Germany day 9 - Dachau

Today, on our last day, we went to Dachau. Camille and Christian stayed at the hotel and had a nice breakfast and a relaxing morning. The two of them have been doing some bonding on this trip which makes me happy. Although today Christian drove Grandma a little nuts with the phone and his music. He found a closet and sat in there listening to music. 

 

Christian hides in the closet

Dachau. I'm not really sure how to write about this. I do not have the words to do it justice. We'd left Christian at home because we didn't think he was mature enough to handle the gravity of place in a respectful manner. But we also thought it was really important for Will and Jon to go. The boys have learned about the Holocaust of course, and they've read accounts of the concentration camps, but for "Never Again" to be true, it is important to bear witness. Especially with current attitudes about the Jews and with the likelihood of the kids running into people who claimed it never happened. I don't want to get political here. I guess the bottom line is that we think it is important to not shy away from looking at evil. 

 

Today was cold and rainy, which seemed fitting. The drive wasn't too bad, under 40 minutes. There was public transportation available but that would have added on another hour to the ride. There were many other visitors but it wasn't crowded or full, although it seems like it did fill up more as the day went on. The walk in was somber and tastefully done.  

 

Then we came to the camp itself. First there was a little arched passageway where there were three plaques on the wall commemorating different battalions of American soldiers who freed the camp. As we went through I continued to think about those soldiers and how they must have felt when they entered Dachau for the first time. At the end of the archway was an iron gate. A small door in the gate carried the words "Arbeit macht frei" or "Works sets you free". Seeing that famous phrase in iron was chilling and as I walked through the gates I felt a heaviness settle on me that wouldn't leave. 

 

Dachau

I didn't take a lot of pictures here. I couldn't. Nothing I could take would capture the spirit that was here, and there were certain places, like the gate or the crematorium, where it felt wrong to bring out a camera. My first impression was surprise at the size of it. The camp seemed quite large, too large for us to fully examine. We didn't have much time to spend here, we couldn't leave Camille and Christian alone for too long, and the atmosphere suggested solitary reflection rather than discussion, so we split up and agreed to meet again in an hour. 

 

Will and Jon went off, they saw the main exhibit and a church which I never made it to. James and I mostly stayed together, although we wandered through the exhibits separately. I wasn't emotional or overly imaginative (you wouldn't want to be there) but tears flowed from my eyes almost the whole time. We saw the cells for special prisoners, the standing cells where there was no room to sit, the rooms where the SS tortured people, the cell for the prisoner "helpers" who assisted the SS. We read stories of a few of the people imprisoned in the special cells, men like Georg Elser who tried to assassinate Hitler.

 

Special cells

 

From there we moved to the main exhibit and saw where prisoners were brought in processed. Nothing was overly graphic here, there were pictures of a few of the prisoners, some of their stories, a few personal effects. But I couldn't see the whole thing, even the large rooms of the main hall seemed claustrophobic. Being outside didn't change that feeling though, the whole place here feels heavy.  

 

Tree lined path

After that we moved to one of the barracks where prisoners were stacked like firewood in bunks.  We saw the small bathrooms where hundreds of prisoners had only a few minutes to wash up in the mornings and read about how they would be punished if they didn't leave everything, including the floor, spotless. Behind the barracks we were in was a large field with long rectangular sections filling the space, the foundations of over 30 other barracks. Dachau had been designed for over 6,000 prisoners, but after a pogrom in 1938 they moved 11,000 Jews into the already full camp. It is hard to fathom. 

 

Three tiered beds

I've mentioned before that the place felt heavy. And maybe this will seem foolish or imaginative on my part. Sometimes (often) when I am up on a mountain top and able to see the wonder and majesty of God's creation, I feel His presence and am filled with awe and rejoicing. This was the opposite of that. As our time went on the atmosphere there began to feel almost Sisyphean in its weight. It felt hard to walk, hard to breathe, the weight of all the years of horror settling in. It felt like a place where demons had won, it felt like hell. For the first time in my life I felt the desire to cross myself, to do something physical to ward off the evil that was there. Will said he felt the same, he was praying and saying "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti."

