A Walk Around Munich

 WE ARE HERE!! After two fairly long red eye flights and very little sleep, 18 LOTAs arrived in Munich, Germany where we are spending the first three days of our travels.

After a super long wait for all our luggage to arrive from the baggage claim. We were greeted by our tour guide for the week, Rolando. We got to get onto to this super nice Mercedes coach bus. We got to see some sights while driving to our hotel. Honestly, despite the excitement of being in a foreign country for the first time without it being a family trip, all I wanted to do was sleep. But why waste the precious time we were being given to go around Munich and explore.

We got to our hotel and were given our roommate for the first hotel and got some time to freshen up before starting our afternoon walking tour around Munich. 

Below are some pictures from our walking tour of scenic Munich:

These are just a handful of the pictures I was able to snap while we were walking around the city to the various destinations we explored in just the first day or two in the city. 

Amy and I ventured into one of the soccer stores and had to take a selfie with the World Cup champions.

We went to the most beautiful Cathedral of St. Peter. It had amazing gold work and such grandeur of architecture. Since I am the daughter of an architect, any place that I get to admire such great historic work is a good day in my book! 

Then we ventured into the city's center, Marienplatz, and location of city hall. It was such an amazing building and we got to listen and witness the ringing of the bells. We also explored all the shopping districts which we are returning to tomorrow. When then ended the day by going to Ratskeller, a very popular restaurant under city hall, for dinner. We then got to experience the German subway system to get back to the hotel. It was then an early night to catch up on missed sleep. 

Cinderella's Ball



The kids and celebrities entered the Willard on a red carpet under the swords of the Marines!

Geez! I have been very bad about my blogging! I should have posted this almost two weeks ago but I've been so very busy and I simply forgot. On May 30th I worked my final event at the Willard for the time being. I know that my time hasn't ended there but for now I must walk away and spend my final summer with my family and friends. The Willard has been my second home over the past month. I would spend almost every waking moment working and wore myself out everyday but it gave me the necessary skills to prepare for the work force.

Marines holding the flags during
the National Anthem.

I have always had so much respect for the military! They do so much for this country and risk their lives everyday to protect us. When I was working I got to spend a lot of time around the Marines that were there for the event. I got to see two sides of them. In the morning when they were holding the swords, they had to stand extremely still and you didn't even see the slightest grin on their face. But when it cam time to party and dance later in the afternoon, they totally changed! They were dancing like a whole bunch of teenagers at a school dance. My phone is filled with tons of videos of the Marines doing the wobble (with RGIII), the cupid shuffle, cha-cha slide and many more.

Anyways this Cinderella's Ball was definitely the best event as my final one for the summer. It's an amazing charity event, just like a prom, held for kids who have life threatening diseases or have other special needs whether it be they were homeless or abandoned or just needed helped to get through school.

Everyone is greeted and treated like a rock star to enter the home under the swords of the marines and walking on a red carpet. There are many celebrities guests that attend. I got the chance to meet Robert Griffin III and one the stars from Shark Tank and a dancing with the stars contestant, Robert Herjavec and his dancing partner. Others would include: Jussie Smollett from the show Empire and an MBA star.



Robert Griffin III walks the red carpet.

A Marine dressed as Cinderella takes a spin
on the dance floor with some of the girls

The speeches broke your heart but you were also laughing so much. It was such a great opportunity to get to witness all of the hard work the House puts into this program.

My favorite part of the night was definitely getting to go out on the dance floor with the kids. The music was awesome and everyone got into it! Whether we were doing the Cupid shuffle or slow dancing, I didn't miss a single song with those kids. I will never forget the memories I made that day and all of the memories at the hotel!

Onto more adventures!