Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Continued from last post.
My flight leaves Glasgow at 8:40am and an hour later it arrives at my destination. After exiting the plane and making my way through the airport, I find waiting my friend Dan from Seattle. Welcome to Dublin!
Dan is a colleague from work and this is his first time in Europe. In February, about a month before I left, Dan approached me after a monthly department meeting and said he had wanted to go to Europe and was wondering if something could work out for meeting up and traveling together while I was here this year. But here’s the thing, Dan and I really don’t know each other. We never worked together and the only time we can recount spending time together is at happy hour events. And now we have committed to traveling together, we’ll see how this goes! And he knows I am going to write and post photos, so he is going to have to live with what results. Dan basically volunteered to be in a social experiment!
This post covers Tuesday, September 8 to Sunday, September 20, 2015 (13 days).
Be ready for photos, because there are a lot in this post!
Dublin
From the airport we take the bus into the center of Dublin and check in at the apartment we have to ourselves. After some laundry and a nap, we are ready to start seeing this town.
We go on a tour at the Jameson Distillery and then a bus tour that includes drinks at two pubs. Where we have dinner had advertised live music, and we are pretty disappointed that what it ends up being is a live video feed of music at another location in the building!
The next morning after a Full Irish breakfast, we headed to see some sites.
John’s Lane Church.
St Patrick's Cathedral, built in 1192.
This stone was unearthed in 1901 and was covering an ancient well. The well may have been where St Patrick performed baptisms in the 5th century. The stone is dated to between 800 to 1100.
We visit Dublin Castle, which was established by King John of England in 1204.
The last intact medieval tower of the castle and all of Dublin. It has 15 foot (4.5 meter) thick walls and was used as a jail.
The River Liffey flowing through Dublin.
We walk to Temple Bar, an area in Dublin along the river, and find a pub to have dinner that indeed has live music. At 10:00pm we head out and walk to the train station and are soon on a train heading north.
Enjoying a pint and traditional Irish music.
Laytown
We arrive into the beach town of Laytown quite late but the key has been left under the mat.
The next morning after rising, having a cup of coffee with our host, and eating breakfast, we head to the bookie.
Bets are placed!
Since 1868, Laytown has hosted annual horse races on the beach along the Irish Sea. This year that day is today. These races are the only official races still run on a beach.
The beach and track seen from the grandstand.
Horses coming down the track!
Horses fighting for the lead!
There were six races and we spent the day with some locals we met on the way to the bookie.
The friends we made in Laytown.
The morning after the races, we catch the train heading south. Then catch a bus, and after a transportation mishap, eventually arrive at the airport. After a 1.5 hour flight we arrive at our destination. Welcome to Berlin!
Berlin
Just off the underground, sun setting, Church on Südstern in the distance.
The next morning we visit the Berlin Wall Memorial.
“Germany and Berlin were both divided into two parts that were hostile to one another. This is how it happened: After WW II, the four allied powers that won the war – the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain and France – occupied Germany and divided it among themselves. Berlin was like an island in the middle of the Soviet occupation zone. The city was also divided into four sectors, but it was supposed to be jointly governed. But how? The occupying powers in the West and the Soviet occupying power in the East fought over this. They were unable to agree, so the city was split into two parts: West Berlin and East Berlin. The same thing happened to Germany. It was divided into two separate states: The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).”
Map of Germany showing the divided areas.
Map of Berlin with the wall clearly marked.
The memorial site had a lot of information to read, audio to listen to, and original elements recreated.
Location of a watchtower.
Location of the Berlin Wall.
The basement of a home adjacent to the location of the wall, the family name of ‘Keller’ on a plaque at the bottom.
The foundations of homes, with a new layer of brick added to the top to preserve the original beneath.
The location marked of one of the underground tunnels that were dug for escape to the west.
“The German Democratic Republic government (East Germany) would have liked to erase West Berlin completely from the East Berliner’s minds. Instead it eliminated it from the city maps.”
