The Best of the Wurst

Credit for that punny title goes to Amanda. ;)

Anyway! Eurotrip 2012 continues today, as our intrepid threesome left Lausanne on a Munich-bound train at yet another horrendously early hour. Munich was an entirely unknown quantity for me. Amanda had been adamant about adding it to the itinerary, and I didn't really know all that much about the city. What I did know is that I'd get to visit an Olympic stadium and a concentration camp, so I happily went along.

By this point in the trip, we'd been traveling for almost two weeks, and Munich was when I reached my mental burnout stage. I was exhausted, and kind of cranky, and sometimes it was a little bit of a struggle.

However, I absolutely adored Munich. Bavarian culture and food is just amazing, and the city itself is so authentic and beautiful, and the street musicians there are out of this world. (Amanda even bought a CD from one of the groups we saw repeatedly! They were amazing!) The Pinakothek museum was one of my favorite museum experiences ever -- we were seriously in there for hours -- and what can I even say about Hofbrauhaus that hasn't already been said? So. much. fun. We went back a second time, it was that great.

We visited the Munich 1972 Olympic Park and the Dachau concentration camp on the same day and, to be honest, this may've been my favorite day of the entire trip. I've always been fascinated by the Holocaust and World War II in general, and getting to walk around at a concentration camp was so incredibly powerful. As a Jew, there are no words for the experience of walking into the gas chamber and being alive to walk out the other side. Being able to see where all those horrors actually occurred was eye-opening and sobering and just quite the experience.

And THEN we went to Olympic park! I don't think I quite grasped how awesome this place was when I looked at photos online before we went, because as soon as all that architecture came into view... holy cow. I swooned. It was love at first sight. That stadium is GORGEOUS. The whole complex is gorgeous. You can pay a few Euros to get into the stadium, and the aquatic center is now a public pool, and let me tell you, Munich is a flawless example of Olympic legacy done right. I would apologize for the number of pictures I'm about to include from inside the stadium, but I discovered here that stadium photoshoots are basically what I live for. (And Jen decided to split off and go to the BMW museum instead of the stadium, which is why she's not included. She's a mechanical engineer, so we forgave her.)

The Glockenspiel in Munich, Germany
Munich, Germany
Munich, Germany
Street musicians in Munich, Germany
Munich, Germany
Munich, Germany
Liter beers at Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Dachau concentration camp in Munich, Germany
Olympic Park in Munich, Germany
Olympic Park in Munich, Germany
Olympic Aquatic Center in Munich, Germany
Olympic Park in Munich, Germany
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany
Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany
The BMW Museum in Munich, Germany
The BMW Museum in Munich, Germany
St. Peter's Cathedral in Munich, Germany
St. Peter's Cathedral in Munich, Germany
Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany

Munich was our low point in terms of our "regular" photos. I didn't throw up the U, Amanda did not sweep me off my feet, and I jumped alone. You'd think I'd be sad, but...

Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion) in Munich, Germany

...yeah, not so sad. I had Otl Aicher's beautiful pictograms to keep me company! ;)

Basically, Germany is the greatest. Next week I'll be chatting about Berlin, including another injury and another Olympic stadium, and our threesome becomes a... seven-some?

For my original post about Munich, see here!

Travel Tuesday

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15 comments :

  1. Your pictures are gorgeous. I don't think I could personally visit a concentration camp - the experience looks extremely emotional. I can't even imagine walking through one of the gas chambers.

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    1. Thank you! :) I personally think going to a concentration camp is an incredibly worthwhile experience. It really gives you a new appreciation for exactly what happened, and just the scale of everything. I don't know, it all feels REAL there. If that makes sense? Kind of emotional, yes, but one of those necessary evils, ya know?

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  2. I would love to visit the Olympic Stadium! And that pool looks awesome! Though the BMW Museum also sounds interesting! I wanted to visit the Volvo Museum when I was in Sweden but it's so far out that it's practically not accessible with public transport on a Sunday...

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    1. Granted, I've been to very few Olympic stadiums, but I cannot imagine any of them being cooler than the one in Munich! DEFINITELY go if you get the chance! My friend isn't obsessed with the Olympics and even she had a ball at that stadium, and the whole park. So amazing. Man, Sweden sounds like a struggle! :( I'm not really a car person but the BMW museum was pretty neat. And I was there with my mechanical engineer friend, who was just over the moon about it, haha.

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  3. Love the pun! I always wanted to see Munich - when I went to Germany I was staying in Berlin! The Bavarian culture looks so interesting!
    That stadium looks amazing, my gosh, I had no idea!

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    1. Munich is very different than Berlin, but I was absolutely enamored with both! Munich has those funky lederhosen shops, haha. So great. :) YES the stadium was amaaaaazing!!

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  4. Munich was the first city we stopped in at the very start of our 3 week backpack trip, so unlike you I was very energized and excited (I hit my burnout at the end in Naples, Italy -_- ). It was SUCH a fun city - we spent our first night in the Hofbrauhaus and met so many new friends - ugh, such fun! We also went to Dachau, and like you, I have always been semi-fascinated with the Holocaust. I can't explain the experience other than it was such a strange, almost eery feeling walking through there. It just felt so empty, maybe dead. I don't know. But I am SO glad we went.

    When was your backpack trip? We went around April 15-May 1 (Were in Germany in the beginning from the 15th!). I wonder if we maybe passed each other through some places!

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    1. Omg that's so funny! We left Munich late at night on April 14th so we literally JUST missed each other! Hahaha what a fun coincidence! :D I kind of hit my second wind a little bit after Munich, probably because we were joined by four more friends in Berlin and Copenhagen and that shook things up a bit, lol. But I'm glad to know I'm not the only one to get burnt out after traveling for so long! It's exhausting!

      Dachau is honestly one of my most treasured travel experiences. Words don't really do it justice. You don't really "get it" until you've been there in person. I don't know. It was incredible.

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  5. Photos looks great. Can't wait to read you next post about Berlin :)

    STYLE VANITY

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    1. Thank you! :D I can't wait to post about Berlin!

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  6. I felt the same way when I visited Auschwitz, it is such a sobering experience.

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    1. Oh gosh, I still really want to visit Auschwitz. I mean, Auschwitz is... Auschwitz. That must've been beyond words.

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  7. I still haven't been to Munich! Argh. But that Olympic Stadium looks amazing! I'm going to shimmy up and read some of your other posts now :)

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    1. It really is! All of Munich is amazing! I'd definitely recommend getting there at some point! :)

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  8. I can't even possibly imagine the staggering emotions that you must have felt visiting Dachau.

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