Got Peace? That question seems ridiculous, right? I mean, the economy is terrible, there is a high unemployment rate, money is tight, and now to top it off, the stress of Christmas is upon us. We have shopping, gift wrapping, office parties, cookie parties, dress rehearsals, Christmas programs at school and church, house cleaning, finding ornaments in every place in the house- except on the tree, and visits with Santa. The list could go on and on, so where does it end? Where is the peace?
True Peace was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger. His name is Jesus.
I love to do all the things that come along with the Christmas season, but this year, I’m trying to focus on peace. They say “Peace on Earth,” but I would like to suggest starting a little smaller. I’m going to say “Peace in your heart.” When there is peace in the very center of your being, it manifests in your life. If I have peace, my home has peace, and my family has peace (except when we are arguing about what shoes to wear, but that’s another blog). We affect the people around us and what is it exactly that we want people to see? The hurried, hair pulling, yelling, pepper spraying (I will admit I was happy not to take part in the Black Friday frenzy), “Happy” Holiday; or the joyful celebration of Christ’s birth? In the midst of all the traditions and new ideas, I urge you to think about the point of it all.
We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas full of joy and peace!
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.” 2 Thessalonians 3:16
12.22.2011
12.08.2011
Home is where we are.
This is a long time coming, but we have a home! After a weekend spent house hunting, 2 months spent in temporary living, and a very strong desire to have living space and our things, we moved into our home. Our little corner of the world is perfect for us. We immediately made friends with the neighbors across the street who have a little girl about the same age as Brady. Their family has been a God send for us and we are blessed to have them as neighbors and friends. Our home is on top of a clothing store and we are just a few blocks from the Piazza. We are able to walk to anything we want. I usually drag a kid along every week to buy our fruit and veggies and our Salumeria (they sell cheese, lunch meat, and a few other grocery items) are across the street. Brady and Juliette come home with a stomach full of cookies, chocolate, lollypops, French fries (Juliette’s favorite), and some kind of fruit when we make the shopping rounds. Brady’s school is directly next door, so we walk to his school every day. Even though we live so close, we still have to leave 10 min. early to make it on time. What should take 45 seconds, takes, well, 10 minutes. We haven’t been able to improve Brady’s walking skills. After dinner we take an evening stroll to get gelato or cookies. Life is grand!
Playroom connected to the back of the living room Our big open kitchen!
Our very small cooking space! I made Thanksgiving dinner and lived to tell about it! The top cabinets are storage space, but only the small cabinet on the bottom right is storage. The large door next to the oven is the dishwasher. A little more storage is in the recessed cabinet on the far left.
My favorite part of the kitchen is this storage/ drying rack above the sink, Oh, and the dishwasher!
Sunroom
Guest room/ bathroom. Come on folks, we're ready for you! View from our back balcony
Perfect spot for a fire pit. We live next door to a cop, so hopefully those are legal!
Yes, that's laundry on the line and the bars above are for a canopy that can be lowered
Labels:
children,
Everyday days,
Family,
Italy,
Sicily
11.25.2011
Nurnberg, Germany
Today is the visit to the Nazi party fairgrounds in Nurnberg, Germany. We attempted the museum, but neither of our children were interested in learning some history. Greg said he needed 30 more minutes to really understand what he was looking at, and I have absolutely no idea what I saw. I saw some pictures of people marching, about 3 seconds of a video about something having to do with the Nazi party, and another 3 seconds of some video of ladies sitting at a table. The rest of my time at the museum consisted of pulling Brady off a map under a video screen, chasing Juliette out from behind exhibits, and getting her head unstuck from the same small space she tried to walk through 5 times (she’s a slow learner, and in my defense, I moved her farther and farther away each time but she kept running back to it).
