Alex in INNSBRUCK & MUNICH - Alex made it to Innsbruck on Thursday between my finals so after I met him at the train station he went back to the hotel and took a nap. Thursday night Alex and I went to dinner in Old Town and ended up meeting up with a group that was out celebrating a fellow student's birthday. Before we ran into everyone a Swiss guy sitting alone at dinner started talking to us and ended up hanging out with us all night. His name was Andy and he was travelling alone so he is the random older looking guy in our pictures. We had a GREAT time and I was so happy Alex got along with everyone and had fun. We took him to the local bars and he had a good time. I am so glad he came at the end of the trip because I was able to just hang out and not worry about school. Friday we got up late and walked to Old Town again to have lunch and buy souveniers. He got to see Innsbruck's main attraction the Golden Roof and sit and people watch while having an espresso at the outdoor cafes. It was so much fun showing him around and having him there to experience where I was for the past month. He really liked Innsbruck and by Friday was even saying he would like to come back!

After a day of sight seeing we went back and relaxed for a while before going to dinner with everyone for our last night in Innsbruck. Unfortunately it rained so we didn't get to have the outdoor dinner we planned but we still had a good dinner at Fisher Haus. If any of you go to Innsbruck I highly recommend you have dinner there. The atmosphere is great and the food is delicious. After dinner we all went out and had a great last night in Innsbruck. I was ready to come back to the U.S. but I am going to miss Innsbruck and I want to go back in the winter to see the mountains covered in snow.

Saturday I packed up my room and we took a train to Munich. We went to the Hofbrauhaus, world's most famous pub, for dinner. We had liter beers Alex had sausage and I had pig knuckle (take a look at the picture). By Saturday Alex said he was tired of beer and sausage so you can only imagine how I felt. The beer there is much heavier and liquor is really expensive. After leaving the Hofbrauhaus we walked around Munich and an open market and more beer gardens.

Sunday we took our time getting up and went to the English Garden. The English Garden is two times the size of Central Park and has lakes and trails and of course more beer gardens. We went to the famous Chinese Tower and Seehaus beer gardens. It was a beautiful day in Munich. For dinner we spent the evening in Schwabing. Schwabing is a trendy area by the English Garden with boutiques, bars and restaurants. It's great to sit outside and watch people watch before grabbing a gelato and walking back to the hotel. The area is busy but more relaxed than the Munich city center.

Monday was our last day in Munich so it was a busy day. We took a hop on hop off tour through Munich and really saw the city. There was no way to walk it all so I'm glad we took the tour. I highly recommend the hop on hop off tours in big cities because they give you history and drive you around, transportation can add up. We saw the city squares and got some history as well as went out to Olympiapark and the BMW headquarters. After having our last lunch in the Schwabing area we got our bags and headed to our hotel by the airport. The Munich airport is 45 minutes outside the city center and since our flight left at 6am we wanted to be close by. It was a long day of travel but it felt so good to get to Chicago and be back in America. We founda Chili's and I had chips and salsa and buffallo chicken salad with ranch! It was great! Now I really appreciate the little things like: ice in your glass, FREE refills, air conditioning, spicy food, choice of dressings (in Europe they don't even ask its just usually vinegar & oil or balsamic) and tv I understand.

Overall it was an amazing experience and I'm so glad Alex came and met me. It was nice to travel with him and he is definitely willing to go back to Europe so I'm happy but there is no place like home!

We got back to Austin today s I'll talk to and see you all soon!