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Published: July 17th 2009
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Teplice (Day 10-11) May 28-29
Another series of train journeys but in reverse this time with increasing smaller trains, This journey took us to Teplice in the north of the Czech republic. Our final two trains were shared with two school groups heading off for a few days camping, which made for a rather packed train.
When we arrived we headed off to our guesthouse, following one group for a while but they headed in a different direction luckily for us. Our ten minute walk took us to a lovely guest house set in a valley in this small country area. We headed up the hill for lunch before walking through the national parks which were home to some unusual rock formations.
The weather had turned and the rain gradually became heavier, but we decided to continue on as we had come fairly prepared. The rock formations were signposted to point out various animal or other features that you could see in the rocks if you used your imagination. There was a plaque dedicated to Goethe that I’m still to find out the significance of. The best section of the walk was going through a creviced area (called
the fridge, but really it was more like a freezer and it was doing a good job of keeping large patched of ice from melting as we walked along the path). The circuit walk was closed to protect some nesting eagles so we headed back the way we came, after deciding not to venture too far down the rougher tracks in the rain.
On returning to our guest house there was some debate over whether we would have the long anticipated BBQ given the wild windy and wet weather outside. The BBQ was over a pit set inside a pagoda like area. We headed out and warmed ourselves around the fire, and watched the owner cook our dinner. We were so glad that we ventured outside for the meal, as we spent a great evening around the fireside, which is always conducive for chatting. I of course loved the sausage (bratwurst) but there was only one each, with chicken and pork steaks as well as baked potatoes in the coals. Nothing better than sitting around a fire outside.
In the Czech Republic there is a famous alternative to Coca Cola. The drink is Kafola which uses the leftover
caffeine from coffee production, and had become the generic drink since the 60’s. After the revolution in 89 Coke and Pepsi became more readily available but in more recent years Kofola has made a nostalgic comeback. It tastes pretty good, so will look out for it on the supermarket shelves at home. Another Czech product is the famous car, Skod which I’d always thought was Russian but maybe I'm confusing it with Lada.
We were collected by a driver (Peter) in a mini bus for our journey back into Poland. We were able to see more of the Polish countryside this way. Stopping in a small town along the way for coffee and another for lunch. We arrived for our tour of Auswich in the early afternoon. Our guide took us through Auswich 1 where there were many disturbing memorials, including large room full of the luggage of those sent to the gas chamber, and piles of shoes (floor to ceiling but representing only 4 days of people through the camp) and the hair that had been cut from the heads of people to be turned into wigs or rugs. All of which I’d read about before but seeing
it really has a powerful impact and makes you convinced that a memorial like this is so essential.
We heard more about how the camp was run, and changed over time. With it being too close to town the gas chambers were not so big here, and larger ones were set up in nearby Birkenau (Auswich 2). We drove to Birkenau where the vastness of the camp was more apparent, even though only some of the original buildings remained, along with a few reconstructions. The remnants of the rest of the buildings were still there, as well as the rail tracks that brought the people to the camps. A difficult afternoon in many respects, but also good to see the efforts of so many to remember and learn from the terrible experiences of the past.
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