So because I cannot tell you firsthand about the Nazi fairgrounds, I’ll tell you what my brochure says…
“The National Socialists first held Party Rallies in Nuremberg already in 1927 and 1929. From 1933 to 1939 they systematically extended the grounds around Dutzendteich lake for their annual Party Rallies. The area served as a location for the National Socialist cult, for the demonstration of power and the mobilization of the masses.”
After what we called a trip to the museum, we walked around the grounds outside. The changing leaves were truly beautiful. While Greg and I were talking about the enormity of the place and the extravagance in contrast to what Hitler put people through in the ghetto’s and concentration camps, Brady was on a nature walk. He collected all kinds of leaves and dirt- for making mud. He found a stick that became his “horn” proceeding to make a trumpet sound while holding it up to his lips and another stick that was his “pogo stick” jumping up and down while holding the stick. Oh to be completely unaware of the world around you!
Our day in Nurnberg was completed with a lunch at a stand selling sausage and schnitzel…two of our favorite things to eat in Germany! Now onto Prague, Czech Republic.
The audio tour was entertaining for about 2 minutes! Brady's "Horn"
The POGO stick
Congress Hall Zeppelin Field- Podium where Hitler gave speeches
So because I cannot tell you firsthand about the Nazi fairgrounds, I’ll tell you what my brochure says…
“The National Socialists first held Party Rallies in Nuremberg already in 1927 and 1929. From 1933 to 1939 they systematically extended the grounds around Dutzendteich lake for their annual Party Rallies. The area served as a location for the National Socialist cult, for the demonstration of power and the mobilization of the masses.”
After what we called a trip to the museum, we walked around the grounds outside. The changing leaves were truly beautiful. While Greg and I were talking about the enormity of the place and the extravagance in contrast to what Hitler put people through in the ghetto’s and concentration camps, Brady was on a nature walk. He collected all kinds of leaves and dirt- for making mud. He found a stick that became his “horn” proceeding to make a trumpet sound while holding it up to his lips and another stick that was his “pogo stick” jumping up and down while holding the stick. Oh to be completely unaware of the world around you!
Our day in Nurnberg was completed with a lunch at a stand selling sausage and schnitzel…two of our favorite things to eat in Germany! Now onto Prague, Czech Republic.
The audio tour was entertaining for about 2 minutes! Brady's "Horn"
The POGO stick
Congress Hall Zeppelin Field- Podium where Hitler gave speeches
11.05.2011
Vacation Bound!
“BEEEEP, BEEEEP, BEEEEP.” Oh no, wait, that’s what we were supposed to hear. Instead, we heard nothing. And so begins the first morning of our travels. Greg sat straight up waking me out of a deep sleep. I sleepily asked for the time, trying to figure it out by the brightness of the sun creeping through the shutters in our room. The answer was 7:20 am. On any normal day, this would have been a perfect time. Time enough for me to have a few quiet minutes before the daily routine began. However, on this day when we were supposed to be at the airport at 8:30 am, 7:20 was not perfect. Rushing a family of four out the door, into a parking lot we sometimes call a street, navigating through morning traffic (can I get a witness?!), actually finding the long term parking at the airport, much less a parking space, walking to the airport building (note prior posts about Brady’s walking skills), and finding the right flight desk all in a little over an hour is some kind of miracle. We didn’t make it in an hour, and I honestly can’t tell you the time anything happened after we woke up. It seemed to me to be fruitless to stress about the time because we couldn’t change anything.
We stood forever at the flight counter trying to check our luggage. Two lines were open when we got there. One family was on our right and one couple was in front of us. After standing there for quite some time, the line on the right just closed. The family at that counter hadn’t checked their bags or received their boarding passes, yet it apparently was very necessary to close the line. And so goes the Italian way. Finally, we are checked in and ready to head for security. We walk about 10 steps and get stopped by a line. I say “What’s this?” and Greg answers “the security line.” WHAT?! So we wait and wait, then finally begin to navigate through the roped lines. After about 45 min. a man behind us asked why we weren’t in the priority line. Oh, just because we felt it would be better to wait until the end of eternity with me carrying Juliette on my back and Brady swinging on the ropes like a monkey. It’s so nice we get to learn such wonderful new things each time we travel. First it was the toll road fee paid at a gas station, now it’s the fact that there is a priority security line. We work our way out of the “regular” line and bee line it straight for the priority line. The line was just as long! And so it goes with the Italian way, all kinds of people were in the priority line. I didn’t see any signs about who exactly belonged in the line, so there was a collection of families with children, older couples, young adults, pretty much anyone who wanted to be there.
