October 31st: Becky Visits: Part II

Hello!

So, for those of you paying attention, you will know that this post is a bit late. Quite a bit late. I suppose I got a little ahead of myself when I said "a couple of days." I kept telling myself in the back of my mind "write that blog post" throughout the week, but just never did it. Finally my mom told me firmly via Facebook to get on it, so here I am.

The next day of Becky's visit, we planned on spending a little time in Ulm, mostly to see the Münster. She had only seen the Münster at night and it seemed a little creepy with its Gothic appearance and menacing moon overhead.  I wanted her to see the inside of the building and we planned on climbing the steeple. I have climbed it before, but of course I was willing to join her for a second trip to the top. After that, we planned on going to Munich to wander around and go to the Hofbrauhaus.

We did not have a timetable of when we wanted to do what. But we knew we were going to do the Münster first, then go to Munich when we were ready. It was a change of pace from the much more structured day at Füssen.

We took the scenic route into Ulm. We walked along to Donau and Becky took some pictures of the fall foliage and sights along the path. I guess I have traveled that path so many times, I didn't feel like taking many pictures, though it was pretty. When we got to Ulm, we went straight to the Münster. It was fairly early on a Monday (11 AM or so), so there weren't too many people there. When we walked in, Becky seemed absolutely amazed at the beauty of the church. She quickly reached for her camera to start taking pictures. She thought the side area we entered was tall, but was quite surprised when we walked to the middle section and it only got taller. We slowly made our way around the building and I let Becky have all the time she needed for pictures. She commented on how the outside seems so dark and (a little) creepy, but the inside seems so light and peaceful.

Fall on the Donau

When we were done taking pictures of the interior, we began our journey up the steeple. As I said in my earlier post about the Münster and my climb, the spiral staircase is simply too small to photograph. Becky tried and came to the same conclusion. We made sure to stop at every rest area for rest and photos. Luckily, there were not many people on our ascent. We actually climbed at a pretty good speed. It did not seem as grueling as the first time I went up. Maybe I am in better shape or something? No clue. When we stopped at the big rest area before the final staircase to the very, very top, more people started to show up. They did not rest for long for pictures like Becky and me, so they went up. Which stinks because the top section gets VERY crowded. We waited for a couple of people to come down before we went up. Luckily, there was standing room for us, but rotating around the circle is a slow process. We had to wait for people on either side of us to move before we could move. But we got to go around the whole thing and take pictures, so it was nice.

On the descent, Becky and I had a good laugh at the wobbly-knee phenomenon I warned her about. After climbing the 780+ steps to the top, you then have to make the same trip going down. You have gravity on your side, but you also have to be careful in the small stairwells not to trip. We made it to the bottom (following a group of German teens) and high-five'd upon making it back to the lobby.

From there, we decided that drinks and a snack were in order, so we went to Müller, which is like a big version of CVS, I suppose. Very big. It feels like a combination of CVS and Walmart or something. We grabbed some candy (oops) and I bought a big bottle of some sort of fruit juice. Becky bought herself a lot of chocolate to take back to France. Hazelnut chocolate bars or some nonsense. We sat by a small fountain on the busy shopping street and enjoyed our food. As I sat down, I pulled out my box of Skittles (yes, box). As I was unwrapping it, a man came over and asked I had a cigarette and he was willing to pay 20 Euro cents for it. I said no, and he revealed from a distance the Skittles box looked like a cigarette pack. Which I will admit, it kind of did. We had a laugh and he went off. He did not appear to be homeless at all, probably just wanted one cigarette and didn't want to buy a whole pack. Who knows?

Afterwards, Becky and I traveled to the Hbf and got on our train and waited a little bit before departing to Munich. The train ride was fairly uneventful. And unlike Füssen, we did not have to make any changes. Just ride the train until it ends in Munich. Those trains are my favorite. It was still a regional train, so we made frequent stops, but I am used to that journey by now.

We arrived at the large Munich Hbf and went to a bookstore to look for a guide to Munich in English. Alas, we could not find one, so we decided to just enter the city. We were immediately greeted by a casino and bar attached to a fitness center. ...okay, Munich. We seemed pretty lost and just kind of wandering, but quickly saw one of those tour buses that travels to popular sights throughout the day. It stopped at a bus stop and we walked over to it. At the stop was a map with some popular destinations that the bus goes to. We looked at the map and found a high density area near the Hofbrauhaus. We remembered the incredibly complex directions (right here and keep going until you see churches, then go down a little bit) and went on our way.

We quickly came upon a massive traffic area with confusing pedestrian paths and cars going every which way. We went to where we thought was a crossing and there was a woman looking at traffic waiting for her chance to run across, so we stood behind her. She turned around, said something in very fast German to Becky, laughed at what she said, then started to run across the street. Becky and I looked at each other, laughed, and followed her. When we got to the other side, she realized Becky had no idea what she said (or maybe she heard us talking) and said, "Do you speak English or something?" We said yes and she told us that we weren't technically at a crosswalk, but she was going anyway. We made it to the other side, said goodbye, and parted ways.

