The land of Hans and Franz
Posted by Christina | | Posted On Saturday, July 3, 2010 at 4:53 PM
If you’ve watched t.v. at all today you’ve probably seen that Germany advanced in the World Cup. If you’re here in Germany like us, this basically means sleep tonight will be impossible.
Let me restate that Germany simply advanced. They did not win the World Cup. However, this fact does not deter thousands of locals from honking car horns incessantly, walking the streets draped in German flags with “Deutchland” emblazoned across their chests, cheering, singing, dancing in the streets, blaring vuvuzelas everywhere from the streets to the subways and making a rather drunken ruckus about their soccer team. Recall the Superbowl celebration in New Orleans, and it’s probably akin to what we’re experiencing, except, of course, that they haven’t won the cup.
Aside from the rowdy soccer fans, we dig Germany. It’s beautiful, easy to get around, the food is great, and the locals can speak English beautifully. That’s not to say that Germany doesn’t have its quirks. If you’ve never read German before, try it. Their words are hilarious. One of the best things we’ve run across thus far is their use of “fart” or rather “fahrt” in a number of words and phrases. Call us immature, but we’ve now come up with entire strings of German jibberish sprinkling “fahrt” in at every opportunity. Their menus are fairly impossible as well. Despite their fluency in English, they refuse to provide even brief English translations, so you’re left to your own devices to figure out what kind of animal you just ordered. Case in point, today I attempted to order a beer and ended up with apple juice.
Thus far our time in Germany has been composed of side trips just outside of Munich. Yesterday we visited the Dachau concentration camp and were humbled and touched by the incredible suffering placed upon the prisoners there by Hitler’s Nazis, and the endurance of the human spirit in those who survived. Though we studied WWII extensively in school, especially the concentration camps, words and photos alone cannot describe what it’s like to walk the grounds and see where innocent people were beaten, tortured, brutalized and ultimately incinerated. Today was a visit to Neuschwanstein castle, which was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle. Since Matt and I both dreamed of living in or at least visiting a castle when we were kids, we took particular pleasure in walking the lavish halls and rooms of Mad King Ludwig’s fairytale house.
Thus far our time in Germany has been composed of side trips just outside of Munich. Yesterday we visited the Dachau concentration camp and were humbled and touched by the incredible suffering placed upon the prisoners there by Hitler’s Nazis, and the endurance of the human spirit in those who survived. Though we studied WWII extensively in school, especially the concentration camps, words and photos alone cannot describe what it’s like to walk the grounds and see where innocent people were beaten, tortured, brutalized and ultimately incinerated. Today was a visit to Neuschwanstein castle, which was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Cinderella castle. Since Matt and I both dreamed of living in or at least visiting a castle when we were kids, we took particular pleasure in walking the lavish halls and rooms of Mad King Ludwig’s fairytale house.Tomorrow we head for Austria to take in the hometown of Mozart, and then come back to Germany for more fun in the countryside.
Here’s our photos from Days 16 & 17 – VerHeul’s Do Bavaria:
Photo #1: Locals celebrate Germany win by jumping into the fountain in Munich's main square
Photo #2: The gas chamber disguised as a shower at Dachau.
Photo #3: Matt and I in front of Neuschwanstein castle
Photo #4: View from Neuschwanstein castle
Photo #1: Locals celebrate Germany win by jumping into the fountain in Munich's main square
Photo #2: The gas chamber disguised as a shower at Dachau.
Photo #3: Matt and I in front of Neuschwanstein castle
Photo #4: View from Neuschwanstein castle
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