Day 4 started with an early morning train ride for a day trip to Salzburg. We took the S-Bahn to Munich Hauptbahnhof. We grabbed some Starbucks and walked down the platform to our train about 10 minutes prior to departure. The train ride took an hour and 40 minutes, and the German train system efficiency was impeccable. The train ride took us through beautiful German countryside, with plenty of deer ranches and lakes in the immediate view, while providing glimpses of the far off Alps in intermittent spells. The mountain views became more prominent as we approached the Austrian border. The train pulled into Salzburg and we were afforded a view of the old city as the train crossed the Salzach River.
We disembarked and decided to make the walk to the old city. We took the route to Mirabell Palace and visited a few spots from The Sound of Music. The gardens were in Winter shape, but the palace and gardens were still beautiful. We walked though the gardens and by Mozart Wohnhaus, the Mozart residence from 1733 to 1787 reconstructed after WWII. We passed going inside, deferring the option to the return walk. We crossed the Salzach and entered into the walls of old Salzburg.
The first stop was a small shop full of culinary specialties. We picked up some Mozartkugeln and then just started picking turns and small passageways willy-nilly. We picked up a few more ornaments from a small shop, then saw several Krampus costumes and warned Cade that there were fates worse than coal on Christmas morning. We then found our way to the Residenzplatz and the heart of the Salzburg Christmaskindlmarkt. We were tempted to pick up a handmade St. Nicholas, but decided to pass. We walked around the cathedral to the Domplatz and grabbed some pretzels for a snack.
We stopped and listened to a violinist for a few minutes before walking up to St. Peters to peak at the graveyard and catacombs in the cliff face. We decided to have lunch before going up to Hohensalzburg, so we walked past the funicular entrance and up the hill to Steiglkeller. The surroundings were a little better than the schnitzel, but my stuffed dumplings were pretty good. And the food was better than the service.
We walked back down the hill to the funicular and rode up to Hohensalzburg. The fortress was somewhat interesting, but the views were worth the price of admission. The north side overlooked the old city and river, while the south side looked out over plains with the Alps in the background. We visited a marionette museum/advertisement for the marionette theater inside the fortress walls. There was a small market in the fortress interior courtyard, and we collected some Glühwein and bead figurines handmade in Africa sold by a lady who supports a foundation there.
We took the funicular back down and shopped the amber store at the bottom of the hill. We walked back through the old city towards Mozart’s Birthplace. As we passed through Domplatz again, there was a quarter singing Christmas songs and hyms, so we stood for awhile and soaked in the atmosphere. We then made our way to Mozart Geburtshaus. We entered and spent about an hour looking at the displays. It was rather light on actual artifacts, but copies of important documents and letters were on display and overall we learned a lot about Mozart and his family.
We then made our way back to the train station and boarded. The return was much more crowded, with many returning from a weekend in Salzburg. It began to snow as we were leaving, making Cade want to get off and stay. We promised more snow later in the week, and eventually (barely) kept that promise. We got off the train at Ostbahnhof and visited Dunkin Donuts in the station to a dozen take back to the flat. Most of them made it back to the flat. Okay, some of them did. Almost a dozen. But we got 6 free with our dozen. So, yeah.
The next day would be a somber one. We discussed for several weeks leading up to the day whether or not Cade should visit the Dachau concentration camp with us. We decided that I would take the girls and attend the guided tour, and Greene and Cade would join us later so that we could avoid any areas that Cade wasn’t ready to comprehend. We cooked another breakfast at the flat and headed out in time for the 11 o’clock tour. A train ride and short bus trip dropped us off right outside the entry to the concentration camps. This visit had dual purpose; Macy has always been very interested in this time period, and my papaw had spent time at Dachau after the liberation.
