Christmastime in Germany

You're probably asking yourself, "How does Jessie have time to be blogging when it's finals time?"

...well 2 reasons..

The first is that our finals are next week, and the second is that I don't really feel like studying.  So there's that.

On Tuesday, Emily and I returned from our last European excursion-- Munich, Germany.  We spent 3 days perusing authentic German Christkindlmarkts, drinking yummy German beer, scarfing down bratwurst, exploring the Austrian countryside, and freezing our tail feathers off in the below freezing blizzard weather.

Aside from the frigid temperatures, Bavaria was a very charming place, and I loved every minute of it!  We had many awesome opportunities that I'm excited to get to share with you, so here we go:

For this trip we decided to try out the night train.  Aside from taking a Megabus to Belgium, we've flown to all of our other destinations, and taking the train just felt like the right idea.  Even though a flight would have only been about 2 hours compared to an 8+ hour train ride.  Expecting reclining chairs, we were very confused when we entered a 6 person sleeper cabin, with a middle-aged Dutch woman who explained that she had ridden in one similar to this in the 1960's.  We just laughed and decided to take the top bunks as we were the most able bodied to do the necessary maneuvering.  Falling asleep wasn't as difficult as I'd assumed as I had Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince making me feel like I was just dozing off on the Hogwarts Express.

We arrived in Munich around 7:30 AM, about 2 hours too early to check into our hotel as the receptionist so rudely informed us, so we found a McDonald's and grabbed some breakfast and a hot chocolate before heading back to check in and take a little power nap.  And what a well deserved nap it was!  Feeling refreshed we headed out to explore the Munich Christmas Market, filled with hundreds of festively lit booths, each boasting holiday specialties from Glüwein, to intricate paper lanterns, to handmade ornaments, to wool socks and gloves.  Anything you could possibly want to find at a Christmas market, we found... and bought.

A not-so-great shot of our train cabin

An entrance to the market!

Christmas trees!

Glüwein in cute little mugs we got to keep!

 Following the Christmas market we headed for dinner at the famous Hofbräuhaus, where Oktoberfest is held each year, and enjoyed some actually really good beer and the most incredible au gratin potatoes I've ever tasted.  We took in the sights of the historic beer hall, the sounds of the traditional Bavarian band, and the smells of fabulous brew.  It was such a fun experience!

The more recognized face is under construction..

Inside the beer hall!

Better believe I finished that bad boy!

Maybe that's why those potatoes were so good... ;)

 On Saturday morning we had to rise early to catch our train to Salzburg, Austria, as we had booked 2 seats on The Sound of Music Tour through Salzburg and the famous sites from the most popular musical.  After nearly missing the bus because we (surprisingly) had no idea what we were doing or where we needed to be, we found our extremely enthusiastic tour guide and embarked on a very informative, beautiful, and song-filled tour.  Even those who aren't huge Sound of Music fans (GASP) would have enjoyed this tour, as we saw such beautiful sights, all covered in sparkling snow.

The back of the Von Trapp house

Beautiful Austrian fortress

Front of Von Trapp house

16 going on 17 gazebo!

Our tour bus :)

Snowy view

Wish we could have went skiing!

Church in Mondsee from "Wedding" Scene

Crisp Apple Strudel!

Sound of Music Cow

After the bus dropped us off at the station we hopped on another to an Austrian Christmas market we had passed on the tour, and spent a few hours picking up little gifts and treats.  Eventually the intense cold and fierce snowfall got the best of us, and we headed back into the city to grab some dinner and take some pictures of the Christmas lights before getting the train back home.

Now just to put things into perspective real quick.. when I say cold I'm saying it was below freezing, like High teens/Low 20's, windy, and snowing like crazy.  Our faces were chapped, our toes numb, and our bodies bundled.  Please take that into consideration when you see some of these following photos..

Inside the Austrian Christmas Market

Beautiful Christmas tree!

Salzburg by night

THE most delicious pretzel ever.

 Once we arrived back at our hotel in Munich, we popped in a movie and quickly fell to sleep, excited for our next day of adventures on Sunday, which would bring us to the town of Dachau, Germany.  You probably recognize this as the name of a Nazi Concentration Camp from World War II.  In actuality, Dachau is the name of the town this camp existed in, which still keeps the same name.  This fact, like many we learned on our tour of the camp, put many harsh realities into perspective.

Our tour guide, Gordon, was very intelligent, and made sure to remind us that these camps were operating before the start of the Holocaust.  He wanted to help us realize the diversity of prisoners held in the camp, the first of which were ALL German prisoners.  As we walked through the memorial building which holds a museum, survivor exhibit, and theatre, we learned so much about the camp in the town of Dachau, the first of the Nazi Concentration Camps.

As morbid as it may sound, visiting a Concentration Camp has always been something I've been interested in doing.  World War II and the Holocaust are just such devastatingly real tragedies that can't ever, and shouldn't ever be forgotten, and I always thought physically being where so much of the action took place would put it all into perspective for me.

This being said, while I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, my visit to Dachau wasn't it.  Maybe it was the harsh weather, or the memorial atmosphere as opposed to a "living history" point of view.  Our tour guide also pointed out that many times visitors expect everything to be the real thing, or just how it was at the time.  Not only was this not possible in the camp because of the retched infestation of disease, but the survivors of Dachau have turned the site into more of a memorial, a commemorative burial ground for so many things lost during such a horrible time in history.  What the guide said really stuck out to me though, as I have felt this way with many historical sites we've seen since being here.

Even though it's impossible to keep the Coliseum from crumbling, leave the Anne Frank house exactly how it was found by the Nazis, or preserve the construction of Concentration camp barracks, I have found myself feeling like things are less real if they aren't exactly how they were originally intended.  I know this is a silly, naïve thought, but when you haven't seen even an ounce of the history to be uncovered in one square mile of Europe, it's hard to know how to let all this history effect you.

"Labor Frees"
Door of the entrance to the camp

Room where prisoners were initially taken, where documents, belongings, and dignities were taken

"Shower room"

Held boards between pillars to hang prisoners in order to break their arms

Artistic memorial from the prisoners

Each color/shape represents a different group targeted by Nazis

An original watch tower

Beds which held hundreds of prisoners by the end of the war

Plots of ground to signify the barracks that once stood

First crematorium of Dachau

Gas chamber of Dachau

Disinfection chambers 

Second crematoriums

The gas chamber of Dachau

Agricultural term meaning shower/bath

Memorials to prisoners...

After our somber day in Dachau, Emily and I went home for some rest and then headed back into the Christmas markets, and dinner at lovely beer hall where we enjoyed delicious pretzels and ... more beer!  Not having to check out until noon on Monday, we slept in nice and late and then re-visited the Hofbräuhaus for lunch, did some MAJOR souvenir shopping, and after being completely snow-logged and weighed down by our treasures, we decided to relax and go to a movie before catching our late train at nearly 11 o'clock back to the Dam.

All in all I'm a big fan of Germany.  In fact, if you got me back there in the summertime I'm not sure you could get me to leave!  The language is a symphony of funny sounds, the people are very friendly, and they LOVE Christmas.  What else is there? :)

Now, as the clock has struck twelve in Amsterdam, I have exactly 1 week until I will return home.  While it feels necessary to say it's a bittersweet feeling, which it is!!  I have a feeling the sense of sadness over leaving will hit after I've been home for a little while.  So, just in case I don't find the time to post again before I leave, thank you all so so so much for following my adventures, encouraging my plans, and praying for my journey.