My previous post was about the physical experience about skydiving. This post is about what it does for the soul – in particular, what it did for my soul. What I didn’t expect is how it would change me in this subtle but very real way, even changing my perspective about things. It’s not a ‘jump out of your skin’ change – but something changed. It was subtle and yet rejuvenating in this quiet way.
So many would ask, “Why would you want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” For me, it wasn’t about being daring or fearless even though it takes a bit of dare and a bit of fearlessness. For me it was about the sensation of freedom and of escape from the mundane – and nothing is more freeing than falling out of an airplane with full abandon. There is nothing like the free falling about 5000 feet while you feel the force of air hit your body at around 200kmh and then there’s the pull of harness as the canopy deploys, pulling you up into the air like pulling a fish out of water with a strong yank of the fishing pole. Then the incredible view as you float down toward the earth below. It was seeing everything from a new perspective, viewing the planet from God’s eye view, or even a bird’s eye view … and suddenly you realise why people love the idea of flying – and I don’t mean like in commercial passenger aircraft kind of flying – this is the greatest sensation of freedom I have ever felt.
The first thing it taught me was that courage is not so much about conquering fear; it’s acting courageous despite the fear, it is acting without thinking too hard about the consequences. How much more profound this courage would be when acting it out when it’s about doing the right thing, instead of overthinking it – which I do … a lot. Sometimes it can be a good thing to just do without ‘thinking it through’ too much. Jumping out of an airplane attached to a skydiving instructor and a parachute pack is not something you want to overthink. I had to choose to not think about what could go wrong. I had to completely block it out and focus on what a mind-blowing experience it’s going to be. Risk-taking can be like this. Sometimes risk taking has to be calculated so you don’t completely ruin yourself – but sometimes, with certain experiences like sky jumping, there is no time to calculate – you just do! You jump and enjoy the ride!
“You’ll never know why the birds sing if you never jump and fly.”
I always thought I had to work up courage to act or that I had to overcome fear to have courage. This isn’t true. Courage is what you do while not thinking about the fear – while not thinking about the ‘what ifs’ – you suppress the fear while not overthinking it, and you just act.
Was the experience exhilarating? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Liberating? Most definitely. But still, none of these words can describe how it cracks your soul open to a side of yourself you never knew existed. This is what happened to me.
As an introvert, I live in my head far too much. I would always weigh my words too much and many opinions never verbally expressed. I’m a private person to a large degree and share things with people that are not what I deem private. I would over analyse things to ad nauseam, thinking about all the possible consequences without end – this isn’t calculating safety, protecting myself, it was madness. Since taking the dive, I find that I live in my head far less than I used to and it’s not something forced or something I have to be conscious of. I notice more and more that I am living more purposely – throwing myself out there a little more. It feels like I am living more largely than before … like I said, the experience cracked my soul open.
There is a saying that “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” quoted by Neale Donald Walsh. This quote is true. Skydiving is one of those things that are completely out of anyone’s comfort zone. Playing it safe in life gives us a sense of being safe and secure, but is it? Playing it safe all the time is a mundane life – it kills a person’s drive to want to do things out of their comfort zone, to live adventurously or even purposely – it can ignite the senses of adventure and creativity – it makes you want to do great things – to make your mark in life.
I’m in my late 50’s and have few regrets in life. There are only two things that I always wanted to do on my Bucket List – one was skydiving, the other is publishing my memoir and … okay, actually three things – maybe even publishing the fiction I started some years ago that still burns in my brain. And, I’m thinking that if I can jump out of a plane, then how hard is it to put myself out there and get my memoir published?? I have put off publishing for many reasons for a long time, but perhaps the time has come to finally bite the bullet.
Life is not about playing it safe, but it also doesn’t mean doing life threatening things all the time – humans don’t have nine lives. But every once in a while, I think that everyone, at least once, should do that one thing that is outside their comfort zone – something that cracks their soul open and makes you come alive inside. Don’t wait until you feel like it because it may never come.
What is that one thing that you would want to do if you weren’t afraid?
“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.” ~ Benjamin Mee, ‘We Bought a Zoo’
“Anything that gets your blood racing is probably something worth doing.”
It was something I always wanted to do since I was about 23 years old … it took me 34 years to actually do it. At 57 years old, I thought I would have been too old … until my daughter showed me videos of women older than me taking the leap of a lifetime.
My beautiful daughter is like her mom in that she has this innate love of adventure. She jumped last year at 13,000 feet and she suggested we do a mother-daughter jump this year … how could I say no?
Hanna’s first skydive with Alberta Skydive Central 2022 … 13,000 foot jump on a beautiful day with jamohg (Jamie Hughes-Gage) – you can find him on Instagram
We booked our tandem skydives for September 3, 2023 at 10am at Alberta Skydive Central at Innisfail Airport just outside of Red Deer, Alberta. We signed our waivers that basically say that they are not responsible for any injury or death incurred. I have to say, it is daunting signing things like that!
We started out really early that morning as it was about a 3 hour drive to our destination from what I remember. The closer we got to Red Deer, it was so smoky that I wasn’t sure what kind of view we would have skydiving that day. We had a lot of forest fires in our province and the smoke from them blew in that day making visibility poor. We showed up and checked in for a 13,000 foot jump, but after we checked in, we found out that they have to get permission for the 13,000 feet which we sadly didn’t get. It was going to be a 10,000 foot jump. We watched our instructional video of how to exit the plane and then got harnessed up. My instructor was amazing. He hooked us up and I said to him, “This is really up close and personal isn’t it?” He got me goggles to fit over my eyeglasses as I can’t see anything without them. The goggles have to be really, really snug so that the wind doesn’t whip them off your face. Then Hanna and I, all harnessed up, walk over to the aircraft with our instructors to get instruction for how to exit the plane as the doorway did not give us much room, but we managed to squeeze into this tiny Cessna. There was Hanna and I with our instructors and one more skydiver. It took some time to get to height and then, when we were just minutes from our jump zone and were tightening up the harnessing, the pilot got a call to return to the airport. The jump was aborted! The winds came up too hard and fast and it could have been deadly had we have jumped. … which is why I pray. all the time. The Lord protected us. Everyone was so thankful we got word before we jumped! It was a really long descent to the tarmac and the reason is because the parachutes on our instructors have computer sensors that sense if the jumper is falling too fast, the emergency chute will deploy. Something you do not want happening in a flying aircraft.
This particular experience was what could cause peril when skydiving. It’s no wonder you sign scary waivers that says that Skydive Central will not be held liable should you die. The single jumper that was with us in the plane said that in winds like that, you don’t know where you’ll end up or how the chute will deploy. She said that one time she jumped when the winds were crazy and she ended up in Innisfail which is miles and miles away. It can be really scary. So, the highlight that day was not only God’s protection but it was also the first time I ever flew in a Cessna aircraft – that in itself was a bit of an adventure even though we didn’t get to jump that day.
Once we were on the ground, the wind sock at the airport was horizontal – brutal. We were told that it would be at least 4pm before the winds would die down and could jump. It was about noon. Hanna and I decided to have them hold our deposit and we would see about re-scheduling a jump in the very near future. We opted not to stay as it was about a three hour drive back to Edmonton, where we live, which would mean getting home really late. Alberta Skydive Central was really great about letting us re-book.
When we got home, we decided to re-book for the following weekend, Sunday, September 9, 2023, but this time at the Edmonton location, which is actually north of Edmonton at Westlock Airport, because it is closer to home – only about a one and a half hour drive. They can only do 10,000 foot jumps at this location which we were okay with – especially for me being it’s my first go. I didn’t want us driving another three hours to Alberta Skydive Central for a maybe on the 13,000 feet. Alberta Skydive Central and Edmonton Skydive are owned by the same owner so it was easy to move our reservation and signed waivers from one place to another. Our reservation was for 9am which is the first skydive of the day and the only time slot Edmonton Skydive had left for that weekend.
