Mid-December I set off to see my friend Jenn in Germany. I’ve
never felt a huge pull towards Germany, but it might just be because I’m not a
beer drinker, so I never understood what I would drink there? Good news, this
trip changed my view entirely of Germany.
Berlin is somewhere I’ll have to go back to for a better
taste of the city. We were only there for a few days, and saw mostly Christmas
markets (awesome), stores, and bars. We lucked out with the weather, as I was
warned (by a Calgarian no less) that no one in their right mind should go to
Berlin in December and expect to do anything except freeze. We drank (gluhwein should be a basic human right), ate, enjoyed German efficiency, and finally
started to understand the Berlin transportation network on the final day.
We did take a day-trip to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp,
and that was sobering and eye-opening. I tend to make light of most situations
(I don’t think I’m very good at being serious) but there’s nothing to make
light of here. The calculated cruelty that people were capable of (and still
are, for that matter) is appalling. Please, if you do one thing while in
Germany, spend a day at a concentration camp and do the guided tour; it wouldn’t
have had nearly the same effect without the guide.
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| Somewhere close by, there is a hidden camera filming confused tourists that don't understand how a street can intersect with itself. |
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| Sachsenhausen concentration camp. |
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| Sachsenhausen camp prison. |
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