I'm in Munich for a few days. Enjoying the beer and the German history. In the last few days I've hit Cinque Terre in Italy, Venice and Vienna. Vienna is beautiful, but sterile. Venice is beautiful, but don't expect to get across town in 20 mins to catch your train. Cinque Terre is beautiful, but don't carry a 20kg pack with you the whole way.
Photos will be coming soon.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Auschwitz
Preface
Today I visited Auschwitz. The site where around 2 million Jews, Poles, Soviet POWs and other so-called undesirables met their untimely end.
I debated about whether I would write about this, whether I wanted to share my feelings and thoughts on the issue. I don't. They are mine and relate to my experience at Auschwitz. However I feel that I must write down my thoughts for me, so that I can re-visit them in the future. So that the experience won't turn into a fleeting memory.
Here it is, while it is still fresh in my mind. If you read this I would appreciate your comments if you have anything to add. It is not a fluid recount, but key thoughts throughout the day. It is not meant to be a description of Auschwitz. If you would like one, I suggest you look elsewhere for one written more eloquently than I possibly could.
There are a lot of questions I ask to which I have no answers.
The Day/The Expectation
Today it rained. It rained constantly throughout the day. The type of rain that makes you feel miserable. The type of rain that gets into your clothes and socks and that gives you that nasty chill. All you want to do is to go home and sit in front of a fire and drink a cup of hot chocolate. The sky is grey. It is cold. It is wet. It is miserable.
These are the thoughts I had earlier today. The thoughts before I went to Auschwitz. The thoughts that wracked me with guilt.
How can I possibly be so hypocritical? Here I am on the way to a place where around two million people died. How can I have these thoughts? How can I possibly even begin to fathom what miserable actually is?
I talked to a lot of people in the week before I came to Auschwitz. People who had been there before. One person told me to think about what I want to get out of the visit.
I thought about this for several days and came to the conclusion that I wanted to make what I had read about the Holocaust real. Photos and numbers in a book somehow lack a certain realism. Somehow your mind can't quite fathom the scale.
That is what I wanted, an understanding of how evil the events were.
Auschwitz I
We caught a bus to Auschwitz. I could tell we were close because there was a disused railway track next to the road. A strange numbness came over me as I realised that millions of people were transported along those tracks towards their death.
The room of hair was where the visit really seemed to sink in for me. Two tonnes of hair sitting in a room. Intermingled. Tangled. Stacked high. Hair is such a personal thing. People spend so much time washing it, styling it, taking care of it. To see two tonnes of human hair is overwhelming. You can make out each different set of locks. Did that lock of hair used to be platted? How did that lot used to be worn?
Then came the more interesting question: who did that hair belong to? Was she pretty? What did she want to do with her life? What were her ambitions, her dreams, her desires?
Later I came to a room full of suitcases. Peoples' names were written on the side, with their birth dates and place of origin. Just in case they lost their case they wrote their details on the side. They weren't to know that as soon as they reached Auschwitz their belongings would be taken from them, put into storage and later distributed to German citizens. There are so many country names on the side of the cases. I wonder if they took them with them when they went on holidays, when they could go on holidays.
Before I got to the building entitled 'The Death Block' I wondered how people could commit such acts. This is when I started having my darkest thoughts. The people who committed the acts, who followed out the orders were human. They are made up of the same stuff I am: DNA, cells, arteries, organs. What makes them different from me? Why are they evil and yet I'm not? When did they cross the line? Did they know they had crossed it? If I was in their position would I have beaten people to death who tried to steal extra food? Would I have forced people to work to death? Would I have become a cog in a machine, a machine whose sole purpose is to exterminate an entire race?
In another building were the photographs on the prisoners when they were brought into the camp. A mug shot with their number on it. The faces seemed to have a few similar expressions. There was bold defiance: I am strong, I am proud, I will not show weakness, I will not give you the satisfaction of seeing me scared. There was confusion, usually from younger people. And then there was a look I haven't seen before. I think it was a look of utter terror. The eyes were wide, taking in everything that was happening. You could almost see into the person's mind. The horrible things they must have seen. The experiences they must have had on their way to the camp.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau
I walked from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II. It's a three kilometre walk and it rained heavily the whole way. Approaching the site is an jaw dropping experience. The vastness cannot be comprehended unless you see it. It is a massive factory with the purpose of vanquishing human life quickly and efficiently.