The hubby drove us there. The morning was beautiful and and not a cloud in the sky. It was a cool morning – about 9ºC. We watched the instructional video again and then got harnessed up, goggles and all. My instructor’s name was Jesse and he was awesome!
Jesse and me … Hanna is already in the plane with her instructor Sky Dog. It was pretty windy on the ground and I hoped we wouldn’t run into the same misfortune as the week before. This aircraft had a larger door for jumping out of which was such a relief!
I cannot explain it. I wasn’t scared at all and more excited than anything. I didn’t let myself overthink it. We got on the plane and started our ascend. There is only room for two tandem jumpers. When we got to our jump point, Hanna and her instructor jumped first and then us.
H E R E W E G O ! !
Then the 5000 foot free fall at about 200KMH!! … which is why my aging skin makes it look like I’m experiencing G-force. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel my skin pulling, but the 200KMH fall did sting my skin around my collar bones, but otherwise, I didn’t feel the force of the winds and breathing was no problem.
Free falling … and there is the plane we jumped out of!One of the most exhilarating experiences of my life … I should have done this years ago!
When you are free falling … you don’t experience the sensation of falling … more like floating with wind hitting your body – strangest thing.
And the canopy deploys!
When the canopy opens, it pulls you up at a force you don’t expect … truly a wild ride. I thought my inner thighs might have taken some bruising from the harness, but they didn’t. After the canopy deployed … the view from 5,000 feet is amazing. To see the planet from a bird’s eye view is spectacular! As you can see there wasn’t a cloud in sight that morning. Jesse did some spins which sent the tummy into a whirl – he was so great at making this so fun. If you want to check out Jesse’s Instagram: j3s2e (Jesse R)
B E A U T I F U L V I E W ! ! Westlock Airport is the lower left corner of the photo – home of Edmonton Skydive!
With it being so early in the morning and a cool one at that – it means sound travels. Hubby was on the ground and he could see us exiting the plane but he didn’t know who jumped first … until he heard me squealing with glee, whoo-hooing and exclaiming awesomeness! When falling at this incredible speed, you can’t hear yourself until the chute opens. Hubby said that when the canopy deployed, he heard a really loud crack – I heard nothing.
The landing was smoother than I anticipated. Jesse instructed me as to when to lift my legs so he could guide us to the ground and then we slid across the grass.
“I started skydiving because I love the idea of freedom.”~ Felix Buamgartner
We survived!!
This was an experience I will never forget. The only thing I am bummed about is that I didn’t do it years ago. I am definitely doing this again … what a blast!
In my next post I will write about what jumping out of an airplane taught me.
We woke up early on the day of our departure and thought we may as well get ourselves to the airport early as this would allow us time to get to the train station for the half hour train ride to get to the Berlin Airport from Berlin Hauptbahnhof and get ourselves checked in for our flight. Then, we would have a good measure of time to relax and take our time having breakfast at the airport. Our flight time was for 2:45pm, but they always like you checked in a few hours early, so we thought, ‘might as well get there early and just hang out at the airport.’
We got everything packed and went downstairs, making our way to the front desk to let them know we are checking out and that we would need a taxi to Berlin Central Station to catch the train to the airport. The concierge told us that we wouldn’t be leaving today actually and we asked why.
He said, “Haven’t you heard? Berlin Airport is on strike today – no flights.” The hubby and I looked at each other in disbelief. First the train strike when coming from Hanover to Berlin and now this?!
“Didn’t you know that there is an airport strike today?”
We responded, “How would we know this?” (We couldn’t figure our how to use the TV in our room and even if we did, would we have been able to get this news in English?) “Is it all airports in Germany?”
“No, just Berlin.” …
Our concierge immediately asked us where our connect flight was to get back to Canada and we told him that we have a connect flight that leaves out of Frankfurt at 5:05pm but need to be there by 4:05pm for boarding. He immediately went onto to Deutsche Bahn’s website to see if there were any trains out of Berlin to Frankfurt. There was only one. One. The time was now about 8:50am and the train departure time was 9:26am. The train travel time to Frankfurt would be about four hours which would work out – if we caught this train, we’d be able to make our connect in Frankfurt.
We only had a half hour to check out, buy train tickets and then get taxied over to the train station. We are cramped for time now. So, the concierge worked his magic – got us checked out and bought us train tickets with hubby’s credit card – an ICE train (high speed) with a 9:26am departure time – he had no time to reserve seats for us, which meant we’d be sitting in whatever seats were free – so, that’ll be fun.
By the time our concierge printed off our ticket, the taxi was already waiting outside. The concierge ran with us to the taxi and quickly explained to the driver that he had to get us to the train station as quickly as possible. The time was now about 9:08am and I am thinking there is no way we are going to make this train! So, I do what I do best, I prayed and asked the Lord to get us there on the train. We threw our bags in the trunk and jumped into the back seat and off we went.
It’s a good thing that there is no heavy traffic in Berlin because this driver was zig-zagging down those narrow European streets like a boss! He had to stop suddenly for a pedestrian on the way, who, I’m sure, was cussing in Deutsche as she walked past the front of the car. As soon as she was in the clear, he sped on. As he is driving, hubby gives him enough Euros to cover our ride and then some. The driver got us to the station – it was now about 9:15am (yes, the train station was close to our hotel!) He couldn’t get through an obstruction to drop us at the entrance, and so he swerved over so we could jump out, grab our luggage and run to our platform.
So, now we are running to get inside the station and are looking for platform 10 – its at the lowest level in the place, so down the escalators we go with backpacks and suitcases in tow. I am so glad I chose to pack my purse in my suitcase and put everything I needed in my backpack with all the running we were doing!
And can you believe it?! We got to the platform at about 9:20am and boarded the train when it arrived at about 9:30am.
I am so glad that our concierge on the Meliã Berlin was quick-thinking and was able to help us the way he did – he was so awesome! I wish I remembered his name because I’d mention it here.
I was so glad the Lord was with us because I am pretty sure we wouldn’t have made the train without Him making a way, orchestrating everything the way He did, keeping us sharp and finding the right platform so quickly when Berlin Station was so unfamiliar to us!
Okay, so we are not regular travellers on Germany’s trains, we got on the car we were closest to on the platform and found a seat – we weren’t sure if we were in first class or not, so thought we’d sit where we were until a conductor came by. It wasn’t long before a gentleman came by checking tickets – we showed him ours and he kindly told us we were in first class and had to move up a few cars to get to an economy car. Once we were in one, all the seats which are arranged two by two on each side of the car – each two by two had one person sitting in them. I grabbed one seat and hubby found a seat in front of me, so we were at least kind of together. It wasn’t long before the passenger next to me started getting his things together which was my cue to let him out as I had the aisle seat. Once he was out of his seat to exit at the next stop, I poked the hubby in front of me to move to sit next to me and then I prayed we weren’t sitting in reserved seats because I did not want to move again.
These next two photos are stock photos … the one on the left is the layout of the train we were on to Frankfurt – without the tables. The photo on the right is an ICE train at Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station).
Expected arrival time in Frankfurt … 13:52 or 1:52pm …
The rest of the trip went well and we didn’t have to move seats again. We had a long trip, so I tried taking some photos from the train … I didn’t get a lot of good shots, but here are some anyway that gives you a glimpse of the countryside … (below). Four hours of this beautiful scenery on an electric train calms the soul. I watched other passengers who were traveling for business and they had their laptops out. These trains also have free wifi which was pretty cool – what a way to manage your time – people wouldn’t be able to do this if they had to commute by driving their own vehicle. If I ever decided to travel through Europe, I think it would be delightful to go place to place by ICE train.