Becky and I traveled to a large arch that she noticed. This arch led to quite a busy shopping street. We walked down the road and were quite amazed with the amount of people and stores. We eventually came across a gorgeous building. We took some pictures and while Becky was taking more, I approached the building to look for a sign saying what it was. Turns out, it is Munich's Rathaus (city hall). After we were done with pictures, we kept walking.

The arch Becky noticed leading to the main street

The Munich Rathaus

I noticed a tall facade of a building that looked a bit like a church. It was attached to the buildings around it, so we weren't sure. But it had church-like doors, so that was my first clue. We decided to see if we could go inside, and the doors were open. It was, in fact, a church. It was a large Catholic church with white walls and floor. There was an organist playing some beautiful music and people silently walking about. We began taking some pictures and slowly walking around. There was a place to light a candle like in other churches, but it was a bit too expensive and I didn't have change. And, I'm sorry, I wasn't about to pay 20 Euros to light a candle.

Wasn't sure if it was a church or a government building.

The main hall.

A pretty cool altar.

We left that church and noticed that we had reached the cluster of churches we saw on the map. We went to another large church a little ways down the street. This church was actually fairly plain on the inside, which seems quite strange for these old, German churches. We were only in there for a couple of minutes before everyone was asked to leave because they were starting some sort of service.

After we left, we found a life-size statue of a woman named "Juliet." A few things seemed strange about this woman. The first was that she was partially topless (which, I suppose isn't too strange), but it was a little strange that her exposed breast was a completely different color from having been rubbed so often. Another strange thing was that she was holding a real rose in her hand. As Becky was taking pictures, I went to the plaque on the wall and read that it was actually Juliet from Romeo and Juliet.

We kept walking and our attention was drawn to a large market. We walked over to it and many of the booths were closing (it was around 5 or 6 PM--when everything in Germany closes), but we saw that they were selling all of the typical Bavarian goods. Cheese, meat, wine, and so on. Judging by the booths, it seemed like this market was there everyday.

After wandering the market for a little bit, we began our quest to find the Hofbrauhaus. We knew we were close (based on the map we saw earlier....and the high density of Asians), but we were not sure if it would be on the main street we had be traveling or not. After a little bit of walking with no signs, I stopped to ask a middle-aged woman (they seem to be the most willing to help in Germany) at the bus stop if she knew where the Hofbrauhaus was. She did not speak English (I had asked her in German) and mentioned that she has not been to Munich in a long time, but she was pretty sure it was a couple of blocks "that way" (she pointed, of course) and wished us luck. We followed her direction and quickly saw a sign pointing us to the Hofbrauhaus. As we approached it, the density of people built up. We went to the menu posted outside to check if it was in our price range. It was a bit pricey as we expected, but not unreasonable. It was also Becky's birthday and it was the freaking Hofbrauhaus, so we decided to go in.

I have been mentioning the Hofbrauhaus in this post and realized I might not have said what it is. It is a beer hall that is one of the oldest breweries and beer halls in Germany. It was built in 1589 (yeah, pretty old) and, like most major buildings in most major cities in Germany, was partially destroyed by bombs in WWII. This has become an INCREDIBLY popular tourist destination. This was clear by the fact that the place was packed.

We entered the doors to the sound of people laughing, talking, yelling, and a typical Bavarian band, completely surrounded by tourists, jamming out to some German songs. The way the Hofbrauhaus, like all beer halls, operates is that there is no hostess, you just sit down where you can find a table. So we walked and walked until we found an area that hadn't been filled yet. We sat at a table and there were a few empty tables around us that we figured would get filled. We looked at the menu and it was all in German. The waiter came over, noticed we were speaking English, and brought us English menus. We both got some Weissbier, of course. I had a Bratwurst with Sauerkraut and Becky got some other kind of Wurst (can't remember what it was) with potato salad and a pretzel.

Soon after our food arrived, a few people took an empty table behind us. They were speaking English with an Irish accent and mentioned more people coming. Eventually more people started to show up at the tables they claimed. And more people. By the time we left, their party had grown to about 20, spanning 3 tables. Becky and I noticed not all of them spoke with Irish accents, though. Many of them were American. One of them (an Irishman) was a bit drunk (of course) and was being loud and silly. Him walking off to demonstrate something prompted the people sitting behind Becky to turn around to look at him and I said something to one of them and we had a laugh. Then a little later, one of them turned around to talk to us. He had an American accent and introduced himself. We introduced ourselves and said we were from Indiana and he was amazed to find other Americans (although it is the Hofbrauhaus) and he was from California.

