Day 9: Travel Day: From Munich to Prague...6 Countries in 11 Days

 

If you've been following this blog for the past 8 days, you might be a bit confused by the title tonight. I will explain. We landed in Italy and traveled to Germany and we are now in the Czech Republic...that is three.  We also spent one night in Austria...that is four. We took a tour of the Vatican...it is an independent nation...that is five.  We also stepped into St. Louis church while in Rome...it is technically French soil...that is six.  Our kids are globetrotters!!!  The only downside to this is that they currently have only one stamp in their passport! Hopefully, they will get an exit ticket when we depart Prague.

And that is the reality, it has been a whirlwind tour and it wraps in two days...tomorrow, we have an extremely busy day and I may, depending on the time when we get back, forego the blog for the flight home. We shall see. 

We woke this morning in Munich and the breakfast hall was much more maneuverable than yesterday.  I woke early and had my fill.  I then went back up to the room to pack for the day's journey.

Today's breakfast was some toast with Nutella, sausage, egg, yogurt with fruit and granola. And coffee with no lines!

I brought my bag down to the lobby and wait for the kids to finish their breakfasts and bring their bags to me. We had a later start than usual, but the elevators at the hotel were nuts. There were two banks of lifts, one that went to the parking garage through floor 7 (we were floor 6) and another that went from the lobby to the top (I think floor 17).  People, from floors 1-7, pressed the button for both sets and it slowed the exiting procedure by making the elevators stop at every floor.  Some of the kids wanted me to specifically mention that they used the stairs for six flights because it was so frustrating.

On board the bus, finally, we did a passport check and took off. Our driver Joseph is a native Czechian.  It was nice to know that he'd be returning home soon, but before we left Germany I had requested of Kent that we stop at Nuremburg.

Walking through Nuremburg Castle

A blurry photo because I tripped on a cobblestone at the moment I took the picture.

This fountain at the Haupmarket was our rendezvous point later in the day...notice the blue sky

I think that most Americans hear the name Nuremburg and they immediately think of the trials that prosecuted Nazis after World War Two. That makes sense, because of the importance of those trials, but the city is so much more than that.  It is a only city and it's castle is Medieval. It was one of the most important German cities during the Crusades because the Teutonic Knights hailed from here.  It has a wonderful charm about it, especially in the Hauptmaket.  There were numerous street vendors selling fresh white asparagus, fruits, and other local fare.  The castle is on top of a hill and the market is at the bottom of the hill on the banks of a river.  If you stay on one side of the river, everything looks and feels old-world. If you cross over the river, things look a little more modern.

On our quest through the city, we found my Second Dunkin Donuts in as many days!

An automated pay toilet.

One of my favorite Nuremburg moments today occurred as I was finishing lunch.  A couple of the boys saw me eating a Doner Kebab and asked what it was. I told them how it is made and that mine was really good.  They all went right over the the cart and ordered it.  They also told me that they really liked it too. I told them to watch out, however, because Doner Kebabs and Dunkin is basically a training kit for a Dad Bod...even though I don't have any kids, lol.

The first bite is magic!

Today's kebab was one of my top three kebabs of all time. Freshly baked pita, jalapeno slices for heat, and the perfect balance of kebab meat to french fry. 

Sadly, we left Nuremburg and began our trek to the Republic of Czech. It was about a three hour ride today and most of the kids slept most of the way. I am always amazed at how odd the sleeping positions of bus riders can be...I am uncomfortable sitting upright, but some of these kids are contorted in inhuman ways.  It is impressive!

We made it to Prague and on our way to dinner

Our first glimpse of Prague Castle and St. Vitus Chapel

We parked alongside the Vltava River and began our trek to dinner. It was a nice place located just underneath the Charles Bridge...you will many more pictures of it tomorrow, but here is one of the entryways to the famous river crossing.

As you can probably tell, Prague seems like a different time.  It is an amazing blend of modern life, with medieval architecture, and a hefty dose of Communist brutalism too.  It is such an intriguing place and I love being here.  We made it to dinner after a short walk.

Our meal tonight was Goulash. A lot of the kids really enjoyed it.  I thought it tasted like pork in Salisbury steak sauce, lol.  I enjoyed though. The kids who received the vegetarian plate also enjoyed their meal. It was pasta and red sauce and a direct call back to Italy! For dessert, it was a cake with a raspberry tart topping. It was a small portion, so Kent took us to get a specialty of Central Europe...a Trdelnik.

