Wurzburg

 Phase II of my euro trip journey has begun, and Gabe and I, armed with the little bit of streets smarts that we collectively have (approx. less than the average person), split from my family, who is heading back to Nuevo Puerto, and travelled South to Wurzburg, a picturesque vineyard town along the world famous "romantic road" in Germany. For Gabe and I, this trip is one of firsts. Gabe has hitherto never been to Germany, I have never travelled solo, and neither of us have never stayed in hostels.

HOSTELS:

The hostel experience is new to both Gabe and me, as we both admittedly have led pampered lives. In Wurzburg, we stayed at the Babelfish Histel, a hip place only a few blocks from the Hautbahnhof. The best perks for the hostels has been 1) the price and 2) the diverse and interesting group of people that one meets. Pretty quickly, Gabe and I befriended a kid named Sung, a rising Junior who attends UC Berkley. With the exception of Sung, Gabe and I have referred to people by their hometown, since we're so bad with names. To that end, we have befriended individuals who we now and will always refer to as ... "Wisconson," "Canada," and "Oregon." There names will never be known, and we expect many more friends to follow!

Wurzburg is small enough to experience in a day, and so after lunch, we took the opportunity to explore this quintessentiall European town. We walked through platzes and cathedrals, and hiked all the way up to Marienburg Castle. We visited Wurzburg's mini-Versaiiles mansion, and after a long day, retired to the Babelfish for a brief nap. That evening, Gabe, Sung, and I went to dinner, and afterwards went to a bar to relax, and watched the Euro 2012 soccer game between Spain and Portugal ... IN ITS ENTIRETY! We retired to our bunks afterwards.

I finally would like to add that both Gabe and I are proud about how much money we have spent. At this point, we're averaging 3 euro at breakfast, 7 euro for lunch, and 12 euro for dinner, plus some goodies throughout the day. Who da think we could simultaneously thive and be so prudent!