Breakfast at the Mayringerlehen was served beneath a dozen or so sets of mounted antlers and other hunter's bounty by Frau Sabine who was dressed in the traditional Bavarian dirndl dress. 
We enjoyed more farm-fresh dairy products as well as a special treat made just for Jackson.
After breakfast, Jackson informed us that he had a phone call to make. He loves playing with phones but he doesn't quite have the technique down just yet. He holds the phone way behind his ear when he pretends to answer it.
Our destination today was another historical landmark, only this one hit a more somber note than yesterday's. Upon arrival at Dachau concentration camp, I immediately felt like silence was the most appropriate and respectful response to the buildings and images we were greeted with.There aren't words to express what it feels like to pass through the iron entrance gate beneath the phrase "Work Sets You Free" or to walk along the camp road between tall, green poplars and know that prisoners themselves planted these trees alongside the 34 rows of grossly over-crowded barracks where more than 32,000 Nazi prisoners met their death between 1933 and 1945.
The thought that this camp was the first of many was sickening.Tour groups and school groups wandered the grounds speaking in respectfully hushed tones. I was impressed to find out that all German school children are required to make a trip to a concentration camp. I wish that children of all nations were held to that same requirement. It is a trip one never forgets. To see firsthand what blind hatred, corrupt government, and brainwashing can produce is painfully powerful.
As we walked away from Dachau, Dan and I reflected on the precious gift of the Holy Spirit which allows us to love others by the grace of Jesus and to live free of the hatred that is ingrained in our depraved humanity.Lightening things up, we moved on to Munich where we got terribly lost trying to use the TomTom to help us search for our dinner destination on foot. We spent an hour or so wandering the Marienplatz (or Mary's Square, after the Virgin Mary), bustling with a crowded melting pot of tourists from every corner of the globe before we figured out the direction we should be walking. We ogled at the glockenspiel on the Neo-Gothic Neues Rathaus, or New Town Hall.
Jackson played Jackson the Giant over a city model of Munich and played in one of the city fountains.
Finally we found our choice of eatery, the Hofbrauhaus.
Known as the world's most famous beer hall, the Hofbrauhaus is packed with rowdy tourists (the majority of which are Asian) and local regulars the like. The ceilings are brightly painted and the walls are lined with racks of locked beer steins for the locals who sip brews here regularly while dressed in their lederhosen (and believe us, we saw them there!).
We shared a table with a trio of Germans and ordered our dinner plus the largest beer I've ever seen while a lederhosen-clad band rocked the house with traditional oompah tunes and made conversation possible only while yelling. The lively atmosphere was wonderful!
Jackson enjoyed the amped up volume of a beer hall once again and spent most of the hour trying to get a handful of beer foam and flirting with the girls at the table next to us.
We stumbled upon a Starbucks that was closed as we left. I was happy just to be near my favorite watering hole, even if I couldn't get an iced coffee or any of my other favorite beverages.
Energized from the oompah music, Jackson was practically sprinting through the Marienplatz and was a little difficult to corral.
On our way back to the car he played peek-a-boo with me, peaking at me from behind Dan's head (one of his new favorite past-times).
One other thing worth mentioning was the weird Michael Jackson shrine we came across on our way back to the car. I really don't get it...
I thought of you, Shannon Bagwell! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment