It seems that in the last two days I have spoken about my bottom a lot and tonight is no exception.

I have just sat on a motor coach for 3 hours straight without adding the 9 hours I had previously done today already. Therefore, right now my bottom is totally numb and you comb it with a porcupine and I wouldn’t feel a thing. We have just arrived in Warnemunde following an exhausting and emotional day and here I am at the Neptune Hotel. I had good intentions of sending loads of photos tonight but I have just discovered that there is no wireless service here and instead I have to go and get something called a “cable” from reception and use a “dial up service.”

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Today we saw the Brandenburg Gate where President Kennedy said those immortal words ” Ich bin ein Berliner.” We saw the summer palaces of Alexander 1st and the Sans Souci palace with its gorgeous fountain lined gardens. We visitied the Domed Cathedral and the Cecilienhof Palace where Truman, Stalin and Churchill met after the war to decide the fate of Germany.

However, now as I sit here on the bus for the 3 hour ride to Warnemunde I only have thoughts for the place I jus came from………Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. We walked as the prisoners did up to the huge forboding iron gates that have the feared insignia of the SS on either side and in the middle the words ” Arbeit Macht Frei” which translates to ” work will give you freedom .”……..nothing was further than the truth as this was the place where 50,000 Jews, Russian soldiers and anyone who did not fit Hitler’s “Kampf” died. We listened to the stories from our expert guide about the tortue and we visited the cells and chambers where these acts were carried out. Then there were the stories about the children……..oh the children……I cannot even bring myself to write the words.

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Many people ask what they did with the Berlin Wall after it was knocked down. Much of it was taken by the people of Germany as souvenirs but it has always been a mystery what happened to the rest………..I have discovered what they did with those big lumps of concrete……..they were sold to the Berlin Hilton Hotel who then made their beds out of them. I have to say that after the beds in Estonia and Russia which were like sleeping on blocks of soft butter the bed in the Hilton was as hard as a wall and I had 6 hours of blissful sleep.

The problem with a soft mattress for me is that during the night Heidi tends to turn over and with me on the other side that’s like rolling down a large hill.

Good morning and hier ist nummer ein of my Himbeeren (raspberry in German) blogs. Once again sorry that I cannot post a regular blog but we started our touring at 8 am and we will not be returning to a hotel at 10 pm and then the last thing I feel like doing is sitting at the computer …….well……actually……..it’s actually the second to last thing I feel like doing but don’t tell Heidi.

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