Nurnberg ~ Munich

We awoke this morning very early, around 7:00am, and set off from Nuremberg for the town of Dachau. Dachau is most famous for its notorious role as the site of the second (yes, second) concentration camp to be opened by the National Socialists in Germany.

Dachau sits 20 minutes outside of central Munich, but is a town in its own right. Bavaria (Bayern to the Germans) was (and remains to this day) a bastion of conservatism in Germany - and during the years prior to and during National Socialism, the Nazi Party enjoyed it's largest and most widespread support in Bavaria. This, combined with Bavaria being one of the largest and most populous states in Germany, meant that a lot of opposition (in terms of sheer numbers) occurred. To the Nazis, this presented a problem, and as such, they set up their second concentration camp (by only a few days) for political prisoners - and it primarily remained as a camp for political prisoners until the end of the war.

Dachau was founded as a "model camp," and was the camp upon which others in Germany were designed from. As with the other camps, the motto "Arbiet Macht Frei" - "Work will set you free."

The Most German of all German Cities (Nuremberg)

Due to our recent adoption of what I would describe as a "very casual" policy towards sightseeing, we each arose at different times (Mum, Annabelle - then me...) and had breakfast separately. By 9:30, I felt ready that we could perhaps venture out into the world - having been able to struggle through the self-diagnosed morning seasonal affective disorder (not a real thing technically - but a variation of something real that describes my symptoms (being grouchy in the mornings) adequately). Alternatively you could just say I'm not a morning person...but I digress.

Nuremberg is known for several things - both good and bad. Home of gingerbread and the German toy industry, as well as being the home of Staedler (a fact not lost on Annabelle or I - but was lost on Mum), as well as being the seat of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Nuremberg is also known for the infamous Nuremberg Rallies, Laws and the trials at which several high-ranking Nazi officials were indicted and convicted.

This morning we headed to the site of the Former National Socialist Democratic German Workers Party (NSDAP or NAZI) Rallies - the Nuremberg Rallies. We boarded a train after taking approximately 5 minutes to purchase tickets (and annoying all the politely queued Germans behind us), then hopped on a train to the grounds. They were essentially deserted as we not only visited in Winter, but also early in the morning on a weekday.

Dresden ~ Bamberg ~ Nuremberg

Today we left Saxony (of which Dresden is the capital), and drove for Chemnitz, the third largest city in Saxony (after Leipzig & Dresden). Chemnitz was heavily destroyed by bombing during the war, and as a result, lost almost in its entirety the town centre. Without the great historic worth of its buildings (like Dresden), a decision was made to reconstruct the town in the Socialist-Realist Style. In a word, Chemnitz is ugly. Monolithic communist buildings rise from the ground like dictators, and Chemnitz lacks street activation and any real attractions for the international visitor. We didn't even stop in Chemnitz, preferring to drive around and see the buildings. It was also snowing pretty heavily, and was below zero, so we hardly felt like walking around. Alas - I have no photos of Chemnitz to show you - but you can do some more research for yourself once Wikipedia gets back online!!

After 3 more hours of driving, we arrived in Franconia (part of the Free State of Bavaria), and made our first stop Bamberg. Bamberg's old town is UNESCO World Heritage Listed (clap, clap), and it is all original, as Bamberg was one of the few cities in Germany not bombed extensively by war.

Dresden

We woke up this morning after a long day yesterday and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel restaurant. I still haven't quite gotten use to the "continental breakfast" - as I really do enjoy a full English breakfast - complete with bacon, eggs and the "works" - and I don't imagine myself changing any time soon. But it is important to have experiences that at least ask you to think about changing your perceptions to life the way that you are used to living it - and I can at least say now that I've tried a continental breakfast.

But I digress. Today we visited Meissen - the home of the famous Meissen Porcelain - the first people in Europe who were able to perfect porcelain the way that the Chinese had made it. According to Mum, German porcelain has a slight bluish tinge to it, and lacks the translucent factor that bone china has.

5,4,3,2,1 (Berlin to Dresden)

5 Cities, 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 3 People, 2nd Month, 1 Room. 

Trust me, you'll see the significance of all this once I explain it all.

Today was our first full day without Emily, and it's just the three of us now, as she and James have now landed safely in Stockholm. We began the day by departing our apartment in Berlin, and heading off to the first of 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites for the Day, the "Berlin Modernism Housing Estates". Built from 1910-1933, during the Weimar Republic (the predecessor to Nazi Germany), the housing estates are outstanding example of the building reform movement that contributed to improving housing and living conditions for people with low incomes through novel approaches to town planning, architecture and garden design. We visited the site known as Grosseidlung Britz, the horseshoe shaped estate in the south of Berlin. Mum was able to cross another site off her list. 

The Potsdam Konferenz (Berlin Day 4)

We began the day after breakfast by heading to Potsdam (most famous as the site of the Potsdam Conference which split Germany and Berlin up into its specific sections - but no - we did not do to the specific Palace where the actual conference was held).

Potsdam is about an hour away from Berlin as "the Cathy drives" and is the home of another (yes another) UNESCO World Heritage Site - the "Parks and Palaces of Potsdam and Berlin." Mum, Annabelle and I visited Park Sanssouci, probably the most famous of the Parks and Palaces in the region. This was the summer hunting lodge of Frederick the Great, and it is also the final resting place for him, after his remains were finally brought here after centuries of unrest in Germany. The park is enormous, and there are several palaces within the grounds. It being winter, and the park being a "summer hunting lodge" it probably wasn't the best time to visit, as the statues were enclosed within tin sheds and the palaces were mostly closed. We also only had 45 minutes to visit the park, as Emily was back at the apartment fretting about her imminent flight to Stockholm for her exchange. The good weather leant the park an almost summery atmosphere - and if it wasn't for the completely bare hedges and lack of any flowers whatsoever - combined with the fact that we were all absolutely freezing, and my water based lip balm had managed to freeze on my lips - meaning that I couldn't smile properly in photos. Sanssouci means "without care" in French, and the park is certainly designed that way. It's laid out Versailles style, and if you've ever been to Versailles, that's the general impression of this park, but laid out on a distinctly German style, whatever that means. Our guide was enormously helpful (if a little odd - she never looked us in the eye...), and I think Annabelle and Mum would agree if we said that we got an excellent overview of the park. I know I'll be back in summer so that I'll be able to experience the park at its very best.

Ich bin ein Berliner (Berlin Day 3)

Today began rather leisurely, with each of us waking separately, and enjoying breakfast, before setting off around 9:00am for our cooking class with Jeremy's partner, Matthias - a private chef in Berlin (he also owns a restaurant in the government district). Imagine our luck!!

They live in Prenzlauer Berg, one of the trendy areas of Berlin, and many of the apartment blocks around here are are painted vivid shades of various colours - yellow, blue, red. we had been asked earlier about what things we would like to cook - and we said simply - things that Germans would eat at home. We walked around to the grocery shop and bought the vegetables we needed - and why Matthias was choosing the vegetables that he was. We arrived back at the apartment and set about cooking a delicious cauliflower soup with truffles and a potato salad with olive oil, as well as stuffed capsicums - a vegetarian speciality for Emily.