Load 'Em Up!

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EUROPEAN CAMPING TOUR 35 DAYS 12 COUNTRIES

DAY 27 VIENNA TO MUNICH TUE 2-AUG-05

Early 5.30am start. First special stop at Mauthoussen for 2 hours. The last concentration camp closed from WW2. Saw the quarry and barracks. There was a very good film describing the events leading up to, the life during and the end of WW2. I do not wish to offend anyone but for some time I have wanted to know the 'German side'. How it comes to the point where people think and act the way that they did. This film helped me to understand better the Germans and their allies. Please do not misunderstand me, I'm not supporting or validating anything. I just wish to understand how such marked events could occur.
After this visit, the atmosphere was very solemn.
Our next stop off the coach was at Salzburg - home of Mozart and The Sound of Music. We skipped over the bridge singing Do-Re-Mi. Tried a supermarket to buy fruit which was very confusing - if you ever do it, look around for a ticketing machine where you weigh your little bag full of whatever, press the button marked 'whatever's in the bag', a sticker is printed out, stick it on the bad, then go to the checkout. This being a smaller town, not much English is understood so they checkout lady and I had a little trouble understanding each other my first time through when I hadn't done the aforementioned procedure. All was sorted in the end with minimal blood spilt. Mainly mine but I'll get over it.
Drove into Germany and to campsite. Then, hey hey, to a typical Bavarian Beerhall for a meal of a pork knuckle and a litre stein of beer. This meal was possibly the best I've ever eaten in my entire life. So juicy. I'd been craving meat since Italy - only pastry or gelati there. At the beer hall there was a german band (of 2 guys) playing. German dancing girls came in and danced their traditional dances and played the cowbells. Don't know how they do it but they were really good at it! Few more steins drunk. Now I didn't, but a few from our group soveniored their steins (including one dude who should know much better... you know who you are).
Back at camp we went to the "Recreation Room" and the beer vending machine. In there I saw the only picture of Arnie (in either Austria or Germany) on a Terminator 2 pinball machine. Just our group in there. Some little time later, unsubtlely, the lights went out so we went to bed.

Allegedly the origin of 'Cheers' (or 'Prost' as it is in German) is from old days where kings and other important people would drink together and clink their glass together so hard a little of each other's drink would spill into the other persons glass. As a sign of trust they would maintain eye contact through the whole exchange silently saying 'I do not mind if your drink spills into mine, I trust you not to poison me' and vice versa 'I'm not checking to spill some of this drink into yours to poison you'.

DAY 28 MUNICH WED 3-AUG-05

Visited the 1972 Olympic Games complex (saw posters advertising U2 playing there tonight) & the BMW Museum. Plus the Walk of Stars of Olympic Champions.. all unknown to us though. Not much time here to do anything but I like that we came anyway. The skating rink is open to the public too which I'd have loved to do. Next time maybe. Caught the coach into town and walked to Marienplatz via the famous Munchen beer hall Hofbrauhaus. (Platz in the name for square or courtyard in Gerrnan. Just like Piazza is the Italian version.) Snacked at a fabulously stocked pastry shop on the platz and at 12pm noon saw the most overrated attraction in Europe, the Glockenspiel. Well, ticked that box.
Went shopping, misunderstanding my times and missed Mike's Bikes tours by 2 hours. So.. I went back to the famous beerhall Hofbrauhaus where I met up with a few others with the same idea I just had. More shopping for essentials. Pastries and hotdogs. Back to the coach pickup where Alice showed how to stack it (and repeatedly) using Jones' crutches. Back at campsite after dinner, of all the people that this morning said they wanted to go to the U2 concert, 3 people came. Matt, Agata & myself. Most others went into town with Mike's Bikes tour guides. Ok, my reasoning is like this. I'd already decided I want to come back here coz I loved it already. I'll have much more time to explore the beer halls but the odds of seeing U2 there later are significantly lower. So, my group of 3 took the train to the Olympic complex and walked up to the side gate where we heard and saw the main screen for the whole concert. All in english and played all the great songs we knew and could sing along to, albeit rather badly but we had fun anyway. A paying audience of 66000 apparently. Promptly following the concert end we train'd back and the 1km walk back to the campsite.

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