This train was going all the way to Zurich with many stops along the way, one of which was our stop – Frankfurt. The train ride to Frankfurt was close to four and a half hours, start to finish. We got off at Frankfurt Central Station at about 2:00pm and we still had to figure out where and what time to catch the train from Frankfurt Central Station to Frankfurt Airport to catch our flight. We were hoping it was not a long train ride!
As soon as we got off the train, we ran to the Deutsche Bahn office where someone saw us struggling with who to talk to about getting train tickets to the airport. A lady overheard us speaking English and she came over and helped us purchase tickets from what looked like an ATM machine for train tickets. She was an awesome help and she directed us to the platform where we could catch the train to the airport. She said that trains leave to the airport about every ten minutes, so we should be okay. We thanked her and off we went running again because, at this point, we still don’t know how long the train ride is to the airport, so we wanted to catch the very next train.
We found our platform and a young woman overheard us speaking English and we helped each other figure out what train we needed to be boarding as she was going to the airport as well, but she was going to pick up her luggage as it was coming in on a later flight (kinda what we experienced when we arrived in Berlin to go to Hanover when we first arrived in Germany). Once we were on the train, this is when we found out that it was only a 13 minute ride to the airport. Hubby and I started breathing again.
So, on our short train ride, we chatted with the young woman and discovered that she was from the United States and in Germany for work. She was with the US military and a court reporter for the military, so we had a really interesting conversation about that. The US military has a base in Frankfurt. Once we all arrived at the airport, we departed wishing each other safe travels.
By the time we got to the airport, I think it was now closer to about 3:00pm. We went to our gate and got ourselves and our luggage all checked in – then we went looking for washrooms and then went to see where our gate was to board our flight. By this time, it’s closer to about 3:30pm and our flight was going to start boarding at 4:05pm. Close to our gate was a kiosk selling bratwurst and so we bought a couple of those with some fruit cups along with a couple … you guessed it … cappuccinos! This was our first meal of the day and we were famished.
We couldn’t believe we made it to Frankfurt to catch our flight!
leaving Frankfurt …
What are the odds that the two times we were on our way to a new destination in Germany, that they happen to be on the two days where there were strikes – train strikes on the day we were supposed to leave Hanover and then an airport strike the day we were supposed to leave Berlin??
I told the hubby that maybe it was a God-send that there was no flight from Berlin to Frankfurt because the switch once we would have got to Frankfurt was only an hour before having to connect to our Toronto flight – it makes for a very tight switch – and I said to him, “What would be the odds that our luggage missed that flight like it did from Munich to Berlin?”
You just never know, with wild travel kerfuffles like these, what the Lord may have saved us from. Yes, we had plane and train fiascos … but still, the Lord made a way for us to get where we needed to go and for that I am insanely grateful.
It was a long 8-hour + flight to our connect in Canada – Toronto Pearson Airport. At least this long one ‘across the puddle’ was Air Canada and it was not as cramped as the Lufthansa flight was going from Montreal to Munich. The Air Canada aircraft had air at least and a little more leg room. My tailbone still suffered, but not as badly as when on the Lufthansa flight. We didn’t sleep much on this flight either … at least we could watch movies to pass the time. This flight was also packed to the gills.
When we arrived in Toronto, I was so tired and we had to find our way to get through customs as we are now coming back into our own country. Even that is so different from when I was a girl – there are computer machines now where you scan your passport and then you are prompted to answer questions … once through that – what I could remember of it anyway – we made our way to our next gate to make our flight back to Edmonton, Alberta. Another packed flight. Travel details at this point were a complete blur as we were so tired. We arrived at Edmonton International Airport at about 11:00pm our time and we took a taxi home instead of asking one of our kids to pick us up because of how late it was. We got home around midnight. We were exhausted but glad to be home.
Hubby and I decided that if and when we travel again, we will not fly economy again if we can help it – it was just too cramped and uncomfortable and you don’t sleep well. If you are of mature years, you may want to consider at least business class or a pod. I saw a pod when exiting our Air Canada flight from Frankfurt – they looked amazingly comfortable.
Even though our travel plans got a little thwarted, I still loved that I took the trip with the hubby. Life is an adventure and that includes the hiccups and mishaps – it’s what makes life interesting. And when you have the Lord to rely on, you know He can spur things on in such a way that it all works out in the end.
Life can feel really short especially when one is in their later fifties and your life is pretty much the same day after day … the years go by faster and the days don’t seem as long as they used to. Getting away to a whole other country is the breather we needed … maybe it’s because we were somewhere new and we were out of our element with many things to see and new cuisines to try; whatever it was, our time away felt longer and the days seemed to stretch more – it felt longer than nine days. It was nice to feel the body destress after the last three years. It was long overdue and a reminder that taking time out to do new things and enjoy the simple pleasures of life … like cappuccinos on patios … are the things that delight the soul the most.
Point is, whatever you do or wherever you go, enjoy your life and do things that delight your soul, and remember to just stop and b r e a t h e.
Until the next adventure … take joy in each day you have.
After the river tour, we saw some buildings from the boat down the street from our hotel, so once back on the street, we went for a wee walk to check it out as the skies were clearing up. On our way, there was a bit of a street market, kind of like a farmer’s market in Canada, but it was people selling used things or repurposed things – I got caught up looking at things that I neglected to photograph it.
We walked by the Bode-Museum where they were displaying ‘Timeless Ukrainian Art’ – we opted to not go in, but marvelled at the architecture of the building. This building was built from 1898 to 1904.
From where I was standing to take this picture, this was the view behind me … (below) … I could not find any other information about this odd sculpture other than what is captioned in the photo, shown below.
‘Hektor Köpf’ sculpture by Markus Lüpertz – bronze, partly painted – 2014 our hotel is just up the street on the left from here
The cobblestone streets I find so interesting … and notice, no potholes like at home in Canada … do these kind of streets ever get things like potholes? Anyway, below is a photo of a cobblestone street and there are a good many of them in Germany.
We then started strolling back toward our hotel and decided to go find a little patio where we can enjoy some cappuccinos. One thing we noticed is that a good many stores are closed on Sundays here – like they used to be in Canada until 1985 when the Lord’s Day Act was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada, making it okay for stores to open and sell things to people on Sundays.
We found a little coffee/ice cream shop beside Friedrichstrasse Station … what a beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon …
When you walk back under this bridge (above) and as you come out to the other side of the building to your left … is the other side of Friedrichstrasse Station (below) … which was also the meeting place for when we met the tour group to go to Sachsenhausen.
Inside the doors, which are underneath the clock, there is shopping inside along with different platforms for trains. We visited a little grocery store in here a few times, which was so convenient as it’s not even a 5-minute walk from the Meliã Hotel. Where you see the red umbrella on the far left, just on the other side of it they sell curry-wurst which looks like curried bratwurst – it seems the be the popular thing here but we never did try it.
the Meliã Hotel during the daythe Meliã Hotel at night
I am going to miss this place … I will even miss the sounds of nightlife from across the river. (below) The chatter and laughter that carried across the water from these restaurants and their patios reminded me so much of being at my grandparents’ place as a girl. Our parents put us to bed with all our cousins and we would listen to the adults talk and laugh into all hours of the night – and we could hear everything because of how the sound carries out at night and it was the same here, but even more-so when there is water. I have great memories of my grandparents’ place – it was a place where love dwelt – and in the distance you could hear the trains, just like you do in Berlin. Hearing the chatter and laughter at night in Berlin reminded me of that and I found it calming, relaxing. I wonder if part of that wasn’t why I slept so well here.
