I was supposed to sleep in a bit today. But. We had new roommates last night and they were not as considerate of others. I suppose the early bird catches the worm and all that. After check out we walked to the metro and had to exchange a few dollars to koruna because the train station guy was a grump and wouldn’t take euro. 

For breakfast I got a raspberry filled donut that was amazing. I’m amazed at the quality of the train station food. Cheap but delicious. Our train to Berlin was again divided into rooms and we had our own room the whole four hours. I took a nap sitting up, which anyone in my family will tell you is not surprising. I can sleep anywhere, anytime. It’s my superpower. 

One easy bus ride later and we were at our hostel. We unloaded our bags, met some roommates and at the advice of the front desk went to a small brewery nearby. I tried schnitzel for the first time. It wasn’t my favorite thing, but it wasn’t awful either. I was kind of ehh on the whole thing. Bright side it came with pan fried potatoes and a mushroom sauce. You can bet I devoured all of it. 

We chatted with our roommates when we returned and planned for the next day. 

Tomorrow is the free city tour, and the alternative street art tour. Also more good food. 

Good morning! 

We started today with a walk along the river to see Fred and Ginger, the dancing buildings. While they are interesting to look at, they are a bit of a shock in how contemporary they look compared to the buildings surrounding. It also has this strange nest structure on the top. We also agreed it kind of looks like a popcorn bucket. 

 We crossed the river again in search of breakfast and stumbled upon a cute restaurant at the foot of the castle. I had scrambled eggs with ham and toast. The eggs were so fresh and light. A great start to the day! 

We climbed about half way up the massive staircase up the side of this hill and found a small art gallery. I bought a silk painting of the river and Charles bridge which I can’t wait to hang up when I get home. We continued up the hill and soon arrived at the castle. The castle is actually more of a camp. It has a main castle but it also has a lot of other buildings within its walls. 

We tried to watch the changing of the guard, but couldn’t see much behind the wall of umbrellas and very tall people who pushed us out of the way. Oh it was raining. Not sure I mentioned that. We bought our tickets to the castle grounds and started our tour in the church. 

We visited a much smaller and simpler church next. 

 After dropping off my art at the hostel we tried to visit a Jewish museum, but we would have had to buy a whole pass and couldn’t get tickets for that specific museum. Which was a major bummer. We also tried to visit another church but it was closed. Maddening I tell you. 

We did some shopping to replenish our clothes because at this point I am sick of everything and never want to wear it again. 

We had dinner at another place off the main drag and returned to the hostel to pack and sleep. 

Tomorrow is a travel day to Berlin! 

Hello friends! 

    Today started amazingly well. I think I mentioned it in the previous post, but our current roommates are the quietest roommates on earth. I didn’t wake up once in the night. It’s our first time staying in an all female room and everyone is super nice. 

Dressed and ready for the day we set off, with the map our hostel gave us in hand, for the John Lennon Wall. After a lot of confusion on turns and bridges we finally realized the map was absolutely bonkers. There was no sense of scale at all and we quickly discovered we were better off using the maps on our phones. 

When we reached the Lennon wall it was still quiet and there were only two couples in the area. We were able to spend a good amount of time checking out the graffiti and art on the wall. Here is one of my favorites:

We crossed over the river at the Charles Bridge which has some interesting sculptures and is much larger than I imagined. Maybe longer is a better word? It’s walls are made of stone instead of fencing which is a change from most of the bridges we have seen. Loads of artists set up on the bridge and it is interesting to see how they approach the public. Some are quiet friendly and others choose to stand back and are a bit standoffish. I don’t know that either is a better sales technique, but more a personal statement. 

We decided since we didn’t know loads about the city we would try a free tour recommended by our hostel. Our tour guide was a guy from Israel, who as I am beginning to learn all guides have this in common, chased after a significant other and stayed. We learned later that it was his first tour on his own and we never would have known. He did a great job blending the factual with the mythical which is apparently a large part of Prague’s  culture. 

We learned about the two defenestrations that occurred in Pragues history. The people of Prague were so fed up with the powers in control they literally marched into the administrative building and threw people out the window. The first time the people fell to their deaths, but the second time they were spared by landing in a pile of horse manure outside the window. I think they still successfully made their point. 

We also toured the Jewish district. The area had a long history of being the slums or ghetto. When Hitler took control he purposefully maintained the Jewish synagogues because he wanted to use the area as a museum of sorts when he had successfully eliminated the entire race. How creepy is that? 

