Bringing energy sustainability to the US

Arne Jungjohann of the Heinrich Böll Foundation joins MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan to discuss energy sustainability and how the United States stacks up in renewable energy usage compared to Germany.

Auschwitz: The Reality of Hitler

What can I say about Auschwitz that hasn't been said? Just about everything I saw and heard today, I already knew. The only thing new for me is the knowledge that the Nazis were even more sadistic and inhumane than I had imagined. 

Work Makes You Free Sign

There were many camps throughout Europe and North Africa. Some were concentration camps and some were death camps. Auschwitz functioned as both and Auschwitz II is the most infamous and largest of any of the camps. 

 Auschwitz I is the original camp here and houses the indoor museum (technically speaking the entire place, both camps are museums and UNESCO World Heritage Sites) with emotionally moving exhibits in an attempt to explain some of the terrible things the Nazis did here. 

Initially, political prisioners and intellectuals were brought here. Then, as the murderous Germans streamlined their killing machine, the focus was put on the Jews. Auschwitz I is where the famous gate with the sign overhead that reads "Arbeit Macht Frei"; a sick lie which translates roughly to "Work Makes You Free". Work was just one more way to kill in this place. As prisoners went to work each day they were made to march to the tempo of the prison orchestra. This was an added bit of Nazi humiliation, for good measure. 

The exhibits and museum are inside the original barracks buildings where the first prisioners were held. These barracks had originally been a Polish army barracks. The Nazis took control in September, 1940 when they invaded Poland at the beginning of WWII. These are the actual buildings and rooms where people were brutalized, tortured and killed. This way of experiencing the place really helps the visitor to empathize and imagine what it might have been like to have been held here.

We saw the room that held the kangaroo court where innocent people were convicted of 'crimes' and then sentenced to die after a 'trial' that lasted, in many cases, a few moments.

We saw the 'death wall' where so many political prisioners and others were shot to death by firing squad; their only crime: being an intellectual or outspoken political activist. On one record setting day here they managed to shoot and kill over 200 people at this wall within 24 hours.  Click READ MORE to continue to the rest of this post and see the videos.

Krakow, Poland (Eat, Pray, Pray, Pray, Love)

Krakow, Poland: October 16, 2010.

There were several nice little bistro type places on our street near our hotel, so we thought we'd try one of them. One italian place very close by looked nice and had a live jazz band playing so we decided to go inside. The place was packed and a frazzled waiter brusquely told us "NO", followed by some Polish which was unintelligible to me. I have come to realize that the Polish and Germans have a bit of an edge when they speak English and can come across as being bit abrupt, but I think it is generally not intentional, just a different inflection than what the average English speaker is used to. In this case, the guy was very busy and overwhelmed, and I can certainly understand.

We made a hasty exit and decided to try out the Horoscope Restaurant on the corner at the end of our street. The place was a quaint Polish bistro with plenty of candles, low red lights and interesting wall decor. We did some quick math and realized the prices were more than reasonable compared to what we pay in Canada for a meal at a restaurant of similar quality.

Krakow maple leaf. I have maple leaf pics from Paris, London, Rennes, and a few other places.

We ordered appetizers. David had the fried camembert with almonds and a raspberry compote. This was more than enough for two people and reasonably priced.

For mains I had the 'rabbit, in it's own sauce', beetroot and gnocchi. David went for the 'chicken in it's own sauce' with a side of roasted potatoes.

To drink, we chose a Chianti, the best one on the menu, which we would never normally do at home, but the price was right, and we are on our honeymoon after all.

The busy little restaurant served delicious food that was inexpensive, and had a homemade and robust quality to it.

The staff were friendly and helpful, spoke some English and the restroom was tiny, but clean and pleasant

My first impressions of Krakow are good. I'm an atheist, but if I was a praying man I'd have a difficult time deciding which church I'd attend. There are literallly some 31 churches shown on the map of the area immediately surrounding our hotel.

I do enjoy the architecture of churches, let's face it, they cost a fortune and the faithful don't mind spending on their places of worhsip, and I get to enjoy the visual result.

Krakow is VERY Catholic, the late Pope John Paul II was the archbishop of Krakow and he is the main man here. You will see him all over the place, along with other various saints, martyrs and other religious types. 