He told us that he was here with this group and his job is to set up the lights and sound. We were a little confused and he forgot to mention that he, and everyone he was with, works for Celtic Women. Celtic Women is an Irish music group consisting of three female singers and a band. Needless to say, we were rather shocked. The Celtic Women themselves were not there (probably because the loud atmosphere and beer would damage their voices?) but everyone there was either in the band or on the crew. Becky mentioned that she went to a show of theirs in Indy a couple of years back. This man then introduced us to the person sitting directly behind Becky. This man was the bass player who has been with the band since it was first started. Him and Becky talked for a little bit and got a picture.

At the end of our meal, we said goodbye to everyone and began to walk out. After we got a little ways out, a woman from the group approached us and said, "My boss wants to offer you tickets to the show if you will be in the area tomorrow night." Which is totally awesome. Unfortunately, we had to say no. The train ride is 2 hours one way and the show would go so late that the trains would have stopped going back to Ulm. We thanked her for the generous offer and made our way back to the Munich Hbf.

Our beers. Not too bad, I guess. We both finished them, though.

Birthday Girl with her beer. You can see the empty tables that soon became occupied.

My food and beer. I ate some of the Sauerkraut. Not my favorite food, I learned...

And then it became busy. The woman there was walking around selling MASSIVE pretzels.

Hofbrauhaus selfie. Not sorry.

A not-so-great picture of the band I took while walking past.

As we were sitting in the Hbf waiting for our train, Becky laughed at the situation. The fact that she was sitting in a train station in Munich with me on her birthday and we had just met the band of Celtic Women and were offered tickets to their show. We got on the train back to Ulm and crashed when we got back to the house.

The next day, Becky was planning on going to Dachau to see the memorial. Since I had there a week before, I decided not to go. I helped Becky plan her trip on how to get there and sent her on her way. My day was a normal au pair day for the most part. Becky and I did make plans, however, to get dinner with a friend she met while studying abroad in Peru who, oddly enough, now lives in Ulm as of two days prior. So when the time came, I met Becky at the Ulm Hbf in the evening where we were also meeting her friend. He took us to a place called Nudelbar in Ulm. I had never heard of it, but it was quite good. You pay 10 Euros for all-you-can-eat from an Italian, pizza, and Mexican menu. There were plenty of options and I think I more than got my 10 Euros worth of food. We had a nice meal and talk. Nothing too eventful happened. After that, we walked back to the house and went to bed a little bit later.

The next morning, we woke up rather early to take Becky to the Hbf. I got to show off my stick-driving abilities as I drove her to the Hbf. I wasn't completely sure where I could park, but I improvised. I parked the car, gave her a hug and thanked her for coming. We parted ways and I drove back to the house and fell back asleep because I was pretty tired.

It was incredibly fun having Becky here and going on the adventures that we did. And I am glad I got to help her celebrate her birthday in a very interesting way. Needless to say, I am excited for my trip to Paris at the end of November. I will post more about that as the time approaches. You can check out Becky's blog post with vastly superior pictures about her trip to Munich (and probably Dachau later) on her blog here:
http://beckygoesabroad.wordpress.com/

I will not make any promises about my next blog post. I have been taking it easy since Becky's visit because we did so much traveling. I am not sure where I will be going to next...

As always, here are a couple of quotes! This time, the first quote isn't from Becky, but it is from the Irish folk we heard at the Hofbrauhaus.

"It's quiet over here. It won't be once the Irish get here." - Random member from the Celtic Women band

"I liked Germany; I'm not into Berlin, it's to huge and empty and imposing, but Munich was good." - Graham Coxon

October 24th: Becky Visits: Part I

Hello!

I suspect this post is going to be a long one. In terms of words and pictures. But it's for a good reason.

As I have mentioned, Becky has been living in Paris for about a month now teaching English at a French school. Paris is about 5 hours by train to Ulm and she had a two-week break (for some unknown reason), so she booked some tickets to come visit me!

She arrived Saturday night (Oct. 19) and left early Wednesday morning (Oct. 23). We made plans to go to see Castle Neuschwanstein, Ulm, and a little bit of Munich. Then she was going to spend a day by herself going to see Dachau.

I left a little early to walk to the train station to pick her up. The walk is about 40-45 minutes from the house. I sat at the platform she was going to arrive on and read a book on my phone and listened to some music. Finally, the TGV train came screeching into the station and Becky made her entrance to Ulm. We talked for a little bit as we left the train station. I checked to see how much German she knew and what I could possibly teach her before she left. I had to make it a learning experience, afterall.

Becky's here! Yay!

