Well yet another relatively quiet week. Class went by as usual and the weekend was relatively uneventful. On Thursday I went out with some of my classmates from my Marketing class and Friday spent most of the day catching up on sleep. I went early Friday to the Police station with my roommate so he could register as a Foreigner (thanks to my MOMMA I don’t have to now that I am a EU citizen), but I went along because he does not speak Spanish. On only two hours of sleep getting up was not the easiest thing but I committed to going, so I followed through. I think I got home and slept till 5 in the afternoon!!! Not your normal schedule. Friday night was relatively uneventful stayed home watching some soccer and studying a little bit (had some catching u to do). Saturday during the day I watched some more soccer, studied some more and then met with some friends that night to go to the disco. We didn’t end up going but spent the night out on the town at a couple of local bars. Sunday was another day of relaxation and soccer! In the evening I went out for a walk, ended up walking about half way across the city just aimlessly...taking whatever streets I felt looked nice or were of interest in one way or another.
Whoops, almost forgot to mention that I was actually able to speak to my family for quite some time this weekend. We all chatted on Skype which was great. Nice to see familiar faces and catch up. Unfortunately, John was racing in Tempe with all my friends from school so I didn’t get to talk to him; and on top of that, I have only heard stories about how awesome the weekend was in Tempe!!! (Except for Gerrit´s short landing on a back flip on his motorcycle!!!!) Hope you get better quick Gerrit
Today, Monday, I had class and then I met with a guy from my Marketing class to do a language exchange. He asked me last week if there was anywhere that the exchange students met to trade little mini language courses, so I asked him what language he was trying to learn. He said English and I thought to myself, perfect, I did not get into a Spanish class because it did not fit into my schedule (probably cause it was on a Friday or something...haha, class on Friday, I think not!). So today after class I met with Jesús, yes you heard me right, I practiced my Spanish with THE MAN! It went well, and he is a cool guy so I am sure that it will help me a lot.
This Friday I am off to Alicante to see some family (Tía Nana, Tío Mana, Bernardo, and Carolina) should be a lot of fun, and I am sure there will be a big post coming your way next week.
As always I hope this finds everyone doing well, and oops I almost forgot to say a BIG WELCOME HOME, to my good friend Rick LaFave who just came back from a deployment aboard the USS Ronald Regan. Thanks for your service!
Much Love,
Phil
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Oct 13th - Oct 19th
Another week gone by and more memories made. Another relatively slow week for me, there was only class on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday and then a fun weekend. On Thursday night after class I met up Marc, Ismael, and Javier for dinner; we also invited a couple of Domingo's friends from Portugal that are here working. We ate at a great tapas bar called La Llama and then went out for a few drinks before once again going to the discotecha and dancing the night away! It is definitely starting to get cold here, walking home at 6:00 a.m. in a long sleeve shirt was VERY COLD. We have been having overnight lows around 39 F. Friday was a relatively lazy day, went to buy groceries, read my book a lot of the day and just hung out (I feel like I did something else but I am guessing that was really it!)
Saturday I woke up late, read for a few more hours and then met up with Javier and a bunch of his friends to go play soccer. Apparently one of the kids dad's is the Mayor of a town outside of Madrid so we all drove out to the little town and there turf soccer fields were opened for us to use privately! It was real nice there were 14 of us and we played for about 2 hours. Saturday also marked the first time that I have been to a Spanish Hospital! Take a deep breathe Mom, It wasn't cause I hurt myself, one of our friends blew out his knee while playing and we had to take him for some medical attention. It was a bummer for the game to end that way, and then we weren't able to go out because we were with him in the Urgecias until about 12:30 and I was exhausted by the time I got home.
Sunday was more of the same, relaxing. I finished the book I was reading, (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson) and would recommend it, although a bit graphic at parts it was a great read. Later I studied a bit for a presentation I had today in my Marketing class. In the Evening Marc and I went to another Bull Fight, just like the rest of the old men there we are regulars now!
