Sitting Down With a Cup of Tea Writin' a Blog Post

There is something very important I would like to say first:

HELLO MARLBORO ADVERTISING TEAM!

For those of you scratching your heads and are dedicated readers of my blog, think back to a few blog posts ago where I wished I could see the "Maybe Never Fell in Love" Marlboro poster again. Well, check out what I saw a day or two ago, but finally got a good picture today!

Maybe Never Fell In Love. Be Marlboro.

I have actually been seeing this ad EVERYWHERE the last few days! The only reasonable explanation is that someone from the Marlboro Team read my blog. (Okay, so there are other reasonable explanations but let me dream!) I'm not a smoker myself, however my fiance does actually smoke Marlboros. I've seen advertisements for other cigarettes but they're no where near as good. If anyone from the Marlboro Advertising team is reading this, thank you, and I have a few suggestions: "Maybe Never Discovered Art. Be Marlboro." "Maybe Never Traveled the World. Be Marlboro." "Maybe Never Takes Risks. Be Marlboro." I leave Munich on the 31st of this month... how cool would it be to get a new advertisement before I go? 26 days!

Moving on to a slightly more interesting topic, I visited the Dachau concentration camp memorial today. I really don't know how to describe the experience. Interesting. I will give some tips to people who would like to visit not only Dachau but any other concentration camp in Germany. First, go on a sunny day. It makes everything much less depressing and not as eerie. Another thing is if you plan on really reading the information set up by the people who conserved the site, go early in the day. I only got to spend an hour and a half there, which would have been fine had I not wanted to read everything. I was rushed towards the end because they were closing up and I wanted to see the other side of the camp. I did get to see just about everything though. Something else to keep in mind is that you will feel kind of strange, sunny or not, in the execution chambers. I swear in my head I heard screaming. Oh, and for those of you who just don't understand why they'd even THINK about keeping a concentration camp around for a landmark, here's why: thousands of people died there. To demolish it would be acting as though nothing happened there, and that is very far from the truth. My pictures will provide more understanding.

Before I launch into my pictures, I want to let everyone know I took a lot. However, I limited the pictures to actual footage and no text. There were many pictures of text, but I didn't want to bore anyone. All of my pictures are well explained though. One last thing is that I found out by reading all of the museum text that Dachau was actually used AFTER the end of World War II as a refugee camp! Until like, the late 1960's! This is twice as interesting for me because I have worked with refugees. It puts a personal spin to my experience.

Entrance sign to the site.

This is the actual entrance into the camp.

Famous phrase during WWII. "Work Makes You Free." Literally translated it says: "Work Makes Free."

Here's the main building in the background (now the museum) and in front of it you can see the hanging poles.

When I first walked into the museum, I didn't even realize this is where so many thousands of different people, not only Jews, slaved, starved, and died. The people who did the restoration did a remarkable job with the amount of information, it made me unaware I was walking through a building that had housed enormous amounts of torture and plots to torture. This room was an exception. The display you see in the middle behind the pole actually housed a bullwhip used to abuse the "inmates."

The Dachau sculpture and the hanging poles from the back.

This is where they slept. They as in the people who were forced against their will to leave their homes because of political opposition or race. In these itty-bitty stalls. Many lived for years in these conditions, although I was surprised to find out that for the first few years of the opening of this camp the conditions were not as bad. After the war broke out, it got much worse.

This room was considered the "living room." As in, they got a table and lockers. What they put in the lockers is beyond me since all of their clothes and possessions were "confiscated."

Long road in the camp. Many walked to their death down one of these three roads. On either side of the road were originally the "barracks."

Trench. A measure to keep the prisoners in. I can't help but feel like this was filled with bodies at one point.

Barbed wire fence. Just in case the trench, river (not pictured but just beyond trench), armed guards, and towers that also contained rifle holding guards weren't enough.

Of course we all know this is the crematorium site. I read on a sign some were hanged over the fire before being cremated. *Shudder*

These were the "showers." I will admit: I did not want to walk through to the other side. I held my breath. After this side was where I could feel like there was screaming.

A little out of order but this is the "waiting room" for those who were going to take a "shower." I hate the thought of that.

The picture says what this is.

Full picture of a fumigation cubicle.

This is the old crematorium building. It looks terribly uninviting.

As stated earlier, they made this a memorial for a reason. There are so many people who died here that don't even have a name. It's very sad.

I think they did do a nice job trying to commemorate those who suffered here. As the sign in the background says: Don't forget.

Okay so on to happier things: I have two new recipes to share! I think all of this cooking is starting to get to me though; I sliced my finger open cutting a roll today. I know it happens, but very, very, very rarely to me. I have one more major dish planned and that's my Holly lasagna (stay tuned) and if I have time I might try out this (believe it or not) stuffed onion recipe! It sounds amazing! But those will be my very last dishes here in Munich... sniff... at least for now...

Oven-Roasted Chickpeas and Broccoli with Barley

Doesn't it look yummy?

I can't take any credit for this. Thank you so, so much iVillage! This can be made gluten free if you substitute brown rice, and if you're sensitive to pepper, just take it out! Add something else if you'd like. Great, easy, versatile dish. One of the few recipes I followed to a T, except I just eyeballed the measurements. I'm gonna be a cook yet!

Holly's Chocolate Chip Coconut Granola!

Okay, I know it looks more like just chocolate granola... I got a little impatient and I didn't wanna wait for the granola to cool... so I just dumped in the chocolate chips.

I can take credit for this. I give Alton Brown credit for the baking time and temperature, both of which were perfect, and for the general oil guideline, but otherwise this was my own.

Ingredients:

4 to 4 1/2 cups of rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup of shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened (unsweetened is better)

2 tablespoons of raw sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons of honey

1/4 cup of vegetable oil (can use coconut oil if heated first)

1/2 cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in flavor of choice

Nutritional Information:

It's good for you! Can be made gluten free if gluten free oats are substituted, vegan (I'm not sure if honey counts... if it does, use agave or maple syrup), low in sugar in comparison to portion size, oats help to clean out your insides as well as providing heart healthy nutrients and fiber, coconut is loaded with healthy fats, honey has been talked about before, and if you use dark chocolate you are giving yourself antioxidants plus a myriad of chemicals that help your brain feel good!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit or about 110 degrees Celsius.*

Mix everything except for the chocolate chips together in a large bowl using your hands.

Spread out evenly on a large baking sheet and place in the oven.

 Stir every 15 minutes to ensure even cooking. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from oven. If you would like actual chocolate chips in your granola, cool to room temperature then mix in chips. If you would like a more chocolatey coating to your granola, mix in chips while still hot.

Serve at room temperature and enjoy!

*250 degrees Fahrenheit is actually about 121 in Celsius however, I err on the side of caution and use a slightly lower temp. I actually think I used closer to 100.

The family is off in London for the weekend starting today, so aside from my regular chores which I still have to do tomorrow, I have some things planned. First off I have about 75% of my good-bye presents finished so I'm going to work on the other 25%, I will be going to the Deutsches Museum tomorrow, I hope to go to the Neues Pinakothek on Sunday, and for Saturday I'm on the fence about what to do. I might go to the Residenz, or visit the Summer Festival (all about organic and fair trade... yay!). I found out the family will not be going to the Neuschwanstein Palace, so I have to look into the cost for that.

I hope everyone is enjoying the blog and I will probably post another entry in a day or two just so there's not so much overload in one post. Take care!