Thursday-Sunday- 6/16-19/11- Munich
Mom and Dad,
Yesterday started out beautifully. We made an early train, and were early for our DIRECT, first class connection from Zurich to Munich. In fact, we were just talking about how great and smooth this travel day was going in comparison to some of the others when everything started to fall apart. I had just gotten comfortable and was taking a little nap, and Cody was playing an intense game of Madden on his iPhone when the train conductor began speaking in German over the loud speaker. Now, we have gotten pretty good about finding our way around the language barriers in all of the other countries, but Germany seems to be a bit different. I tuned in anyway hoping to decipher something, and thought I made out that we needed to get off of the train. I told Cody what I thought; he didn't move. I said, "SERIOUSLY, I think we have to get off here." This time he laughed, but continued playing Madden as if I hadn't said anything important. "CODY, seriously, get our stuff!" I raised my voice a little at this point, and he knew I was for real. He jumped up and asked the people behind us, who spoke some English. They tentatively confirmed what I thought I heard, and when the train stopped we followed the crowd, like sheep, to four buses lined up next to the train tracks. Anyway, we stopped at several other stations, some lady with a dog who spoke no English somehow understood where we wanted to go and had us stay on the train. Then we stopped once more where everyone got off and onto another train,(we followed) and by sheer luck, we made it to Munich. It only took eight hours WOW! Upon arrival in Munich, we were exhausted, but we knew we had to persevere. We booked our train to Venice, bought a three day subway pass, and headed to the English Gardens. This park is larger than Central Park in NY and is gorgeous. There are rivers running through it, waterfalls, trees, beer gardens, nude sunbathers....haha, but seriously. We had just made it to a giant pond when we saw the storm roll in. It started raining before we could find our way back to the subway. Then refusing to let a little rain ruin our time in Munich, we decided to put on our rain jackets and go find a beer hall. It was a bit further than expected, and we found ourselves jogging through Munich, Germany, at 10:00 at night, in the rain. We were lost a few times, but finally found this GREAT place after at thirty\forty-five minute walk\jog. The menu was all in German, but we ordered something with sausage. Ha. Cody ended up with a variety of meats and potatoes, and I ended up with sausage filled ravioli. Haha. It was great, and as is the case everywhere in this city, the beer was SO cheap! In fact, Munich is known as The Beer Capitol of the World. Yes, I have had more beer here than I have ever had in my life. I think I like it ;) We made it back to the hostel, showered and slept. Our hostel is really neat. It has its own bar, and is very social, which pretty much freaks us out. It is pretty cool though. There are six more people in our room; all have been nice. Today, we took a walking tour of the city. Our guide was arrogant, but he knew a lot, so maybe he had a right to be. Either way, we learned and saw a ton! We saw the place where Hitler held the first meeting that started the Nazi party. It is a beer hall called Hofbrauhaus, so Munich is not only The Beer Capitol of the World, but also the Nazi Capitol of the World. We also had bratwurst and beer for lunch, and walked around the city eating and drinking. After our tour we went back to the English Gardens, walked around, tried not to stare at the naked people, and had a giant pretzel and more beer in a beer garden where they were playing Bavarian music. It was awesome. You should see the locals here. Old women will drink three or four liters of beer per sitting, and walk out without a stumble! It's crazy. What is also crazy, is that everyone here seems to think we are German. We have had at least four people come up to us and began speaking in German about who knows what before they realize we have no idea what they are saying. It's always very awkward. We do fit the stereotype, I guess. We both really like it here, and have decided it must be our motherland. The people here in Munich have been kind and patient, which makes visiting easier. We are taking a tour of Dachau Concentration Camp tomorrow. It will be sobering, and sad, but informative and educational too, I bet. I will write all about it tomorrow :) I hope you don't mind all of the details. Writing to you is the only way I can motivate myself to keep a log of our travels. We love and miss you both. Mom, let me know about Misti's kids visit. I'll write again soon :).