Well as I mentioned earlier, I had a Marketing Presentation to give today in front of my class. I was a bit nervous because it was all in Spanish and although I speak relatively well, I had never given a 7 minute presentation in Spanish. Ok so I was not alone there was one other guy from my marketing group presenting with me, but I must tell you having a classroom full of Spaniards staring at you while you are up there speaking in your best semi ok Spanish was brutal! I am glad to say that I made it through without any huge issues, overall it went pretty well. We were the second group of 13 to go and I think that our presentation was one of the better ones.
Well that's all for now...one more mellow weekend here in Madrid coming up and then I am off to Alicante to visit some family! Get ready for longer posts to come (Lizzy!)
Much Love always, and I hope this finds everyone doing very well.
Phil
Saturday I woke up late, read for a few more hours and then met up with Javier and a bunch of his friends to go play soccer. Apparently one of the kids dad's is the Mayor of a town outside of Madrid so we all drove out to the little town and there turf soccer fields were opened for us to use privately! It was real nice there were 14 of us and we played for about 2 hours. Saturday also marked the first time that I have been to a Spanish Hospital! Take a deep breathe Mom, It wasn't cause I hurt myself, one of our friends blew out his knee while playing and we had to take him for some medical attention. It was a bummer for the game to end that way, and then we weren't able to go out because we were with him in the Urgecias until about 12:30 and I was exhausted by the time I got home.
Sunday was more of the same, relaxing. I finished the book I was reading, (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson) and would recommend it, although a bit graphic at parts it was a great read. Later I studied a bit for a presentation I had today in my Marketing class. In the Evening Marc and I went to another Bull Fight, just like the rest of the old men there we are regulars now!
Well as I mentioned earlier, I had a Marketing Presentation to give today in front of my class. I was a bit nervous because it was all in Spanish and although I speak relatively well, I had never given a 7 minute presentation in Spanish. Ok so I was not alone there was one other guy from my marketing group presenting with me, but I must tell you having a classroom full of Spaniards staring at you while you are up there speaking in your best semi ok Spanish was brutal! I am glad to say that I made it through without any huge issues, overall it went pretty well. We were the second group of 13 to go and I think that our presentation was one of the better ones.
Well that's all for now...one more mellow weekend here in Madrid coming up and then I am off to Alicante to visit some family! Get ready for longer posts to come (Lizzy!)
Much Love always, and I hope this finds everyone doing very well.
Phil
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Oct 6th - Oct 12
Well it was a long weekend here in Spain for some national holiday, and not much is new. Last week in class I had two quizzes, one in Game Theory and one in Management. Both of them went well. The quiz in Management was written in very poor English so it was a little tough to understand but I managed to get through it. Friday morning I went for a jog about 45 min around Retiro park, right next to my house. it was nice to get out there and run. Tried to take a nap later in the day but a ton of jets were flying over practicing for the parade that took place on Monday so about half an hour into my nap I was rudely awaken!
Friday Night I went to pick up Domingo’s, my cousin, from the airport along with another friend of ours Miguel Castello Branco. Friday night we went out and met up with all my friends from Madrid, Marc, Javier, Ismael, Vicky, etc. It was a good night we danced the night away as usual at Orange Café.
Saturday was kind of Lazy we woke up late being that we went to bed after 6 a.m. and then met up with a friend of Domingo's and Miguel’s that is here in Spain. We went for a walk through Retiro Park and then went to look at the train station by my house. That night we watched Portugal beat up on Hungary in World Cup Qualifying and then went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Sunday was even slower than Saturday! Another late night this time after 8a.m. and we woke up around 2:30 or so in the afternoon. We went to Real Madrid’s Stadium, Santiago Bernabéu, not very pretty from the outside but it is definitely one of the more important cites in this city for the fans! After the stadium we cruised around Plaza Mayor, The Royal Palace and a Market near Plaza Mayor. We did not go out partying again, but we did go to a very nice Tapas bar for dinner called Lateral (look over the Menú if you want to see the ridiculously good tapas they serve! http://www.cadenalateral.es/la_carta/la_carta.html)
After finishing dinner around 1:30 a.m. it was tome to call it a night, Domingo’s and Miguel had to leave the house at 5:15 to catch their flight back to Lisbon. All together it was a great weekend, nice to spend one in Madrid again!