I find I reminisce so much more as I get older. The world is changing so much and I miss how it used to be.
restaurants & bars with their patios along the riverMurphy’s Pub
Well, tomorrow is departure day – back to Canada … I am so glad I decided to come with the hubby on this trip – it was more wonderful than I expected it to be, and I will miss this place.
Today is Sunday and we had nothing planned for the day. – our last day in Berlin. We woke up to nice cool but rainy weather and we decided to partake of a one-hour river tour of Berlin which was right across the street from our hotel – Meliã Berlin located in what was once East Germany. We started with breakfast at our hotel where we met a young man from Michigan who was staying at the hotel for a conference – it was nice to enjoy some conversation with a fellow English-speaker.
Due to the rain, we were seated below. Sitting on the upper deck would have been nicer as I would have been able to take nicer photos, so I took what photos I could. I noticed along the river there was a lot of graffiti and some of it was quite beautiful, but we were moving fast enough in the boat to miss taking photos of a lot of them.
The tour brochurethe lower deckthe view from our seats
On the boat they had little hand-held speakers that you could hold where you could choose the language you wanted for the tour. We started off listening to these, but with the tour being spoken in Deutsch over the speakers, it was hard to listen to it in English, so we turned them off and just enjoyed the view instead. It was nice sitting in the lower deck as they had tables and you could buy refreshments and food on the boat as well. Of course we had, as you might have guessed, more cappuccinos.
graffiti arttrain bridge going intrain bridge exitingmore graffiti arta view of the Reichstagimagine relaxing here …a bird just hanging out! (no idea as to the kind of bird though)
Just a sample of all the graffiti along the river … some of it looked sloppy, but some were really impressive.
Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) – DB (Deutsche Bahn)Berliner Dom (Cathedral)Berliner Dom (Cathedral)Berliner Dom (Cathedral)awesome architecturea train bridge – see the train on it?Cube Berlin building with very cool optical illusion beside Berlin Hauptbahnhof
A view of our hotel from the river boat … after our first night on the second floor, we were moved to the sixth floor. Our room was located between the ‘E’ and ‘L’ on the building. The windows were huge and the one side of the windows is actually a door you can open to let the air in – we loved that feature. No screens on anything and you were protected by metal railing, so it felt like a balcony even though you are standing in your room.
Something to note: because of little to no private passenger traffic, the air smells cleaner here – you don’t smell vehicle exhaust all the time you’re here.
As you can probably tell, staying at Meliã Berlin was an awesome choice of place to stay as it is close to so many attractions and there are multiple museums within walking distance – it’s just too bad our stay was short and weren’t able to take in most of them.
The area is full of so much older architecture that is absolutely breathtaking. It is a much more beautiful city than I imagined it would be. The people were friendly and even more-so when they learned we were Canadian. To our surprise, a good many also speak English which was helpful.
After we got back to Berlin after touring Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, we decided to venture out to find another place to eat. I cannot tell you how awesome it is that every restaurant we find, they have patios and the only time you cannot sit at them is if it’s raining.
We decided to eat at TEX-MEX and the name is a dead giveaway to the cuisine served. The hubby got ribs and it did not disappoint, they were as yummy as they look. I ordered a burger with fries that also came with coleslaw. This was the best burger I have eaten in years. This was a nice end to the day after touring Sachsenhausen, I ordered myself a Piña Colada with my dinner and it really hit the spot!
After visiting Sachsenhausen, and then you experience the way of life here – like eating at restaurants like this one – it seems very surreal that there were once very awful things happening to people here during World War II. I really do hope that the atrocities that were carried out during World War II, at camps like Sachsenhausen, never happen again.
It’s been a day! We toured the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp today and what an experience this was. Sachsenhausen is located at the outer part of Oranienburg, a town not far outside of Berlin, Germany. Our tour started with meeting at the Traenenpalast (Palace of Tears) Museum which was right beside Friedrichstrasse Station and a hop-skip from our hotel in Berlin, the Meliã Berlin Hotel. We took a train from Friedrichstrasse Station most of the way there which was about 45 minutes or so, and then we had to take a bus the rest of the way due to rail construction which lengthened the trip by about another half hour. Once we arrived at Oranienburg, we walked the same streets to the camp that the prisoners were marched through town on which was about a twenty minute trek. I could not imagine the humiliation felt by prisoners when being marched through town on display for all to see. Many prisoners would have been weary, starving and without proper clothing and I cannot imagine the the anguish when having to march these streets in winter months in cold temperatures. Being from Canada, the thought of a twenty-minute walk in frigid temperatures without proper clothing would have been agony.
Along these streets that the prisoners walked were lined with homes with windows that looked down on the street. If any resident came out in opposition of what was happening or came out to defend a prisoner being beaten, they were taken by SS guards and placed in the back of the line to be marched to the prison camp with the other prisoners for being defiant. Fear was the tactic used to keep people in check – fear of being shamed, fear of beatings, fear of incarceration. As I walked this walk, I wondered how many of them would have protested? or wanted to? How many really knew what was going on (as a lot was hidden from citizens)? The propaganda during this time had people believing truths that weren’t truth at all. The last street of houses that led to the camp belonged to SS guards. It was unnerving to think that prisoners were walked down these streets as a spectacle – some were actually criminals and some were called criminals because of their race, their ideology or religious beliefs – it was a gruelling walk when you think about the thousands of prisoners who met their demise at the end of this walk – by either torment and or death.
SS Housing – many of these homes are duplexes and citizens live in them still.
The wall to the left, above, is part of one of the original walls of the camp that is seen below.
One of the buildings still standing was the kitchen where food was prepared for SS guards – shown below. Only a certain kind of prisoner could work in this kitchen. Our guide asked us, ‘What kind of prisoners do you think the SS would have trusted to work in the kitchen with knives and other utensils that could have been used against them?’ The answer was Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses, due to their religious beliefs, were trusted in the camp kitchens with knives and utensils for cooking as they were known for being non-violent and pacifistic and the Nazi regime knew they could trust that they would not try to harm or kill them.
It is against Jehovah’s Witnesses’ religious beliefs to be in military service. They would refuse being drafted into the army and on top of that they would not give the nazi salute. So because they resisted the regime they were arrested and taken to camps like Sachsenhausen.
The camp kitchen (restored)
As we were about to enter, I learned that the part of the camp we were entering into was what was left of the original camp and this is all that was left after the bombing during World War II. The red triangle in the photo below, on far left, shows the original construction of the camp, which is what we were touring, that grew larger over time which is the entire area in the photo. It was built in an isosceles triangle shape with sides about 600 meters long. The shape was so that all corners of the place could be seen clearly from the main building and watchtowers with armed SS guards. This triangular area was about 18 hectares (about 44.5 acres) and due to the large number of prisoners arriving almost daily, they had to expand the camp. This camp grew to about 400 hectares (about 988 acres) to accommodate the thousands of prisoners it held.
The centre photo, below, shows what the original camp layout looked like and the dark black rectangles you see in the photo represent the buildings that are still standing at Sachsenhausen. The greyed out rectangles are where prisoner barracks used to be and in their place are stone plots showing where the buildings once stood. The far right photo is a concrete model map of Sachsenhausen when it occupied about 400 hectares.
the original campA concrete map of the camp
This camp was one of the first in Germany and as other camps were built, Sachsenhausen became the headquarters for all the other concentration camps in Germany. It was also a place of training SS guards.
