Berlin.  It translates into “swamp” as I found out today.   I couldn’t see any swamp from where I was.   But I happened to see a lot of other things.

Our day started early.  We left the boat and got on a bus.  It is a three hour drive to Berlin. Super Mario was our driver.   Christine and Sion were our guides.   Unfortunately, Foghorn Leghorn happened to be sitting directly in front of us.  And a kid with an iPod… listening to music with headphones…. and singing along poorly…. was a couple rows back.

None the less.  We had the opportunity to eat boxed food on the bus.  One of the things was a marvelous butter-injected-piece of bread.  We were either very hungry… or the Germans know how to box a roll.  Anyway.

Our first stop was Sachsenhausen, just outside of Berlin.  It was a Nazi concentration camp in used primarily for “political” prisoners (as the Nazis “tagged” them).  It operated from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May 1945.

Some 30,000 – 50,000 inmates died there from horrible treatment… torture… exhaustion….disease …. malnutrition. Many were executed or died as the result of brutal medical experimentation. Over the course of its operation, over 100 Dutch resistance fighters were executed at Sachsenhausen.  Some of the stories were absolutely gut-wrenching.

Even so.   I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would have liked, exploring the camp, and getting its entire history.  It is a time in history we must NEVER forget.

It is hard to switch gears.  But.  From there to a great lunch in a hotel in downtown Berlin.  I had some of the best little sausages and sauerkraut of my entire life.  Seriously.

Back on the bus and a sweep or two around the city.  We saw many of the sites, and learned a lot about Eastern Germany and the Communist occupation.  I will tell you more about all of that tomorrow.   For now, another long day.  We had to make the same 3 hour drive back to the boat, and got back around 11 p.m.  We just pulled out to sea, once again.  And now….it is just a little before one in the morning, Berlin time.

So tonight, a few different images from the day.  A field of “Granola” as Foghorn identified it.  A shot from the “Z” station at Sachsenhausen.  And one of the buildings in downtown Berlin.  Very near the wall.

And speaking of walls… I am hitting one now.

But this I learned today.  There are things going on inside.  Things we may not be aware of.  It could be a Concentration Camp… or a roll with butter hidden within.  It could be an big city with a million trinkets to be explored.  Or it could be a friend, a family, a stranger …. with a snag, or a worry, or trouble, or good.

Can we be aware of everything?  Of course not.  But can we be good stewards of life, and light?  I hope so.

Gute Nacht mein Freund.  Goodnight.

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“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”  – Robert Francis Kennedy

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“I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”  –  Voltaire
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