We walked into Ulm from the Hbf, but it was night, so there wasn't all that much to see. The moon was quite bright and partially hidden behind some clouds and was right next to the Münster from the direction we were walking. This sort of gave Becky a bad first impression of the building because it is quite Gothic on the outside and the creepy moon did not help its appearance. We walked around just for a little bit and began the trek back to the house. We walked through Neu-Ulm because I wanted her to see it and because there were lights. Didn't feel like walking besides the Donau with no lights.

When we got back to the house, I was unsure who was home or what was going on. The light in the kitchen was on, but I did not hear anyone. And it was only 10:30, so the parents are usually awake at that time. Becky and I decided to have some bread and cheese (so European, as always) and chat in the kitchen. Eventually my host dad made an appearance and said he was listening to music in his study and didn't hear us. So we talked for a little bit about our plans and he asked Becky some questions. We then went to our bedroom and discussed the plans for the next day (train times, connections, etc.).

We woke up at our scheduled time, but took just a bit longer than we planned to get ready. So we had to run out the door, jump on a couple of bikes, and make our way to the Hbf in Ulm. It was still a little dark, but Becky got a better view of the Donau as we biked along it into town. We didn't stop unless we came to a red light, so we were moving at a good speed. While Becky locked up our bikes, I ran inside and bought our ticket. She might me inside and we jumped on the train that left a minute later.

The train ride was about 3ish hours. We had to change trains twice, I believe. But that is not a big deal. As we got closer to Füssen (home of the famous Castle Neuschwanstein), the scenery from the train only got more and more beautiful. We were floored at the rolling green hills, lakes, mountains, and fall leaves. It became obvious that we were on a train with a lot of tourists all going to the same place.

One picture taken from the train, hence the reflection. Still pretty.

Bus selfie! 

Upon arriving in Füssen, we jumped on a bus (which was also covered by the train ticket) and rode to the visitor's center. From there, we got to see the absolutely gorgeous scenery and Neuschwanstein watching us from a mountain range nearby. We stopped for some pictures and made our way to the ticket center. The ticket center reminded me a line at Cedar Point in mid-June. It was absolutely chaotic. The only difference is there were more languages in that line than at Cedar Point. The line was so long that by the time we got near the front, all (ALL, not just English) of the tours for Neuschwanstein were sold out. We decided to get tickets for the older, less-known Castle Hohenschwangau. I taught Becky how to say it before we got up to the ticket counter, don't worry.

After we got our tickets, we had some time to kill before our tour was supposed to begin. We walked by a grab-and-go kind of grill on our way to the ticket center with some typical German food, so Becky and I decided to go back to that. I ordered on our behalf and Becky was oddly impressed by my ability to order in German. I tried to explain that saying "two Bratwurst" in Germany isn't too difficult...whatever. Apparently it sounded "authentic." In any case, we both enjoyed the food and ventured to the nearby Alpsee (Alp Sea. Super original.). This thing was out-of-control beautiful. A lake set in a mountain scene with changing, autumn leaves. There were couples enjoying the view and enjoying a snack, Asian tourists taking a million pictures, and some young boys tempting fate by standing close to the edge of the lake and the ducks.

Just a snapshot of the ticket center.

Castle Hohenschwangau from the streets below.

The Alpsee. This photo doesn't do it justice, but hopefully you can imagine.

Selfie of me and Becky...taking pictures!

We enjoyed that scene (in which Becky took a million pictures along with the Asian tourists) for a bit before walking up a beautiful, wooded trail to Hohenschwangau. This hike was, of course, gorgeous beyond words. We really came at the right time of years--the colors were breathtaking. Finally, we arrived, after a short walk, to Hohenschwangau. Unlike it's more famous, younger sister across the valley, this castle is more ornate on the outside and also yellow. A bit more bold, eh?

We both took tons of pictures outside the castle and in the gardens/courtyard. The view of the surrounding mountains and fall leaves was incredibly from there, so we spent plenty of time taking pictures. Then we got to the line and waited for our tour number to be called. While in line, we saw the young boys from the Alpsee. They were speaking American English with two middle-aged women. I went over and said hello and asked where they were from. One of them was visiting her friend (the other woman) from Michigan and the other woman said she was originally from the States, but has been living in Ulm for years. Strange, right?

The beginning of the trail up to Hohenschwangau.

Castle Hohenschwangau up close and personal.

One of the garden/courtyard areas. Swans are the basic theme here.

Ain't she pretty?

A view of the city and mountains from the courtyard of Hohenschwangau.

Photos were not allowed inside. But it was quite lavish. The royalty living there (the Crown Family of Bavaria) lived comfortably, it is safe to say. Everything within the castle was actually original, so touching was absolutely forbidden. One thing Becky and I found interesting and bizarre was a house-warming gift from a royal family in Russia (I think?) of salt and bread. So in this case sat a loaf of bread....that was 200 years old. Like....why? Becky also got a kick out of the fact that the king's bedroom had a secret passage in the wall leading to the queen's bedroom. What a dog.