Building after building, after building. Housing people who are being worked to death, who are being starved to death, who are unknowingly or maybe knowingly waiting to be executed.
The design of the gas chambers and crematoriums was shocking. The similarities to a factory production line was soul shaking. The area where the ashes were deposited were vast.
The display of photos in the sauna room was intense. The photos show smiling Dads with newborn children, fishing trips, skiing expeditions, weddings, family gatherings, peoples' memories, moments people want to keep for ever. Memories that no longer belong to anyone as the people are dead, their families are gone, their lineage destroyed.
That is all I want to say.
Today I visited Auschwitz. The site where around 2 million Jews, Poles, Soviet POWs and other so-called undesirables met their untimely end.
I debated about whether I would write about this, whether I wanted to share my feelings and thoughts on the issue. I don't. They are mine and relate to my experience at Auschwitz. However I feel that I must write down my thoughts for me, so that I can re-visit them in the future. So that the experience won't turn into a fleeting memory.
Here it is, while it is still fresh in my mind. If you read this I would appreciate your comments if you have anything to add. It is not a fluid recount, but key thoughts throughout the day. It is not meant to be a description of Auschwitz. If you would like one, I suggest you look elsewhere for one written more eloquently than I possibly could.
There are a lot of questions I ask to which I have no answers.
The Day/The Expectation
Today it rained. It rained constantly throughout the day. The type of rain that makes you feel miserable. The type of rain that gets into your clothes and socks and that gives you that nasty chill. All you want to do is to go home and sit in front of a fire and drink a cup of hot chocolate. The sky is grey. It is cold. It is wet. It is miserable.
These are the thoughts I had earlier today. The thoughts before I went to Auschwitz. The thoughts that wracked me with guilt.
How can I possibly be so hypocritical? Here I am on the way to a place where around two million people died. How can I have these thoughts? How can I possibly even begin to fathom what miserable actually is?
I talked to a lot of people in the week before I came to Auschwitz. People who had been there before. One person told me to think about what I want to get out of the visit.
I thought about this for several days and came to the conclusion that I wanted to make what I had read about the Holocaust real. Photos and numbers in a book somehow lack a certain realism. Somehow your mind can't quite fathom the scale.
That is what I wanted, an understanding of how evil the events were.
Auschwitz I
We caught a bus to Auschwitz. I could tell we were close because there was a disused railway track next to the road. A strange numbness came over me as I realised that millions of people were transported along those tracks towards their death.
The room of hair was where the visit really seemed to sink in for me. Two tonnes of hair sitting in a room. Intermingled. Tangled. Stacked high. Hair is such a personal thing. People spend so much time washing it, styling it, taking care of it. To see two tonnes of human hair is overwhelming. You can make out each different set of locks. Did that lock of hair used to be platted? How did that lot used to be worn?
Then came the more interesting question: who did that hair belong to? Was she pretty? What did she want to do with her life? What were her ambitions, her dreams, her desires?
Later I came to a room full of suitcases. Peoples' names were written on the side, with their birth dates and place of origin. Just in case they lost their case they wrote their details on the side. They weren't to know that as soon as they reached Auschwitz their belongings would be taken from them, put into storage and later distributed to German citizens. There are so many country names on the side of the cases. I wonder if they took them with them when they went on holidays, when they could go on holidays.
Before I got to the building entitled 'The Death Block' I wondered how people could commit such acts. This is when I started having my darkest thoughts. The people who committed the acts, who followed out the orders were human. They are made up of the same stuff I am: DNA, cells, arteries, organs. What makes them different from me? Why are they evil and yet I'm not? When did they cross the line? Did they know they had crossed it? If I was in their position would I have beaten people to death who tried to steal extra food? Would I have forced people to work to death? Would I have become a cog in a machine, a machine whose sole purpose is to exterminate an entire race?
In another building were the photographs on the prisoners when they were brought into the camp. A mug shot with their number on it. The faces seemed to have a few similar expressions. There was bold defiance: I am strong, I am proud, I will not show weakness, I will not give you the satisfaction of seeing me scared. There was confusion, usually from younger people. And then there was a look I haven't seen before. I think it was a look of utter terror. The eyes were wide, taking in everything that was happening. You could almost see into the person's mind. The horrible things they must have seen. The experiences they must have had on their way to the camp.