Not much else to write so this may go down as the shortest blog to date!
More adventurous to come in the near future.
Miss you all back home in Carlsbad and the Dirty T (Tempe)
Love Always,
Phil
Friday Night I went to pick up Domingo’s, my cousin, from the airport along with another friend of ours Miguel Castello Branco. Friday night we went out and met up with all my friends from Madrid, Marc, Javier, Ismael, Vicky, etc. It was a good night we danced the night away as usual at Orange Café.
Saturday was kind of Lazy we woke up late being that we went to bed after 6 a.m. and then met up with a friend of Domingo's and Miguel’s that is here in Spain. We went for a walk through Retiro Park and then went to look at the train station by my house. That night we watched Portugal beat up on Hungary in World Cup Qualifying and then went out to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
Sunday was even slower than Saturday! Another late night this time after 8a.m. and we woke up around 2:30 or so in the afternoon. We went to Real Madrid’s Stadium, Santiago Bernabéu, not very pretty from the outside but it is definitely one of the more important cites in this city for the fans! After the stadium we cruised around Plaza Mayor, The Royal Palace and a Market near Plaza Mayor. We did not go out partying again, but we did go to a very nice Tapas bar for dinner called Lateral (look over the Menú if you want to see the ridiculously good tapas they serve! http://www.cadenalateral.es/la_carta/la_carta.html)
After finishing dinner around 1:30 a.m. it was tome to call it a night, Domingo’s and Miguel had to leave the house at 5:15 to catch their flight back to Lisbon. All together it was a great weekend, nice to spend one in Madrid again!
Not much else to write so this may go down as the shortest blog to date!
More adventurous to come in the near future.
Miss you all back home in Carlsbad and the Dirty T (Tempe)
Love Always,
Phil
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Spetmeber 30 - Oct 5th
WOW... WHAT A WEEK!
I don’t think this is going to be short, but let me reassure you that it was one Heck of a time with a ton that happened!
I guess we will start off with the school topic again. Well, I went to Class on Tuesday and Wednesday, and have a couple of tests next week.
Good thing we got the boring stuff out of the way! Now onto the good stuff, OKTOBERFEST!!!
As I am sure you are aware I spent last weekend travelling through Germany simply to enjoy one of the greatest, if not the greatest, festivals of all time! There were 5 of us that were Travelling together: Marc, Javier, Ismael, Daniel, and me. Instead of spending €300+ to fly directly to Munich, we flew to Frankfurt which is about 3.5 hours away by car and very near where our friend Daniel is doing an Exchange program (Wiesbaden). We arrived Thursday evening and Daniel met us at the airport. After about an hour and a half of trains and busses, we made it to his dorm, and old U.S. Military Barracks. We left our luggage there and went to the downtown area to find some authentic German cuisine! We went to a nice little restaurant and all enjoyed cold local beer and some schnitzel. After a lovely dinner, Daniel gave us the grand tour of the whole city at night...cathedrals, Palaces and the famous Casino in Wiesbaden. Apparently it is an area where many wealthy people live just outside of Frankfurt. Touring the city at night gave an interesting perspective, and let’s be realistic here, we wouldn’t have wanted to waste time on Friday when we could be at the Oktoberfest!
Saturday morning we picked up our rental van at about 10:00 a.m and began the drive through Bavaria to get to München (Munich). I was not quite sure what to expect of Germany, being that I had never been there, but the drive through the countryside to get to München was absolutely beautiful. The whole way the basically we had rolling hills covered with trees, pretty little towns along the way, oops and did I mention the Autobahn!!! It is something else driving at 140Km (about 85) and having people BLOWING BY YOU!!! Lots of German cars, BMW, AUDI, MERCEDES, PORSCHE, Etc that were nearly flying!
We arrived in München around 4:00 p.m. and battled through traffic to find the Oktoberfest. We had to ask directions a few times but surprisingly we made it there quite quickly. There was one trick once we got near the Festival, finding a place to park our rental van so that we could sleep in there (NOT PAY FOR A HOTEL, DON´T WASTE MONEY YOU CAN SPEND ON BEER!), without being bothered by traffic or hassled by the Police. We were lucky enough to find an older side street with mature tress and a few motor homes and vans where it looked like people were sleeping.
