Munich!!

So Munich is one of the most exciting cities we have been to yet! Berlin had awesome history and information, Lubbenau fun and relaxing, and Dresden had some fun night life, but Munich has just been a blast! Yesterday we got on the train to Munich at 5am and arrived at 11:20. We were a little worried because we thought we might not be able to find our hostel and get back to the station for our 12:30 train to Dachau, but we walked out of the station, took a left and Kendra found the street we needed right away - without a map even! We got checked in, dropped our stuff off and found the platform for the train we were supposed to take and, guess who was there! Jordan!!! (Karinś friend from UW for those of you who are not familiar). So, ok, this was kind of pre-arranged, but we were not sure if he would show up to the train or if we would meet him later that day. He greeted us with some delicious bavarian pretzels and we made our way to Dachau and the concentration camp memorial that is there.

The concentration camp was pretty intense. Most of the buildings of the camp were torn down after the war, so the buildings that stand on the site are actually rebuilt replicas, but to see how the people kept there actually lived, was something we will never forget. They said that the crematoriums were made into memorial sites immediately after the war, so we were not able to figure out if the buildings in their place were the originals, or replicas.

Upon returning to Munich, Kendra and I dropped off our extra clothes in the hostel before going to dinner. It was supposed to rain during the day so we had sweaters and raincoats, but it was warm and clear all day so we figured we would not need them. Kendra kept her rain jacket while I decided, for some reason to not bring mine. Jordan said we had to have some snitzel, so we found a somewhat inexpensive cafe off the main streets and had dinner on the street. It was fun catching up on each otherś trips and everything. Right before we got our check to leave, lightning starts going off and it starts pouring!! We decided to run for it - Kendra in her rain jacket, Jordan was also prepared with a long sleave, and me in my shirt... But it was ok, we just ran to the famous Hofbrauhaus for dessert!

The Hofbauhaus was exciting with live Bavarian music and the waitresses dressed in dirndles and waiters in lederhosen - so much fun! We had some delicious apple strudel and Kendra and Jordan had a 1L beer, which is the only size they come in. After a while, some Germans at the table behind us heard our accent and asked us where we were from. We told them we were from Washington State. They were like ok, and we went back to our food. After a little while, we were pulled into their conversation as they were debating whether or not we were on the east coast or west coast and what the difference between WA DC and WA state was. It was pretty hilarious and we had to actually draw a map to get the point across! We pretty much spent the rest of the night getting to know them and some of the people on the other table next to us (they were from Australia).

Today we took the free tour our hostel provides. Turns out, free tours are not actually free :( You just do not pay until after the tour and you decide what you pay your guide. But it was ok, our guide was pretty great. He had TONS of information to share about the past of Munich, Bavaria, and the Nazi revolution that started in Munich. We even got our first Bratwurst with mustard, which was so good! After the tour, we just went off on our own and got to see a lot of really cool churches and other buildings. Then we ate some pretzels and nectarines and went off to explore for a grassy place to read our books. Two hours later, we ended up at the Chinese tower that is in a very large park, that seemed much closer on the map :) By the time we got there, it was about 7pm and starting to get cold and dark. We read on a table for about 30min and started the hike home. On the way back we ended up in Marienplatz (the same square as the glockenspiel) and there was a fashion show going on in the square. We watched that for a while and headed back to the hostel. It has been a long day, but tons of fun!

Our hostel computer does not allow us to upload photos, so those will come later :)