Mesmorized in Munchen

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” - Jack Kerouac

This weekend the whole group (all 22 of us) piled onto a bus and headed north through the Brenner Pass to Bavaria. The drive was gorgeous. It was a beautiful blue sky day and the mountains were radiant.

We arrived in Munich that afternoon after 6 hours on the road. Our hotel was really nice. The beds were adorned in down, which made me just about the happiest girl alive. I was about ready to stuff the blanket in my duffle and make a run for it. As lame as this sounds, I couldn't wait to go to bed just so I could experience the complete amazingness of the comforter and pillow.

But alas....Munich awaits. So I dropped my stuff and met the group in the lobby for our trip into town. Its a lot easier to disguise your origins when there aren't over 20 of you...thats for sure. After a short S-bahn ride we arrived in Marienplatz.

One of the most remarkable things about Germany is the language. They have one word for an entire English sentence. Its crazy. At the beginning of the trip we developed a contest to see who could find the longest word while we were in Munich. The longest we found was 23 letters. Almost our entire alphabet in one word. I cannot imagine having to write an essay in German. That has to be one of the most laborious tasks ever.

Back to Marienplatz....We climbed up the stairs from the metro and were greeted by gorgeous Alpine architecture. It became clear very early on that Munich was going to be amazing. Martin showed lead us to Hofbrauhaus where we indulged in our first German beer and GIANT pretzels. The bier garten was gorgeous in the cool night air. We chatted with some fellow American students (easily spotted by their Yankee's baseball caps and North Face jackets). Eventually it started to cool down so we left in search of food and another bier hall. Munich is know for its beer and there are 6 different kinds brewed within the city.

We wandered around the town and after little luck, returned to Hofbrauhaus to meet up with the rest of the group. We then continued on as a mass to another bierhaus where we got dinner. Dinner consisted of veal meatballs and gravy, mashed potatoes also drenched in gravy, steamed veggies and a $6 bottle of water. It was INCREDIBLE!!!! The German side of me was satiated to say the least by this incredible presentation of food.

After dinner we hit the road and made our way back to the hotel. I climbed into bed and was asleep before long. The heaviness of the down reminded me of home and lulled me to sleep.

I awoke the next morning to a pre-set wake up call that was much earlier than necessary. I guess Martin just got a little over zealous when he set them. Not really sure. In any case, I padded across the room, answered the phone and then went back to my down heaven. We got up a little while later and made our way downstairs for breakfast before we would embark on a tour around the city.

Michael met us in the courtyard outside and in the way only a teacher can, began to illustrate Bavarian history through a series of reenactments. He was hilarious and made even the most boring and basic facts interesting. After a brief introduction we loaded onto the bus once more and hit the town. He showed us around Munich, including where the legendary Oktoberfest takes place every year. At the head of the field is a monument to Bavaria (Lady Bavaria) and a hall of the busts of all the famous Bavarians. We walked around for a bit and then continued on our way.

We stopped at the BMW museum which was really cool. We passed the Olympic complex where the 72 Olympics were. The guy who designed the complex decided that he wanted it to be completely different from any other architecture in Munich. Most of the buildings at that point were very large and heavy looking, conveying the idea of German strength and dominance. However, the Olympic complex is made almost entirely of plexi-glass and canvas, the antithesis of everything presented by the Reich. This was the beginning of a new age for Germany.

We then drove by the oldest museum in the world which is housed in the square where Hitler made all of his speeches. We saw the balcony where he stood and where the Swastika hung above the balcony and where the Munich Conference took place. We saw the foundation of the memorials he built for the first 16 victims of Nazism who were shot in an uprising when Hitler tried to stage a Coup.

It was really cool to see all of the history come to life in Munich. There is so much there to see and experience. Hofbrauhaus, the most famous bier house in Munich, was one of the main places where Hitler conducted his preliminary meetings and Nazi propaganda. We ended up in a square with a monument constructed of all the weapons from the war melted together. It kinda looks like a smaller version of the Washington monument. It was cool though.

We then went to a palace after that which belonged to Ludwig I and his wife. The palace was gorgeous and the gardens behind it resembled Versailles. Ludwig I built the house for his wife after she bore him a heir. Later, he turned one of the rooms into a room full of the portraits of 50 of his favorite mistresses out of the 500 he had while he was married. It was pretty intense.

We stopped at the church the Ludwig I also built for his wife which was stunning. The inside was completely white but was spectacular in its simplicity. It was sooooo cool.

The coolest thing we did was visit the site where the White Rose Movement took place and where the trials were held. It was incredibly inspirational and humbling to learn about these people my age who took on the Nazi party and spoke out against the Reich and its doctrines. They were all condemned to death and were beheaded for tyranny, but they became martyrs for their country.

After the tour, most of us did Mike's Bike tour. I was pretty nervous since I hadn't been on a bike since I was 10. And apparently my fears were grounded as I nearly crashed into a car. But it began to come back to me and within a few minutes I was fine. Our guide, Frankie was really cool. He was from Hawaii and had a really laid back attitude.

We saw a lot of the same things we did on the tour with Michael but got a different perspective on a lot of it. We biked through the English Gardens which was gorgeous. It was such a beautiful day, and biking the city ended up being a lot of fun. We stopped at a biergarten and enjoyed the evening until the sun began to set. One of the girls fell off her bike in the middle of the road which was scary but she ended up laughing it off and thankfully was OK.

We had a lot of fun with him. It was great being able to spend some time with other kids in the group that we hadn't really gotten the chance to know yet.

The next day we went to Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich. Again, its one of those things you learn about in the classroom but its completely different when you are living it. Walking around the camp was eery but it didn't actually hit me where I was until I was standing in the gas chamber next to the Crematorium. It was nauseating to think about what went on there. Most of the camp was in disrepair after it was liberated and was torn down. But they rebuilt one of the barracks according to how it looked back then. The living conditions looked awful. I cant imagine having to live through that. Dachau was a work camp originally used to house political opposition before the "Final Solution" really came underway. The gas chambers were never operated at Dachau and for the most part, it was the work that killed the people in the camp. This is ironic because the door on the gate leading into the camp bears a sign that says "Work will set you free."

We spent the rest of the day walking around Munich and exploring a little. We went dancing that night which was fun, but it didn't last long because we were all really tired. We headed back to the hotel around 1:00AM and crashed before heading back to Verona the next day.

I loved Germany and cannot wait to go back and explore more. There is so much to see and the country itself is beautiful. I love the culture and the people and look forward to the opportunity to become better acquainted with its history and how i fit into the picture as a German- American.