Munich

I had told Trent Munich would be drastically different from Berlin, that it would have "small town" feel and we'd see really cool castles. There was no such "small town" feel. We saw no cool castles. Truth be told, Munich was a bit of a bust. Nothing traumatizing happened here. No blood was shed, no goods were stolen but we still kinda hated it. When I asked Trent what he remembered about Munich, he said, "Ugh. Just skip that one. Wait, isn't that where we ate a whole chicken in the train station?" You know it's bad when the highlight of city was eating a whole chicken in the train station.

It made geographic sense to visit here next but my biggest regret about the trip is that we spent two days bickering here when we should have been bickering in Amsterdam. But we were on a tight budget and so instead of flying to our homeland, we took a 5 hour train ride to Munich.

It probably wasn't Munich's fault that we were so irritated here. Sure we learned a lot of dark history from the Hitler era which didn't make for lightness and laughter, but we were already in dark moods. I'm thinking there is a certain amount of days you can spend traveling with a sibling, or possibly with anyone, before everything they say and do makes you cringe. Eleven was our number. Eleven days with only each other and we were beginning to get under each other's skin. The novelty of an adventure together had worn off after 11 days we realized we were stuck with each other for 20 more days. Trent and I both have a low tolerance for obnoxious people. And we both know how to be obnoxious and annoy the other. In Munich, we started pushing each other's buttons.

We actually learned some really cool things in this city. As a history buff, I should have been more impacted by this city but I spent too much time being annoyed by any and everything to truly appreciate what I'm sure is a fabulous place to visit. I regret not snapping out of my mood sooner.

We arrived in the city and while exploring downtown, we stumbled upon incredible buildings like this one and our jaws would drop.

And I continued my game of trying to make Trent look like an idiot. I am easily amused by this game. See Mom, I did smile in some of the pictures.

The following is my favorite picture from our time in Munich. I don't know why were so intrigued by the fountain and took a picture in front of it but I love the classic man in the background.

After our self-guided tour, we had the daily discussion that often ended in a disagreement: what should we eat for dinner? Trent, aka Mr. Thrifty, always suggested the train station. I gave in this time and we ate in a greasy food court in the train station. We had no plates or napkins. Just a whole chicken and forks. And it was delicious. So delicious that we did the same thing for dinner the following night. After devouring a whole chicken, this is what Trent looks like:

Sadly, I think his face captures how we often felt in this city. I have a vivid memory of chicken getting stuck in his nasty beard. It was getting out of control at this point, collecting lots of scraps from meals so that even his beard started to annoy me in Munich.

The next day was spent on run through a famous park and on a free tour of the city. The run was beautiful

and we ran past some incredible sites

but all I really remember from this run was being super annoyed with Trent and wondering if I could ditch him at some point. I don't remember why. It was probably because of his "tone of voice" which was the source of many of our bickerings. I seriously started running really fast hoping he would just stop. I think he knew I was annoyed and just to be more annoying, he matched my pace and went even a bit faster and laughed at me. It was not a pleasant run. However, I think God intervened with some nudists.

I doubt I'll ever write that sentence again but I was finally able to let go of my anger and enjoy the company of my obnoxious brother again when we stumbled upon a colony of nudists in the park. Saggy, naked old men made us laugh. It was baffling and bizarre and broke the unspoken tension between us.

We took a free tour of the city and I wrote things in my journal like, "learned some really neat history about Bavaria (beer, monks, lions)." I suppose I assumed I remember what I learned about the beer, the monks, and the lions, but I don't. I do have have these pictures:

but I don't remember why they were significant. I remember being quite intrigued learning the history on the tour but what stands out more is sadly the all-you-can eat Bavarian stew we had for lunch at a pretty cool site. Don't judge. It was really good stew.

Oh and I remember laughing when I went to the bathroom and came back to discover Trent making new friends.

Other than the nudists, the most excitement of the day came while watching Turkey beat Croatia in the Euro Cup. We ended almost every day watching soccer with crazy European fans and this was no different. Except the game ended with a shoot-out and for some reason we really wanted Croatia to win so we were bummed when they lost. I don't remember why we were rooting for them but we were and so we went to bed bummed.

The next morning we climbed a surprisingly narrow staircase in a tower to see Munich from a different angle. The view was worth the mild case of claustrophobia.

One of my biggest regrets about this trip, other than not going to Holland, was the decision made next. We should have gone to the Disneyland castle. We needed an upper. We were tired and moody and needed a fun adventure. Instead, we went to Dachau. Note: when you're in a bad mood and are trying to cheer up and you have to choose between visiting a fairy tale castle or a death camp, choose the castle. Always choose the castle. Our already damper moods were darkened as we silently toured Dachau. Nothing to laugh about here. We were disturbed and disgusted and dragged our feet as we allowed the heavy realities of what went on here to sink in.

With heavy hearts and souls we walked the paths so many tormented souls had walked before us. We needed to see it. I often try to ignore the evil realities on the daily news because it is so sickening, our world so torn and twisted. But we can't ignore this piece of history. We can't forget and gloss over it and visit castles instead. Here is the Jewish Memorial with a very fitting psalm written above it:

"Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah." Psalm 9:20

Our moods certainly were not improved by this visit but sometimes that's okay. Sometimes we need to be reminded of our mortality. Sometimes somber train rides out of Germany are a necessary part of the journey.