In English, it is referred to as a Chimney Cake. It is dough, slow roasted over an open fire. Traditionally, you coat it in butter and cinnamon...but in Prague places started filling them up with ice cream and other yummy flavors.  I think 20 of our 25 kids bought one and most decided on what flavors they'd be ordering tomorrow.  Three of us Chaperons decided to wait until tomorrow!

Kent took us on a slight orientation tour. He pointed out some cool shops and activities that the kids might do tomorrow when they are able to explore a little bit. One of the suggestions is in old square.  

The astronomical clock is one of the oldest functioning in Europe. It chimes every hour.  Kent suggested that the kids explore the museum associated with the clock tomorrow. You can explore the basement of the church, the workings of the clock, and climb to the tower for view of the city unlike any other. I've been here several times, but I've never done this exhibit...I think tomorrow is the day!

Our quick walk through the city came to a close and we were off to the bus. As we approached, we had another view of the castle on the hill and it's imposing chapel.  My camera has a nifty little feature that allows me to eliminate unwanted distractions in my pictures (it is how I have posted so many photos without bystanders in the way).  I am really happy with the photo that I took.

For a comparison, this is the original photo unedited.

It is about half past eleven and I am about to wrap up tonight's blog. In a few minutes, I will do a round of room checks, although I've been told the kids are mostly quiet.  I can't believe there is only one more full day left on tour. It has flown by.  I admittedly hit a wall today as our bus approached the city center of Prague.  These are long days and long nights. There are stressors that pop up when unexpected.  It always catches up with me, but it hit me a little harder today than I expected...and then, we were here. In this magical place, among my favorites throughout all of Europe, Prague refreshed my tired eyes, gave energy to my weary legs, and put fresh breath into my soul. 

Mr. Lavoie, currently on the 14th floor of an old Communist era hotel retrofitted for modern times...overlooking a bustling city filled with promise.

 

Day 8: Our Day in Dachau and our Munich Adventures

 

We had a very full day today and as I sit to write tonight's blog, I realize I messed up again and forgot to take a group picture. I replaced it with a taste of home found by a small group of our Eurotrippers.  If you are wondering why we are at Dunkin Donuts, it is because Germany has quite a few and we found one this after noon.  It was nice to taste that sweet perfection of a large black iced coffee even if the coffee was in our traditionally small cup!

Today began with a different cup of coffee and our first experience at the H2 OlympicPark hotel's breakfast.

The H2 Breakfast was pretty good. I kept it small, again with some eggs, sausages, and a sandwich. There were tons of other options though

The breakfast area was packed to the brim by the time we left the hotel today.  We believe a few factors contributed to the crowd. First, it was a Sunday morning and it makes sense that folks' vacations were ending and they wanted to hit the road early. Second, a soccer match had occurred the night before and the stadium is nearby. We think a lot of people were there for the game.  Most likely, I will take pictures of the spread that is available tomorrow morning.

A few of the kids had a technical issue last night and their phones didn't really charge well in their rooms. This also led to their alarms not sounding and them over sleeping a bit. They weren't late, but it made the morning much more hectic than they would normally want.  Even still, they were all here on time and we boarded the bus for our busy day in Germany.

Dachau is a town that is not far from Munich. I liken it to Saugus and Boston.  During World War One, the city was home to an ammunitions factory. When the war ended and Germany had been defeated, the factory hit hard times and so did the community.  As Hitler and the Nazi's rose to power, they re-opened the factory and sadly built a prison camp to put prisoners to work.  The camp at Dachau became the first Concentration Camp that the Nazis' built and it became a model for other camps in the future.  It was not an extermination camp, like Treblinka or Auschwitz, but it still was responsible for horrible tragedies. The exhibit at Dachau is amazing for several reasons.  First, you walk through the administrative building and see all sorts of primary sources that build the foundation of knowledge one might need to know about the camp and the Nazis.  After that, you are able to walk the grounds of the prison camp.  There is a detention center where high value prisoners were kept, tortured, and killed.  There are also two barracks still standing. One was open for examination. I counted roughly 60-75 beds in each room and about 10 rooms per barrack.  The camp would have had 30 barracks in total. If you walk down the camp road, between the barracks, you can feel the severity of where you are.  Today, the camp houses several religious centers for various denominations. I saw a Russian Orthodox service happening in a small chapel. Just on the other side of the perimeter wall, you can walk to the crematorium. As I stated, Dachau wasn't a death camp, but many thousands of prisoners lost their lives at the hands of their guards.  As Dachau was an early camp in the Nazi system, they had not yet begun the gassing of their victims, instead most were killed by firing squad or hanging.  Later, a gas chamber was installed in the new crematorium, but I am not 100% sure that anyone was killed there.

