DACHAU

Wednesday, March 27, 1996 Munich, Germany

Up about 8:30 AM, it was softly snowing outside and most of the ground was white. We decided to continue with the plan of going to Dachau and BMW Museum. We made coffee and hot chocolate for Jim. We sorted the dirty clothes and took them with us in the trunk of the car just in case we managed to find a Laundromat. I continues to clink the glass and silver pieces stored under the table skirt. André has inherited lots of family silver and is slowly selling it. He has it stored under the bed and every other nook and cranny he can find! Quite a nice piece to stub your toe on time after time after time.

Finally got on the road and arrived in Dachau. Stopped for directions in the old town. Barbara and Jim found a little bakery and purchased a sweet roll for each of us. Back on the road we found the camp just outside of town. They had restored several of the buildings and there were four memorials on the grounds. We went through the Museum, Barbara and I stopped for the movie which we were glad was the German Language version. Jim had seen it before at the High School where he taught and didn’t want to see it again. It was very, very cold and still snowing.

They had reconstructed a bunk house and also the crematory was still standing. There were bus loads of school children on tour including one from Italy. It was depressing, but something that we felt everyone should see. Back on the road we looked for a McDonald’s (that we’d seen on the way in) when we couldn’t find the castle in the old town which was the navigation point to find the bakery that the guard had told us about yesterday. Had a great lunch, fortunately the Italy tour bus was already seated by the time we arrived. Barbara and I topped the meal with Carmel Sundaes. Back in Munich we stopped for gas and then went to the BMW Museum.

I decided not to take the tour beyond the ground floor. Barbara and Jim took the tour but didn’t get to do most of the activities due to the number of school tour groups who were monopolizing the machines. But they walked through in less than an hour. Jim was disappointed that he didn’t find John Watkins’ motorcycle from the Baja Run which had been specially made for that race. Stopping at the grocery store on the way home, it’s called a Kaiser; we purchased a few items and then headed into the garage. Jim got out to open it from the inside while Barbara waited to drive the car into the garage. We were missing the special key to open the gate from the outside. Barbara called Manfred and we agreed to wait to do the laundry at his place.

Barbara then called John, apparently there are no telephone operators in Germany, everything is automated, and she kept it short because she couldn’t put the call on her card. Meanwhile, Jim and I went to the car to find some better clothes for this evening, straighten up the luggage and car . Burrrrr, it’s cold outside! Have looked and looked for a place to take the trash, still can’t find it. Manfred and André arrived about 7 PM to take us out to a Bavarian dinner. Off we went to downtown Munich to meet their friend Maureen (who’s Irish, born and raised in America, and has lived in Germany most of the time since 1972). She’s has traveled and lived all over the world. She works for Radio Free Europe, worked for the United Nations at one time also . Kept Jim busy all evening with lots of stories.

We ate at the Augustine Brewery on the Marien Plaza across from St. Michael's Church. Lots of good German beer and excellent company. Barbara kept everyone in stitches throughout the evening with stories of her travels and especially the dry ice story where she took off her own moles with self applied dry ice! When they came with the bill for the meal they opened up the basket to see how much bread we’d eaten. Jim had broken a roll in half and Barbara wondered if we were charged for half a roll. They checked the basket again when we paid for dessert as it was a different waiter. We considered “lifting” a roll from another table on our way back from the WC, in fact I saw someone doing just that during another trip to the WC. We spent the evening having dinner. André only joined us for dessert as he had to work. Manfred insisted on taking one load of laundry home with him to be returned in the morning with André’. André called the Sheraton Hotel in Salzburg at about two minutes to midnight to get a “Entertainment Europe” reservation for us tomorrow. Needs to be made one day in advance of arrival. Took several calls to get it done. We also asked about the Easter eggs and potato chips in the china cabinet…they’re antiques which have been there for some time!!!!! Apparently, he moved five years ago with the potato chips and eggs in the cabinet. What a fun time we’re had in Munich. But tomorrow we’re on the road to Salzburg and the Sound of Music tour.