We had no trouble getting to Oktoberfest from where we parked, it was less than a Kilometer and you just walked to the main road and followed the mass! The first day we kind of walked around and took in all the sight s for a little bit, then tried to get into one of the tents (this being much more difficult than it sounds). We waited at a few of the bigger tents and then decided to go to one that was not as crowded, meaning it wouldn’t take more than an hour of waiting to get in! I can’t remember which tent it was, but we found a side entrance where there were only a few hundred people waiting to get in and waited. I was maybe a little more forceful than my colleagues in line and ended up inside without them. I then begged and pleaded with the bouncer, and talked him into letting them in, they still had to fight there way through the mass and the bouncer had to hold the others off that were ahead of them trying to get in instead! The first night was awesome; we sang and danced until closing enjoying a couple of fine liters of beer. We all had a good time and made it back to the van without any problems. I ended up sleeping in the front seat of the van, where it was a little snug and uncomfortable with the seatbelts and break in the seats, but I would guess better than Ismael who slept on the floor between the front seats and the first row of seats!
We woke up around 8:30a.m and wandered down the street to the Café before going to Oktoberfest, there was some talk about going to buy outfits to wear, but that was shot down and we decided to get to the tents early and get a seat at a table. We decided to go to the Schottenhamel tent which is a tent where many young locals go. We arrived just before 10:00a.m. and the inside of the tent was already full and there was a huge line at the front to try to get seating on the patio. Once again we found an entrance that was a little less crowded and got in after about 15 minutes. We were seated at one of the last empty tables, and luckily we were seated with a few local German guys. They were extremely nice, taught us a few different songs and toasts and we stood on the tables, sang and drank all morning long! We could not have had a better day to sit on the patio; it was sunny with a few scattered clouds and about 18 C. We stayed on the patio from about 10:00 till 3:30 and then decided to go out to ride some roller coasters and have a bite to eat. Whoops, almost forgot, we had the typical grilled chicken at the Schottenhamel tent and it was delicious, moist with a great herb seasoning!
I have to admit I didn’t take part in the Riding of the roller coaters, but the braver Marc, Ismael, and Daniel did. After fooling around for a while it was round two of trying to get inside the tent. We were let back into the beer garden because they had stamped our hands; we then went from entrance to entrance trying to see if there was one that we would be able to get into. Unfortunately we had no luck. To get into the ten you really need a reservation or to be there hours before waiting in line. I saw that the people getting in had little reservation cards and had an idea. At another one of the exits from the beer garden the bouncers were giving out cards instead of hand stamps, they didn’t look the same, reservation cards were white, and exit cards were blue, but hell it was worth a shot. We all took the exit cards, went back to our original entrance used our hand stamps and all made it back in without giving the bouncers the little cards. We then found a door that was only an exit where there was only one other person waiting to try an convince the bouncers to let them in, I would have guessed that she would have had the upper hand because she was female and all the bouncers were all guys, but apparently she was not as prepared as I was! We waited for the bouncer to open the door but nothing happened for a little while, I went up to knock on it and the girl standing there waiting told me not to, blah, blah, blah, but of course I did! The bouncer opened the door, she stepped up and started to talk to him in German, he pushed her back I pulled my card out, started walking in like I was supposed to be in there, waived all my friends in and before the bouncer could really question us we had all shoved our cards in his hands, smiled and walked on by while he held the girl out of the tent!!! Makes me laugh every time I think about it! It was apparent why it was closed to new people, the tent was shoulder to shoulder FULL of people, sitting at tables, standing in the aisle ways, and dancing where there was a little room. As we wandered around I saw some people getting down from a table, promptly went over there asked if we could join the people that remained, and got us a seat at a table right smack in the middle of the ten and close to the band!!! Again we danced, sang, and drank the night away!
