While looking through my pictures from Vienna I didn’t expect my favorite ones to be of the graffiti near the river. When I thought of Vienna I pictured large white buildings and instruments everywhere with classical music playing in the background, and yes it was partly true to what I imagined, but some parts of the city were covered in detailed and colorful graffiti that really caught our attention.
We didn’t expect to be doing much while in Vienna when we realized how much more expensive this city was compared to Prague. An average entrée would be about 14 euro along with a bottle of water which would be another 3 euro is a bit out of our price range as travelers in our early twenties. The one thing that was cheap in the city was the wine, and boy did we take advantage of it! I know in the past I said I don’t like 
German food, but I had the best schnitzel the first night in Vienna I couldn’t stop raving about it and sharing it with Ben.
Later that night we took a walk through Vienna after eating at a backpacker’s paradise, an all-you-can-eat, pay-as-you-wish Pakistani restaurant. (Bonus: water was free!) It’s amazing what you can find when just wandering around a new city in Europe. After every turn and corner there is a new cathedral better than the last and an old building just waiting to be explored. We were fortunate to come across a street festival with hundreds of people drinking outside of the most beautiful building I have seen in Europe yet. We couldn’t get over that we just so happened to stumble across it. We also ventured into the courtyard of a palace built in the 13th century as well. It was a pretty productive night for us.
Unfortunately, I think the thing I will remember most about our time in Vienna is the overnight train ride to Venice. This ride was the most miserable yet eventful part of our trip in Austria. While waiting for our train we met an older couple from Pittsburgh who had just traveled through the Balkans because they had “visited everywhere else in the world.” As we talked to them all I could think was of myself at that age hopefully saying the same thing.
When our train arrived we noticed it looked different from the other trains we had taken while in Europe. This one had compartments in each car to sit six people each, just like the train Harry Potter takes to Hogwarts, only this one was much more cramped and colder. I couldn’t believe we would have to sit for 11-hours overnight stuffed into a cabin like sardines with complete strangers. Ben and I tried our best to sleep until a man came aboard and started talking to everyone about where we were all headed and current events and life in general. As I mentioned before, first impressions are not always accurate, for later on in the ride we spoke to this very successful millionaire from Saudi Arabia for hours about life, cultures, and the meaning of success.
The only reason we were able to chat comfortably with the man is due to our crossing the border of Italy early in the morning. I was startled awake by a booming voice coming down the hall and Ben rushing me to get my passport out. In the car with us at that moment was the Saudi Arabian man, me and Ben, and two Pakistani men. A large man opened our door and demanded to see our passports so Ben and I held them out to him as he shined a flashlight on our pictures quickly. He then turned to the two Pakistani men and asked for their documents. They shook their heads and said they didn’t have anything on them. They were forced from their seats and taken out to the platform. When I looked out the window there were about twenty Middle Eastern men standing on the platform lacking passports.
It is a scene I will never forget in my lifetime. Americans right now always hear about Syrian refugees trying to get out of their countries and the debates on whether to take them in or not, but there are so many other refugees from other countries. Seeing these men try so hard to find a better life for themselves and having it stripped away in a second made me realize the reality of the situation and not hide behind headlines and articles and debates. We later found out one of the men in our car had been in Greece for the last five years illegally making a life for himself and wanted to make his way to Italy. After all those years he will be sent back to Pakistan with little to no opportunity to make a great life for himself.
From Europe With Love
xoxo
through poorly lit streets to find a restaurant.
built during the 13th century and had intricate carvings on the outside along with two large steeples with bells that rang every hour. (The bells in European churches are so 
authentic and beautiful.) When we walked inside the only word out of my mouth was “Wow.” Paintings covered the walls and ceilings and detailed stain glass windows were everywhere. The altar was my favorite part of the church, decorated with gold and sat in front of even more beautiful artwork.
I didn’t feel like a real backpacker until we waited until it was time to go to Berlin. The bus left at 12:45 am and lasted about 8 hours. Until that time we walked around Munich, sat in the train station, the bus station, and some questionable food places carrying everything we brought with us. Sleeping on the bus wasn’t too terrible, it kept us awake enough to walk about 10 miles exploring the city.
music from the 60s to the 80s and had Route 66 signs pasted everywhere along with famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Audrey Hepburn, Alfred Hitchcock, and somehow a picture of a Native American man worked his way in there. There were paintings on the ceilings of “famous” places in America, however we didn’t recognize any of them, except for the painting of a mushroom cloud with the words “Atomic Bomb” written under it. This was definitely the strangest thing to happen while in Europe so far.
meat on them. Definitely one of my favorite things about Germany.
Knowing that thousands of people had died where I stood in the gas chamber at Dachau concentration camp left me breathless. We almost skipped going to the camp but something inside told me that we would regret not going. After touring and witnessing the place where so many inhuman and evil acts were performed I’m positive we would have regretted not going. I feel that it is only necessary to make a separate post for my visit to Dachau.
One of the bunkers was reconstructed and allowed tourists to go in and see where the prisoners slept, ate, and bathed. 
They were tight quarters, it was difficult for just the tourists to navigate around and walk through the building, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be kept there. Bunk beds took up most of the rooms and the bathroom had only three toilets and one fountain for washing.
Knowing that thousands of people were murdered where I stood made me sick to my stomach. The next room was where the bodies would be kept until they were moved into the cremation chamber with four oven-looking machines.
ed to the victims of the war and Germans who resisted the Nazis. She took us to the University of Munich where during the war a small group of students and a professor, known as the White Rose, released thousands of papers, letters, and flyers protesting against the Nazis in one of the buildings and were later murdered for acting against them. There are copies of these papers recreated in the sidewalk and near a fountain outside the building this took place in.
If you haven’t heard of the Autobahn in Germany it is a highway that has no set speed limit. To Americans, or at least to me, this sounds like many accidents just waiting to happen, but according to our friends there are rarely accidents on these highways. On our way to Munich we rode on the Autobahn and of course Ben being reckless and wanting to take advantage of the nixed speed limit wanted to go as fast as possible. The car reached 115 mph. I looked around the car and everyone seemed fine at this speed, like it was any other day. I on the other hand stared at the ceiling praying for the car to stay in control. It only lasted for about 30 seconds, but those were the most stressful 30 seconds of my life. We made it to Munich safely, don’t worry Mom.
In the town square known as Marienplatz, stood an absolutely beautiful and intricate building now known as the new city hall. The minute I saw the architecture I became obsessed and had to stand and stare at it for minutes as Ben waited for me to get over it. I later learned that Marienplatz has been Munich’s town square since 1158. People would come to trade goods, celebrate festivals and holidays, and gather together. It gives me chills to think about how many people have stood in the same place I did over almost nine centuries!
Throughout the garden are little kiosks where you can buy beer sit and enjoy, or walk around. That’s right, here in Germany you can walk around drinking a beer at any time of the day. How cool is that? Oh you can also sunbath naked in the garden during the summer. Germany is pretty relaxed on the way people want to live their lives.
From Peru With Love 