Decided to write this while I'm experiencing a true night in München. Had a very sobering day with one of my hostel mates at Dachau, the Nazi labor camp in Munich. Walking the grounds and reading about the heinous acts that took place there were difficult to digest. It is difficult to imagine that people could even think of the punishments that were enforced on the prisoners there. After getting back from Dachau, it was definitely time to lie down for a bit. I...

Goodbye Italy, hello Germany! Managed to cover three counties yesterday! Went through Austria on the way to Germany, what a gorgeous country. Everywhere it was small churches on hilltops with snow covered mountains towering overhead.. beautiful! About six hours total on the train and I arrived in Munich, Germany! I met a guy studying in Dublin who's from the US and we headed together to the most famous beer hall in the world, the Hofbrauhaus.. over 4000 people ...

See ya later Italy! I honestly am still shocked that I am leaving today, though I've been traveling for 12 days it feels like I just got off the plane. I've just started getting used to the pace, the train stations, the eating gelato every day... So I say goodbye to pizza and wine and hello to bratwurst and beer (oh yeah... there's good beer! totally didn't plan that!) Venice certainly is just as beautiful the second day as it is the first. I took an easy morni...

Arrived today in my final Italian city, Venice! I am staying about ten minutes outside of Venice to save some money (only 14 euro/night!), and it's easy enough to get there. All I can really say is, Venice just made me smile. It's such a surreal place, without seeing it, you can hardly believe its as beautiful as it is. I went at the day with the intention of getting completely lost, and luckily, it's something that you WILL do in Venice, whether you choose to o...

What an incredible day! Started off the morning on the train from Florence to my next hostel in Pisa. I was in the city for about 30 minutes to drop off my big bag and head out to Cinque Terre via La Spezia. I got to La Spezia around noon, bought my pass to Cinque Terre for the day, and headed first to the furthest town, Monterosso al Mare. I decided to spend the whole time I had there on the beach, the beautiful blue water shadowed by the mountains above. Usua...