After the tour, we made way for Neuschwanstein. The trail up to the castle was a bit longer (and more steep) than the previous trail. But luckily the weather was nice and the scenery was pretty enough that we didn't complain too much. When we finally reached the castle, we went picture crazy. Taking pictures of the castle, the mountains, and the valley of Füssen (and much more, for that matter). Becky noted that the castle seemed rather plain up close. (As plain as a 19th century castle could be, I suppose.) And to an extent, it's true. Let's just say it is a photogenic castle. I'm sure the inside is absolutely incredibly, though. But alas, we could not get inside.

Neuschwanstein waiting for us...

Getting closer! This was a popular picture spot.

And if you turned around, you would see this gorgeous view.

In one of the courtyards of the castle. Tried to capture some more interesting features while also dodging people in the picture.

Behind the castle, tucked away in the woods is a semi-famous bridge. The Marienbrucke (Mary's Bridge) was built for Queen Mary by the king so that she could get into the mountains faster. And also to enjoy the clichè, but incredible, view of Neuschwanstein. If you have seen pictures of the castle, I can guarantee that one of them was probably taken from this bridge. I was on the bridge for about 30 seconds. The bridge was basically wooden planks over small, metal beams. This meant that the planks would bend slightly whenever someone walked. And this bridge was PACKED with tourists. My fear of heights kicked in quickly, so I snapped a couple of pictures of the castle and got off and waited for Becky to do her thing.

The obligatory Neuschwanstein picture from the Marienbrucke.

My favorite view of the whole day. This was on the trail between Neuschwanstein and Marienbrucke. 

You can see the Alpsee on the left, Hohenschwangau just to the right of it (and the town below) and the beautiful farmlands just at the foot of the mountains on the right.

A picture of Becky taking a picture of Neuschwanstein. She didn't know. When I told her later, she just said, "We can call this the 'behind the scenes.'" 

After that, we made our way back to the bus stop. We had some time to kill again, so we went into a small souvenir shop right next to the bus stop. We looked around and ultimately got some ice cream bars and ate them outside. The sun had gone behind the clouds and it was clear it was going to rain soon. Luckily the bus came before the rain. When we got to the train station, it was only a small drizzle. It was clear that everyone in Füssen wanted to leave on that train, too. When the train finally showed up, people got right up to the tracks. The train stopped and the pandemonium began. People were acting like this was the last train of the day and it was leaving in 10 seconds. Pushing, shoving, blocking...really childish stuff. Because Becky and I did not feel the importance of fighting for early entry, we got on with minimal fighting and took our seat on the floor of the bike car of the train. We were in there with about 10 other people. It was actually quite nice. Plenty of leg room, not a lot of people talking. I think the people who fought for seats missed out.

After several hours and a couple of train connections later, we arrived in Ulm in the late evening. We were hungry, so we stopped at a fast-ish food place. It was a Turkish-owned Kebap, Dönner (gyros), and Pizza place. Believe me when I say these places are ALL OVER Ulm. We enjoyed our meal and enjoyed the bike ride back to the house where we crashed shortly thereafter.

This concludes Day 1 of Becky's visit. Because of how much we did and saw each day, I decided it would be best to break it down day-by-day. Less writing for me in one sitting and less reading for you at once. This way, you can read it over the next couple of days as I release them. Also, feel free to look at Becky's blog! She just posted her thoughts and experiences on Day 1. I tried not to overlap too much, but when you spend the day with someone, you will probably mention similar things.

http://beckygoesabroad.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/a-bavarian-dreamscape/

Expect a blog post tomorrow or Saturday about Day 2 in which we explore Ulm a little bit (we had to climb the Münster and go inside, of course) and make our way to Munich for some interesting sights and experiences.

Until then I will leave you with two quotes instead of just one.

"It just smells like Germany." - Becky, upon leaving the train station in Ulm

"There stands the castle, by yon tuft of trees." - Shakespeare

October 18th: Exciting Plans

Hello!

Unfortunately, I don't have much to report regarding the week since my last post. It has been a fairly uneventful week here in Neu-Ulm.

On Tuesday, Felix wasn't feeling well (though I question the legitimacy of his illness...) and stayed home from school. Because of this, my host mom stayed home with him, so I basically had the day off. I did run an errand by going to Aldi by bike to get two liters of milk and some bananas. I forgot that Aldi doesn't just give you bags for your groceries. I forgot to take a bag and ended up standing in front of my bike holding a bunch of bananas and two liters of milk. I shamelessly stuffed one liter in each pocket of my coat and held the bananas and rolled out of the parking lot. Because of the size of the milk and the location on my lap, I basically had to ride my bike slowly with my knees out so the milk wouldn't be hit by my knees every time I pedaled. But I made it back! So it was a successful mission regardless of how ridiculous I might have looked.

