Liechtenstein and Lucerne

We are in Switzerland and finally have WIFI again. You may notice that about five blogs were uploaded today and that is because the campsite in Munich didn't have WIFI. You also had to pay for hot water, which was really annoying as well as check out toilet paper from Reception. This was not my favorite campsite. 

Enough about Munich, let's talk about Liechtenstein. This small country is basically little Switzerland. They use the Swiss Franc and have the same feel as Switzerland. We stopped in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. We were able to get a stamp in our passports which was awesome! We had to pay for it because Liechtenstein is part of the Shengen but it was totally worth it. We had lunch here and the city is super cute. My only regret is that we didn't have more time here. There is a Castle at the top of the hill that looked super awesome and I wish we could have gone up there.

After leaving Liechtenstein, we headed to Lucerne in Switzerland where we got to hear a sales pitch about Swiss Watches and Swiss Army Knives. I was really tempted to get some of both but couldn't justify the expense. After that, we did a little sight seeing in Lucerne and saw the Chapel Bridge and the Lion of Lucerne. I particularly liked the lion and was very impressed with all the symbolism.

After leaving Lucerne, we stopped for a photo opportunity over the city. It was a very impressive view and I got a couple photos, but I don't think they do it justice.

Later, we arrived at our campsite. I don't normally take photos of the camp but this is my favorite one so far. The views are stunning within the valley and all the amenities here are top notch. Here is what the site looks like.

Tomorrow, we have our full day in Switzerland. We are in the town of Lauterbrunnen and tomorrow will take a train to the top of Jungfrau Mountain. 

Munich and Oktoberfest

The day started out with a bike tour with the group known as Mike's Bikes. It was not as good as I was expecting, but they sure know their audience. Munich isn't a terribly large city to see all the sites in and frankly, with the bike tour we only saw a little. We spent over an hour at a beer garden for lunch at 10:30 in the morning. We did learn some history from our Canadian and Australian tour guides. It was okay, but I wouldn't do it again. Here are some pictures from the things we saw such as the palace, and the opera house.

 The church they showed us during the bike ride was pretty despite the scaffolding covering the entire outside. The statues of the lions point towards the government buildings on one side and the church on the other. The lion has his mouth open towards the government and closed toward the church symbolizing that you can speak up against your government but not against the church.

The beer garden had nice food. We went to the second biggest one in the world (the largest is also in Munich). We had to finish our food and beer quickly towards the end but it was a nice stop.

After the bike tour, I went and walked around the city with Mike (American from San Francisco, living in Hawaii) and George. We started off in the city center, which is actually the only part of the city that I had seen before.

There are two churches in the city center. Peterskirche is right within the square and has a bejeweled skeleton in it.

Frauenkirche is the other church in the city center and like most of the things on the trip was covered in scaffolding. Other than that it was a cool church to see.

After this, we just walked around the city. Some highlights we saw were the Maximilian Palace and St. Luke's church which is Lutheran.

Munich is kinda small in terms of sightseeing so we were able to go all over the city in about five hours. That is also why there aren't too many descriptions on the photos. We headed to Oktoberfest afterwards and I got dinner there and had a few beers with some friends. It was a good night and Munich was a relaxing day.

Tomorrow, we will head to Switzerland by the way of Austria and Liechtenstein. I'm excited to see what the tiny country of Liechtenstein has in store for us.

Dachau and Oktoberfest

Today, we had two extremes in one day. Dachau Concentration Camp is a sobering reminder of the darkest side of human nature, while Oktoberfest is very light and a celebration of life. Some people celebrate it more than others though. It was a very interesting day.
I knew quite a bit about WWII and the Holocaust through school, but seeing the evidence of it is eye opening. Right away, I was stunned by the beauty of the area. It is hard to believe that the area was the scene of so much terror and violence. Seeing the buildings where the Jews were housed and reading about the atrocities that were committed was awful. I'm almost hesitant to post photos of the camp, but I will post some. I will not be posting pictures of the crematory or the death chamber. I will post them on Facebook at some point so all of my Facebook friends that read this have fair warning.

The memorials for all of the victims at Dachau were very moving. They are all over. There are mass graves because many victims were cremated. There are Jewish and Christian graves, as not all the victims were Jewish (although a majority were). The atrocities committed by the Nazis will never be forgotten and places like this are important to remind us why they shouldn't be. American soldiers liberating the camp were said to have gone mad at the sight of the bodies and that isn't surprising. Dachau was the first concentration camp and wasn't originally a death camp, but as the war went on and overcrowding became an issue it transformed.

One last thought about Dachau. The gates say in German "Work will set you free". Not many people who walked through those gates were ever free again. It was an emotional experience coming here, but I am so glad that I did.

After leaving Dachau, we headed to Munich for Oktoberfest. It was a lot of fun. Oktoberfest is basically a huge fair with beer gardens. I didn't expect the fair atmosphere about it. It was a fun experience, even though I didn't have any beer tonight. Tomorrow, I definitely will.

Tomorrow, we will be exploring Munich and then returning to Oktoberfest. We have a bike tour that was one of the extra things we paid for so we shall see how that goes. It should be fun.