Dachau Concentration Camp, Pt. 2

This isn't pretty.  This isn't the breathtaking Alps or the bright green grass, home to sheep roaming the hills.  This is history, the ugly truth.  I do not have any graphic pictures, but it is not hard to imagine.  The thickness in the air, the smell, the billow of smoke rising behind the trees, meant to be hidden from view.   

This was the original building built for the cremetorium.  It quickly became too small.

 Instead of ending the cruelty and murder, they built a larger one.

This statue is the “Unknown Inmate” with the inscription translated something like “To honor the dead, to warn the living.”

I don’t have the answers to how something like this could happen. I don’t know how SS soldiers slept at night. I don’t know where the line in the sand was drawn. I don’t know why so many people were murdered. I know this was a terrible tragedy in history. I know that people should never be treated this way. I know it is my responsibility to stand up to injustice. I know I will never forget.

Dachau Concentration Camp, Pt. 1

My heart was heavy. I was walking up to the gate, my mind racing thinking of how many people walked through this gate. How many families were torn apart, how many represented here, how much pain and suffering, how many tears, how much fear, how much hatred. I walked through the gate, entering a part of history, a world of darkness and evil.

                                                              “Work will set you free”
It was hot.  We sat down on a small piece of green grass shaded by a few trees, a pleasure that no prisoner was allowed to experience.

Instead, prisoners were required to stand in formation, lining up on gravel in the middle of camp.

If this ground could talk, what would it say? Would it speak of the tears it absorbed? Perhaps the tremors from legs holding on to the last measure of strength. What would it remember most? The sound of feet, the sense of loss and tragedy when a man was murdered, having to absorb the impact of his fallen body, or maybe, it is the day of liberation. A day when the injustice was broken, sounds of jubilation, the realization that tomorrow will be a brand new kind of day.

Some prisoners were held in solitary confinement cells. This included some priests, politicians, and other “important” prisoners. Some rooms had heat, however, if it was ever used, the heat would be turned on during the summer.

SS prisoners had a wing dedicated to housing them.

My heart breaks. A sweet mother, holding her precious baby could never imagine this kind of future. It is inconceivable to find this kind of evil.

Block 28 held priests. Living in block 28 meant you were one of the last to get food and you walked in the rain, snow, and heat longer than most. The farther away from the center of camp, the less you were thought of. Flowers are always resting here and you will find people kneeling lifting up prayer. Jehovah Witness prisoners worked extra, considering it God’s Will that they were there.

Beds in the dormitory during the first part of the war

During the middle

And at the end

Germany- Garmish and the Alps

Our second day in Germany was very low key. We ate an American style breakfast buffet and oh how I wish I had a picture. They had everything we can’t get anywhere around here. Biscuits and Gravy, grits, pancakes, bacon… drool! We played on the playground, took a walk through Garmish, played some more, and grilled out. It was a lovely family filled day!


Day three was a glorious up-close and personal view of the Alps. We rode a cable car up to the top of a mountain where we walked out onto a lookout 3,000 feet in the air. Amazing! Pictures just don’t do justice to the magnificent views. From there we rode a 2nd cable car to another peak, and then hiked to a 3rd car that took us home. Now, this was quite the adventure for me. I didn’t realize we were going to be doing any hiking, so I wore flip flops. BAD IDEA! Flip flops are completely appropriate for cable car riding, completely inappropriate for hiking. About 10 steps into our hike, I fell, hurting my knee and ankle. Deciding to take Greg’s advice for curing any ailment “Just walk it off,” we continued on. There were some places I felt it was dangerous to wear flip flops, so I hiked barefoot through the Alps! How many people can say that?! At every turn I was in awe of God’s creation. I kept thinking how amazing it was that my God, who sculpted every peak and knows every valley, also knows and cares for me! How insignificant I seem in the vastness of the world, yet He knows every hair on my head!

“I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works.” Psalm 145:5

                                           "Handy Manny" gloves and ice cream.  What's better?

                                                           Church in Garmish

                                                      The Alpspix- very high in the air

                                               She missed the entire ride

Germany!!

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? We certainly don’t, but had a great trip to Germany in spite of that fact! The flight we booked was inexpensive, but they charged $100 for a 40lb checked bag. That left the challenge of packing a family of 4 in three backpacks and 1 checked suitcase. This was truly a challenge for me. I am not known for packing light and tend to pack for every possible situation that might arise. It’s totally reasonable to pack rain boots, coats, shorts, pants, both long and short sleeve shirts, and of course shoes for every occasion, right? Well, I can very proudly say that we packed light, no, very light, and made out just fine. We managed 1 backpack for toys, 1 for a diaper bag, 1 for random last minute stuff, and a carry on (thank goodness for vacuum bags!).


Loaded up and ready, we headed up to Trapani to spend the night so we could catch an early flight. Our hotel was tucked in a tiny street and was lovely! Dinner was amazing- pasta of course! We were at the airport for our 6:30am flight and before we knew it, we were in Germany! We got our car and immediately headed to the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s retreat, given to him by the Nazi Party. Note to self: don’t travel in Europe during August because everyone in Europe goes on vacation in August. Traffic was CRAZY. The great part about travelling were the seemingly millions of rest areas. You must pay to use the bathroom (even in McDonalds) so bring your change!

