And just like that, we are over halfway through this trip! Time has been absolutely flying here. From getting to know all of my travel companions to learning more about Augsburg and Germany, we have had quite the packed schedule this last week.

To celebrate this milestone of being about halfway through, we headed to Munich to explore, but it was not so smooth for me. By my own mistake, I set my alarm for about half an hour later than I should have, and almost missed the train to get there. But miraculously, I showered, changed, and got ready as fast as I possibly could and ran to the train station, having only a few minutes to spare.

After that whole debacle, I sat down and decompressed on the short train ride to get to Munich. Immediately after stepping off the train, I was taken aback by just how big the station was. Being that I am from PA and have never really used much of a major train system, the whole thing was pretty foreign to me. People were almost body-to-body on the platforms, coming and going.

After we arrived, we all quickly gathered around the Glockenspiel to watch it go off. I wasn’t quite sure of what to expect, but it was pretty neat to see it come to life with all the animatronics, and finally finish with the golden rooster making a somewhat bird-like sound.

And as soon as the Glockenspiel finished, we all headed over to grab some coffee and explore Munich, and explore we did. We walked everywhere, from museums to the river where locals go to surf. It almost felt like walking around in New York City, with something new and exciting at every turn, just a whole lot cleaner. After we were done with our self-guided exploration of the city, we met back up around the Glockenspiel and had a guided tour where we learned more about the history of Munich.

The tour was nice, but I would be remiss in saying I wasn’t a little bit worn out by the end of it. As much as I love history, my legs could only handle so much, and I was still feeling the toll of climbing Neuschwanstein. But as the tour continued, I pressed on and learned more about Munich, coming out with a deeper appreciation of its history and culture.