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Published: November 4th 2008
It felt so good to step off the train into Munich after a long 9 hour train ride from Paris. There were five of us in a compartment trying to comfortably sleep. We arrived early in the morning and our hostel was located just two blocks from the main train station. We stayed in the Jaeger's Hostel, appropriately named after Jaagermeister, a popular German alcohol because upon checking in we received a ticket for a free drink ticket! It was early in the morning, so we dropped off our bags and had the entire day to explore Munich.
We walked to Marienplatz, which has a huge clock tower at the end of a long, central shopping street. I read about the view of Munich from the top of St. Peter's Church, so we climbed 306 steps to reach the top along these really narrow stairs and passageways. We reached the top just in time to watch the crazy coo-coo clock show that starts every day at 11. It's a pseudo "it's a small world after-all" show with little figurines bouncing around. The view of Munich was beautiful. We wound our way through the streets and smiled at the fun sound of
the German language amongst all the locals. Our french was useless here, so our best chance was english unfortunately. Further past the main square we found what became my favorite market in Europe so far. Fresh squeezed beet, carrot and fruit juices, spices that smelled like Christmas, and the cutest German decorations. Dani and I also scored some .50 cent pickles pulled out of a large barrel by a cheery, red faced German man. One of the most popular things to do in Munich is to go to the Hofbrauhaus. This is a huge beer garden with a live band, liters of beer, and loud Germans and tourists mixed together. The entire scene felt like a movie. We walked in with the stream of people coming in and out just after a soccer game. We wound up at the end of a table of sixty year old men who told us the seats were available, however, only momentarily because their friends returned and sandwiched us in between them all. So here Dani and I are next to these already drunk old men who speak no english or french. We promptly ordered a beer, which is only served by the liter,
and proceeded to drink already two liters behind the men. They were fun, took pictures, and talked around us while we just sat wide-eyed and laughing in the middle. Later that night, we ate cheap kebabs and hung out at our hostel with other travelers.
In the morning, we went on a guided tour of the Dachau concentration camp located just outside Munich. It felt like the grey, cold morning that it was. It was really helpful to have the tour to learn about the history that surrounded these events. I suppose the most important thing about being a tourist at Dachau is to simply learn and try to get a sense of where and how this took place. The open space where role call took place made the entire camp seem so real. There was no area to run, to hide, everything was visible including the sense of fear. Hearing the stories of certain prisoners and SS guards while walking through was powerful as well. It was difficult to take pictures here, I only took them of things outside, it didn't feel appropriate to do so elsewhere.
We met some great people at our hostel and really enjoyed spending
time there. Next, it was on to Berlin...!
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Suzanne Dupree
non-member comment
Better better better. . .
Every blog entry is better, your photos are exquisite compositions of color and I really enjoy the captions. Your words are beautifully composed too, thank you for sharing your gifts with us. Aunt Suz