MacKat in Ireland

We didn’t take the guided tour to Sachsenhausen concentration camp because it took all day.  We decided to find it by ourselves, in the late afternoon.  After we took the S-Bahn to the end of the line and waited 45 minutes for a train, we walked around the town of Sachsenhausen for an hour before finding a sign saying it was another 1.6 km down the road.  When we got there the guy at the information booth told us it closed in 10 minutes.  Oh No!  We didn’t see anything about prices so we walked in without looking back.  I didn’t hear any shouting so it probably didn’t cost anything.

Our one picture below is of the entrance gate.  It translates to “work frees.”  This particular camp was one of the first created (in 1936).  There were pictures of single murders, mass murders, and much more info spread throughout the buildings.  A memorial currently stands on the foundation of the crematorium.  It got dark after an hour – and being in a concentration camp after dark is not enjoyable – so we had to make our way back to the train station.  In the dark.  In a small German town.

Saturday morning we partook in our hotel’s breakfast.  Breakfast is my favorite meal so I was looking forward to it.  Katherine tells me that “if only you liked cold salami, it would have been wonderful.”  I’m not a fan of cold salami or cold Au Gratin potatoes covered in mustard.  But I got my bread and cheese, so I was satisfied.

Later, after we saw the protest, I was in the mood for an authentic German bratwurst.  My German language skills do include the word “bratwurst” so I had no problem securing myself lunch.  Katherine opted out of my brat celebration.

Saturday night we wandered around Potsdamer Platz looking for some dinner when we ran into a festival of some sort, complete with kids sliding down a big pile of snow.  I ordered myself another brat and was again quite pleased with the result.  Katherine hadn’t eaten all day so we set off to find her something more English.  It took a while, but we found Soloman Bagel in the mall – their menus had English translations.  Katherine got chicken breast on a bagel, and I got pancakes.  We both got 0.2L of sparkling water for 2 euros each.  They’re stringent with their water here.   We celebrated with the best ice cream we’ve had in a while.

Katherine –

Mark ordered the ice cream in French, saying “Du cookies.” He must have been confused and thought we were in France. The cashier even said “Bon jour.” I laughed at his French-German skills.

Mark forgot about the donuts we ordered in German. Mark ordered the “sachenhusenken chocolateeei” at the pastry shop. They even understood what he said (maybe because of the pointing…maybe not).

I found “Mezzo Mix” at the airport, the same pop they advertise as being from Germany at Disney World! WOWEE! I drank it all.