 

Foundations of the many barracks

The time we had flew by. We met the boys by the gate but felt that we should see the crematorium before we left. It was a little outside the main part of the camp, reachable by a short walk. I couldn't take pictures here, the horror was too heavy and I felt it would cheapen it for me to hide behind a lens. It was as you have read, the story of the "shower", the room where they disrobed, the gas chamber itself where 150 people could be crammed in together, the room for piling bodies, and finally the ovens themselves. They would sometimes execute prisoners by hanging them in front of the ovens. It is hard to write about now, but even harder to walk through. The rooms were surprisingly small. 

 

After the crematorium it was time to leave and the walk to the gate felt interminable. It was a cold day and the rain had been failing steadily since morning, but I was too hot and stuffy for my light rain jacket. It was a relief to finally pass through the gates and return to the car. We'd only been able to see a portion of the camp, but it was enough. Our ride back was initially rather quiet. The boys tend towards dark humor and I was expecting it here, but they seemed somber. I'm so glad we didn't bring Christian, he is still too young. On the drive back we discussed the obvious question, "Why did God let this happen?", and James reminded us all of Job. As we talked about evil, free will, the deserved righteous judgement, and processed our grief and anger, we also took comfort in the fact that God was still there, that there are millions of small miracles which show His presence in the camps, that He cares for those who were in that hell. 

 

Graves at the crematorium

Alright, I have taken a little break from writing and will now get back to our regularly scheduled light vacation fare. I'm not sure if I conveyed any of that accurately, but I am glad we went even if I was not glad to be there. 

 

After the camp we drove into Munich (big mistake!) with the intention of eating at an Anime restaurant the boys had found yesterday. Driving in was a huge error. Driving in the middle of cities is usually not a good idea and Munich has particularly small streets. Our cramped seven passenger car was almost the biggest thing on the road and incredibly hard to park. We did eventually find the very top floor of a parking garage and we ended up leaving the car there and taking the subway back to our room. 

 

The Anime restaurant was great. It had lots of cool decorations and lifesize characters from some of the boys' favorite shows and movies. We ordered variations on corn dogs and the guys got Boba tea and mochi. We had to hurry back to our hotel room though because by this time poor Christian and Camille were also hungry and ready to go out. 

 

Boys at the Anime restaurant

Totoro!

Anime restaurant decorations

Anime restaurant

Once back, James took Christian and his mom shopping while Will, Jon, and I relaxed at the hotel. I was able to get in a nice bath and then work out some things at home which had been weighing on me. It was a successful trip out for the others, Camille was able to get her special German feather pillows although they wouldn't ship them to American so we needed to also buy an extra luggage. They also ran into a bachelorette party and the bride was giving away free hugs. She gave one to an older woman so Christian said "Where's my hug?" and she gave one to him too! 

 

                                                        Dance party with Christian

James was nervous about leaving the car downtown, so as soon as he got back the two of us went out again to pick it up. The rain started up again and James had forgotten his raincoat. But we were both having such a good conversation that neither of us wanted to take the subway. Once again I rejoice to be married to a man I so love to talk to! On the way there we were stopped by three girls who heard us talking and asked if we were Americans. They were from Mississippi, had been here for three weeks, and were missing some American conversation. They were so nice and we had a very pleasant little chat. 

 

Dinner was a little chaotic tonight. Will and Jon went off on their own, they really wanted McDonald's. And Camille was nervous about all the packing we needed to do tonight because of our early flight, so we just got her a couple slices of pizza to go. If we'd known how good the pizza was there we'd probably all have done that earlier. 

 

Around the corner from our hotel is a street full of great restaurants and there was a little Afghani one that James wanted to try. We didn't have a reservation but the owner was able to squeeze me, James, and Christian in anyway. It was amazing. The decor was very cool and we set on very low benches on a raised platform. Rugs decorated the walls, and there were lots of cushions on the benches. We had a pumpkin appitizer, grilled chicken and lamb, mango lassi (lah-see), and meatballs. It was all delicious and frankly too much food. I've never had Afghani food before but I absolutely loved it and we definitely need to go here again the next time we are in Munich. 

