Currently writing this as I am probably still drunk and Megan is extremely hungover {HAPPY OFFICIAL BIRTHDAY MEGGYPOO!!}, so I apologize in advance for any grammar errors at this point, as it has been a longggg weekend, but one that is fun and full of adventures… If you're intrigued… I recommend you keep reading…
First of all, in hopes of having ONE weekend where I would sleep in, this weekend was DEFINITELY not one. We headed to the airport and had already boarded by 7:30 in the morning… Watching the sunrise from the boarding location, and instantly falling sleep upon finding our seats in the plane. We made it to Munich and in hopes of being able to check into our hotel early and take a nap, we must have had to big of hopes and dreams because right when we got to our hotel, it started raining and our room was going to be ready “no later than three in the afternoon,” granted we were at the hotel just a little bit before eleven. With that, we left our luggage behind the counter and headed out for a brunch which consisted of chai tea {that was actually coffee… language barrier} and gnocchi.
Following food, we were on our mission to find our dirndls for Springfest. Prior to stumbling upon a dirndl shop, we found ourselves at an Urban Outfits {yay for American shops!!}, did a little bit of damage there, and proceeded to ask a bunch of people where to find our outfits for the next day. We wound up at a shop on a corner that just had ROWS ON ROWS of dirndls. Ranging colors, sizes, and styles. Honestly, kind of overwhelming BUT we both knew what we were looking for: Megan wanted pink and I wanted blue. After trying on a couple of options we had success; however, our credit cards did not. DANG DIRNDLS ARE NOT CHEAP!!
Four hours later, and back to the hotel we went where STILL our room was not available {that being said, I do not recommend the TRYP hotel}. Lemme tell you though, once it was ready, a junior sweet in Germany is NOTHING like a junior sweet in America… I thought I had pictures but I apologize because I don’t; I guess I was not in awe enough to take pictures to remember the hotel. ALSO, hotels in Germany do NOT use sheets which we found kind of off. All we were provided with was a pillow and a duvet, but they were perfect for our much needed naps. Post naps, it was time for the two hungry girls to indulge in some more food, so naturally we walked about three miles to dinner, bought champagne, learned some German from a taxi driver {I have a voice memo if anyone wants lessons}, and we went back to the hotel in order to get a good night’s sleep before Springfest the next day.
We took full advantage of having the chance to sleep in, followed by an AMAZING brunch in the main city center. I looked up brunch places, we went to one with a great view {Cafe Glockenspiel}, and somehow managed to get in with absolutely no reservations which is apparently very rare at that given restaurant. Although they had NO IDEA what mimosas were, we bought ourselves a bottle of Vouve champagne and had the most delicious meal consisting of french toast and eggs. Satisfying our appetite, and somewhere feeling ourselves, we headed out to sight see a little bit and check out the Munich street market. Full of beer, bread, flowers, and meat, we walked around for twenty minutes before we figured it was time to head back to our hotel and get ready to head to Springfest. Another bottle of champagne down, we dressed in our dirndls, curled our hair, and were ready to go…
All I can say is luckily our hotel was only a five minute walk from where Springfest takes place because not only was it a chilly walk, but we could NOT find anybody else in the outfits we were wearing. When we finally got there, it was NOTHING like we had expected. It was actually a street festival with carnival games lining the streets and food stands at every corner. People were wearing normal clothes and it was only and the two given tents that one could find people with the German outfits. Once we got in a tent, it was WILD!! Beer clinking and spilling everywhere, HUGE pretzels being passed out, and even some drunkies passing out. To say the least, we felt out of our comfort zones, but we most definitely made the best of it. Ordering ourselves two HUGE jugs of beer and large pretzels, mainly for pictures cause I don't even drink beer, we managed to last in the tent for a few hours making random friends until we were ready for our midday nap.
