Vagabonds and Nomads Humming Along: Countries covered: Amsterdam, The Hague and Delft, The Netherlands; Brussels and Brugge, Belgium; Prague Czech Republic, also Terrazin and Kounta Hora, Berlin and Potsdam, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and now Gdansk, Poland.
I haven’t worn make-up once. That is why you are not seeing me in pictures. I have worn shorts everyday. It has been really hot, no one is dressing up. I haven’t lost any weight either. I may even be gaining. That’s another reason why I am not putting myself in front of the camera. It’s curious. I am not snacking at all. I eat salad for dinner most nights. And we are getting a lot of exercise. Maybe it is too many buffet breakfasts. Or maybe it is the beer. I am tired of both of those, so no more.
A big part of the recent history in this part of the world is the twelve years of Nazis, and 40 years of soviet control. It is interesting to see the way each country has a different take on those periods. We have taken time to visit sites, monuments, and museums to mark the periods. Ann Frank house, Resistance museums, Jewish history museums. The Berlin wall, Checkpoint Charlie. We went to Glienicke Bridge, the bridge where Gary Powers was exchanged for a soviet spy depicted in the Bridge of Spies movie.
We visited St Cyril and Methodius church crypt. It is way outside Prague old town and tourist area, but so worth the trek. It is the church where six Czech members of the British Foreign legion who had attempted to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich hid out and were eventually killed. Heydrich eventually died from his wounds. The only high ranking nazi to be assassinated. It was one of the most chilling sights we have ever visited.
Speaking of chilling, we visited Terezin. Terezin was a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. It was unique because it was already a military prison before the war, and has the significance of housing the and started WWI. He, Gavrilo Princip, is considered a hero in Czech Republic, and also Serbia. There were wreaths at his cell. Terezin is also noteworthy because it was used as a propaganda hoax for the red cross. The site was dressed up, and healthy looking inmates were forced to pretend they were living in an idyllic Jewish town. A gift from the Nazis to the Jewish community. The hoax worked. In reality Terezin was used as a concentration camp and transport depot for Czech jews. Plenty of people died right there, but most were shipped to other killing camps like Dachau or Auschwitz.
We will visit Auschwitz while we are here in Poland. Then I am done. It is important to visit these sites, but it is not anything a person should look forward to. It is solemn, sad, and gruesome. I won’t have any pictures to show; the pictures in my head are enough for me. Some of the other visitors who just want to see the horror show, are revolting and nearly too much to witness (in Terezin, people on our tour were disappointed that there was no gas chamber). It is hard for me even to write that.
Another interesting observation is the constant reminders from Germany that the Soviets have stolen their stuff. There is an excellent collection of Egyptian artifacts in Berlin. But there are many many placards that say it is a fraction of what they originally had, before the soviets took everything as spoils of war. I wonder how much of the still missing art stolen by the nazis could be found in Russia.
Happier stuff: We seem to be following the Pride circuit around the world. San Diego the week before we left, Amsterdam when we were there, and Copenhagen too. We have done a lot of touristy things that must be checked off the tourist bucket list. But we always try to dig a little deeper and find some grit. And is there ever grit to be found in this part of the world. Like a zombie circus in Berlin. I kid you not. But it was dead when we were there. Ha. Street art (i.e. graffiti) is really sophisticated. We took a tour to learn about it in Berlin. Hence the trip to the Zombie circus. We hiked up to a former spy tower on a hill, in the middle of a forest, in the middle of Berlin. Now covered with graffiti. And the naked consorting with nature; in Germany, people really like to enjoy nature…naked. Both the hotels we had in Berlin and Copenhagen had nice spas and we are getting into this routine: coed, naked only saunas and steam rooms.
In Copenhagen, there is an alternative living commune called Christiana or New Town. It was formerly army barracks that were abandoned and taken over by squatters. It has been going strong for 60 years now. It seems like there is gray area, but the story is that they have declared themselves a sovereign nation. Marijuana is openly sold on pusser street even though it is not legal in Denmark. Police raids are common. There are two rules for visitors: no photos, and no running. If you run, they assume there’s a reason. There were a lot of trees and shrubs; it was a well cared-for park like environment. Very pretty. A live band was playing Smoke on the Water when we arrived and it sounded really good. Then Eric Johnson guitar songs, almost as good as him. It had a chill vibe and hygge. Hygee is a new word for us. It means comfortable conviviable, friendly.
Yesterday we took a long train from Berlin to Gdansk Poland. From the train I saw a big red fox and a deer. Our apartment is right on a river. We can’t wait to get out and explore Gdansk.
