SB Week 3

I'm having the most amazing time of my life, and aside from the fact that I'm sick of wearing the same 4 things on repeat from living out of a backpack, I can’t imagine any other complaints.
*note- I am actually back in Leeds now, but I will continue to blog with a week delay.

Interlaken, Switzerland:
Literally in a valley of the Swiss Alps it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. Things are very expensive, most likely due to it being hard to get things in and out of the mountains. Because of this we cooked all of our own meals at the hostel, this time taking care to using tomato sauce for pasta. The second day there we took a lift up into the mountain and hiked all day. We saw some amazing views. If anyone is familiar with the Narnia stories (nerdy I know) I literally felt like I was in Narnia. The ground was covered in snow, but it was 65-70 degrees and everything was melting (like when Aslan comes to kick out the White Witch, ha). Due to all the melting there were fresh streams and waterfalls all over the valley, amazing.

Munich, Germany:
Obviously all of Europe, Germany especially, are still working through the history of WWII. Munich however was the start of the Nazi movement, and so we learned a lot about the early history of Hitler and the Nazi’s. Because Munich was the center of Nazi’s it was heavily bombed in the war, and aside from 2-3 tall landmarks that American bombers used to navigate the sky, the entire city was entirely destroyed and since replicated. There are two main experiences we had here. I would like to forewarn that I didn’t even attempt to be brief in the following stories, only because they deserve to be fully explained.

First we went to the concentration camp known as Dachau. It was the first camp built and the one all others were modeled after. It was a bit hard to take everything in, but we stood in a gas chamber (although it was never used), walked through a crematory (which was used heavily), and in general witnessed the life of what thousands of people lived, but very few survived. There is no words to explain what is was like, but I will say it is a memory we’ll all never forget.

Afterwards we wanted to lighten up the mood so we went to grab a bite to eat at the Hofbrauhaus. Imagine a restaurant that seats 8,000 people. Anyways this is the largest and most famous bier hall in all of Germany. First of all it is where the “Beer Hall Push” took place. If you don’t know what that is, it is basically the starting of the Nazi’s and also the reason Hitler got arrested, he then went on to writing Mind Comp while in prison and the rest is history. You can still see where swastikas used to be painted on the ceiling; they are now covered with German and Bavarian flags. Anyways we went there, got a bite to eat, and then noticed these two older men sitting next to us. One of them was drinking out of a special mug which we were told meant he was one of a few hundred deemed regulars of the hall, and thus had his own table and special service. We decided to go talk to the two men. One of them spoke little to no english, but luckily the man next to me was fluent. After a while talking I couldn’t resist asking him how old he was during the war. He then went on to explain that he was a sergeant in the Hitler Youth. He fought for the Nazi’s on the Eastern front and was captured by the Russians. They held him captive for 9 years, 7 of which was after the war ended… It was a bit hard to take in after spending the day at the concentration camp, but what made it most difficult was that these were two of the nicest old men you could ask to meet. Again hard to explain the resulting feelings, we were all in shock for the rest of the night that we had a beer and chatted with two Nazi’s. Again that is something I will never forget. It’s hard to imagine that Americans were fighting and killing men like I met the other day.

Things I Learned:
-Fresh spring water should only be called so when your drinking it out of a river.
-Germans serve beer by the liter, even to 5 twenty year old college students that seemed like a bad idea.
-In Germany they give you a bowl of baked soft pretzels instead of bread at meals. It is amazing, they’re not free, but still awesome.
-We are extremely lucky to live in a world that fights against persecution and injustice like in WWII. We owe our vets, like my Grandpa Rick many thanks.

God Bless,
Joe