Our European Adventure, Day 7

Today we spent the majority of our day on a five hour train ride across Poland to Warsaw. This morning we woke up in time to check out of the hotel and go on a Jewish Life Walking tour.

Our guide, Heather, took us around the Jewish Quarter and showed us remnants and monuments that have been built in an attempt to explain German life in East Berlin. First, we were shown the remaining foundation of the first synagogue built in Berlin. After being saved during Hitler's reign because the Jews had built a new synagogue across town and sold their old temple to the government for use as a post office, the building was decimated during a bombing. Also near the site was a monument commemorating the site of the Jewish community center and representing the women's protest.

The foundation of the first synagogue in Berlin

Monument for the women's protest

We walked across town and went to the museum of Otto Weidt's workshop for the blind. Weidt was a prominent figure in Berlin during World War II because he did his best to employ Jewish individuals who were either deaf or blind in his workshop. He also aided them when they needed to go into hiding and even managed to help some of his Jewish contacts escape from concentration camps after his workshop was raided. Outside the museum was a small courtyard that is famous for its graffiti and we were able to take a few pictures of the artwork.

A full view of the courtyard entrance

Next we visited a Jewish cemetery that had been destroyed during World War II and the headstones were used to build walls and other buildings during the war. In the cemetery, there is a gravestone (even though he isn't buried there) for MM who is considered the Socrates of Germany. He managed the reform the German practice of Judaism by aiding Jews to acclimate in Jewish society and be both Germans and Jews. He also encouraged synagogues to convert the torah to the local language so both versions would be available to those studying it. In front of the cemetery there used to be a Jewish retirement home that was also destroyed and now a plaque is the only thing left in its place.

The only gravestones remaining in the cemetery

To finish out the tour, we saw a part of the stepping stone project that is taking place across Europe. Each set of five stones cost 95 euros to sponsor for research, construction, and travel. The purpose of the stones is to provide a remnant of the Holocaust that can come about during daily life. Each piece of the project includes information on five individuals who were murdered during the Holocaust, typically their name, where they lived, and the birth and death dates are listed. We also saw the outside of a Catholic hospital where a doctor who helped the Jews by forging death certificates for them before they went into hiding worked. Unfortunately, we had to leave the tour at that point because it started to pour and we had to get to the train station.

The stepping stone project

We ate our packed lunches quickly when we got back to the hotel and took our bags to the train station where we were able to get our Poland passes validated. We did much better on time today and had time to both purchase a meal for the train ride and do a little shopping.

During the train ride we slept, ate, and played cards. At the beginning of the ride, we were also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to talk with a 24-year-old German who attempted to explain their education system to us. It was an interesting experience and sad to wave goodbye to him when his mother and him left the train shortly after we arrived in Poland.

Our cabin on the "wagon" (German for coach)

Once we arrived in Warsaw, we struggled to find anyone who spoke English and could direct us to the Holiday Inn that we’re staying in, but thankfully, after not too long we were able to find a map and realized the hotel was right outside the train station if we only went the opposite way that we had already tried. I checked us in and was able to pick up the package containing our now sole credit card. It’s a good thing too because otherwise they were going to charge us a 200zl deposit for any possible damages to the room and we definitely didn’t have that.

Our rooms and hotel is really nice, but it’s weird the further we get away from large groups of English speaking people. From what I’ve heard though, we should be able to find people who speak some English if we ask those we see who look to be in their twenties. Hopefully it’ll work out for us.

Our European Adventure, Day 6

Today was kind of hectic because my phone got messed up somehow and the time reset in addition to the alarm not going off. I ended up waking up at around 11:45 – well after the free city tour we could have taken – and got the rest of the group up after taking a shower.

We picked up our cheap packed lunches from the hotel (only 4 euros each!) and set off walking around the city. We walked through a street market and found a pretty church on our journey to find Bebelplatz. When we finally located the building, we realized it didn’t appear to be anything special since we couldn’t understand the German signs. We ended up eating in front of the church and were approached by “a woman from Bosnia who needed money to buy her child medicine”. Madeline and Matt wanted to help her out, but Ben and I thought it was a scam.

The church we ate lunch in front of

After eating, we trekked over to the Brandenburg Gate, which is the gate that marks the separation of what used to be East and West Berlin. We saw some street performers – including a man making rather large bubbles with the assistance of tourist children – outside the gate and were approached by more street scams identical to the one we had witnessed on the other side of the city. On the other side of the gate, we located the Holocaust memorial and walked through the many posts. The memorial was very artsy and inspired Ben to play on top of the posts. He ended up getting yelled at by a security guard though, probably because he was having too much fun.

The bubble guy!

Brandenburg Gate

Ben climbing on the posts at the Holocaust Memorial

Lost in the Holocaust Memorial

We rushed back to the train station after taking pictures of the memorial to traverse to the northern part of the city for our Berlin Flak Towers Walking Tour that was supposed to show us the underground bunkers used during World War II. Unfortunately, we underestimated the amount of time it would take for us to get there via public transit and then had trouble locating the check-in point so we showed up right at the time of our scheduled tour. The office had already closed and we were unable to turn in our voucher for tickets, so we ended up being turned away.

Our rush through the train stations of Berlin

Sadly, we had to move on to our next stop at the Jewish Museum. Madeline was feeling somewhat sick while we were walking through the museum, so she went to sit down, but Matt and I actually got kicked out because they were trying to close down the exhibits and we were still wandering around. After leaving, we found Madeline some cold medicine at the pharmacy in the train station and purchased some groceries for our dinner on the train tomorrow evening.