Making it through security we rush to the terminal convinced we missed the flight. Two people were having their boarding pass scanned as we ran up. Whooo-hooo! We weren’t the only ones! Then we get on a bus and wait and wait. After a few more people showed up, the bus took off toward the plane. Thankfully we were in the first seats so I didn’t have to knock everyone in the head with my backpack and worry about Juliette grabbing everyone’s hair on the way to our seats. I’m sure the people would have really loved us doing all this after we had made them wait on the tarmac in a full plane. We actually had to wait for some more people to show up, so it was a blessing we weren’t on time.
The flight went off without a hitch and we made it to Frankfurt, Germany! Our rental car was at a different terminal, so it was going to take 30 min. to get it to us. Where is the first place we go in Germany? To see Mr. McDonald’s! There was a cool playground complete with a ball room. You know the kind, the multi-colored balls dripping with germs and who knows what else that the kids love to roll around in. Brady was over the moon because he was able to do some ballroom dancing. He’s convinced that “ballroom dancing” is dancing in a room filled with balls.
Locating the car was easy enough and the whole thing would have been no problem, except Brady decided to color on the car with his yellow crayon. He got the lecture that we only color on paper. Does the car look like paper? NO! An unnecessary amount of drama followed because he had his crayon taken away and he said he just “thought it was a great idea.”
Ok, finally, we are on our way to Nurnberg (Nurenberg or also Nuernberg), Germany. This is a grand road trip! Juliette is asleep, Brady is rotting his brain away watching a movie, and we are enjoying the peace. We stop for a few minutes so Brady and I can get some snacks. Greg comes in holding Juliette stating he needed to change her diaper. A few minutes later he comes out with her lying across his hands on her stomach, like a turkey platter. The simple statement “she blew it up” said everything I needed to know. She had to be stripped down and changed standing up. Outfit number 1 was no longer in use.
Our lodging in Nurnberg was an apartment a family rented out. This is ideal because there is plenty of space for all of us and we aren’t all sleeping in the same room (the same room is a problem because some people go to bed at 7:30pm, some at 11, babies wake up in the middle of the night- waking everyone up… you get the picture).
We walked to dinner at a small restaurant not far from the apartment and met an interesting woman. She was born and raised about a block from the Beirgarten where we were eating. She met her husband who was an American GI during the occupation and later moved to Illinois with him and lived there until she had to return to care for her sick mother. So, it was an interesting chance encounter to meet another American in this small Beirgarten, but she was able to tell us fantastic stories of Nurnberg in the 30’s and 40’s. We told her we were going to the Nazi Party Fairgrounds the next day and she told us of remembering when huge crowds would come to town for the rallies. Then told us of the firebombings of the city and how she and her cousin had firefighting duties, and once had to throw a burning couch out of her aunts fourth floor apartment and on another occasion found an unexploded bomb behind their woodstove and having to carry it off to a pond the German government had built to dispose of unexploded ordnance. She told other stories of the allies taking and occupying the city, life as a German wife in America, and other fantastic stories including going to family reunions in Huntsville, Alabama where her brother-in-law moved and raised his family (where I was born and still have family living there). It always amazes me how small this world is!
I was happy to have this day come to an end and was excited to see what adventures lurked around the corner!