 

My meal

James' meal

Christian's meal

James and I at dinner

But we have a very early flight tomorrow and I must go back. Soon we'll be back to real life! 

Germany Day 8 - Shopping in Munich

Good morning!

 

We did not get enough sleep last night and I am starting to worry that I'm going to come back from this vacation utterly exhausted. Having only one master switch in the room is continuing to prove to be massively annoying. Jon wanted to charge his phone this morning but in order to do so he had to turn on all the lights which include two very bright ones directly over the bed. 

 

Boys in bed

Since sleeping in was out of the question, I joined James, Christian, and Camille for breakfast. The hotel has quite a spread, a full and fancy breakfast buffet. Of course there was lots of bread, sausages, and cheese. And a cook making fresh over easy eggs for anyone who asked. The orange and grapefruit juice was freshly squeezed and there was a comb of honey available for the bread. We ate our fill and then James and Christian left us to go to a car show, but I'll let him tell you about that. 

 

Today Christian and I split the party and decided to go to a car show 45 min south of Munich.  The trip did not start out great, I paid the ticket to get out of the garage, got to the gate and it would not let me through, then I had to back all the way up with cars behind me, parked again, went back to the machine and found that in fact my ticket was paid.  I got back in the car and when we got back to the gate it was open, I still don't know what happened.  After that adventure we were off, going through the city traffic then flying down the autobahn at nearly 130 MPH, our rental car was very fast.  Soon we made it to the Tegernsee auto show, it was not very large, maybe 100 cars in attendance but the cars were amazing, almost everything you would want to see and never thought you would see in real life, from pre-war Bentleys and Alfas to newer Lamborghinis Koenigsegges  and Ferraris. 

 

 

Christian was amazed looking around but what he really wanted to do was stand at the entrance to hear the cars come and go, hoping some would rev there engines for him. I think the most important car for him was a new Countach and for me maybe the pre-war Alfa race cars, it was something I did not think I would ever see in person.  Eventually we got lunch and waited at the entrance a bit longer hoping for something special.  Christian noted that is was like fishing, sometimes you see a lot right away and sometime you wait for an hr and nothing comes by. At around 2 pm we headed home for shopping in the city.  

 

After they had left, Camille and I convinced the older boys to join us on a shopping excursion. Really I just wanted them to help with the wheelchair for a bit, and because it would be good for them to get out of the room. Will and Jon walked us almost all the way down to the shopping district before setting off on their own. Since they'd skipped breakfast they were hungry but didn't want any of the German food we passed. Finally they found McDonald's and enjoyed some familiar food. I think I've gotten better as I've gotten older, either with expanding my pallet or with just knowing how to find food I like. But I still very much appreciate how difficult it is to have nothing but unfamiliar foods available. It can be very stressful, especially over long periods of time. 

 

Headless accordion player

After they left us the boys wandered and window shopped. They walked pretty far but failed to get any pictures. They did find an anime restaurant that they want to eat at tomorrow. Apparently it has lots of full size anime characters. They also found a good Boba restaurant and Jon was able to get a necklace.

 

Anime restaurant

In the meantime, Camille and I did some shopping. The wheelchair has been invaluable here because there is a lot of walking. The first thing we came to was the Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz. The Glockenspiel is a carousel like display that happens every day at specified times. We arrived just in time for the twelve o'clock show. After the church bells stopped ringing the Glockenspiel started up with its music. Soon the figures at the top began to turn, showing a scene depicting a wedding procession and a jousting tournament. When that had finished the dancing men below began to move. This scene depicts a time after a severe plague when barrel makers ventured out into the city and danced to raise the spirits of the population. 

 

Marienplatz

Rathaus (townhall)

Glockenspiel

                                                                                Joust

 

                                                                    Dancers

 After the Glockenspiel had ended, Camille and I set off for some shopping. We went to a large department store in search of some square German feather pillows, and visited a few small souvenir shops as well. By this point we were starting to get hungry so we stopped at one of the many restaurants and had a light lunch. I had a Bavarian appetizer of beef tartar, bacon, a pretzel, and cream cheese made from Camembert. The cream cheese was an utter delight. For drinks I ordered my usual coke and when the waiter brought our drinks over he said "here is the sparkling water, and here is your dark beer". I panicked for a moment and when we saw my face he laughed. "A joke, it is only a coke". I laughed too, he really had me!   