Sachsenhausen MuseumOne of many watchtowers
As we approached the main building, called Building A, shown below, which is also the entrance into the camp, you can see the gate ‘Abeit Macht Frei‘ which means, ‘Work makes you free.‘ Prisoners were led to believe that if they worked hard enough that they could earn their freedom out of the camp, which was a lie of course, but they had prisoners working hard in hopes of earning their freedom. SS men would say to arriving prisoners that there is only one way to freedom and it is through this chimney, as they pointed out the chimneys of the crematorium.
‘Work sets one free’
I have to say it was a bit distressing, walking through this gate – to think of how many prisoners walked through it, who endured starvation, humiliation, unbearable punishment, cruelty, medical experiments and death. There were many times I got choked up. When in the museum, that is located in the middle of this camp (which was previously the camp kitchen), so much of the displays were so hard to read that I took screen shots to read later as I did not want to be an emotional mess. It makes a person feel ill thinking about how evil human beings can be and the atrocities that they can carry out on other human beings that they didn’t see as humans worthy of a life.
As soon as you go through the gate, you see a huge monument at the other end of the yard – the Sachsenhausen National Memorial (1961). This is a monument in remembrance to those murdered and those later liberated at this camp – see photos below. On the monument, they list 19 countries of origin that were incarcerated here and many of which were later incinerated. Of course, years later, they discovered there were many more nationalities incarcerated here than just the 19 listed on the monument: Albania, France, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Denmark, Germany, Austria, England, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Italy, Norway, Romania, and Hungary, respectively. The red triangles at the top of this tower represent 18 nationalities. Triangles were used on prisoner’s clothing to identify their crimes. There were actually about seven different coloured triangles, but on this monument, they chose to use only red. Looking at the base where you see the list of nations, you can see letters painted orange that reads ‘frieden‘ which means, ‘peace‘ which was painted orange only a few years ago.
Sachsenhausen National Memorial
Something else to know about this monument are the three figures – see above middle photo. The artist commissioned for this monument had his draft reviewed multiple times before the work began – I think it was three times before it was approved. The monument shows three persons, in the back I believe represents a Russian soldier, who is liberating two prisoners. The original draft for this monument showed emaciated prisoners who represent those who suffered from malnutrition and brutal cruelty, but those who were approving this monument did not like that the prisoners were seen this way and so what you see here ended up being the final approval for the monument. It makes it hard to know who the prisoners are in this monument as the prisoners remaining would have been quite weak, emaciated and or dying when finally liberated.
The camp was very well secured to keep prisoners from escaping. Along the walls in the photos below, you can see areas of gravel close to the walls that are lined with barbed wire along the ground in front of the wall. Along the wall, you can see the curved posts with electric wire strung across them with what looks like fuses on the posts. In the photo in the far right was our guide, I included him in the photo to give scale. If any prisoner even came close to where our guide was standing, called the Neutral Zone, the prisoners were shot and killed without hesitation. Beyond these walls were more walls and beyond that, more SS housing, so as you can imagine, escape would have been quite difficult, along with multiple watchtowers with armed soldiers. If a prisoner was caught trying to escape they were killed on the spot.
our guide in the Neutral Zone
On the left (below) is a pole that would have had speakers attached to them. There were a good many of these poles around the yard and they were used to call prisoners to roll call or to alert of missing prisoners that didn’t show for roll call. About the photo (below-center), this road is where much torture endured, one of which was testing leather shoes for German shoe manufacturers to test the durability of them. The prisoners would be ordered to march around it endlessly until they were told they could stop. This track was made up of different surfaces to test the shoes on different kinds of terrain. However, because the prisoners average weight was around 70 pounds, or about 32kg, the SS guards would add weight to their backs to equal the average weight of a healthy person (see far right photo below). Being underweight, hungry, and weak, marching up and down these surfaces, it would have driven them to utter exhaustion. This started in the summer of 1940. They were forced to run up to 40 kms a day, going at a brisk pace around the 700 meter track and it didn’t matter the season or the weather – rain, snow, frigid cold or extreme heat of summer. If anyone failed to keep up they were beaten by the SS guards. Few prisoners survived this torture after two weeks of it.
speaker polethe trackTesting shoes
Each prisoner had a number on their prison clothes – they were not known by their names, only their numbers. They were not tattooed at this place like they were at places like Auschwitz. Along with a number, they also had sewn on their clothes a coloured triangle or multiple coloured triangles that revealed their so-called crimes. The Jewish star (or star of David) was also used.
‘Jude’ = ‘Jewish’
Here is a link to what the different identifying colours of triangles that Nazi Concentration Camp prisoners wore on their prison clothes and what they meant – this same information was also at Sachsenhausen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_concentration_camp_badge
Some prisoners could also wear other coloured triangles simultaneously – for instance, if they wore a yellow and red triangle (that would look like a star) it meant you were Jewish and a political prisoner. These badges were the means of shaming and often caused rifts between prisoners. When you check out the link above, it makes sense how it would cause rifts/divisions. The Jewish people were at the very bottom of the prisoner hierarchy and were more brutally treated than the other prisoners. Norwegians were highest in the hierarchy and below them, the Dutch. These triangles were used in German-occupied countries and were introduced in 1938.
The top left photo – to the left is Barrack 38 and behind that Barrack 39 which were part of the Jewish barracks in this area of the yard. These barracks were typical housing for prisoners. The bunks were three high -right photo – and if a prisoner was sick, like with dysentery for instance, they were on bottom bunks or the floor as no one wanted someone like that sleeping above them. Very often, up to three prisoners would share one bed space – these bed spaces had straw with sheets over top and the blankets had bugs and lice was a problem. Prisoners also slept on the floor if there was no room on the beds. When they woke in the morning, if anyone had died during the night, they were laid on the floor.
urinalsabout the toiletstoilets
The toilets – shown above. These bathrooms could only be used in the mornings and evenings and about 300 to 500 prisoners would either be eating a breakfast or using the bathroom. They were all given only 30 minutes to accomplish this so some of them would miss out on using the bathroom. I cannot imagine such awful conditions to exist in and on top of that, no privacy.
store room
Above – the storeroom. This room was actually quite a small space – I could not imagine cramming so many inmates in this tiny room that they actually suffocated. … And then, the bathrooms (photos below.)
wash basinsbasins for washing feet
Then there was another building, close to Barracks 38 and 39 that was called the prison within a prison. In this building – see below – is where they held political prisoners, one of which was Stalin’s own son. We were told the the nazis tried to trade Stalin’s son for a German dignitary but Stalin declined and Stalin’s son remained at Sachsenhausen. In this building, each prisoner had their own cell.
You can see metal supports sticking out of the top of the wall (shown below) – electric wiring ran through these over the top, so if a prisoner attempted an escape, they would have been electrocuted.
rows of cellsprison cell the yard outside the prison within a prisonthe wall surrounding the prison within a prison
Another thing about this place. It seemed odd to me that it be such a beautiful sunny day at this place where atrocious things were carried out. There was a slight breeze that day which helped keep our bodies cool as we were not dressed for the heat – it reached 20C – and being from Canada and being April, it was too warm too soon for us and we neglected to bring enough water. There was no other life in this place other than the souls touring the place. You could hear the rustling of trees surrounding the camp and it hit me, you don’t hear or see birds at this place. No sign of critters like gophers or squirrels either (I’m not even sure Germany has gophers or squirrels.) At one point, I heard one bird but you could tell it was from way far off. What does it tell you when it seems that even the animals seem to be aware of what went on here? The place felt lifeless and it appeared to me that nature mourns what happened there.
