Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Innsbruck was our stopping point between our mid-day departure in Berlin and our next destination of Brescia in northern Italy on the shores Lago di Garda. Driving through the Alps was incredibly beautiful; the mixture of rugged, steep mountainside and dark green mountain plateaus was breathtaking. Houses and castles were mixed among the peaks and open areas and grassy ski runs covered the majority of mountains. The sky is ridiculously blue and smal puffy clouds float just overhead as if surprised the ground is so close to their normal altitude.

Halfway through this incredible landscape you arrive at Innsbruck which …

The almost park-like setting with tourists wandering all over doesn’t belie the horrific nature this property once served. Although not an Auschwitz, Dachau was an extremely efficient exterminator. Tens of thousands of soviet soldiers, political dissidents and Jews lost their lives here mostly due to disease, starvation, mistreatment and execution by Nazi solidiers.

Although I visited this place on July 13th of 2004, I’m writing this entry October 15th, 2005. It’s been well over a year since I visited but every time I see the picture of the gates above, it sends a shiver down my spine. The former concentration …