The other side

We last left off in Western Germany at Jan’s humble abode. We next left for the small cultural gem of Weimar in Eastern Germany’s layer. Weimar was probably in my top three favorite European cities along with Amsterdam and La Rochelle. It was laden with cobblestone roads and sidewalks, quaint shops and restaurants, and a very friendly atmosphere amongst its citizens. Weimar is also the home to two very well known German writers; Goethe and Schiller. I haven’t heard of these two men before my travels to their hometown however they are well-versed and quite popular according to the German locals and German history itself. While in this cultural hub, we had some beautiful meals…one of which was Thai food while watching Michael Jackson’s last party/farewell on TV, how romantic. We also stayed at a gorgeous hotel where we made use of the sauna and steam room and the lush bath robes. And we did the usual touristy site-seeing stuff as well including Schiller’s house and the Weimar House/Museum.

We then proceeded to Erfurt, which was another historical town close to where Jan’s uncle is living. We stayed at his house with his two little German youngsters (4 and 5 years old) and enjoyed a night of pizza, discussion and children’s German cartoons that I somewhat comprehended. We then left the next morning with a few quick stops on the way back to Western Germany.

A mere 15km away from the cultural paradise of Weimar houses the Concentration Camp of Buchenwald. Buchenwald is something that you need see only one time. The most surprising thing to me was the fact that even today there are white supremacist visitors that continue to leave comments justifying the horrible acts of the holocaust and trying to persuade people that it was the right thing to do at the time. Disgusting! I felt very angry when touring around and wondered if I would be one of those that would have tried to act out, even if it meant ending my life… Almost more surprising was the fact that there was a small village about 5km down the hill from the camp that seemed to act completely naïve to the horrible events that had happened at Buchenwald during the 1940’s, even considering the numerous amounts of trucks filled with Jewish prisoners that had passed through the town and the likely smell of burning bodies from the crematorium up above. I must mention that these are mostly assumptions as I was not there at the time nor do I live there today...and I'm sure if I had a family to protect, I might keep the whole thing hushed as well. Nonetheless, the camp was quite shocking.

On a brighter note, we made some pit-stops at the Wartburg Castle (where Martin Luther translated the New Testament)…to prove how unreligious I am, I spent most of my visit at the castle contemplating how Martin Luther and Martin Luther King could be two different people…I was completely clueless. We also stopped at a national park and walked along the canopy of a forest! It was a perfect closure to our little getaway.

The last few days in Germany were pretty low-key but it was exactly what I wanted as I was starting to feel a little site-seed out. Little did I know I would return to Edmonton as a camp councilor for city seekers…the camp that site sees around Edmonton. The goodbye in Germany was a sad one and it didn’t help that Jan’s mom who had come along for the drive back to Paris had also contributed to the waterworks. I won’t bore you all with the details but it was a long plane ride solo back to Edmonton…and it will be a long couple months solo in Edmonton until Jan is offered with a new job/visa. But until then, I won’t get very far from home…stay tuned for future travels!

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