 

Church tower

The walk back felt a little long. We were both tired and it was threatening to rain. We felt a few drops but thankfully it didn't start fully raining. The streets here are not particularly wheelchair friendly. There are lots of cobblestones but the biggest difficulty is that at every crosswalk there is a lip from the sidewalk to the road. Even where they have tried to lower it is it not flat and we need to tip the wheelchair back to get the front wheels over. Will and Jon had made it home before us and even James and Christian got back to the hotel before we did. James came down and met us and helped push the wheelchair up the steep hill to our hotel. I'm so thankful for him!

 

Monk on a building

The rest of the day has been pleasant but unexciting. I had a nice nap, James got me and the boys kabobs for dinner and then took his mom to a restaurant so they could eat some pig knuckle. Jon and I were happy to skip that one. :-) Then tonight James and I took a long walk in the rain. We found a small cafe where we had some cake and Italian hot chocolate (which has seemingly no sugar at all) and we talked about the trip and our growing family. 

 

Munich at night

We have a lot of upcoming changes: adoption, marriage, a grandbaby, and Will's leaving. This is a year of change and it has been really nice to have this bit of time together before it all happens. Will and Jon have been particularly great on this trip, good company and good men. Neither of them has over indulged, despite the opportunity. And we've been able to have good conversations with them. This is the year too where they both step into adulthood in big ways. I am proud of the men they are becoming. 

Germany Day 7 - Krun to Munich

This morning we woke up early to clean up our ferienwohnung (vacation house) and pack for our trip to Munich. I am so thankful for James. We work well together and have a good rhythm. He has certain things he takes care of, I have certain things I take care of, but both of us know almost without speaking when we need to jump in and help the other. The cleaning and packing went smoothly and we were able to get out of the house exactly at 10am. James had packed the car so perfectly that even though we were all jammed in, none of us needed to have luggage on our laps. 

 

Luggage tettris

For breakfast we went to the little cafe James and I had been to the day before. I'd loved the chocolate croissants and cinnamon things, but I was thrilled to discover that everything in the place was equally as delicious. Christian got a ham and cheese in a pretzel baguette that was divine. There was only one of them but he was kind enough to share it with me. The orange juice was freshly squeezed and the best I'd ever had. 

 

The breakfast cafe

 

Enjoying breakfast

Even after a leisurely breakfast, we still had time to kill before we could check into our hotel. So we decided to take the private toll road to the town of Bad Tolz. This was the one lane road our navigation had tried to take us down on our way to Herrenchiemsee, but today we had the time to actually enjoy it. The road was very curvy and incredibly narrow, maybe a one and a half lane road. Everytime we came across a car going the other way, one of us needed to pull over. Thankfully it wasn't a particularly busy road.  

 

The forest road

A covered bridge

The Isar

Cloudy mountains

The road followed the Isar river, the river that runs through Munich. It is a beautiful and broad river that has carved its way through the valley floor. There are wide swaths of dirt and gravel on either side as well as sandbars (or gravelbars?). It reminds me very much of the Saco river up in Conway, NH. It's a cloudy and periodically rainy day today and the clouds are covering the mountains. It is a haunting look. 

 

The Isar

The Isar spreading out

The forest in clouds

I love these clouded mountains

At one point the river opened up to a deep turquoise lake. We pulled over for pictures and found a swimming area with a raft out in the water. There were three motorcyclists enjoying the lake and if it hadn't been so very cold I would have gone swimming too. It was stunning. 

 

James takes a picture

The tempting raft

 

Emerald Lake

Eventually we found ourselves in Bad Tolz, a charming but hilariously named little town on the river. The shopping district was on a steep hill and the street was lined with beautifully painted stores. These shops were more normal rather than particularly touristy like the shops in Mittenwald. We did get some very expensive and fancy gelato and while we were enjoying it we met a woman and her son who were vacationing from the Netherlands. We chatted for a bit and I think she was trying out her English. Occasionally she'd ask her son for help with a word.   

