Friday night, Saturday and Sunday Munich style

Friday Night

 We had dinner at Augustiner, which was SO COOL! I got a helles mas...aka a liter of beer. It was so cool, I felt like a real German with such a big mug. The waitress there (and at many other pubs in Munich) was wearing a dirndl, which I think is pretty neat how they still wear them. I saw them being sold at some of the stores in the square, maybe I should get one. Anyway, the pub was huge and looked almost cafeteria style with many tables with benches, and many men drinking a lot of beer. The atmosphere was busy but very friendly.

Saturday (1/14)

We went on a guided walking tour of the city, and it was very informative, but also very cold (it's been lightly snowing pretty much all day). Our tour guide was awesome, and was a great story teller. When the plague was taking over in 1517, all of the people would stay in their houses afraid of catching it. Once the cure was found the coopers were overjoyed and dressed up in costumes and ran outside and danced through the streets exclaiming that everyone is safe and should come out. Since then, every 7 years a group of people dresses up and comes to the square to preform a cooper's dance. This just happened to land on the day of our tour!!! It was so crazy how that just happened to work out. Our guide made a joke about how you can tell how old someone is by asking them how many cooper's dances they have seen.

After the tour we stopped by the Hofbrauhaus. We just stopped in for lunch and I didn't get a beer, but I am going back there FOR SURE. It was so cool. Big cafeteria style seating arrangement with a ton of people enjoying themselves. It's a big tourist attraction, so very likely that you will meet people from all over. It's also cool because you can sit down next to people and hang out, and it's totally accepted. So, going back there is a must.

We then went to the BMW world and walked around there for a little. Emma and I stopped to get some coffee before we went there to meet up with the group and we found our way there all by ourselves. We were pretty proud of ourselves. BMW world was pretty neat, but we didn't spend too much time there since were going on a tour of the real thing tomorrow. But we did get some clutch pictures. The Olympic stadium is located right next to BMW, so we walked around there for a while after. The 1972 summer Olympics were held there, and it was stunning. The area was so green and there were people walking through and running on the paths. We didn't get to see the main arena with the track because it was gated and closed, but we saw the edges and it looked gargantuan.

After we went back to the hotel and took a quick nap, then hit the town! It was a great night! We met some Aussies, they were pretty cool.

Sunday (1/15)


Today was our free day, or what we called "spring break." I slept in until 10:30, which felt great. Then went to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. I have learned a lot about Holocaust but nothing hits you harder than actually being there. I learned so much more about what happened from 1933-45, as well as more background. We could have easily spent a couple days there. The museum was set up in a large building, the one that was used upon the arrival to the concentration camp to clean and shave, and were the kitchen was. One thing that hit me the hardest was going through the prison, which was a long cold hallway with rooms that were only about 6 x 6ft big, and seeing the area right next to the prison where executions of prisoners were held. I learned today that some of the prisoners of the camp were used as subjects in medical experiments. I could probably sit here and blog for hours about my experience at Dachau, but I wont. It is mind blowing how people in this world can treat other people as sub-human. I wrote down a quote that I especially liked, "Each of us today is shaping the background history for tomorrow."

Helles MAS!

"How do I go about not  looking so masculine drinking this?" "Pinky up."

Inside of St. Michael Kirche

The Cooper's Dance!!

Emma and I on a BMW motorcycle

BMW

Olympic Stadium

View from the Olympic Stadium

"May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933 and 1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men."

Barracks.

Where the showers were located (renovated)

A table that was used for whipping. People given a number of whips for certain punishments and were told to count aloud until they were finished. If the person was screaming in agony to the point where they messed up the number, the whippings would start over.

A prison cell

Sanding where roll call was taken. Everyone was told to stand outside in an orderly fashion, sometimes for hours on end, in order to make sure no one had escaped. If someone fell to the ground out of pain or illness or just the inability to stand, no one could help them. If someone had passed away they were to be dragged out in order to keep the count.

Entrance to the concentration camp, "work will liberate"