Adventures in Deutschland

After spending a few weekends visiting with friends I decided that it was time for another road trip. I was really hoping to go to Poland (you can fly for as cheap as $26!!), but there weren't any flights available, so I decided on Germany. I didn't have enough time off to head to Berlin so I opted to spend a couple of days in Lubeck. I am still amazed at how close all the countries are to each other here! A 3 hour drive through Denmark, a 45 min ferry ride and voila! Germany! I have to be honest and say that besides WW2 history I don't really know much about Germany. My first lesson: Germany is the English word for the country. Germans actually call it Deutschland. In fact many countries have a different name in their own native language: Sweden is Svereige, Denmark is Danmark, Spain is Espana, Italy is Italia...and so on and so forth.

My second lesson: Germany (at least the northern part) is very very green. There are so many forests and flowers. I was really surprised with the nature that I saw, so beautiful!

My third lesson: they drive like maniacs here! We were driving 140 km/hr on the motorway and were being passed like we were standing still. It made driving on the 401 seem like child's play!

We arrived in Lubeck and looked for a place to stay (who preplans road trips anyways?). We ended up at a beautiful old hotel which I am sure was haunted. The hotel staff were absolutely fantastic and I have found that Germans have been by far some of the friendliest people I have ever met on any of my travels.

After settling in it was time to check out the city! It was like any other European city I have seen: old buildings, churches, and monuments. All are beautiful and all are different in their own way. I can't really put my finger on it but cities in France feel different than cities in Sweden which feel different than cities in Denmark which feel different than cities in Germany. Make sense? Didn't think so. I always assumed that European countries would all be pretty much the same, but was I ever wrong! It's really something that needs to be experienced to be understood.

We were getting hungry so we stopped by a German pub for some food. I had homemade soup, cheese and toast and it was fantastic! And even though I'm not really a beer drinker I had to try out local beer, and of course, a couple of shots of Jagermeister. I was absolutely shocked that the Germans had not heard of Jager bombs (a glass of Red Bull with a shot of Jagermeister dropped into it), and found the concept disgusting. I was also surprised to find out that they do not have English speaking television programs like they do in other European countries. All of their programming is dubbed instead of subtitled. We were talking to a couple of Germans in the pub and they could not tell from my accent where I was from. I could understand if they didn't know that I was from Canada, but to not even recognise an "American" accent was unheard of for me. In fact one guy (who asked if I was from Finland) really struggled and had a lot of difficulty understanding what I was saying even though he has no problems understanding people with British or Australian accents.

It had been a long day so we headed back to the hotel for the night. The next day we headed back for some sightseeing in town. We checked out some old churches, met a couple from Toronto, watched a man and his two sons play the xylophone (super talented!), and of course had some Marzipan--Germany is renound for this chocolatey goodness.

 Drinking with the Devil...

I would have liked to have stayed longer but we had to head back to Sweden for work. We got into the car and headed back to the ferry that would take us back to Denmark, but first the border shop! Sweden has extremely high taxes (something like 25%), and the alcohol is very expensive there. So Swedes drive to Germany to buy Swedish produced alcohol for dirt cheap. Make sense? Didn't think so. This has however resulted in the biggest alcohol store I have ever seen in my life. It's like a bulk barn for booze! Three floors for alcohol, one floor for candy, add in a few escalators and I was in heaven! Not only that, they had taste testers for countless different wines. Of course I had to try! I noticed that I was the only one helping myself to the samples, and double fisting at that (it's the classy Canadian way!), but hey I had to make sure that I liked it before I bought it right? I left that place with a smile on my face, feeling warm and happy inside.

Yay for samples!

The rest of the trip back 'home' was pretty uneventful. I wasn't driving so I didn't end up getting lost. I would one day like to return to Deutschland and go to Berlin but it won't be this summer. This is the last of my time off before flying out of Sweden..... but before I head back home I have a s stopover in Iceland....I can't wait!

Lest We Forget....

I awoke early after about 4 hours of sleep (the sun rises so early here). I was tired but excited for the days events. I was finally going to get do what I had come to France for. I was going to get to go to Normandy and learn more about WW2. I would have loved to have rented a car, drove to Normandy, and spent some time there, but I unfortunately had time constraints (aka I only had one day), so it wasn't possible. My only real choice was a guided tour. I got on the metro, made it to the train station and found my train to Caen with no problems (I haven't gotten lost yet...what's wrong with me!?!). There I met the tour guide and the rest of my group which consisted of six Americans.

