So yesterday (not the Hilary Duff song, or the Beatles song, ACTually yesterday) we were able to go and visit Dachau. There's this great organization called New Europe that does free tours in English in many major cities in Europe, and they offer other specialized tours for a reasonable fee done by the same guides that lead the free ones. They are pretty fantastic. And so it was that we did a tour through them to visit Dachau. What an experience - it's interesting how much of our trip has been about WWII, and it has been absolutely fascinating and strange to be able to stand in these places, learn more about their history and what happened in the very environment you have entered into. Dachau is basically the only concentration camp that was functioning the entire 12 years the 3rd Reich was in power, and Hitler's reign seems to have somehow revolved around it's functionality. It was also the model camp for other camps in Germany, and trained many of the guards that went on to run camps elsewhere. I'll put some pictures up, but you should really visit for yourself:
Many memorials have been erected so that we never forget what happened here, and make sure that nothing like it happens again. But are we really aware of the ways humans are treating humans in other parts of the country? The Nazis were not the first to think of concentration camps, and even today human rights injustices continue to occur in countries that don't make it on our daily news.
All of the barracks in Dachau were removed in the 60's, as they were in very poor condition after the war and also after being used as a refugee camp - there is no way to really understand the living conditions these people experienced. The refugees were Germans who had fled to neighboring countries during/before the war, and were forced to return after - getting a first hand glimpse of what they were trying to escape.
They have built a model of the barracks for you to walk through, and it show the 3 different stages that Dachau experienced - from housing 50 men in one room, to around 70, to nearly 500 when other camps were being evacuated and moved to central Germany.
What an interesting journey! We met a new friend on the tour as well, Shannon from Montana. She's pretty awesome (Shannon if you're reading this, we think you're pretty awesome!). So we stopped by our favorite coffee spot before leaving for Salzburg:
And now we are safely in Salzburg! Needing to do some laundry, and needing to see EVERYTHING possible that was in The Sound of Music. That last part may only be my personal goal, but we'll see. The Eurocup is going on now and there is a game IN Salzburg TOnight, that's pretty exciting. To tide you over until we have some pic's to share of Salzburg, here is a staple item, the Mozart Ball - It's delicious. Mozart Balls are chocolate, hazelnut, marzipan and pistachio put together in a little ball of heaven. Feel free to throw in a 'That's what she said'. 
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