Once we were well rested, we figured it would be fun to head back to where all the activity was; however, in comfy clothes so that we could go on rides, play games, and ride in bumper cars. It was A BLAST!! I felt like a kid again at a street festival. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard and even watching the videos from the weekend I catch myself wincing a little bit. After a few rides and some cotton candy later, Megan and I ran into Natasha and Meri and hung out and walked around with them. Going through the haunted mansion, eating more pretzels, and finding chocolate covered pretzels. It was so nice running into familiar faces, one of which I hadn't seen for a year, and the other who I only ran into for a brief moment on Monaco months ago.
The next day it was time to leave and head to Austria, yet we had a few hours to spare so we packed up our room and left our luggage in the lobby, explored until we found an acai place for breakfast, and went to the infamous surfing river. I could have watched the surfers for HOURS. It’s crazy to think that somebody just thought of surfing in a river where the current was fast enough and hitting certain ridges to form everlasting waves. It was incredible too because in such a thin region, there were times when the German surfers at the time would all do a party wave and join each other!! I don't know if it was a “you had to have been there moment,” but I have TONS of videos and would be happy to share them with y’all… Beginning to think it was time to head to the train station, we walked a couple miles back to our hotel, spent some free time at the massive train station {there is SO much there}, and were on our way to Vienna to spend Megan’s birthday weekend.
By the time we arrived in Austria, it gave us JUST enough time to check in {recommend: La Meridien Vienna}, unpack a few of our things, decorate the room for Megan’s twenty first birthday, get ready, and head out for cocktails and dinner. After Yelping and finding a five star Thai restaurant we arrived an hour before they were expected to close; however, they apparently close their kitchen one hour before closing, so we were forced to find another place. Although it did not necessarily satisfy our Thai appetite to the extent we wanted {and nothing will beat Patong in Madrid}, we left with full stomachs and our jeans unbuttoned.
With one full day left in Vienna, and hopes of seeing a lot and shopping a little bit, we were face to face with an issue: European Labor Day. All shops were closed and the majority of restaurants were closed; however, we managed to find a breakfast place with a good menu. Sad thing, the one thing we both wanted {avocado toast} was out within the first hour of the restaurant being open… What kind of joke is that?! Without having much to eat, we were on our way. Stopping at the Hofburg Imperial Palace, checking out the Vienna City Center, touring the Freudian Museum {which was surprisingly really interesting}, and winding up at the Wiener Prater and oldest zoo. From the Wiener Prater we were able to see a a panoramic view of Vienna and the theme park and upon finishing our roundabout, we RAN to the swings. After the swings, we RAN back to the metro and train station, took random stops and somehow managed to make it to the zoo… Who knew that two girls who can’t speak German, who don't know the Austrian metro and train stops, who don't even know Vienna one bit, managed to take three transfers and wind up at the zoo. So cool to say though that we went to the OLDEST ZOO IN THE WORLD, saw a couple of pandas, and tried some weird fried things called lagnos {which I do not recommend}. We had an EXTREMELY busy day to say the least, and before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel, shower off, and get ready for the night.
All I can say now, from this point, was that the night was kind of a blur. After taking naps and getting showered, it was time to get ready for our dinner reservations. Granted it was cold out, we got into our cute cocktail dresses and heels, drank the bottle of champagne our hotel gave us, jammed to The Chainsmokers, and then were out the door. The dinner was amazing {as were the drinks}!! Free shots, more free champagne, and the best cocktails ever {kind of similar to the ones we had in Budapest}. Consuming more than we should have, we became super close with our waiters, wound up at the bar ordering more drinks, and then once the restaurant closed we went down the street with our waiters to another bar. It was definitely a fun night and we both returned with a thing of roses from one of the bartenders; however, the early morning drive to the airport was most definitely a struggle.
Although the cities were pretty closed down when we went, we managed to find things to spend our time doing and I would love to make a trip back to both countries one day... Next stop Madrid and then the Canary Islands!!
xoxo V
