After all the hiking and camping we did in the Bavarian Alps, Munich gave us a welcome chance to clean up, rest up, and do some laundry. When we did hit the town, our Munich highlight was visiting their classic beer gardens. We managed to hit a different one every night. First up, and our favorite, was Augistiner Keller, the oldest beer garden in the city (we heard). It is an outdoor garden under huge trees that was packed with about a thousand locals. You'd better be thirsty to visit this place, because their delicious beer is served only in one liter mugs. We bought some good food at the garden, including my first currywurst, a wurst smothered in BBQ-like sauce and topped with a sprinkling of curry powder. Mmmm Mmmm!

Next we hit the Hofbrauhaus beer hall, Munich's most famous, with lots of history but unfortunately packed with tourists and suicidal pretzel girls wearing pink Bavarian dresses. One interesting fact, the Nazi party was founded in an upstairs room of this beer hall.

From checking out the locals we figured out that at some of the beer halls you can bring your own picnic, so our last night we visited Chinesischer garden in Munich's version of central park. We picked up some quiche and Greek salad at a large open air food market, the Viktualienmarkt, and braved some rain, but had a great time.

Our other big visit in Munich was much more somber than the beer garden, Dachau Concentration Camp. This concentration camp, located a short train ride outside of the city, was the Nazi's first big concentration camp and a model for the camps that followed. It was built in 1933 and lasted until the end of the war, with around 200 thousand inmates, about 30,000 of whom died. Much of the camp was destroyed at the end of the war or since, but there are still plenty of chilling reminders of its history. Considering how many people it once held, we were amazed how small the area inside the walls was. The first picture shows the barbed wire, walls, and guard towers that made up the perimeter. Next is the gate that prisoners passed through to ender the camp, which reads, "Work sets you free". The last pictures is a view up the camp's main road, which was lined by trees and barracks. At the end is the parade ground where the prisoners were mustered, and beyond that the main building, where new prisoners were processed, and work was done. There were also some really disturbing crematoriums and a gas chamber that we didn't take pictures of.