Just before lunch we drive into the other Frankfurt. There are some lovely old red brick buildings, the rest is a bit rough, a bit of graffiti (it's becoming a theme), just across the river we can see lots of feilds and forests. The urban landscape stands in stark contrast to the nature that surrounds it. It's a really strange place. A little way up the river is a large bridge - when we cross it we will no longer in Germany, instead we will be in Slubice, Poland! We've never crossed between countries on foot, it's quite exciting. Over the bridge we go. Oh hi there Poland! We walk along the river and all of the signs are now in Polish. It's so funny that it's so close yet totally different. There are a lot of piercing and tattoo parlours on this side of the river. We spot some men picking a fight with some other (possibly homeless) men, we keep our heads down and continue up the street.
We are getting hungry by this stage and we spot some red umbrellas which turn out to house a fairly nice looking eatery. We sit down and everything looks super expensive, then we realise that they operate on their own currency - their exchange rate is better than Turkey, approx 0.25 euro. What a nice surprise. We order a pizza with shrimps, sour cream, and some other unimportant stuff on it. Willy has a coffee and I have a beer, I order Tyskie as that seems to be the local flavour. It's not as good as whatever we were drinking at Oktoberfest but it's nice enough. When the pizza comes out it has the deepest base ever and it's delicious. The whole bill including a decent tip comes to fifteen euro, in comparison to what we pay in Germany it's cheap as.
After lunch we head back to the car. We decide to make our way to Sachsenhousen, one of the concentration camps where personal from other camps were trained, political prisoners were held, thousands of people were killed, and was also used by the Soviets following its liberation from the Nazis. Just something light for the afternoon. We arrive shortly before four, and we have the place almost to ourselves. I grab an audio commentary, it's good, but I don't listen to it too much as the narrators sing song voice isn't a great match for the information she provides. We walk through the first gate, there is a clutch of trees off to our left and survivors voices/stories whisper through them. The second gate still bears the words Arbeit Macht Frei, which I understand translates to Work Sets You Free. We step into the main camp, the sheer size of the place blows my mind. Most of the barracks and buildings are gone, their footprints marked by gravel pits.
I won't go into much detail, but it's deeply moving and in a totally different way to anywhere else I have ever been. The feelings that swim around in your belly as you walk through the cellar under the kitchen, or as you make your way through the barracks are indescribable. They were intensified by being alone for a good portion of the trip, Willy was off exploring on his own (or reading his book), and there was hardly anyone else around. The sun gets low in the sky while we are roaming through the grounds, and we get kicked out at six. Not having any other plans, we decide to head to Templin.
Willy drives while I book us a hotel. We drive up and I am shocked to see that our hotel (which is in the middle of nowhere) is twelve stories! This place is like a cruise ship on land, everything you could ever need in one place - two restaurants, three bars (or more...), one beer garden, swimming pool, sauna, games room, shop, riveted beach, various sport courts, the list goes on and on. Most of it is closed. Our room is on the same level as the Seabar, which definitely isn't closed. There is a live band, dancing, and lot's of retirees having the time of their lives! Oh Willy... Sorry babe, I am sure am striking some great hotels! We head up to our room, then upto the restaurant on the top floor. It's our first candle lit dinner, and our meals are spectacular, it's all rather special.
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