97 Days, 12 Countries, 1 Kangoo

We left Munich on Wednesday morning and headed off to Dachua to visit the concentration camp there and pay our respects to those who suffered. The weather was sunny and high 70s, but that could not brighten the somberness we felt at Dachua. It's hard to put into words what horrific pictures we saw and what an eerie feeling we had standing in the midst of concentration camp barricks. I (Taice) was too upset to finish the museum part of the exhibit and so, with tears streaming down my face, we left Dachua.

After miles of silence we realized the beautiful landscape ahead of us.....we were on the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse). We drove straight to Neuschwanstein Castle, which was exactly how they describe it - right out of a fantasy. And of course, the inspiration for the Magic Kingdom. We hiked up the steep path to the outside of the castle and opted to not spend our time touring the inside. The castle was the brainchild of 'Mad' King Ludwig, and the exterior was completed shortly before his death. Most of the interior was never completed and it was opened to visitors only six weeks after he was gone. So, instead we hiked ever higher to Mary's Bridge, which is where Chris took the great shots of the castle (see pics that follow).

On to Oberammagau... I had been to this town when I was younger and had remembered it fondly. But according to the tourbooks it's WAY too touristy. We decided to go anyways. We found a great pension, owned by Anton (who loves stuffed birds and body odor), and headed out to get some dinner. The town had celebrated its own Oktoberfest earlier that day, so most of the townfolk were out drinking beer in the towncenter. We found a cute, but rather quiet, biergarten and had a wonderful meal of weinerschnitzel and kartoffelsalat. After dinner we looked for a rowdier spot and found the main town hotel, which brews its own beers. We settled in at the bar and enjoyed a few drinks to the sounds of the local accordian/guitar duo.

The next day we left early to continue up the Romantische Strasse, stopping for coffee in Augsburg, a long stroll in Dinkelsbuhl, and finally stopping for the night in Rothenburg. We give Dinkelsbuhl 5 stars for its Bavarian charm. What a great little town!!! The travel guides all say to spend the night in Rothenburg and do the Nightwatchman's Tour, which is in English (because no one else does). Well, apparantly every English speaking person traveling to Germany bought a travel guide also. The Tour was our biggest nightmare, crowd-wise. So we skipped the tour, figuring it was a great diversion to get rid of all the obnoxious Americans, and headed to a local biergarten. The place we landed was known for its potato dishes (too bad we had already had a fabulous spaetzle dinner), but we did partake in the apfel strudel and Tucher hefeweizen. YUM. Off to bed.

This morning, after a traditional fruhstuck of meats, cheeses, and breads, we headed to Nuremburg to visit the Nuremburg Rally Grounds. The museum there tries to explain how the Nazi movement came to be, and how their propoganda machine made Hitler into a diety. The grounds were daunting in their current state but it was even more daunting to think of them in their hedey, or how they would have looked had the Natzi plans for them had been allowed to be carried out.

As I write this, we are in Stuttgart - here to see the Mercedes museum. After some car loving, we're off to Luxembourg and then the next three days in Belgium.

Finally, the link to the pics: http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=159660317/a=7226152_7226152/t_=7226152

All our love,

Taice (and Chris too)!

Chris' Bullets:

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Anyone know of an american sports bar in Gent? I would LOVE to catch the Pats demolition of the Browns or the Sox clinching

What is the german game where 8 men sit around a table and pass out magazines? I think there is some betting involved - I spent awhile trying to figure this one out in Rothenburg last night

I have been having trouble with snoring lately - I have been routinely awoken with requests to 'face out!'.

I don't know if we have mentioned it, but our Kangoo is affixed with a red license plate, and it may be the only in Europe. we think it might mean 'We are american tourists trying to hide behind this french car'. It may be a problem for us once we cross that Italian border. Stay tuned...

I don't think anyone works around here. Nothing leads me to believe they do. Not the afternoon beer drinking, the quiet restaurants in the evening, nor the nonexistent rush hour.

Speaking of rush hour - I am thoroughly enjoying driving the german highways. The trucks stay out of your way, there is no speed limit and I haven't seen a stop sign or an accident in days. I think there is plenty we could learn from this.
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