17.07.16 Munich, Germany
I wrote this a few days ago, just now have polished it up and edited it!
The German countryside was something magical to behold, speeding by on a glistening silver train. Now matter how one felt about trains, there was something undeniably beautiful to watch the greenery of leaves, white and brown trunks, deep colored undergrowth flash by from far off. The broad fields, dipping dells, and small, quick streams that widened and slowed into rivers were the integral parts of the countryside, backed by trees that loomed in the distance and occasionally dotted the foreground. Hills and dales, mountains and valleys all flashed by at the pace of a flying bird, and the dappled light peeked through thick foliage into the moldering leaves and undergrowth below.
Nestled in the valleys and perched on the mountains were villages, clusters of wooden homes together on the countryside, looking over pastures and valleys that housed cows, sheep, pigs, geese, and even a few goats and horses here and there. The houses were distinctly German in style, red tiled roofs and dark wooden crossbeams. Many were painted white. They were simultaneously old and new, picturesque and petite in their sheltered positions, surrounded by greenery. They were almost magical, somehow frozen in time despite their modern aspects, like something straight out of a faerie story.
But the most exciting portion of the journey was when, for a brief instant a castle in the distance was glimpsed, more than one, but far apart from each other. They were stony and tall, their towers peering over the hills and forests that they inhabited. They were mostly light gray stone, and while they were well kept, the windows themselves were dark, and it didn’t seem as if they were occupied like they had been in the old days of Bavaria. The forests themselves, however, seemed far more ancient than any of the buildings and castles in the surrounding area. The forest soughed in the wind, branches swayed in breezes that carried sounds from the creaking train and the quiet streams.
Munich itself was idyllic in that it was a city. The rolling hills of the countryside gave way to more and more city, becoming less farm and more industry as one drew closer to the city itself. The buildings of Munich were a bit aged, but kept well. The city looked prosperous, busy, and efficient. The skyline is peaked and spine-y, old architecture left over from eras passed mixed in with newer businesses that had taken up residence in the older buildings and their basements.
At least half of Munich was subterranean. There were so many shops and businesses, modern and futuristic, housed beneath the surface level of the ground. Subway stations were clustered together, neon lights and cigarette fumes dancing between the shops beneath the crowded, sunny walks of the world above. There was a smoky flavor to the entire city, clean of street but perhaps a bit dark of air, and the scents of industry carried themselves on the wind, mingling with the smells of fresh baked bread.