We made it back safely Saturday night and again woke up relatively early Sunday morning. Sunday was our day to get back to Frankfurt for our 7:40p.m. flight. We toured downtown München for about an hour and a half then made our way up the road. We stopped on the way at Dachau, one of the main concentrations camps during the second world war. Parts of the camp have been preserved and made into a historical monument. It was a strange feeling being in a place that was truly a beautiful part of the country, with trees and small brooks running near the camp, with such a dark history. The dormitories were meant to hold 200 people and at times the held upward of 2,000 people each. There were rows upon rows of them. You read about people dying in the winters while standing at the role call area, infection, torture, experimental medicine, etc. It made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. After touring the grounds where the prisoners lived and were held, we went to the SS camp which was a mere 500 meters from one of the exits from the camp. It was there that I really started to feel sick. This is where there Gas chambers where built and where the Nazi’s had the crematoriums they used to dispose of the corpse. There was an old crematorium that only had two ovens and a newer one that was built later by to prisoners when the camp grew larger and the other one could no longer keep up with the death toll. It was sickening to see the thought that went into the operation; the whole facility was built like a production line. First, there were three chambers where the prisoners that were going to be gassed clothes were put to be burned. Next, there was a waiting room where all of the prisoners would be gathered before their supposed shower, After that you had the Gas Chamber itself where it looked like a huge shower stall, and then on other room for the bodies to be piled before they were taken to the final room which housed the four ovens they used to cremate the bodies. There are no words to describe the feelings of walking through there, and being in all of the chambers, looking up and seeing the fake shower heads seeing the crematoriums, walking through the gardens behind the building where there were firing lines to execute the campers and now headstones remembering thousands of unknown people that lost their lives at Dachau. After a wild weekend it was a sobering moment, but it was something that I wanted to see, and experience.
Well, on a lighter note we finished our long drive to Frankfurt in extremely heavy traffic, road construction, and poor weather. We had budgeted 5.5 hours for a 3 hour drive and when it came down to it, it was a race against the clock...THE CLOCK WON! We arrived at the Airport at 7:05 for our 7:40 flight and the gal at the counter would not print us boarding passes...we thought of renting a car and driving back, but ended up getting rebooked, thanks to the help of Javier’s Aunt who work for Iberia and her contact with the most senior representative in Frankfurt for Iberia that both pulled some strings and made it work out!
We spent the next day touring Frankfurt, which was not that impressive. It is the business capital of Europe, and is where the European Central Bank it, but apart from that, a few churches and some nice little plazas, I don’t think it is really a touristy vacation spot...I could be wrong didn’t do much reading up before we toured but I was far more impressed with the smaller towns in Bavaria and with München.
Well, I am back safely in Madrid again, I have to go study for a couple tests this week, and get the pictures ready to post...sorry the Italy ones aren’t up yet but they all will be by this weekend. Should be a good weekend, staying home but Domingo’s is coming to visit a friend here and will be staying at my place!
Well as always hope you all enjoyed, wish you could have been here to go on the trip also, and most importantly I hope this finds everyone doing well.
Much Love Always,
Philip
I don’t think this is going to be short, but let me reassure you that it was one Heck of a time with a ton that happened!
I guess we will start off with the school topic again. Well, I went to Class on Tuesday and Wednesday, and have a couple of tests next week.
Good thing we got the boring stuff out of the way! Now onto the good stuff, OKTOBERFEST!!!
As I am sure you are aware I spent last weekend travelling through Germany simply to enjoy one of the greatest, if not the greatest, festivals of all time! There were 5 of us that were Travelling together: Marc, Javier, Ismael, Daniel, and me. Instead of spending €300+ to fly directly to Munich, we flew to Frankfurt which is about 3.5 hours away by car and very near where our friend Daniel is doing an Exchange program (Wiesbaden). We arrived Thursday evening and Daniel met us at the airport. After about an hour and a half of trains and busses, we made it to his dorm, and old U.S. Military Barracks. We left our luggage there and went to the downtown area to find some authentic German cuisine! We went to a nice little restaurant and all enjoyed cold local beer and some schnitzel. After a lovely dinner, Daniel gave us the grand tour of the whole city at night...cathedrals, Palaces and the famous Casino in Wiesbaden. Apparently it is an area where many wealthy people live just outside of Frankfurt. Touring the city at night gave an interesting perspective, and let’s be realistic here, we wouldn’t have wanted to waste time on Friday when we could be at the Oktoberfest!