It was a cold day, made colder by the setting. Of course we were bundled up and the temperature was above freezing, so the discomfort was nothing compared to what the camp population had to face. The guide was a German whose father had served around the time of the war. We walked through gate announcing “Arbeit Macht Frei” (a replica since the original had been stolen in 2014 and only recently recovered in Norway) and out into the desolate landscape. Only two of the barracks had been reconstructed, with the demolished barrack spaces still define by graveled areas. We made our way to the museum now housed in the former maintenance building. There were a few areas that were too extreme for Cade to handle, so we noted those for when they would join us. We stopped in a room that the U.S. Army had used as a mess hall, and I wondered where my grandfather had eaten, laughed, wrote and read letters from home, thought about home…and wondered what his thoughts were being in a place that had seen so many horrors so recently.
We moved onto the camp prison and walked through with the guide pointing out small details and answering questions. We left the prison and walked to the Roll-call area. Without shelter, the wind felt stronger and our coats inadequate. The guide told us of hour long roll-calls in thin camp uniforms and wooden clogs. Our coats were suddenly a luxury. We made our way to the barrack with a progressive display of bunk conditions, from one bunk/one man up to what the sleeping arrangements were when a camp designed for 6000 prisoners held 30,000 prisoners. We made the long walk from the barrack to the memorials located at the north end of the camp. We stopped inside the Protestant Church of Reconciliation Memorial and sat on a ledge as the guide explained the camp system for identifying prisoners by crime and ethnicity. We then made our way back to the gas chambers and crematorium. Cold.
The tour concluded and we made our way back to the visitor’s center to eat and wait on Greene and Cade. They had spent the morning doing some shopping before heading out to join us. Greene has become a travel pro when taking public transportation so they met us right on time. We all went back out and retraced our steps, Drew steering Cade around the worst areas. We were glad we made sure he visited the camp and it worked out perfectly with being aware of exhibits to delay for him. The girls took Cade back to the visitor’s center while Greene and I made a visit to the crematorium area.
The girls decided to do some more shopping on our last night in Munich, so they got off at Marienplatz while Cade and I headed back to rest.
The next day was a last minute plan come together. I woke up early and headed to Ostbahnhof to pick up our rental car. I convinced the family to allow me to cram us into a wagon rather than a minivan, since I’d be driving on the Autobahn. I rented and Audi A6 and drove it back to the flat. I went up to help bring luggage down and we told our host goodbye.
We hopped in the car and the only thing we knew was that we were going north. Nuremburg had been the original plan, but Greene had been texting with Bianca, mother of Devin, AKA Cade’s soulmate in Texas. Bianca was German and Devin had lived his early life in Germany before moving to Texas. Greene found out where they had lived and got the address for Bianca’s mother. We altered the plan to pass Nuremberg and visit Eltmann (their hometown) and Bamberg.
We had a quick breakfast at a roadside service area and hit the road. We got an address that put us in the general area of her house. We were primed for a European Vacation visit with the wrong people, since Bianca’s mom didn’t speak much English. We followed Google, knocked on a few doors unsuccessfully, drove around a bit, walked around a bit, then Greene finally found the right set of stairs off a small wooded trail. We visited outside for awhile, communicating through Google translate, and snapped a few pictures to send to Texas. We played with her dog Amigo and said our goodbyes after trying to call Bianca with no answer (at 4 a.m. Texas time). It was special to get a glimpse of the Stallberg’s life before they came to Texas, and we feel like our friendship is even stronger having shared this.
We made a short drive to Bamberg and drove through the walled portion of the city before finding a parking garage. We crossed the Geyerswörthsteg and took in the views of the Neues Rathaus, built on an island in the middle of the Linker Regnitzarm. We then wondered around aimlessly, decided for a respite from Bavarian cuisine at Casa Italia, and walked our lunch off by visiting the Alte Hofhaltung, Domplatz and cathedral before looping back to the Rathaus. We crossed the bridge and took in the murals before peeking in on Grüner Markt and short circuiting our way back to the car. We regretted we couldn’t stay until nighttime, because the Altstadt was strung with Christmas lights from every possible anchor point. We made the drive back south to Feriehnaus Leonrod, where we would spend a night before heading south to the Alps, with a stopover in Rothenberg ob der Tauber.
From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia 