Yesterday, my German started coming back to me. It’s very rusty, as I’ve not spoken German properly for 3-4 years.
I started the day with breakfast at the bakery opposite my hotel – fresh croissants! I hadn’t noticed until too late that they have chocolate with cream croissants, which look nice. One of those with a hot chocolate will do nicely for breakfast this morning.
My first destination yesterday was Dachau, for the concentration camp memorial site (KZ-Gedenkstätte). It’s half an hour from Munich City Centre on the the S-Bahn (suburban train), on line S2. Dachau is in the Außenraum (outer zones) travel area so my 3-day Innenraum (Inner zones) ticket didn’t cover it… I got a 1 day München XXL ticket instead, which also covered the bus from Dachau Bhf. to the site itself.
Above: The roll call area inside the prisoner area of the concentration camp.
Entrance to the site is free, but you can also choose if you wish to have an audio guide, or a guided tour. I booked myself, with a cost of €3, on to the English language tour. Before the tour, I was able to go to the cinema to watch a short film about the camp.
Above: From 1933 to 1938, the inside of the prisoner “huts” would have looked similar to this.
The tour lasted 2 and a half hours, and was much more useful than simply walking around the museum. The guide was very informative, answered all the questions members of the group had, and explained lots about the history behind the Dachau camp.
Above: By the end of the war, beds were much closer together and took up the whole room.
We didn’t get time to visit the crematorium as the guide had spent so much time talking about everything else – but he kindly pointed us all in the direction of it, and after returning to some parts to take photos, I went to look around the crematorium on my own.
The crematorium is also home to Dachau’s gas chamber, built in 1942 but never used – and no one really knows why.
Above: Dachau Gas Chamber – the entrance and inside the chamber itself.
Above: The new crematorium (inside and out).
Above: Memorial sculpturr with the maintainance buildings in the background.
After taking photos, it was approaching 4 o’ clock and I still hadn’t had any lunch… I also had not much time to get back to Munich and get ready for my evening out.
I headed to the visitor centre where I was just in time to get some Currywurst mit Pommes for lunch. I also bought myself a copy of the Dachau DVD, which I thought would be interesting to watch.
Returning to Dachau station, I chose not to use the bus, but instead walked the 3km Path of Remembrance – the route prisoners arriving at the camp would have taken.
On my return to Munich, I had just ten minutes to get ready to head out to the Nymphenburg Palace, where I was going to see a concert of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. A very grand venue, I felt as though I was spending the evening with the upper classes of Germany.
Above: Hubertussaal in the Nymphenburg Palace: What a venue!
I travelled to the palace on the tram – a very interesting way to travel – as there was not an underground line which went in that direction. The concert was great, lovely music and a great atmosphere.
After returning to Munich I headed to Marienplatz, where I wanted to try the Ratskeller restaurant. No, it’s not a cellar full of rats… It’s a restaurant underneath (in the cellar) of the old townhall (Ratshaus). I enjoyed a traditional Bavarian meal of roast pork in gravy with dumplings (one made of potato, one of bread). What a meal! I loved it. The waiter seemed to like my efforts to speak German, even if I was a little rusty in places.
Above: My evening meal at the Ratskeller in Munich’s Marienplatz.
Today – Sunday – I’m going to Salzburg on the train for the day.
I’ll write again a little later.
Bye for now.
FH.
