December 6 / 7 2019: Munich Germany (Dachau & Bavarian Beer)
For what it's worth, getting around so far has been very easy. The train and transit systems in the cities are so easy and complex. We managed to get to Munich without issue from Salzburg and settled into our hotel.
I chose hotels based on the tours and museums we wanted to do, and basically just plotted all the sites on a map before looking for hotels in the middle. In Munich, we stayed at the 24/7 Rilano, which was nice enough - again, an upgraded hostel more than a hotel, but we had our own room and bathroom. What more do you need?
We had to laugh, though...turns out the hotel, while super convenient to the main Marienplatz area and the train station, appeared to also be in the heart of the strip joint district! And there was a hair studio called Paradiso in which, every night, a bunch of men were getting their hair done while people hung around inside drinking and laughing, music blaring. The strangest hair salon I've ever seen!
We had one minor issue with the hotel on our first day - the lights didn't work (and technically speaking, a light was missing). So, we asked about getting that fixed but didn't get a great answer. After sitting in the dark for an hour, we did get a knock on the door, with a tall lamp to help us through the night. They claimed we couldn't change rooms that night because the hotel was full...however, they'd managed to take that lamp from another room for us?
Anyway, the next morning we got good news: They were going to move us to a new room, which turned out to be bigger and quieter. So, all good.
The first day we arrived in Munich, we just wandered around. We found the main Christmas Market in Marienplatz, and then stumbled upon the Munich Residence museum, which I had had on our itinerary for Monday afternoon. But, since we were there already, we went inside. It's a beautiful old palace that was actually mostly destroyed by bombs during WWII; however, Munich had / has a mandate to rebuild as much as possible to be historically accurate. So, while they ran out of money restoring the Residence, it still got a lot of attention and is pretty much intact. Most of the artwork and furniture, though, was lost. This is where the Kings or heads of the monarchy of Bavaria lived, mainly the Emperor and Empresses.
It was quite the magnificent building - I can't imagine living in such a huge, beautiful place! Inside one of the courtyards, another Christmas Market was happening, so we wandered through that, then made our way back to the hotel, stopping for dinner along the way.
The food, so far, isn't anything to marvel at. I feel like I have to ward off scurvy every day - I am constantly craving vegetables! Any chance I can get to have salad, I will. But, the food is fine. Lots of pork (which I clearly do not eat) but I have been enjoying goulash a lot!
The next day, we had our trip to Dachau. Words can't describe the tour - our guide was amazing, so knowledgable and offering all kinds of insight. The underlying message we received was that this could happen to anyone. It's not the German's fault. It could so easily happen today if we aren't careful. All it takes is a sway in government and charisma and belief, and an entire nation could be swayed to do something like that. So, be careful, question everything, and always be open to learn more. And, of course, never forget.
At Dachau, the remaining concentration camp (which was classified as a work camp, not an extermination camp, yet many, many thousands died there) is quite vast. I have always pictured what I think they'll look like when I read historical fiction because the authors are so good at visualization. But, imagining it filled with thousands of sick, exhausted, hungry, terrified people (mainly men) is quite impactful. The prison and the guardhouse, along with the crematoriums, are the only original buildings. All the barracks were removed and two replicas placed at the front of the square. It's very military and cold looking. The guard towers overlook the compound.
Steve, our guide, told stories of men having to choose between their own life or that of another; of being petrified of dying because there was a speck of dirt on the barracks floor; or of basically any nonsensical reason the SS guards came up with for killing people.
Here is where Hemmler started his concentration / work camp legacy, too. The SS were created in Dachau. The people of the town didn't realize how bad it was there until the camp was liberated in 1945 and the military forced them to come and see what had been happening right outside their doors. Unbelievable...
Once we got back to Munich, we had a quick lunch and regrouped for a Bavarian Beer and Food Tour. Our guide, Dan, took us to the Oktoberfest museum to test out 3 different kinds of beer - Helles, Dunkel and Wheat (weisse). That way we could order beer at Hofbrauhaus later!
Our group was fun - I've never been on a food / beer tour so it was very cool to get to know the people. It was very social and upbeat, and we had a lot of fun meeting people from all over the world.
We began our beer tasting with a pretty big pretzel because that's the Bavarian way! Um, they're disgusting. We could barely eat any of ours! So dry and tasteless. Not for me! The beer were good, we had a bit of a tour of the museum, and then we were off to Hofbraukeller for dinner. There we could order our favorite beer from the museum tasting, and they served us a spread of sausages (white ones, which were actually really good despite looking super disgusting), cold cuts, pickles, bread, cheese and liver pate spread. So...not exactly my style of eating but I managed, indulged a few times just to try to bread and cheese.
This was fun - we sat with these amazing Australians who pretty much travel all the time. The one guy, who is probably around 60, had all kinds of "Dave Hill" stories - if something bad and weird was going to happen to someone, it would happen to him! We met a guy from Israel, and ended up drinking with him until after midnight.
The Hofbrauhaus was neat. First time in a real beer hall, where it's basically just sit with anyone and everyone and drink! It's super easy to meet people there and it was packed! Fun times, they only serve you a litre of beer, too, which was way too much for me. Gets warm fast!
Side note: Hofbrauhaus was where Hitler convinced a bunch of men to sign the Munich Agreement, which was kind of the beginning of his reign and the rise of the Third Reich. It happened on the 2nd floor in the big hall.
