Sauchenhausen

I'm feeling quite blog-happy since it's easier than writing in my journal and trying to make nice handwriting. Today I had a good day, despite it being somber since going to a concentration camp is not quite a happy affair. I went on another cheap walking tour where we went with about 30 people and I found one person that was worth talking to. It seems about right that I have a 1 in 20 chance of finding someone decent to talk to, so it's worked out well for me. Anyways, I went to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, and had an excellent guide from whom I learned a great deal. It's pretty hard to fathom the atrocities that went on there, but I guess you do your best to take it in the best you can. It was probably about -1 degrees celcius and probably less with the windshield, so everyone was shivering throughout it, but you couldn't really complain when you realized that people endured winters there wearing only cotton uniforms. Definitely made you think differently when we left and we heard people say phrases like "oh man, thats torture!" or "I'm starving!".

Afterwards, I left my hostel and took a train/bus to my new hostel which is an eco-friendly hostel that is self-sustaining in a foresty area of Berlin. Pretty spooky to find it at night when you walk for about 10 minutes on a non-lit dirt road with trees, but it seems like a great place with a nice vibe and freeeee internet. The owner seems great and accomodating and so I already feel quite at home, much more so than at the other hostel even though it was more convienent, because you felt like you were in a people factory. In any case, even if its not as great as I feel it is now, at least I'm reducing my carbon footprint a tad by staying here, and there's some great trails here to bike and hike. Hurrah!