Now that Im back "home" in Serbia and things are about to ramp back up for the second half of volleyball season, I can take a minute to tell ya'll about my Christmas and New Year holiday in Germany. First of all, let me just say Germany is awesome and apart from there being so much more I want to explore, of the places I visited, I would return again and again.
From beginning to end, I was able to meet up with old friends from college and other volleyballers that are playing pro in other countries. My trip started as my plane touched down at the Munich airport. I had to walk a few short minutes across the street to find the train which would take me to meet my vball friend and sis in Christ, Suzanne, who I met playing in Finland last year. As I stepped outside of the airport and into the crisp winter air, I was instantly greeted by a giant Christmas market. Im talking, rows of tiny wooden shed popups decorated with pine tree branches and Christmas lights. All selling either quaint holiday trinkets, or traditional bratwurst and gluhwein (hot wine with spices basically). It wasnt the main Munich Christmas market because by Dec 24th, most markets are shut down for the year's holiday season. But if this one was just a taste of what the bigger ones are like, then I cant wait to come back next year (just earlier in Dec).
After a little walk around, I headed to meet Suz, where we'd reunite and travel to Amberg to meet our friend and fellow vballer Dessaa, who is playing in Cyprus this year (and played with me at South Carolina).
*btw check out Suz's blog for spiritual inspo, her life as a pro overseas, and advice we collaborated on for girls looking to go pro: Life As I Learn It
Once in Amberg, we got settled in our friend's apt. He is stationed in Germany for the army and went to school we Dessaa and I (we sat next to each other in Bio and complained the whole time). So for the next few days we explored around the city of Amberg and met some other Army friends.
One thing we did not expect or plan for was the fact that during Christmas (24th, 25th, & 26th of Dec), all of Germany SHUTS DOWN! Literally, not a single shop, cafe, or store was open during this time. (So keep that in mind when planning a Christmas holiday in Germany) So we hunkered down and watched probably three 3 seasons of New Girl. Once things began to open again, we visited Nuremberg! At this point, Suz was gone as she had to fly back to Finland for practice, so it was just Dessaa, me, and our friend Shaheed. We did ALOT of walking, which paid off because we got to see some really amazing churches and the remnants of what was left of the Christmas markets. We drank gluhwein with amaretto which warmed us up and I spotted a tent that read "Homemade Vegan Food", so I obviously spend way too much time sampling and buying delicious things from there.
Nuremberg
Next stop for me was to visit my friend and agent and bible study leader, Christy aka whatupswags in a little town 40 mins from Munich called Vilsbiburg. I was able to ring in the New Year with Christy, her husband, and a few of their friends, including some other #elitevolleyfam girls from our agency.
We took a lovely day trip to Salzburg, Austria (the birthplace of Mozart)- only a 2 hour train ride from Vilsbiburg. Although we were getting sick and it decided to dump hail on us towards the end of the day, we had an awesome time walking around the quaint town and sitting in a few coffee shops.
*you can also check out Christy's blog, What Up, Swags? for a travel guide on Salzburg and many other places as she's lived in Europe for 6 years now.
Overall, I recommend a visit to Bavaria at least once in your life. I wasn't able to go see the Neuschwanstein Castle- and epic mountain castle that inspired many Disney movie castles. So I'm pretty bummed about that but there's always Germany-round 2 some day. I will be as bold as to say that Germany is worth a visit even just for its pretzels! I mean, I still cant get over how delish they were. And im not sure if pretzels are vegan in general but i didnt care during this trip, they were unreal. Also if you're a beer fan, the classic German beers I had while on my visit were: Berliner Weisse, Helles lager, & Hefeweissbier (all amazing a delicious...especially with a pretzel). Ok too much on the pretzels? Ok.
Ćao,
Sarah