My host mom, Felix, and I also went swimming at a local indoor pool on Monday. Apparently Monday is "warm water day," so they charge a little extra. But the water felt wonderful and it was nice to swim again. I have always considered it to be one of those physical activities that doesn't feel like exercise. But it is, so I'm always grateful for that.

However, I am excited that I have finalized plans with Becky! She will be arriving in Ulm Saturday night from Paris and will leaving Wednesday morning. We are going to do a little sightseeing here in Ulm. But we are also spending a day exploring Munich. And we are going to see THE Neuschwanstein. This is a GORGEOUS castle that many tourists come to see. When I have talked to local Germans regarding what I have seen and what I plan on seeing, they always tell me that I have to see Neuschwanstein. (Note: It literally translates to "New Swan Rock." Sooo....yeah....) My host family has given me Monday off so we can do these things together. I believe while I am doing my au pair stuff on Tuesday, Becky expressed interest in going to Dachau, too. So she will be making that venture alone since I just saw it and will be working. I also plan on getting her as much German food as possible per her request. So we're gonna find all of the stereotypical German food.

Sadly, I only have two pictures to share with you.

Weisswurst. "Weiss" meaning "white" and "wurst" meaning...well..."wurst." It's a food that is basically only had in Bavaria. It's essentially a white sausage. It had an interesting taste.

A fall version of the picture at the top of the blog.

I am sure my next blog post will have plenty of stories and pictures of my adventures in Germany with Becky. That should more than make up for this lackluster post. 

Until then, here is a quote that isn't all that relevant, but I like it. So deal with it.

"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time." - Leonard Bernstein

October 13th: Dachau

Hello!

Firstly, I want to apologize for the late post. I was hoping to write and post this yesterday or Saturday, but I was much busier than anticipated. And the pictures took FOREVER to upload for whatever reason. And while they are uploading, I cannot write.

In any case, here we go!

This past week felt to go by pretty quickly. I think I am getting more and more used to the schedule that it just flies by now. It kind of reminded me of that moment in college when you're just going to class and doing your work and suddenly you look at the calender and midterms are in two weeks and you don't know where the semester went.

I went for a walk once or twice this week to get out and admire the changing leaves. However, it has been rather cold and wet this week, so I did not get to take many long walks. Here is a couple of pictures from my walks.

Nothing too exciting in them, but I just enjoy the fall colors.

Also this week, I attended a little German language course. I don't know if I have explained this before in a post, but I will do it again. There is a family center in Neu-Ulm that offers a very cheap class that is primarily for people that have come to Germany rather unexpectedly. Due to scheduling conflicts with the bigger language schools in Ulm (the next class for beginners doesn't start until November 9th), my host mother signed me up for this class just to get my feet wet and to give me something to do. The class only meets Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-10:30. Which isn't much, but it is something. The teacher was actually recovering from surgery this week, so my host mom was asked to teach the class. The class is probably close to 10 people. And one interesting thing about the class is the range of native languages. English is the closest thing to a common language we have. The native languages are: Urdu [Pakistan], Swahili [Tunisia], English [me], Persian (Farsi?) [Afghanistan], French [Mali], and Arabic [Syria]. It is quite fun trying to communicate with them and we have some good laughs and such. Many of them struggle with some of the sounds in German because their languages don't have those sounds. I am lucky that English and German share so many sounds and even words.

On Facebook, I am part of a group called "English Stammtisch in Ulm." A Stammtisch is essentially a meeting that occurs on a regular basis. This group is comprised of people that live in or near Ulm and enjoy getting together once a month to speak English and to share cultures and have a good time. I joined after their Stammtisch in September, so I had to wait until this one is October. The meeting took place at a Brauhaus (basically a restaurant, not sure what makes it a Brauhaus) very close to my house--only about 6 minutes on a bike. It was a very casual event. Basically, the group just reserved three of four long tables and people came, ate, drank, and left at their own leisure. I ended up somehow sitting in the British Isles. I sat by people from England, Scotland, Ireland, Finland, Germany, and Spain. I had some Schnitzel with french fries and a couple of glasses of some very sweet wine. Well, it was white wine mixed with.....something, I forget. It was very fun meeting some new people and hearing their stories and sharing my story. There was a WIDE variety of topics discussed and it was interesting hearing different perspectives from different cultures. I was there for about 3 hours before I decided to leave (I was pretty tired for some reason) and said "see ya" to the British Isles and told them I would see them next month.

As the post titles implies, this Saturday, I took a trip to Dachau. As I was on the train back home, I was debating how exactly I should discuss this on my post. The ultimate conclusion was that I was going to give a warning and the just be very blunt. I am going to describe some horrible things. I won't go into deep, deep details, but I will talk about them and show you pictures of these things. Some of them are original and some of them are just replicas that were rebuilt after the Allies destroyed them in the war. So, this was my warning, I suppose. And now, I explain the journey.

