Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial

We went to Dachau for a half day trip. Its located on the outskirts of Munich. Dachau was the first concentration camp created in 1933. The way it was ran and its physical set up was the model for every other concentration camp created. Dachau was the only camp that ran during the entire Third Reich. From 1933, until liberation in 1945

 

It’s initial purpose, was to hold and “rehabilitate” political prisoners. So most of the prisoners were German. As Germany continued to run through Europe, they sent people from other nationalities there, and eventually Jews as well. 

 

Over the 12 years it ran, Dachau housed 206,206 prisoners. About 41,500 died. 

 

It was turned into a memorial sight in the late 60′s.. 

 

It wasn’t an extermination camp like Auschwitz was, so not nearly as many people were killed there. But a gas chamber and crematorium  were still built and used on occasion. Not as many Jews went through Dachau compared to some of other camps in Austria and Poland, but still a considerable amount. 

 

This was the first concentration camp I have visited. It was very heavy. More heavy than going through the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. Obviously, it was our tour guide’s job to give us all the detail he could. Some I wish he would have left out. The way people were treated there should just never happen. Its hard to walk through the sight and listen to all the details when I know that people I associate myself with, went through the whole process. It makes me appreciate my Jewish background so much more than I already do.

Florence

We arrived in Florence mid-afternoon on May 14. Our first order of business was lunch. The hotel recommended the best lunch restaurant in Florence: Mario’s. And wow was it good. I had a beef stew dish with boiled potatoes. 

 

The first activity we did was climb the Duomo. The duomo is a huge church with a dome top. You’re able to climb up stairs to the top of the dome which overlooks the whole city and country side. It’s really beautiful. There’s the town then mountains. No other high rises.

 

We wandered around town, with a final destination in mind. We crossed the Old Bridge which has little stores on it. Apparently, it was the only bridge left standing after World War II. After the bridge, we walked along the river for quite a bit until we turned to walk up a hill to Plaza Michelangelo. This had the best view of Florence. We stayed up there for quite awhile to take in the sight and the sun.

 

Of course, we had another fantastic Italian dinner.

 

The next morning we woke up early to go the Museum Academia, where the famous sculpture, the David, is held. It was a lot bigger than I thought. It was one of Michelangelo’s greatest works. 

  

We decided to take a half-day trip for the rest of the day. We hopped on a one hour bus ride to the town of Siena. It was filled with small streets, little plazas, views overlooking the countryside, and a gorgeous cathedral. We were able to go up a tower which gave us a great view. 

 

On our way back to the bus station, we got some Gelato. I had a “questionable” (in Gretchen’s opinion) decision in flavors. A combination of chocolate, mixed berries, and melon. Melon was a last minute, panic, choice, but it was still delicious. We got back to Florence in time for dinner where we went to a local restaurant recommended by the hotel. 

 

The following day we took another day trip to Cinque Terre! Which has its own separate post.

 

That ended out last day in Florence and in Italy. Early flight tomorrow!

 

Florence has such a great feel to it. More of a village feel rather than a city feel. It’s not as touristy as Rome, which is why I think I liked it better. It was also a great central location for the day trips we embarked on. 

 

Definitely going to miss all the great Italian food. 

 

It’s been so much fun touring around with Gretchen so far and I’m sure it will continue to be amazing.

 

Two thumbs up for Italy. If I had three hands, I’d give three thumbs up!

 

Next stop: Munich

 

 

Until next time,

 

Todd

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is simply amazing. Since I can’t post pictures until I get home, take a second to look up some images on google. 

 

Now that you’ve seen it, you know what I mean!

 

The five towns are called: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monteroso.

 

Since it was rainy at the beginning of the day, the hiking paths were closed. There’s one path that takes you from Riomaggiore all the way to Monteroso which we were planning on doing. A little bit of a bummer but we were still able to see all five villages along the coast line because there is a train that runs from each one. Each one was so pretty. They all have colorful houses and great views of the mountains and the sea. 

 

There were some small paths going up which we were able to hike. Those put us at an elevation where we could see everything. 

 

The weather was good when we got there so it was just great being outside and taking in the beauty of it all. 

 

Definitely a highlight of this trip so far and my time in Europe

Italian Food

This deserves its own post because it is just so good. It’s always a tough decision between pizza or pasta. Good thing I can’t go wrong!

Tough life right?

Rome

We arrived in Rome the night of May 11. When we got to the hotel, we planned the 2 full days that we were in Rome, and this is what we came up with and followed.

The first day we went to Palatine gardens, Palatine Hill and the Roman forum. It wasn’t what I expected. It was all archaeological. All ruins. But very cool to see in person. Gretchen and I kept on saying how amazing it would have been to see it a couple thousand of years ago in its hay day.

Right next to that was the famous Roman Colosseum. That lived fully up to its expectation. I was completely awestruck. First of all, the engineering skills it takes to build something like that in that day of age is incredible. Then, just the feeling of being in the colosseum is overwhelming. All the history that took place there and I was standing inside of it.

We had lunch after that and then proceeded to the Spanish steps. The steps were in the middle of a very cute plaza that was very lively. Great atmosphere around it. The view from the top was pretty nice. Gretchen and I had to do them since we both studied in Spain.

The next big attraction we went to was the Trevi Fountain. That was very cool. It was on the side of a building and I thought it was in its own plaza, but it was incredible nonetheless. I threw a coin in, but then Mums told me we needed to throw 3 coins in for our wishes to come true! Oh well. Hopefully 1 will do.

Dinner was after that. Of course we had Italian food. I can eat Italian food every night and love it every single night.

The next day was another fantastic day.

We started in Vatican City. The first spot we went to was St. Peter’s basilica. Apparently there’s a dress code there which we did not know about. I was fine but Gretchen needed to cover her shoulders. So we asked this one girl to borrow her scarf. The girl was younger than us and happened to be there with her class from school. We had to stay by them cuz we weren’t going to steal the scarf. We were pretty much casually stalking this girl and her class. They didn’t speak English, but we knew that they were talking about Gretchen. It was hilarious. The church itself is the second largest in the world. This one, like most others, just had the most glorious designs and decorations.

We stayed in Vatican City and continued to the Museums and the Sistine chapel. Sistine chapel was amazing. I was sneaky enough to get a picture so be on the look out for that when I post them. Props to Michelangelo for doing that great of a job.

Lunch was close to Vatican City and then we walked along river for awhile. For a real long while. We actually went off the map we were given. Oops. We did find an amazing Gelato store though! And it was completely legit. The people didnt speak English. The woman that took my order thought I understood everything she said, but I had no clue. She just put random flavors in my cup. But it was sooooo good.

We made our way to the Pantheon and then Piazza navona.

Another great Italian dinner was eaten once again and then we headed back to the hotel for the night.

I love Rome. The beautiful weather helped. It was sunny and mid 70s both days. But everything about it was incredible. I think it surpassed Lisbon as my favorite city (besides Barcelona) in Europe. The history, atmosphere, and mix of big piazzas and small streets really makes it incredible.

Sorry for the long post. I plan on posting for each city, rather than every day.

Next stop: Florence!

Until next time,

Todd

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to my host family and this new home is definitely going to be hard. 

 

My host mom left this morning, and to be honest, I almost cried. 

 

I’ve been hanging with Jazmin for the day and it will be hard to say goodbye to her as well. 

 

Packing Up

You think it would be hard to pack for only two weeks in a travelers backpack, but it’s actually real easy. If its not necessary to bring, don’t pack it! I have successfully done this.

There’s actually less in that bag now then there was when dad and I shared that bag for Paris!

My room seems really empty now and it’s getting a little sad