For our first day in Munich we had booked to go on a tour of Dachau concentration camp, the first concentration camp. However it was more of a work camp during the war. I didn’t really want to go, but decided i would go along with the others. We went on a tour that started at the hostel next door and we caught a train and bus out to Dachau- it was only around 20mins away. It wasn’t what I was expecting at first, I imagined we were going to a really barren place with barbed wire fences- but it was surrounded by trees and grass. All of the bunkrooms had been pulled down- there was a replica one to go into. It was an odd experience as it was hard to actually comprehend what had gone on here. It want so daunting- as a lot of it was set up like a museum, but I didn’t really read much as we had a guide with us- and personally didn’t feel I wanted to know everything that went on here. The crematorium was a different story- made me feel sick, didn’t feel comfortable being there. I’m glad we weren’t at a full on death camp- don’t think i would have handled being there. Dachau has gas chambers but they don’t believe they were ever used. So that was a depressing day. After that we all had a lie down. WE have an amazing authentic Italian restaurant across the road- they do huge slices of pizza for only 2.80 euro, that’s what we had for dinner. then we headed to Hofbrauhaus- the biggest and original beer hall in Munich. It was massive. You walk into a huge hall and there are rows of big tables, you go around the corner and it is the same. The building is a big square with a beer garden in the middle and goes up several floors. Several thousand people can be there at once. We all got a stein- I got a radler. The waiters all dress in traditional dress and there are several oompah bands playing throughout the place. We played circle of death as we consumed our beer. After that we went home to bed. The next day we woke up late and had to do some booking, which ended up taking forever due to bad wifi. We didn’t leave the hostel until 1pm. we went shopping in town which we are just down the road from. I finally got a sunhat, it is very ugly but it was all i could find, as all the shops are going into autumn clothing. That night we went to the Italian place and i got lasagna. Back at the hostel we got ready to go out. Our hostel had a band on which was great to listen to, but then some aussie guys got in a huge fight so the music stopped. 5 mins later they came running back in and there were 6 guys on 6. Very scary as we were sitting right next to it and had to quickly get out of the way- people were bleeding and the police had to come. WE left and tried to find somewhere to go in town. We finally found somewhere- it was very interesting- you walked in through red velvet curtains into a small bar which had writing all over the walls. Oldest dj ever. he played vinyl’s- I’ve never listened to so much 70s music in my life. it was fun. The next morning we got up early to get an 8am bus to Venice. the drive was very pretty through the mountains- once we came down the other side you could tell we were in Italy- there were vineyards as far as the eye could see- all up the hills, as well as orchards- in between would be houses scattered around. we got to Venice at 4pm two hours earlier than expected. we are staying in a camping ground- in a bunkroom that has bunks in it, so me and steph have a tent and jess and katene are just down from us. when we first drove in i thought wow- there is an amazing outdoor pool with tons of sun lounges- reminds me of Couran cove- two spas and a bar area. it it soooo hot here, it was a shock when we got off the bus. it will be interesting to see how hot it gets in the tent in the morning.
