{"id":834,"date":"2014-05-11T19:25:46","date_gmt":"2014-05-11T23:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=834"},"modified":"2014-05-11T19:36:06","modified_gmt":"2014-05-11T23:36:06","slug":"what-is-inside-of-this-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/?p=834","title":{"rendered":"What is inside of this thing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"germancanola\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"sachsstaussen\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"statuesberlin\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Berlin.\u00a0 It translates into \u201cswamp\u201d as I found out today.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see any swamp from where I was.\u00a0\u00a0 But I happened to see a lot of other things.<\/p>\n

Our day started early.\u00a0 We left the boat and got on a bus.\u00a0 It is a three hour drive to Berlin. Super Mario was our driver. \u00a0 Christine and Sion were our guides.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, Foghorn Leghorn happened to be sitting directly in front of us.\u00a0 And a kid with an iPod\u2026 listening to music with headphones\u2026. and singing along poorly\u2026. was a couple rows back.<\/p>\n

None the less.\u00a0 We had the opportunity to eat boxed food on the bus.\u00a0 One of the things was a marvelous butter-injected-piece of bread.\u00a0 We were either very hungry\u2026 or the Germans know how to box a roll.\u00a0 Anyway.<\/p>\n

Our first stop was Sachsenhausen, just outside of Berlin.\u00a0 It was a Nazi concentration camp in used primarily for \u201cpolitical\u201d prisoners (as the Nazis \u201ctagged\u201d them).\u00a0 It operated from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May 1945.<\/p>\n

Some 30,000 – 50,000 inmates died there from horrible treatment\u2026 torture\u2026 exhaustion\u2026.disease \u2026. 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.\u00a0 Some of the stories were absolutely gut-wrenching.<\/p>\n

Even so.\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get to spend as much time as I would have liked, exploring the camp, and getting its entire history.\u00a0 It is a time in history we must NEVER forget.<\/p>\n

It is hard to switch gears.\u00a0 But.\u00a0 From there to a great lunch in a hotel in downtown Berlin.\u00a0 I had some of the best little sausages and sauerkraut of my entire life.\u00a0 Seriously.<\/p>\n

Back on the bus and a sweep or two around the city.\u00a0 We saw many of the sites, and learned a lot about Eastern Germany and the Communist occupation.\u00a0 I will tell you more about all of that tomorrow.\u00a0\u00a0 For now, another long day.\u00a0 We had to make the same 3 hour drive back to the boat, and got back around 11 p.m.\u00a0 We just pulled out to sea, once again.\u00a0 And now\u2026.it is just a little before one in the morning, Berlin time.<\/p>\n

So tonight, a few different images from the day.\u00a0 A field of \u201cGranola\u201d as Foghorn identified it.\u00a0 A shot from the \u201cZ\u201d station at Sachsenhausen.\u00a0 And one of the buildings in downtown Berlin.\u00a0 Very near the wall.<\/p>\n

And speaking of walls\u2026 I am hitting one now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But this I learned today.\u00a0 There are things going on inside.\u00a0 Things we may not be aware of.\u00a0 It could be a Concentration Camp… or a roll with butter hidden within.\u00a0 It could be an big city with a million trinkets to be explored.\u00a0 Or it could be a friend, a family, a stranger …. with a snag, or a worry, or trouble, or good.<\/p>\n

Can we be aware of everything?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 But can we be good stewards of life, and light?\u00a0 I hope so.<\/p>\n

Gute Nacht<\/span> mein Freund<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 Goodnight.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d\u00a0 –\u00a0Robert Francis Kennedy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/strong><\/em>
\n\u201cI do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it\u201d\u00a0 – \u00a0Voltaire<\/strong><\/em>
\n.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Berlin.\u00a0 It translates into \u201cswamp\u201d as I found out today.\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see any swamp from where I was.\u00a0\u00a0 But I happened to see a lot of other things. Our day started early.\u00a0 We left the boat and got on a bus.\u00a0 It is a three hour drive to Berlin. Super Mario was our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nowyouseeit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions\/842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gollypolly.com\/30473\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}