Day 6 – From Big City to Small Town

So, were you left in sheer suspense since my last post? Wondering, where in the world is Becky Bowler? I’m sure that was on your mind this whole time :) Well, between the million things running through my head and the guy in the bunk below me attempting to cut down the Amazon forest in his sleep, I didn’t get much rest last night, so I was up bright and early. Still unaware of where I should go next but having a couple ideas, I quickly decided it was time to slow it down a bit and go to a little town a few hours west of Berlin called Quedlinburg. I found it on the Top 25 places in Germany to see, so I thought I would check it out. Before traveling there though, I decided to see one more piece of Germany history about 30 minutes outside of Berlin, in a town called Oranienburg. This was the Sachsenhausen Memorial. Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp built in 1936. Because I got there about ½ hour into opening hours, I was the only person walking the grounds on the start of my tour. I had an audio guide and walked around viewing and listening to all the specifics of each area. I can’t really describe the feelings that went through my body as I listened and imagined what happened there just 60-70 years ago. My breathe was definitely shorter and I had a permanent knot in my throat. Although it was sunny outside, the Camp site was so cold, quiet, and eerie with remnants of its past lingering in the air. I proceeded through and said short prayers periodically for those imprisoned and killed, those carrying out the acts of violence, and the family members of those who lost their lives there. Because I was using this day as a travel day I was only there for about 1 ½ hours but definitely could have stayed longer to read more in the exhibition centers on the tour. But moving on to a lighter and brighter note, after the camp tour, I made my way back to Berlin, grabbed my bag from the hostel and rushed to the train station to catch the train to Quedlinburg, my next stop. I ran up to the platform knowing I was running late and had my finger out ready to press the button to open the door of the train only to watch it pull away in front of my very finger tip. Luckily, there was another one an hour later :) I arrived in Quedlinburg and it was already dark which is part of the reason I was trying to hurry. I found the hostel pretty easy but upon arrival in this very cute town all I have to say is thank God I have spent the last two months learning German. After being in Berlin I sort of forgot that English isn’t the main language here. Everywhere I went here, I stumbled through German while others stumbled through English. Was actually kinda fun. I checked in the hostel and then went to go find a place to socialize. I first stopped at the Brewery but not much going on there so after one beer I asked the waitress where to go and they didn’t have much advice but pointed me to another area of town about a 7 minute walk away. So I headed in that direction and didn’t find much until I walked past a little sports bar and saw two guys bowling on the Wii. So I stepped in and ordered “ein klein bier”. One of the guys was the bartender and the other just a friend. Neither of them spoke very much English so we had fun trying to understand each other. I joined in on the game(s) and due to my expert Wii playing I drank a couple beers on the house. They were only allowed to speak English and I had to speak German. It was also silent a lot of the time :) I asked them what people do here on the weekend and they said it is kind of a ghost town in the evenings. I wasn’t surprised to hear that a being how I had already assumed that was the case after walking around a bit. In the dark, the town looks very cute though. The cobblestone streets, old churches, and timber houses all made this little town feel like I was walking around in a little model town. Super cute! Tomorrow it will be fun to walk around in the light. Because it is in the middle of no where, there was no internet to be found except for one hotel café that was only open specific hours. So now I'm posting Saturday and Sunday now that I am back in Heidelberg.