Dachau

day 103 // munich // dachau // munich // florence

This morning we woke up early, packed up, and quickly went downstairs for some hostel breakfast. Then we had to store our luggage and check out of our rooms before heading off to Dachau. A big group of us (led by a Bus2Alps guy) went to the metro station and started buying our passes when he Bus2Alps guy was informed that the train we needed wasn't stopping there today. So we headed to the main train station where we hectically attempted to buy all of our tickets before the train we needed left. Some people made it on time, some didn't. The group I was with didn't. So we waited for the next one, luckily it was only a few minutes later. Then we hopped on and headed to our stop. We weren't actually sure which stop we were supposed to get off on because of all the chaos and confusion back at the station and we ended up missing our stop and having to get off and wait for the train going the opposite way to take us backwards. It was raining and really cold but it eventually can't and took us back to the right stop. When we got off, we met up with the rest of the group and got on a bus to the concentration camp memorial grounds. We knew we didn't have much time to see it all (about 45 minutes to be exact) so it was kind of speed walk through as much as we could see it the allotted time. We got to see most of it though, and even though we were a little rushed, it was still an unforgettable experience. The second you step foot onto the grounds, you get chills. I couldn't even tell you why, it's just the most eerie, odd feeling. Walking around through what used to be their sleeping quarters, gas chambers, bathrooms, everyone was silent just taking it all in. Pretty crazy to think I was standing right where so much history went down. Because we had to catch our bus and train, we had to head back out of the memorial grounds. We got to the bus only I see that it was complete packed full without any chance of us getting on. We were told we could walk to this other bus stop to catch a bus that would take us to where we needed to go but after a failed attempt to find it, we decided to just call a cab. The can took us to the train stop where we met us with the raft of the crew and hopped on the train back to the main station where we started. We decided to get some lunch at the station when we got back because the station is so extreme nice and had some awesome food options. We ate at this place called Dean and David and got awesome wraps and soup. Well the sign said soup, but it ended up being kind of like stir-fry, but we weren't complaining. Then we took a cab back to the hostel where we loaded up our luggage and boarded the bus back to Florence. We stopped for dinner at a gas station. It's Heidi's 21st birthday today so we were joking about her birthday meals being a hostel breakfast, train station lunch, and gas station dinner. Too funny. After a long ride we finally arrived back in Florence around 10:30. We took a cab back to the apartment and turned in for the night! It was fun, yet exhausting weekend in Munich and although I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see much of the city, I'm happy we could make it to Dachau this morning. Definitely something I've always wanted to do. Also, I just found out that today was Holocaust Remembrance Day. How ironic is that?