We started off at the war museum. The tour guide said that to properly see everything in the museum you would need 67 hours, and since we only had about an hour we basically had to do a quick walk down of the areas that were of most interest to us. For me that was the exhibits on the concentration camps. It was really difficult to see the pictures and read the stories about people who were tortured and killed during the war. Some of it was quite graphic and I couldn't help but get a little emotional. It is such a dark part of history but I think that it's so important that we remember what happened, and learn from it so we can prevent something similar from happening again (yes I am aware that ethnic cleansing and the torture and killing of certain groups of people still occur in some areas of the world. It really is mind boggling).

After the museum our first stop was to Gold Beach to see the artificial harbour at Arromanches. We could see the old remnants of bunkers throughout the area, and there were still artifacts of the war everywhere. I wondered what it was like for the locals to have constant reminders of the devastation that took place there.

One man who changed the world...

　
The next stop was the German gun battery at Longues-sur-Mer. Since this wasn't an area that had a lot of combat so everything there was well preserved. As I stood in the bunker, in the exact spot that German soldiers once stood, I tried to imagine what it was like for them. To stand overlooking the water, waiting. I could not imagine what the feeling of anticipation could have possibly been like, or what they felt when they saw Allies' 5,000 ship armada approaching.

After leaving Longues-sur-Mer we headed to the American Military Cemetery. Even tho I have seen many pictures and videos of the cemetery, nothing could have prepared me for seeing it in person. I have no words to describe the experience. Row after row after row of white crosses. Some with names on them, others with just a number. So many crosses.....and this was just a tiny fraction of the lives that were lost during the war. I left the cemetery with a very heavy feeling.

　

We returned to the bus and drove to my most anticipated location: Omaha Beach. It was dark and overcast, there was a fog over the water, and it was drizzling. Despite this, it was evident that it is a very beautiful area. It was hard to imagine that such devastation had occurred here, except that it had an eerie haunting feeling. I think that we all felt it since everyone grew quiet and went their own separate ways along the beach. Everyone was in deep contemplation. I sat on the beach, looked around, and was overcome with emotion. Sadness, empathy, compassion, gratitude, confusion....and anger. I was told that the average age of the casualties at Omaha was 22-23 years old. These young men (and I am talking about both sides) who gave up their lives...the millions of people who were tortured and killed during the war. I really struggled with a lot of thoughts and emotions on that beach. I paid my respects for all lives lost during the war and then slowly made my way back to the van.

　

Omaha Beach

The last stop on our itinerary was at Point-du-hoc. It was absolutely beautiful and picturesque with fantastic views of the beaches and cliffs. Like all areas we had visited, it was littered with remnants of the war. There were barbed wire fences, bunkers, old artillery laying around, and huge craters caused by bombs.  Unfortunately we didn't get to spend a lot of time at Point-de-hoc. That is one of the downfalls of a guided tour, having to stick to a strict schedule. One day I would like to come back to Normandy and spend more time exploring the area, but for now it was time to go.

　

the Point

I boarded the train back to Paris, and was deep in thought the whole way. No words can describe the day. It had impacted me more than I had anticipated. After about a two hour train ride I arrived at the metro and decided that I was going to visit the Eiffel Tower one last time. I wanted to see it at night and here was my chance. I was not disappointed, it was beautiful. I stood there for the longest time just looking at it, grateful for my time and experiences in France. Unfortunately it was getting late so I made my way back to the metro station. That's when I pulled a typical Terri move. I got off at the right stop but the wrong exit. For the first time since I arrived in Paris I was lost. I was actually kind of relieved. I was beginning to think that there was something wrong with me! I approached a man walking his dog and said the one thing I am proficient at "parlez-vous englais?". He said "a little", then proceeded to talk to me in french. Ummm, I don't know about you but asking someone if they speak English is a pretty good indicator they don't speak french. Sheesh. It took a couple of tries but I eventually found someone who could point me in the right direction.

The next morning I said my good-byes to Yannick then headed on my way. After a 2 hour metro ride, a two hour flight, a two hour train ride, and 30 min car ride I was 'home'. I have to say that my trip to Paris was one of the most incredible experiences I have had travelling. I am not a city girl but Paris is thus far my most favourite city I have ever visited and I would love to go back. When I left for France I was expecting dirty cities, rude people, and perverted guys. I found none of those. I found it clean, and full of friendly and respectful people, willing to help out however they could. Now that I am back 'home' in Sweden, I have time to process my experience and start planning for my next trip. I am not sure where I am going but it should be a great time!