Germany Day 4: Neuengamme Concentration Camp, Bergedorf, Hamburg: Lundensbruken, Harbor
August 2, 2014
6:14am
On the train to Munich
I’m sitting on the train from Hamburg to Munich. We caught
the 4:53am train which meant checking out of our hotel at 4am. Back that up to
3:30 to get up and get packed and read, put it together with staying up until
1am talking to Jeff and that makes one tired girl! I tried to sleep on the
train but it is seriously uncomfortable so I gave up and put on my headphones
and decided to journal. It is kind of fun to listen to music while training
across Europe (or just Germany). It makes me feel young! We have our own little
room (sort of) and I’m sitting next to the window watching the scenery speed by
while I listen to Mumford & Sons. It
feels like a soundtrack to my journey. Cheesy, I know, but it’s still fun! (And
maybe I’m just really tired).
Yesterday (August 1, 2014) we got up late. It was crazy! I
hadn’t slept well and I was so tired so I set myself up with a sleeping/eye
mask, earplugs and headphones with white noise (ocean waves). It had taken me a
while to finally get back to sleep. I woke up again at 6:30am and figured I
could sleep for another hour. The next time I moved, it was 10:30am! Mom said a
man had even come into our room (actually opened the door and came in asking if
we wanted coffee or tea) and I didn’t even budge. She even came over to see if
I was still breathing because that’s so unlike me. I’m a very light sleeper. It
was crazy!
So we got a late start to head out on the train and bus to
Bergedorf and Neuengamme. Neuengamme was one of the main concentration camps in
Germany. We spent several hours there. They had an excellent audio tour and
some exhibits inside a few of the buildings. Many of the buildings had been
torn down so they marked their areas with wire mesh and rubble. We read and
heard first hand accounts of life and death in the concentration camp. Over
55,000 men, women and children died at Neuengamme. It was very sobering. It
made me realize how little I appreciate my own freedom sometimes and how I have
never experienced real suffering.
We took the bus back to Bergedorf for lunch before heading
back to Hamburg. We found a cute little German café tucked away in a shady,
little courtyard. The food was decent and aside from the smoke, the atmosphere
was perfect.
After a short break at the hotel we headed back into Hamburg
to try and see a few things before we had to leave in the morning. We fumbled
our way from train to train and walking and walking until we made our way down
to the old warehouse district on the harbor, crossing canals and walking on
cobblestone sidewalks. Mom was a trooper with all of the walking! The trains
were absolutely packed and the closer we got to the harbor, there were loads of
people everywhere! Turns out it is Blue Light week at the Harbor (and Gay Pride
week by our hotel). Busy week in
Hamburg! They were having fireworks at night and it seemed like all of Hamburg
was there to watch. We were tempted to stay too but they weren’t for another
hour and we had an early morning and we knew the trains would be backed up for
hours if we stayed and tried to come home at the same time with everyone
else. We wandered around the street fair
and sampled some homemade salami and shared a Flammlachsbrotchen (smoked salmon
with lettuce and creamy honey mustard in a crusty roll. It was amazing!!
By the time we got home at 11pm I was ready to shower and go
to bed for a few hours but when I got out of the shower Jason told me he was
going out to find a grocery store to get his beloved Apfelshorle (sparkling
apple juice) for the train ride. I didn’t feel good about letting him go alone
so I changed and headed out for the train station with Jason. A few stops down
the S-bahn we got off and walked through an increasingly scary looking
neighborhood to find the ReWe. It was the dirtiest party of Germany I’ve seen
and there were lots of dark alleys and people sleeping on the streets. But we
made it to the ReWe and Jason got his Apfelshorle and alpenmiche chocolate. He
was also determined to turn in his plastic water bottles so he found the
machine at the back of the store where he and the other handful of homeless
people waited in line to put their plastic bottles in the machine to get money
back. It took a while since the people in front of Jason had bags full of
bottles but he finally got his turn and his receipt for .90 euros! Jason is
hilarious!
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