 

Camille waits for gelato

The view from the gelato restaurant

Bavarian clothing

Walking around Bad Tolz

One of the many painted buildings

The last bit of the drive to Munich went slowly because we hit a bit of traffic and construction. James says that Germans are a lot nicer now than he remembers. Every time someone lets us merge or pulls over on the one lane roads he is pleasantly surprised. And aside from those few notable exceptions, all the Germans we've talked to have been very kind too. The woman at the Krun information booth was particularly friendly. Hopefully we'll have good experiences in Munich as well. 

Christian amuses himself on the drive

Our hotel is a Holiday Inn but it used to be called the Forum and it is where James and his family used to stay during his childhood. We have two family rooms and Christian is sharing one with Camille while Jon and Will are on the couch in our room. Like the car, these "family" rooms seem to be designed by someone who doesn't actually have or travel with a family. The couch pulls into a rather nice bed, but there is no door between it and the bedroom. Instead there is a large open archway between the rooms so that one of the people in the bedroom are in full view of the rest of the hotel room. I'm making James sleep on that side. The other ridiculous thing is that there is only one main light switch. The light switch next to the bed turns off all the lights in the hotel room, including the power to the desk where we were trying to charge our phones and laptops. Like the car it feels like this room is designed to be only comfortable for one person, despite ostensibly being able to accommodate more.  

 

We were all very tired but we still needed to find some dinner. So instead of availing ourselves of the many nearby restaurants, we decided to walk 20 minutes into town to go to the Hofbrauhaus. This was completely my fault because I didn't want to miss it. We'd been here the last two times we were in Germany, once the year we got married and once with the boys, and James and his family have been coming here his entire life.   

 

The back of the Hofbrauhaus

The Hofbrauhaus is a very famous tavern in Munich. The seating was in the German beer hall style, open seating at large tables. You seat yourself and usually sit with strangers wherever you can find an open seat on a bench. The tables are crammed in together and the noise from hundreds of conversations was rather overwhelming. There is also a live German band which plays loud Bavarian tavern music every 5 to 10 minutes. 

 

 

The band 

The band

The place was packed when we came in. I found out later that the Hofbrauhaus can seat 1,300 people and that does not surprise me. There were certainly more than 500 people on the first floor alone. We wandered for a while, which was difficult with the wheelchair, but didn't have to wait too long before we found a recently vacated table with enough seats. There were two young women sitting on the other end and during the evening Camille struck up a conversation with them. When she found out they were graduate students she tried to set them up with Will, and one of the girls did want to talk, but he wasn't interested.  

 

Pictures can't capture the constant noise

The Hofbrauhaus is a place you go for the atmosphere and the beer. It is not a place for fast service. But it was impossible to fault the staff for that because they were clearly working incredibly hard trying to serve so many people. Waiters and waitresses would go by with their arms full of large mugs of beer, or with trays piled so high with food it seems incredible anyone could lift them. Someone did drop a glass, not one of the big mugs, and it shattered near us. Will noticed that they missed some pieces when they swept it up so he got down on the floor and picked them up. He's a good man.  

Grandma and Christian

Raise a glass

Trying the maß of beer

Camille enjoys her maß

They serve their house beer in a maß or mass (sounds like mahs) which is a 1 liter glass mug. We ordered three different house beers to try and share with the table. Christian was very excited and completely forgot that he'd sworn off alcohol. Jon doesn't seem to like beer very much and we discovered tonight that it makes James sick. So it was mostly Will, Camille, and Christian who enjoyed the maß. The food wasn't fancy but it was good. I loved my roasted chicken but Will said his food all tasted like sausage. 

I tried the beer

I do not like the beer

 

Christian enjoys the maß he is sharing with James

Decorations in the Hofbrauhaus

 

Will enjoys his food

It was after 10:30 by the time we made it back to our hotel and we were all very tired. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring but hopefully we'll have a chance to rest. 

Goodnight!