European Vacation Day 12 - Prague to Berlin via Terezin and Dresden

[after a break due to real life, I'll finish of my holiday diary!]

Today was a heavy day.

After leaving Prague this morning we visited the former Nazi concentration camp of Terezin. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was so well preserved and out guide was so good at describing the conditions that I found it very emotional in places. The conditions the prisoners were subjected to were quite horrific, and the bunks, sinks, etc are all just as they were 65 years ago. There was also information on Terezin’s former role as a fortress and prison. We walked ½km through the underground tunnels, seeing defensive gun slots. They were never used as by the time the fortress was completed the political landscape had changed.

At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about taking pictures. In the end I took a few, but wasn’t really comfortable with it. After all, it’s not the same as the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Trevi Fountain.

Above the gate at the back it says "Arbeit Macht Frei" - "Work Brings Freedom"

After our tour we moved from the small fortress into the town of Terezin itself. During the war this had been turned into a Jewish ghetto, essentially a holding area before they were sent to an extermination camp such as Auchwitz. It was all very fascinating and showed how awfully humans can treat each other.

Speaking of which, we then got an unscheduled stop in Dresden. This beautiful city had survived the war unscathed until 13^th February 1945, when the Allies carpet bombed it, destroying 80% of the buildings. There were no military targets in Dresden. 18,000 people were killed, not one of Britain’s finer moments. As I said to J at the time, “By any means necessary” is not an acceptable excuse for an atrocity such as this.

Hofkirche

Despite this, the centre of Dresden is surprisingly beautiful, with many of the original buildings rebuilt using the original materials salvaged from the rubble. We had a nice lunch with Amy, Craig and Sarah on the main square before heading back to the bus and on to Berlin.

the Frauenkirche

In Berlin we had a short driving tour, which included stopping at the East Side Gallery, a section of the Berlin Wall that is regularly painted by famous artists from around the world. The splitting of Berlin seems so bizarre to me. It is odd to see sections of the wall dotted around the city, mostly covered in graffiti.

No mans land

J at the East Side Gallery

We got to the hotel and went out for a group dinner at a restaurant. This is the only one we have had like this, as we normally have our group dinners in the hotel. I thought it might be an issue for us when I saw the menu and the only vege options, amongst the dozen or so steak varieties, was a salad, or baked potato with salad. We went for salad. We were sitting with Andy and Wen E again tonight and the service was just appalling. They had to take our drinks order twice, the drinks took about 30 minutes to arrive (it was a big group of 37, but still) then they forgot Andy and Wen E’s food, as well as one of the American girls’. The American basically told them to shove it, but Andy and Wen E gave their order again and they finally get their dinner, about 75 minutes after we arrived. No hint of an apology though, just incompetent, rude staff. The waitress got a sarcastic round of applause from the group when she arrived with the food, and couldn’t get away fast enough. At least the beer was nice.

all in all I'm just another brick in the wall

So after a very long day (8am to 11pm), it’s time for bed before a full day in Berlin tomorrow.