Munich, Germany: June 25-26, 2015 - Religion and Politics

It's warming up as we head south through Germany and to points beyond. This change is most welcome. I brought so few cold weather clothes, thinking "summer" meant "summer" everywhere. The constant 50s and 60s in Amsterdam were quite unpleasant. I'm far happier now.

Stopped at a rest stop again on the way. They had a big cafeteria-like area with schnitzel and bratwurst, then right next to that, a Burger King. I don't get why Burger King is so ubiquitous in Europe, but it is. McDonald's I expected. But not Burger King. I'm a little curious to try it and see how similar it is to America, but for now I'm sticking to local/traditional dishes. I'm finding that food is as big a part of experiencing a place as seeing the sights.

We are staying at the same franchise of Hostel in Munich as we did in Frankfurt, and I like it better than the Amsterdamian one. I'll have lots of opinions about European hostels by the time I get back.

As usual, the first item on our agenda was metro cards and a journey downtown. We got off the tram at Marienplatz, the plaza named for the Virgin Mary. There's a big fancy building there!

Walked around and saw the standard stuff:

God I love Germany.

A number of people went on a bike tour, the rest of us went to find dinner. Even though we're in Germany, what people really seemed in the mood for was Italian. So we got some delicious pizzas and pastas. I feel like I should be having only local foods within each country, but I guess that doesn't have to be a rule. Besides, I had my sausages already. I can make my own choices! I'm an adult!!!

After dinner, we went to probably the most well known beer garden in Munich, if not all of Germany: Hoffbräuhaus!!

Got the big ass beer, as you do:

Alright, fine, you caught me: I got two. Pretty soon our table looked like this:

Yes, we got cards and played a drinking game. Did you know in Germany instead of Jacks and Queens they have B and D? It's true! I suspect that's simply what their word for Jack and Queen starts with - king is the same because the German is König - but I'm not 100% certain. Also, that didn't help us figure out which was which. We were playing a game where you have to guess if a card is going to be higher or lower than the one before, and someone guessed "higher!" And flipped over...a "B". And we all just sort of stared blankly at it, as if hoping it would explain itself to us.

The Biergartens close relatively early, at least for a place where one is expected to do some heavy drinking. So we journied on back to the hostel via the tram and turned in for the night. The next morning was slow and sleepy, at least for me - we had nothing scheduled til noon, and I was in need of some catching up. Ambled down to breakfast 10 minutes before it ended to find a lot of my group had made the same choice. We tossed around ideas of things to do until our meeting time, and a few people wanted to see a church they had passed on the bike tour, so we set out for that.

We also saw the clock tower do its little show:

 
The little figures move around to glockenspiel tunes. Woop woop.

The church is under reconstruction, so the outside kind of looks like those sections of a mall that they're redoing where they have a big flat wall with promises of what's to come painted on:

But the inside was nice. Very churchy.

The rest of the group wanted to check out a flea market of some sort, but I am all but totally uninterested in souvenir shopping. My souvenirs are experiences (and/or this blog). I wanted to see the Munich cathedral, which is apparently the biggest church in the city. So I set out to find it on my own.

I love seeing these big European churches. I think religious leanings aside, anyone would have to be impressed not only by the imposing structure - which on its own is grand enough - but also by the reality that the architects, the builders, the stone carvers - every one involved was putting forth their best effort not for themselves, but for something greater. 

When I got into the Munich cathedral, the sign at the front said photos could be taken for private use only, so I thought, okay, here I go:

Picked a pew and sat for a bit. Maybe 10 minutes later, I decided to also take a picture of the ceiling:

And immediately a man in a suit appeared and barked, "kein photo! No pictures!"

You sure about that?

On my way out, I checked out the sign again, which now said "No sightseeing! No photographs!"

Well how can I be expected to know the sign changed its mind. Come on.

We met back at Marienplatz at noon to load up on the bus and make our way to the day's excursion: Schloß Neuschwanstein, a castle about 2 hours outside of Munich. Here is some scenery from the drive there:

And some scenery from the there there:

That smaller yellow castle is not the castle. It's the other castle.

We had to hike, or really just walk, up a winding steep road to get to Neuschwanstein itself. Here it is, finally in view:

And here's the scenery from the top, AKA the reason they built it here:

Yep.

Took the tour of the place, which I expected to be extensive, but it was actually quite short considering the size of the place. The castle was built by and for King Ludwig II who died before its completion, and since he was funding it privately, it never got finished. We got what felt like halfway through the tour and the guide just sort of stopped and said "well, those are all the rooms that got completed. Enjoy the gift shop."

The Biltmore House tour is way better, go America rah rah.

More views:

Apparently this castle was the insipration for the one in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Neato.

Back down the steep road and onto the bus. On our drive back to Munich, the news reached us that SCOTUS had ruled gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Everyone cheered. No one on the tour seemed upset by the decision. Kind of gives you hope. Makes me wonder if my kids and grandkids will see this like my generation sees the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s. Like: gay people used to not be able to marry? What the hell was wrong with you guys??

As expected, Facebook was blowing up with people's comments and opinions by the time I got back in Wi-Fi range that night. It pleased me to see almost everyone in support. The few that had a dissenting opinion, though, without exception cited Christian strictures as their defense. Here's what I don't undestand: no one in America, NO ONE, would ever try to defend a law with "Allah wills it" or "Hinduism decrees it". Those are the kinds of statements that would end careers in this country. So why does a mangled version of Jesus's message get so much leeway?