I covered the eat and the pray.

The love is for my husband, and I now also love Krakow and can't wait to return and see the rest of it.

Like this post? Hate it? Please leave your comment below, all are appreciated!    ~ Mark Daye

Hannover, Germany To Warsaw, Poland

Poznan: It is now 10:00 am local time, or 4:00 am EST. This train is very late. We are still a couple of hours west of  Warsaw.

The ride thus far was uneventful, with the exception of the seemingly randomness of the lights turning on and off throughout the night. It was disruptive and not conducive to sleeping.

The old woman in front of me has the right idea. She is fully reclined, sleeping mask on, covered with a fluffy blanket and snoring a deep resonating snore that is full of sleep satisfaction.

The last time we had an overnight trip on a train we booked a couchette (a sleeping car that sleeps six in bunks) and didn't sleep well at all. This time around we booked regular seating with big upholstered seats and were looking forward to a comfortable ride.

When we boarded the train, our car was pleasantly dark and everyone seemed to be fast asleep.
The large seats recline so far back, with their attached footrest that they almost become beds. We quietly settled in, ready to depart. Then we waited some more.

Finally, we began to move.

Nobody was coming for our tickets so we decided to try and sleep, they could wake us if necessary. Sleep was more important now.

Suddenly the lights came on. I thought the ticket guy was coming for my ticket. I thought wrong. The lights were on for no apparent reason, they stayed on for awhile, then after several minutes, off they went.

Suddenly they were back on again.

This was getting ridiculous and being the only two who were awake, it seemed we were the only ones on board who were bothered, although I suspect others were getting annoyed too. I see a strongly worded letter (SWL) in the future.

I used my jacket sleeve to cover my eyes and I played Mozart on the ipod. Soon I was asleep. I was out cold until I felt David poking me in the side: His remedy for loud snoring.

I slept soundly until I awoke in Berlin.

When I woke up again around 8:30 am we were in Poland and many people had left our car. It is rainy and overcast outside, which is just the way I expected Poland would be.

11:45 am Finally, an update! We will be arriving at Warsaw Central Station at 12:20 pm. I just had the best cup of tea ever, and met a lovely young lady from the UK who is also going to Warsaw.

Nuremberg Castle, Friendly Stranger and B&B Hotels (or why you should double check things with another human).

We managed to find the correct tram and headed towards the old town, our friendly tourist information lady had kindly highlighted the stop closest to the castle for us so we got off. The problem was we thought we were getting off at the main station, we'd forgotten that this particular stop was near, but not at the castle. 

We began walking in the direction we thought best and soon we were a bit lost. Fortunately the old city is surrounded by a ring road and there are large brightly lit maps at various locations throughout. We were at one of these large lit maps trying to figure out where we were when a man came along and offered us his help. We told him we were looking for the castle, and he offered to show us the way as he was headed in that direction.

While we were walking he asked if we were staying at the YOUTH hostel. He automatically became friendly German No. 2. ( and my new best friend).

No. 2 asked if we had heard about the other famous Nuremberg site; the Schöner Brunnen. We said, "no', so he showed us to the main town square where we were presented with a rather large ornamental fountain.

There is a story about the gold ring and the black ring and if you make a wish on the gold ring and don't tell anyone it will come true. If you decide you made a bad wish and want to revoke it, you use the black ring. David and I both made a wish, but the fountain wish rules stipulate that you cannot tell anyone your wish or it won't come true.

So I cannot tell you my wish.

Other than the fountain, the town square, like most in Europe, featured a prominent  church and several restaurants and shops. We went to a restaurant called Alex for some dinner, it was okay, but nothing spectacular. Once we finished eating we set out in the direction of the castle.

Nuremberg Castle   (Where there's castle, there's hill)

The castle, as expected is on the highest point of the city and a bit of an uphill walk to get to. It was very cold and dark by the time we arrived. We were able to go inside the main entrance and wander around a bit, but some areas were closed off and we couldn't go inside any buidings as it was quite late by this point and we had to catch our train at 23:06.  We set out on a brisk pace around the old city ring road headed toward the train station. We were about as far away from it as you could get, but made it to the station in plenty of time, only to find out that our 23:06 train was a 23:06* the * meaning that is was a Sunday train only.

