rest were red. Of course, the blue machine had an English option. Even with the English option, we all got stuck when it came to the payment option. The machine kept returning the cash that we put in. I put it in so many different ways, and the bills kept being spit back. In the end, Lauren was able to buy the tickets online, but it definitely caused us some stress because time was ticking!

After time had passed, we finally were on the train! The train was very smooth and seemed very convenient in terms of not having to pay for gas, being able to relax (or do work if need be), and it offered even 1st and second class. In the United States, I do not ever go on trains, but from what I’ve heard they are not nearly as clean and as popular as the trains here in Germany.

From the train station, we took an uber to the arena: Olympiapark. From there, it was a lot of waiting to get into the stadium. What was interesting that the stadium was outside, and since it was on the colder side… we all bought a hoodie from the Harry Styles Merch. Soon enough, we got in, and waited 3 hours in the arena for the concert to start! We made some friends with some local Germans who were standing and waiting near us! They were very friendly, and I asked them if most concerts were indoor or outdoor arenas. they let us know that it was a mix. This is similar to the United States, but I think I have the perception that a lot of concerts occur indoor.

After the concert, we walked to the main bus stop that would take us back to the train station. The crowd walking back to the bus station was huge. The rush and pushing it took to get on the bus was very aggressive, but Lauren, Colleen, Jules, and I all got on as soon as we could. After making it back to the train station, we were soon back in Augsburg! Soon enough, it was time to get some zzz’s!

Check back for my last blog post for my overall reflection on my time in Germany!

Best,

Kaylee