Munich to Dachau

Munich is a city with an amazing history. Eileen and I had the pleasure of spending three days there at the end of our Prague trip. When anyone visits a place like Munich, aside from the beer, there are innumerable opportunities to stand in places where significant historical events occurred.

I took the opportunity to take Jordan and Isabella to visit the infamous concentration camp, Dachau. For most people this would not be their first choice of things to do and places to see but I felt that being only 20 minutes away by train that a tour was not only appropriate but also necessary. In my opinion, however distasteful this place might be Dachau is a part of history that should never be ignored or forgotten.

Upon arrival, we noticed that the entry pathway landscaping looked as though one was entering a park. This pathway led up to the entry gate to the camp and on the gate was the sign “Arbeit Macht Frei” which means “Work Makes Free”. All of the Nazi camps had this emblazoned on their gates. It was the first of many lies that were told to anyone whom entered the camps as a prisoner. Once through the gates the first thing we noticed was how clean and sanitized the grounds appeared to be. Everything is white. The buildings are white, the ground cover is white, it is as if someone had tried to wash away the distastefulness of this place.

The main building is now a museum and a movie theater. There are historical photos and plaques on display and at the exit of the museum is a movie theater. Visitors are ushered into the theater in large groups to view the movie. The film is graphic and for many can be very unsettling. After the movie, we toured the balance of the grounds. We saw a reconstructed barracks where prisoners stayed. The original buildings have long since deteriorated and a replacement built. All together, there were 36 barracks. Remaining now are low stone walls marking the outlines of the structure and large numbered stones as evidence that anything was ever there. Beyond the barracks, there are 3 religious structures, a Jewish memorial and 2 churches. Beyond them, you pass through a gate to the gas chamber and crematorium.

During our tour, the guide mentioned that 2 years ago 800 former prisoners of Dachau had returned for a reunion. A young woman asked, “How could anyone that had survived this place ever step foot there again?” Our guide only said that personally he did not know but that the survivors must have had some very strong feelings about the place.

I took Jordan and Isabella into the crematorium. It is a building with several ovens in it. It is clean and there are plaques explaining their use. Then we entered the gas chamber. The room had wooden floors and false showerheads to create the illusion of a shower. Isabella noticed that there were scratches in the low ceiling. She could only imagine that the scratches had been made with the fingernails of the chamber’s victims. Outside and behind the chamber is a memorial garden. One is Jewish, one is catholic, and one is for the unknown dead. They all are there to help the living remember the dead. At this point, I took the opportunity to answer the young woman’s question, “How could anyone who survived this place ever return?” I told her that the answer was on the Jewish memorial. It says,”DO NOT FORGET”. For if, we forget then this may happen again. Then Isabella recited a poem.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist;

Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a socialist;

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--because I was not a trade unionist;

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--because I was not a Jew;

Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Martin Niemoeller

I told them again,”DO NOT FORGET”.

Pivo (Beer)

Bier, Birrë, Գարեջուր, بيرة, Pivə, Піва, Бира, Cervesa, 啤酒,Øl, Õlu, Serbesa, Olut, Bière, Cervexa, ლუდი, Μπίρα, Byè, בירה, बियर, Sör, Bjór, Bir, Beoir, Birra, ビール, 맥주, Alus, Пиво, آبجو, Piwo, Cerveja, Bere, Пиво, Cerveza, Bia, بیر, Cwrw, ביר, Pivo

No matter how you say it “Beer” appears to be a universally understood word. It doesn’t matter what country you are in, including the one’s that prohibit alcohol they all claim to have the best beer in the world. Recently, I had the pleasure of sampling beers, 1 liter at a time, that can’t be found at home in the good old USA.

What I found is that different countries have different tastes. American beer tends to be thin, light in color, heavy on bubbles and served ice cold, like Budwiser. As far as I am concerned American beer is like sex on the beach….they are both close to water. English beer tends to be dark, thick heavy and generally served warm. German beer is golden, has a head, is served cool and has a very high alcohol content, some as high as 14%. Then there is Czech beer. Many Czech beers are pilsners. They are heavy, light on bubbles, have a large head and a high alcohol content, 12 to 14% and can be found from a golden color to outright black.

I, like most men, like beer. I also like single malt scotch, grappa, and dry red wine and beer. Over the years my tastes for drink have changed but one thing has always held true and that is that my wife, Eileen, hates the taste of beer. I have tried time and again over the past 29 years to get her to drink beer. I have failed at every attempt. I tried light beer, regular beer, flavored beer, specialty beer, micro brewed beer. I have tried just about every beer that can be had in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean and failed at every attempt.