My morning started in an interesting way. I woke up and took a shower and got ready knowing that I had plenty of time before my train. However, I wanted to double-check departure time and platforms so I could have a better idea of where to go and when to go there. I then found out that I had written down the wrong time and I had a little less than 20 minutes instead of the 40 I thought I had. So I quickly got my things, apologized to my host family for not staying for breakfast, and ran out the door. I biked very quickly in the cold morning to the train station. I had to wait for someone to get done using the ticket machine and when he was done, I have never used that machine faster. I quickly got my ticket and ran downstairs. The train showed up a minute later and I got on with a sigh of relief. I sat near a bunch of middle-aged women who were on their way to Munich. They brought about 3 bottles of wine and were just having a grand ol' time on the train. We said goodbye and parted ways at the Munich train station. I got myself a pretzel and a Coke and waited for the next train to Dachau.

I got on a train that I was pretty sure the right train to Dachau. The map inside the train showed it went to Dachau, but that another train went to Dachau Stadt (city). I was sitting on the train waiting for the Dachau stop when I heard a couple across the isle from me speaking another language that wasn't German or English (it was too quiet for me to really tell what it was). I heard them practicing the correct pronunciation of "Dachau." So I leaned over and asked them if they spoke English and they said yes. And I asked them if they were going to the Dachau memorial, and they said yes. So we joined forces to get to the memorial together. They were here from Brazil for a few weeks. I did not catch their names, but they were very nice. And their English wasn't bad. We got off the train at the right stop and we were then faced with about 5 different buses. None of them very clearly said if they were going to the memorial. We got on one that looked good and after we left, we soon found out it wasn't going there. A man on the bus (who spoke English) overheard us and talked to the driver. The driver told us the best option was to get off at a particular stop and it was an easy, 10 minute walk from there. So we did just that. We got shoddy directions from the driver, but went in the right direction and looked for tourists. We made our way to the memorial and said goodbye and went our separate ways. 

The scenery was actually quite lovely, which is odd to say, but it is basically in a big wooded area surrounded by trees with changing leaves. This is the view as I walked up to the visitor center right outside of the memorial. This is where I went inside and purchased an audio tour (in English) that was quite nice to have...and interesting looking.

The pamphlet had a map with various numbers at each location. You could type in the number you wanted and put it up to your ear like a phone. The English voices were British, so that was lovely.

As I approached the camp, I noticed how dreary the weather was, which is oddly appropriate. It was very cold and windy. The sun was nowhere to be found. I saw small remnants of the train tracks that brought people to the camp. This tracks stopped right in front of the Jourhaus. The Jourhaus was basically the front gate and the main office of the SS Officers at the camp. They also did some interrogations in the Jourhaus. 

The Jourhaus.

"Work Brings Freedom." The message on the gate as the prisoners entered the camp.

You are immediately greeted by a large, gravel, open area. This was known as the Roll-Call Square. Prisoners would be called to this area and would be forced to stand completely still for hours at a time. If someone fell, you would be punished and beaten if you tried to help them up or to see if they were okay. It wasn't uncommon for people to die during roll-call. In fact, some prisoners were forced to bring dead prisoners to roll-call so they could be accounted for. This area just seemed so big and devoid of...anything. It was quite eerie. 

The building you see on the right is known as the Maintenance Building. This was the building where prisoners were brought when they arrived. This is where they were processed, had their personal belongings taken, stripped of their clothes, humiliated, beaten, and sent into the camp. The building is original and now serves as a museum that follows the history and path of the prisoners. The air in the building was odd and a little stifling. Just knowing what happened within those walls was bizarre. 

The first thing you see when you enter.

Some propaganda displayed on a board. Basically, it is insulting the Soviets and telling people that their only hope is in Hitler.

This message is actually original. It is nothing too impactful, it just means "Smoking forbidden."

A collection of original prisoner cards. These cards had personal information on the prisoners and was stored very meticulously in an archive.

Not the best panoramic shot, but this is one of the exhibit rooms in the building.

Some music that was actually written by two prisoners while in Dachau.

A full panoramic shot of the maintenance building from the roll-call square.

From there, I approached one of the exterior walls of the camp. The watchtower is original, but the walls and fences were destroyed. So what is you see is just a recreation. There was a ditch before the first fence and about 20 feet of grass between that fence and the tall exterior wall (with barbed wire on top, of course). This area was essentially a killzone. Many prisoners ran into this zone because they knew it would end their suffering. 

Original tower with replicate fences and walls.

