AND, Welcome to Munich, Germany!
Well actually, our welcome was not this Grand to begin with but did get progressively better. It was definitely a more chilled out weekend from last week's Amsterdam experience. We touched down at the Munich Airport nearing midnight of Thursday after our British Airways ride of glory with complementary wine and snacks. Gretchen, Cara, and I did this trip as a trio because we were finding in Amsterdam everyone wanted to do their own things, and because of the sweet deal we found last minute.
After our first communication barrier trying to find the train station we needed to get a ticket for in the machine, we went up to the service desk who then set us up with our ticket (finally). However, they missed telling the fact that we had to time stamp the ticket. As we're 10 stops in, a couple more to go, these three, fully armed policemen (more or less looking like army men) come to us asking for our ticket saying things in German to each other. They noticed that the ticket was not stamped so they started somewhat yelling at us about not stamping the ticket and how usually people get a 40 Euro fine. Se played the tourist card, of course, and got away with it. phew. On the note of policemen, there was a demonstration that weekend for the police so they were absolutely EVERYWHERE.
That night we were just happy to make it to Hotel Alfa in our triple room. The next morning, we got a late start, as usual, and went out with double socks into the cold, walking toward the center of the city called Marienplatz. To get the gist of the city because we barely had enough time to learn about the city, we were actually banking on the Free Walking Tour that we researched. Confused in the mix of nationalities and languages around, a young lady from New York who was exploring the city by herself told us about another 2 hour walking tour. We bout our tickets and the lady guide met seven of us attendees.
To be completely honest, my fingers and toes were frozen and numb for most of this tour making it very uncomfortable and we got side tracked from the tour. I did get to snap a bunch of pictures along the way. The first is when we went into the Munich Frauenkirche Cathedral or the "Cathedral of Our Blessed Lady". Second shot is of the statue in front of the Town Hall or Glochenspeil. Third is in front of the National Theater.
Following our walking tour, we went to Starbucks to grab some coffee and warm up from the frigid temperature outside. That night we went to the famed Hausbrahous to grab a couple liters of Beer--Radlin to be specific, a light beer with lemonade mixed in with it, it was delicious. In Munich they serve only the Beers that are made there, so everywhere has the same 6 beers on tap. Below are pictures of us in the Beer Garden part after we ate upstairs (pork with potatoes).
Video in the HaufBrahous dining room
Day 2: Dachau Concentration Camp and Olympia Stadium
On Saturday morning we woke up early to take the train then bus out to the Dachau Concentration Camp a little outside of Munich. The experience was well worth the travel and very eerie to walk through. I felt a little disrespectful in taking pictures but snapped some anyway but not beaming a smile. The gate where the prisoners entered said "Work will set you free" in German and we walked around the museum where artifacts and displays were concerning that camp. The atmosphere was cold and foggy making it more of an eerie experience for us; imagining what it was like to be in "roll call", a form of punishment for the camp members where they had to stand completely still outside. for hours
It was also interesting that Adolf Hitler's face was scratched off in nearly every picture in that Museum...as the hate for him lives on to this day (middle picture below). Finally, while they knocked down most of the living quarters, 2 still remain, with the original bunks, showers, toilet, and locker facilities. Overall I was creeped out and depressed while learning more about the Holocaust and also about how many other people were persecuted inhumanely against their will. Made me sickened.
After the camp, we went to Olympia Park, which was a little happier in the fact that it's where a bunch of countries coming together for the Summer Olympics---BUT as we all know in the 1972 Olympics, there was the assassination of ten Israeli athletes, putting a damper on the experience
there. We walked around the grounds, seeing the swimming pool, the stadium, and track. The grounds were actually very beautiful surrounded with hills and a lake running through it all.
We took a picture next to the entrance sign and the Olympic Tower before we walked around until we couldnt take the cold any more.
Also used the Sepia Tone on my camera to come up with these neat pictures of us. Also took a picture of this adorable looking couple sitting on a bench.
That night, we went out to eat around the corner from our place and got to bed because it was snowing and miserable out. Sunday in Munich was completely empty as the shops are all closed. We ended up hanging out in the McCafe section of McDonalds drinking our Cafe Latte's and Cafe Mocha's.
Altogether, Munich was more of a solemn place to visit but very interesting to see the different people and notice the cultural changes.
No comments:
Post a Comment