World Cup 2010.

Quite honestly, I had been a bit disappointed with the World Cup thus far. I'm in Europe for heaven's sake. Shouldn't there be plundering, pillaging, dangerous riots, and cars burning in the streets? Based on the dull response of those living in Munich, one would have thought Germany LOST its first game.

Then they actually DID lose despite being granted a penalty kick...who misses a penalty kick?
Tonight was the final game of the first round. USA had already earned themselves a spot to move on by scoring in the extra minutes at the end of the game. Talk about pushing it. So tonight I went to a pub just off of Marienplatz to watch Deutschland attempt the same. We watched outside. Germany won. Instead of going straight to the U-bahn at Marienplatz (like we did after the first game) we walked past Odeonsplatz to the university. It turns out I had just been in the wrong part of town earlier for there was definitely some celebrating worth celebrating.

Doesn't the guy in this video sound way scary? Typical German.

I've been meaning to post video on here for awhile now but unfortunately my camera is so awesome it records in HD...in a file format no one uses...and it's taken me a little while to figure out how to convert it. Now I just need to figure out how to convert it without the little advertising stamp. No time, no time!

I think it's pretty obvious why we decided to take the next train.

Jawohl!

THE ALPS!

Guys! I've seen the Alps! The Alps, the Alps, THE ALPS! I'm in love. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate our beloved star-spangled Rocky Mountains, I do, but...these mountains make me giddy!

First things first, though: the first two weekend trips I went on took me to two of King Ludwig's castles. The less famous ones.

King Ludwig II was purportedly crazy. And gay. And died mysteriously in a lake. But the Bavarian tourist trade can thank him for his eccentricities. So can Walt Disney.

Castle #1: Herrenchiemsee

This palace was built on an island in Chiemsee (Bavaria's largest lake) and was modelled after the Palace of Versailles...except it had running water and a central heating system.

Naturally, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside and naturally...I did anyway.

The rest of the time was spent enjoying our first day of nice weather.

Castle #2: Linderhof

This palace (I'm not really sure why they call them castles) is the smallest of King Ludwig's castles, it's also the only one he finished.

The grounds have an artificial grotto which was lit by different colored lights "where opera singers performed while Ludwig was rowed around in a boat shaped like a shell." Like I said, way gay.

Then I traveled into Garmisch-Partenkirchen and wandered around for hours trying to find the information center. That's how I saw the city. Finally I found the office and that's how I saw Eibsee, a small lake at the foot of the Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany.

Behold, the Alps:

Now tell me, aren't you enraptured?

The things I left behind.

No, I'm not going to talk about singing in my car, dancing with my friends, or my dear dear mother. Nor am I referring to streaming Hulu, Chicken in a Biscuit crackers, or my laptop...which I still haven't gotten back.

This post is about the last weekend before I came to Europe. Yes, my friends, this post is about my modern dance troupe and our time in Goblin Valley, U.S.A.

So my friends and I decided to have one last hurrah before I left them forever, I mean, for the summer which would undoubtedly feel like forever. Enter Goblin Valley. A few of my friends had never been and I never seem to get tired of it. It's a place like no other, this little lumpy valley.

So we went, we saw, we conquered the cuss out of that thing. We threw rocks...we went on a hike for little kids...we pretended like it was really fun...

...I took a lot of pictures of our token Asian male taking a lot of pictures...

...or posing like Aunt Jemima...

...we tried to fly kites, we failed, we threw paper airplanes instead...

...we found the best secluded camping spot...

...lastly, we took pictures for our new album entitled, "Jericha Road - The All Girls Boy Band."

Seriously amazing.
Shazam!

A soggy day in Munich town.

We've had a lot of rainy days here. Pretty much only rainy days. Last Thursday was a German holiday...but it was also a rainy day. So instead of going somewhere, which was obviously my first choice...I wandered around the city. If it keeps going on like this I may be forced to give in and get an umbrella.

Biergarten in the Englischer Garten

So what does one do with a day off such as this? One goes to museums, of course.

I went to the Wittelsbach Residenz - "the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors, and kings from 1508 to 1918. The complex as a whole is one of the largest museums in Bavaria." They're not kidding, this place is seriously huge. Here are some pictures of the facade and the Hofgarten (Court Garden) when it was still nice outside.

My favorite part of the tour was the antiquarium and the reliquary. And the strange, grey, mini-tennis-racquetesque audio guide handheld speaker...of which I don't have a picture.

Antiquarium

Did you know that holy relics are physical remnants - body parts...or objects - of saints? Who knew?! It could be anything - mummified children supposedly slaughtered by Herod, a piece of Christ's cross, someone's hand. Rich people (and churches too, I believe) would collect this stuff and display it as a sort of endorsement of their status. I will never be satisfied with a mere burial again. I want my bones to be entombed in gold.

Look, they thought this was the head of John the Baptist:

I was then supposed to meet up with a friend to go to one of the art museums but she was hung up at a lunch with the missionaries so I did a lot of this:

And a lot of this:

I ran out of things to do so I rode the U-bahn to the end of its line. Why? I was filled with the spirit of exploration! To embark into the great unknown with only a 1500 page book and an iPod, that is man's greatest desire!

Unfortunately, by the time we met up and made it to the Pinakothek they were closing in 45 minutes. Ach du Schande!

So we hung out German style - went out for Italian and chatted in her room until late. I may or may not have almost called her a Nazi once but guys, they're way normal over here.