The beatings on the trestle were performed inside the cell block and later in the roll-call area. In 1942, they made other prisoners do the actual beating.
Hangings …
Other Tortures …
And then we were off to Station Z where a lot of mass murder took place.
the execution trenchthe doorway to the morguedownward path to execution trench
This facility was completed in spring of 1942 and called Station Z – the end of the alphabet to indicate ‘the last stop.’ Our guide had told us they initially lined prisoners up against the wood slatted walls in the trench and would shoot prisoners there which were then carried into the morgue and then on to the ovens. After some time the guards started to suffer mentally and started to go into deep depressions from all the killing. They then created rooms where the SS guards would dress like a physician and lead a prisoner to one of these rooms telling them that they are going to do a medical check on them, saying that they were going to measure their height. Then the guard would leave the room and another guard in the room beside it would open a slot in the wall that would be behind the prisoner’s head and a guard would shoot them in the back of the neck. This way the guard didn’t have to look at the prisoner in the face when killing them. This facility contained four crematoria and it had one gas chamber. The gas chamber was often used to murder women.
the layout of Station Zthis is a downward grade to the ovensthe ovens
Below are two buildings where many medical experiments on prisoners were rolled out. Our guide informed us that the youngest recorded prisoner at Sachsenhausen was only 8 years old. He apparently survived. I recall our guide saying that really awful medical experiments were done here – here is a link to more information:
By January of 1945, the prisoner population at Sachsenhausen exceeded 65,000 souls which included 13,000 female prisoners.
“There is nothing that injures human feelings so deeply as being forced to watch a fellow human being executed.” ~ Heinrich Lienau, 1949, German political prisoner, Sachsenhausen, 1939 – 1945
footnote: The above is a quote from a book I bought at Sachsenhausen – “Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp 1936 – 1945 Events and Developments” written by Günter Morsch & Astrid Ley (ed.) – pg 106. I highly recommend this book as it contains so much more information about Sachsenhausen.
Additional photos:
With these uniforms they had to wear, they were also made to wear wooden shoes. Wooden shoes were chosen because they are difficult to run in which meant that it makes it harder for prisoners to escape.
Building A where we entered the camp from about the middle of the yard opposite Sachsenhausen National MemorialSachsenhausen National Memorial from about the middle of the yard opposite Building A
It was quite an experience visiting this place. Other things I learned about was the amount of propaganda that was used. The SS would actually have propaganda photos taken. Our guide was telling us that they would show prisoners in coats with earmuffs and gloves for photos, showing them with shovels clearing snow off roadways. But when after the photos were taken, the prisoners were stripped of the winter gear and went back to clearing snow with their bare hands – no coats, gloves or ear muffs. Propaganda is a form of controlling information – of not letting the truth out. Propaganda keeps truth hidden and if you have media that controls information (which was also a thing in Hitler’s Germany), how easy is it for evil agendas to flourish?
In Germany, I learned that their police and military, as part of their training, have to go through Sachsenhausen and know its history so that this tyranny doesn’t happen again. It is something they take quite seriously. We were told a story by our guide that happened in Germany in recent years where tourists were caught photographing themselves at Brandenburg Gate doing the Hitler salute – they were arrested and escorted out of Germany and can never come back.
If atrocities like this happened once, they can happen again. So much of the last three years has awakened me to the fact that things like this could happen again and it disturbs me when information is controlled by media. They say history often repeats itself but rarely is it ever carried out exactly the same, but there are similarities. My daughter had read somewhere that in Hitler’s Germany, the people were given government issued radios and were not allowed to listen to any radio except the one government station. If they were caught listening to outside sources it could mean incarceration or death.
Did you know that during this time that the Jewish people were not allowed to own vehicles and eventually could not own bicycles either? They had curfews and could not go to places like theatres. They weren’t even allowed to own pets.
When thinking about this history, I remember when my daughter was in high school and her Social Studies teacher decided to play the movie, ‘Schindler’s List’. Her teacher asked the class how many had seen the film and only my daughter and one other student had raised their hands in affirmation. My daughter told me that she was surprised how many kids had not seen it and what surprised her further, is that as soon as the film started, the majority of their class averted their attention to their phones, paying no attention to a movie about one of the greatest atrocities in human history. I looked at my daughter and said, “This is how history gets forgotten. This is how they forget.”
The first time I saw Schindler’s List, I was so disturbed by it that I couldn’t talk for about two hours after the film because if I did, I’d start crying. It really rocked me. I have never forgotten it. This history cannot be forgotten and we have to recognize the tactics, especially the psychological tactics – like, how did they get such high compliance?
Another powerful film from 2015 based on a true story that took place during this era is called, “Woman in Gold” with Ryan Reynolds and Helen Mirren where Maria Altmann is quoted in the film as saying, “People forget, you see … especially the young.”
It is a dangerous thing to forget history or be ignorant of it because it could mean our demise if we do.
We got into Berlin yesterday and so today, we thought we’d go shopping as we needed a few things and went to ask the concierge of our hotel where is the best place to go shopping. We had slept in this morning and missed the breakfast brunch. The concierge gave us a map of Berlin how to get to Germany’s largest mall, and believe me, it was large – three storeys and it had some shops that we have back home and some not. Their food court was pretty diverse. We see ‘curry bratwurst’ a lot but didn’t try any. This mall borders on where the Berlin Wall was. Our hotel is located on what used to be East Berlin – so some interesting history there.
While at this mall, we decided to have our first coffee of the day – cappuccinos for two! It turned out that we couldn’t find exactly what we were looking for, so exited the mall and where we exited we got ourselves lost and the map didn’t help much – the map was confusing as it didn’t actually show every street name – so that was fun – we became aimless wanderers in an area with signs warning us of pick-pockets which made me a bit paranoid. In our lostness, we came across the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We didn’t go downstairs into the Memorial, and in hindsight, we should have. I did take photos of the exterior though where they had all these concrete blocks which I thought would have names engraved on them, but didn’t. If we had gone in, we would likely have found out why the blank concrete blocks.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
Trying to find our way back to the hotel, we then came across the Brandenburg Gate where a protest was apparently happening so we didn’t get that close to it – but took this picture from afar. This structure’s construction started in 1788 and was completed in 1791. At the Brandenburg Gate, there is also a quiet room for people to use to pray or reflect – didn’t see it though.
Brandenburg Gate
Much of our afternoon, which is a Friday afternoon, was spent finding our way back to our hotel. It should be noted that patios/outdoor tables and chairs for eating, drinking and coffee-ing is very big here. Our city at home needs more of this. The Deutsche way of life seems more relaxed somehow and they are big on socializing. I wonder if they are not more relaxed because they take trains everywhere they go. The trains are so efficient that it takes no time at all to get to where you are going. Driving vehicles would take a lot longer. In our hotel, you don’t see a lot of private passenger vehicle traffic here and so you don’t get overwhelmed by vehicle exhaust. The transportation here is predominantly electric trains, scooters and bicycles. The electric scooters and electric bicycles are available to rent here via app and so many amenities are within a 20-25 minute walk at most.
Across the street from our hotel is Friedrichstrasse Bahn (train station) where there is a little grocery store, and eats, a drug store and so many restaurants up and down the streets beside it – all of them with outdoor seating.
Friedrichstrasse Station & Meeting Place for Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Tour
Once we got back to our hotel – we ate at a place up the street called the ‘Block House’ – the food was amazing. I had a pasta dish – taking full advantage of how different the wheat product is here (having been told that Germany is GMO free) – wondering what on earth makes it different. The pasta looked homemade and it was lovely. My body has not reacted to wheat product while being here and it really makes me wonder what is different.
hubby’s dinner
my dinner
Block House … above the graffiti is where the S trains travel.