This was quite the predicament, since as I may have mentioned earlier that all the hotel rooms in Nuremberg were booked. We started walking towards the outskirts of town, stopping at one posh looking hotel, that did have a room for a paltry 230 Euros a night. We quickly declined, we just needed a bed, nothing fancy.

The decision was made to keep heading away from the centre of town where we thought we might find something, and something less expensive. We came to a B&B Hotel, which is a chain, not a bed and breakfast.

And this brings us to friendly German No. 3

We go inside B&B which is quite obviously a budget hotel, but is very clean and very new.

No. 3 tells us they have no rooms at all, booked solid. He continues to tell us that he had someone in earlier looking and over the course of the day had called 100 hotels looking for rooms for potential guest. Okay, maybe the 100 is an exageration, but we were quickly getting the point that there was no friggin room at the B&B.

David asked if there was a bus that could take us to Frankfurt. No. Was there anything at all? I asked what nearby town that was on the way to Frankfurt might have a hotel, as we just needed somewhere to sleep and to get back to Frankfurt.

That's when he says, "Well, if you really just need a place to sleep, and aren't concerned with appearances, I might have something for you. Just let me check." No. 3 makes a quick call and then proceeds to tell us he has a room, not yet complete. The hotel has only been open for three weeks. This room has no television, and no cabinets, dressers, etc. Like we care! David says, if it has a rug I'll be happy. So, to make a long story short as they  say, my new hero No. 3 offered us the room for 110 Euros, compete with all you can eat breakfast. Needless to say, we accepted.

On the way back to the train station at 7 am, we noticed a vacant hotel next door and wondered if it was the hotel where Hitler had stayed during the Nazi party rallies. We had seen him greeting adoring Germans in the Nazi film "Triumph of the Will" but we couldn't be sure. It certainly looked like it to both of us. We knew it was closed, and this place certainly was. Later, a quick internet search would reveal that our memories were intact and we were right. This was the 'Hitler Hotel' as we had come to call it.  We read that Hitler preferred to stay here as it was close to the train station and it was an average 'everyman' type of place. Another bit of PR from Hitler.

Former Nazi Party Rally Grounds (or the Fantasy of Hitler).

We headed out to the Congress Hall and had no trouble finding it, the exhibit was very informative and I did learn a few things I didn't already know, although I am fairly well versed on the topic from my own research and readings over the years.

The Congress Hall is huge, about twice the size of the Colesseum in Rome and built in the shape of a horseshoe. If you imagine this with each end of the horseshoe having a rectangular  shaped foot and each foot being a building with four walls and an open courtyard inside. These 'feet' are about fives or so stories high and the size of an average apartment block. On one side you have the Documentation Centre and on the other you have a twin building now used by the Nuremberg Symphony. The main curved part of the building is empty, other than being used for some storage.

This building is the one of the best and last remaing examples of Nazi architecture. It was designed by Albert Speer, Hitler's architect. They certainly didn't think small, in any sense of the word. The entire project including this building, the Zepplin field, the never built  `German Stadium`which was to seat 400,000 people and the other buildings cover an area of 11 hectares!

The Nazis never used the Congress Hall as it was never finished, construction was abruptly halted in September 194?. The open air portion was to be covered and it was to be a giant theatre type space for the party rallies.

We managed to make it half way through the exhibit, both of us with our English audio guides, and then decided to speed things up and listened to only some parts of the rest. The whole Nazi story is interesting to me from a PR perspective, but sickens me at the same time and becomes depressing quickly. So we wrapped it up and went outside to take some pictures of the building which is very impressive in its size and overall garantuan proportions.

The daylight was beginning to fade so we made our way down the "Great Road", which leads in the direction  of the castle in the old town as a way of mentally and physically linking the Nazi's with the old Imperial regime. This is the sort of mind games the Nazi's excelled at.  This was quite a walk. The brochure suggested it will take you an hour and a half to do the circuit and they weren't wrong! If you've ever been to Downsview Park in Toronto, imagine walking the perimiter and you will have an idea of the scale of this place.