Our guide told us a story of the Old New Synagogue (named because at the time is was the new synagogue but there has since been a new New synagogue so it was renamed) which according to legend has a golem in the attic. The Rabbi formed him out of clay to protect the district at night, and during the day the golem would return to the attic. One day a Nazi officer decided to venture into the attic. He was never seen or heard again and no one has gone in the attic since. There is even a ladder of sorts attached to the outside of the building one could use to access the attic, but the weird thing is the ladder starts about ten feet off the ground. The golem is another interesting blend of reality and myth which seems to surround the city. 

At some point the city decided the ghetto was a blight to the city and tore everything down. They then raised the area three meters and built large upscale buildings. Now it is home to fancy apartments and streets to rival Rodeo Drive.  

After our tour we returned to a church which has an actual arm hanging from a ring on the inside! It’s been tested for authenticity even! The legend goes like this. In the old days the safest place for valuables was a church and one night an enterprising man hid in the church until it closed. He had cleaned out the valuables when he saw the jeweled necklace around the statue of Mary at the front of the church. Unable to resist he climbed a ladder and was reaching for the necklace when suddenly the statue came to life and grabbed his wrist. As suddenly as it came to life it turned back to stone except now it held his wrist. Unable to wiggle free the man dangled the rest of the night until the clergy arrived in the morning. Wanting to make an example of the man, and unable to get him out any other way, they chopped off his arm. They hung the arm as a reminder to all to not steal from the church. Quite the reminder I’d say! 

After we walked back down the shopping district and I picked up new socks (yay!). We had dinner in a lovely restaurant and I had chicken steak with green beans and American fries. Holy yum. So so so so good. I also tried the apple cider instead of beer. Also delicious. 

  After lots of time spent being lost and walking the streets aimlessly I told Alison that while not all who wander are lost, today those who were lost wandered! 

We did feel more confident about our directions and orientation by the end of the day. Tomorrow we tour the castle and have a delicious breakfast. 

Hello travel day.

Today we had a seven hour train ride from Salzburg to Prague broken up with a sprint to catch a connecting train in Linz. We made it. No worries.

To describe our seats on the train I need you to imagine you are Harry Potter. Got it? Okay. So there are all of these rooms with glass doors and the sun is shining in through the windows backlighting everything so you can’t really see how many people are in each room (although really Harry never had this problem, lucky duck). So you finally just open a door and you find your best friend forever.

Actually in our case we found to lovely older gentlemen who assured us we were in the right place. Oh right. I forgot to tell you. Sometimes you don’t have to reserve seats so you just wander until you find seats that are unoccupied and fingers crossed, not reserved.

We spent about an hour with them, before they both departed and we had the room to ourselves. For like three hours we lived out our Harry Potter dreams. And although we didn’t have chocolate frogs we did have some chocolate from Mrs. Stoltman (thank you!!).

We were then joined by some rather stinky men (cigarette stench not body odor thank goodness!) and then by an off duty train ticket man and a very chatty woman. Unclear if they knew each other.

Finally we arrived in Prague. We bought a temporary pass to take the metro to our hostel. Our roommates are super nice and a bunch of them are from the states.

We had dinner down the street and returned to plan for the next day. We also did laundry which took us close to two hours. Whew. That was a pain but definitely needed to be done.

Tomorrow we explore Prague and I buy new socks!

Hallo!

I have loads to tell you. Get comfy. Also. Hello. And hi. And I hope your day is going well. And you are all so awesome. And lots of other happy feelings.

I purposefully did not tell you about the remainder of the day in Munich (reference day twenty-one) because it was polar opposite to the hours earlier and I needed the reflection to be about Dachau in its entirety.

On our tour we met Diana (like the princess as she explained), who was Mexican-Canadian and spoke with a lovely accent, and Ellen from Minnesota, who was studying french in Leon and had no accent at all (not even Minnesotan!). They were both super friendly and after the tour we joined them for dinner.

Unbeknownst to any of us Munich had transformed during the day. In their own version of Mardi Gras, there were food carts, concerts, and music blaring from every available speaker. Also worth mentioning, they started playing Y.M.C.A and I died laughing. And yes. The dance is universal.

In the metro station we saw two separate drumlines. Which caused a halt to traffic as people stopped walking to either Take pictures or join in the dancing. It was kind of like New Year and Halloween all in one. Everyone was dressed as something, as minimal as a mask or ears to elaborate group costumes. I saw a lot of monks, princesses, Nintendo characters, and even a spot on Joker. Although my favorite was the couple dressed as the big bad wolf (in Granny disguise) and red riding hood. Also there were a lot of people with gender swapping costumes. I had a good chuckle at myself and the other tourists (which were easy to locate) as we all took in the scene before us.

