Castles and Concentration Camps

We have arrived in Salzburg, Austria. We took the train from Munich through the beautiful rolling countryside of southern Germany. We just got back from another round of Bavarian food (Although we finally had a meal where no one ordered sausage ! I am sorry the blog is couple of days behind but I will catch you up. First a little news. Some phones are working and some are not so as of right now only Jody and I have phones. We cannot use them in Austria or Czech Republic so we decided not to hand out any phones. It really has been no problem though because the kids have been commenting ho it is nice to be detached a little.(You guys probably feel a little different) I will probably have them up and running in Berlin or when we really will use them, in Hemer. Use Facebook and email for now and your kids will get to hear from you faster.  Back to the trip...

Thursday we went on a tour of Neuschwanstein Castle in the very southern most part of Germany. This is the castle that Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty's Castle is designed after.  I was thinking it might be a tourist trap but it was actually quite impressive. We did another rainy bike tour around Swan Lake near the base of the mountain where the castle rest. Our tour guide for the day, Brad from South Africa, is also a extremely good up-close magician. He wowed us with his slight of hand tricks, including an amazing trick turning blank paper into Euros. The forty minute hike up to the castle was a breathtaking stroll up some steep steps beside a heavily flowing waterfall. At the top of the hike was  bridge behnd the castle that allowed us to take fantastic photos of the castle. The castle was designed by King Ludwig who dedicated it to his closer than just friend, composer, Richard Wagner. Inside it was like we were transported to Hogwarts School of Magic. The castle had intricate wood work and masterpieces painted on every wall. The kings bedroom looked like it was designed as altar for St. Peter's Basilica. We were all quite impressed. Unfortunately, Dustin had a short bout with a stomach virus, which thankfully cleared itself up after a good nights rest.

    Today we went to  Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. Of course, our mood became  much more somber. We had an excellent guide who gave us the history of the camp and of the Nazis. The group was overwhelmed by the tour of the reconstructed gas chambers (Thankfully never used) and the crematoriums.  We had a good  discussion about what we thought afterward. We thought it must be hard for the Germans to cope with this story in their past but it is harder for us imagine what those imprisoned went through. Our tour guide told us he never uses the word imagine in the tour because it is impossible to imagine the horror of what went on. We all agreed. It was neat to see how the group bonded together afterward.  We visited the Brandhorst Museum when we got back to Munich. We saw a couple of Andy Warhols and many exhibits that pushed the limits of art. It was interesting. One more thing, Tricia taught me how to solve my first Rubics Cube on the train and that was a great way to close out a fun day. See you tomorrow with a few guest bloggers talking about the sound of Music Tour!