I just got home from a week on the road. My host family and I had a lovely RV trip in sunny Bavaria. Not only did we check out some pretty sweet castles (where you can get married!) but I was immersed very thoroughly in German for nine solid days. It made for a very educational, and fun, vacation.
In Bavaria they speak a different kind of German than the rest of Germany. I guess it's kind of comparable to Texas in the US where you can find some pretty thick accents and grammatical differences. Some of the people I interacted with were almost impossible, or actually impossible, to understand-- and they were speaking "High German," which is what I learned in school and is spoken on the radio. No, it's more like if you live in Oregon speaking normal, mainstream English, and then go down to the bayou and try to understand creole. Have fun, my friend!
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| Photo credit to my host father, who perfectly captured home sweet home. |
That said, I got a ton of language lessons during our stay down south. Many of them were from my younger host brother. He corrected my German workbook and would slug me in the arm every time I misused certain German phrases (an excellent way to learn, might I add!).
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| The man with the red Faber-Castell pen has all the power. |
Aside from language, I also learned a lot about Ludwig II von Bayern who is perhaps best known for his cute little creation called Neuschwanstein. We didn't see that castle, but we did see his incomplete masterpiece Herrenchiemsee, which is on an island in the middle of the lake Chiemsee. He was kind of completely obsessed with Louis XIV, the guy who built Versailles. Therefore, the Chiemsee castle was designed to be a replica of the famous French palace complete with many portraits, frescos, etc. of the Sun King (Louis XIV).
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| Ludwig II only spent about 10 days in his mini-Versailles. |
My favorite part of our visit to the island wasn't even the castle, although that was pretty impressive and garish. No, we happened upon a 19th century hunting party! I mean, come on, that's pretty awesome. They even had at least fifteen beagles leading the brigade. All of the thirty plus riders were wearing authentic period outfits and we figured it must've been an event for a local riding club.
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| Oh, it's just the neighborhood 1800s hunting club. |
We got to dig for fossils in the Altmühlfranken region. We-- no I should simply say my host family, found some pretty artsy itty bitty ancient creatures and fossilized poop. I didn't find anything really, but I did get to keep some very pretty rocks!
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| Ready to become an archeologist! |
And of course I had to sample all of the Frankish and Bavarian food! It's lucky that we also did a bit of hiking and biking because the traditional food in the region originated during a time when the people there were out working in the fields all day. That means lots of carbs and calories... but scrumptious carbs and calories! Weißwurst with good mustard is A+, Schweinbraten with Knödel and Sauerkraut is comfort food to the extreme, and I even tried this interesting vegetarian creation called Sauerkraut Torte, which looked like a slice of cake but made with sauerkraut and equally as delicious.
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| Apples and granola bars are the way to go on a hike, even in Bavaria. |
My biggest lesson, however, after this trip is that the US should totally embrace Herbst Ferien. Fall is the most beautiful season and everyone could use a break six weeks into school. Yes, we have Thanksgiving Break, but it's not quite the same. I mean, I've already had a nine day RV vacation and tomorrow I'll be leaving for five more days on an island in the North Sea with the local band. Herbst Ferien is awesome.