Wednesday, June 8-Dead End Railways

Tuesday night, as we sat planning what Wednesday would bring, we
realized we are partial to end of the line destinations. Each of the
previous three places we visited were at the end of the tracks.
Zermatt dead ends in a mountain valley, as does Grindelwald.
Rothenberg has a single train that makes a twenty minute run from the
mainline down a deadend track to the midevil town. And now our next
destination, Fussën, Germany, home of the Disney-like castle
Newschawtsel is on a deadend track. But how to get there? Take a bus
down Germany's "Romantic Road" or the train? The train offered
another dead end right in the middle of a mainline that swayed our
decision. Dachau concentration camp. Although the train passes right
through Dachau on it's way to Munchën, it was a dead end for tens of
thousands of people.
Caught the train from Rothenberg at 8, switched trains twice and found
ourselves deposited on the platform in the city of Dachau about 11:30.
Lunch at a Turkish cafe, then bus 728 to the concentration camp a few
kilometers outside of town. I can site statistics, describe the
grounds, the barracks, the torture, the humiliation and suffering that
occurred here from 1933 - 1945, but we have heard and seen it before
on mini series, newsreels and books. But, to walk through the gas
chambers, to see the immensity of the parade grounds and to walk by
the crematoriums brings to reality the magnitude of what occurred here
and across Germany. Mob mentality. The demented and twisted of a
society put in charge and all opposition silenced. Mental cruelty
inflicted on others matched with barbaric physical cruelty. A place
that must be visited to remind us of the importance of a vigilant,
vocal society.
Back on the train to Fussën. Over the next two hours it would take
five train changes to land us in our town, but we successfully
negotiated all the platforms and trains and walked into Fussëne at
7:30. The dark clouds rolling overhead spoke of rain, so we sought
shelter in a B & B in town, an attic converted to a room for four with
a bathroom down the hall. A lengthy walk through town, a trip to the
grocery store for lunch, email check at an open WiFi site on a street
corner and Tuesday came to a close. Tomorrow we storm the castles.

Chuck