Sitting at home writing this final blog post, it seems surreal that just two weeks ago we left Pittsburgh for Germany. I know from our past trips that these journeys — trips we start planning months in advance — just end far too quickly.  That’s one of the reasons I started writing blogs. I want to remember as much as I can, and these entries help me recall the big and small things that make these trips so special.

Every time we go, I collect random experiences that don’t fit in one cohesive blog about a certain day or city. So here goes:

Berlin was certainly under construction. Cranes and work sites everywhere. It’s a reflection of Germany’s economic strength as compared to the other European Union countries. I didn’t expect this much, though, and the projects ranged from more hotels to new museums and cultural attractions.

But with that growth came enormous sacrifice. Several of the media outlets we visited told us about severe staff reductions in 2008, a reaction to the worlwide financial crash and severe drop in advertising revenue. We heard that in Berlin and Munich.

Munich was a stark contrast to Berlin in many ways, but what I was not prepared for was the number of beggars so close to our hotel. Women and men, some with children at times. I can never get used to this when we travel, and we’ve seen it everywhere. You want to give them money, as they appear so pitiful, but our tour guides and hotel contacts always tell us not to do so. And we saw the same people again and again. Just awful.

German men wear their wedding rings on their right hand, not the left. In fact, at one of our visits, one of our hosts told us he wore his ring on his right hand while engaged and then moved it over.

One of the loveliest sights in Salzburg were the couples or parents and children dressed in Austrian garb, strolling casually along the streets. Many were headed to shops and restaurants, enjoying their Sunday afternoon together. And not that many stores were open on Sunday, just those in the tourist center. They do know how to relax.

Germans are energy conscientious to the maximum degree, and the reminders of their efficiency and dedication to conserving resources are everywhere. But Jan and I had a hilarious experience at a restaurant one of our last nights in Munich — an energy saving bathroom with toilets with spouting water and rotating seats. You just had to be there.

Shopping was not a great experience for me.  Beer steins, cuckoo clocks, and leiderhosen and dirndl skirts could be had at any number of shops, mostly in Munich, but very little in the way of interesting jewelry and art items that I love to bring back. Great chocolate, though, and delicious gelato! (Hope you’re reading this, Audrey Prisk! Almost as good as what we had in Italy ….)

We had lots of German food, but visitors can eat their fill of Italian and Turkish food, too. Falafel and kabobs on every corner, it seemed. I don’t want sausage anytime soon, that’s for sure. But I enjoyed the meals, even though I have pledged to eat vegetables and salads for at least a week. Very little of that in our dinners … and if you wanted it, it was extra. (But no spargel — asparagus — for me for a while. It was in season, and I had quite enough!)

I didn’t have time to do much museum exploring, outside of our scheduled visits, which is just something my husband and I always loved to do. I really wanted to go to Museum Island in Berlin, as well as the Jewish Museum where the “Jew in a Box” exhibition is running. It just leaves room for another visit someday.

Visiting Dachau complemented what we saw in Berlin and brought the agony and terror of those photographs to a new light for me. First we learned that Hitler and crew used Dachau in particular for getting rid of his political opponents. Mostly men were there, and many came from other countries as prisoners of war. The Germans performed horrible experiments on these poor people, and the torture and humiliation inflicted upon the prisoners defy description here. I purchased two books — a catalog of an excellent photography exhibition of survivors and a Dachau memoir. I read them both before returning home. The memoir, written by a South Tyrol native who was really an Italian citizen, explained what happened to you if you refused to serve in the German army. It’s a miracle that he survived. One of the most terrible things was at liberation, the prisoners ran to the barracks after the guards had fled. They stripped off their filthy and vermin-infested clothes and put on SS shirts. That prompted the American soldiers to send them to another prison camp before they finally were let go, extending his jail time and preventing him from being reunited with his family. An amazing tale.

Two things we learned there: First, the Germans were so unbelievably cruel to these poor souls. Making them stand at attention outside in horrible weather or hanging them by their arms for hours or depriving them of what little food and drink for infractions such as leaving a coffee ring on a table. Second, many of these guards got away with their horrible deeds. They re-entered German society and returned to their farms and jobs. I suppose they all couldn’t be tried, but I hope they suffered … they certainly deserved it. Seeing all of this explains why the Nazi hunters continued to look for them decades later, including several Americans.

Some of the cathedrals and churches we visited we so plain compared to the Italian churches we saw last year. Former Pope Benedict’s church in Munich is one example. Lots of plain brick, not many stained glass windows. But again, many were horribly damaged in the war. The church in Munich where Jan and I attended Mass was just beautiful. Lots of attention and love in that church. It was a beautiful candlelight Mass and special service. We enjoyed being there, and when I took communion with all the others, I was moved almost to tears thinking back to the horrible things I saw at Dachau earlier that day. Catholics in particular were persecuted by the Nazis. May those victims have found peace as well as their descendants.

I did not expect Munich to be as packed with tourists as it was. Some days you could barely walk there were so many people. THe Glockenspeil there is quite lovely (although the one in Prague is more ornate). Jan and I snagged a ringside seat for that one and had some marvelous pastries and drinks. We saw lots of stag and bachelorette parties in Munich. We had fun talking to several of the brides and grooms in Marienplatz, who often wore matching T-shirts or hats marking the countdown to the big day.

And one thing we didn’t see as much were people constantly talking or texting on their cell phones. They had them, but it wasn’t what you see here in the States.

Munich is over the top today, I am sure, with Bayern Munich’s win in the Championship League. Wish we could still be there to watch the celebration!