Saturday morning we picked up our rental van at about 10:00 a.m and began the drive through Bavaria to get to München (Munich). I was not quite sure what to expect of Germany, being that I had never been there, but the drive through the countryside to get to München was absolutely beautiful. The whole way the basically we had rolling hills covered with trees, pretty little towns along the way, oops and did I mention the Autobahn!!! It is something else driving at 140Km (about 85) and having people BLOWING BY YOU!!! Lots of German cars, BMW, AUDI, MERCEDES, PORSCHE, Etc that were nearly flying!
We arrived in München around 4:00 p.m. and battled through traffic to find the Oktoberfest. We had to ask directions a few times but surprisingly we made it there quite quickly. There was one trick once we got near the Festival, finding a place to park our rental van so that we could sleep in there (NOT PAY FOR A HOTEL, DON´T WASTE MONEY YOU CAN SPEND ON BEER!), without being bothered by traffic or hassled by the Police. We were lucky enough to find an older side street with mature tress and a few motor homes and vans where it looked like people were sleeping.
We had no trouble getting to Oktoberfest from where we parked, it was less than a Kilometer and you just walked to the main road and followed the mass! The first day we kind of walked around and took in all the sight s for a little bit, then tried to get into one of the tents (this being much more difficult than it sounds). We waited at a few of the bigger tents and then decided to go to one that was not as crowded, meaning it wouldn’t take more than an hour of waiting to get in! I can’t remember which tent it was, but we found a side entrance where there were only a few hundred people waiting to get in and waited. I was maybe a little more forceful than my colleagues in line and ended up inside without them. I then begged and pleaded with the bouncer, and talked him into letting them in, they still had to fight there way through the mass and the bouncer had to hold the others off that were ahead of them trying to get in instead! The first night was awesome; we sang and danced until closing enjoying a couple of fine liters of beer. We all had a good time and made it back to the van without any problems. I ended up sleeping in the front seat of the van, where it was a little snug and uncomfortable with the seatbelts and break in the seats, but I would guess better than Ismael who slept on the floor between the front seats and the first row of seats!
We woke up around 8:30a.m and wandered down the street to the Café before going to Oktoberfest, there was some talk about going to buy outfits to wear, but that was shot down and we decided to get to the tents early and get a seat at a table. We decided to go to the Schottenhamel tent which is a tent where many young locals go. We arrived just before 10:00a.m. and the inside of the tent was already full and there was a huge line at the front to try to get seating on the patio. Once again we found an entrance that was a little less crowded and got in after about 15 minutes. We were seated at one of the last empty tables, and luckily we were seated with a few local German guys. They were extremely nice, taught us a few different songs and toasts and we stood on the tables, sang and drank all morning long! We could not have had a better day to sit on the patio; it was sunny with a few scattered clouds and about 18 C. We stayed on the patio from about 10:00 till 3:30 and then decided to go out to ride some roller coasters and have a bite to eat. Whoops, almost forgot, we had the typical grilled chicken at the Schottenhamel tent and it was delicious, moist with a great herb seasoning!