We stood forever at the flight counter trying to check our luggage. Two lines were open when we got there. One family was on our right and one couple was in front of us. After standing there for quite some time, the line on the right just closed. The family at that counter hadn’t checked their bags or received their boarding passes, yet it apparently was very necessary to close the line. And so goes the Italian way. Finally, we are checked in and ready to head for security. We walk about 10 steps and get stopped by a line. I say “What’s this?” and Greg answers “the security line.” WHAT?! So we wait and wait, then finally begin to navigate through the roped lines. After about 45 min. a man behind us asked why we weren’t in the priority line. Oh, just because we felt it would be better to wait until the end of eternity with me carrying Juliette on my back and Brady swinging on the ropes like a monkey. It’s so nice we get to learn such wonderful new things each time we travel. First it was the toll road fee paid at a gas station, now it’s the fact that there is a priority security line. We work our way out of the “regular” line and bee line it straight for the priority line. The line was just as long! And so it goes with the Italian way, all kinds of people were in the priority line. I didn’t see any signs about who exactly belonged in the line, so there was a collection of families with children, older couples, young adults, pretty much anyone who wanted to be there.
Making it through security we rush to the terminal convinced we missed the flight. Two people were having their boarding pass scanned as we ran up. Whooo-hooo! We weren’t the only ones! Then we get on a bus and wait and wait. After a few more people showed up, the bus took off toward the plane. Thankfully we were in the first seats so I didn’t have to knock everyone in the head with my backpack and worry about Juliette grabbing everyone’s hair on the way to our seats. I’m sure the people would have really loved us doing all this after we had made them wait on the tarmac in a full plane. We actually had to wait for some more people to show up, so it was a blessing we weren’t on time.
The flight went off without a hitch and we made it to Frankfurt, Germany! Our rental car was at a different terminal, so it was going to take 30 min. to get it to us. Where is the first place we go in Germany? To see Mr. McDonald’s! There was a cool playground complete with a ball room. You know the kind, the multi-colored balls dripping with germs and who knows what else that the kids love to roll around in. Brady was over the moon because he was able to do some ballroom dancing. He’s convinced that “ballroom dancing” is dancing in a room filled with balls.
Locating the car was easy enough and the whole thing would have been no problem, except Brady decided to color on the car with his yellow crayon. He got the lecture that we only color on paper. Does the car look like paper? NO! An unnecessary amount of drama followed because he had his crayon taken away and he said he just “thought it was a great idea.”
Ok, finally, we are on our way to Nurnberg (Nurenberg or also Nuernberg), Germany. This is a grand road trip! Juliette is asleep, Brady is rotting his brain away watching a movie, and we are enjoying the peace. We stop for a few minutes so Brady and I can get some snacks. Greg comes in holding Juliette stating he needed to change her diaper. A few minutes later he comes out with her lying across his hands on her stomach, like a turkey platter. The simple statement “she blew it up” said everything I needed to know. She had to be stripped down and changed standing up. Outfit number 1 was no longer in use.
Our lodging in Nurnberg was an apartment a family rented out. This is ideal because there is plenty of space for all of us and we aren’t all sleeping in the same room (the same room is a problem because some people go to bed at 7:30pm, some at 11, babies wake up in the middle of the night- waking everyone up… you get the picture).
We walked to dinner at a small restaurant not far from the apartment and met an interesting woman. She was born and raised about a block from the Beirgarten where we were eating. She met her husband who was an American GI during the occupation and later moved to Illinois with him and lived there until she had to return to care for her sick mother. So, it was an interesting chance encounter to meet another American in this small Beirgarten, but she was able to tell us fantastic stories of Nurnberg in the 30’s and 40’s. We told her we were going to the Nazi Party Fairgrounds the next day and she told us of remembering when huge crowds would come to town for the rallies. Then told us of the firebombings of the city and how she and her cousin had firefighting duties, and once had to throw a burning couch out of her aunts fourth floor apartment and on another occasion found an unexploded bomb behind their woodstove and having to carry it off to a pond the German government had built to dispose of unexploded ordnance. She told other stories of the allies taking and occupying the city, life as a German wife in America, and other fantastic stories including going to family reunions in Huntsville, Alabama where her brother-in-law moved and raised his family (where I was born and still have family living there). It always amazes me how small this world is!
