Day 10 - Hiking

Today, we went for a hike in the mountains. This is a very Bavarian activity. It was foggy in Munich when we left town and drove for an hour to the mountains. We hiked 3km. Three kilometers straight up hill. Yes, the road went back and forth and it always went up. Straight up. It was a great hike.

Alexander, Torsten and Maya

Alexander checking out the view.

The Germans create great activities for the kids so they don't get too bored. They have a guessing game on the flora and fauna. They also create telescopes out of wood to check out a bird or fir fungus or wood's ear. Educational stations also line the trail.

It was wonderful to move the legs, especially when I'll be on the plane for 10 hours tomorrow.

We climbed above the fog to enjoy the sunshine! Panoramic view of the top.

Torsten made the most amazing dinner when we got home. Pumpkin soup and lasagna.  MMMmmmmmm!!!! It was incredible. (I don't know why my photos won't format on this post.)

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” 
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld, #32)

Here's to seeing you differently soon! Betsy xoxo

Day 9 - Weis'n with Taschi!

Today, Taschi visited. Taschi was Eric and Amy's Au Pair from 2012 - 2013. She drove from the university she is attending in Kempten and arrived around 11 AM. It's about an hour's drive. We spent the day at Oktoberfest in one of the beer gardens. 

October 3rd is also a Bank Holiday. Everything is closed in town. Where do all the folks head to? That's right, Oktoberfest! It was sooooo crowded. We could barely walk through the festival to get to the tents. We tried a few tents around 2:30 but the tents were already closed and the wait for the beer gardens were very long. Torsten knew Fische-Vroni tent has a small 'secret' beer garden. We waited for 20 minutes or so to get into the beer garden. We never did make it into the tent. And, once you leave the tent or beer garden you cannot get back in.  

It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shinning. I've had amazing weather during this trip. 

You can see the heaters above us. The long rectangles were turned on as soon as the sun went down. You could feel the heat. It was very warm. The only draw back to the beer gardens is smoking is allowed as opposed to inside the tents. And, they take full advantage of the smoking rule. Chain smoking like I've never seen. One couple brought two packs of the cigarettes and smoked them all. They only left because they were out of cigarettes. Otherwise, I don't see anymore smokers in Germany than the US.

Day 8 - München

Panoramic view of Torsten's living room. Trust me, it's a rectangle room.

Today, I met up with Anni, Eric and Amy's Au Pair from last year. Anni grew up in Munich and will soon be doing an internship in Zurich for six months. I'm very excited for her. We had a great a lunch went and we went shopping in the Marienplatz. 

 

The Glockenspiel is like a life-size cookooclock. It plays three times a day and tells two different stories. It is a very popular tourist attraction in the heart of the city. 

When renting an apartment in Munich, you are renting an empty space. No cupboards, no appliances, no kitchen. You design everything yourself at Ikea and have it installed.

Torsten's kitchen. Note the "American" fridge on the right. It's tall and skinny. It's considered American because it's the biggest size you can buy. Most Germans have one a little bigger than the college dorm size fridge.

Torsten can install his own kitchen, bathroom cupboard (the tub and toilet do come with the apartment), and closets. Yes, closets. No built in closets are in the apartment.

Day 7 - The Romantic Road

Today is a rainy day in Munich. I needed to do light and easy from yesterday’s tour. I signed up for a 10 hour, 350 mile tour of Harburg and Rothenberg along The Romantic Road in a Greyline Tour bus. The Greyline is the rich brother of the Greyhound bus. It’s a double decker with an amazing view on top and no weirdos sitting next you. This is not my typical tour but as I learned from my brother Eric, “You will win some and lose some but you’ll never know unless you do it.”

I could have done this trip on my own. A high speed train is available to Rothenberg but I wouldn’t get the pleasure of “Helga” blaring all the sites and history at me via the bus intercom system. And, I only pay a few extra Euros for this bonus and not having to interpret train schedules. Although, it would be cool to go on a 300 KM train! 

The Romantic Road in medieval times was a trade route that connected the center of Germany with the south. Today this region is thought by many international travelers to possess "quintessentially German" scenery and culture, in towns and cities such as Rothenberg and in castles such as Harburg and the famous Neuschwanstein. 

The gardens inside the castle wall.

The skies open up and the sun pops out. It is a gorgeous day when we pull into Harburg Castle. It is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in Southern Germany, completed in the late 11th century so this castle was built way before Columbus discovered America. It is a working castle as opposed to Newschwanstein which is/was for looks. It is one of the most amazing castle’s I’ve ever toured. Michael Jackson charted a private helicopter and flew to Harburg Castle. He wanted to buy it but the owner wouldn’t sell because it’s been in his family for over 700 years.

Well.

