Day #276 - Munich, Germany

Christmas in Munich

Candle Stand

People everywhere

View from Marienplatz

Street between train station and central square

Wednesday, December 15th

Wow - I can't believe it's December 15th! This has gone too fast. Today I spent my final day in Munich just wondering the streets (primarily Christmas shopping). The atmosphere was unreal. Not sure I could find a scenario which would provide a better holiday feel -------- It was snowing steadily. The ground's covered, it's about 20 degrees F, the holiday songs are playing on the streets, swarms of people crowd through the holiday markets drinking hot tea or coffee, stores are filled with customers, and the mood is upbeat and positive

I really don't have much else to report other than me getting organized for my trip home. I spent several hours tonight working on this video I'm making. I thought it would be a cool summary. Rather than look back at all my pictures in the future - I could just watch this and get a general overview of everything. I honestly never did this before. I'm completely winging it. I'm using Windows Live Movie Maker. I have no point of reference, other than the internet, on how to go about this. I once put a movie together from my trip to Australia many years ago. At that time, I used tape from a camcorder and a VCR. I even editted in clips from other movies into the one I made. I'll watch it every now and again and laugh - quality is severely lacking. I was sick as a dog when I was doing it. The fact I completed it was good for me.

I just finished going through all the pictures and picking out the best ones for each day of the trip. The video is 41 minutes in length. I've added a number of songs. The next 8 days - I will edit and trim this down - hoping to get somewhere near 30 minutes (give or take).

Tomorrow, I head to the western portion of Germany -- I want to see Baden-Baden at Christmas time.

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Alright, coming in tonight as my #9 most favorite country on my Gap Year 2010 is: GREECE

Israel (#12)
Iceland (#11)

Norway (#10)

Greece (#9)

GREECE (#9)
This country is filled with incredible history and natural beauty. My most memorable days in Greece were in the Greek Isles - when we took our boat ride to Santorini. There are so many other islands I'd like to see (Crete, Mykonos, Rhondes). Blue water, beaches, cliff-top towns. Then, you have Athens. The Acropolis and the many "hills" for viewing the city below. I'll always remember running into the Old Olympic Stadium with Chariots of Fire playing at the end of the 2,500 Classic Athens Marathon. When you also consider the out-country unique sites, such as the Monasteries of Meteora, the Delphi and Mount Athos -- it's easy to see why Greece is positioned in the #9 spot of my most favorite countries.