I was happy to have this day come to an end and was excited to see what adventures lurked around the corner!
10.23.2011
Calabria, Italy
REWIND… It’s July 4th weekend. While people are preparing for cookouts, watermelon, American flags, and fireworks, we are on the ferry bound for Calabria, Italy. In order to board the ferry, you must, of course, have a ticket. We drive into a line and people start jumping out of their cars to go buy a ticket. Greg was driving, so that left me to do the deed. At this point, my Italian is, well, I don’t know Italian. I can say hello, good-bye, I can point, and have become a master at charades. I stand in line at the ticket counter, which is really pointless because lines don’t mean much here. Three people jump ahead of me and while I’m standing at the counter a man behind me sticks his hand in front of me and yells over my shoulder effectively taking care of his business. I told the man I needed a ticket (I rehearsed the word for “ticket” over and over in my head while walking to the booth) and then he asks me a question. I feel that blank look come over my face. I know the feel of the look very well at this point because I get it quite often. In the end, I manage to buy a ticket that gets us across.
We drive onto the ferry and eat some terrible food on our 15 minute journey. After arriving in mainland Italy we look back at our island home. Strange feeling! We drive for a few hours and arrive at the agriturismo just in time for lunch! We sit down and they start bringing us food. No menu, no idea about what’s coming, just trusting that it will all work out ok! Boy does it work out ok! We ate some delicious food and I was very excited about what was to come during our stay. Our room is small with an attached bathroom. We are able to fit a bed, a cot, and a pack and play successfully in the room, what more do you need?
Having some time to kill before dinner (which started at 9pm), we headed for the beach. Everyone had a fun time, but Greg got water duty… it was too cold for me! We made our way back through the olive grove only to hear upon our return at the agriturismo, we didn’t have any hot water in our room! They assured us that if it wasn’t fixed by sometime tomorrow, they would move us to a different room. If a shower was necessary, we were free to use the outdoor shower area next to the pool. How kind!
The next day we took a drive trying to find a water park. We found it, but it didn’t open until August. That doesn’t work out very well when you are there in July. The manager at the agriturismo had told us about a nice town with a castle (not that unusual) so off we went. There’s not much to report… a nice town, great lunch, cool castle out in the water. There was still no hot water in our room, so we moved into a very nice room in the main building. Dinner, again, was amazing and this time we enjoyed our time with a family from Malta. It’s always fun to meet new people! We had a great weekend and I highly recommend staying at an agriturismo. The experience was unique, the food was great, the atmosphere was quaint, and you felt like family.
P.S.- Greg bought our return ticket!
Juliette loves food! She finishes her plate, then eats what's left on Brady's plate!
Before...
After.
Lunch and Dinner were served under the tents
We drive onto the ferry and eat some terrible food on our 15 minute journey. After arriving in mainland Italy we look back at our island home. Strange feeling! We drive for a few hours and arrive at the agriturismo just in time for lunch! We sit down and they start bringing us food. No menu, no idea about what’s coming, just trusting that it will all work out ok! Boy does it work out ok! We ate some delicious food and I was very excited about what was to come during our stay. Our room is small with an attached bathroom. We are able to fit a bed, a cot, and a pack and play successfully in the room, what more do you need?
Having some time to kill before dinner (which started at 9pm), we headed for the beach. Everyone had a fun time, but Greg got water duty… it was too cold for me! We made our way back through the olive grove only to hear upon our return at the agriturismo, we didn’t have any hot water in our room! They assured us that if it wasn’t fixed by sometime tomorrow, they would move us to a different room. If a shower was necessary, we were free to use the outdoor shower area next to the pool. How kind!
