Day 2: Munich

Day 2 – Dachau

The weather was just right for the excursion we had planned today in Munich. Craig and I woke up around 5am but stayed in bed until the appropriate hour of 7am.

Jet leg is a ________.

Today we decided to go to Dachau. Itthe first concentration camps set up in Germany during WWII. Being complete and utter history buffs, we had to experience it and see it for ourselves.

Breakfast at our hotel was a standard European meal. Bread, bread and more bread – but they had Nutella and special jams and marmalades – so it kind of make up for the carb fest.

We walked to the train station about 10 minutes from our hotel. It turns out, our hotel was in a heavily populated Turkish part of town. Which explains the large Muslim population and the delicious falafel restaurants that were here and there.

On our walk to the station, we probably encountered 5 different languages. English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Portugese, Chinese…and others that we didn’t recognize. We also encountered slews of back packers – all probably just out of high school or in college – dressed in random outfits (prob just what was clean for the day).

We met our tour guide – and English hottie called Steve – who had a wealth of knowledge on WWII. I’ve decided anything that is said in an English accent is awesome.

Dachau was about a 10 minute train ride outside of Munich. It started to sprinkle and lightly rain when we arrived. Fitting – like even now – and Angels and God still shed tears for the persecution and death that happened in Europe during WWII.

We walked into the gates of the concentration camp and Steve gave us a plethora of information about the who’s, the what’s, the why’s, and the how’s of the Dachau.

All of it made my stomach curl and my heart break.

The area was so much larger than I had anticipated. Being a WWII history expert (well….not really….but I watched “Schindler’s List”), I kind of had an idea of what to expect. Almost like in a dream, it felt like I could see the mass of people in their striped uniforms, with shaved heads, emaciated bodies. It was heart breaking.

The tour continued and we saw the barracks, the gun towers, the gas chamber and the crematorium.

There are hardly any words to describe what I saw and how I felt.