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Munich
Day 1
Our train arrived three and a half hours late which was not good for our tour plans.Fortunately we found the hostel easily and information on a tour that started later.The hostel was really really nice.It was clean and everything looked new.It was basically a hotel but with bunk beds.There was quite a difference from Rome and Munich.Besides Munich being relatively small, only 1.2 million people, it was very clean.There were no streets vendors and all the buildings are well taken care of.The streets are actually asphalt and not cobblestone.Everyone seems generally friendly and everyone speaks English.Once we got unpacked and showered and cleaned up we went down to the Marienplatz to meet the tour.We went on a 2 and a half hour tour hitting the main spots around the city center.The Glockenspiel was under construction so it didn't look as glamorous as it usually does. We went over to a beerhaus nearby and had a strong beer before we went on a beer tour with the same outfit.
The beer tour was very interesting and fun along the way.Our tour guide was really thorough and went over everything in great detail.He described the history of Munich and beer and how beer is made.For our first stop we went back to the place we just had the beer at.From there we went to a brew pub and he explained how everything worked.We also got to test a few of their beers and have dinner. From there we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus.We had another LARGE beer to finish off the night.We also ran into the British guys, from our hostel in Rome, in the Hofbrauhaus.It's a small world.The bars close at 12:00 and we got lost, but finally made it home around 1:00.
Day 2
Our main destination today was the Dachau Concentration Camp.The tour didn't start until 1:15 so we had some time to waste.We went back to the train station to pick up our tickets for the trip to Amsterdam the next day.The tickets for the Cochettes (6 people room) were sold out, so we had to get a Sleeper (4 people room), so we should be traveling in style.After the train station, we headed to the Viktualienmarkt.This is the best place to get fresh food in Munich.There are also food stands serving fast food.We had chicken and chips because trying to eat Bavarian Food every meal will give you a heart attack in about 2 days.We met up with the group and left for Dachau, the small town on the outskirts of Munich.We took an aboveground subway to get there.Of all the cities we have been to Munich has the best public transportation.It has the most extensive roots of any of the cities including Rome and Athens, which for a city of only 1.2 million is saying something. The trains are also very clean and have no graffiti.
We didn't arrive at the concentration camp until 2, and the place closes at 5.To give you ad idea of how much there was to see there, the audio guided tour is 7 hours long.Even though our tour guide was good, we wished we would have just left earlier and done the tour ourselves.It was so well done that you didn't really need a guide.They had a video presentation too that was very well put together.Dachau was the first concentration camp and started back in 1933.It was different than Auschwitz in that it wasn't a extermination camp.They had gas chambers but they were never used.Although it wasn't an extermination camp, the best estimates are that 55,000 died in this camp.At the time of liberation there were 30,000 liberated, even though it only had a capacity of 7,500.
After we got back we climbed to the top of a church for some great views of the city.From there we started heading towards the English Garden but we ran into a lady from Oregon, who had been living in Munich for 12 years now.She told us to rent a bike and see the city for our last day instead of going to the museum, but maybe we can fit both in.Afterwards we had dinner and a beer at another garden and then headed back to the hostel.
Day 3
(Dale writing)Thursday we decided to rent bikes, which is the best way to get around Munich.It is the most bike friendly city I have ever been in.People don't just ride their bikes for recreation they ride it to get from one point to another.Our first stop was the Nymphenburg (not sure of the spelling) palace.It is huge; the Bavarian rulers knew how to live.From there we went to the site of the 1972 Olympic Games.Near the Olympic Village is the BMW factory.It had several different cars starting from their first car up to more present cars.It also had a car like Steve Urkel's.If you used to watch the show Family Matters you would know what I mean.Then we rode over to the English gardens, which used to be the hunting grounds for the royalty.In the English garden is the Chinese beer garden, it holds 7,000 people but is only the second largest beer garden in Munich.After that we went to where they hold Oktoberfest.We were told that people fill up the makeshift beer halls at eight in the morning to get a spot and they don't serve until ten.The makeshift beer halls seat 10,000 people a piece.When we were there they already had around 30 of them built.After that we went to a beer garden that was more for the locals and less touristy.We then went back to the hostel and hung out until it we had to catch our train. The train to Amsterdam was very crowded.When we first open the door we were staring at a large Dutchman's butt, and on top of that the two guys reeked really bad. We had a sleeper car, but it was smaller then a couchette even though it costs more.This was a problem because there was no place to put our bags.Luckily, we were able to cram our bags in the room.It was quite crowded with Blaine, two other passengers, myself, and the bags.
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