Vacation Part Two: Salzburg, Hitler's House, and Munich

Well, we are home from our whirlwind adventures. And boy, are we tired! We got home last night, and could barely make it until 10 pm and crashed. And then we proceeded to wake up at about 6 this morning, due to the time change (that was noon for us). We are both exhausted today. Anyway, we had a great time, and its fun seeing all this neat stuff, but its also stressful being away from home in a foreign land where you don't speak the language, or eat that type of food all the time, and can't buy tampons if you need them at 10 at night because everything is closed (I speak from experience--they don't believe in being open past 8). Brian was in heaven with fried meat, spatzl and beer 12 times a day, but quite frankly, I feel kind of gross and am looking forward to regularly having fruits and vegetables in my diet again. Germany and Austria are a cardiologists nightmare. +2 pounds in 10 days is all I have to say (and I've been having trouble fitting into my pants as it is).

Picture explanation:

Picture one is of the fortress in Salzburg, Austria, looking up from the bottom of the city. Salzburg is an absolutely gorgeous city, the birthplace of Mozart, and has awesome chocolates. Definitely my favorite place we went on the trip. I would definitely go back. I just wish it hadn't rained half the time we were there!

Picture two is of the Eagle's Nest in Obersalzburg, Austria. This is the site of the summer home of Adolf Hitler. The house isn't actually there anymore; the building you can see in the picture was a workspace or something, and is now a restaurant. To get there, you have to drive high up in the Alps, park your car, pay $30 Euro, take a 20 minute bus ride up the side of the mountain (where I thought we were going to tumble over and die), then take an elevator up even further, and then you see....a really great view over the Alps. Brian was disappointed that Hitler's house is gone, but some really good plotting to kill over 6 million Jews, Gypsies, Catholics, political opponents, and generally anyone who didn't agree with the psychotic windbag took place where we ate lunch! A lot of the history is gone, as the people are obviously really ashamed of what took place in the area.

Picture three is one of me pretending to drink a huge mug of beer at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. This is a really cool place, an extremely old biergarten where Hitler (there he is again) gave a big speech. For those who like beer, its brews are second to none. Also has good food and the best atmosphere. You sit at big long tables with people you don't know, family style. Great way to meet people. It is absolute chaos. We went there 2 nights in a row and had a great time, except for me almost getting into a fight the second night while pointing out to a fellow American that he was a total jackass and was the reason people hated American tourists.

I also want to say that we spent Thursday at the Dachau Concentration Camp. Pictures were allowed and Brian took a few, but it feels weird to post one there. At least 200,000 people were imprisoned and tortured there from 1933 until 1945, and over 42,000 died. After seeing what I saw, I firmly believe that anyone who denies the Holocaust is a complete whackjob (not that I didn't think that before, this only reinforced my belief). And according to Brian, this was a more "sterile" camp, they've removed a lot of things, and the most graphic things we viewed were in the documentary they showed us. It was a very moving experience, and something everyone should see with their own eyes.

Back to work tomorrow!