Munich, Germany

One of the first things we noticed about Munich was how green it was.  Huge parks, everywhere.  Different kind of parks than in Prague though... Prague was perfectly manicured, where as the parks here seemed more... worked in?  The city seemed clean as well, making us feel very comfortable here.  We were here for a total of 2 and a half days and were able to rent bikes (wahoo!) and spend a lot of our time outside the city centre exploring what else Munich had to offer.  Our accommodations were a 15 minute tram ride from downtown (or a 45 minute bike ride) but in the end, we were quite pleased with where we were staying.  Looking back at our time here, there are 3 main highlights that come to mind:  The Tent, The English Garden, and our visit to Dachau Concentration Camp.  

What exactly is "The Tent"?  It's where we slept while we were there!  Zack has been booking all of our accommodations (and doing a fine job of it!), and when he first told me about this one, I was a bit weary.  This is how he explained it to me:  "It's a massive tent just outside of the city filled with 100 beds.  It's the cheapest place to stay.  Or you can pay the minimum and they will give you a floor mat and some blankets to sleep on the floor."  Since he booked fairly last minute, we ended up on the floor.  Can you see why I could have been a bit weary?  But I must say, I absolutely loved our stay at "The Tent".  It was way cleaner than I expected, and the people here were extremely friendly.  It was mostly young travellers staying here and some families as well.  When you arrive, they give you a laminated number and you have to claim your spot on the floor.  They have lockers to lock your bags in which was nice, and the showers and kitchen were always kept nice and clean.  To me, it kind of felt like glamorous camping!  The place was surrounded by nature, and you can also pitch a tent in the back if you'd like.  Every night they have a bonfire and there were gravel pathways throughout the surrounding neighbourhoods and wooded areas that we loved exploring.  There were ping pong tables, badminton rackets, and bikes available to rent.  Maybe it was good that I had such low expectations, because it made my experience just that much better!  I loved it here!

The first full day we were here, we took some bikes down to the city centre and then to Munich's largest park, The English Garden.  When we arrived downtown, we found ourselves suddenly surrounded by some sort of "Pride Parade" and could barely move within the crowds of people.  It didn't help that the weather was hot hot hot.  After seeing a fair share of "out there" outfits and costumes, we made our way to St.Peter's Church and climbed to the top.  It was a great way to see the city from above.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon at the English Garden!  Beautiful pathways and green spaces follow along a main river.  What is really cool, is down in the south end of the park, you will find locals surfing the large rapids that occur there.  So neat to watch the surfers jump right in from the side of the river and ride the wave!  As we made our way down the river, we noticed a lot of young people jumping in the water.  The current would then bring them down at a fairly quick pace while they just floated their way down!  Apparently some people float down for so long that they have to take the city bus back to their first location.  So, of course we jumped in!  It was so cold that it literally took my breath away, and moving so quickly that I scraped my side against the rocks in my first attempt to get out.  But it was so much fun!  To top off the afternoon, as we just were leaving the park, Zack got a flat bike tire.  At this point we were super tired and just wanted to get back to the tent.  We decided Zack would take the tram back and I would bike back on my own (15 min. bike ride).  The route looked pretty simple.  I then proceeded to bike for an hour and a half with a crumpled map in my hand, trying desperately to make my way back.  After a while, the street names all start looking the same... a long ten letter German word that I can't pronounce no matter how hard I try.  Luckily, I finally made it back to the Tent.  The good part is, I saw a lot more of Munich than I would have otherwise!

On our last day here, we biked up to Dachau Concentration Camp.  What an eye-opening, saddening, and gut-wrenching experience that was.  This concentration camp was the first of many and acted as a model for the others during the war.  It was surreal to be walking on the same ground that thousands of innocent people were tortured and punished for what they believe in or simply if they did not perfectly comply to Hitler's outrageous standards.  It's hard to believe that this happened not that long ago.  Just seems so corrupt to me.  The following photo is what reads "Work makes you free".

This is where roughly 40,000 people would gather each morning for the daily roll call.  Even something as small as their shirt not being tucked in, or one button missing would mean they could expect torture.

The bunker.

The memorial.

The Crematory.

We actually stood inside the gas chamber.  Standing in there made my stomach turn.  It's hard to believe that this occured.

The bunkers are no longer standing, but the foundations still remain.

As you can see, a visit to Dachau is quite gut wrenching.  We rented audio guides for the time we were there, which led us through the different areas.  This included some recordings from people who actually lived and experienced the terror that occured here.  Very sad, however I would reccommend if you ever get the chance to visit Dachau that you definitely go.

Well, I hate to end on such a sad note.  Munich is a great city to explore-- and not just the city, but the surrounding areas.  I am so glad we could stop in here!