Dachau and Neuschwanstein
The day started with us leaving our airbnb place as quickly as possible. I think we were all ready to move on to better things. Our first destination for today was the prison camp at Dachau. This was the first concentration camp built inside of Germany and would be responsible for at least 32,000 deaths, but more likely in excess of 40,000. It is a large area with many buildings, and some of them not looking too terrible to live in. However, it was a place meant for 6,000 at a time and ended up holding five times that many people. We were able to walk through the buildings that had the rooms used as prison cells for solitary confinement. We could see the poles out back that people were tied to. The parade ground was large and open and you could almost see the lines of people forced to stand there in all types of weather. The crematorium still stands in one corner as well as the guard towers looking over the barbed wire fence. “Arbeit macht frie” still greets all those who enter. It stands as a memorial to the evil man is capable of, as well as a reminder of what we must always be vigilant for in order to prevent similar types of atrocities.
The rain began to come down as we headed south towards Neuschwanstein Castle. This is probably the biggest tourist destination with hundreds of people there wandering around the city and castle grounds. We had to pick up our tickets an hour before the tour started and used that extra time to leisurely walk up the hill to the main entrance. It is an impressive structure. It looks like something out of a fairy tale and apparently was the inspiration for Sleepy Beauty’s castle. It’s not that old (less than 200 years) but was never completed because the king died prematurely. The inside has some of the most amazing murals I have ever seen. For what was completed the king definitely didn’t hold back on anything. I wonder what the peasants who were paying taxes thought of this… There were some technological marvels such as running water from a mountain spring and a winter garden.
We took the bus back down, indulged in some hot chocolate and cake in a small cafe, and then made the final drive into Switzerland. We are staying in a very cute home with a woman who has two tiny dogs. Dinner tonight is going to be one of the best memories. We drove over to Austria and ate at a small pizza cafe. The waiters were very excited to have Americans visit as their tiny village doesn’t usually get tourists. They all wanted to talk to us and tell us about where they have been or where they will soon be visiting. It was a good moment. We found our way back and retired for the evening.
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