The Deutsche Bahn had tickets on sale last month, so quickly bought 2 round trip tickets to Munich for a total of 58 €, thanks to our 50% bahn cards.
Left Mon. morning at 8 and arrived at 11:15. We had made reservations at Motel One West near the train station, but this was still a short tram ride from the HBF on tram 19. We got a 3 day group ticket for 27 euro. The machine in the tram didn't work and for those who want to get tickets on trams, be aware that they only take EC cards, no bills, no coins, no credit cards. Hotel for 2 days including breakfast and wi-fi was 206 €. A tad more, but we wanted AC and boy, we were glad we had it. Munich temps were hovering at 100°F. and sleeping in a cool room was heaven.
After dropping off our bags, we headed into the city to explore. I like old churches so we popped into all of them that we passed. Walked through the Victualen Markt, but it wasn't really any different from our regular markets in Frankfurt other than the stands were permanent and ours are set up in different locations every day. Nothing looked tempting enough to stop and linger. We stopped at one of the bier gartens and had lunch. Tasty käse spätzle. More exploring and then finally back to the hotel check in, meet a friend, and then a light dinner at an Italian restaurant a block away. It was too, too hot to walk much farther.
Tues. morning we went on a private tour to Regensburg. This included a visit to the underground Jewish ruins found in the early 90's, a visit to the Abbey, and walking the circumference of the Roman Walls. Very massive and impressive. The bridge over the Danube is under construction, so no pretty photos. My favorite stop here was St. Peters which had the most gorgeous stained glass windows I think I have seen in Germany. The architecture of the church was very beautiful. Lunch at a little beer garden. It was decent food, but not exceptional. I really liked Regensburg and can recommend it for anyone looking for original architecture, tiny lanes, and interesting quirky bits through-out the city as shown to us by our guide, Taff. We would have never seen the imbedded Jewish grave stones in a house otherwise, nor the many Roman walls. He had all kind of things for us to examine, like Roman pottery, coins, armor, swords and helmet. Yep, he was carrying all of this with him, all day long. In the heat!
Wed. morning, we met with Taff again and went to Dachau. This is a quick train ride, but the bus from the station to the KZ was packed! For anyone worried about finding the way alone, signage is excellent. This was my first time to Dachau so I was interested to see the differences between this KZ and the others I have visited. There is an awful lot of text to read with lots of photos, but not really any artifacts like I have seen in Sachsenhausen, Bergen Belsen or Ravensbruck. The memorials there created by the various faiths were unique and moving. Taff had brought along a pair of original boots/shoes which was quite special to actually hold, as well as K-rations, shrapnel, and chits used by the prisoners. We liked that he explained the process of becoming an authorized guide at Dachau, which takes a year and includes lectures, meeting survivors, practical experience, and being filmed. At the gas chambers and large crematorium, we were to go in without him as guides are supposed to stay outside and let people be alone inside with what they are seeing. This keeps the guides from influencing this emotional moment. One of the plaques caught my eye, from the 4 British women who were raped, tortured and murdered there. I had not known of this.
We then walked the forest path were the many ashes had been strewn, pausing to read the various plaques and memorials. I think I found this to be the most moving, but maybe it was because there weren't many people back there? The rest of the memorial was quite crowded.