When I had gotten in the night before, there was someone new in my room. Now, when staying at a hostel, this isn’t an unusual thing. In fact, it’s part of the fun of hostelling, meeting the new people. There was a couple in the room as well, they had been there the day before as well and I had spent a few minutes chatting with them, Very nice, from Australia, having trouble reconciling that each of them wanted to do different things with their days on holiday. I mention this only because it might come up later.

Anyway, I get up the next morning and I see a guy in my room, the new guy I mentioned, except as I watch, he’s hoisting my bag on to his bed and going through it. As you can imagine, I’m slightly alarmed. But then I realize it’s not my bag. It doesn’t have my green locks on it, which are fairly distinctive. It’s also slightly smaller than my bag. But of course, in these situations, you take any opportunity to strike up a conversation so I say to this stranger “I thought you had my bag.” He laughs and says “I know, isn’t weird.” In perfect English. Ah…I think to myself. He might be an American! And I was right. His name was Emmanuel and he was indeed from San Francisco. We start chatting and hit it off great (it also turns out we have a LOT of the same gear, thank you REI). We have breakfast together and it turns out he’s got to be at the train station for a 21:00 train to Copenhagen and wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his day. I had some ideas of what I wanted to do with mine, but I went with him to the station, helped him get his bag sorted away in a locker and then we agreed to meet up for dinner later that night.

I took this opportunity to do what you MUST do when in Stockholm… I went to the Nobel Museum. Nobel, as you’ll recall,

The Nobel Museum

invented dynamite. He also invented a whole lot of other stuff and factories to produce it all. He was a true manufacturing giant. When he died, though, he thought he’d give back, so he create a trust to fund an award given to the best and the brightest in several different fields every year. And, just to piss off his countrymen, he told them the winner didn’t have to be a Swede! And so we now have the Nobel Prize and, like so many other museums in Stockholm, it’s nice and small and free with my card! They have a permanent display of the various winners (Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Typewriter is there!) and a revolving display of different things.

The guy invented TNT - do you really want food from his pantry?

When I was there it was a display of marketing centered around atoms. It was odd, trying to figure out a way to sell science to the mass market. I think they did a pretty good job. Now, the downside of these museums is that most of them don’t allow photographs so we’re gonna light on the graphics this time.

So afterwards, I was starving so I grabbed a hot dog and coke light from a street vendor and sat on a bench to rest my feet and eat before going to the next museum. Before too long, a couple sat down next to me, joking this was the diet coke bench since we were all drinking Light (which is one of the European Diet brands of Coke. The other is Coke Zero). Naturally, we struck up a conversation and guess what? Jews from back east America! Marty and his wife (I wish I could remember her name, I’m sorry). We ended up sitting there for an hour, talking Jewish heritage, talking parents and children, talking theatre (they were both directors in New York). Really one of the great, random encounters on which good travel is based.

So I walked them to the main shopping street, said goodbye and I headed to the palace. I wanted to see the inside of one of the last remaining active monarchies in Europe. Granted, this one is only a figurehead and the palace is only used for administrative functions, but still… So there were four things to see in the palace and since my card covered all of them, I was sure I was gonna see them all. At first I headed for the royal apartments, but it was recommended I wait for the guided tour so instead, I went to the

Changing of the Guard

underground parts. This was the site of the original castle, with the original walls, which had burned down in the 1600s. Once I finished up there, it was upstairs to the apartments where I did go on the guided tour. I saw where the heads of state eat and learned all about the regimented balls (the timing is very precise as to when the members of royalty enter and exit – I’d say it was Swiss precision, but that’s a whole other country). After the apartments I took a stroll through several hundred years of monarchy portraiture. Some of these people were very handsome and some…

Guard's been changed

well… some I’m sure were the product of inbreeding and could probably play either part of dueling banjoes with no sense of irony whatsoever.

Then came the rooms I wish I could have brought Riley Addison to… the crown jewels. For different functions and at different ages there were crowns made for the members of the royal family. There were also swords used for coronations and cloaks used for ceremonies, but the crowns were the big draw. They were really beautiful and covered in jewels and gemstones and gold. Just amazing.

Leaving there, I walked across the cobblestones to the Mint Museum but by that time, it was already closed so I ran around to the fourth section of the palace, the antiquary, and had a quick look see through the statues the previous kings had collected. The most impressing pieces, I thought, were a collection of muses. All nine of them. I’m fascinated by the idea of muse and so I was drawn to these pieces. If I’d had more time I would have stayed and studied them longer. I think when I get back I might do a bit of research in that area.