Leaving the mayhem behind we went to Hofbräuhaus which is a massive beer hall with two floors. The first floor had a bunch of long tables and band in the center of the room. The dancers had commandeered the walkways as the dance floor. Multiple times I literally danced my way through a crowd. When in Germany, yeah?

Not finding a table upstairs we were directed by a waiter to try the upstairs. Upstairs they had eliminated all walls and support beams and instead had tables lining the walls with a dance floor and band on the back wall. American music was played as much if not more than German. The band did a particularly nice job with “I’m a Believer”. None of us spoke or read any German and were clearly struggling when these two older gentlemen invited us to join them at their table. We did, and they brought us English menus and even gave suggestions on what to order.

The younger of the two had a sombrero and poncho on and spoke decent English. The older had a traditional shirt and hat on and did an excellent job miming things to us that he couldn’t say in English. Both were super nice and gave us tips on beer hall etiquette. One of them told Alison that typically a man will drink 12-15 1L mugs and a woman drinks 10! Pardon the language. But that’s batshit crazy. I can’t even fathom how that much liquid could fit in one body.

After a dinner of dumpling and mushrooms with potato au gratin and a .5L of the Bavarian specialty of white beer we headed back out to join the festivities.

EXCEPT!

Everyone and everything was gone. The booths were taken down and the people had disappeared. The cleaning crew had been sent out and it was only 8PM! Clearly we missed the memo about the early closing early. Avoiding the confetti litter and broken glass we made our way towards the hostel. None of us were quite ready to go to bed so we continued in to another bar around the corner. We all had another beer and I had a delicious apple strudel. The effects of the day all hit us pretty hard and we made quick work of the food and headed back to the hostel.

The next morning we woke up early, checked out of the hostel, and headed across town to the Munich Residence. The former royal palace was mostly destroyed during World War II and has been (and is currently being) restored. The residence had over 90 rooms and while there was very little original furniture it was still an interesting architectural piece.

We also toured the treasury which consisted of a mere four rooms. It did not lack in glamour though. It was a bedazzlers dream. So many jewels. Alison and I called dibs on all of them so you all are out of luck. Sorry.

We grabbed pretzels (which they fill with butter! GENIUSES.) and bratwurst for lunch. Our train ride to Salzburg was pretty painless and only lasted about an hour and half. After some confusion and a ten minute train ride in the wrong direction, we walked about half a mile to our hotel. After some vegging and internetting we went for dinner. I had a cheese spatezal with a salad that was absolutely drenched in a vinaigrette. Both were tasty and enjoyable.

Tomorrow we go to the top of a mountain, tour downtown Salzburg, visit Mozart’s Residence, and marvel at some Churches.

(Later on in the post I will be writing about a Nazi concentration camp and while there will be no pictures the words may be difficult.)

Woah. We are officially at the three week mark! It doesn’t seem that long at all. Although to be honest I don’t really know what day of the week it is. Tuesday I think? All I know is what number day it is. It’s liberating to not define a schedule by days of the week.

In fact, one of the girls we met on our tour today was describing her first taste of “the real world” and perfectly summed up my own fears. She said she was so terrified after a few weeks at her 9 to 5 job she quit because her coworkers would come in every day and be like “ohh Monday sucks. Tuesday is the worst. Wednesday means only two more days.” And so on.

Maybe it’s living in a fantasy world, but I hope whatever job I have in the future I enjoy and look forward to the week in its entirety. And not spend my whole life in a repeating countdown of seven days.

Today was an interesting day. Honestly I wasn’t (and still am) not sure about how much I was going to write about it. As I said yesterday we went to Dachau which was the first Concentration Camp used during World War II.

I was quite apprehensive about visiting a camp due to the sensitive nature of the site.

We have been to a lot of national monuments, historical markers, and churches, and one thing has bothered me in almost every place. The lack of respect (at least in my own opinion) awarded to each place. I am not particularly religious, but I am respectful of the meaning it has to others and try to be as unobtrusive as possible. I’m not saying don’t take pictures at all, but when your selfie with Jesus interrupts a person actually using the Church to worship, I want to slap some sense into your dense head.

We met our tour guide Scott at Marienplatz and with 10 others we took a train to just outside Dachau. Scott was super well informed and had answers for just about every question anyone asked. We were allowed to take pictures, but it made me uncomfortable so I didn’t. Everything in Dachau is original except for the barracks which were so filthy and unsanitary they were torn down immediately after US forces liberated the camp. There are replicas on the grounds now.