Love,
Emily and Cody
Mom and Dad,
It has been raining all day today, but the gloomy weather seemed fitting for our five hour tour of Dauchau. Dachau is only a twenty minute train ride from Munich. It was just as I thought it would be. Our guide was very informative and passionate, and it was obvious that he had done his research. Dachau was primarily a work camp. It was the first of hundreds of concentration camps and was the only one to last throughout the entirety of the war. Although it was a work camp approximately 32,000 people died there during the Holocaust. While the Nazis did use the prisoners to make weapons, their primary objective was to kill them through starvation, exhaustion, exposure to the elements, disease, and experiments. We saw the shower rooms, the barracks, the gas chamber, and the crematoriums. It was really sad. The two things I found most powerful, heartbreaking, and infuriating were that on the memorial to those who lost their lives three groups are not represented, gypsies, criminals, and homosexuals. These "criminals" could have been anyone from someone who stole a loaf of bread to a murderer. I just seems, at a place where tolerance and diversity should be cherished and encouraged, everyone would be remembered. I also found it CRAZY that the SS, even those alive to this day are still receiving a government pension for their military service, yet no such pension has ever existed for the survivors. Okay, I'm done venting. One fact I found really interesting was that the SS would recruit rapists and mass murderers to be Capos in the camp, because they knew they would carry out all the dirty work without blinking and would revel in the power. Sick! Anyway, the tour brought The Holocaust into better focus for me, and will forever shape the way I think about WWII and that time period. When we arrived back in Munich from Dachau, it was past lunch time, so we took the train to Marienplatz (the main square). Here they have a huge clock tower with little figures that do a traditional Bavarian dance at certain times of day. It's called the Glockenspeil. It’s pretty cool, but strange. We walked a little down the street through the market place known as Viktualienmarkt. This market is made up of small shops and booths selling flowers, fruit, meat, fish, baked goods, and of course beer. We went into a meat shop and ordered bratwurst, but they were out (IMAGINE!), so we said, "We will have what they are having," and pointed to a local man and his kids. He smiled and said it was very traditional in Munich. We still don't know what it was, but it was some sort of meat between two buns with mustard. It was really good!! We haven't had beer yet today, but it is my goal to drink beer every day we are in Munich because I will probably never drink it again, since it is not my beverage of choice :) After walking around the city center, we were drenched and tired of walking, so we took the train back here, to the hostel, and now I am writing you. We leave for Venice tomorrow at 11:00 AM. It is a seven hour train ride. UGH! :) Actually, I rest on the train so it will be good. The people in our room are all like eighteen years old, and alcoholics, so we get little sleep. Ha! If you have any suggestions for Venice let me know. I have no real plans for our time there. I'll read about it on the train. Well that's about it. I think we will go have our one beer for the night, and get ready for bed. I will write again when I can. I am so glad you and the kids had fun at the house. I bet you are so tired. Thank you for all your help while we are here. We couldn't have done this without you! We love you both!!
Love,
Emily and Cody
Mom and Dad,
Yesterday started out beautifully. We made an early train, and were early for our DIRECT, first class connection from Zurich to Munich. In fact, we were just talking about how great and smooth this travel day was going in comparison to some of the others when everything started to fall apart. I had just gotten comfortable and was taking a little nap, and Cody was playing an intense game of Madden on his iPhone when the train conductor began speaking in German over the loud speaker. Now, we have gotten pretty good about finding our way around the language barriers in all of the other countries, but Germany seems to be a bit different. I tuned in anyway hoping to decipher something, and thought I made out that we needed to get off of the train. I told Cody what I thought; he didn't move. I said, "SERIOUSLY, I think we have to get off here." This time he laughed, but continued playing Madden as if I hadn't said anything important. "CODY, seriously, get our stuff!" I raised my voice a little at this point, and he knew I was for real. He jumped up and asked the people behind us, who spoke some English. They tentatively confirmed what I thought I heard, and when the train stopped we followed the crowd, like sheep, to four buses lined up next to the train tracks. Anyway, we stopped at several other stations, some lady with a dog who spoke no English somehow understood where we wanted to go and had us stay on the train. Then we stopped once more where everyone got off and onto another train,(we followed) and by sheer luck, we made it to Munich. It only took eight hours WOW! Upon arrival in Munich, we were exhausted, but we knew we had to persevere. We booked our train to Venice, bought a three day subway pass, and headed to the English Gardens. This park is larger than Central Park in NY and is gorgeous. There are rivers running through it, waterfalls, trees, beer gardens, nude sunbathers....haha, but seriously. We had just made it to a giant pond when we saw the storm roll in. It started raining before we could find our way back to the subway. Then refusing to let a little rain ruin our time in Munich, we decided to put on our rain jackets and go find a beer hall. It was a bit further than expected, and we found ourselves jogging through Munich, Germany, at 10:00 at night, in the rain. We were lost a few times, but finally found this GREAT place after at thirty\forty-five minute walk\jog. The menu was all in German, but we ordered something with sausage. Ha. Cody ended up with a variety of meats and potatoes, and I ended up with sausage filled ravioli. Haha. It was great, and as is the case everywhere in this city, the beer was SO cheap! In fact, Munich is known as The Beer Capitol of the World. Yes, I have had more beer here than I have ever had in my life. I think I like it ;) We made it back to the hostel, showered and slept. Our hostel is really neat. It has its own bar, and is very social, which pretty much freaks us out. It is pretty cool though. There are six more people in our room; all have been nice. Today, we took a walking tour of the city. Our guide was arrogant, but he knew a lot, so maybe he had a right to be. Either way, we learned and saw a ton! We saw the place where Hitler held the first meeting that started the Nazi party. It is a beer hall called Hofbrauhaus, so Munich is not only The Beer Capitol of the World, but also the Nazi Capitol of the World. We also had bratwurst and beer for lunch, and walked around the city eating and drinking. After our tour we went back to the English Gardens, walked around, tried not to stare at the naked people, and had a giant pretzel and more beer in a beer garden where they were playing Bavarian music. It was awesome. You should see the locals here. Old women will drink three or four liters of beer per sitting, and walk out without a stumble! It's crazy. What is also crazy, is that everyone here seems to think we are German. We have had at least four people come up to us and began speaking in German about who knows what before they realize we have no idea what they are saying. It's always very awkward. We do fit the stereotype, I guess. We both really like it here, and have decided it must be our motherland. The people here in Munich have been kind and patient, which makes visiting easier. We are taking a tour of Dachau Concentration Camp tomorrow. It will be sobering, and sad, but informative and educational too, I bet. I will write all about it tomorrow :) I hope you don't mind all of the details. Writing to you is the only way I can motivate myself to keep a log of our travels. We love and miss you both. Mom, let me know about Misti's kids visit. I'll write again soon :).
