Munich, Germany

We started our day with the guided tour at Dachau concentration camp. It was not any fun to be there between 1933 to 1945 and that has not changed in 2011. It was depressing and terrifying to imagine what happen here and in all the other concentration camps. There was no bright side to look on here, other than we can learn these lesson to make sure this never happens again. After this powerful sightseeing experience, it’s easy to gain more respect for the history. We saw lots of German schoolchildren here because they are required to visit at least one concentration camp during their schooling.

The memorial says NEVER AGAIN in 5 different languages. Our guide, Alun (welsch spelling) did a great job showing us around. It is hard to believe humans are capable of what happened here. I told Melissa I wanted to watch Inglorious Basterds just to cheer up. But then we came up with a better plan, the Hoffbrauhaus.

The Hofbrauhaus is the world’s most famous beer hall. Durst ist schlimmer als Heimweh is written on the ceiling of the Hofbrauhaus. Translated it means “being thirsty is worse than being homesick“. I don’t think anyone leaves the Hofbrau house thirsty. They sell beer by the liter and sell over 10,000 liters per day. Melissa had a Radler- Helles beer mit zitronenlimonade. (Half beer and half lemonade). I did my best to sample all varieties but at one liter at a time, it is a little difficult to keep ordering. There were people of many ages drinking beer at the Hofbrauhaus…including boys and girls 16 years of age and older. Yep…the legal drinking age is 16. The oompah band did their stuff. We snacked on a stuffed cabbage (The cabbage was better than the stuffing of meat). And left feeling pretty good about life in general. I was so happy that I bought two Munich shirts on the way home for myself…Hooray Munich and the Hofbrauhaus.