Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Berlin, Dresden, and München

I went to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp outside of Berlin. For the second time this summer, I stood in a place of tremendous human suffering and was horrified by the actions of humanity. The shoe testing site was a track made of various types of terrain. A company commissioned a 'study' to evaluate various shoe sole materials. Men were forced to march for hours at a time. If you stopped or collapsed, you died. I walked through the passage between infurmiry buildings and felt like I was near the dementors described in Harry Potter: that I would never be happy again. Once I was outside, the audioguide revealed that the passage was used to store bodies when the autopsy room was full. This is one experience I couldn't have shared with anyone.

I got lost leaving the memorial and a kind man took me to the trainstation. I guess he restored my faith in humanity. I rode to Berlin with a group of Austrian guys who were on their annual beer-drinking holiday. They had some excellent travel advise.

I went to the Jewish museum and was again horrified. It changes things when personal stories are involved. I decided to attend a show to remind myself of the good things in life. The only thing I could get tickets for was a Spanish Dance rendition of an opera. It was fantastic! They were incredible. It occurred to me as I watched that people living in concrete jungles must be so far removed from nature's beauty that they rely on art to fill the gaps in their lives. I met a Dutch couple and had a drink with them after. It was really great to visit with such nice people.

I met up with Dr. Siefert's friend, Gudrun. I expected an elderly grandmother, instead, I was greeted with a lively blonde with more energy that I have! Her English was a bit rusty from lack of use and my German hasn't improved significantly, so communication was slow but rewarding. She fed me juice and cake, showed me around her massive garden, then insisted on taking me to Potsdam. Ok! She got me there, set me up with tickets to the palace and left me to explore. What a great experience! I saw several of the palaces (including the room where the king ordered the start of WWI). The gardens were magnificent.

After consulting various people, I choose Dresden over Leipzig, despite my gut feeling. I ended up going twice! I was almost there when I was asked to show my ticket, only I couldn't find it. Another girl I was sitting with had a pass that wasn't good for the Czech Republic, so we got off at the next stop and went back to Berlin. My pass was sitting at the deli where I bought my breakfast. I caught the next train back and was absolutely delighted. The hostel I stayed at is located in a trendy, youthful part of town. I dropped my stuff and headed to the Old City to see the magnificent buildings. Although they were bombed to smithereens during the war and have been resorred, I was still in love. Classical music played from a hall as I walked the edge of the Zwinger. I am so happy I went.

I took the early train to Munich and arrived around 1pm. I saw the main sights yesterday, drank a huge beer in a park (and barely stopped myself from dancing on the table as the blue-eyed bar man promised) and got a job offer to work as a groom at the University stables. It is really hard being here and I think I will be leaving soon. Everywhere I went was a place he had told me about or shown me pictures. It is not a good place to be alone. Munich is nice but every second person seems to be smoking. The streets are crowded and busy... I need a small town to visit and collect my thoughts.

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