So now we find ourselves in Eastern Europe. In Europe beer costs less than soda and water Tis is why I believe the drinking age in most European countries is either 16 or none at all. It’s like I told Isabella, 12, and Jordan, 17, “Soda is $4.00 FOR 500 ml, water is $3.00 for 500 ml and beer is 50 cents for 500 ml, I guess you guys better get used to beer.” Anyhow when Eileen ordered red wine instead of beer the server would look at her funny. The look was a cross between disbelief and holding back vomit. Now these people don’t know my wife and at first I was somewhat offended by their behavior but after all we were in their country and when you are in another country part of the fun is eating what they eat and very definitely drinking what they drink. Jordan had no argument with this concept and when we sat down for our first Czech meal he promptly ordered a Pilsner. His mom looked at me and asked if I was going to allow this when Jordan cut me off and said, “Mom it’s OK here, they have different rules and we are not in Raleigh, North Carolina anymore.” How do you argue with logic like this so Jordan had 2 beers with dinner.

Over the next 2 weeks I was able to get Eileen to at least taste my beer. She even agreed that some of them tasted really good but they were so heavy she couldn’t see herself drinking a whole one and was content with tasting mine. Then we got to Germany. In Germany they have a thing called a Radler. Radler is a lemon beer. Jordan said at home it’s called a Porch Monkey. Not terribly nice and not terribly popular because, frankly, it doesn’t taste very

good. I had planned to discuss with him how he knew but I figured at the time the subject was better left alone. Well Eileen tried the Radler and like Green Eggs and Ham she really liked it. She liked it so much she had an entire liter. Yes, beer is good.

Cold, Wet and Miserable

Cold is easy to deal with, rain is also easy but cold and rainy just sucks. Weather in Prague this time of year can be unpredictable. I believe the daily weather reports are designed to keep the tourists optimistic and out and about and spending money. Maybe this is a little on the cynical side but how can the weather reporting agency be that wrong all the time.

The sun rises at 04:00 this time of year. So unless you put towels or blankets over the windows sleeping in is difficult. I guess you could always use a sleeping mask but for those of us that already sleep with a CPAP machine additional stuff on your face just isn’t going to happen. Anyhow, I like to check the weather report early to modify an already planned day. First thing is temperature. Now in Europe temperature is reported in Celsius and converting to Fahrenheit can be a real pain. Temperature usually dictates if my 12-year-old gets to wear shorts and flip flops or jeans, sneakers and a jacket, which she hates. Then you also have to take into account the temperature swing. What’s good in the morning may be miserable in the afternoon. Then there’s the rain. Rain can come at any time and rain here is cold, bone chilling cold.

Yesterday we decided to go o the gallery at Vicerod Castle. To get there we had to take a subway. BTW the mass transit system in Prague is fabulous. Even the directionally challenged can find their way around, just ask my son Jordan who can get lost using a GPS. Anyhow, it started out OK. I suggested that we dress warm because it was greyer than usual and there was a very light rain. Isabella decides to wear shorts and flip flops. Keep in mind I said dress warm but I am used to talking to walls so out we go. The outing wasn’t that bad until we got to the subway stop where we had to walk to the castle. That’s when the rain and wind picked up. So we decided to have lunch and sit out the rain. We ate at a Thai place called Tam Tam. The food was great. I would recommend this place to anyone.

After we ate we decided to give the castle a try. After all how bad could it be, the castle was only a short walk away. It’s raining, it’s cold and the wind is blowing, really hard. Ever seen five umbrellas turn inside out at the same time? It would have been pretty funny if it wasn’t so cold and wet and windy. Now this excursion has become a mission. We are going to get to the castle gallery if we die trying. The point being that once we get inside the gallery it will be warm, dry and out of the wind. So we follow the signs and enter the castle property, on the property we follow the signs to the gallery. Earlier I had mentioned how Isabella was dressed, well by now she is unhappy, with wet legs, blue lips and a pretty nasty attitude. Finally we get to the gallery. It’s not inside. The gallery is a garden alongside and atop the exterior castle wall. Yes that’s right, it’s the shooting gallery.

At this point I put Isabella in my jacket and we all decide to hump it out of there back to the flat to get hot showers and thaw out. The bright side is that without this little life harrowing experience we would not have had a great lunch.