Birkenstocks, brats, BMW and Bruce

Today was our full day in Munich (München) and we had a somber start to the day with a visit to Dachau concentration camp just outside of the city. The cold rain was fitting. First, we watched a short documentary on the camp and then had time to explore on our own. Not much has changed since I had been there in high school and it's still as sobering and gut-twisting as ever. We walked through recreated barracks, visited the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish memorial chapels and saw the gas chamber and crematoriums. We also had a pertinent discussion with our guide about remembering the horrors as not to repeat them. 

After lunch, we had a bus tour with Tom, an American living in Munich, and he showed us Nymphenburg Palace, various spots in town including a place where they river surf. 

Nymphenburg 

River surfers

We then had time to shop and explore branching off of the Marienplatz. I bought Birks (of course) and we got back to the square by 5pm to see the famous glockenspiel. 

A little more free time before dinner which were brats and potatoes and then we bussed back to the hotel for a quick pit stop. Since our hotel is so close to the BMW headquarters and factory, we visited BMW World to see some of the pretty cars including a section dedicated to MINI Coopers! Yay!

Again, with our hotel being so close to the 1972 Olympic Park, Bruce Springsteen was having a concert there tonight. We could hear the music so we went up just outside the arena to sit in the grass on a hill made of covered-over WW2 rubble, enjoyed Nutella crepes and listened to his last few songs. When in Germany, right?

So now we'll be heading out tomorrow for the fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein and the Tyrol region tomorrow. Bis morgen!