I had about an hour to go before I was to meet Emmanuel for dinner so I hopped a tram back to the hostel (free with card!) dropped off some stuff, then hightailed back to the opera where he was waiting for me. Turns out he didn’t do nearly anything he’d planned, but he did go shopping and found a fabulous outfit! So we wandered around, looking for a place to eat. Eventually we passed a TGI Fridays and he thought it’d be ironic if we stopped in there for a drink, so we did. One drink turned into two,

Retailers know Pride Fest is in town

which turned into nachos and we just had an amazing conversation, We talked about the Australian couple in our room (he didn’t think they were going to last long as a couple, either – very odd dynamic they had) and he asked me some rather thought provoking questions about travel and attitude. See, he was just starting a month of traveling by himself and was nervous. I helped put him at ease. Eventually, we got hungry and found a place for dinner, where the waiter

Emmanuel and I

was a riot and who actually yelled at Emmanuel for leaving a bad tip (but did it in a nice way since it was an honest mistake – we rectified the situation and gave him a decent tip).

We made our way to the train station where he got on towards Copenhagen and I grabbed a metro and headed for home. I still had a number of places to see and my card didn’t expire for 36 hours.

The morning came very early on my second day in Stockholm, not because I was ready to wake up, but because there were no blinds in the room. But that’s okay. The amazingly expensive hostel I was in came complete with a breakfast so I was able to go downstairs and have a nice, healthy meal of meat and bread and cheese and hardboiled eggs before going off to activate my Stockholm Card. My first stop was going to be the water ferry to take me across to this island where there were a number of museums I wanted to checkout. See, Stockholm is built on a number of islands, I think it’s 13 that make up the primary city, and there are water busses and taxis to get across easily. And My card is supposed to give me access… except not to the one nearby. It does give me free rides, but only from a certain spot and that spot was a hell of a walk from where I was, so I paid to get across.

First stop, a place called The Aquaria. I know, what a surprise, huh? But this place seemed kinda cool so in I went. It was set up

Fish at the Aquaria

in different climate zones, so the first section was an Amazon Rainforest. There was a back porch set and huge catfish swimming around, and piranha which they claimed weren’t as dangerous as people made them out to be but I choose not to believe them since the image of a hundred of the little buggers reducing a cow to bones in seconds is just way to cool to be false. The next section

Big catfish

was more of a dirty water education thing, where they had built a sewer you could climb down into and see how pollution affects things. Overall, it was small, but nice. This was the thing I was going to learn about Stockholm museums (and I saw a lot of them, I was determined to get my money’s worth out of that little card) is that they are all fairly small, so you can see a lot of them and they don’t really wear you out.

Of course, now that I’ve said that, my next stop was the Vasa Museum. The Vasa, not to be confused with Vaasa, was a state of the art battleship back in the 1600s which sank about 20 minutes into its maiden voyage. It sat on the bottom of the Stockholm harbor where, for some reason they explained a dozen times and I still didn’t quite get, it didn’t rot. So in the 60s they raised the thing, nearly intact, and threw it (carefully) into a

The figurehead at the prow of the Vasa

museum. It’s like when they used to have the Spruce Goose in Long Beach and it was just there and the majesty of it was almost overwhelming. When you walked into this museum and turned the corner after paying (which I didn’t do, I just flashed my card haha), the ship was just there. Huge and powerful and stuck in time. It really is hard to describe. The pictures don’t do it justice. It’s like when you see a whale in the ocean for the first time and you realize just how impressive it truly is. I literally stopped where I was and just stared. For a good ten minutes, I was riveted, just taking it in.

I couldn't get it all in one picture

I know I keep joking about being a pirate but seeing this ship really puts you there, you can smell the salt and sweat (okay, not that much sweat, it did only sail for twenty minutes). And the museum surrounding it not only covers the ship and its history, but a lot of information on the times it sailed as well. It was only one room, but it was a big room. I was there for a few hours and still didn’t see it all.

From there, I went to Junibacken, which is a museum in honor of Astrid Lindgren, who wrote Pippi Longstocking. Except she wrote so much more than that! I had no idea. Like when you first find out Ian Fleming also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This lady was remarkable. I definitely want to get more of her stories when I get back. Anyway, this museum has two parts, the first is a kids area, with giant playthings and set pieces a la Pippi and the other part is a ride like storybookland through Lindgren’s different tales. I will say, not knowing what it

Kids playing in Pippi-land

was when I went in, I felt kinda creepy surrounded by parents and all these little kids and here I was, a middle aged guy on my own. Like that circus place in Bratislava (only that place was worse).

By this point, I was starving so I tried to find food. Not so easy. But since I knew where I was

Floating Boat Museum - Largest Diesel Engine in Sweden!

headed, I just pointed myself in that direction and struck out. I did make a stop or two to climb aboard a museum ship and check out an amusement park, but eventually, food was found. Then it was off to Skansen, the open air museum.

The idea behind Skansen is that it’s a huge park and they’ve recreated an old village inside, complete with craftsman and period costumes and the like (the girl in the 16^th century dress, high tops and cell phone made laugh). They also have a zoo, an aquarium (which really isn’t an aquarium – more on that in a minute) a concert venue and a lot of green areas. It’s a spectacular area to visit, one of the most popular in Stockholm. And of course, it was included with my card. So I walked in and tried to decipher a map which, really, was no good at all. Here’s the secret to Europe (but don’t tell anyone): Everything is closer than you think it is but further than you want it to be. It’s like walking between hotels on the Strip in Vegas. You’d swear it’s just right there, but then, no, it’s a lot further away. Wait. It’s the complete opposite of that. Never mind, forget I said anything. Anyway, back to the map. I had it in my pocket and the place looked absolutely huge and overwhelming (thankfully, I’d eaten). So, naturally, I decided to go with my comfort zone and hit the thing I wanted to see first – That’s right, the Aquarium.