We hit up McDonald's on the way back (you have to when you've been drinking beer!). WTF? They charged us for ketchup AND to use the washroom! Not cool, McDonald's, not cool. Especially when Bryan pretty much keeps the one in Douglas Glen in operation with his loyalty! ;)
I chose hotels based on the tours and museums we wanted to do, and basically just plotted all the sites on a map before looking for hotels in the middle. In Munich, we stayed at the 24/7 Rilano, which was nice enough - again, an upgraded hostel more than a hotel, but we had our own room and bathroom. What more do you need?
We had to laugh, though...turns out the hotel, while super convenient to the main Marienplatz area and the train station, appeared to also be in the heart of the strip joint district! And there was a hair studio called Paradiso in which, every night, a bunch of men were getting their hair done while people hung around inside drinking and laughing, music blaring. The strangest hair salon I've ever seen!
We had one minor issue with the hotel on our first day - the lights didn't work (and technically speaking, a light was missing). So, we asked about getting that fixed but didn't get a great answer. After sitting in the dark for an hour, we did get a knock on the door, with a tall lamp to help us through the night. They claimed we couldn't change rooms that night because the hotel was full...however, they'd managed to take that lamp from another room for us?
Anyway, the next morning we got good news: They were going to move us to a new room, which turned out to be bigger and quieter. So, all good.
The first day we arrived in Munich, we just wandered around. We found the main Christmas Market in Marienplatz, and then stumbled upon the Munich Residence museum, which I had had on our itinerary for Monday afternoon. But, since we were there already, we went inside. It's a beautiful old palace that was actually mostly destroyed by bombs during WWII; however, Munich had / has a mandate to rebuild as much as possible to be historically accurate. So, while they ran out of money restoring the Residence, it still got a lot of attention and is pretty much intact. Most of the artwork and furniture, though, was lost. This is where the Kings or heads of the monarchy of Bavaria lived, mainly the Emperor and Empresses.
It was quite the magnificent building - I can't imagine living in such a huge, beautiful place! Inside one of the courtyards, another Christmas Market was happening, so we wandered through that, then made our way back to the hotel, stopping for dinner along the way.
The food, so far, isn't anything to marvel at. I feel like I have to ward off scurvy every day - I am constantly craving vegetables! Any chance I can get to have salad, I will. But, the food is fine. Lots of pork (which I clearly do not eat) but I have been enjoying goulash a lot!
The next day, we had our trip to Dachau. Words can't describe the tour - our guide was amazing, so knowledgable and offering all kinds of insight. The underlying message we received was that this could happen to anyone. It's not the German's fault. It could so easily happen today if we aren't careful. All it takes is a sway in government and charisma and belief, and an entire nation could be swayed to do something like that. So, be careful, question everything, and always be open to learn more. And, of course, never forget.
At Dachau, the remaining concentration camp (which was classified as a work camp, not an extermination camp, yet many, many thousands died there) is quite vast. I have always pictured what I think they'll look like when I read historical fiction because the authors are so good at visualization. But, imagining it filled with thousands of sick, exhausted, hungry, terrified people (mainly men) is quite impactful. The prison and the guardhouse, along with the crematoriums, are the only original buildings. All the barracks were removed and two replicas placed at the front of the square. It's very military and cold looking. The guard towers overlook the compound.
Steve, our guide, told stories of men having to choose between their own life or that of another; of being petrified of dying because there was a speck of dirt on the barracks floor; or of basically any nonsensical reason the SS guards came up with for killing people.
Here is where Hemmler started his concentration / work camp legacy, too. The SS were created in Dachau. The people of the town didn't realize how bad it was there until the camp was liberated in 1945 and the military forced them to come and see what had been happening right outside their doors. Unbelievable...
Once we got back to Munich, we had a quick lunch and regrouped for a Bavarian Beer and Food Tour. Our guide, Dan, took us to the Oktoberfest museum to test out 3 different kinds of beer - Helles, Dunkel and Wheat (weisse). That way we could order beer at Hofbrauhaus later!
Our group was fun - I've never been on a food / beer tour so it was very cool to get to know the people. It was very social and upbeat, and we had a lot of fun meeting people from all over the world.
We began our beer tasting with a pretty big pretzel because that's the Bavarian way! Um, they're disgusting. We could barely eat any of ours! So dry and tasteless. Not for me! The beer were good, we had a bit of a tour of the museum, and then we were off to Hofbraukeller for dinner. There we could order our favorite beer from the museum tasting, and they served us a spread of sausages (white ones, which were actually really good despite looking super disgusting), cold cuts, pickles, bread, cheese and liver pate spread. So...not exactly my style of eating but I managed, indulged a few times just to try to bread and cheese.
This was fun - we sat with these amazing Australians who pretty much travel all the time. The one guy, who is probably around 60, had all kinds of "Dave Hill" stories - if something bad and weird was going to happen to someone, it would happen to him! We met a guy from Israel, and ended up drinking with him until after midnight.
The Hofbrauhaus was neat. First time in a real beer hall, where it's basically just sit with anyone and everyone and drink! It's super easy to meet people there and it was packed! Fun times, they only serve you a litre of beer, too, which was way too much for me. Gets warm fast!
Side note: Hofbrauhaus was where Hitler convinced a bunch of men to sign the Munich Agreement, which was kind of the beginning of his reign and the rise of the Third Reich. It happened on the 2nd floor in the big hall.
We hit up McDonald's on the way back (you have to when you've been drinking beer!). WTF? They charged us for ketchup AND to use the washroom! Not cool, McDonald's, not cool. Especially when Bryan pretty much keeps the one in Douglas Glen in operation with his loyalty! ;)
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