Auschwitz II - Birkenau
I walked from Auschwitz I to Auschwitz II. It's a three kilometre walk and it rained heavily the whole way. Approaching the site is an jaw dropping experience. The vastness cannot be comprehended unless you see it. It is a massive factory with the purpose of vanquishing human life quickly and efficiently.
Building after building, after building. Housing people who are being worked to death, who are being starved to death, who are unknowingly or maybe knowingly waiting to be executed.
The design of the gas chambers and crematoriums was shocking. The similarities to a factory production line was soul shaking. The area where the ashes were deposited were vast.
The display of photos in the sauna room was intense. The photos show smiling Dads with newborn children, fishing trips, skiing expeditions, weddings, family gatherings, peoples' memories, moments people want to keep for ever. Memories that no longer belong to anyone as the people are dead, their families are gone, their lineage destroyed.
That is all I want to say.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Berlin
Not posting about The Netherlands.
In Berlin at the moment and about to head to Dresden. The weather has been beautiful for the last two weeks.
Berlin is a fantastic city steeped in history from the olden days, the war and the wall. It's amazing to look around and see either new buildings or old ones with shrapnel wounds. I would have to say that this has been one of the gems of the trip.
On the 10th of May I went to a square known as Bebelplatz (sp?), 75 years ago to the day the Nazis burnt 20,000 books there that were written by Jews, homosexuals etc. It was awe-inspiring knowing that I was at a place on the anniversary of such a tragic event.
Berlin is a brilliant place.
In Berlin at the moment and about to head to Dresden. The weather has been beautiful for the last two weeks.
Berlin is a fantastic city steeped in history from the olden days, the war and the wall. It's amazing to look around and see either new buildings or old ones with shrapnel wounds. I would have to say that this has been one of the gems of the trip.
On the 10th of May I went to a square known as Bebelplatz (sp?), 75 years ago to the day the Nazis burnt 20,000 books there that were written by Jews, homosexuals etc. It was awe-inspiring knowing that I was at a place on the anniversary of such a tragic event.
Berlin is a brilliant place.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The rest of Spain, Morocco, The Netherlands
Ok, this is going to be a quick and dirty entry.
From Madrid I headed to a town called Algerciras in the south of Spain. It was a 8 hour bus ride after two hours of sleep due to hitting the town. Algerciras can be described as boring and industrial. I'll leave it at that. I had one night there.
From Algerciras I checked out Gibralter. I suggest that you leave more than two hours to do this. I didn't get up on the rock, but did have some fish and chips. The highlight was having to giveway to a plane on the runway before leaving the country/principality/whatever you want to call it.
Back to Algerciras and onto a Ferry to Tangiers, Morocco. Queue the hustlers. You come off of the boat and are fresh meat to these people. One night in Tangiers in a dive of a hotel before onto Fes.
The train ride to Fes was amazing. I got to see all of the poverty in Morocco from the safety of the train. The villages with small mud dwellings were amazing. One thing I noticed throughout Morocco was every building was covered in satellite dishes.
In Fes we got an unfair deal with a guide. It happens. I learnt from the experience and moved on.
Anzac day morning was spent in Fes. I had vegemite on croissants with some other Aussies.
From Fes to Rabat on the train. Just a three hour train ride. Rabat was awesome. See my previous post.
Rabat to Marrakech. I had a great time here as well. I found everyone to be friendly, even though they were just after my money. The main square is absolutely amazing. I got some video footage, but it doesn't do the place credit. Spent two nights in Marrakech.
Marrakech to Paris by plane. Spent 10 hours in Paris (7 hours sleeping, 2 hours in queues), before catching a train to Amsterdam via Brussels. Brussels consisted of me drinking a beer in the 20 minutes between switching trains.
I'll write up the Netherlands later.
From Madrid I headed to a town called Algerciras in the south of Spain. It was a 8 hour bus ride after two hours of sleep due to hitting the town. Algerciras can be described as boring and industrial. I'll leave it at that. I had one night there.
From Algerciras I checked out Gibralter. I suggest that you leave more than two hours to do this. I didn't get up on the rock, but did have some fish and chips. The highlight was having to giveway to a plane on the runway before leaving the country/principality/whatever you want to call it.
Back to Algerciras and onto a Ferry to Tangiers, Morocco. Queue the hustlers. You come off of the boat and are fresh meat to these people. One night in Tangiers in a dive of a hotel before onto Fes.