Alright. That's as far as I'm going to venture into that dangerous territory. Back to traveling.

Arriving back in Munich, the bus dropped us off just a block from what is apparently the other famous beer garden, Augustiner-Keller:

It was basically the outdoor Hoffbräuhaus. Had a cookout kind of vibe. Big line to order your meats (I got spare ribs) and get yet another big ass beer. But before the sun even set, I was tired, and many people felt the same. Some people turn up; we turned in.

It was much-needed. I am on the thin thin border of running myself ragged on this tour. Partying every night, waking up early every morning, and running through a whirlwind of European cities in the process. By the time you read this, I will have visited two more destinations. I'm not even falling behind on this blog, that's just how fast we're moving. On the day we arrived in Munich, I could still say that I had been in Amsterdam "yesterday".

I hope that doesn't sound like a complaint, of course. Just the facts.

June 25, 2015: Dachau.

They designed an entire room to trick those condemned to die into remaining calm. They told them it was only a shower; they needed to clean off before they could go into the camp. False shower heads were built into the ceiling to complete the effect. Once they were shut in the room, it was over. I stood in that same room, now, 70 years later, directly under the fake shower head. There really isn't a word in the English language to describe it. "Disquieting" falls short. I walked through the entire crematorium, but backwards, by accident: first the end room, then where the bodies were burned, then where they were stored like rotted meat, then the gas chamber, then the room where they disrobed, then last the room where they were told the lie. I did not turn around to see it in the proper order. I left.

Frankfurt, Germany: June 24, 2015 - Hans

They charge you to use the bathroom in Germany. They charge 70 cents, but the turnstiles dispense a voucher for 50 cents back if you buy something from wherever you are. It's a little inconvenient when on the road, but I guess as a trade off, the bathrooms are very nice. Much better than your run of the mill American rest stop bathroom.

We're traveling by bus for this leg of the trip. Set out from Amsterdam bright and early. Stopped briefly at the bus depot to change drivers and get everyone some much needed coffee. I can tell I will be depending the existence of this drink during this trip.

There is a legal regulation on how long a bus driver can drive before having to stop and take a break, but for this part at least, our only mandated stop came right around lunchtime anyway, so it was all good.

Driving on the German highways system at times honestly looks indistinguishable from the American interstate.

Until you see things like this:

We arrived in Frankfurt mid-afternoon. According to our guide, Frankfurt is one of the few European cities with skyscrapers. This made it feel, once again, like a place in America. Could've been Cincinnati or something. 

Got into the hostel, put our stuff down, met back downstairs for some pretzels and metro cards. Took the train downtown for a brief walking tour. Other than the language being German, you couldn't confuse Frankfurt with an American city because of places like this, the first stop on our walking tour:

Distinctly European.

Walked by the river Main

Since Frankfurt is a big city and sits on the Main, they call it Mainhatten. Oh ho ho. How punny.

Returned back to where we started, then were set free to walk around and do whatever we wanted for a few hours. I wanted to check out the Frankfurt Cathedral first:

Yes it was an impressive structure, but for a cathedral it was actually kind of small. Again, for a cathedral. Also, check out that pipe organ:

Next, the group I was with decided to check out one of Georgios's suggestions, the Main Tower, which he claimed was the tallest building in Frankfurt and had an observation deck at the top that you could visit for 5 euro. It turned out to be an excellent suggestion:

It's no Willis Tower, but I think the contrasting cityscape of skyscrapers and traditional European architecture made for a more interesting view. 

There was some supposedly famous reporter there filming a news segment:

Also, I find the claim of Main Tower being the tallest building to be dubious:

After the building, it was time to return to our meeting point for dinner. We walked as a group to an area with a bunch of restaurants and were set free to choose whatever we liked best. We walked along, looking at various menus, when some German guys sitting outside started talking to us.

"Sprechen Sie Englisch?"

"Oh you speak English?"

Yes.

"You are looking for a restaurant? There is no food here, only drink. But the best German food in Frankfurt is right over there." He told me the name of the place. We thanked him and turned the corner to find this wonderful hidden little restaurant with a large outdoor area and a guy in the corner softly singing some light jazz.

This was my meal:

Frankfurters in Frankfurt! And of course, beer.

I love these little moments that happen like this. Getting some restaurant recommendations from some locals, having delicious authentic German food, enjoying your little discovery with friends. Good stuff.

Got some kind of apple dish for dessert. We then discussed who had smaller bills and coins so we could properly divvy up the check.

"Maybe they can do separate checks. We'll ask Hans"

...

"Our waiter's name is not Hans"

"You don't know that."

When he returned, Meagan asked our waiter what his name was.

"Fabio"

Other than his name actually being Hans, that was about the best answer he could have possibly had.

After dinner, we returned to the bar where everyone was meeting. They had a special on a meter of beer. I was envisioning like, a tub and a bunch of straws, but it was much more practical:

We drank and played never have I ever and got to know each other a bit more. Then we went upstairs to the karaoke bar and sang and danced until we were all tired. We then began to walk home, grabbing each cab that we could, getting a handful of people in, then continuing on. Soon, it was just me and four others left. We crossed the bridge at night:

And this morning we're in transit again.