The Reconciliation Church was completed in 1894. After the division of Berlin in 1945, it ended up in the Soviet sector while its congregation lived in the neighboring French sector. When the Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961, the outer wall passed in front of the church and the inner wall passed behind the church, isolating it from both sides. The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) decided to take it down in January 1985.
The Reconciliation Church was blown up in January 1985 by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
Foundation of the Reconciliation Church.
The outline of the Reconciliation Church marked into the ground.
“During the demolition of the church tower, this cross broke off the spire. Cemetery workers preserved it secretly beyond 1989. On the Day of Repentance in 1995, the cross that had been bent out of shape during the demolition was returned to the parish.”
The fall of the Berlin Wall began on November 9, 1989 when access was allowed across it for both sides. Demolition officially began in June 1990.
A section of the original Berlin wall and a watchtower still intact, seen from the top of the museum.
The Berlin wall at the sidewalk level, a part of some citizens’ normal commute.
After several hours at the Berlin Wall Memorial we moved on in the city.
The Berlin Cathedral.
Fountain in Lustgarten Park, in front of the Berlin Cathedral.
The altar of the cathedral.
The organ of the cathedral.
View of the Spree River and the skyline from the dome of the cathedral.
Looking down to Lustgarten Park from the dome of the cathedral.
Heading back down the stairs in the cathedral.
Damage to a building from WW II that has remained and not been repaired.
Enjoying a 1-liter beer at dinner.
Berlin at night.
In the morning we take a train from Berlin and head west.
Potsdam
Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Kaiser. There are lakes and cultural landmarks around the city including the largest World Heritage site in Germany, the palaces of Sanssouci.
The Communs, located in Sanssouci Royal Park, housed the royal kitchens, utilities, gardeners’ shops, palace guard, and servants for the neighboring New Palace. A tunnel connects the Communs to the New Palace.
The colonnades of Sanssouci Royal Palace with Ruinenberg Hill in the distance.
The Cecilienhof Palace, where the major post-WW II conference was held between the victorious Allies.
Watching the Seahawks vs Rams game in Berlin.
After the game, we found our way to the underground station but the train did not come and did not come. Then we were on a train and it came back to the same station! We end up meeting other people that were intending to take this same train and since that was not possible, we just continued our evening with them instead.
We end up at the pub Bei Schlawinchen, which stays open 24 hours a day and hasn’t closed once since the 1970s, or so we were told.
We eventually make it back quite late to where we are staying.
The next day we head out and have a meal near the Spree River.
The Berlin Cathedral on the other side of the Spree River.
After we are done eating we board a boat tour.
Enjoying a beer on our boat tour.
After the boat tour is complete, we meet up with Sam, the brother of Sarah who came with two friends to Northern Ireland while I was there in July. Sam is attending a university here. We walk around Berlin and Sam gives us a tour, including some of the mural painted sections of wall still standing from the Berlin Wall.
Section of the Berlin Wall that is now painted.
The towers of the Oberbaum Bridge.
Dan and I in front of a mural painted section of the Berlin Wall.
To end our tour we have a drink at the Hopfenreich Bar.
The next morning, after four nights in Berlin we take a bus to the central train station. We buy food and head to platform two, boarding a train shortly before noon.
Berlin Central Train Station, which also works out to be a mall with all the shops.
Working on writing and preparing photos for the next website post while on the train to the next destination.
Bamberg
Four hours after departing Berlin, we arrive in Bamberg, which is said to have the highest density of breweries of anywhere in Europe, which is totally cool with us.
Buildings built up over the Regnitz River.
We have dinner at the Schlenkerla pub, founded in 1310. After dinner we go to another pub for a drink, this pub founded in 1350.
The next day we go on a self-guided walking tour to visit breweries, and this also means seeing a lot of the city.
Walking the streets of Bamberg.
A building built up from the middle of the Regnitz River and a bridge that passes through it.
