EuroTrip - Day 56

Back to Munchen

Munchen is a wonderful city. Full of spirit. This was my third trip to this Bavarian Capital and it has succeeded in surprising me again. The day of Octoberfest, the night of long walk and now a day and night of history and culture - the offerings have been varied. However, they all resemble in one aspect - they are full of spirit. Spirit that originates from this city's Bavarian roots, spirit that come from it's rebirth post WW2.

Last time, I had left some conversation unfinished. Now that I was traveling at my own pace and peace, it was a perfect chance today to continue where we (DJ and Me) left the last time. We got so much involved in our bakar, that we did not realize the time at all. After DJ's marathon bath (yes, it was indeed a marathon taking close to an hour), the gang headed to the Dachau Memorial. DJ's roommates - Satya (Satish), Sushant (SPIRITed man) and Balaji(the married man) had readily agreed to spare their Saturday afternoon to join the gang. I was back amongst IT professional. It was good to be back, I must say.

Dachau was the first concentration camp built by the SS during the rise of Hitler in Germany. City of Munich had played a significant role in Hitler's rise as Germany's Chancellor. This probably contributed to some extent in selection of a Munich suburb as the model for what in future will be the biggest weapon of Hitler's agenda.

Today Dachau stands as a testimony of the misery and plight of thousands of victims of racial discriminatory policies. It is there today just to pass on a message to the coming generations - Never Again. The survivors of this concentration camp have made it a conscience attempt to not let the world forget anything that happened within the bounds of this dreaded place. The memorial has no entrance fee to encourage everyone to get a glimpse of some of the biggest sins committed by the man.

The entrance and visit to the memorial site is planned in such a way that the visitor traverses the path that was taken by every unfortunate inmate of this camp. Enter from Jourhouse (bridge) to reach Roll-call area ( every 'prisoner' was made to stand for hours everyday in the chilly winter) to Maintenance building (their workshops, kitchen and other common facilities) to bunker and barracks (their sleeping place - the 6x3 abode for every prisoner) to religious memorials (that were built after the liberation of this camp), the perimeter fence (the suicide trap) to the dreaded crematorium and Barrack X (where they had the gas chambers) - the path is full of stories of terror and hope. I find myself incapable to transfer the emotions that I went through after reading and listening about each of these places. One of the testimony of a survivor of the camp reads 'It was hard for me to imagine that I was in the same world that I had seen all my life. I am pretty sure it was part of some other world where humanity did not exist.' I can claim to have got similar feelings, but then I am just an observer. The reality is all out there to feel and imagine.

After spending a chilly afternoon in Dachau, I decided to go to Olympic Park while the group went home for their gharelu kaam kaaj (It's a weekend afterall, time to stock up). The BMW museum is just next to the station and was too tempting to resist. However, I just had two hours before it was to close and then I had plans to visit Merc Museum the next day. So I controlled myself and headed straight to the Olympic Park.

One can go up the Olympic Tower through a lift that zooms upwards at 7m/s to take you the platform at a height of 185m in just a couple of minutes. The view from their is unbelievable. It was dark by now and the city was dazzling in its night life. The panoramic view from this tower was remarkably different from the one I saw last time I was here in Munich. There were no churches but big swanky buildings hosting the top of their class offices. The Arena was glowing in a distant corner attracting everyone who saw in that direction. The Olympic Park complex below and the area surrounding is an altogether different world from the one you see in the Merienplatz/KarlzPlatz area. It's a new Munich for you.

This tower also hosts an unusual museum. One for Rock Music. Some rock enthusiast had shared his collection of memorabilia and gifts from fans here. It's a nice watch and can keep you entertained for atleast half n hour. There is an old style juke box too if you want to get nostalgic and listen to your favorite songs.

Alliance Arena - the red dish shaped structure that I saw from the Olympic Tower was to be my next stop. I had been planning to go to this place for so long. It's the home ground for Bayern Munich FC. Today, being a match day, I was really hoping to see something unique that I would not have seen on other days. My luck did not favor me a lot and the stadium was closed by the time I reached. They had also started to switch off the lights. The redness was vanishing in the fog that had engulfed the city of Munich by now. I just could see a glimpse of what this stadium really looks like when it is at its glowing best. I shall come back to this place. To see it once more and feel the spirit that is called the Bayern Munich FC. I have seen too much of those blue colored mufflers in this city today. Everyone is partying to celebrate their win in the morning. They all are high.

Day ended with a pubcrawl - where we visited some of the most popular discs in the town. Alas it was a really long queue at every place and we just did not have patience to wait in the cold outside. Irish club, on the other hand was warm enough to end the day on a nice note. A couple of bears and some nice talks with people around and we were ready to hit the bed. It was a real long day for me. A day when I did things my own way and enjoyed each one of those. I look forward to a great day tomorrow in Stuttgart. Good night for now.