So today was pretty cold and miserable, so it was kind of fitting that we decided to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. We got the S-Bahn out there and joined a guided tour that went for 2.5hrs. The guide was so passionate and had so much information to give, it lasted longer than it should have and I'm sure she could have talked for hours more. It was a very sombre experience and as I said to mum "it's hard to imagine being here on a beautiful sunny day with the horrors that these grounds and walls have faced".

Dachau was the only concentration camp to run for the whole 12 years of Hitler's reign and it was also important as it was a training camp for the SS and the rules created here were so thorough they were used in all other camps. It wasn't an extermination camp but thousands still died. After the camp was liberated, the facilities were used as a refuge camp and most of the barracks were changed to suit this need. When the time came for it to be set up as a memorial site, they tore down all but 2 of the barracks and reconstructed them for different periods. As the camp got more crowded over the years, they changed the set up of the beds as dorms made for 54 people, were housing thousands. Over the 12 years, over 200,00 people were imprisoned here and more than 41,500 died. It was liberated by the Americans on 29 April 1945. The sad thing is that people are still collecting nazi memorabilia because the sign that was on the entrance to the camp "Work will set you free" in German was only stolen last month.

We left about 3pm and headed back to town to a different Christmas market and then walked back to the Marienplatz looking for somewhere to eat and to sit down and rest our feet. Found a local german restaurant and I had my first pork while mum had her first schnitzel. We bought a lovely santa from one of the market stalls that we spotted yesterday and headed home, glad to get the backpack and shoes off.

Between yesterday and today we have walked quite a few miles. Yesterday after having a late brekky at our Pension which was lovely, a good selection of cold meats, cheese, cereal, breads, fresh and dried fruit, yoghurt, eggs plus more we set out to experience Munich's public transport system. The tram is about a 5min walk away and off we went. Trying to understand the city map we were given had me a little lost initially but soon found our way. We visited a couple of churches and also went up the tower of the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) although it looks pretty damn old to me. Had a good view of the city and overlooking the Christmas markets in the Marienplatz.

From here we visited the Residenz, the home of the Wittelsbachs dynasty from 1385 to 1918. We spent a couple of hours in here wandering through the rooms and wondering about the tastes of eras gone past. There were some beautiful rooms, but boy were there some ugly ones too. A lot was destroyed during WWII so a lot of replication has also been carried out.

We left there about 3pm but it felt so much later with it getting dark so early. We are slowly used to getting layered and unlayered as we go from inside to outside and back again. We visited the markets in the Residenz courtyard and I tried Eggnog for the first time. I'll be honest, I couldn't finish it, mum stuck with hot chocolate. Back at the main markets we nibbled on some different local food before heading back. We were hoping we would sleep thru the night again like the previous night but no such luck. I was awake from about 2am, mum made it to 4am. So on that note, mum is already snoring in bed and time for me to try and find the back of my eyelids, hopefully to 7am tomorrow because we are off to visit the castle that inspired Disney. Lets hope some sun shines out from the clouds for us.