Gutentag friends and family! I spent this past weekend in Germany and had a great time!
The train ride there was an adventure. Around twenty of us decided to spend the weekend in Munich. There were two points on the way to Munich where we had to run to catch our trains. The sight of twenty young adults in hiking backpacks, bean boots, and parkas sprinting through the train station had to make at least one person laugh. I was cracking up the entire time and freaking out internally about possibly missing our train. We made it. :) I really liked Munich! We did a lot in a short period of time and had fun along the way.
We did a two and a half hour walking tour with our sarcastic, English tour guide named Tom. He was a hoot. Tom told us all about the Glockenspeil in the main square with the two moving performances of the wedding and the dancing men during the famine. We learned that German politics work great because underneath their political building is a pub and that's where they make all the decisions. Apparently all of the world's problems can be solved over a German beer.
The train ride there was an adventure. Around twenty of us decided to spend the weekend in Munich. There were two points on the way to Munich where we had to run to catch our trains. The sight of twenty young adults in hiking backpacks, bean boots, and parkas sprinting through the train station had to make at least one person laugh. I was cracking up the entire time and freaking out internally about possibly missing our train. We made it. :) I really liked Munich! We did a lot in a short period of time and had fun along the way.
We did a two and a half hour walking tour with our sarcastic, English tour guide named Tom. He was a hoot. Tom told us all about the Glockenspeil in the main square with the two moving performances of the wedding and the dancing men during the famine. We learned that German politics work great because underneath their political building is a pub and that's where they make all the decisions. Apparently all of the world's problems can be solved over a German beer.
We ate lunch at a local place Tom suggested and I got a plate of five different sausages with sauerkraut and potatoes and a beer!!!!!! I'm not about to beg Granny for German sausage recipes but it was pretty good. We walked to the market and got donuts. They were delicious! For dinner, we went to the Hofbrauhaus! We had the best time. There was live music, friendly people, beer and pretzels. People were dancing in between the tables. It was really cool. On the way back, we found a waffle place in this underground street. I got a waffle with chocolate inside of it, and it was probably the best thing I ate all weekend. Side note: I do realize most of this is about food. No regrets.
Trigger Warning, Sensitive Material:
On Sunday morning we took a train to Dachau and visited the concentration camp there. I really have no words to describe that experience. It was horrifying, hell on earth, and I'm glad we saw it. I had a fantastic world history teacher in high school. I've learned about the Holocaust. I've seen movies, read articles written by historians, listened to survivors' first hand accounts, but nothing compares to what I saw on Sunday. Walking around that place I felt so many things. I stood in the room with ovens that people were burned alive in. I saw the barracks where human beings were forced to live in insanely cramped quarters as if they were animals. I stood in a room where people before me stood, thinking they would get a shower but instead being gassed to death. I cried because there are just no words. It was a somber end to the weekend, but it was a good one.
On Sunday morning we took a train to Dachau and visited the concentration camp there. I really have no words to describe that experience. It was horrifying, hell on earth, and I'm glad we saw it. I had a fantastic world history teacher in high school. I've learned about the Holocaust. I've seen movies, read articles written by historians, listened to survivors' first hand accounts, but nothing compares to what I saw on Sunday. Walking around that place I felt so many things. I stood in the room with ovens that people were burned alive in. I saw the barracks where human beings were forced to live in insanely cramped quarters as if they were animals. I stood in a room where people before me stood, thinking they would get a shower but instead being gassed to death. I cried because there are just no words. It was a somber end to the weekend, but it was a good one.
This week I'll be heading to the U.K. and Ireland (Tom told us not to call Ireland the UK so now I'm referring to it separately.) I'm very excited to be in English-speaking places and see some very dear friends.
Thanks for the continued support and well wishes everyone!
Swiss Miss
Thanks for the continued support and well wishes everyone!
Swiss Miss