I have to admit I didn’t take part in the Riding of the roller coaters, but the braver Marc, Ismael, and Daniel did. After fooling around for a while it was round two of trying to get inside the tent. We were let back into the beer garden because they had stamped our hands; we then went from entrance to entrance trying to see if there was one that we would be able to get into. Unfortunately we had no luck. To get into the ten you really need a reservation or to be there hours before waiting in line. I saw that the people getting in had little reservation cards and had an idea. At another one of the exits from the beer garden the bouncers were giving out cards instead of hand stamps, they didn’t look the same, reservation cards were white, and exit cards were blue, but hell it was worth a shot. We all took the exit cards, went back to our original entrance used our hand stamps and all made it back in without giving the bouncers the little cards. We then found a door that was only an exit where there was only one other person waiting to try an convince the bouncers to let them in, I would have guessed that she would have had the upper hand because she was female and all the bouncers were all guys, but apparently she was not as prepared as I was! We waited for the bouncer to open the door but nothing happened for a little while, I went up to knock on it and the girl standing there waiting told me not to, blah, blah, blah, but of course I did! The bouncer opened the door, she stepped up and started to talk to him in German, he pushed her back I pulled my card out, started walking in like I was supposed to be in there, waived all my friends in and before the bouncer could really question us we had all shoved our cards in his hands, smiled and walked on by while he held the girl out of the tent!!! Makes me laugh every time I think about it! It was apparent why it was closed to new people, the tent was shoulder to shoulder FULL of people, sitting at tables, standing in the aisle ways, and dancing where there was a little room. As we wandered around I saw some people getting down from a table, promptly went over there asked if we could join the people that remained, and got us a seat at a table right smack in the middle of the ten and close to the band!!! Again we danced, sang, and drank the night away!
We made it back safely Saturday night and again woke up relatively early Sunday morning. Sunday was our day to get back to Frankfurt for our 7:40p.m. flight. We toured downtown München for about an hour and a half then made our way up the road. We stopped on the way at Dachau, one of the main concentrations camps during the second world war. Parts of the camp have been preserved and made into a historical monument. It was a strange feeling being in a place that was truly a beautiful part of the country, with trees and small brooks running near the camp, with such a dark history. The dormitories were meant to hold 200 people and at times the held upward of 2,000 people each. There were rows upon rows of them. You read about people dying in the winters while standing at the role call area, infection, torture, experimental medicine, etc. It made me feel a bit sick to my stomach. After touring the grounds where the prisoners lived and were held, we went to the SS camp which was a mere 500 meters from one of the exits from the camp. It was there that I really started to feel sick. This is where there Gas chambers where built and where the Nazi’s had the crematoriums they used to dispose of the corpse. There was an old crematorium that only had two ovens and a newer one that was built later by to prisoners when the camp grew larger and the other one could no longer keep up with the death toll. It was sickening to see the thought that went into the operation; the whole facility was built like a production line. First, there were three chambers where the prisoners that were going to be gassed clothes were put to be burned. Next, there was a waiting room where all of the prisoners would be gathered before their supposed shower, After that you had the Gas Chamber itself where it looked like a huge shower stall, and then on other room for the bodies to be piled before they were taken to the final room which housed the four ovens they used to cremate the bodies. There are no words to describe the feelings of walking through there, and being in all of the chambers, looking up and seeing the fake shower heads seeing the crematoriums, walking through the gardens behind the building where there were firing lines to execute the campers and now headstones remembering thousands of unknown people that lost their lives at Dachau. After a wild weekend it was a sobering moment, but it was something that I wanted to see, and experience.
Well, on a lighter note we finished our long drive to Frankfurt in extremely heavy traffic, road construction, and poor weather. We had budgeted 5.5 hours for a 3 hour drive and when it came down to it, it was a race against the clock...THE CLOCK WON! We arrived at the Airport at 7:05 for our 7:40 flight and the gal at the counter would not print us boarding passes...we thought of renting a car and driving back, but ended up getting rebooked, thanks to the help of Javier’s Aunt who work for Iberia and her contact with the most senior representative in Frankfurt for Iberia that both pulled some strings and made it work out!
We spent the next day touring Frankfurt, which was not that impressive. It is the business capital of Europe, and is where the European Central Bank it, but apart from that, a few churches and some nice little plazas, I don’t think it is really a touristy vacation spot...I could be wrong didn’t do much reading up before we toured but I was far more impressed with the smaller towns in Bavaria and with München.
Well, I am back safely in Madrid again, I have to go study for a couple tests this week, and get the pictures ready to post...sorry the Italy ones aren’t up yet but they all will be by this weekend. Should be a good weekend, staying home but Domingo’s is coming to visit a friend here and will be staying at my place!
Well as always hope you all enjoyed, wish you could have been here to go on the trip also, and most importantly I hope this finds everyone doing well.
Much Love Always,
Philip
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