Munich

The cards and gifts that I left for each of the Hofmanns

On Wednesday night, 31 July, I said good-bye to all of the wonderful people with whom I worked at the CVJM. I am not very good at this sort of thing, and it felt rather awkward to me. That evening, Petra, Jan, and I sat and skyped with my parents one last time. Jan was fascinated seeing himself on the computer but was rather shy in speaking or singing. (This is probably only the second time he has been shy this summer!) He eventually warmed up to my parents, and I wound up translating sentences such as "Dwarves are growing upstairs" and "There are chickens under the coffee table." My mom and Petra made small talk about vacationing. After skyping, Jörg, Petra, and I settled down in the living room and watched Mama Mia dubbed in German. After rushed good-byes to Jörg, Petra, and Jan Thursday morning, I met the rest of the team at the CVJM. We then traveled to Munich for a mini-vacation.

The Glockenspiel at night

Upon arrival in Munich, we checked into a youth hostel that was conveniently located ten minutes from the heart of Old Munich (Altstadt). We ventured down into this part and ate at a restaurant on the main street. (I had actually eaten here when I was in Munich in 2007.) I then explored the Altstadt with a few teammates, and we eventually laid down in the Marienplatz and stared up at the Glockenspiel.

"Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ
is the only way to Heaven on Earth!"

Even being on vacation is no excuse to not share the Gospel, especially in a country as spiritually dark as Germany. That Thursday night, I started leaving a few coins and a Gospel track with each street performer whom I passed. I tried to keep this up through my time in Munich. On the way back to the hostel, I noticed some Christian graffiti written on the inside of the Karlstor (a famous medieval city gate). I would never have expected to see something like that! I made sure to leave five tracks in the wall near the writing.

Outside the Hofbräuhaus

On Friday, 2 August, I went at noon with the group to see the Glockenspiel play. I really enjoyed it, and I was very curious how it could possibly work. I then broke away from the group and visited the German Museum. It is a main attraction in Munich and contains exhibits about German scientific and technological history. There was an interesting exhibit on electrical history, but it gave me a headache trying to decipher the name plaques and technical descriptions written in German. The last and most interesting exhibit I visited was the multi-story aviation section. Unfortunately, the museum closed before I could see all of the exhibit. After close, I went to the hostel and showered, and then I met the team at the Hofbräuhaus to eat in the courtyard and fellowship. I ate a large pig knuckle, two weisswurst, and potato dumplings. Needless to say, I was happily stuffed with traditional German food and slept well that night.

Me in lederhosen posing
with a Gospel track

On Dachau's front gate:
"Work will make you free"

Saturday morning, we went to C & A and tried on lederhosen. After a nice lunch, Josh, Lynne, and I went to visit Dachau, the infamous Nazi work camp located outside of Munich. I had been before, but I did not remember very much. It was disturbing to look around and contemplate what had happened there. I found almost as upsetting the loud, chatty American tourists who were also visiting. It seemed as though they were missing the significance of where they were. However, I am certainly very glad I returned to Dachau. It's certainly not a cheery place, but I think it is important for every tourist visiting Munich to tour this concentration camp and learn its gruesome history.

A memorial to those who died at Dachau. The memorial depicts bodies
mangled in a barbed-wire fence.

Sunday, 5 August, turned out to be an interesting day. Because our two teammates from Croatia and North Ireland had left on Saturday, only the five of us Americans were left. We watched the Glockenspiel play again at noon and then boarded our train to Heidelberg. At the train's next stop in Augsburg, the conductor informed us that the tracks ahead were blocked, and the train could not continue until the obstruction was removed. My team waited with the train for four hours, but we eventually took the recommendation of Mary and train company officials. Because we would drive from Heidelberg to the Frankfurt Airport the next day, my team traveled back to Munich and took a train bound for Frankfurt. We checked into a hotel there around 1 A.M. Monday morning. Needless to say, the last day in Munich was exhausting and frustrating, but in hindsight, it turned out to be a rather amusing adventure!