Thing with the Aquarium in Skansen is that it has an extra fee attached to it. Just paying to get into the park doesn’t cover you.

Lemurs!!!

Since I’d already seen an Aquarium earlier in the day, I was ready to just bypass it – but then I discovered it was included with my card (I’m starting to love this card!). And I’ll tell you, it would have been a huge mistake to miss this place. Remember how I said it wasn’t really an Aquarium? It’s not. It’s more like a roadside attraction zoo on steroids. First thing you see when you walk in is the Ring Tailed Lemur exhibit. This ain’t your Helsinki Zoo here, no siree. I walk in and immediately, I’m face to face with a Lemur. I mean he’s right there! I immediately grab some poor kid to take my

Me with Lemurs

picture before they realize this critter has escaped and is running wild. And then I realize… they know. In fact, I was walking right through the middle of the lemur’s habitat. They were walking on the stairs, hanging out on the railings, following you on the platform. You were in their space. It was amazing! I stayed in there longer than any other exhibit (well…almost, but we’re getting to that) and just watched them play.

Lemur's Day Off

There were times when I’d have staring contests and times when they’d ignore me. Then there was the one who thought it was great fun to lick himself on the stairs. The families nearby did a lot of covering their children’s eyes.

Moving on from there was an assortment of weird little (and not so little) creatures. There were alligators and spiders, naked mole rats and turtles. They also had the oddest sense of humor when

Check out the hand in the upper left

it came to their displays. There was a desert landscape with a rattlesnake and a skeletal hand. There was a huge dirt enclosure for chipmunks (and the only reason I’m not mocking the same way I mocked Finland is because these little guys were tough. Check out this fight):

And then there were the meerkats. Okay, meercats are just cool in general. We’ve all wondered about Meerkat Manor, right. Could a documentary/soap opera on the lives of Savannah-Based (Africa, not Georgia) rodents really be that interesting? You betcha! I stood for longer than I was with the lemurs and watched a group of these guys take care of a baby who was prone on the rocks. They would each take turns coming over, checking in, making sure the little guy didn’t fall into a crevice (and if he started to, they’d grab him and spin him

Helping the baby

Baby Meerkat

around so he’d be safe). At the end, the baby crawled into someone’s lap and then two others joined in and the three completely covered the sleeping Katlet. Cutest thing ever!

When I left the animals, I walked around the rest of the park. I saw the glass blower and passed the old bindery (which was closed, but I took pictures anyway). There was a small zoo there as well, but I didn’t see a lot of animals. By this time, it was getting late and I was tired. I headed back to the hostel where I was invited to join Elinor, her sister and some friends for Mama Mia (the film).

Jaq resting on another milestone...

At first I wasn’t going to go, instead I was going to stay home and write, but then I realized my new mantra (which I actually clarified the next night at dinner, but that will be in a different post, I’m sure) which is “Don’t let the writing get in the way of the experience.” So I went. The movie was fine (we’re not going to talk about Pierce Brosnan’s singing) but the best part was going to the candy store beforehand and picking out a bagful of what my friend Malin calls “Sneeze Candy.” It looks like American candy, but it’s not (It’s snot? I don’t think that’s what she means, but you guys would never forgive me if I let the joke slide). What it was, though, was a surprise in every mouthful. I’d reach into my bag in the middle of the movie, grab what I thought was chocolate but instead was a weird flavored thing. Or the chocolate which should have had a nice creamy center and instead was filled with something disgusting (and don’t worry Bailey and Riley, I have a feeling I’m gonna bring some Swedish candy home for you guys!).

After the movie we went out for a quick drink at this great little outdoor pub which overlooked the harbor, but we made it a relatively early night. I still had many places on my card left to see.

The ferry to Helsinki was uneventful, save for a very expensive buffet. At one point I tried to find a comfortable place to sit and maybe sleep for a few minutes, but discovered all the good spots were already taken by folks who were already sleeping! That appears to be the thing to do on the early morning crossing. Pulling into the Helsinki harbor, though, I saw the most brilliant

Summer house

thing – a tiny island with a tiny house on it! I found out later this is a traditional summer house and all the Finns either have one of their own or have friends with one so they go there for several days to several weeks in the summer.

I’m learning that Finns tend to spend the winter, dark months living like zombies, annoyed at the world, locked away inside their own places and thoughts. But come summer, they light up like fireworks, enjoying the sunlight, listening to music and generally enjoying each other’s company. It is really, from my understanding, a tale of two worlds.

So anyway, off the boat, heavy pack loaded on and meet Jennica and Tommy at the dock. Jennica, as you’ll recall, I met in Prague and Tommy is her significant other. He had taken the morning off work so they could come get me in the car to take my stuff back to the house and then he was going back to the set (he makes TV/Commercials) and Jennica and I were going to wander.