As we walked along the Great Road, or Hitler's parade route really, we could see the remains of raised stone steps along the side. These had been built so spectators could stand in awe of  the military might as it passed by. Much of it was overgrown, but the actual parade roadway looked like it had been laid yesterday.

Finally we came to a quiet footpath that would lead us through thick woods for a bit then past the old stadum where the Hitler youth had once gathered to worship their leader. Suddenly, as we rounded a bend the forest yielded to acres of asphalt and roadways and there on the left was a row of monothic pillars.

Constructed of huge blocks and filled with steps in between. Each had once supported a form of Nazi symbolism, an eagle or perhaps a giant swastika. These giant structures went on for several hundred metres. We quickly realized that this was the outline of the Zepplin Feild and the main grandstand was on the other side opposite to where we were standing.

As we made our way around the perimiter of the field I was a bit disappointed as the entire site seemed to be fenced off. Fortunately, this fence was only to close off what had once been the Zepplin field, which I was not as interested in visiting. We were there to see the grandstand. The main grandstand was quite open and a sign warned; "Enter at your own Risk". They should have had that up in Hitler's day.

Finally, we made our way to the main grandstand and I walked up to the top of the dilapidated, yet still impressive structure and stood in the spot where the madman had once stood over hundreds of thousands of admirers and followers.

Looking out onto Zepplin Field I tried to imagine, not the present tractor-trailer trucks, open grass field and soccer pitch, but the the thousands of faces and raised hands of Hitler's minions who witnessed this nut first hand, hanging on every crazed word, each one facing him. It was easy to see how the ego can take over. I could almost hear the chants of "Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler" in the chilled autumn air.

A bit of mist and fog began to move in and the street lights came on. As we walked away, I looked back and trying to envision the huge red banners and hundreds or anti-aircraft lights that had been used to create Hitler's so called 'Cathedral of Light' it was easy to see how the average man would have been swept up in this well orchestrated madness.

We made our way around the other side of Lake Dutzendteich and were presented, for the first time, the monolith that is the Congress Hall in all it's glory. The place is so huge, we had never really seen it all at once when we were actually in it and walking around it. Seeing it from across the lake as the sun faded, it was impressive and beautiful and terrifying all at once.

Nazi Party Congress Hall At Dusk. Nuremberg, Germany

Nuremberg, Germany/Nurnberg, De

Oct. 14th, 2010. 1:20 pm, local time or 7:20 am EST.

We are on the Deutschebahn ICE train headed to Nuremberg. We left the very large and impressive Frankfurt main station at 12:54, much later than we had expected due to us  sleeping much later than expected, but we are feeling refreshed and looking forward to seeing the rebuilt medievil city of Nuremberg and the museum at the old Nazi Party Congress Hall.

David tried to find a hotel here about a month ago with no luck, it seems there is some large convention in town or something like that, so we are doing a day trip by train. Tonight we will return to Frankfurt and then tomorrow night we take another train (or several different trains to be precise) to Krakow, Poland.

Green Germany

We just passed a large array of wind turbines, which are huge, much bigger than any I've seen.  I saw a field full of turbines when we were decending on the plane, I wonder if these are the same ones?

They are several kilometres away and tower above anything around. We aslo saw a large field packed with a solar array, but I didn't get a picture of it. It is very common to see homes covered with solar panels as the government here will buy your extra electricity, as they do back in Ontario.

Here's a few more pictures, there will be some of us to come, stay tuned!

 

Hillside wind turbines, between Frankfurt and Nuremberg, Germany.

This is what passes for a double in Europe. Oh well, as long as my sweetie is with me, I'm happy!

The view from our Franfurt hotel room.

The Trip To Frankfurt

Tuesday October 12, 10:55 pm EST. 

We are in the air. Takeoff was uneventful and we are now somewhere over eastern Ontario heading for Frankfurt, Germany. Thr inflight 16x9 display is pretty impressive with it's selection ogf movies and games and tv shows. I first chose CBC news (didn't work) then I thought I'd try a game (didn't work) then I was about to write here that I tried to watch a short Canadian film called 'The Red Hood' which suddenly stopped. I just realized I selected 'preview' instead of 'watch'.  I will watch it now  while I wait for dinner  and a drink.
 

