Munich

On Friday night Jamie, Ken, and I arrived in Munich at 10 PM. After about a four hour train ride from Strasbourg we were completely exhausted. Since I am currently taking an online class as well I had some homework that I had to complete by Monday night so Jamie and Ken had some drinks and sat with me while I did my work. We had a very nice room at the 4you hostel with a private bathroom and 3 twin beds. We all slept very well that night since Jamie didn't have bed space for us the night before. Definitely more comfortable than the floor! 

Saturday was Jamie's only day with us in Munich so we tried to do things that she wanted since she had less time. We did the free walking tour of the city to start out our trip. This is always one of my favorite things to do to learn about each city I go to. The tour as usual was 3 hours long. Our tour guide was from just outside Munich originally and had lived in Florida for about half her life with her parents before deciding to move back. I definitely think my theory about tour guides who are originally from the cities they are talking about always make the tour better. Virginia was our tour guide and she was fantastic. On this tour she actually took us inside one of the churches which was really nice to see inside. We learned a lot about the Third Reich and the rise of Hitler and his influence on Munich. In addition we learned about various kings and queens who were in power in Munich. And finally, we learned a lot about the influence and traditions of beer in Munich. It's pretty amazing how much influence beer has had on Bavaria. We would later learn the difference between beer in the US and beer in Munich. 

After the tour we decided to stop in the outdoor beer-garden/market for lunch. We each had a beer and sausage on a roll. We walked around the market a bit and then decided to look for the Englischer Garten. Although the weather was cold and cloudy it was still a beautiful park to see. We didn't spend too much time in the park but what we saw of it was really nice. After the park we walked back into the center city and looked in a few shops and walked around. We were starting to get hungry around 5:30 so we decided to find something for dinner. We stumbled upon an authentic German restaurant which was delicious. For dinner I had beef with gravy and a dumpling and for desert I had an apple strudel with vanilla sauce. 

After dinner we went to one of the most famous beer halls in Munich. The three of us all got our Hofbräuhaus beer and enjoyed the environment of the beer hall. It was definitely and experience I would recommend to everyone. It is not something you can really explain very well. They were enormous rooms filled will long tables. Each table was jammed with as many people as possible which encourages you to talk with your neighbors. We spent a couple hours there and then decided to finally head back to our hostel. We stayed up and talked for a little while but we were all pretty tired and Jamie had to get up very early to catch her bus. 

The next morning when I woke up Jamie was gone. We will be seeing her again in Paris in a couple if weeks. On day two Ken and I decided to go to the Dachau concentration camp. We decided to go there with a tour guide to help us get there and also to give us a little more of the history behind the camp once we were there. It was another cold cloudy day. The camp was very eerie. We walked around the entire camp. Dachau was the first camp that was built and every one after was modeled after this one. We first saw the roll call area. Our guide told us the length at which it would often take place in order to further torture the prisoners. There was a museum inside the main building of the camp which the tour guide didn't give us time to look at which was disappointing. He pulled out a few major points that he wanted to touch on, but it would have been nice to look around a little more. We watch a video on the liberation of the camp and learned how the Americans responded to what they saw. We saw the sleeping quarters and the progression through time of the amount of space the prisoners were given to sleep. We saw the religious memorials for the victims of the camp and learned about why and when they were each built. Our final stop was the gas chambers and infirmary. We learned that there was no proof that the gas chambers ever were used at this camp, but because of the brutality of the camp and the experiments being done it was assumed that at some point they were likely used. Although I have learned about WWII and the holocaust before, coming to Munich has really made me want to educate myself more on the entirety of this time period. We talked about how around the world we can still see things like this taking place. WWII had a huge impact on my family and seeing the camp first hand really changed something inside of me. I left the camp feeling sick and uncomfortable. How could anyone be so cruel and how could so many people claim to not know what was going on? It just does make sense. 

After the camp we made our way back to Munich. I had to go to the hostel to do some more work for my online class before going to dinner. We decided to go to a beer hall for dinner that night. We chose the Augustine beer hall to try something different. For dinner I had duck, red cabbage, and a dumpling. Everything was very delicious and by the end of the meal I was completely warn out. We made our way back to the hostel and shortly after went to sleep. 

On our third and final day in Munich we ventured again on a tour to see the Neuschwanstein castle about two hours south of Munich. To give you and idea of what we expected just imagine the famous castle at Disney World (which was actually modeled after this castle). 

When we arrived we sat down and had lunch which consisted of curry wurst and fries. We slowly made our way around the area and saw the original castle where King Ludwig II grew up. We saw a beautiful lake where you could see Austria's mountain in the distance. We learned about the king and what led to him building three castles, one of which was Neuschwanstein. We then hiked our way up the mountain to the castle. The closer we got, the more amazing it became. I literally felt as though I was in a fairytale. We took a tour of the castle which was built over a period of 17 years. Every room was built as part of the king's playful imagination and to exact specifications of the king. If there was something on a wall at all he did not like, he would find someone new to completely start the project over. To give you and idea, it took 4 years to finish his bedroom. The castle actually was never completed because at 40 years old the king died during the middle of construction. He lived in the castle for a total of 172 days. 

After we left the castle (where we could not take pictures), Ken and I lost the rest of the group. Our tour guide had told us where we were going next as well as where to meet and when if we did happen to get separated. So we made our way toward the bridge where we could get a better view of the castle. On our way there it began to snow. It felt so magical. 

The view was INCREDIBLE. It was so beautiful I could have stood there all day if it had been a little warmer. 

We took several pictures and then decided to head back down the hill. On our way down we ran into our tour guide and the rest of our group so we headed back up to the bridge again with them. 

We walked down the mountain along an off-road path rather than going the same way. When we got to the bottom we played with and fed the horses that people often take with cartridges up the mountain. I wanted to look in a couple shops so I had Ken run ahead and find out where the group would be. He said we would be leaving an hour later than the original plan because one of the guys in our group took the horse carriage and it took 40 minutes to wait for it. When we went down to the bus station our group was no where to be found. Luckily we found the Spanish group and they brought us back to the train where we finally met back up with our group. Ken and I decided to call ourselves "the problem children." It was sadly too true.

When we got back into the city we had dinner at a nice restaurant in the downtown area before we had to pack up our bags and catch our 10 PM bus to Vienna.