Love,
Emily and Cody
Mom and Dad,
It has been raining all day today, but the gloomy weather seemed fitting for our five hour tour of Dauchau. Dachau is only a twenty minute train ride from Munich. It was just as I thought it would be. Our guide was very informative and passionate, and it was obvious that he had done his research. Dachau was primarily a work camp. It was the first of hundreds of concentration camps and was the only one to last throughout the entirety of the war. Although it was a work camp approximately 32,000 people died there during the Holocaust. While the Nazis did use the prisoners to make weapons, their primary objective was to kill them through starvation, exhaustion, exposure to the elements, disease, and experiments. We saw the shower rooms, the barracks, the gas chamber, and the crematoriums. It was really sad. The two things I found most powerful, heartbreaking, and infuriating were that on the memorial to those who lost their lives three groups are not represented, gypsies, criminals, and homosexuals. These "criminals" could have been anyone from someone who stole a loaf of bread to a murderer. I just seems, at a place where tolerance and diversity should be cherished and encouraged, everyone would be remembered. I also found it CRAZY that the SS, even those alive to this day are still receiving a government pension for their military service, yet no such pension has ever existed for the survivors. Okay, I'm done venting. One fact I found really interesting was that the SS would recruit rapists and mass murderers to be Capos in the camp, because they knew they would carry out all the dirty work without blinking and would revel in the power. Sick! Anyway, the tour brought The Holocaust into better focus for me, and will forever shape the way I think about WWII and that time period. When we arrived back in Munich from Dachau, it was past lunch time, so we took the train to Marienplatz (the main square). Here they have a huge clock tower with little figures that do a traditional Bavarian dance at certain times of day. It's called the Glockenspeil. It’s pretty cool, but strange. We walked a little down the street through the market place known as Viktualienmarkt. This market is made up of small shops and booths selling flowers, fruit, meat, fish, baked goods, and of course beer. We went into a meat shop and ordered bratwurst, but they were out (IMAGINE!), so we said, "We will have what they are having," and pointed to a local man and his kids. He smiled and said it was very traditional in Munich. We still don't know what it was, but it was some sort of meat between two buns with mustard. It was really good!! We haven't had beer yet today, but it is my goal to drink beer every day we are in Munich because I will probably never drink it again, since it is not my beverage of choice :) After walking around the city center, we were drenched and tired of walking, so we took the train back here, to the hostel, and now I am writing you. We leave for Venice tomorrow at 11:00 AM. It is a seven hour train ride. UGH! :) Actually, I rest on the train so it will be good. The people in our room are all like eighteen years old, and alcoholics, so we get little sleep. Ha! If you have any suggestions for Venice let me know. I have no real plans for our time there. I'll read about it on the train. Well that's about it. I think we will go have our one beer for the night, and get ready for bed. I will write again when I can. I am so glad you and the kids had fun at the house. I bet you are so tired. Thank you for all your help while we are here. We couldn't have done this without you! We love you both!!
Love,
Emily and Cody
Th English Gardens (These geese would let you walk right up to them!)
Food at the beer hall we ran to in the rain.
One of the old city gates.
The Mavs won the championship while we were in Europe. Dirk is a hero in Munich :)
We visited the Pope's home church. It was neat to see this before visiting Vatican City in Rome.
Clock Tower in Marienplatz (The main city square).
Marienplatz
Meat Shop in the Market
Bratwurst and Beer
Tasty meat sandwich. (I wish I could tell you more :))
Bavarian Maypole
Beer Steins at Haufbrauhaus. There is a waiting list for these lockers.
Haufbrauhaus, where Hitler made his first speech to the Nazi Party.
Memorial to people who were killed when refusing to salute Hitler's memorial to Nazi's killed in the Beer Hall Putsch.
English Gardens
Chinese Tower in a Beer Garden in the English Gardens. It took us FOREVER to find this tower, but I insisted we keep walking until we did. Sorry, Cody ;)
Pretzels and Beer. Does it get any more German?
The exact place where concentration camp prisoners walked into the camp.
The gate the prisoners walked through with the inscription "Arbeit Macht Frei" "Work Sets You Free" which was basically an evil joke.
Entrance gate to the camp
Prison Uniform. Notice the triangle patch the guards used to denote who the prisoners were, and to dehumanize them.
Where prisoners were laid and whipped.
Dachau Memorial
Cody reading the museum exhibits.
Woman's uniform.
Entrance to the gas chamber. The word basically means shower.
Gas Chamber
Crematorium Furnaces
Dachau Jewish Memorial
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