August 28th: Dachau outside Munich and on to the Bavarian Alps!

This morning, we went to one of the 8 or 10 concentration camps the Nazi's ran outside Munich: Dachau. It is inconceivable to me that a government could institutionalize mass murder of ANYONE let alone those it happened to consider undesirable.

The camp was huge and I took a couple of photographs. None digital. It felt intrusive in this place to do so now that it is a memorial to the thousands who died there.

Even though we weren't in the tour, there was an older Jewish man with the customary numbered tattoo on his arm. He had been an "inmate" at Dachau. He said many things at the end of his tour but one that I must remember, "We must remember this place and what happened here and places like it. But German history is far deeper than just this period. Go, see and visit the Germany of the past, present and future."

Grandpa and I then headed one hour south to the Bavarian Alps! WOW! What a change in scenery and environment. Since I love the trees and mountains, I could just stay here, hike, run, bike and gaze at the Alps. It is kind of interesting to me that in 5 minutes we could be in Austria; in about an hour, Switzerland; in just a few, France and on and on.

There aren't too many pictures today. It started to rain about 4pm and hasn't stopped (it is now after 9pm). It is expected to rain more tomorrow. Bummer (although we've had PERFECT weather up till now).

We had hoped to see one of "Mad King Ludwig's" castles. It is huge and sits on top of a small mountain nearby. Just wait until you see those pictures! If it's raining though, we'll be forced to skip it.

There they are in the distance! The Alps!

They keep getting bigger!

Here is a composite "wide" shot at one point in the road.Wow!

The architecture at this point in Germany has a distinctively Swiss flavor. There are even many older German's (excuse me.....Bavarians) who are dressed traditionally. Men in knickers, tyrolian hats with walking sticks; women with button down sweaters, mountain shoes, etc. Very cool.

I like this place. I especially like Mittenwald on the Austrian border. Cold, clear mountain streams cascade down and rapidly rush downhill. They are VERY cold. I went to touch the water at the side of the road in town and slid about 6 inches on some gravel and scraped up my arm and leg. It bled a little but the WORST part was the two older Bavarian women sitting on a park bench steps away. They chuckled and started to say stuff in German which I expect was something like, "Young man.....when you go fooling around like that you're bound to get hurt."

Tomorrow it is off to Stuttgart to see the Mercedes Benz Automotive Museum and overnight in Heidelberg. Then Saturday, we're back to Frankfurt!

Goodnight.