About 50 to 60 people lived inside the castle. If the castle was attacked, they could hole up for a few weeks because they had gardens, farm animals, a granary and most important a well. The well is 198 feet deep and it took 30 years to dig down to the river by hand. Whew! Talk about digging ditches for a life time. It took 40 minutes to bring a bucket of water to the top. They had a huge hamster wheel to pull the bucket up and had a prisoner in the wheel to run it. Needless to say, not many folks bathed inside the castle.

This is the only castle in the world with a ‘wooden eye’. The wooden eyes were carved out of wood with a hole in the middle. The bowman could turn the eye to shoot the enemies. 

Who's looking at you now?

Wooden Eye with the 'ball' missing.

Also, above the gate, is the ‘murder hole’ or ‘pitch hole’ and this is where they pour boiling tar or pitch onto the enemies. In German, the word for bad luck is 'pech' which is pitch. This comes from getting pitch poured on you - you have bad luck as it was certain death.

The metal smith always tested the chest armor by shooting a bullet at it with his rifle. If the bullet didn’t penetrate the armor, then it was approved. 

Chest armor

The shields were important when fighting. Shields had the families symbol painted on them. When one is wearing a helmet  with a metal visor in front, you didn’t know if it was farmer Paul you were looking at. If you looked at his shield and saw the red bull, you would know friend or foe.

 

In the medieval times, they didn’t have china or silverware. When plates and bowls arrived from China, it was all the rage as you can imagine. The dishes were shipped into one of the Italian ports and hauled over the Alps in wagons pulled by horses to southern Germany. The china had to be packed extremely well to prevent breakage. The plates and bowls were packed in butter to prevent breaking in the wooden crates. They would pour ice around the crates in the wagons for transportation. German’s don’t say, ‘Everything is okay.’ They say, Everything is in butter.’ Have I mentioned how amazing the butter is here? It’s delicious!

We saw an old chest but I was not able to take a picture as no photos were allowed in the room due to light exposure. Traditionally, a dog was painted on the inside bottom of the chest to guard the contents. The chest is where they would put all their gold and silver. if the gold and silver was stolen or spent, the saying in German when one is bankrupt is ‘down to the dog’.

Back on the bus for an hour and a half drive to Rothenberg. Big thunderheads roll in and it rains hard. However, when we reach the “Red City”, the sun comes out and it’s gorgeous again. Rothenberg is a medieval walled city with 42 look out towers. Walking over the wall and into town, I feel like I stepped into Hansel and Gretel’s neighborhood. The buildings are very traditional and haven’t changed. Big beams of wood, bright colors, lots of flowers hanging from the windows.

A special treat is made only in Rothenberg. It is called a snowball. The dough is similar to a Christmas cookie dough and it’s cut into strips and wadded into a ball. The ball is then deep-fried for five minutes. A filling is injected in the middle of the baked ball and the outside is covered with powdered sugar, chocolate, nougat, cinnamon sugar, etc. 

If I had not done Dachau yesterday, I might have done the Museum of Torture.  I saw enough yesterday. The fantasy of torture never seems to leave man.

Catholic and Protestant. Driving through the countryside you can tell when you are in the Catholic area because the churches have an onion shaped dome on top. The Protestants have a spire for a steeple. I don’t have any photos because it was too foggy this morning.

 

Cheese Truck! Yum!

Rothenberg experienced heavy allied bombing. Approximately 40 percent of the village was destroyed by the bombs and most of the houses inside caught fire and burned to the ground. Money was donated from all over the world to help restore the village back to it’s original design and look. 

My type of taco truck -
Full of Cheese!

We took the Autobahn home and as you know, there is no speed limit for cars. Trucks are only allowed to do 80km. Cars fly by in the left lane.  I would say I ‘won’ with this trip. I really enjoyed it. However, I might be down to the dog soon. 

Day 6 - Dachau

The gate house when entering Dachau.

Today I took a tour of Dachau Concentration Camp. This post is hard to write as I am not sure I can give the place the justice it deserves or capture the impact. It is a powerful site to visit and stirs up many feelings of extreme sadness and shocking horror of how people can turn on strangers, ethnic groups, minorities, anyone not fitting in. 

The gate into Dachau contains the
slogan, "Work Will Make You Free".

Munich was the birthplace and hotbed for the Nazi party and Dachau is located about 10 miles northwest of the city. Dachau was the first concentration camp built and was the model for all the other camps. Dachau opened with criminals and thieves. The theory that was sold to the general public is we will 're-educate' these folks so they will become productive citizens. We'll teach them how to work hard like everyone else.

Bunk beds.

Camps were built for different reasons. Concentrations Camps were built for forced labor and this was the main function of Dachau. Dachau was opened on an old ammunition factory. Hitler needed money to win the war and due to the allied embargo, the country was running out of natural resources like coal, ammunition and oil. It wasn’t until the end of the war where the Concentration Camps were turned into Death Camps.

