Spring Break Part 1: Germany

Ciao, Guten Tag, and Bonjour!

Spring Break came to Italy this past week, so Megan and I jumped at the opportunity to explore a new part of Europe together! After a night in Venice on Friday (which she’ll cover in her portion of the blog) we were off to Germany and Switzerland for a week filled with great food, tons of coffee, and a whole lot of failed attempts at speaking the German language. Unfortunately that last comment is primarily directed at me, but we’ll get to that…

We arrived in Berlin on Saturday morning and made our way to our hostel downtown. After a quick orientation to the city by the staff, we set out to explore a few Berlin Wall memorials, including the East Side Gallery (which is the longest portion of the wall still standing). The memorials gave a great picture of what life was like during the Cold War, as well as the drastic differences between the Soviet controlled east side and American controlled west. The East Side Gallery was an especially cool part of Berlin, as a number of famous artists have painted different depictions and murals of what the wall meant to them. Others, however, simply decided to paint giant faces. You can imagine which one I related with. Our first night in Germany ended at a traditional restaurant just off the river in the heart of Berlin. There we got our first chance to try local favorites such as “Schnitzel”, “Granny’s Eggs”, and of course, that famous German beer.

Berlin Wall

Reconstruction of how the wall originally stood

Memorial to those who died trying to cross the wall

East Side Gallery

Schnitzel and Granny's Eggs!

The next morning we made our way down to the Brandenburg gate for a free walking tour of Berlin’s major landmarks. Beginning first at this square, our tour guide Seb proceeded to lead us past the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Memorial to the Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and numerous other important buildings and palaces from the era of Germany’s Bavarian kings to the Third Reich and Soviet occupation. (History shout-out!) Megan and I both greatly enjoyed this tour as our guide would address questions regarding how Germans today feel about that dark section of their country’s past and what it means to be German now. Their thoughts on Hitler’s regime can best be summed up in how they have treated the bunker in which he committed suicide. It is now a parking lot.

Brandenburg Gate

Hotel Adlon on the square, only $15,000 a night! Look familiar?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ElddgJCgyg

Checkpoint Charlie

 Memorial to the Murdered Jews

We spent the rest of the evening exploring downtown Berlin! We got the chance to create our own German chocolate bars at a famous shop, and marveled at a $2,250,880 Bugatti Veyron that was displayed at a rather “up-scale” car dealership. After another great meal of bratwurst and pumpkinseed risotto, we decided to call it a night and rest up for our train ride to Munich in the morning.

Upon our arrival in Munich the next day, we realized that (much to my delight) the city is spelled “Munchen” in German. Therefore, returning again to my pronunciation struggles, our adventure in Munchin’ had begun.  We spent the first night in ol’ Munchin’ walking around the city and visiting the landmarks recommended by our map. The city had a much more “European” feel than the modern-esque Berlin and presented an entirely different side of Germany. We climbed to the top of an old church tower overlooking the city, and walked through the beer gardens that will be jam-packed come Oktoberfest. Our tour ended at Hofbrauhaus, one of Germany’s famous beer halls. The building was three stories tall and had a great atmosphere, with live German music being played by the band and waiters/waitresses in traditional German attire. The “regulars” even had small lockers inside the hall where they could lock their personalized mugs up for safe keeping when they left. As you can tell by the pictures below, the “Original” was not quite what we were expecting.

 The mug lockers

The "Original"

Our last day in Germany was divided between two half-day trips, the first of which was to Neuschwanstein Castle, located a couple hours outside of Munchin’. This castle has been featured in many of the old, animated Disney movies and is exactly what you would think of when you picture a German castle! Unfortunately, the morning we attended was quite foggy, so our pictures ended up being a little underwhelming. Luckily, Wikipedia has my back to give you all a picture of what it’s like in the sun. The small German town at the base of the castle was very cool as well, providing a great picture into what life in Germany was like outside of the big cities.

Neuschwanstein Castle

 A tad bit foggy

Small German town at the base

Our final stop in Germany was at the Dachau concentration camp that afternoon. After watching a quick movie about the camp’s function and history (It was the longest active concentration camp in World War II) we walked around the grounds with our audio tour guide. The guide detailed the unthinkable hardships endured by the hundreds of thousands of individuals who were sent to Dachau, and provided insight into the events that led to such a horrific practice. It was a very significant experience, and can probably best be described through the pictures we took.

"Work will set you free"

 Crematorium

Gas chamber

The next day we were off to Switzerland! We had an incredible time in Germany, and it was definitely one of my favorite places so far. As you’ll soon read, however, Lucerne has the top spot locked away. I’ll post the link as soon as it’s up, but for now I say Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän! (I’m not really sure what that means but it’s the longest word in German. I’m a fan.)