the old town bears houses which were constructed according to the typical european style, beige walls, red roofs, pointy observation towers.... you get the idea.

View from the top of the church at central square

 As it was the first European city that I stepped foot in, I was really amused by the vintage European styled houses, so much so that I could barely stop snapping everywhere that i went. The green tents are actually stalls that are part of the christmas market. They mostly sold FOOD!!! Whoever that came up with such a brilliant idea should be awarded the Noble prize. It's totally ingenious to have hot and fragrant food placed along the streets when it's so cold and gloomy because one would be so tempted to stop and grab a bite!

Check out the wet floors, Xmas wasn't white but WET.

yx never liked to smile in photos, we kinda forced him to smile here.

apparently touching the lion would bring you good luck! (this kinda statues are all over europe, one tip to identify them: the golden parts)

I was pretty damn lucky to be able to spend christmas in Germany, I mean, just look at the amount of FOOD!!! Awesomely huge and juicy sausages are sold everywhere as well as other festive delights. It was an eye opener for me because the only kinds of outdoor market that I've ever been to are PASAR MALAMS in sg, the CHAKTUCHAK market in Bangkok and the night markets in Taipei . They weren't shy in terms of food variety, in fact, i think they had more, but one thing for sure, THEY WERE ALL FREAKING HOT AND STUFFY. Therefore, a cooling and beautifully decorated Christkindl Markt was a refreshing and welcoming change ;)

see what i mean, they really put in effort to decorate their markets

who needs fake Christmas trees when you can just grow your own?

A typical candy stall!

 What would you yearn for on a cold and wet day (I know it's hardly the case in sg these days but just imagine it)?
What's that you said? A HOT CUP OF COFFEE/TEA?

Muahahahah let me introduce you to something way better than those!!
 yes these are the famous hot wine/mead drinks typically sold at christmas markets since the ancient times! Gluhwein, or simply mulled wine, is something you can never leave a christmas market without drinking! I believe every local drinks at least one cup a day while passing through a christmas market. There are even stands and mini tables for you to have a quick chat with your friendly neighbours. What's more, they come in such CUTE LIMITED EDITION GLASSES! :D Perhaps people tend to steal them so one has to pay a deposit for the cup as well but then again, one is also encouraged to keep the cup if one likes it. I kept one shoe shaped cup which is rather unique ;)

The market also serves other food like this caramelized apple! I remember that it was freaking sweet though.

oh yeah, back then i was still a huge fan of jacket potatoes ;) but after 6months in europe, I'm not sure of my intense liking anymore. Don't get me wrong, I didn't grow to hate potatoes, I just don't love it as much as I used to.

this is the tram

the metro

my fellow ese finnish SEP mates ;)

 What makes Munich different from the other German cities is that it houses the FIRST EVER CONCENTRATION CAMP known as Dachau Concentration Camp. All the other concentration camps during the Nazi regime were modeled after Dachau's. Truths, lies, rumours, history were all presented right before my eyes at this place that once housed the outcasts of the Nazi led society. This gloomy place was where 31951 were reported to have been killed. (note: reported)

Armed with our audioguides, the four of us marched on the path that countless Jews were led on between 1933 and 1945.

Through the gates of living hell

"work will set you free" was the slogan of such concentration camps that were meant to be "work camps"

This was how the barracks used to look like in the past, guess how many people were packed into these small living spaces?

this was the very first kind of bunk beds but as years went by, the beds became smaller and more people were squeezed into a small room

this is a memorial used to commemorate the different people that were sent to the concentration camps as they were all labelled with a different coloured triangle. Red - Political prisoners like the communists and anarchists, Pink - Homosexuals, Yellow Star of david - Jews, Blue - foreign forced labours, Green - Criminals, Black - asocial/work shy

the gas chambers

these gas chambers were cleverly disguised as showers and those poor souls never knew they were going to die in there

after an extremely long day spent at dachau, we were pretty exhausted

I would say that visiting Dachau concentration camp was the highlight of my stay in Munich because being a history junkie I have always wanted to see for myself how it really looks like. History is just texts if one never gets to see and experience the exact places for himself/herself. Although the visit very much left me feeling rather emotional and gloomy, I'm still glad I got a chance to visit a concentration camp. What was done in the past was inhumane and cruel but it's not the end if we work towards a racially harmonious world.

Recently, I went to read up on Hitler's ideologies on race and why he did what he did. It does make some sense to have social darwinism because it is the fastest way to get rid of faulty genes by ensuring that people don't pass on bad genes. However, his methods were really unethical and inhumane as everyone has the right to live in this world. Furthermore, what was done to the Jews had no logic to it as innocent lives were taken just because there were born of a different race. I think he was just jealous that they were rich.

not sure what this was but i think we were waiting for the metro to head to allianz arena

there, the boys wanted to see this because visiting every soccer stadium is like a pilgrimage for them. Allianz arena is the home of Bayer Munich, if I'm not mistaken.

Labels: Germany, Munich