Geo: 48.1391, 11.5802A slow start, somber and sorrowful day trip, and sober evening for us today. We met Jason and Matt at Marianplatz for a 1.15pm departure. Todays primary destination, a guided tour to Dachau concentration camp, about 25km northwest of Munich. Dachau was not the biggest concentration camp, but one of the most significant. It is the oldest, and longest running camp of all. It was opened in 1933 and continued for 12 years, the entire duration of the Nazi era, until it was liberated by the Allies at the end of the Second World War in 1945. It was not solely an extermination camp, but a work camp where political prisoners, Jews, Jahovas Witness, criminals, homosexuals, gypsies and anti socialists were forced to work. Still, around 42,000 people died here. Some due to the ... read more

Geo: 52.5235, 13.4115Today we walked for around 12 hours. It was a tiring, but inspired and jam packed day of experience. It started this morning, 9am I found a tour online, departing nearby in an hours time. We got ready, and joined up with the Third Reich walking Tour. For 9€ we had expected the tour to last maybe a couple hours. Incorrect. It lasted nearly five hours. What a tour it was though, our guide was excellent. We started by the zoo and took a public bus towards the Reichstag. Here, our guide gave us a background of the Nazi party, and its rise to power, with Hitler at the helm as Chancellor in 1933. From there back through the Tiergarten, via war memorials, SS Government buildings, the Topography of Terror Museum, Berlin Wall and ... read more

Geo: 52.3721, 9.73569Today was our last in the Netherlands, though we wouldn't be leaving the country alone. We organized to take a living souvenir with us on a temporary basis. Not kidnapping, but an arrangement for my cousin Marielle to join us for a week in Germany. We woke, had breakfast and packed our things. We left Jonathan's beer glass and bunch of souvenirs behind with the Vonks for postal to Australia (Mum and Dad, expect another package). It was time for another goodbye. We had really enjoyed our time in Heteren with Jan and Joke. We really enjoyed their company and appreciated all the kind hospitality.Again, we caught the train from Ede to Amsterdam. We met Marielle and boarded a train bound for Germany. It was a long ride. Two trains; the first was just ... read more

Geo: 51.8664, 4.66181The annual Alblassedam horses market is a special event that unites the community. Once a year, residents, ex residents, family, friends and associates from Alblassedam congregate here to meet, catch up and enjoy the day together. It was a nice relaxing day after the exhausting nature of our trip to Amsterdam. We arrived in Alblassedam this morning around 10.30am, first to exploring a typical stall marketplace in the city streets. Its all the standard market bits and pieces; handcrafts, clothes, ingredients, electronics, food and homewares, with one important stock item for sale. The festival traditionally began with and involved the sale of horses. Today, this is still a big part of the market, horses and ponies for sale. We even entered the raffle to win a pony. We tried some Dutch treats here, poffertijes, ... read more

Geo: 51.9567, 5.75556Are we in Holland still? Its been warm since our arrival last week. Not a drop of rain, and seldom a breath of wind. Another scorcher today for our trip to the Openluchtmuseum (Open Air Museum) with blue skies and 35C. Its an official heat wave in the Dutch newspapers. Todays morning routine was similar to yesterday. Up around 9.30, breakfast, and on the road around 11. It had been 7 years since my last visit to the openluchtmuseum. Much was the same style and layout, however with new features, buildings and improvements in some areas. The most notable new feature was our first stop at Holland Rama. This featured a cinema/theatre presentation different from any I had experienced before. What started as a standard film soon became more. The theatre was a moving ... read more