The train ride to Fes was amazing. I got to see all of the poverty in Morocco from the safety of the train. The villages with small mud dwellings were amazing. One thing I noticed throughout Morocco was every building was covered in satellite dishes.
In Fes we got an unfair deal with a guide. It happens. I learnt from the experience and moved on.
Anzac day morning was spent in Fes. I had vegemite on croissants with some other Aussies.
From Fes to Rabat on the train. Just a three hour train ride. Rabat was awesome. See my previous post.
Rabat to Marrakech. I had a great time here as well. I found everyone to be friendly, even though they were just after my money. The main square is absolutely amazing. I got some video footage, but it doesn't do the place credit. Spent two nights in Marrakech.
Marrakech to Paris by plane. Spent 10 hours in Paris (7 hours sleeping, 2 hours in queues), before catching a train to Amsterdam via Brussels. Brussels consisted of me drinking a beer in the 20 minutes between switching trains.
I'll write up the Netherlands later.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
A moment in Rabat
Last night I had a moment in Rabat. One of those moments that you want to capture and take with you for the rest of your life. A moment that a camera cannot capture. A moment that stimulates all of your senses.
I had been walking through a souk for around an hour with my befriended travel buddy from Sydney. The souk is full of narrow lanes full of stores of food, clothes and handy crafts. The architecture is distinctly Islamic, with Mosaics everywhere. The air smelt of incense and spicey food. The air was warm, but sligthly sticky. We were in a quieter part of the lane but could see the shoulder to shoulder crowded section ahead. Store keepers were bartering with locals in a mixture of Arabic and French. A cat was drinking out of a storm drain. It was around 8-30pm and the sun had set.
At this point the Islamic call to prayer started. A man in Arabic can be heard, his voice resonating and echoing down the narrow lane. The sound had no distinct source, it seemed to come from everywhere. The sound had a way to get to you. Somehow you could feel it rather than hear it.
After what felt like a minute, but could have been 10 seconds, the call to prayer ended. The Moroccans continued on with their business, but I walked away from the experience feeling somehow richer to be a part of it.
I had been walking through a souk for around an hour with my befriended travel buddy from Sydney. The souk is full of narrow lanes full of stores of food, clothes and handy crafts. The architecture is distinctly Islamic, with Mosaics everywhere. The air smelt of incense and spicey food. The air was warm, but sligthly sticky. We were in a quieter part of the lane but could see the shoulder to shoulder crowded section ahead. Store keepers were bartering with locals in a mixture of Arabic and French. A cat was drinking out of a storm drain. It was around 8-30pm and the sun had set.
At this point the Islamic call to prayer started. A man in Arabic can be heard, his voice resonating and echoing down the narrow lane. The sound had no distinct source, it seemed to come from everywhere. The sound had a way to get to you. Somehow you could feel it rather than hear it.
After what felt like a minute, but could have been 10 seconds, the call to prayer ended. The Moroccans continued on with their business, but I walked away from the experience feeling somehow richer to be a part of it.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo
I´m in Madrid and have been partying it up for a bit over a week. After two months without drinking I am well and truely back on the horse and galloping off to the horizon at great speed.
I think I mentioned that I joined two Americans, Phil and John, in Carcasonne ( http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33440&l=648e2&id=705941710 ) . Check out the photos.
From Carcasonne we went to Barcelona and stayed in a place called the Kabul hostel. If you ever backpack to Barcelona stay there. There is a massive social atmosphere. I stayed in Barcelona for three days and checked out some Gaudi stuff (google Sangradia Familia maybe with some correct spelling). Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33442&l=4a6af&id=705941710
From Barcelona John, Phil and I were planning to head to Valencia. It didn´t work out. We went to the train station and the next one was leaving in three hours, so we caught one to Madrid instead. I was up in first class enjoying the luxury at 300kmph (due to my Eurail pass) while John and Phil were in cattle class.
Tonight will be my 6th night in Madrid (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33444&l=dd1ac&id=705941710 ). Madrid has a great party atmosphere that I´ve been making the most of. I´ve checked out the Prado Museum with it´s Goya works and a Rembrant (art´s not my thing), the Real Palace, a bull fight (gruesome, I don´t know how this can be allowed in our civilised times), and a nearby town called Toledo ( http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33445&l=7d59e&id=705941710 ).
