Muncheon/Dachau/Berlin/Dessau

Guten nacht

I'm back in Paris now after my long but amazing trip to Germany.

Saturday morning at 7:30 am we caught a train from Paris to Munich, where my friends and I decided to spend the weekend. Munich was a ton of fun. We had a few destinations in mind that we luckily got to see all of.

- We took a small trip to Dachau, one of the 'more famous' concentration camps in Germany. Wow. What a moving experience. I remember learning multiple times of the Holocaust, of the concentration camps, WWII, that whole history lesson, but actually stepping foot onto a concentration camp was a serious slap in the face. There were multiple images that twisted my stomach and took my breathe away. There was a long museum in the main building (which is where they would originally take their prisoners when they first arrived at the camp, put them through the showers, took all of their belongings, shave their heads, etc). It was a creepy feeling to step in such a nasty part of history. Reading the political articles about Hitler and his parties, how the war originated, and then the rest of the museum was about the concentration camp itself. The most disturbing part was the images, basically of people in the moments before their death. There are a few pictures of the medical 'experiements' they would pull. If anyone can't make it to Germany for one reason or another, I recommend going to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. They have an exhibit in the museum about the medical experiments they did at Auschwitz. That'll really stir your bloodstreams.

I don't want to disturb anyone, but this particular image hasn't left my mind since I've been back. It is an altitude experiment photo series of a victim being tested on.

I am pretty sure the most shocking part was walking into the crematorium with the ovens they used to cremate the bodies with. I know I swore, outloud; I wasn't expecting to see them at all. This experience was the real deal, but I'm completely glad I stepped foot onto a real concentration camp. It was definitely a reality check.

- Staying in the city of Munich is a lot of fun. We (unfortunately) ate at McDonald's for most of our meals, since it was 1 euro for a burger and a sundae, and the diet of a german involves "currywurst". We took a trip to the olympic park that was built in the 70's. It was such a pretty park, (completely man-made and teletubby land looking) but the architecture was so beautiful with the glass canopy roofs. My group and I went to the top of the hill where you could see a complete 360 view of Munich.

- Right next to Munich is the BMW Velt. (BMW World.) Beautiful building.

- Another destination was the soccer arena in the northern part of Munich. It was about 328947 miles from the train station, and closed to the public, but still looked awesome!

- Oh Berlin. What a striking city. The best way I can put how I felt about Berlin goes as follows: I love Berlin's present because of it's past. If it weren't for it's past, it would just be any other city today.

Our first destination was to the Memorial for Murdered European Jews and that really set the trip for me. Building after building our professor took us to was spectacular. A favorite part of Berlin was probably the graffiti on the walls, especially the Berlin Wall.

The German language was extremely hard, and made me miss Paris, but Germans actually speak a lot more English than Parisiens do too, which was nice. It's more angry sounding and less graceful than French. But, it was fun marching down the streets saying all of the names of stores out loud.

One of the best parts of the trip was going to the Jewish Museum. WOW. I cannot even describe how moving every single space of this place was, all I can tell you is to go see for yourself. Things such as the Holocaust Tower and Memory Void cannot even be described in pictures.

(http://www.jmberlin.de/site/DE/homepage.php) here is the website if you are interested in any kind of information about it.

- My friends and I final trip was to Dessau to see the Bauhaus! What a great experience! I did feel like one of the tourists though that come to Crown Hall all the time, but it was completely worth it. They had a photo series of the Bauhaus before/during/after WWII and the Nazi's invasion of the building which was very interesting. I got a sketch book and some colored pencils from the gift shop. The book I've already sketched in and the pencils I'm looking forward to using.

I developed a small playlist I wanted to share of some songs that made my trip even more enjoyable. Look them up, get them on itunes, or don't do anything. These songs are by some excellent artists I listen to often.

If It Smashes Down - My Morning Jacket

Epistemology - M. Ward

Must Be Dreaming - Frou Frou

Cello Song - The Books feat. Jose Gonzalez

Cath... - Death Cab for Cutie

Train Song - Ben Gibbard & Feist

Little Brother (Electric) - Grizzley Bear

Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes

Straight to Hell - Lily Allen (feat. Mick James)

Spies - Coldplay

Hours - TV On the Radio

Seasons of Love - Shiny Toy Guns

I'm currently working on uploading all of my pictures (about 1700 so far) onto a website to share with you all. I really want you to see them and this blog only lets me upload a couple at a time. Stay tuned for a website link. I hope everyone is doing well!

-B