We had to travel through Austria for a short distance then reenter Germany to arrive at our destination. We got stopped at the exit in Austria and they slapped us with a $170 fine for not purchasing a toll ticket. Apparently you must pay to use the roads in Austria. Fine. How, you ask, do you purchase said toll ticket? The first guess might be you pay the person at the toll booth. Nope. Perhaps, you pick up a ticket when you enter and then pay at a booth when you exit. Wrong again. You must stop at a gas station to pay the toll fee. Who knew?! That seems very tricky to me and I don’t like it.

The Eagles Nest was nestled very high in the mountains and had spectacular views. The house has been made into a restaurant, but we hiked a path up the mountain. Brady was giving me heartburn by continually wandering off the path. We were too high up for him to be doing his own thing. The amazing thing about the scenery was how God’s majesty was evident at every turn.

We ventured back into Austria because our ticket allowed us a 2 day pass into the country. We went to Salzburg, walked along the river, and found a great little restaurant for dinner. The restaurant was in a building that was 1300 years old. Mozart’s sister had lived there!

After a very busy day, we made it to our cabin around 10pm. The cabin was small with a bedroom, living area, and a loft. Brady was able to sleep on the top bunk and he was very excited about it! He remembered camping with his Aunt Laurel at Disney where he had the top bunk. He also remembered camping with his Aunt Juju in a cabin. He was a very happy little boy and we were very happy to have a bed!

                                                  I don't know what this is, but it's beautiful!

                                                     Entry to the Eagle's Nest

                                                            What a man!

                                                         Eagle's Nest

                                     Original gold elevator that takes you up to the Eagle's Nest

Real Food Update, Week 1

While I was emptying our pantry last week, I was bracing myself for a difficult week.  I'm happy to report that this week was super easy!  Sunday I made homemade whole wheat graham crackers, granola, berry sauce for the plain yogurt, popcorn balls, cheddar crackers (yuck!), zucchini muffins, and banana pancakes.  We were prepared to eat foods that consisted of 5 ingredients or less, no processed food, and no processed sugar.  Eating like this makes me cook a WHOLE lot more, but having the luxury of being at home makes this process much easier. 
Brady and Juliette didn't even seem to notice a change.  Juliette will eat anything, so I wasn't worried in the least about her.  Brady gobbled down everything I made and never asked for any of his old treats.  I don't want to go into too much detail, so I'll just say some potty issues were resolved by day 4.  Greg really only participates with dinner, so his life didn't change very much.  I have lost a pound (secretly hoping another will drop off when I weigh in tomorrow) and have had a significant change in my sweet tooth.  I haven't craved anything sweet since knocking the sugar out of my diet.  The only sweeteners I used were honey and 100% maple syrup. 
In preparation for next week I made some popcorn treats (they were a big hit), breakfast cookies, hummus, prepared sweet potatoes to make sweet potato pancakes, more berry sauce, and made an attempt at homemade butternut squash ravioli.  The kids weren't fond of the ravioli and it took too much effort to make if only 2 of us were going to eat them.  This has been a good change for us and I think will continue to be good as long as I stay ahead of the game. 

Alcantara Gorge

The Alcantara Gorge originated when the water flow from the Monte Nebrodi, which flows towards the Ionian sea, was interrupted thousands of years ago by lava from Etna.   The Alcantara eventually wore its way through the rock, which created the gorge.  We met up with several friends and caravanned up to the gorge.  We ate a picnic on the rocky shore then proceeded into the FREEZING shallow water.  You may not believe the word “FREEZING,” but I’m telling you, after a few minutes in the water I could no longer feel my feet.  Greg was hanging out with Brady and I was really hoping that once Juliette ventured into the water the temperature would deter her from going back in.  I should have known better!  That girl was falling in the water, laughing and splashing around.  Most of the adults were sitting on the side and here Greg and I were chasing our children around unable to feel our feet!  Swapping children from time to time, we ended up having a very enjoyable afternoon.  Who needs feet anyways?!

                                                   Brady loves rocks!

Mt. Etna

One Saturday Greg had duty, but we still decided to risk venturing up Mt. Etna. One of the front desk ladies at our hotel warned us about going up because it had erupted a day or two before. Feeling brave, we continued on our journey. The amount of lava rock was astounding. I loved the black of the lava rock against the bright green foliage growing up on the volcano. We stopped for a moment for me to capture some pictures and Brady tried to climb the “tallest mountain.” Before arriving at our destination (I’m not exactly sure where our final destination was, but supposed we would know when we got there) Greg got a call. Life rearranges when duty calls, so down the “tallest mountain we went.


Since moving into our new house, we have seen Etna erupt a couple of times. There is a high rise apartment blocking our view, so in order to see, we have to stand on a ladder in the corner of our balcony. The eruption is chilling and beautiful at the same time. The red lava flowing down the side of the volcano against the backdrop of the black night is truly a sight to behold. I’m still very aware of the destruction Mt. Etna has caused.

Here is a little history from The Rough Guide to Sicily:

“One of the world’s largest volcanoes dominates much of Sicily’s eastern landscape, its smoking summit an omnipresent feature. Etna was just one of the places that the Greeks thought to be the forge of Vulcan, a fitting description of the blustering and sparking from the main crater. Empedocles, who in 433 BC jumped into the main crater in an attempt to prove that the gasses emitted would support his body weight. They didn’t. “