Deutschland

*TW: This blog contains details and pictures of Dachau Concentration Camp and the Holocaust*

Another eventful week at camp! This week I was in “Mario Party” camp where we did various Mario related arts and crafts and then played different Mario games. The kids really got into it! I was with the younger kids again this week so I went to Gardaland (another amusement park) on Wednesday. We couldn’t go swimming this week because the pool was full of algae so we did water play in the center instead. The kids were a little bummed but we made the most of it and had a water gun fight and ended up turning the playground slide into a water slide. We ended the week like we always do, with pie the counselor!

I also had eventful evenings this week! Monday night my roommates and I went to the Px after work to get a few essentials. The rest of the night on Monday was spent trying to plan for Munich this weekend. Some of the girls have Eurails and some do not so we struggled a little bit finding transportation to get us all there, but it all worked out! We went to free tacos again this Tuesday but got caught in a rain storm on the way home. Biking in the rain has definitely not been one of my highlights! Wednesday we decided to have a little mid-week fun and a group of us went bowling. It was a long week at camp this week so as a pick-me-up, the staff took us to a music festival Thursday night. Most night life doesn’t begin until late but since we have a curfew we had to head out early. I’m sure it would’ve been great to have stayed later but we still had a great night and I loved experiencing the culture.

Friday night we had a few hours to shower and pack a few last minute belongings before heading out to Germany. Those of us without Eurails (three total) headed out to Venice and then walked (really it was more of a trek) over to the bus station to catch the overnight bus to Munich. The bus was cold and crammed but it did what it was supposed to and we made it into Germany at around 6:30 Saturday morning.

Since we had been traveling all night, we were starving and decided to hunt down some breakfast food. After breakfast we headed to the hostel to wait for the other girls to arrive. Since they had also been traveling all night, they wanted to get breakfast as well which gave us the perfect amount of time to go see the new Spiderman movie at the English theater! We had all intentions in heading over to Dachau to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp later that afternoon but it had been raining all day so we decided to just stay in the city. We explored the underground mall (located between the train station and the metro station) and then braved the rain to walk around downtown Munich. Thankfully it didn’t rain for too long while we were outside and we were able to enjoy the pride event that was going on. We ended our night on Saturday at the Hofbräuhaus for a traditional dinner and then popped over to the Hard Rock for some dessert.

Sunday morning we headed over to Dachau before returning to Vicenza. Most of the camp is still standing so we were able to see the gate they walked through, the bunker (prison jail), the barracks, the gas chamber, and the crematorium. The camp had been remodeled when the city decided to turn it into a monument so there were also some religious monuments that had been constructed. Likewise, only two of the barracks remain so they had been remodeled to show what they looked like throughout the years as the camp grew. Finally, the original maintenance building had been turned into a museum. We ran a little short on time in the museum but overall the experience was worth it. Visiting the camp was a very impactful and educational cultural experience that I am so grateful to have been able to have.

After visiting Dachau for a few hours we began our trip home. We had all intentions of traveling the whole way back as a group but there was a mix up in the tickets so we got to have an extra little adventure on Sunday! We took the train from Munich to Brenner, Northern Italy with the other girls but the train had been overbooked so those without a Eurail (aka me) had no place to sit. We ended up sitting/standing in the back of the cart, near the door and the bathroom. Fortunately, a family of four left only a few stops in so we were able to take their seats for the rest of the ride. We had a few hours in Brenner to explore the city (which was surrounded by mountains) so we decided to have a picnic and enjoy the view. We found a great little market and got some meats and cheeses to enjoy before continuing our journey! We then rode the train another three hours in Verona and took a train from Verona back to Vicenza for the night. We ended up traveling for about nine hours that day but I wouldn’t give up the experience for anything!

I can’t believe it’s already week six! I’m loving everything about my time here and I’m looking forward to seeing what the second half of the summer has in store.

I didn’t get photos of pie the counselor this week and I forgot to take a dinner of my food from the Hofbräuhaus but I promise they were both great!