Bathroom.

Heinrich Himmler was the evil Kommandant who was promoted at Dachau and devised the humiliation and torture to control the masses. Hitler was impressed with what he did so he had Himmler set up all the camps. Himmler also devised the methods of mass killings with the gas chambers because he realized having the SS Agents shoot the people individually was too emotionally draining. With gas chambers, the SS could emotionally remove themselves from the responsibility of murder.

"Showers" (AKA Gas Chamber)

This is not a pleasant post, but I recommend everyone should visit a Concentration Camp. It will be an experience you won’t forget. All school children in Germany visit a camp. It is a requirement in the schools as to never repeat the problem.

Ovens to cremate bodies.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me." 

Martin Niemöller, Dachau survivor

Day 5 - Segway Tour

Torsten and Samantha are working this week so I am on my own. I promise to stop posting photos of breakfast unless I'm eating something new. But I have to tell you about this cool gadget for cooking soft boiled eggs. The yellow egg sitting with the white chicken eggs is an egg timer specifically for soft boiled eggs. It sits with the other eggs in the fridge. 

You put the yellow timer egg in the water with real egg and walk away. The yellow timer egg will whistle a tune when it’s done for a soft boiled egg. It plays the tune three times so you won’t miss it. It’s so nice to multitask and not end up with hard boiled eggs.

Yep. I did it. I did the dorky Segway tour and it was awesome! Had so much fun. It's a four hour tour riding around the city on a Segway. I was in a group of six. Five Indians and me. 

Betsy on the Segway in front of Königsplatz,
the original gates to Munich.

Betsy and the five Indians on tour.

The Indians were so interesting. They spoke perfect English and we discussed during lunch how horse meats gets blended in with cow meat and the terrifying power of Monsanto. They talked about horrible effects of what India is experiencing and how Europe is trying to keep Monsanto's claws out.  Our guide was born in San Francisco and has been living in Munich for over 30 years. He made a lot of comparisons and differences to how the country of India is run vs USA vs Germany/Bavaria. Along with seeing the major sites of Munich, he provided the history of the country. It was very educational as well as fun.

I do need to say, Indians Segway like they drive in Bombay. Our leader would ask us stay in a single file line on sidewalks so people and bikes have enough room and to stay in the bike lanes on the roads. Not these Indians. They were all over the place, cutting me off, almost side-swiping parked cars and close calls to being run over in the car lane. It was amusing if not terrifying!

This memorial is on the ground in the pavers at The University of Munich. It represents a group called The White Rose. They were a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign, that called for active opposition to dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.

The six most recognized members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo, tried for treason and beheaded. One of the leaflets was smuggled out of Germany to the UK, and in July, 1943, copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."

In the center of the city is Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of Bavaria's monarchs. This photo is one the courtyards (There are 10 courtyards). It's hard to tell in this photo, but the stonework is an optical illusion. It is not stonework. It is painted on the side of the wall. The King at the time felt it was cheaper than putting in the stonework. In the long run, it's been more expensive because it needs to be painted every few years.

Munich offers the world's largest urban surfing. They invented river surfing in the 70's. They tied a door underwater and it created a wave. 
Munich has been hanging loose ever since!

This is a huge Michael Jackson memorial. They took over a statue of some old man who was known for organ music from the 1400's. MJ love the posh hotel across the street and visited Munich 13 times. This is not the place he hung 'Blanket' upside down from the balcony - that happened in Berlin.

The woman in the photo is one of the caretakers of the memorial. She cleans it and removes the dead flowers and anything else ruined by the weather. Folks are always adding more stuff all the time so it constantly changes.

We did travel down the most expensive street in all of Europe. Even more expensive than any street in Paris or Milan! The Saudi Arabians are buying up Condo's downtown to spend their summers in Munich. All the high end boutiques - Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Escada, etc. I don't have a photo because we didn't stop and I had to keep my hands on the wheel to avoid any swerving Indians. 

At the end of the tour, I returned home so I could change into the my dirndl again. Yup, heading back to Oktoberfest. Torsten has reserved tickets in the Fischer-Vroni Tent. This tent is known for it’s fish. 

 

I ordered chicken and drank real beer this time. Augustiner beer is the best beer. They do no advertising yet it's the most popular beer in Munich. It's delicious. 

The waiter even kept his own glass at our table and would drink it every few pass-bys. I'm not sure if this is legal, but we were not going to complain or else you get crappy service.

The amazing thing about the tents at Oktoberfest is the fact these are temporary structures. It takes them three months to put up the tents every year. And then the tents are removed at the end of Weis'n. It feels like a permanent building when you are in them.