We arrive in Berlin and immediately have a tour of the
city. Our guide did a fantastic job and
really explained the history of the city.
I loved the tour! The four hours
just flew by. WWII has always interested
me and to see it in person was amazing. I
loved seeing the Memorial of the Murdered Jews, where Hitler committed suicide,
the house of the man who singlehandedly brought down the Berlin Wall and
Brandenburg Gate. There is so much
history here I wish I was able to see more.
Our guide took us by a chocolate shop that I would have liked to go
inside but we did not have time. It had
replicas of historic buildings, including a church that had its roof destroyed
in the war. We ended the tour outside
Reichstag. We did not go in because that
is on the agenda for tomorrow. The next
morning we were given a lecture by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife
Research and were able to watch a CT
being taken of a skull.
Afterwards we had dinner and got to see the result of a 3D printer. It was so cool!
We left the institute and ran to the train headed for
Sachsenhausen. I was so thankful to Nils
for taking us out there as a group. He
has been there numerous times and was able to show us around and explain the
buildings to us. It was a humbling experience
being there. Because we had gone to
Terezin before, I was able to see the differences in a transit camp and a labor
camp. The entrance read “Arbeit Macht
Frei” meaning labor shall set you free, a lie Hitler had told its
prisoners. Seeing the “death trenches”
and remnants of the gas chambers and furnaces was indescribable. Knowing that thousands of people died
here. It makes me thankful for
everything I have, especially my family, and I know that it can all be taken
away in the blink of an eye. It was also
horrifying to learn of the medical experiments they performed on the
occupants. I am glad that I was able to
see in person everything I have read about.
I hope that the world never has to endure such evil again.
After leaving the concentration camp, we had an appointment
at Reichstag. My father had told me
about it before I left so I was excited to see it. We took an overly crowded elevator to the
roof where Nils pointed out the buildings we had seen the day before during our
tour. He then explained that the four
tours on each corner represented the four political parties: the Christian Democratic Union, the Social
Democratic Party, the Left Party and the Greens. I really like how they conduct business in
public. After the tour of the Reichstag
we did not have much time for free time.
We were leaving the next morning to go to Hamburg. I wish that we were able to spend more time
in Berlin: I would have much rather gone
here during a free weekend than Prague.
In Hamburg we toured a Seal Station and learned that they
are rehabilitation center and that any seals born in captivity cannot be
released into the wild so they try to prevent breeding. We got a tour of the facilities and were able
to watch the feeding at 2. It was neat
to see how well behaved the seals are and expertly trained. We left the station to go to Multimar
Wattforum and learn about the different ecosystems. We learned everything from the creatures in
the mud to the aquatic wildlife and birds.
We then took a bus to the Hotel Seigfreid in Busum. After checking in we went to a local seafood
restaurant. It was great being able to
eat such fresh seafood. The next morning
I was so excited to go to the Aquatic Wildlife Center and learn about their
research and then dissect a porpoise and a seal! We initially thought our porpoise had died in
a net due to the hemorrhage around the nose and his belly full of fresh fish,
but it was concluded that he had strangulated.
One of the fish he was eating had barbs on that got caught in his
larynx. It was interesting to learn that
lung worms and intestinal worms are normal for these animals. It sure seemed like there was a lot! Our porpoise did not have any GI worms, which
was surprising but his lungs were full.
My colleagues’ seal had been euthanized by a seal hunter because he was
suffering from respiratory distress and the hunter felt it was in the best
interest of the animal to put it out of its misery. I have a high respect for seal hunters and
what they do. They take time out of
their day to save these creatures. The
only compensation they get is for gas money, which is not enough. We were able to meet a seal hunter that night
at supper. He owns a restaurant and is a
chef. They prepared a seafood buffet for
us that was delicious! I ate way too
much, but it was so good! He gave a
presentation after supper that explained what he does and why he decided to
take on this responsibility. It is hard
for him to run a business in addition to going on calls, but he makes it work. As someone who likes wildlife I really
enjoyed hearing his stories and the similarities and differences in getting
licensed. The next day we met with the
seal biologist from the day before and toured the mudflats. It was weird at first stepping on all the
shells, and I was terrified on getting stuck by a jellyfish. But I had a great time. As I was trying to avoid all the jellyfish
that had gotten stuck in the mud, I fell up to my knees in mud. Jeannette then did the same thing and we
could not stop laughing. Our guide told
us how dangerous it is to be out on the flats unsupervised and if a fog comes
in you have no way to get back to the shore.
We then closed our eyes and tried to go in a straight line toward some
trees he had pointed out. It was
hilarious to see where everybody ended up.
It also made me laugh to hear that we had to pay a “cure tax” just for
being in the town: the air is good for
you and the mud is spa quality. Who
would have thought!
We left the next morning on a train bound for
Frankfurt. Frankfurt is where my father
was born so I could not wait to see it.
We settled into our hotel and went to a typical Frankfurt restaurant. The food was amazing! It was definitely the best I have had in
Europe. The next day we went to Heidelberg
and had a tour of the castle. It was
huge! Each ruler did not want to live in
the same castle as the man before him so he built his own castle and the
buildings were later joined together to form the castle we see today. Later we went souvenir shopping and sat on
the Main River and watched the boats go by.
My favorite was a paddleboat that had only one person paddling so they
kept going in circles.
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