2004-10-13 | Munich, Germany Today was absolutely great. But it did start out a little scary. Once I got into town, it was very difficult to find accommodation. I thought it would be a piece of cake because Oktoberfest is over with. (Yeah I know...I missed it.. but read on) Anyway after a lot of wandering to find a place and a lot of phone calls I finally found some really cheap accommodation.

I dropped my bag off and left because my room wouldn't be ready until 2 PM. I hadn't had a shower yet but didn't feel entirely gross. I still just mapped out some sights to see while having breakfast and was off.

Today it was free for me to get around by the train because I have a rail pass. The funny thing is, is that there is no security for tickets to ride the trains. Anyone can hop on, but if you got caught I am sure there would be a hefty fine.

My first stop was a huge church and also some gardens and the main square. These were nice, yet I am to the point where I am a little sick of architecture and even big cities for that matter. I got to this main square and I saw a ton of obvious tourists lined up in front of city hall. Obviously something was going to happen and I noticed a people figures in the clock. As I thought, they moved in a circle. It was so dumb and I cant believe people lined up to see it. Now since I am cynical with some gay touristy things like this, I took a movie and then commented and made fun of the dumb people who were fascinated by it.

For lunch, I was a bad boy. I had my first taste of American food in a month. I had subway. I refused to order a 15 cm sandwich and I was totally American saying... I want a 6 inch! After that I took train to the north side of town to the Olympic Stadium. This was absolutely amazing. The architecture here was wild. Imagine the ocean and the curves of the waves and that is basically what the roofs of all the facilities looked like. Definitely these were updated... I couldn't imagine them creating that in 1972. I paid a Euro to see the Track, just so I can make quotes from the commentary of the 1972 5000 meter run with my hero Steve Prefontaine. The movie turned out great and I talked about how... "here is where he got passed by Gamudi and took 4th place" as I scanned the track. Also there was this guy power washing the concrete with the most powerful power washer I have ever seen. It was so freaking loud. I took a video of that as well, cause I found it interesting.

Somehow while sifting through all the information on Munich. I saw a keyword in bold in one of the books. It said "Concentration Camp" and that immediately got my attention. I was totally down for it next and I took a long train out to this camp outside the city. Since I am really not spending a whole lot of time in Germany, this is a learning experience that you shouldn't miss while you are here. I took the bus there and the first sad thing I saw was some German guy goofing off. Right as I was entering the facility some arrogant guy takes a picture of his friend doing the Nazi hand gesture. I just shook my head at him. It wasn't that funny. I had gotten there right in time, cause I didn't want to miss this documentary on the camp in English. Once I got in the theater room, there was a German version playing and it made me think about how younger generations here wish not to forget and also wish to learn. But I cant imagine how shameful they have to feel even that their country did all those crimes to humanity and the world, its crazy. If the US had did such a thing I would be so ashamed.

This film was quite disturbing. I didn't think there was that much live footage of the concentration camps. The room was very quiet and you didn't hear a peep. But I guess I don't need to describe anymore than that. There was a few people crying afterward. Next I went to the opposite part of camp and saw what the living conditions were in the barracks. I did feel alright to take photos, because I don't want to forget. It was sad and after I left that building I did get a lot of tears in my eyes, but I didn't bust out. It was just painful to know what went on where I was standing. Next I saw the gas rooms (which were never used in this place) and also the cremation facility. The cremation room was the most thought provoking because in just one of them 11000 people were cremated. I just thought how so much is insignificant compared to the sick things that happened in this war. It was unreal. After that I spent a lot of time in the museum. This was a free museum and camp to visit and I read the exhibits until the museum closed. Other museums that I visit, the content doesn't really matter a whole lot (paintings and whatnot), but here it was such a good experience for me to read as much as I could.

I got back to the main train station after the camp and I randomly met a really cool local. This girl goes up to me and just starts talking in German. She was inquiring about something. Christiane lives up in the Northern part of Germany and right after we met we were joking around and having good conversation. She told me how she missed her train that she booked and how she has 30 minutes to spare. So we decided to have coffee together. I have nothing better to do, and I like talking to locals more than anyone else out here, so I was definitely down for it. She gladly paid which was nice and we talked about when she went to the US and some other stuff. It was so nice.

Once I got back to my hostel at about 6, I immediately met about 3 new people. Laura, Tyler and Quiana and I were cracking jokes a bunch and it was great fun. This guy Tyler and I showered and got something to eat before meeting back up with them to have drinks. Tyler is only 18 and I couldn't believe he is surviving out here. He is very homesick and he wanted to take a semester before he gets into debt before college. He was a good guy, but I still couldn't believe it.

Once we all met up, the party just grew even more. More and more hostellers joined up and we left for the Hopfra House. This bar just blew my mind. Why do you need Oktoberfest when you have this! It was just like a mini Oktoberfest. Liter beers of high quality stuff, big long tables and traditional German music. We all had a wonderful time and I ended up drinking about 2 and a half. Once we left, I got a little freaked out because some guy was grabbing my bag. He worked there (but didn't look like it) and he thought I had taken one of the huge glasses. I got pissed at first, cause I thought he was a thief. But then I realized and opened my bag. After that we went to another bar for a little and then called it a night. Well, we tried calling it a night, but some horny drunk people started having sex. It sucked and it is gross how blatantly public these people do their duties in. My friend Laura and I just tried to have conversation in order to distract from the noises... we were thinking about leaving but we were hoping for these gross people to get done. UNREAL. Oh well people are strange.