11:08 pm EST.  'The Red Hood' seems pretty good. It seems I did select 'watch' afterall, but it ends abruptly two minutes  or so in. To summarize the Air Canada in flight entertainment leaves much to be desired. I will try something else.

11:09 pm EST. The flight is very smooth so far. We are on an Airbus 330. The temperature is  -54 degrees C outside at this altitude of 33 thousand feet. We are now over Montreal. It is 5:10 am in Frankfurt now. This little netbook is great for blogging on the go. Chicken and pasta with some cubed vegetable salad thing and a brownie that was really good. I've had a few meals on flights over the years and this one stands out because it was edible. Actually we did has a rea\lly nice meal on an actual plate on Air Transat once. We are pretty well into our flight and going to try to have a nap. I wanted to try the keyboard on the netbook, and it seems to be pretty good. I'll give you an update later on after we land in Germany.

03:20 am EST. I slept for awhile, but now we are into some turbulence and everyone is awake. It reminds me of the coun try roads from childhood, minus the dust. Outside we are flying into the sunrise and I can see the thick cloud cover hundreds of feet below us. I always find this to be a bit bizarre after spending a lifetime looking up at clouds. Earlier I looked out and couls see all the stars, it was so black outside, and the air so calm.
I hadn't intended to be writing a movie review, but it's five am and I need to vent about this abombination playing out before my eyes.

We are watching Sex & The City 2. I thought our Moulin Rouge wedding was the epitome of uber-gaiety, until I saw the Stanford and Anthony wedding opener in this sad excuse for a film, which features swans, a men's choir and Liza Minelli with a face so tight you could  bounce a quarter off of it. The old hag can barely talk her lips are so stretched over her bony old face.

The movie is a horrible, desperate attempt to invoke the past triumphs of the ground breaking  series and the eagerly anticipated and well received first film. Sex 2 has so much product placement that Lady Gaga would blush and the four main characters are so wealthy and unsympathetic that the movie is barely watchable, not to mention offensive to anyone who is reasonably 'normal'. I'm only continuing so I can see the end of the line for these old girls, who have now proven that you can't go back and recapture the past, nor should you try.

(Later) Okay in the spirit of truthiness, I admit I didn't finish the movie and I am glad I didn't waste anymore of my life on it. David did however, and told me the gist of the story was that America is still the greatest country in the world (like they'd ever let anyone forget) and women who wear burkas all have Chanel or Dior hidden underneath!

We have arrived in Frankfurt safe and sound, are exhausted and are going to bed. A quick look  at the German news program playing on the lobby television tells me that the trapped Chilean miners are finally being rescued.

We get to our room only to find two twin beds. I feel like we are the gay neibours of Lucy and Desi, or the Flintstones. David goes to the desk and the man there tells him his colleague is dealing with it so he comes back up to the room to find me and the maid pushing the beds together. The maid vacuums the crap from undeneath where the bed originally was and presto we have our Frankfurt marriage bed! Before she leaves I give her the Gideons New Testament, I don't want one in our room. I've decided to fight back, I won't be part of the religious hate spewing disguised as spreading the love. By the way, I don't see a Koran or a Torah or any of L. Ron Hubbards books around here anywhere!

It is now almost 11:00 pm here, we went to dinner at an Irish pub just down the street. I know that isn't very adventerous, but we were hungry and they had an english menu and staff and beer. We are very close to the city centre and train station, which we planned because tomorrow we are taking the train to Nuremberg. Frankfurt seems to have a pretty complex public transportation system, a subway to rival Paris or London and street cars as well. There is a picture of a street car below, much more modern than  what we have in Toronto, but our new ones are going to be state of the art.

In Nuremberg we will visit the museum at the old congress centre and also the Nazi party rally grounds and the castle where the war trials were held after WWII.

Here are a couple of pictures I took tonight bon our walk. Please feel free to comment below. 

 The main drag, I didn't get the name, it's about a block from our hotel.

 

This is a modern bank building. Looked pretty cool all lit up in blue. Frankfurt has some nice modern architecture.