rolling cigarettes is so european

took the overnight train to zurich earlier this week. the four-person room was just tall enough to stand up in. there was also no room for bags, but we only had one roommate so we made do. also our roommate was a german who spoke perfect english. his favorite tv show is the boondocks. he asked if black people say "-izzle" a lot.

but in the morning we got served breakfast and I GOT A BOX OF NESQUIK. this is me on my top bunk 'cause i'm five years old:


zurich was a really cute town. we stayed in "ziczac rock-hotel," and our room was called "lenny kravitz," though there was no indication in the decoration that this was so. it monsooned for pretty much the whole first day, but that night we wandered around the city.

MOM AND STEVE IF YOU READ THIS I THINK THIS MIGHT BE THE UBS HEADQUARTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!

also the city is on a lovely river called the limmat, which has the clearest blue-green water i have ever seen outside of the carribbean. there are also swans! you can kind of tell what color it is here, but it's even brighter during the day:

we didn't really do much else in zurich, except for go to a chocolate shop the next day where charlotte purchased her weight in confections and i got two mozzerella sandwiches because they were delicioussssss.

then we were off to munich. on our way to see the glockenspiel (which TOTALLY didn't spiel, by the way), we cut through a metro station to cross the street. and what did we find but ...

WOOLWORTH I HAD NO IDEA WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE.

we also found a jewelry store called "CHRIST," which featured a sign in the window that read "pure lust." munich wasn't nearly as entertaining as berlin, but had a few fun strips and such. and LOTS of h&ms. like, lots and lots.

the next day we went to dachau. that was even more deeply disturbing than i could have imagined. like so deeply so that i found it difficult to cry, you know? there was a short film, and a massive museum, and then the entire courtyard was open and all the old bunks were razed. in the center of the roll call field, was this sculpture:


it's so painful to look at, but i think it's really beautiful too.

i also felt compelled to photograph this, because it's the one thing i most closely associate with dachau. i tried to take a picture of the whole entrance with the door slightly opened, but the other tourists weren't having it.


the next day we made our way to salzburg, which was ridiculously adorable. i went to the top of this hill to see the old city castle, which was obscenely boring, but that had a FANTASTIC view of the city.


this australian kid named daniel described it as "disgustingly beautiful." check out those mountains.

later we went on the horrifically expensive and touristy but still amazing SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR ZOMG.

here follows a collection of reenactions, i assure you they're really good:


this is me being an awkward liesl in front of the gazebo!


I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN SUNSHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE. (maria ran and danced down this promenade with her guitar case in one hand and suitcase in the other.)


the hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiills are aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive.


ok this church was a major let-down in real life BUT I'M GOING TO GET MARRIED HERE JUST LIKE THE JULIE ANDREWS VERSION OF MARIA VON TRAPP. this is me practicing.

and then ... mirabell gardens for "do-re-mi"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!

see i'm totally jumping up and down the steps.

ok train leaves in like half an hour so we have to make our way to the station. TTYLZ.