The Yin and Yang of Munich

Trip Start Jun 14, 2009
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Trip End Jul 14, 2009


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Where I stayed
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Flag of Germany  , Bavaria,
Sunday, June 28, 2009

It was a rainy gloomy day for a somber tour of Dachau Concentration Camp.  Dachau began as an SS training center to teach the SS how to run concentration camps.  It was open for 13 years and at its peak it held 32,000 prisoners from many European countries, some were Nazi/Hitler resisters and some were there for slave labor. We walked in thru the gate that the prisoners were led through and followed their indoctrination path (filled with information about the camp and stories from the prisoners) and the barracks (they stacked the mostly men 3 beds high). Dachau was not a gas chamber. Most of the deaths at Dachau were the result of typhoid, beatings and “trying to escape”.  It was an overwhelming amount of information that was thoughtfully displayed but not for the faint of heart, because of its thoroughness.

After heavy thoughts we went into Munich to our Hotel Orly.  We’ve had really good hotel experiences so far, especially just booking everything ahead of time by internet Dachau Concentration Camp
Dachau Concentration Camp
 .  But we would not recommend our Hotel Orly.  It was the dirtiest hotel so far and the internet was prohibitively expensive and the staff didn’t seem very happy. However, It had a good location near the metro, we did sleep well and a large German breakfast was included in the price.

After settling in to our hotel we went in to Munich center.  We needed to be there by 5pm so we didn’t miss the glockenspiel joust.  Munich was heavily bombed during WWII, but they rebuilt the old government buildings to be identical to the old Victorian architecture.  The glockenspiel, which is a very large clock with lifesized figures who move around every day at 5pm, was quite a spectacle calling in a large crowd consisting of people speaking every language imaginable oohing and ahhing and videoing over the clock show.

After our 15 min clock show we headed to the famous Hofbrau Haus, the largest bier hall in the world.  It was filled with Loud Germans, wandering Japanese, bewildered Americans,  old timers scowling at us all and lots of bier maidens. Tables are shared here so we asked 3 people if we could join them and the woman pointed to a sign that meant their table was reserved.  Apparently some tables there are reserved for regulars.  Well, she decided to let us join them, which turned out to be a great experience for us.  We met Gerhardt, Carolyn and Anton, who were about 65-75 yrs old and regulars.  They spoke very little English, but somehow we managed to toast our large steins of bier with them and have many laughs while the German oompah band played in the background and drinking songs erupted from the crowd, (we joined in when Anton gave us the nod).  We had to try the fair and ate large pretzel’s and veal brats with great mustered and dense rye bread. Over all the kind of place and best friendly people that will make this a memory to laugh about for years to come.

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jerade
jerade on Jul 3, 2009 at 12:16AM

Ying/Yang
In reading your blogs,we've felt you have been so fortunate in your accommodations - well - one 'bad apple' had to come along - at least you could sleep and had a big breakfast.
The day sounds fascinating - lows of Dachau and highs of the beer hall. What a 'handlebar' mustache on your new found beer mate! Another memorable occasion! Love - happy travels.

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