München

To hell with imaginative blog post titles. This one needed an eponymous heading.

So I had planned on my last weekend before the holidays being a fairly relaxed one. A chance to pack all my stuff properly, clean my flat, tie up any loose ends, and maybe even one last trip to Heidelberg for any emergency Christmas presents that might need buying. Somehow, however, I ended up in Munich. Ok, so I’m exaggerating. It was planned; but only like a week in advance. And coming from the Queen of ‘let’s take a minute to think about this,’ it was one of the most spontaneous decisions I’ve ever made.

As the holidays approach, regardless of your situation, everyone starts to look forward and countdown to them. That’s natural. Everyone needs a break. But for me, the holidays have another significance as well, as it will be the first time in four months that I can go home, relax, be looked after, and most importantly spend some time with the people I love most in the world. It’s easy, then, to lose all perspective, and lose yourself in a slump of moroseness, and just focus on all the things you love about home. The grass is always greener, after all. Am I guilty of this? Of course. Well, sometimes. But I’ve been making a really conscious effort not to let that dominate the past few weeks, and have tried to make the most of every opportunity. Germany has so many wonderful things to offer, and I would be a fool if I didn’t make the most of them. Hence, Munich.

Emily and I headed off early on Friday morning, with Jorge and Heidi following a couple of hours behind. I seem to say this about every German city I go to, but Munich is definitely up there with one of the most amazing places that I’ve visited so far. As we sat on the train, the snow got deeper and the terrain more mountainous, until we eventually arrived in a small town of a mere 8 million people in the south of Bavaria. Just as the sun was beginning to set, the four of us headed into the main city centre to do some exploring. Munich is known for its iconic architecture, and it is extremely hard to miss the dominating structure that is the ‘Frauenkirche;’ a huge cathedral with two domes that look like mushrooms atop its spires. Other activies included a visit to ‘Residenz’ – a huge collection of historical artefacts stored in a palace-like building in the centre of Munich, and before we left on Sunday, an hour or so at the outdoor ice rink that accompanied the Christmas market. I have a hard enough time remaining upright when I am on flat ground with flat shoes on…so let’s just say I don’t think I’ll be receiving an invitation to appear on ‘Dancing On Ice’ any time soon. Heidi, who plays ice hockey back in Canada, was very patient with the three of us, leading me slowly round in a circle while I hung onto her hand for dear life, and occasionally skated around by herself, making the most difficult way to move look perfectly easy and elegant! Munich is also undoubtedly known for its nightlife and love of alcohol – Oktoberfest, beer halls, anyone? But, rather than having a night or two on the town, we opted instead to stay in our youth hostel, and play a few cheeky games of cards. It was the most I have laughed and the most fun I have had in ages!

Enjoying some of the culture Munich has to offer

Preparing to take our lives in our hands...and go skating. 

What can I say, we were naturals! 

The weather, though, was f.r.e.e.z.i.n.g. Once we had left the Bergstraße (where Bensheim is located,) the temperature dropped by a good few degrees. The German solution to this cold snap is merely to add more layers to the ones you already have on. So, if you don’t mind walking around bearing a startling resemblance to the Michelin man, you’re on to a winner. Coming from a country, however, where girls and guys will go out on  Friday night in the middle of January wearing little more than the bare essentials, i.e. a top and some form of trouser, because they’re too stingy to pay for the cloakroom in clubs, walking around looking like the yeti from the depths of the Antarctic is not really something I’m willing to do. However, we did plenty of exercise, so that kept us warm for the most part.

On Saturday I visited my first concentration camp. It was without a doubt the most thought-provoking, oddly-fascinating, humbling, sobering, haunting, spine-chilling experience that I have ever had. Anger and sadness seemed to hit me in waves. Dachau was the first concentration camp used by the Nazis, and was to become a model for all future ones. The town itself really is nothing special – rather dull, rather bleak, yet its name is known throughout the world for inhumanity beyond all reasonable understanding. It sounds odd, but I’m glad I went. You can learn a lot about what happened in concentration camps in text books; you can gasp and shake your head at the statistics, but it is not until you see one for yourself that the true horror of what Nazis inflicted on innocent people really comes into focus. Visiting it somehow made it personal. The most heart-wrenching point for me was seeing someone’s personal belongings contained in a glass cabinet. It makes you realise that each and every person to be trapped behind the gate had a story. I will never know the beginning of that story, but I think I can make some fairly certain conclusions about its end. What went on behind those gates is a capacity for evil that I will never be able to understand, and it was an experience that will stay with me for as long as I live.

Fritz Dressel, wherever you are, may you rest in peace

Some of the most spine-chilling words I have ever read.

Seeing Dachau made me put a lot of things into perspective. I talk a lot about how much I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends over the holidays, and think that four months away from them seems like the longest time ever. Some of those poor people, however, went into that camp probably in the full knowledge that they would never see their family or their friends again. Especially as its Christmas, it made it all the more poignant and clearer in my head as to just how good I have it. As our train pulled away from Munich, and the mercury inside the thermometer rose a few degrees as we approached the Bergstraße, I thought a lot about just how lucky I am to have all these opportunities and to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Emily