Munich (2006)

Sleep
Wombats City Hostel - Wombats was fine...your typical hostel in Europe. Except I have one major staff complaint.

Background: I had studied German for four years - two highschool, two college. I was excited to bust out my Deutsch, but predictably I was a little rusty. So, upon arrival, I ask the front desk guy for our schlage or room key. He then starts laughing hysterically and makes fun of me because the word for key is schluessel, not schlage! Schlage evidentally means punch/hit. (It turns out that Schlage is the brand imprinted on my house key, hence my confusion). Anyway, the cocky Australian (he's not even German!) continues to laugh for a good long while and won't give us our key until I correct myself and say schluessel. So, as a result of my injured pride, I didn't like Wombats.

Eat/Drink
Hofbraeuhaus - Because of Hofbraeu's fame, I'd say it's a must see. That said, it's mainly drunk American tourists and absurdly drunk Japanese tourists that you'll see here. Please feel free to comment if you have better beer garden recommendations!





Definitely eat some brat/weisswurst from the street carts...it's cheap and awesome! We also had fun walking around the Viktualienmarkt, an open air food market near Marienplatz held weekdays.



Do

Englischer Garten park - This park is huge and really beautiful. Apparently in the summer they have a wave park in the river so you can surf! See below for a view of Munich from the Park.

Dachau Concentration Camp - Jared and I wanted to visit a former concentration camp while in Europe, so we chose Dachau, which was the 'experimental' concentration camp for the Nazis. Here, the SS tried out and perfected their methods of torture and execution.

The spookiest part of the visit was seeing the neighborhoods right next to the camp. Despite the genocide occurring next door, families continued to live and work within sight and earshot of the camp. In Germany, these silent bystanders are referred to as mitglieders, and the subject occupies much of the German historical conscience - who were these people who saw and heard, but did nothing?

Overall, the visit was interesting and informative, but was not the heart-wrenching experience of the Holocaust museum in Washington, D.C. Most of the camp was destroyed and what remains are memorial statues and replicas of the camp living quarters.