Tomorrow I´m off south towards Gibraltar and then Morocco.
Spain has been a rather gastronomical event for me. Mainly of kebabs and felafel. I think I´m gaining the weight I lost doing the marathon very quickly.
With 40 secs of internet left I´ll be brief.
Earplugs rock
The language bar in XP rocks
Booking trips doesn´t
Joined up with an Aussie to Morocco
Spain has been a rather gastronomical event for me. Mainly of kebabs and felafel. I think I´m gaining the weight I lost doing the marathon very quickly.
With 40 secs of internet left I´ll be brief.
Earplugs rock
The language bar in XP rocks
Booking trips doesn´t
Joined up with an Aussie to Morocco
Monday, April 14, 2008
Montpellier, Carcasonne
Leaving Paris I decided to head south. Both because I want to go to Morocco and because I figured it would be warmer.
First stop Montpellier. After the SNCF booked me a hotel in a town called Sete which is about 50km from Montpellier and is a retirement village, I eventually made it to Montpellier. The beautiful winding alleys feel like they've been carved out of stone. I spent hours just walking the streets, getting lost, finding my bearings again, and then getting lost again.
I visited my first art gallery and discovered I am not into art.
After two nights I had had enough and decided to move on to Carcasonne. It's is has a medievel walled castle on top of the hill. Which the hostel I stayed at was in. The view was majestic from afar, but I found it awful inside. It was very expensive and was gimmicky as all hell.
So the next day I decided to head to Barcelona on the 7:15am train. I have attached myself like a leech to two Americans, Phil and John. The rail office said we couldn't book tickets. So we just hopped on the train anyway, hoping to claim ignorance and that our eurail passes would get us out of trouble. The situation got stressful at the Spanish border when they started kicking people off the train. We got a few more stops along before we were kicked off. We just hopped on the next train to Barcelona and got there about 2 hours later than planned.
We're staying in the Kabul hostel just off of La Rambla, the main drag in Barcelona, think Rundle mall but with pick pockets. The hostel is great. By far the best I've stayed in so far.
I went out on the turps last night. I'm still regaining my drinking form after being off the horse for a while. After buying two litres of beer for two euros and drinking some vodka with some Israelis I ended up crashing before midnight. Something that is very uncommon in Barcelona with its famous party culture.
Things I've learnt:
-you can get a lot of milage out of a set of underwear
-pack light, pack really light. I'm talking carry on light.
-talk to everyone
-unplanned is best. You have more adventures.
-a smile gets you a long way.
-if you see a toilet, use it. You'll never know when you'll see another one.
-modesty is a luxury. Leave it at home.
First stop Montpellier. After the SNCF booked me a hotel in a town called Sete which is about 50km from Montpellier and is a retirement village, I eventually made it to Montpellier. The beautiful winding alleys feel like they've been carved out of stone. I spent hours just walking the streets, getting lost, finding my bearings again, and then getting lost again.
I visited my first art gallery and discovered I am not into art.
After two nights I had had enough and decided to move on to Carcasonne. It's is has a medievel walled castle on top of the hill. Which the hostel I stayed at was in. The view was majestic from afar, but I found it awful inside. It was very expensive and was gimmicky as all hell.
So the next day I decided to head to Barcelona on the 7:15am train. I have attached myself like a leech to two Americans, Phil and John. The rail office said we couldn't book tickets. So we just hopped on the train anyway, hoping to claim ignorance and that our eurail passes would get us out of trouble. The situation got stressful at the Spanish border when they started kicking people off the train. We got a few more stops along before we were kicked off. We just hopped on the next train to Barcelona and got there about 2 hours later than planned.
We're staying in the Kabul hostel just off of La Rambla, the main drag in Barcelona, think Rundle mall but with pick pockets. The hostel is great. By far the best I've stayed in so far.
I went out on the turps last night. I'm still regaining my drinking form after being off the horse for a while. After buying two litres of beer for two euros and drinking some vodka with some Israelis I ended up crashing before midnight. Something that is very uncommon in Barcelona with its famous party culture.
Things I've learnt:
-you can get a lot of milage out of a set of underwear
-pack light, pack really light. I'm talking carry on light.
-talk to everyone
-unplanned is best. You have more adventures.
-a smile gets you a long way.
-if you see a toilet, use it. You'll never know when you'll see another one.
-modesty is a luxury. Leave it at home.
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