We are finally at Normandy – St Mere Eglise to be precise. My reports to HQ are behind due to problems with communication connections in Munich so I have a little catching up to do.
They will come over the next couple of days. Today has been frantic, hectic – you name it we’ve had it – but that will wait until my detailed report. In the meantime –
Going back a bit – when I last finished we were heading to our Mozart dinner. We had scouted around during the day whilst walking to work out where we had to go as some of the addresses in the little lanes and building entrances are a bit obscure. We found the restaurant and our way to the separate function room and were shown to our table. There were tables of vaious sizes – the “pricey” tables had a front row view of the concert stand and we were at a table to the side about halfway down the room. Our table was set for about 12 and we had a good view from where we were. The tables were elegantly set in period theme.
By the time the concert started there were still a few empty tables – and the rest of our table had not arrived. The “orchestra” of 5 came in the room in period costume – 3 violins, a cello and a double bass. As they played another gent in period costume arrived to sing. He was then followed by a lady and they sang in duet.
They played a couple of pieces then had a break whilst we had our entre. The rest at our table didn’t end up arriving so we had it to ourselves. The orchestra and singers again came back a couple of times with further breaks again whilst we had our main course and another for dessert. The played and sang very well – and kept their repetoire to mainly well known Mozart pieces so we all enjoyed the evening very much.
Now here is Munich day 1 –
We have dropped off our German hire car after 2,800km and are in Munich tonight – basically our last night in Germany. The driving experience here has been a very enjoyable one and I have been very impressed with the 1 Series BMW. For a 1.8 litre engine it had very good pickup and a very smooth drive – or maybe that was just the roads themselves.
I only had headlights flashed at me on the autobahn once – and since I was doing 170kph, the other car must have been doing 220kph plus as he came out of nowhere !
One irritating thing is the traffic lights. Whereas we generally have a set of lights on the opposite side of the intersection to look at to see when they change, here they are on the same side as you and at their normal height you can’t get a good look at them unless you look out the side window or lean down over the steering wheel to be able to see them ! Luckliy they change red-yellow-green instead of red to green to give you a bit more time.
View from Hitler’s Bunker
Today has been a day of contrasts. We left around 09:00 and headed for Berchesgaden to visit the Obersalzburg Dokumentation Centre which was part of the complex of buildings used by the head Nazis around Hitler’s Eagles Nest (the actual Eagles Nest is closed till May so we were unable to visit it).
The Centre is also the start of a huge underground bunker system the Nazi’s were building in the last years of the war for their protection. It was never fully completed but covers a vast area connecting buildings around the estate. Goering and Goebbels also had homes in the area. A lot was destroyed after the war however the bunkers survived. It was a very detailed exhibition which we didn’t have time to cover in full but what we saw was very informative – and frightening at the same time.
Oh, and a bit of advice for John if ever he is looking at playing golf at Berchesgaden Country Club – take your mountain goat with you ! On at least 2 holes I could see, you needed to take a cable car to get up the fairway ! True !
St Bartholoma church with
red domed roof
Our next stop, not far away, was a lake called Konigssee. The lake is surrounded by mountains and sells itself as the cleanest lake in Germany. All the boats run on battery power. The water is a dark emerald green colour – very different from other lakes we have seen. We took the boat from the township up the lake to St Bartholoma, a small settlement halfway up the lake which has a church with a magnificent looking red domed roof.
Lake Konigssee
It is an interesting boat ride as the commentary is in german and the guy cracks jokes – which you can only pick when the rest of the passengers laugh. About halfway there, the boat cuts its engine and stops and he plays a trumpet which echos around the mountains – quite amazing,
We literally got off the boat at St Bartholoma and back on the next boat back to the township as we needed to head on. We had a delicious bratwurst sausage on a roll for lunch then headed off.
The entry gate at Dachau – in english “Work makes you Free”
We then headed for Munich to drop the car off but first we drove a little west of Munich to the Dachau Concentration Camp – the first camp developed by the Nazis in 1933 and the model used for all other camps.
This was an unforgettable experience. Whilst we all know of the terrible things that happened at these camps, when I stood at the gate and took in the sheer size of the place I was gobsmacked ! We watched a 20 minute film on the camp which was very stark – documentary film with factual commentary and no music. We then visited one of 2 barracks that have been re-constructed (all the others are represented by foundations only) with examples of sleeping quarters and washing facilities.
I know it probably sounds weird given the grim connotations of the place but I am glad that I have visited here.
It turned out quite warm today in the low 20’s – and the forecast seems to be for more to come – so after an ice cream and drinks we headed to Munich for the car drop off. We managed to find the place without much trouble then had to walk a couple of blocks and through the train station to get to our hotel. We walked around a bit to find somewhere for dinner and settled on an italian restaurant connected to the hotel. As we sat and ate dinner, Adrienne said “I am pretty sure Erin stayed in a hostel near the station – it was called Wombats”. Well would you believe I looked out the window across the street and straight at the “Wombats Hostel” sign across the road – spooky !