Day 8: A place you've traveled to.

I don’t generally have the “bug” to travel, which is semi-surprising since I’ve literally been to over 30 states and 5 countries in my short existence.  The bug seems to be creeping in however.  New York and Las Vegas are in my near future, I can feel it.

Here’s a smattering of specific places I’ve been to outside of the United States.

Mexico City, Mexico:  Central Mexico, generally referred to as D.F. (“day, effay”) or Distrito Federal.  It is the capital city of Mexico and coincidentally the largest city in the Americas, and third largest in the world (after Seoul and Tokyo).  The estimated population in 2009 was 8.84 million people (in 573 sq miles).  It’s huge, obviously.  Not a lot of land space, so most of the buildings go up.  We visited Mexico City while I was studying abroad in Queretaro, about 130 miles north(west) of Mexico City.  It literally took 3-4 hours just to drive across town.  This is a picture of a friend of mine from atop our hostel.  We were right on the edge of the Zócalo (main square in the heart of Mexico City).  You can see some of the great old buildings and cathedrals in the background.

Teotihuacán: Mexican pyramids.  They were definitely cool to see, especially since some of them let you climb to the top (we're on our way down in this picture).  You can see one of the smaller pyramids in the background.

Dachau Concentration Camp (Germany):  A sobering place.  Part of a touring trip taken during my Senior year of high school with other kids from my school.  We wandered around the campus, taking it all in.  I don’t remember anyone really saying much.  The concept of concentration camps can be so abstract until you’re actually standing in one of the gas chambers.  The metal gate upon entering has the phrase "Arbeit macht frei" on it, which translates in German to "work will make you free".  Sadly, not true for this place.  They believe over 25,000 Jews and other non-desirables died here.

Neuschwanstein Castle:  This castle in Germany is actually what Sleeping Beauty’s castle was designed after.  It appears to float in the sky, especially when low cloud roll in.  We were in Germany (during the high school touring trip) in late November/early December and we definitely saw some snow.  Do you see the small curved walkway to the right of the castle entrance?  The walk up to the castle took about an hour.  The path winds up and around the mountain all the way to the castle doors.  A nice fun walk in the snow.  I think we spent approximately 10 minutes inside and then trekked back down the mountain.  Absolutely breathtaking views, despite the cloud cover.

Paris, France:  Also part of the high school touring trip, we stopped in France sort of en-route to Germany.  We visited the famous Eifel Tower and Louvre Museum, obviously.  Lots of cobblestone walk ways and small little quaint stores.  Although I could have done without half of our group getting lost on the Champs-Élysées the first night.