I walked across the roll-call square to a barracks building. This building is a recreation because all of the barracks were destroyed by Allied troops. Originally there were only a few barracks. But in 1937 and '38, the prisoners were forced to build more and expanded the camp quite a bit in order to fit more people. The final result was, I believe, 34 barracks. Many of them were housing buildings, but some of them served other purposes such as offices or the infirmary (where terrible human experiments took place). The "inferior" prisoners were put in the barracks furthest from the maintenance building. The barracks were designed to board 200 prisoners. Towards the end of the war, the barracks boarded 2000 prisoners, meaning WILD overcrowding. The picture of the sleeping quarters doesn't do it justice, but the room itself couldn't do it justice because of the overcrowding.

After that, I walked down "camp row." This was a road that went from the roll-call square to all of the barracks (it split the two rows of barracks). The trees you see were the trees that were at the camp and weren't just added later. The stone outlines you will see show were the former barracks stood. They only rebuilt the first two barracks to show people what they would look like.

Site of the infirmary where many people lost their lives in "medical experiments."

At the end of the camp road stand three different religious memorials. The one in the middle is the Catholic memorial. A tall cylinder with a large wooden cross being suspended from the ceiling by cables. Under it, an altar with some flowers and a small crucifix. 

To the right of this memorial was the Jewish memorial. This one sent a very powerful message. It was built into the ground and was made of black stone from lava. The railings on the ramp going down into the memorial was also black and resembled barbed wire. On top of the memorial was a menorah made of stone from Israel. The memorial is dark on the inside and had a hole in the very top for a pillar of light to enter and light the room off the back wall.

On the far left was the memorial for Protestant prisoners. This memorial was also partially underground. You entered through a tiered staircase leading to a tunnel. All of the shapes and lines in the monument are irregular and asymmetrical in order to create a juxtaposition with the rigid, cruel structure of the camp. Inside was a breathtaking room that is used to hold services every Sunday. It had an altar with a single white rose and a tray of candles. I, of course, gave a donation and lit a candle. The room was just so powerful, it is hard to explain.

Tunnel leading to the altar.

Right by this memorial was the site I dreaded the most: The Crematorium. This part will probably be the most difficult for people to read, so I am warning you now. It is all original, so what you see is truly where it all happened. 

The Crematorium is an area that is separate (maybe 100 yards) from the main camp. There is a small bridge over a ditch that leads to it. It is tucked away in the woods and was intentionally designed to be isolated. There was a small building that you could not enter, but could see inside that served as the original crematorium. Bodies of dead prisoners were brought here to be cremated. This building had one oven. 

However, when the camp expanded and the population increased drastically, they built another, larger building called "Barrack X." This building is also original. It served as a building for mass murder and cremation of prisoners. Sometimes prisoners were hanged in gallows right in front of the building. The first room was a large room where prisoners were instructed that they were going to be taking a shower. Large groups of prisoners at a time were taken into a fake shower room. The room even had fake shower heads to give the illusions that it was truly a shower. The doors were sealed and the room soon filled with poisonous gases, killing everyone inside.

"Barrack X"

Standing inside of the gas chamber. An incredibly surreal experience. 

Their bodies were then dragged into the next room where they were thrown into a pile. The room was washed clean and new prisoners were brought in. The dead bodies would then be loaded into the ovens in the next room. If I understand correctly, some people were even hanged in the oven room from the banisters overlooking the burning ovens.

Holding room for dead bodies.

There were four ovens in this room.

Outside of the building was a path into the woods. Along there path were a couple of mass graves of ashes. Memorials have been built over these graves.

Also in the woods was a wall where many prisoners were killed by firing squad. Next to the wall was a ditch for the blood. There was one specific instance of dozens of Soviet POW's being execute at this wall.

After these sights, I took a moment to myself in the roll-call square to reflect. As I have stated, it was so surreal being there. Standing where so many suffered and died. Seeing and hearing how it all happened. It was just unreal.

As I left, I ran into an American named Jeff. He and I were both heading to Munich, so we traveled together from the camp. He is a lawyer from D.C. who is working in London for a couple of weeks. He decided to, on a whim (he seemed very wealthy in this way), fly down to Germany for the weekend to see a concentration camp. He is Jewish and felt the strong need to visit this site. We talked for a bit on the train to Munich about this-and-that. At the train station, he left into the city and I grabbed a snack and waited for my train back to Ulm.

This upcoming weekend Miss Becky Payne herself is planning on visiting Germany! So we will be seeing some sights (like Neuschwanstein) and doing a bit of exploring and such. I am pretty excited. I am sure I will give you plenty of information on our fun. 

That ends this post. It was a long one, but I felt like it needed to be long. I am sorry if it got a little graphic, I tried to avoid it too much. But it's important to see this, I think. I am glad I went.

Instead of an inspiration quote, I will only leave you with what was inscribed on one of the mass grave memorials:

Never Forget.