Germany

Begrüßung from Germany! Today was our second day here, and we're having such a great time with Ute and her family. Here's a retelling in photos of our experiences thus far:

After we were picked up from the train station yesterday morning, we all went to Sunday Mass at the basilica of St. Freising.  Coincidentally it was the same church where Pope Benedict XVI was ordained a priest! 

After Mass, Ute took us to a 1000 year old brewery called Weihenstephan. She told us that she used to be a waitress there when she was about 17 years old, and so did her mother who is currently 93!

After lunch we went to Ute's sister's house to meet up with the rest of the family. We sat around her table talking for hours! Thank goodness we had Ute to translate! They taught my dad and I how to play German Gin Rummy and we all played together for hours as it rained outside...and flooded the basement. 

This morning, Ute, Joe, Carl-Heinz, my dad and I went to visit Nazi concentration camp: Dachau. This was a very solemn morning for us as we remembered and learned more about the terrors of these death camps. The whole experience was very moving. Actually being at the camp walking around the grounds and through the gas chambers, crematoriums, stubens, and other prisoner facilities was heartbreaking. Knowing that such evil ever existed is enraging and horrendous. We need to pray that nothing like that ever happens again.

"Arbeit Macht Frei" is a German phrase meaning "labor makes (you) free". The slogan is known for having been placed over the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps, including Dachau as seen here.

Inside the concentration camp

On a happier note, we saw the famous Glockenspiel! Every hour as the clock chimes, ornate figurines dance around the clock set to music from the bells. 

This is the Hofbrauhaus! This is the biggest, loudest, most fun place to eat traditional German food ever! 

In the evening we went to visit Marcus and his wife at their home in Freising.

This is Lavender, their pet pig. It is an indoor pig, and as you can see she was taking a little nap under the covers in her bed. Lavender is big now, but when they bought her several years ago they were told that it would stay small forever. Regardless, they still call it their Mini-Schwein. 

In case you were hoping to see something amazingly adorable, here's a photo of Lotte the pug riding on top of Lavender.   Its a pug on a pig, folks!