Thursday, June 16, 2011

MUNICH, DACHAU, ROTHENBURG

(If you are interested, just scroll down to my previous two posts about the beginning of this trip to Europe.)

On the road to Munich, we saw fields of hops being grown for the making of beer. I had no idea that they were a vine and grown on a pole/string apparatus.
The interesting architecture of the 1972 Munich Olympic Park. The 1972 olympics are unfortunately most known for the massacre of Israeli athletes.

At the center of Munich is the Marienplatz, once the intersection of medieval trade routes and home of the famed Glockenspiel that is in the tower of Neues Rathaus.



We were there at 5:00 pm and saw the Glockenspiel do its thing.

Then it was time to check out another beer garden, so I could have my daily Diet Coke. My Coke always cost more than the beer - usually about 3,50 euros or over $5.00!


We had dinner at the oldest brewery in Munich called Augustiner; then headed to our hotel in Puchheim.

The next day the tour was scheduled to go to Neuschwanstein to see King Ludwig's fairy-tale castle. Instead, three of us elected to take the commuter train back to Munich to take in the art museums. I'm so glad we did, as the others reported that it was quite a hike uphill to Ludwig's castle. We had a wonderful day back in Munich. I spent my time at the Alte Pinakothek immersing myself in the paintings of Cranach, Vermeer, da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, etc. etc. etc. Wonderful!!!

I did discover a new favorite - Jan van Kessel, a Flemish painter from the 1600s. He did the most detailed work of animals and botanicals with a large painting in the middle then a series of smaller paintings around the outside edge.
















We also toured the Munich Residence Museum, the Palace of the kings of Bavaria.


This grotto courtyard was all done in shell work.


Opulence everywhere.

All of the extravagance of Munich was left behind. We next traveled to Dachau, the first concentration camp in Germany. What can I say - this was a sobering experience to think of the lives lost or changed forever. The inhumanity that took place was unbelievable.

I spent most of my time there in the museum reading the stories of the people that were interred. I'll never forget some of the stories and pictures.



We left Dachau, and traveled on the Romance Road to Rothenburg.

Rothenburg is Germany's best-preserved medieval town with half-timbered homes, cobblestone streets, and city walls.









We are headed to Heidelberg next for what must seem like to you an endless travelogue. Hope you check in for my next post.



I apologize for spacing problems - Blogger is giving me fits tonight!


(All pictures may be clicked on to enlarge to see details.)

2 comments:

Marilyn said...

Interesting white bench on the hill in Rothenburg. I'm sure it was nice to visit a pleasant bit of old history after Dachau. We stayed at a B&B in San Francisco with a survivor of the Holocaust as our hostess and can not fathom the horrors she lived through. ♥♫

Elaine said...

The Romantic Road looks fabulous. I am sure visiting Dachau was sobering. I visited Aushwitz in 1986 and it had a profound effect on me.

Going to look at your other vacation posts.