Crossing over one of many bridges.
Between breweries, we make a stop at the Michaelsberg Abbey, which hosts the Fraconian Brewery Museum. The Abbey was founded in 1015, 1,000 years ago! The brewery of the abbey was first mentioned in 1122. The museum had a lot of interesting history, which we only knew from looking at all the very old barrels and equipment, because there was no text in English.
View from the gardens of the abbey.
The gardens and abbey.
View from the gardens of the abbey.
Throughout the day we go to four breweries that range in age from 11 years to 479 years: Ambräusianum (founded 2004), Fässla (founded 1649), Spezial (founded 1536), and Mahr's Bräu (founded 1670).
In the evening we find a swing in the park, so we do what we must.
After two nights in Bamberg, we are on a train the next morning that departs at 8:49am. Just over three hours later and we arrive at the Munich Central Train Station. We depart the train and find the luggage lockers. We lock up our bags and catch another train heading north. After a train ride and a bus ride, we arrive where we are heading.
Dachau
“In March 1933, a concentration camp for political prisoners was established on this site. It served as a model for all subsequent concentration camps and was under the command of the SS. In the 12 years of its existence, over 200,000 persons from throughout Europe were incarcerated here and in the numerous subcamps. More than 43,000 died. On April 29, 1945, U.S. troops liberated the survivors.
The former prisoner camp became a Memorial Site in 1965.”
I don’t normally cover sites so thoroughly as this one, but it is more important than most and I know many people won’t have the experience to visit such a place. All black and white photos and quoted text are from the Memorial Site.
For reference:
Nazi Party: The English name for the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party).
SS: An abbreviation for Schutzstaffel, a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
Gestapo: An abbreviation for Geheime Staatspolizei, the Secret State Police of Nazi Germany.
Aerial view of the concentration camp. April 20, 1945.
The train station platform where inmates arrived, it was the end of the line.
The road from the train station platform to the entrance of the camp.
The final gate to enter camp. Arbeit macht frei: "work sets you free."
Roll call square. Remaining barracks for the memorial site on the left.
Prisoners at roll call.
A watchtower and gate bordering roll call square.
Outer wall, sentry walk, electric wire fence, barb wire obstacle, ditch, prohibited area.
“SS men kept watch over the camp from seven watchtowers. The instant a prisoner entered the prohibited zone he was fired upon. Some prisoners ran into the border strip on purpose in order to put an end to their suffering.”
Prisoner shot dead at the perimeter fence. May 6, 1942.
International Monument. Built in 1968.
Color of Badges Sculpture at the International Monument.
“Never Again” in five languages.
Barracks. 1944.
Inmates inside barracks.
Three story bunks in the barracks today. September 2015.
Aerial view of the barracks after liberation.
The foundations of the barracks today. September 2015.
Inmates on the camp road. June 28, 1938.
Former inmates on the camp road after liberation.
Camp road today. September 2015.
Catholic Mortal Agony of Christ Chapel. Built in 1960.
Jewish Memorial. Built in 1967.
Chapel of Carmelite Convent. Built in 1964.
Protestant Church of Reconciliation. Built in 1967.
Russian Orthodox Chapel. Built in 1995.
The crematorium in summer 1944.
The crematorium today. September 2015.
“Grave of many thousands unknown.”
Gas chambers that were never used.
Furnaces that were used and could cremate two to three corpses at once.
“The Bunker, constructed between 1937-1938, was a centre of terror. Prisoners were locked in its cells for weeks or months at a time, often in darkness and with even less food than in the rest of the camp. In the Bunker the SS maltreated and tortured prisoners. From 1944, ‘standing cells’ were installed as an additional instrument of torture. An unknown number of prisoners were murdered in the Bunker or driven to suicide. From 1941 the Gestapo also held prominent prisoners in the Bunker as hostages of the regime. In the same year, 1941, a penal camp for members of the police and SS was set up in the left wing of the building. After the liberation, the American military administration held Nazi war-criminals in custody in the building.”