We spent the majority of our four hours tracing the steps of a prisoner. I learned a lot more about the War and how Dachau played a role in the development of the penal code used in every Concentration camp. Dachau is unique in that it had an SS school next to the premises where recruits were trained and new methods were conceived. We toured the Maintenance building where inmates were stripped of possessions and clothes, shaved (no body hair except eyebrows was allowed), disinfected, showered, and given a number and uniform. From that moment on prisoners had no names and were completely treated as slaves and inconsequential beings to their captors.

We also toured the replica prisoner barracks which show how the prisoners living conditions changed over the course of the war. The prisoner bunker held prisoners of special interest which could mean anyone from clergy men to war criminals. Johann George Elser, the man who attempted to blow up Hitler, was kept there for five years in complete isolation except for the SS agents assigned to torture him. Hitler wanted to make an example of Elser after his presumed victory and ordered him to be kept alive. When it was clear the Allies were winning and the Nazi party was destroyed Hitler sent a message from Berlin to kill Elser. Elser was murdered less than two weeks before US forces took control of Dachau.

Over 41,000 deaths were recorded at Dachau and an untold amount occurred of which their is no documentation. There is a gas chamber and large crematoriums, but there is only documentation of it being used twice although survivors have said it was used many more times. A large number of the deaths came from disease and starvation. If a prisoner survived the random beatings, the lack of proper nutrition, and the disease, the incredibly intense and arduous physical labor required of prisoners daily would likely kill them. The SS literally worked people to death.

They used psychological torture as much as physical. There were perfectly manicured gardens and trees lining the camp, there were shelves and coat hangers for items that didn’t exist and there were promises like “work is freedom” written to taunt prisoners into thinking if they worked hard enough they would be set free. In reality meant the only freedom from Dachau was death.

At the end of the day I am glad I had the tour and the experience. It was incredibly educational and eye opening to hear about how much Germany is doing to confront it’s past.

Dachau, the War, and the millions of lives lost should not be forgotten and if it takes a lifetime of discomfort for people to learn from past atrocities then so be it. As Scott said today, it will be places like Dachau and the other camps, that teach people to look for the similarities and connections in us all and will hopefully lead to a greater peace for all mankind.

Hi all!

Yesterday was super rainy and was a sort of lazy day. We woke up early to visit some flea markets north of Montmartre. The rain was heavy and cold. There were a ton of shops to look at, most with antique furniture. There were some fantastic pieces that had both Al and I drooling. Alas, I don’t think they will let me bring a desk as my carry-on…

Luckily the rain stopped right as we were climbing the hill to Sacre-Couer. The church steps have a great view of the city, and supposedly the dome does to but we were in no mood to climb anymore. We circled our way down the hill to Place du Tertre. The central square, it is where many local artists set up easels and sell their art. You could buy anything from portraits to scenic views. Everything was beautiful, and if I could find a way to fit a canvas in my bag I would have. We had lunch in the square and sat outside like proper Parisians.

Sensing the rain was headed our way again we finished the day outside the Moulin Rouge. Tired after a long week we came home and watched some movies. We packed, cleaned, and we’re ready for beer and Germany. In that order.

Today we traveled a lot. There is no direct train from Paris to Munich so after a fond farewell to the flat we left for the metro at 7:15. As a side note, I had an apricot muffin today that was filled with jam and I’m not kidding…it was straight nectar of the Gods.

Our first train to Strasbourg took about two hours. We then had 8 minutes to connect with the next train to Offenburg which only took us 30 minutes to Karlsruhe. We had another 6 minutes to get on the train from Karlsruhe to Munich. Finally after three hours we were in Munich.

Our hostel is right around the corner from the train station and soon we were checked in. We met a girl from Ontario and invited her to dinner with us. We went to a local brewery called Augustiner Braustuben. Picture a Bavarian dining hall with massive tables and big mugs of beer and you have this place. I kid you not, at one point someone started singing. They store the beer in wooden kegs and have a machine in the center of the room that brings the kegs up from the basement. I had a radler which is a blond lager mixed with lemonade. Hoo baby. So light, and perfect. For dinner I had the tavern masters special which was way too much but a sampler of everything. It had a meatball, pork saddle (?), mushrooms, a kind of ravioli, and dumplings. Sigh and drool. So good and hearty.

Tired after a day of travel and an early rise, we are going to bed early. Tomorrow we are going to Marienplatz which is the center square. We hope to catch the Glockenspiel and then head to the Deutsche’s museum. It’s a science museum for a change of pace! Then we are going to the New Pinakothek for some more Impressionist art. Woot!