The best way to fully understand the extent of my trip around Europe is to grasp the motives behind it. I did not foresee this vacation to be one of rest and relaxation; in fact, it was quite the opposite. The sun was rarely out and I never felt sand between my toes. Instead, I found myself frequently cold, hungry, and tired - so small luxuries like hot coffee and a warm hotel room were where I found my solace. The logic behind this trip was to see the colder countries in Europe during the winter and then visit the warmer countries (most likely those bordering the Mediterranean) later on in the spring. Even though Munich, Prague and Vienna would be beautiful to see when the flowers are blooming and the birds are chirping during the spring, I do not want to miss out on the warm coast, the beaches, and of course, the girls.
Therefore, a large extent of my trip was spent indoors. If you do not want to hear about museums, palaces, and concentration camps then I suggest you stop reading. If you choose to continue, however, I promise you a very good account. I had an unforgettable adventure and I will surely remember most of it for many years to come. If you receive even half the enjoyment from reading about it as I did living it, then I know I did it justice. Here it goes:
Munich
My travel buddy, Eshani (my sister), and I started the first leg of the journey with a 6 AM flight from London to Munich. If there are two things I recommend not doing while traveling for more than two weeks they are: never book a flight before 8 AM - they are cheaper, but you will be exhausted for the rest of the day and therefore will have ruined it, also, pack light. We found ourselves paying over 150 GBP at the airport because our bags were overweight - sorry Mom & Dad, thanks for picking up the tab, though.
After getting to our hotel and napping for a good three hours, we took the underground train to Karlplatz (words of wisdom to those who travel around Germany or Austria - the subway system is unregulated and there is no need for a ticket. One can simply pass through the entrances of the stations without the fear of being stopped and asked for a validated ticket. My sister and I learned this the hard way when we paid 30 Euros for a three days pass but never used it). It was then that we saw the magnificent Christmas market.
The streets were covered with snow and people, while the buildings were adorned with lights and Christmas decorations. I had never seen a Christmas market like this, so a sudden burst of energy went through me and the travel fatigue wore-off. After walking further and eventually ending up in the city-center, Marienplatz - where the old and new town halls are located (in German they are called Rathauses) we stopped at Hofbräuhaus - a national brewery in Munich. This is one of the largest, if not the largest, brewery's in Germany and thus has a large spot at Oktoberfest - the German beer festival held in September-October. There we saw not only waiters and waitresses in traditional Bavarian outfits, but a band playing traditional Bavarian music and hoards of people singing and dancing.
The energy, the food, and the people were incredible. Everyone is seated on benches, usually next to strangers, but within minutes you become acquainted. Stories are shared over beer, of course, and food (I had pork with potatoes and gravy - so delicious). Once dinner was over and our beer mugs were licked clean, Eshani and I went to the gift shop. It was there that I had a good laugh. While paying for a souvenir I asked the clerk how to say "hello" in German. Her answer: "You say hello, we say "hehhhello" (insert woman with German accent saying hello here). I gave her a look of utter disbelief and disappointment. Hoping for a cool German word, I cannot say I was pleased by her response, but it was truly hilarious.
The next day my sister dragged me to Dachau - the first concentration camp erected by Adolf Hitler and his SS thugs. Now, I know I said that I didn't expect to be on a beach and relaxing, but I did not want to see a concentration camp. They are neither fun nor exciting; in fact, the exact opposite. At the end of the trip, however, I did find the experience fulfilling and here is why. One cannot truly understand what the prisoners went through until actually seeing the site. Our tour guide, who seemed to be an American ex-patriot, did a wonderful job of leading us around the camp and explaining the significance of the grounds, the museum, the dormitories, the monuments, and the gas chambers. As you all probably know, Jews were not the only prisoners in the concentration camps, as Hitler kept most of his enemies in them, as well. One of the memorable quotes was by a priest-prisoner who lived in a "nicer" jail-cell. "When they came..." Furthermore, prisoners wore triangles on their uniforms to distinguish themselves. For example, Jews would have two triangles to form the Star of David, communists would have certain colored triangles, Jehova's witnesses would have their own, and so on. A monument erected after liberation displayed these triangles as a symbol of what the prisoners had to go through and show unity as the triangles are clustered together (see pictures). Consequently, some triangles are missing: those belonging to homosexuals and gypsies.
The tour guide explained that the missing triangles go to show you that society is still filled with prejudices. Another memorable moment was seeing the synagogue erected by the Jewish survivors. I loved how they imported black stone from Israel instead of using German stone - I saw this to be an appropriate slap in the face.
Following the concentration camp and the release of all my emotional energy, we went to the Residenz - the home of the Bavarian dynasty. I did not enjoy it that much so I won't bore you with the details. Palaces are palaces (until we got to Prague and Vienna). The Bavarian Residenz was not appealing to me, but the Christmas market in its courtyard was because I had a three delicious German sausages. The following day was dedicated to walking around the city. We took a guided tour named "Hitler's Germany" which we thought would be led by the previous days tour guide - the main reason we wanted to take it - but it was not. Nonetheless, we walked around like crazy people in freezing temperatures retracing Hitler's footsteps and his rise to power. Without boring you with our step by step I'll simply write that the tour included Beer halls where he started his career speaking about his sinister ideas, apartments where he stayed when he aspired to be a painter, cafe's where he ate, forums where he spoke, and finally the route of his first attempt to overthrow the city of Munich.
It was interesting to see life in his shoes which is not different from many aspiring politicians. It was also interesting to see how Germans are still embarrassed to speak of the Third Reich, so much so that proper monuments are not erected and all and any symbols of Hitler of the Nazi Party have been removed. The party headquarters is now a school of performing arts with visible outlines of eagles on the architecture. In sum, the tour was educating but frigid (-2- -10 degrees Celsius's the entire time). After it, my sister and I took a beer hall tour to warm ourselves up and grab food. We ended up at a beer garden named Augustiner where Pope Benedict XVI used to fancy when he was Archbishop of Munich (we even got to taste his favorite beer which he has shipped to him at the Vatican). With all the touring and excitement came a good night's sleep and an early train ride to Prague the next day. Munich is a wonderful city, rich in culture (despite the Allies carpet-bombing), people, and fun. Definitely a city to see!
To see more pictures, go to picasaweb.google.com/sohamg11 and choose Munich 2010. I don't recommend looking at the other pictures until I post about them, just so you know what's going on. I will also caption the pictures later on.