Madeline lost in the Axis Garden of the Holocaust at the Jewish Museum, quite similar to the Holocaust Memorial

After running back to the hotel to verify our reservation for later in the trip in Prague, we went back to the main train station for dinner at Hopfingerbrau, a traditional German restaurant. The meal was quite satisfying, although we have definitely had cheaper.

My chicken, cabbage, and bread at dinner

Our shared desert

Once we paid the bill, we decided to come back to the hotel to give Madeline time to rest for our walking tour tomorrow.

Our European Adventure, Day 5

This morning we were shaken awake by a train attendant who alerted us that we were about to arrive in Berlin. I quickly packed up my things and was about to go to the bathroom when Madeline realized her money wallet was in a different place than she had put it the night before. She lost all of her cash. Jean recalled seeing someone poke their head the train car around 3 AM, but he said they quickly left once they noticed he was awake. She only noticed because the wallet was moved slightly down the table, but luckily they left all of her belongings except her 70 euros and about $20.

I was careful to make sure I had all of my things before running down to the bathroom with my bag of toiletries. After washing my face, I noticed the train had stopped moving and we had already arrived in Berlin. I rushed them out of the cabin as quickly as possible, in the process forgetting to pack my bag of toiletries, including my toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, and face cream. I just cannot win on this trip.

We oriented ourselves in the station, but were required to wait outside of the ticket office to purchase public transportation tickets because while our train was nearly two hours late in arriving, we still had to wait outside the office until 7AM when it opened. I bought our city travel cards that came along with a nice, informative booklet on tourist places around the area.

We navigated our way out of the Hauptbahnhof afterward and walked the 100 meters or so to our hotel, Hotel Meininger. The hotel is actually really nice. It has a modern decoration that appeals to me and it was quite cheap. We were able to store our luggage and purchase breakfast from the hotel before figuring out the best way to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. We piled onto the train that took us one station over and then another that directed us out of the city and into Oranienburg. From there, we found the city bus that would take us a few stops away to the camp. Amazingly, all of the hour journey was covered by our transit cards.

The camp was very draining, according to Madeline. It was horrible to think about all of the people who died on the soil that we walked on. While not many of the buildings were still standing, the memorial had buildings erected for the sole purpose of educating people on the history of how the camp came to be, who was trapped within its walls, and how the city was involved. Apparently, the city had originally had a smaller camp in the center of town, but it was closed down after they prisoners were forced to build another closer to the outskirts. We viewed the second camp, who was notorious at the time amongst the press because of its proximity to Berlin.

The entrance to the camp

A memorial in the camp

After taking pictures around the memorial and walking throughout the exhibits, we walked back to the city train station and boarded a regional express train that cut the journey back to the hotel in half. I managed to purchase deodorant (after looking all over the pharmacy for something that looked similar) and a toothbrush before leaving the train station and we all took showers after checking into our hotel room. It felt really refreshing to wash off the grodiness of the train and then take a nap to catch up on some sleep.

We woke up around eight and went out for dinner at a small Italian restaurant that we found in town. The food was actually fairly delicious and we wandered in during happy hour, so we were even able to sample some very cheap drinks in addition to our pasta and pizza overload. We managed to stay under ten euros per person, so we’re keeping to budget too. Now we’re just hanging out in the hostel for the time being to prepare for tomorrow.

The views from near our hotel

Some cool graffiti we spotted on the way to dinner

Our European Adventure, Day 4

Once we checked out of the hostel and stored our luggage, we walked around the city. We went back to the church we visited on our first day in Amsterdam and walked through the red light district during the daylight so that Matt could take pictures.

After our walk around the city, we picked up our bags from the hostel and headed to the train station to catch our train to Berlin. We bought dinner at a small grocery store, Hema, that was inside the station. Everything was actually pretty reasonably priced, so it worked out well.

I screwed up through and got the train for the train wrong. I thought we were supposed to leave at 5:19, but that’s actually when we’re supposed to arrive. I got so confused with military time.

It’s a good thing that we got the station early though because we had to ask to find out where our train would be leaving from. We also had to get our passes validated at the ticket agent since this is the first time we’re travelling by train. We had a minor heart attack though when Ben couldn’t find his rail pass. We had to run across the train station to try and buy another before our train came. It turns out he had just dropped it on the floor when I asked where to get on the train though. Relieved, we had his pass validated and raced over to the platform only to realize that I had the time wrong and we still had twenty-five minutes before our train arrived.

The train is rather cute. It’s cramped quarters, but we have four beds in a six-bed room. I have one of the top bunks, which is nice because I get to look out the window and watch the scenery go by.

Our train cabin
Ours was the first stop of the train on its journey through Europe, but we met our two roommates when we picked them up in Cologne. Zack is from Nebraska and travelling on weekends while working in Europe. Jean is from the northern part of France and going to Berlin to learn German. They’re pretty cool, both were very considerate when they got here since we completely rearranged the cabin, taking out the bunk ladder and putting up the table.

Updated Itinerary

Here's an updated itinerary for the Holocaust trip this August:

August 2: Depart United States
August 3-5: Amsterdam, Netherlands
August 6-8: Berlin, Germany
August 8-9: Warsaw, Poland
August 10: Oswiecim, Poland
August 11-12: Prague, Czech Republic
August 13-15: Munich, Germany
August 16: Amsterdam, Netherlands
August 17: Return to United States