After a long and quite scenic drive out of Italy , though Germany and into Austria, we arrived in Salzburg. We settled in quickly and then headed out to the Bier Kellar that we had seen advertised. The entry was a bit confusing, with much form filling and then trying to work out how to actually get a beer wasn’t easy. It reminded us of Egypt with the purchasing of things and then the checking of tickets 2m away. We got our steins with Callum insisting on the litre versions. We tried several beer halls that were all pretty busy and then eventually found a space on the end of a table. It was really full but had a great atmosphere wit( lots of chatting but what was most noticeable is that no one was looking at their phones so after a quick picture we made sure to put ours away. Callum sourced some food with his first bratwurst and sauerkraut. One drink led to another and after a few too many litres,we found our way back. It had been a great evening.

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The next morning, someone was feeling a bit jaded but we set off for the walk into town. It had been my choice to come just because of the Sound Of Music but what really surprised us was how quiet it was. The streets were really quite soundless so much that you felt a bit like whispering at times. It is all pedestrianised so we think that was part of it but it was odd. We walked round both sides of the river and wandered round some really pretty gardens where the film was done. Everywhere we have been there have been lots of weddings but here there were 3 with photos going on all at once which we imagined cost a bomb. We enjoyed a nice schnitzel sandwich for lunch and sat to rest on a bench in the main square in the sun. Luckily, a busker came along and started up which meant we stayed put for a long while. There was meant to be a jazz festival going on but that never seemed to happen and we reckoned we enjoyed the busker more anyway.

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After a bit of a rest at the hotel, we went back our for dinner. It was surprisingly hard to find somewhere to eat but we eventually found a place that I liked the look of – I have to admit to being somewhat picky. Unfortunately, we ended up paying quite a lot for some pretty ropey food and the worst beer I have ever tasted😖!

Augsburg

We had planned on going to Munich but finding a city centre place with parking on a Saturday night was frustrating and we were a bit citied out so we decided to head to Augsburg instead just a little further west where we knew there was a lot of green space. On the way, we decided on a quick change as Dachau could be on the route and we were very pleased we did. Although it’s an odd place to visit, it was extremely interesting. We fortunately arrived within 10 minutes of the English guided tour and were glad that we did this as we learnt a lot. The guide managed to hit the right tone throughout and kept bringing it back to the relevance to today and the changes going on in Germany at the moment.

Lots of it was quite upsetting to hear but we both learnt a lot. Dachau was always a work camp so the conditions were better than some other camps but we hadn’t known about the satellite camps all around it and the difference to other camps such as Auschwitz. We hadn’t realised that it was later used for refugees that had to return to Germany from other countries which didn’t seem right and the fact that some of the SS quarters haven’t been given back to the memorial site. It is mandatory for all German teenagers to visit a site which we thought was good and the guide was obviously part of this and so it was interesting when she shared some of their comments on how they had felt some things were obvious and couldn’t understand how the prisoners were initially fooled into thinking things would be fine.She also kept returning to how the locals kept claiming they did not know about what was happening there despite them seeing the prisoners marched through the town and used them in their factories.We went into the gas chamber very briefly ( it was not consistently used there). It was extremely chilling so we didn’t linger. There were some photos that were hard to look at both there and in the museum. It was a sobering few hours but we were very pleased that we had gone there and we drove away feeling very lucky.

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When we arrived in Augsburg, we went for change of pace cycle ride by hiring some ebikes (we love them now even if it is cheating ) and going through the huge park. It was a really lovely way to end a “heavy “few hours and the next morning we did the same. It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning and despite being chilly we really loved our time by the river and going through the autumn woodland.

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Callum had wanted to see a Bundesliga game whilst in Germany and so we had booked a hotel within walking distance of a game and ground. It may have been on an industrial estate but it was really nice. The game was actually pretty good with the first scorer being Reece Oxford the only English player on the pitch. Unfortunately, it ended 1:1 but it was a very friendly atmosphere with the Germans all high-fiving us when they scored.