Pre-Semester Trip

Greetings from Salzburg, Austria! Since I have a little bit of free time now, I shall make a brief update of my pre-SEP trip. Other than Salzburg, so far I have been to Geneva, Munich and Innsbruck. Geneva has nothing much except for the famous "jet d'eau" or fountain which shoots really high and of course, for the UN headquarter.

Munich

Munich is a city rich in history. I took a city tour and I learnt that 80% of the buildings and architecture has been reconstructed after the post World War 2 destruction. They were built in the same way as before they were demolished so I actually would not realise this if I didn't have a guide with me. Interestingly, the old town hall is "newer" than the new town hall. I walked through the exact spot where Hitler was once shot and then ran away during his attempt to rise to power. There were not many memorials to commemorate the end of WW2, partly because the Germans wanted to close this dark chapter in their history. So, memorials came in very subtle forms such as a long yellow line on an alley which honoured the anti-Nazi activists who once marched through this path before they were eventually condemned to death.

Of course, I did not forget to go the famous Hofbrauhaus to soak in the atmosphere for dinner. This place was officially the birth place of Nazism. I ordered a pork knuckle and beer at a reasonable 7 euros. The service was super lousy though. The waiter was very rude and unfriendly. He refused to take our orders till we tipped him 2 euros. In the end, our bill amounted to 33.60 euros. I gave 50 and only got back 15 euros change. The rest went to his pocket as a self-imposed tip. Later on I found out that this was the norm here.

I also went to Viktualienmarkt which is one of the beer gardens. In a typical beer garden, chestnut trees are planted for the purpose of shelter from the sun. A typical lunch includes a Bretwurst and a 0.5L beer. Over here, beer is like dirt cheap, but contrary to popular belief, it is NOT cheaper than mineral water.

I also visited Dachau memorial site which was once a concentration camp for the Jews during Nazi's reign. The barracks were sickeningly cramped. For what I call a master bedroom size of a hotel room, there was once over 1500 people living in it. The crematorium after the Jews have been prosecuted in the gas chamber was also disturbing as they even had some crematoriums the size of babies and kids.

The last place I visited was Allianz Arena, one of the famous stadiums used to host 2006 World Cup. The interesting thing is that it changed colour 3 times. First, whitish-yellow, then red and blue. It looks like esplanade except that it was much bigger. The stadium switches to red when Bayern Munich is playing home and blue when TSV1860 is playing.

Next part on Innsbruck and Salzburg will come soon.