Hallo from Deutschland

So, once I have finished up my year in Italy, I have decided to spend a year in Germany as well. This probably will not happen, but I love love love it here. Germany is clean, the people are so nice, and it's just a beautiful place.
I didn't get a chance to see much of Pisa, since I was worried about finding my hostel. It turns out that I could have just walked straight from the train station to the leaning tower, but I took the winding, creepy, and only street leading away from the tower route. I am not good with maps or directions. There, I said it. Phew! I feel much better having admitted that. Anyway, I eventually found the hostel and it turned out to be a really nice place. I roomed with two girls from London (perfect!) and another from Japan. They were so nice and interesting that I did not leave my room to go see the tower again, but I had it all to myself the next morning at 3 am. I took a few pictures, but I don't think they turned out well. My flight left at 7 so I wanted to be there at 5, which meant I had to get up at 3 to make it there on foot. Pisa, granted, is tiny, but it took me over an hour to get there with my overstuffed bookbag weighing me down. Check-in was simple, and I actually saw a few of my friends who were waiting for other flights. Apparently they took the last train out of Florence and stayed in the airport all night. I don't know who had the better plan...
After a rather bumpy flight I was picked up at the Memmingen airport by Maximillian, Jan's friend and the sweetest guy in the world. He took me on a drive through Kempten and showed me around his campus. Though it was foggy and we couldn't see the Alps yet, my first impressions of Germany were definitely good ones.
When Jan got off work we drove to Max's hometown (not sure how to spell it, but it starts with an A) to have cake and coffee with his parents and his brother Emanuele. I have a new favorite cake now: (mom take note) Black Forest cake. So good.
We got back in the car, with the addition of Eme, and drove to a place that starts with an S, which is Jan's hometown. We had an amazing meal in their lovely Tuscan red home and then all of us, including Jan's parents and Eme's friend Thomas, went brewery hopping around the town of Bamberg. This is much classier than bar hopping, as in most of the bars you are able to sit down and have a conversation--though the bars became increasingly louder as the night went on. But even this was alright, as most of the noise came from older locals singing traditional drinking songs at the same table and with the same mug they have been using for years. I tried a new beer at each bar, and one (no joke) tasted exactly like smoked ham. Our excursion did not end until 3 am--and we didn't even go to all 11 breweries.
The next morning we got a late start, ate a tasty breakfast, and drove back to Bamberg to do some sightseeing. I guess it is preferable to sight see when you can actually see the sights. Ha...allora...we saw many beautiful and historical buildings, but my favorite was the rose garden near the Duomo. I will post pictures later, but for now just imagine hundreds of roses, all different species, growing on walls, between pathways, around little Greco-Roman statues, and weaving through wooden A-ladders. Sigh... The view of Bamberg from the back wall of the garden was stunning.
I will post pictures as soon as I get back to Florence. I have over 250 already and I still haven't even been to London. As this post is getting rather long and I am wasting precious Germany time, I will describe the rest of my Deutschland adventures another time, including my night in a German techno club, my visit to two Bavarian castles, and my solo trip to Munich.
I wish you guys were here to see this!