Which is what we did!

We started out by taking a tram back down to the waterfront and having a traditional Finnish breakfast of meat pies and apple

Jennica at the Rock Church

donuts. The atmosphere reminded me of Café du Monde in New Orleans but the food was certainly different. The meat pies were just that, a pastry filled with a minced meat and spice concoction which was quite tasty, once I got over the fact it wasn’t a donut. The donut, though, was a donut and that was all good. The place we ate was where Jen used to work so we got the royal treatment (and considering the President of Finland, who lives across the street, has eaten there, that’s saying something).

The fountain by the harbor

Afterwards, we did indeed wander. We hit the fountain (yes I made a wish and no, I’m not telling you what it was) which is a central meeting point, we walked up the stairs to a large church and we went through a park called the Esplanade which had statues and monuments for writers and poets! We even went to a museum where, for some inexplicable reason, the exhibits all had something to do with marriage. There was a chupah set up and a chair with a crown on it (I couldn’t resist sitting in the chair and putting the crown on – I’d

King Jaq

already done the chupah thing).

Honestly though, we just wandered and talked. Every now and again Jennica would point out something or I would ask a question, but for the most part it was just hanging out with a friend. We did, however, run into The Pink One (see, I’m not the only one who gives their friends epithets). The Pink One is one of Jennica’s oldest friends and she met us for lunch and then for drinks

The Pink One (like I could resist)

afterwards. A very funny girl! And she was wearing pink (how she got the name to begin with).

I must say, though, there’s this weird fascination in Finland for naming businesses after American cities. We ate lunch at Memphis, had drinks at Texas and passed Amarillo down the street. You never realize how much of your culture is exported until you hear the Friends theme as a ring tone on a cellular phone.

The next day, Jennica had to go to work but we made a plan to meet up at the statue when she was done. This meant I had the day to myself. What did I do? I did what you do in Finland – I got on a boat and went to see a fortress!

The fortress is called Suomienlinna (which is, quite literally, Finland’s Castle). It’s on a series of six islands in the Helsinki harbor and not only does it have a rich and varied history, but it also has the only remaining submarine in the Finnish navy (they had 6 at one point but after WWII had to get rid of them all – I think there were plans to move them to SuomienDisney but in the end

The Vesikko Submarine

they were scrapped). There was also a toy museum on the island, but they didn’t allow pictures. I did, however, buy a card game where you had to collect cards to make a little blonde haired, blue eyed family and the bad card, the “old maid” if you will, was a little black boy. I had to get it.

The castle itself held a distinguished place in Finnish history. It was never finished, it didn’t quite

Re-enactors showing how things used to be...

do what it was supposed to do and in the end, in it’s one major battle, it surrendered. Over the years, though, various governments have owned and operated it, changing the armaments, updating the

Guns on the island

catacombs. Now it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and a prison (the inmates are used as groundskeepers).

After taking the Ferry back to Helsinki, I met up with Jennica in the Esplanade. We listened to a live band for a few minutes (whose name I really can’t remember and they really weren’t that good) before heading off to meet Tommy and then get fixins for a barbecue that night. On our way, though, we decided to stop for ice cream. Let me stop and take a few minutes to talk about ice cream in Europe…

It’s everywhere! If I get fat over here, that’s why. No matter where you turn, if there is a crowd of people, there is an ice cream stand. Usually, it’s one unit of currency for a single scoop in a waffle cone (i.e. if they have Euro, it’s a Euro or two, if they have crowns it’s a crown, etc…) Sometimes there are more flavors than you’ll know what to do with, sometimes, like in Finland, they have just a few. But anyway you cut it, there is ice cream whenever you want one, and when they’re everywhere, you want one all the time! So Jennica and I wanted an ice cream. We hit the stand and the way the cost breakdown worked you could get one big scoop or two little ones for the same price, We both chose two little ones and then went happily on our way. About now, you’re wondering, why is he telling us about getting an ice cream? Be patient. As we’re leaving the stand, Jen hands me a napkin. I look at her, and she responds by saying “I don’t think you’ll need it or anything…”

Those of you who know me know what’s coming next, don’t you?

Yup. No sooner is the napkin in my hand than the top scoop of ice cream is falling down the front of my shirt while I scramble to catch it before it hits the ground. Which I manage to do. Of course, my jacket is a mess, my hands need the napkin and Jennica is laughing hysterically, but I still have my ice cream!

For another thirty seconds.

I take three more licks (and don’t get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop) and the whole thing goes sailing off the cone, forward so there’s no chance of survival, and into the dirt. My altruistic attitude instantly becomes one of “well, I guess someone doesn’t want me to have any ice cream.” Jennica feels bad, certainly, but she still has hers so we continue on. We get about 50m when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, comes a lokki (that would be Finnish for seagull) who dive bombs her and takes a chunk out of the top of her ice cream. We stop so she can scrap the residue off, lokki are disgusting critters after all, and she is not about to eat where it’s landed. We are both laughing at this point, me without an ice cream and her’s cut down in the prime of its half-eaten life. Basically, we are off our guard. I mean seriously, how much more can happen in once little trip with an ice cream cone?

