Entrance to Dachau. The prison camp is through the gates.

ARBEIT MACHT FREI (LABOR MAKES YOU FREE)

Do you smile for pics here?

Each one of these foundations was an overcrowded unit to house prisoners.

Like this

The grass would have been prohibited zone and anyone caught in that area would be shot. Armed guards were perched in the towers like the one in the picture. The moat and razor wire fence made it nearly impossible to escape.

Crematorium

Gas chamber, which apparently was never used.

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On the train back to Munich, a man overheard us talking and asked if we had just came from Dachau. He sat down and told us he was a holocaust and Dachau survivor. His name is Leslie Schwartz and he spent a year in Dachau when he was only 14. He lives in NY and travels six months each year doing speaking engagements, many to students. Very interesting and funny man. Spry for his age. He is releasing a book soon: Surviving the Hell of Auschwitz and Dachau: A Teenage Struggle Toward Freedom From Hatred. He mentioned he didn’t much like the title but his publisher pushed it.

The German countryside is beautiful, especially in the Summer.

Munich HBF (main station)

No trip to Munich is complete without a stop at the Hofbräuhaus…

For some beers.

I’m way too happy.

So is Todd.

We met new friends.

Who dared me to try and get the penny into the glass without touching the glass, penny, or cigarette.

We saw the Rathaus-Glockenspiel in Marienplatz.

Here’s a video from YouTube (not taken by me).

Reutlingen is in region known as Swabia. We kept hearing jokes about Swabian people and their culture. Not harsh jokes but ones like I make about Portland and our hipster culture. My favorite was, “Swabian people’s hobby is: saving money.”

There’s not much going on in Reutlingen and the University isn’t very large. Similarly, our hostel-like accommodations weren’t much either but at least they were larger than our shoe-box in Barcelona.

This was my view most of the days when we were in class. Todd looks ultra-intrigued but I think Daniel is playing on his phone.

When we weren’t in class we visiting companies (Daimler, Karcher, Bosch, and Ritter Sport) and hearing real-world examples about how they were implementing the concepts we were learning. Specifically, the study abroad curriculum was around Innovation, Lean Management, and Green/Sustainability.

The Germany Study Abroad class and professors.

And when we weren’t in class, visiting companies, or doing homework, we drank a lot of this:

And ate a lot of things covered in gravy. From what I gather, Germans love gravy.

And they love pretzels.

The inside is incredibly intricate. You can see in the links below,

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We also went up the towers. I took the elevator up but the stairs down.

Being situated in the center of Barcelona, the views are incredible but where aren’t they in this city?

http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=bfc792c0-e15e-4450-a076-17571c301da3

I dared Daniel to eat this swirl of hair. For €200 he was considering it.

Luckily, we had insider recommendations from a MBA classmate who used to live in Barcelona.

We visited Parc Guell.

Which has amazing views of Barcelona.

Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona.

Camp Nou store

Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

Travel partners Daniel and Todd.

Me in 2013.

And back in 2004. Have I changed?

Site of 1992 Summer Olympics.

We probably should have gone in the stadium instead of being lazy and just getting a pic of the outside wall, oh well, next time.

Near the Olympic Park we caught the Port Vell Aerial Tramway to Barceloneta.

Pretty easy to find views of the port from the tram.

One of the most expensive yachts I’ve ever seen. It was huge.

Deboarding the tram we headed for a mid-day drink of cava at La Xampanyeria, a favorite spot for locals.

Daniel

Todd

Y yo

A few samples below; much more here.

Excellent wine recommendation from our waiter.

Main course of paella.

And polished off with dessert.

On the walk back from the restaurant we spotted this insane dude. Actually, it was a street performer, of which there are many on La Rambla.

Talk about close quarters.

It had a bidet.

But most importantly, it was close to La Rambla – the cross street in the picture – and that’s all that mattered.

We took the bus from the airport (BCN) to Plaza de Catalunya which a main square in Barcelona and connects many main streets including La Rambla, where our hotel was.

After checking in to our hotel we headed straight to the nearest bar with good people watching in Plaza Reial.

Daniel and a giant sangria.

*We = Todd and Daniel, fellow weary travelers who were also studying abroad