It was while sitting here that we realized it is not against the law here to walk around with open beers like it is back home. It was odd to see as this would be illegal back home.
Tomorrow is our Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Tour …
The day started with us sleeping in later than we wanted to … I don’t know if I hit snooze through the alarms or not, but missed the alarms just the same. We didn’t wake up until around 9:30am this morning and by the time I got myself ready, we missed breakfast brunch downstairs. The hubby got a call from a fella he was talking to at the conference and asked to meet up this morning at Messe Nort, so hubby went even though he thought of not going and thinking of spending the day with me, our last day in Hanover. Once there, the hubby discovered that the train line, Deutsche Rail was going on strike tomorrow which is when we were scheduled to travel to Berlin! … So, he calls me and says, “We have to purchase a ticket to Berlin for today instead of tomorrow.” I told him I already have the ticket (purchased in Canada before we left) – we just have to get to the ticket office to change our seat reservation to today. I pulled out the ticket from our baggage and told him I would meet him at Hanover Hbf/Central Station. So, off on a foot trek I went and beat him to the station, praying the whole time that I could change my reservation to later this afternoon that also gave us at least a two-hour window to get back to our hotel, pack up and check out and get on the train. We were now on a time clock. I went to Deutsche Rail’s office and pulled a number to be waited on while waiting for the hubby to show up.
I looked at my queue ticket and … a half hour wait. Ugh. It was already around noon I think. I started praying again asking the Lord to provide us the new seat reservations we needed to get to Berlin. There was a good many people in that office looking to change their tickets. And of all the people in this place, a nice German lady came to me and placed her queue ticket into my hand, and, no kidding, within a minute after she left, that queue number was called. Another God-incidence. God incidence number one was the hubby finding out about the train strike which he wouldn’t have learned of if he didn’t go to the meeting he had this morning.
I went to the ticket window and another lovely woman looked into changing my (already 1st class) ticket from tomorrow to today. I told her anytime works for my hubby and me as long as it’s at least two hours from now as we need a two hour window to get back to our hotel, pack and check out and then get back here. She looked through all the seating up until later tonight and the only two seats she had left were for 3:30pm – or as the Deutsche would say, 15:30 as they use 24-hr clock times here – I told her I would take those – she printed me the ticket (just one ticket with both our names on them) and as I was walking out of the office, the hubby was just walking in. And there it is, another God-incidence. (My life is full of these.)
Something I didn’t know, and now do, that I think is important, is that when I booked our tickets, I did purchase ‘flexible’ tickets – when you buy this kind, you have paid for your ticket but it enables you to change your seat reservations when you need to. This is something to keep in mind when purchasing train tickets here. If you don’t choose ‘flexible’, you will not be able to change your seat reservation and will have to purchase more train tickets. Going to Hanover from Berlin on April 16, 2023, we had to change our train reservation twice and each time cost somewhere in the ballpark of €10,00 to €11,00 which is far less than an actual new ticket. Today, with the strike looming, there was no charge today for changing our reservation.
We sped walk back to the hotel where the hubby started the check-out process while I went upstairs to pack everything. We got everything packed up quickly and then handed in our card keys before leaving the place. Upon leaving we decided to take a cab to Hanover Hbf so we weren’t lugging baggage for over at least a 20-minute walk back to the station. The cab showed up quite quickly and had us to the station within 5 minutes! By the time we got into the station we had two hours before train departure time. We decided to get coffees and share a bratwurst sausage at Wurst-Basar – this was our second time there – so good! Definitely a place to eat at if ever at Hanover Hbf (Hauptbahnhof/Central Station). It was around about 2:45pm when we were approached by a fellow English speaker – she overheard us talking about train times and she approached us asking if she could help. She was originally from California and had been living in Germany for some time so was familiar with the trains. We asked her about the strike and she said that the Deutsche Rail union is who is striking and she said this had been going on for some time. She also said that they are only striking until 1pm tomorrow which we didn’t know prior to changing our tickets. Even though our previous reservation was for 1:30pm, we were glad we changed our plans, just in case of some other kerfuffle. She tried to see on her phone if she could give us more of a head’s up with train times but wasn’t able to. Lovely lady to stop to try to help us though. It was 3pm when our train was finally posted so off to platform 10 we went for getting on the train to Berlin – this train ride was three hours long with multiple stops. Train travel is the way to go and wish Canada had such a train system. It’s a more smoother and more comfortable ride than driving a car.
We got on the train – 1st class – in the quiet car (I didn’t know we booked a quiet car) and were on the upper level which was pretty cool. We got ourselves settled in and off we went. The scenery is beautiful and it still amazes me how big the wind turbines are and how many solar panels – some are set up in fields and a good many homes here have them on their roofs. This train also had wifi so it was a perfect time to text home to let the rest of the family know what was going on. The train ride is so nice as you get to see so much countryside when you travel – there was so much beautiful graffiti art but we were moving too fast to photograph it – but did manage to catch these ones but wish I could have captured the more beautiful stuff on the way. So many beautiful homes and we passed a really large lake as well.
It was a nice stay at our hotel in Hanover. We stayed at The Mercure Hotel and it was a lovely stay. It was quiet and close to a lot of amenities and historical buildings – the staff were warm and friendly – we really enjoyed our stay there. Their breakfast brunches were awesome! It was also really clean and I especially loved that it was in a quieter area of the city. I just wanted to mention that here.
Since leaving Hanover, I now started praying that our hotel in Berlin could accommodate us for an extra night being we are now a day early. I had tremendous peace the whole day that the Lord had us.
We arrived at Berlin Hbf (Hauptbahnhof) ‘Central Station’ at around 3:40pm. When we got off the train we could not figure out exactly where we were and the maps at the station didn’t indicate where you were so our sense of direction was completely thrown off. We decided to cab it even thought we knew we were quite close. It took maybe five minutes to be driven there.
We entered the hotel to see if we could get a room for tonight and then move to the room booked for tomorrow until Monday. Again, I was totally at peace that we were okay and we were. The young man who helped us was very accommodating and booked us another room with a river view which we had previously booked for tomorrow. He said that when we switch rooms tomorrow we will be in a higher floor. Tonight we are on a lower floor with a king size bed which was fine with us. We were just so glad that there was a room available to us. The young man even gave us a coupon of sorts for two complimentary drinks in the lounge – which we didn’t use. And there it was – another God-incidence because there were conferences happening in the hotel. We went up to our room and then decided to get something to eat as we only had half a bratwurst each at the Hanover Central Station today.
Across the river from where we are staying there are a good many restaurants to pick from. We chose to eat at a steak house that boasted Argentinian dry hung beef – can’t remember the name of it. Dry hang is popular in Alberta, Canada when you buy your beef through a butcher instead of the stores who typically sell wet hung beef. Because I can eat wheat products here, I chose a pasta dish with beef, in gravy (yes, gravy!), with grape tomatoes topped with baby arugula – it was delicious but only ate half the pasta as I cannot eat large quantities. I started with an appetizer which was bacon wrapped dates served with candied walnuts over a bed of baby arugula – this was a culinary treat. The hubby started with an onion soup which was not ‘french onion.’ His main course was a steak and it was wonderfully seasoned and served with a baked potato with all the fixings. (I totally forgot to take photos of our main courses.) The food was excellent and the restaurant was located along the river, kitty corner to our hotel.
Again no bloating from the wheat product here – I cannot tell you how much better I feel eating here. Why is the bread so different here from in Canada? After eating in Germany after only a few days, I am feeling better and for the first time in a really long time, my torso around where my stomach is, is no longer bloated and rock hard. I feel amazing! The hubby met a fellow Canadian at the Hanover Convention that experiences the same thing when he comes to Europe. Furthermore, the water here – no additives like in Alberta – it was like drinking quality bottled water out of the tap.