Turns out lokki are not only disgustingly dirty, they are also incredibly crafty! While that first one distracted us, got us to relax,

Jennica post lokki attack!

its fellows came in on a sneak attack a few minutes later, this time taking out the whole cone, knocking it right out of her hands! Honestly, if they had opened season on lokki right then, Jen would have taken out a dozen with her bare hands. Of course, just to prove the point that they were NOT going to stop us, we went and each of us got another cone (single scoops this time, we might be filled with hubris, but we’re not crazy!)

Continuing on, we made our way through the Plague Park (yes, they have a park named for victims of the plague. The big church in the middle of town? Doom Church. The Finns are not a jolly people, despite the fact Santa allegedly lives in Finnish Lapland) and finally meet up with Tommy. The idea is that we are going to meet up with Jen’s sister then go to her parent’s house (they’re out of town) to get their car and have the

Doom Church

BBQ.

Everything goes smoothly until we get to the house and Jennica realizes she doesn’t have the keys to get in. No worries – quick change of plans. Instead of open flames and outdoor beer, we’re going to go back to Jen’s place and Tommy is going to put his culinary expertise to work. And he does. We have reindeer sausage, some kind of pork filet and a marinated chicken (heavy on the meat here). For dessert, Tommy makes some sort of chocolate/banana concoction which like heaven in a (burnt) peel. Despite never finding the keys, I’d say the evening was a complete success!

I’m not sure where to begin. It started on Monday and continued on Wednesday, my visit. I went twice. The first time I went with an organized group. They picked us up at the hostel, drove us directly to the camp, and had us planned out so we met with a tour guide, got our audio systems and headed out. (the audio systems are actually rather interesting in that you are wired into your guide so they don’t have to shout and you can still hear them. And our guide was great. An older woman, who we found out was the daughter in law of a survivor who used to lead tours himself. She promised him she would do tours and has been for 35 years and she still got choked up when she saw the things she was showing us. But that’s the point. She wasn’t showing us everything, the important stuff, sure, but we were passing by exhibits with no mention. This is fine, I understand tours like this have a limited time (and you can take one, even if you don’t come with an organized group, you just randomly join in with a group of people). Thing is, though, you have no time to absorb it, to get your head around it, to just sit and reflect.

So I went back.

I wanted to sit in front of a display window showing 14,000 pounds of human hair and try to contemplate the number of people represented. I needed to stare at the suitcases of people who were told they were going to a better life and had brought all of their valuables with them (some had even PAID for their own passage on the train cars) – and read the word “kind,” German for “child,” and wonder when it had shown up to try and figure out if the ‘kind’ in question even had a chance of survival or if they had been immediately sent to the gas chambers. I was obsessed looking at pictures of more than 1000 children (only a small fraction of those who passed through the camp’s gates) who were killed.

And that’s just in Auschwitz I. Auschwitz III was destroyed after the war, but Auschwitz II – Birkenau, is still there. At least parts of it are. In its entirety, Auschwitz II was 25 times the size of the original. In fact, the reason there is still a gas chamber and crematorium at Auschwitz I is because it was taken out of service before the war was over and turned into a munitions bunker – it wasn’t efficient enough and couldn’t keep up with demand. Over at II, they had oven which could handle more than 12,000 bodies in a 24 hour period and at times, they couldn’t keep up – which is why the camps had to resort to open air pits. The chambers at II could handle up to 2000 people at a time and it only took 15-20 minutes and slightly less than 7 kilos (14 pounds) of Zyklon B.

Those ovens are long since gone. But in Birkenau they haven’t memorialized anything. They have barracks in as close to their original state as they could make them. They have the train tracks leading to the disembarkation point where the selection was made, where a German doctor (not always Mengele) used a single finger to point to the right (death) or left (work). I’m getting chills just sitting on a train typing this up. The numbers are so staggering when you think that something like 1.3 million Jews (and another 130,000 gypsies, homosexuals, political prisoners, etc) were killed over the course of almost five years. And yet here we are today, walking through with our cameras and teenagers who are required to be there for school and infants or toddlers running around and screaming. I don’t know if it’s disrespect or the ultimate in honoring the dead – that life goes on and we can commemorate the huge loss, but we are here, and we are learning and remembering and I can only imagine what the sound of a laughing child would have been like to the thousands of men and women who were being forced to stand at attention for roll call in the frozen winter for up to twelve hours at a time.

So yeah, I went back, and I took pictures of gates and barbed wire and Jewish children proudly wearing the Israeli flag draped around their shoulders. I read and I thought and I contemplated and I cried and I got angry and I said my own prayers. I looked into the eyes of photographs and ran my fingers over lists of names. I made silent promises and I smiled at children.

But mostly, I remembered.

