Munich, Germany

Our days in Germany are numbered. It's hard to believe that this is the end of our German time. We have been in and out of Germany for about three weeks now and we have really enjoyed it. Munich has been our last stop and we have spent about three days here.
We got here midday from Salzburg on Sunday and decided to head into the main city square and checkout the area before our free tour we were planning on taking. Making our way there, we noticed a lot of people with the red and white Bayern Munich soccer team jerseys on. At first, we just thought people were just hardcore fans, but when we got to Marienplatz, the main town square, we saw a lot of red gathering. We soon learned that Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga (German soccer league) title and that day was the parade and celebration. We were in the square at around 11:30 and were already feeling crowded, but the team was only supposed to arrive at 4:00. So, as more and more people arrived hours early, it was confirmed that they actually were hardcore fans. Like any soccer fans in Europe, I suppose. We managed to catch a glimpse of the team through the fifty or so thousand people that crowded Marienplatz. It was kind of fun to witness some essential Munich culture. The truckloads of free beer they handed out that day enabled us to witness more essential Munich culture.




The city was cool though. We learned a lot about the Nazi history of the city and how involved it was with the Nazi revolution. Lots of key events went down in Munich.





Just outside Munich, actually, the first concentration camp is located. In the town of Dachau, the Nazis set up their first camp that operated for their purposes from 1933-1945. It was the only camp that ran through the entire twelve years of the Third Reich. It was also the blueprint camp for most of the other camps set up through the years. Over 200,000 people went through Dachau and tens of thousands of people died there. We visited Dachau one day on a tour and it was well worth it. It was not the happiest day ever, not uplifting or heartwarming by any means. It was, however, very eye opening and sobering. We got a sense of the terror and inhumanity that occurred at these camps; not just at the death camps, but also at these camps that were primarily work camps. It makes you see life in a little bit of a different light.

We did another tour out of the city out to the area of Schwangau to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle was built by King Ludwig II in the mid to late 1800s and was the model for Walt Disney's castle. It is set in the Bavarian Alps and is quite the magical place. It is beautiful from the outside, towering on its hill, overlooking Lake Alpsee. The inside is much more spectucular though. We couldn't take any pictures so you'll just have to take our word for it. It has large colourful murals on every wall and a two ton gold chandelier in the throne room. His bedroom canopy took four and a half years to carve and he has a fake cave on his fourth floor. The whole inside is one big work of art. The outside was quite nice as well. The yellow castle is the neighbouring Hohenschwangau, Ludwig's dad's crib.










So, Germany is done, but Switzerland is on its way. We have about a week there and are excited to experience the Alps, the knives, the watches, the chocolate, and the cheese. Let us know if there are any other Swiss stereotypes you can think of.