When we were on our way to the restaurant, we crossed a bridge to get there and on it I noticed padlocks locked onto the bridge. I remembered this fad from some years ago in France but forgot what the story was about and so googled it when we got back to our room.
The locks on the bridge are called ‘Love Locks’ – in-love couples padlock the key to the bridge rails/fence. The lock represents their love apparently that will stay there for all eternity. While they do this they make out a bit – smoochy-woochy – and then together throw the key into the river from the bridge. This is being done here on this bridge in Germany aka Deutschland.
Our hotel room is lovely – we have a king size bed for our first night – a door that opens fully where you can see the river and the movement of locals making their way to where they need to go. The room also has a fridge of refreshments and snacks … and the bathroom! A toilet and a bidet! I have never stayed in a hotel with a bidet before and never used it because I don’t understand how it’s supposed to work. The bathroom also has a full size tub and I think I have to partake in a tub soak as I don’t do it at home because my ‘tub’ is a huge jacuzzi tub for two and it takes too long to fill. I had never slept in a king size bed before either – this was a challenge for the hubby and me as we have always slept with separate duvets, but because of the size of the bed, we managed to share the one duvet.
There is quite the nightlife here – people everywhere and a good many pubs and lounges. It was around 11pm tonight before it started to quiet down. And because we are beside a river – the chatter and laughter really carries across the water. I loved it.
Another beautiful day in Hanover. The high today is 15°C but windy. I started the day with my dear hubby by having the breakfast buffet in our hotel. They do serve the most lovely breakfast (see my last post.) And, the beauty of eating here is that my gut can take the bread here. I found out today that GMOs are illegal here like they are in Italy as well – and may be illegal in all of Europe. Is the issue GMOs? I wonder even though Canadian flour at home is marked non-GMO – so, then I wonder, is it really non-GMO? And if it’s not the bread flour, then what else is it that messes with the gut? Any baking shop I see here also seems to do their very own baking – artisan baking – and it’s wonderful. This will likely be the only time I can enjoy breads and pastries because I cannot eat them in Canada without gut discomfort and bloating, and I have to admit, I overdid it in the bread department today – and no issues. Bliss!
The hubby took off to the Convention which I opted out of today. After I saw him off, I got myself a second cappuccino to enjoy in our room – such a great way to drink coffee, truly. I then opened up my blog and finished writing yesterday’s adventures and then went on foot, window shopping my way to Hanover Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) which is their major train station. Again, it’s a weekday and I cannot believe how many people are in the square. I people-watched today and noticed more of the homeless people. They seem to gravitate to the area around the train station and they seem to have an amazing knack for spotting the tourist.
I checked out the H&M store here and I am pretty sure we get different stuff in Canada with this store. The H&M store here had really nice things that I don’t think we are offered in Canada and they weren’t all wrinkled on the hangers either. I did make a purchase while in the store. The clerk spoke English and asked me where I was from – I told him Canada, and he told me how he would like to go there one day. I find that when they find out you are Canadian, they are a little warmer toward you as a foreigner.
As I was walking around in the area I happened upon some street performing and heard a guy singing and so walked over to listen to him – he sang “A Time to Say Goodbye” – not an easy piece to sing. I video-ed the guy as I thought he was quite good, but will need to update my account to include the video. I am always amazed how music seems universal, like math. It can be sung in many languages without being weird … like this being sung in what sounds like Italian. I then also saw a group of five older fellas playing music as well – string instruments including a cello and an accordion. I video-ed a bit of them as well. Music is such a delight to the soul.
There is a lot of shopping on the different levels at Hanover Central Station – there are many stores here that can be found in Canada, so it was kind of a boring shopping spree, but there were a few independents. I think I will save my shopping for Berlin as I would like to purchase things authentic to Germany. Inside the train station there are pigeons flying around inside of it and no one seems bothered by it. I saw signs that prohibit feeding them here. While at the station I noticed a little grocery store and noticed that they sold instant cappuccino so I bought some for our room. I am so thankful that some goods in the store have both Deutsch and English on them.
Little grocery stores and small pharmacies are all over the place. It is so convenient and I love how so much is within walking distance. It probably explains how you rarely see overweight people here – so much is within walking distance. Hanover is a city that doesn’t have to change to be one of those 15-minute cities that are the talk in Canada and other nations these days. In Alberta, Canada, our major city’s mayors have signed up Edmonton and Calgary to be 15-minute cities – I don’t know how they will implement that when I see ’15-minute’ cities here and we are nowhere close to being that. A lot of changes and re-zoning have to be made in our cities to be able to pull that off.
Furthermore, the city of Hanover is well-planned for trains, buses, private vehicles and cyclists – at least from what I could see in the small area we are staying in. There are so many cyclists here! And they have bike lanes on sidewalks – where they should be in my opinion. Very few bike lanes are on the roadways. At the crosswalks, you can see the crosswalks divided – a red strip of crosswalk on the roadway is for cyclists in the left side of the photo and right beside it (on the right) is another crosswalk which is bordered by white lines across the roadway which is for pedestrians. When the light goes green to walk, it shows a person and a bicycle in green. The bike lanes on sidewalks are a dark grey with red brick usually outlining the lanes. It only took me a few blocks of walking, since arriving, to figure that out but before I did, I was almost collided into by cyclists … twice! You do have to be conscious of cyclists, many of which do not have bells to warn pedestrians so you are looking both ways for cyclists and vehicles. All over the place you also see rentable scooters. I watched how it works – they have an app on their phone and it looks like they scan a code of some kind to unlock it to ride it to their destination. The city of Edmonton in Alberta has implemented this same thing with scooters and bicycles. I told the hubby that I have to learn ‘sorry’ in Deutsch which I think might be ‘entschuldigen sei‘ (which translates as ‘my apologies’).
On my way back to the hotel there was a kiosk selling fresh pretzels – sugar coated and cinnamon sugar coated, along with salted ones and ones with cheese – and they were huge! There was no way to resist them and so I bought a few salted ones to take back to our room – I hope they stay fresh enough for the hubby to try later.
As I walked across the park to go back to the hotel, the other thing I noticed is that with the green grass here, you should see dandelions by now, but you don’t – instead you see wild daisies growing instead. I wish we had a daisy problem in Canada instead of a dandelion problem.
As I sit at my laptop typing this, it’s about 6pm and you can hear church bells in the distance. Many people in the park, some with their dogs, and I see young boys playing soccer. So nice to see so many people wandering about.
The hubby got back to the hotel around 6:30pm or so and we went out for supper right away – we went to a restaurant just up the street from the hotel – couldn’t read the menu as it was in Deutsch only, but I spotted the words spanakopita and souvlaki and figured out it was a Greek restaurant whose name we couldn’t pronounce. Because the menu was just in Deutsch – when the server came out to take our order – we pointed and went with whatever surprise we got. We had no idea what we were ordering. We were surprised with slices of french roll and a salad starter and then our entree was french fries with hamburger steak that was stuffed with goat cheese and seasoned with Mediterranean spices – it was quite tasty. This is another adventure for us – we have never ordered food from a restaurant menu this way. We were done eating shortly before 8pm and decided to go for a stroll. We strolled down to Central Station and back again where I took a photo of this statue on our evening walk – Friedrich von Schiller – he was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher who lived from 1759 to 1805. He was friends with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
When we got back to the hotel, guess what I made us?? … you guessed it! Cappuccinos!! A great way to end a day.
The Weary Traveller 