So I met my hostelmates when I woke up in the morning, having gotten in late (and they were both sleeping). There’s Francesca, from Germany, who is in town (along with 3000 of her closest friends) to take a medical school entrance exam and Imbi, who is from Australia and doing an even crazier tour round the world than I am. She started by spending 5 weeks in Africa!

So Imbi and I were chatting in the morning and decided to hang out while Francesca studied. We headed into town (she had only gotten in the day before, so she hadn’t seen much) after getting some breakfast stuffs (and generally having a lazy morning). I’ll be honest here, I wasn’t that excited about Vienna. I know, it’s supposed to be great, and it is, but I just wasn’t feeling it. It was kinda like Dresden for me. I had only booked two nights in the hostel and was anxious to move on and get to Poland and the Baltics. Seriously, I have no idea what day it is most of the time and for some reason, the Baltics have become this ideal of rest and relaxation to me. They are not nearly as touristed out as the other places I’ve been (minus Zagreb, but Zagreb is trying really really hard to be touristy) and Imbi just came from there so she was talking them up considerably. So again I say, not feeling the Vienna vibe.

Until we’re walking through the central square (Stephensplatz) and Imbi mentions that there’s a theatre nearby which still shows some film that was made here, shot in the sewers, called three men or something like that.

“The Third Man?” I ask.

“That’s it,” she says.

All of a sudden the vibe come back with a rush so fast it would have given the wind in the door at Eisriesenwelt a run for its money. We find the information office (this is after we spent an hour or so at McDonald’s, which, say what you will about them, offer free wifi in many places in Europe and allowed me to allay the fears of those who thought I was dead, kidnapped or trapped in a Turkish prison) and grab a map… Yes, there it is! I drag Imbi through the streets towards a U-bahn station. “Come on,” I say. “We have to find the Ferris Wheel!”

That’s right, the Ferris Wheel, the one where Harry Lime makes that great speech about the little dots all moving below them and what would it matter if one of them stopped, that Ferris Wheel is still there and still going! And we found it (granted, it wasn’t that hard – it is part of the symbol of the city)! We were all set to go on the fifteen minute ride, and look at the dots and

The infamous Ferris Wheel

everything… until we found out that they’re charging 8 euro for the pleasure. That’s a little steep. I found out later, though, that people will hire a car for an entire evening and have candle-lit dinners inside. Now that might be fun. But just going up…naw. I got to see it and that was cool enough. So we left there (the wheel is actually part of a whole amusement park) and headed to the bus station (Imbi had convinced me to go to Bratislava, in Slovakia, for the day) so I could get my ticket and she could get hers to Budapest. Afterwards, we split up. She went to hang out with some friends and I went back to the center of town.

I decided to take a general city overview tour, at least to discover what it was I was looking at. I bought my ticket from some young girl who was walking towards the bus when I was. Turns out it was her first day on the job and I was her first sale. Go me! Anyway, the tour was nice. Saw some amazing architecture, the headquarters of Opec and the Danube, which is not blue, contrary to popular song. All along the tour bus route, though, I kept seeing signs for an art exhibit which looked interesting. Since the tour ended right by the information center I figured I’d check and see what it was all about. Turns out it closes at 6 (1800) and it was just before 5 (1700) so there was no way I could make it in time. But then the very nice lady at the desk said the museum of fine art didn’t close until 9pm (2100) that night and it was only a five minute walk. Besides, she pointed out, it was the most important museum in Vienna. Well, with an endorsement like that, how could I refuse.

I went in, got the audio guide and saw art. Here’s some of it:

This is a painting of a statue. I don’t remember who the saint is, but her attribute (Riley and Bailey, I want you to find out what an attribute is and get back to me) is a demon blowing out a candle. As soon as I have internet access again I’m gonna look her up!

Detail

I just thought this was a really cool Griffin.

Can I get a head count, please?

This looks more damaged than it really is. The heads were never attached. They actually discovered this in an Egyptian Nile-side resort and believe the general idea was for visiting couples to stand behind the statues, thereby putting their heads on the god’s bodies.

The original Maltese Falcon…although this one was called the Giza Falcon. Ironically, it was still being looked for by Joel Cairo

Afterwards, they have this cool little service where you can pick a number of your favorite pieces and they will make a small guidebook, personalized for you, of the art and the description in your language. It was cheaper than postcards and really darn cool! Naturally I got one.

Then it was home since I had to be up early. My bus for Bratislava left at 8:30am.

Today was a boring day in Bayern (that’s German for Bavaria). It’s my last day here so I decided to mostly just walk around and take it easy. I walked down the main drag, had breakfast at the Haufbrauhaus (white sausage and again got the evil eye when I asked for something OTHER than beer to drink – but at 10am I was NOT succumbing to peer pressure!) and wandered over to the Englischer Garten, a central park like place complete with raging rivers, surfers (yes, surfers in the river!) and a Chinese pagoda. It was the perfect day for a walk in the park, slightly overcast but not too cold.