There are other areas to the camp that can be explored.  There are also exhibits within the administrative building that add additional value to one's experience.  An English language movie began at 10:15 and a few of our kids watched it. They said it was great, but they were worried that they'd miss the grounds too. We stayed a little later than expected so that they could see as much as possible.  The kids, as a whole, did exactly as we asked.  They took their visit serious.  They read signs and placards and utilized the new interactive panels too.  I am hoping that they will have questions for me as we go, but I think that the visit helped them understand the Holocaust in a way that a classroom could not. 

Our group walking to the gate

The translation says "work will set you free."

Checking out the exhibits

The prison camp is to the left of the model, the larger factory is to the right.

The firing squad wall.

A hallway in the detention center.

The camp road is lined with Poplar Trees and signifies the rows of prison barracks that used to stand at the camp. 

The crematorium

Entrance to the gas chamber

Inside the gas chamber

The crematorium

As we left Dachau, the weather in Munich began to improve.  Our schedule had us return to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and then off to the BMW center for lunch.  The center contains a museum, but we didn't visit that part of the complex. They have some nice cars out on display and a cafe inside for the kids to grab something to eat. Sara and I headed down the road for a bit to get kebab. It is my favorite street food in Europe and this place didn't disappoint.  I really enjoyed it.

After lunch we boarded our bus for a city tour, but there was a lot of traffic due to an accident. Our guide tried to explain some of the key points, but we didn't really see a lot...but I don't think the kids minded. They were respectful and listened, but they really wanted to get off the bus and explore the city on their own. Most opted to ride bikes, but a few kids decided that walking with purpose was the right way to see Munich.  While we were waiting, we had a surprise visitor with a similar name as one of our kids...they simply had to meet.

Amelie and Amelia

I'll start with the group that stuck we me.

We left the others and headed to the Vicktuallersmart. It is a food mart in the City Center. It was mostly closed due to it being a Sunday.  The area is usually packed during the holiday seasons, but today it was empty. We just missed the Easter season and the Spring celebration will begin soon.  There is actually a May pole in the square too. I was so pleased that they knew what a May Pole was!  We also visited Marienplatz. This is the main square of Munich and houses the Town Hall.  This square was busier and the many restaurants were filled with happy people.  We continued our walk through the streets to finish our trek...which you've already seen. We found a Dunkin Donuts!

While I didn't ride today, I did check in with everyone and the report was that it was a blast. Apparently one bike didn't really work well and a few of us traded it to each other until Kent fixed it. The day was great and a few kids sent me pictures.  Most of the ride skirts through the English Garden and throughout the park they saw a ton of dogs. I must say, there have been a lot of pups on this trip...reminding many of us of our little buddies back at home.

There is a water pump in the Garden and someone figured out you can surf it. The bike tour got a glimpse of this really cool Munich feature.

Our groups reunited and we headed off for dinner. It was a traditional German Spaetzle with chicken and mushroom.  The restaurant was nice and a few kids purchased some souvenirs. Max was also presented with a belated birthday present from Kent. 

Rice, Brussel Sprouts, and Spaetzle

It was empty!!! But I think he loved it!

We arrived back to the hotel fairly early. We informed the kids that 11pm was their curfew (They have fifteen minutes, lol) and that they'd have an extra half hour of sleep tonight as we delayed our departure for Prague a bit....Oddly, about 15 of them just spontaneously got up and went to their rooms, lol.  Good kids!!!

Today was an easy day, logistically, but a busy day for us. Dachau challenged us in a somber reflective kind of way and the rest of the day pushed our limits as we rode through the streets on bicycles or navigated Munich for that perfect cup of Joe. We are day 8. Tomorrow, we make our way to our final city and soon we will be on our way home. 

Thanks again for reading!!!

Mr. Lavoie, currently in the hotel restaurant wrapping up the blog earlier than expected and hoping for a bit more sleep than usual.