the most beautiful place on earth.

When we were driving into Switzerland I swore I could smell the grass and the trees through the bus windows. And again my life became like a song. But this time a more audience appropriate song- a Jack Johnson song! "I wish this old train would break down... Something something something... So I could take a walk around. Something... The wisdom's in the trees and not the glass windows."

Side note- not only is Switzerland the most beautiful place on earth it is also (unfortunately) the most expensive place on earth. A Swiss franc converts 1 to 1 with the US dollar. Get this- I had to check it with my own eyes- a big mac at McDonald's is 11 franc! Without fries and a drank! That's $11!! And the place was packed!! Carrying on now...

The campsite in Lauterbrunnen had an amazing view of the Swiss alps and a breathtaking sunset. I spent a lot of my time with my feet in a stream, reading under trees, and jogging through the mountains with a lot of cows all around- wearing bells. One time out running I came across a loose herd of cows- and they were running too. Right at me. And then I had a little mini panic seeing as I was in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of cows running head on. I began to question everything I have ever learned at a rodeo or on a farm. Is that a bull?! A steer?! Omg. But I kept running and they just looked at me like "why is she running?".


I know I mentioned the overwhelming feeling of the alps before when I was in Innsbruck Austria, and it happened all over again here. I went for a walk one afternoon to the trummelbach glacier waterfalls- which consists of 19 different glacier waterfalls inside of a mountain that pumps up to 20,000 liters of water a second. The water came pouring out with such force you could feel the pressure- and the temperature dropped immediate. Standing over the railing was so scary and invigorating all at the same time. It was a glimpse of how massive these mountains are- this water does not stop!



Again, one if those "WTF!?!!?" moments.

But first- let me give you a bit of background info.
There are 2 different young peoples guided tour travel kind of programs. One is 'contiki' and the other is 'top deck'. Both are about 10 days long and usually a drunk incestuous set up for 19 yr olds. The campsite in lauterbrunnen was full if drunk 'contiki' kids. So there was never a surprise to seeing someone drunkenly wondering around at any given time of day. Until one night...

It's real late- it's real dark- and I'm really asleep. I wake up to the sound of someone fumbling around in the cabin-and I know or a fact I was the last one in for the night. I get up just knowing that someone is there. And I start firmly saying "uh uh!! Oh no you don't!! Get out sucker!!" my roommates think that I have lost it and I'm talking to myself- their telling me to go to bed and that i'm seeing shit. Sure 'nuff. Turn the lights on and there is a guy passed the f out inside of a girl's suitcase!! Well his head wasn't in there- but he even managed to get a dress out and use it as a blanket (while he's holding onto a bottle of jäger like a baby).

Next was lucerne Switzerland- a quick stop in a little typical Swiss village where I slept, blogged, jogged, and slept.



Y'all love it.

I wasn't sure where to put these 2 places, and since this blog was a short one I think they fit perfectly here.

On the way from lucerne to Munich we stopped at neuschwanstein castle, which was built by king Ludwig II. This is the castle that inspired all Disney castles and the Disney castle logo. But I felt like no princess here. It was raining cats and dogs. We couldn't see a thing and spent 2 hrs in a freezing cold room soaking wet. Then we ran through more rain to sit on a freezing cold bus. I didn't get a picture of what the castle looks like. But I did get a magnet- and here is a picture of my magnet.


Then back to the beer and bratwurst of Munich.
One of the main reasons I wanted to return to Munich was to visit Dachau concentration camp. This was the "master plan" of all camps and where all commanders were sent for training and de-humanizing. It is also one of the very few camps in existence with a crematory and gas chamber open for viewing. This was the most sobering experience on my trip so far.

Prisoners at Dachau had no confirmation that there was an active gas chamber there- but they knew there was a crematorium because they could see and smell the smoke for 24 hrs a day.

This was literally a factory line of death. Prisoners were under the impression that they were going for a shower. The building is rectangular shaped with 5 rooms one after the other. Room 1: strip of your clothes and clean them. Room 2: the waiting room for the group ahead of you. Room 3: the gas chamber. The feeling and the air got so dark and heavy in this room. The walls were all painted white in the previous rooms- but here there were no windows and it was bare brick walls and ceiling. There were even shower heads on the ceiling not to give away what would happen. The. The doors were locked and zyclon b was slipped in from a metal flap outside, the heaters would be turned on and in minutes 100 people would be dead. Room 4: storage for the bodies. There are pictures of the room with bodies stacked to the ceiling for rows and rows. Room 5: the crematory. On occasion the guards would take people there alive and kill them point blank in front of the machine so he would land on top of 5 other bodies and knowing his would be in there with them. When finished the guard would take the ashes and dump them outside behind a tree- like it was swept up dust in a bin.

My utmost respect goes to the survivors who demanded that this camp does not get destroyed so that people of the future can learn from something so horrible that happened not so long ago.

Now- on a more cheery note, I met some Irishmen (and women) and wow are they crazy.