Mostly, though, I was doing a lot of thinking. There’s a lot going on in my life right now and I was just kinda spending some time with myself trying to figure some of it out. Not that I got all that far or that I’m going to post it here when I do, but it was good. A few of the things I did discover is that I know how you can tell I’m not a German – I smile a lot. I smile at people as they drive by on their bikes and I look them in the eye. Have yet to meet a German who’ll do that. Most of them just scowl.

Also, at some point, I think someone should write a book, website, pamphlet, manifesto, whatever it takes, on proper Hostel etiquette. Now, I’m not talking about the groups of young kids here on school trips, no, they are the responsibility of parents or other adults who should really keep them under a bit of a tighter rein. Instead, I’m talking about those travelers who are by themselves or with one or two other people and who, when sharing a room with 3-5 strangers, have absolutely NO comprehension of manners. Stepping into a bathroom where the floor is literally covered in a large puddle of water with black footprints everywhere is really rather gross. Opening your suitcase/backpack and leaving it open on the floor in the middle of the room when you go out for the day is obnoxious and leaving the door open when you leave is just downright wrong.

Okay, enough rant. On to the fun of the day. I went and saw the tomb/crypt of Ludwig the second (you remember him from our recent post about Mad King Ludwig) and I climbed the tower at St. Peter’s – a feat for which you should be knighted if not sainted! Lots of stairs, some rickety, all to narrow for people to pass in the other direction. But the view from the top is spectacular!

I took some random photos around town as well, just of some things I thought were cool. Enjoy!

Here’s a dragon on the side of the New Town Hall (which, ironically, looks older than the Old Town Hall) and is home to the famous glockenspiel.

I don’t know why, but I was just struck by this girl sitting in front of the holy water basin, contemplating. It fit my mood for the day so I took a picture.

I’ve walked by this statue probably a dozen times since I’ve been here and I never noticed it before today. I think it’s really funny. I can’t wait to see what the art historians say about it 1000 years from now.

Tomorrow should be more interesting, although the post might be a day or two since I’m going to be traveling for the next two days. I’ll check in when I can.

Check out the comments on my last past to learn more about Sophie Scholl and The White Rose resistance. I got some facts wrong (damn these incomplete tours) and Ruth Hanna Sachs, a White Rose scholar, has set me straight.

Before I get into the day’s events (and finish yesterdays), let me inform you of the new plan and take the time to answer a few reader questions.

First things first – new travel plans! Staying in Munich one extra night and then Friday morning I’m jumping a train for Salzburg, Austria. Going to spend the day in Salzburg (Mozart’s birthplace and home to many Sound of Music locations) then get on an overnight train to Zagreb, Croatia. Spending three nights in Croatia then over-nighting it back to Salzburg then onto Vienna. Will update more after that. At this rate, looks like Helsinki or Stockholm around the time of my birthday…

Now, onto reader questions –

The big one seems to be about Dachau and my reactions to it. To be perfectly honest, I was okay up until I walked into the crematorium. You enter the building through the undressing room, go through a door labeled Brausebad (Showers – the first in the series) and then into a empty room designed for body storage. Like an assembly line, one room to the next. That’s when I lost it. The next room was where the furnaces were, four of them, with the chimneys rerouted through the floor and then out. The ovens could hold three bodies at a time and just walking through there my chest tightened and I could feel tears running down my face. It gave me chills. It was right after that I saw the memorial for “the thousand unknown” and like I said, I just couldn’t take a picture of it. It seemed, I don’t know, disrespectful somehow, to snap a shot for a scrapbook.

And we only saw a small part of the original camp. They had two bunkers set-up as displays and the rest were just outlines on the ground, two by two and they stretched for maybe 300 yards, maybe more. And when you think each bunker was maybe a 100 feet long, it was a lot of buildings to hold more humanity than it was designed for. Walking along the center strip, what would have been the central avenue between the two rows of bunkers, for long minutes also got to me. It’s when you start thinking about the sheer numbers involved it really gets overwhelming.

We’ll see what happens in Auschwitz. Oh and Mom, speaking of the March of the Living – I was talking to my tour guide today (more on that in a minute) and she said when she was in Poland she ran across a group of Jewish kids doing that…and they were met with open hostility and hatred – something I haven’t experienced at all in Germany.

Riley, I would love to take you to the castle! We’ll see if we can’t figure out a way to make that happen. I even got you and Bailey presents from there, so just wait until I get back!

Bailey, it’s pretty hot here, too! And rainy! A few nights ago the thunder was so loud it woke me up!

I think that’s it for questions, but as I get more, I’ll answer them. And now, on to the adventure!

Yesterday, after the camp, I kept the theme going and went on the Third Reich tour. Hitler moved here to Munich in 1913 and (I found out today) was actually trained by the army in the art of public speaking and rhetoric and was sent to spy on fringe political groups. It was one of those groups he ended up joining and, in 1920, taking over. He changed the name to the National Social Workers Party (he never called it the Nazi party, though, that was a derogatory term the newspaper used). And then, in 1923, tried to take over the government. He failed, but the judge in his case, where Hitler acted as his own lawyer, allowed him to speak at length in his own defense and then gave him an extremely light sentence. This all happened in Munich.

