Munich Adventures

Hello all,

We have been in Munich since Friday evening and have been having a blast learning about German culture and history.  I must admit, it has been quite nice not having to change cities every evening and we are starting to feel comfortable with our surroundings.  We have practically mastered the tram and train system.  Well mastered is probably the wrong word but we have handled it for sure.

For dinner on Friday we ate at the second largest beer garden in Munich which was the Augustine Beer Hall.  Here we enjoyed some typical Bavarian food and drank a few brews.  Well technically it was like one or two brews but they sell them by the liter so who knows really?  None the less we had a great evening enjoying eachothers company and sharing stories about all of the tours and locations that we had travelled to over the past week and a half.

Saturday was the first free day that we had in Munich.  I elected to go check out Allianz Stadium which is where the revered Bayern Munich play.  They actually had their last soccer game of the season on Saturday and we were able to experience all the celebrations as they won their league title.  This was pretty cool.  We also travelled to Olympic Stadium which is where the 1972 Olympics were held.  I was really interested in this because I recently watched a biography on a famous runner named Steve Prefontaine who competed in the 72 games.  You may recall that during the 1972 games, there was a terrorist attack and ultimately members of the Israeli teams lost their lives.  It was very interesting to learn about the history as well as see the area in person.

On Saturday we also visited the BMW Museum and learned about the history of the BMW company.  It was very nice to see so many concept cars that I will never own.  I really enjoyed the motorcycle portion as well as a display that they had on jet engines.

On Sunday we travelled to Dachau Concentration Camp right outside of Munich.  For everyone on the trip, I believe this was our first first hand experience with the Holocaust.  I cannot describe how intense and moving a walk within the compound is.  I was constantly in thought at the camp and this was truly a sobering experience.  It is one thing to watch movies and see pictures in text books, but when you actually stand in a gas chamber, or walk through a barracks, you are able to comprehend the horrendous events that occured during WWII.  I will never forget what we saw at Dachau.

On a lighter note, we went to dinner at the Haufbrauhaus Sunday night.  For those of you who have experienced it, you know.  For those of you who haven't, you need to.  I have never been in a place where 1300 people are drinking beer and yelling, screaming, and singing songs.  Wait, nevermind, I went to UMaine.  But this place was unreal.  People were dressed up in traditional Bavarian clothes and singing German drinking songs and giving praise to the holy Bayern Munich!  We had some great food and again enjoyed our group's company.  What we didn't expect was to enjoy the company of everyone in the restaurant.  People were extremely friendly and we all shared stories.  What an incredible experience!

Thanks for following our adventure!

You stay classy readership,

Jon Lee