Munich, Dachau, and the Eagle's Nest

So, this weekend was a whirlwind trip, fabulously planned and driven by George. We left early Friday morning and drove to Dachau with two vehicles, 10 adults, two children, and one dog. There was a lot of time in the van, much of it spent ill from car-sickness or some kind of stomach bug, even more of it spent asleep, but a good portion in some interesting conversations. The whole weekend was immensely enjoyable, so yay George!!

Dachau
First stop on Friday afternoon was the Dachau concentration camp memorial. I have been here once before, two Novembers ago, but the day I came was dark and icy. Much of the memorial was closed, and the silence was eerie. This time, the sun was shining, everything was open, and the whole place abounded with tour groups of various nationalities. We saw the film in English, then walked through the barracks and the museum. Afterwards, we walked around the rest of the camp, which was all new to me. We saw the chapels and memorials, mass graves, and the old and new crematoriums. When I was here last, it was easy to think of the places as the hell-hole it was, full of death and torment, with ice on the ground and snow laying in dirty drifts against the buildings and bare trees. This time, with sunshine and birds singing, seeing the brick building with it's chimney sticking into the sky, and green trees and flowers lining the paths, it's hard to believe that such evil can hide behind such innocuous beauty.


Eagle's Nest
On Saturday, we got up early to drive down to Berchtesgaden (which is ridiculously hard to spell!) to go to the Eagle's Nest. The Eagle's Nest was a gift from the Nazi Party to Hitler for his 50th birthday. Known in German as the Kehlsteinhaus, it sits on a cliff some 6000 feet above the valley floor. To get up to it, we drove up a hill and parked, then took a bus up to just below the house, then took an elevator inside the mountain face up to the chalet. The tunnel through the mountain to the elevator is long and damp, but large enough that cars could drive through it to keep important dignitaries (and Hitler himself) from having to get wet. Apparently, Hitler himself was rarely at the Eagle's Nest due to a fear of heights...
We were there on a cloudy day, which many people found unfortunate. I, however, have been lucky enough to be atop several very high peaks in clear sunshine, and found the clouds a very pleasant change. They gave the whole mountain an ethereal look, especially as the Kehlsteinhaus disappeared into the cloudbank. From the rocks above the house, you could see a cloud wrapping around the promontory, then suddenly cutting off on the side of the cliff and exposing the dizzying view of the towns so far below.

Munich
On Friday night, Jonathan, Joe, Justin and I (all the people in the picture above) went into Munich for a while, but Saturday night was when the whole group went in to the Hofbrauhaus. Let me tell you, that place is an experience. While there are Hofbrauhauses all over Germany, Munich's is the most famous. At the end of September, it becomes the center of the oh-so-popular Oktoberfest. Throughout the rest of the year, however, it still thrives. When we first arrived, we couldn't find any seats anywhere in the vast hall. Tables were crowded together, filled to overflowing with very loud Germans and tourists of all ages and nationalities. It was very hot, very crowded, and very loud. There was a traditional German band, consisting of accordions and brass instruments and Bavarian costume right behind our table, and periodically you would hear clapping and chanting breaking out, which usually meant somewhere, someone in the hall was chugging a liter of beer. (It apparently only comes in liter steins there.) Occasionally whole tables would stand up and start singing, glasses were raised, cheers given. Girls walked around selling giant pretzels and German cookies in their dirndls. The food was all typically German, lots of bread and sausage and cheese and meat. It was definitely an experience to be remembered!