Also, in addition to the Hitler history, we saw two memorials.One was for the dead from WWI and the other was to commemorate the actions of an 18 year  girl named Sophie who was instrumental in The White Rose, a rebel movement against the Nazis here. I first heard about her in Berlin in the resistance fighter museum. Pretty sure she was Jewish – and if you look on top of her memorial, it is covered with pebbles.

And I keep forgetting to mention, the catalyst for Krystalnacht was a guy named Grynzspan (but when spoken sounds eerily similar to another, more familiar name) who tried to assassinate a high ranking Nazi in retaliation for the expulsion of Jews to Poland (his parents were part of that). Two days later came the Night of Broken Glass.

Munich is like the Austin of Germany. It’s the art center and fiercely independent. After the Third Reich tour I wanted to learn more, so I went on the city walk this morning. Okay, it was free since I had booked other tours with the same company and I almost didn’t get to go anyway. I was there, waiting, but somehow they didn’t see me and were going to cancel the tour but I convinced them to go anyway, So I had a private tour with Maxine, a former Australian who has been in Munich for 11 years. We hit all the big sights, including the church where the now Pope used to be Arch-Bishop and the Hofbrauhaus (where Hitler first announced the formation of the Nazi party – please refer to the above paragraph and understand I’ll be using the derogatory term for convenience sake). At the Hofbrauhaus, the regular drinkers can get a locker for their steins for about 3 Euro a year. It’s a token fee but the waiting list is huge! That’s me in front of some of them.

We also saw this monument to the generals. I’ve made the picture bigger than normal and you can enlarge it further, but you need to look at the lions. Notice they are looking in opposite directions and the one on the left has his mouth open? That’s because the building on the left is the government and on the right is a church – the subtle symbolism here? Say what you want to the politicians, but when it comes to the church – keep your mouth closed!

After the tour, Maxine pointed out the big Glockenspiel in the middle of Marianplatz and that there was a 6 story bookstore across the way and I could watch the automatons from eye-level – so I did. Then I went to a weird little museum which had a display of 100 years of Teddy Bears. In reality, though, it looked like one of those swap-meet style antiques stores and it was up way too many flights of circular stairs in a tower older than the bears it was showcasing. I took pictures just to make it worth climbing up there!

And look at those bears in the last picture. Is it me or are they just plain scary looking?

Then I came back to the hostel and took a nap. I was exhausted! A couple of trips and some internet research got me my new travel plans and then I was off to find someplace to watch the big game tonight. It was the semi-finals of the Eurocup (like the world cup but only for European teams, held every fourth year, alternating with the world cup – and the reason prices are sky high in Austria right now) and Germany was playing Turkey. This is bog because Germany (and Munich in particular) has a large Turkish population. The previous games I’d been watching in the hostel, usually while working on a post, but I figured a big game like this, I should experience it with other people. So I did. And it was fun. I ordered a coke light and the waiter scowled at me, so I ordered a beer (at first I ordered a beer mixed with sprite – I just pointed at what some woman at my table was drinking and then she and the waiter said that was a girl’s drink and laughed at me so I got a regular beer. They take their beer drinking very seriously here!). Oh yeah, Germany won, 3-2, with a late goal. Very exciting match, really.

Okay, to be honest, there’s not much to say about Dachau. Factually, it was the first camp opened, just a few weeks after Hitler seized power. It remained open until 1945, the end of the war. It was designed to hold at most 8000 people and by the end it was holding over 30,000. The official death toll is in the low 30,000 but unofficially it was upwards of 45,000 and those figures are just those who died in THIS camp, not the ones who were held in Dachau and later transferred to another camp.

That all said, it was emotionally powerful and very quiet. I’m just gonna post some pictures, with descriptions, and leave it at that.

The front gate. It translates as “Work makes Freedom.”

The bathrooms in one of the bunkers. The men (this was a men only camp until 1943) shared ten toilets amongst a thousand occupants.

The bunks themselves. At the end of the camp’s life, this is how the bunks were arranged.

There were dozens of these bunkers. Now, where they were stands as a memorial. Here’s one of them.

In this camp, they had “showers” but there s no evidence they were used.

The crematorium on the other hand, was definitely used.

Different pieces of a memorial. The sign is self explanatory, the distorted people commemorates those who committed suicide by running into the electrified fence and the chain with the colors are all the different tags the inmates wore.

A close-up of the colored tags

This is a memorial to the unknown victim, the German translates as “The Death to be Honored, the Living tobe Warned.” This was th first memorial at the camp.

I took this picture from inside the crematorium. When I went to look at it it closer, there was an inscription on a plaque in the ground which read – “For the Thousand Unknowns.” Once I read that, I don’t know why, but I couldn’t take another picture of it, so you’re stuck with the one through the window.

Here’s a few pictures from around the camp – the guard tower, the homes across the wall, a view inside a cell…

And just so you don’t think it was all doom and gloom…

they made an exhibit from the pamphlet –

And finally, this sign outside the crematorium –