Looking down the main corridor inside the Bunker.
I know that I can’t put words to the feelings felt at Dachau. And I know that the feelings felt are nothing in comparison to what happened here. I walked through a camp and saw where great evil occurred, where more than 43,000 people were murdered. Imagine 43,000 people murdered where you stand. Now imagine 11 million people murdered, that is the total of the Holocaust.
The below two maps show the network of concentration camps.
Important Subsidiary Camps of the Dachau Concentration Camp.
The national socialist camp system during the war.
Munich
After more than four hours at Dachau, we took a bus and then a train to Munich. We removed our bags from the locker and checked in to where we were staying.
The next morning, Dan and I go on a bike tour.
The Theatine Church.
Bavarian State Chancellery.
Cycling in the English Garden, which is 900 acres.
Surfer on the Eisbach River, a man-made river that flows through the English Garden.
Surfer on the man-made wave, following others since 1972.
The surfing has a danger to it, with two people having died in 2014 and four in 2013.
The Maximilianeum Building, where the Bavarian State Parliament reside.
Our guide let us know quite a fact: During WW II, 1.3 million bombs were dropped on Munich, 700,000 of them in one night. The fires could be seen from the Alps. (I was not able to verify these numbers.)
Dan and I head back to the apartment we have rented and take a nap. About an hour later, the buzzer rings. We have a guest! I push the button to unlock the front door to the building at the street.
My cousin has arrived. He just flew in today. Well, my 4th cousin. Our 3rd great grandparents are the same. Up the stairs comes Rolf, and we meet for the first time. We have been in email communication since February. His family line and mine have maintained about the same spacing between generations, so him and I are of the same generation and one year apart in age, he being older. Well, the story of our family will wait until I visit him in his country later this year. But we had decided that it was a pretty good idea to meet in Munich for a festival.
For dinner we go to Hofbräuhaus, a brewery founded in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria to be the brewery to the Royal Residence, at the time situated nearby. This building has other historical significance, as here in 1920 Hitler presented the Nazi Party program and the National Socialists met on the third floor.
One great phone app for traveling is Google Translate. With the camera, it translates text in real time on the screen so you can read the translation instantly. Other than restaurant menus, the most common item I use it for is washing machines; you want to use the right settings! Some machines have settings for just about everything, just read below to see.
The settings of the laundry machine where we stayed.
In the morning before having breakfast, two of us decide to actually do what we talked about the night before.
Me pointing out the not-so-swift currents of the Isar River.
Me going for the island!
After returning from swimming, we shower, change, and head to breakfast. Then walk to Oktoberfest!
The grounds of the festival.
I was not expecting the festival to be so family-oriented with all the rides. It is nice that it is!
Inside one of the tents with some beers.
Rolf and Dan in lederhosen!
The next day after breakfast (let’s be honest, it was lunch time), we head to the festival. We first check out the ‘Old Town’ area and then head for one of the mainstream tents.
Starting in the beer garden outside of a tent.
We find a table with some seats where an Australian couple is seated. They are on a trip for his 50th birthday!
Inside the tent with live music.
Enjoying some of the rides at night.
Later in the night, we go different ways at different times. I end up outside of a bar at a table. Sitting at the table are three men from Finland who are in their 70s. Their English is pretty good. Eventually the conversation goes to the wars and they express that they are thankful for the United States and our history in the World Wars. One of them becomes emotional and gets up and steps away. I don’t know how to respond, and feel out of place to be on the other side of this conversation. It is pretty cool to see appreciation for what our country and soldiers have done in the past.
Monday, September 21, 2015
After four nights in Munich and two days at Oktoberfest, it is time to move on.
Rolf will take a flight home in the afternoon. Dan and I take a bus from the apartment to the central train station, where we run into the Australians from last night. Our train is scheduled to depart at 11:29am. It is cancelled.
This day to be continued.