The rest of Berlin

Greetings from the Schaff!

Lena and I are heading to visit her friend in another city soon, so I won't comment much on my time here so far.

I noticed that the PM has seen the light and come to visit me here. I understand he went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe yesterday, which reminded me to update about my last day in Berlin.

Completing the challenge of packing my stuff up into a form that I could easily carry, I headed to the train station, picking up a pastry for breakfast from the many bakeries that offer delicious cherry, apple or other tempting treats. So, strawberry croissant in hand I strolled around Alexanderplatz looking at a temporary outdoor exhibition about the fall of the Berlin wall. The exhibition was a series of boards densely packed with information, videos and pictures from the era, as well as tape recordings of crowd and protest noises. The tape recordings were played through speakers which were discrete and only played sporadically so it was quite a shock to suddenly hear the sounds of a gathering crowd!

Finishing at the exhibition I got back on the train, roughly aiming for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe to go inside the museum, which I didn't make the other day. In no hurry though, I strolled from the Main station there, checking out the sights of Berlin once more along the way.

The museum in the Memorial was confronting- even though I have read so much and seen so many photos of the Holocaust. The aim of the exhibition was to remind people that there are people beyond the statistics. It was therefore a focus on individual victims rather than presenting the familiar numbers that are commonly presented as Holocaust statistics. One room highlights families and explores the family history before examining where all the members of the family were at the end of the Second World War. Another recites biographical details about victims of the Holocaust and another offers personal accounts of the camps. One of the most confronting rooms displayed about 15 or 16 paragraphs quoted from the accounts of victims of the Holocaust- from diaries, letters and in one example a postcard thrown out of a train on the way to Auschwitz.

Definitely a sobering visit.

Following my visit to the museum I made my way back to the hostel slowly to collect my luggage and head to the central station. I got there super early in order to avoid getting lost or missing the train, but defeated by the weight of my bags I curled up on a seat on the platform to await my ICE train to Hanau. The train ride was a comfortable experience- the train is very fast and only stops in the big towns or cities such as Hannover. The design of the train was quite peculiar however- instead of a cenral aisle, the aisle is on the edge. In addition, seats are prebooked for an extra fee and there is very little room for luggage- surprising for a train that travels 5-6 hours across the country and nearly every passenger had a suitcase on them.

Nevertheless, I made it to Hanau, excitement increasing as I manhandled my luggage off the train and had a happy reunion with Lena. We loaded my luggage, set off on the autobahn to the Schaff and lugged my luggage up to Jana's (her sister, who is still at uni) room. On arrival, I looked up to find a bed covered in sunflowers, with a pattern made from chocolates and a sign 'wilkommen'. A very nice greeting!

Anyway, hope to write more later,

Anneke