Germany, day 2

Marienplatz in ribbons!

We got a late start today. It's a holiday here, Corpus Cristi, so most commercial sites were closed down, so we weren't in a big hurry.

Gordon met us at our hotel at 10 and we went to the Marienplatz to grab a coffee and a bite. While there, we saw the scaffolding which was going up yesterday coming down! I'm afraid we missed that show, but we did catch the entire Glockenspiel show at noon!

Michael Jackson's shrine.

Gordon led us through some interesting parts of town, including Dodger's alley. We passed through a promenade which had an old statue which has become the site of an impromptu shrine to Michael Jackson! We then went to visit the Alte Pinakothek, an art museum which houses tons of art from mostly the 13th through 15th centuries. They included Rembrandt, El Greco, a very large collection of Rubens, and even a Da Vinci. It was easy to spend a lot of time there, the Rubens' included the Lion Hunt, which I can remember seeing as a child, it made a strong impression on me back then.

After that, Gordon went to his dorm and Shelly and I went to see Dachau.

Dachau is out in the west suburbs, a good half hour on the train out of town. It seems like a pleasant little town, then you get to the Concentration camp grounds.

A very grim place indeed. we were suprised by how big the grounds were. We passed through the Arbiet Macht Frie (Work Makes you Free) gate and visited the museum, which is pretty stark. Two of the barracks have been rebuilt, along with the foundations of easily 40 more. The path that separates the rows of foundations is lined with old poplars, which were planted at the time of the camps construction.

After the camp, we got back on the train and headed back to town. We met a couple from Houston who were driving through the area. Seems like a nice way to travel, they never make reservations and always stay at hotels on the outskirts.

Got back in town just in time to meet Gordon for dinner at the Schneider Weisse Brewery. Good food.  We enjoyed Weiner Schnitzel and Cordon Blue, and beer, of course.

Weather has been dreary, raining practically all the time!!