Saturday- Today we left Schongau and headed for Munich. Heidi(the GPS) did a wonderful job again and got us right to the Museum Doors. We entered the Neue Pinakotech and let me tell you, it is one beautiful museum. There were so many greats, Matisse, Klimt, Picasso, Rembrandt, Goya, Gauguin, Monet...and I saw Van Gogh's SUNFLOWERS:)))))))) It was amazing to see all of these famous works in person and to see such a range in content and style. I will always cherish that visit. After that we headed in to town to look for a Jack Wolfskin T shirt and it was crazy! The entire city was a sea of red (Bayern) and small islands of blue (Chelsea) due to the Euro Futbol Champions Finale that night. People were wasted at lunch, screaming, cheering and singing. It was a little scary but invigorating at the same time hahaha. (This game is like our superbowl.)
After we left the city we headed to the outskirts and a town called Dachau. A once prsoperous artist community this name now instills great saddness in the masses of the world today. Dachau was the site of the first concentration camp opened under Hitler's rule. It housed over 32,000 prisoners ( only designed to hold 6,000) by the end of the war. Walking in I felt as if my own freedom were being stripped. It is amazing how tangible the fear and evil is that radiates from this place. I felt more scared than sad, the terror....it's unparalleled. I entered the maintenace building, built by the prisoners, and walked through the same door that over 60,000 jews, homosexuals, catholics and other "inferior" groups passed through. Passing through each of the monochromatic rooms I read of the horrors that occured, each room containing progessivley worse attrocities. Prisoners were forced to count lashings as they were whipped, and if they lost count or there words were slurred with pain, they had to start back at zero. Guards stole caps and through them over the fence, forcing their owners to retrieve their caps and then they shot them as they climbed over the fence. The empty exspanse that was once the yard where they conducted role call was probably the most intense space in the camp. The desolation and coldness of this area, even the blazing may heat was unreal. You could imagine the hours that passed as the multitude of prisoners were forced to stand, some falling dead of fatigue and exhaustion. I will never forget this visit.
That night we stayed in Rothenburg, which is a beautiful bustling city located on the banks of the Danube. I wish we had more time to spend here. ON the way back from supper I heard singing in a church and walked up the steps to peer in. A lady saw me and in a flurry I was pulled in and she was talking to me hurridly in german. Bewildered I told her I only speak English, and with a kind look on her face she explained to me the service, handed me a candle and told me to go to the altar and speak with the Lord. Now I havent metnioned this prior to now but I had the goal of going to a german church service but had overslept last sunday. I know without a doubt that God led me up those stairs and gave me a chance to experience it. I haven't felt so alive in a long time.
This was an unforgetable and absoulutely amazing trip.
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