The next day we took a drive trying to find a water park. We found it, but it didn’t open until August. That doesn’t work out very well when you are there in July. The manager at the agriturismo had told us about a nice town with a castle (not that unusual) so off we went. There’s not much to report… a nice town, great lunch, cool castle out in the water. There was still no hot water in our room, so we moved into a very nice room in the main building. Dinner, again, was amazing and this time we enjoyed our time with a family from Malta. It’s always fun to meet new people! We had a great weekend and I highly recommend staying at an agriturismo. The experience was unique, the food was great, the atmosphere was quaint, and you felt like family.
P.S.- Greg bought our return ticket!
Juliette loves food! She finishes her plate, then eats what's left on Brady's plate!
Before...
After.
Our Room
The library/ sitting room Lunch and Dinner were served under the tents
10.19.2011
Partenkirchen- Garmisch, Germany- Last day of vacation
For the final day of our vacation, we decided it would be ok to take a 4 hour guided tour trip through Partenkirchen- Garmisch. This was where we were staying, so not much travel was involved- at least not much car travel. But oh, why didn’t I consider we were going to be on walking tours? I have mentioned before, and will mention again- because it’s necessary to know- We have quite possibly the slowest walker in the world living in our house. Brady takes his time wherever we go. He not only walks VERY slowly, he also gets distracted by rocks, sign poles, leaves, pretty much everything. He just lives in Brady World and is oblivious to his surroundings. It’s just something that makes Brady special! Anyways, we went through town and took a walking tour through Partenkirchen. Originally, Garmisch and Partenkirchen were two separate towns. Hitler decided that he wanted the two towns to unite for the 1939 Olympics. Neither town wanted to, but an ultimatum was given… Unite or the town leaders were going to be sent to Dachau Concentration Camp. So was born Partenkirchen-Garmisch.
Our second stop was the 1939 Olympic stadium. It was so small! I wouldn’t be surprised if the athletes didn’t fit inside the stadium today. Greg and Brady rode the summer bobsled ride. Brady loved it!
It was off to Garmisch for another walking tour. We meandered through the farmer’s market and had a delicious lunch. On the way to the van, we walked through a wellness park and I took part in a Bavarian foot bath. First you walk through ice cold water, flowing down from the top of a glacier. I’m talking ICE COLD. Then you walk a path with different sections- rocks, bark, small gravel, and wood beams. The idea is that if the feet are healthy, the rest of your body will be also. Stimulating the soles of your feet with the various textures promotes foot health.
We took one final walking tour with some beautiful views of homes and the Alps. Unfortunately, my camera battery bit the dust, so I don’t have many pictures. Walking tour+ Brady’s walking skills + naptime= we were ready to get home!
This vacation was amazing! We are so blessed to have the chance to travel and I don’t ever want to take it for granted.
Our second stop was the 1939 Olympic stadium. It was so small! I wouldn’t be surprised if the athletes didn’t fit inside the stadium today. Greg and Brady rode the summer bobsled ride. Brady loved it!
It was off to Garmisch for another walking tour. We meandered through the farmer’s market and had a delicious lunch. On the way to the van, we walked through a wellness park and I took part in a Bavarian foot bath. First you walk through ice cold water, flowing down from the top of a glacier. I’m talking ICE COLD. Then you walk a path with different sections- rocks, bark, small gravel, and wood beams. The idea is that if the feet are healthy, the rest of your body will be also. Stimulating the soles of your feet with the various textures promotes foot health.
We took one final walking tour with some beautiful views of homes and the Alps. Unfortunately, my camera battery bit the dust, so I don’t have many pictures. Walking tour+ Brady’s walking skills + naptime= we were ready to get home!
This vacation was amazing! We are so blessed to have the chance to travel and I don’t ever want to take it for granted.
10.13.2011
Day at the Munich Zoo
This was the mandatory fun zoo day. Who doesn't love spending time with family and looking at all the animals at the zoo? Brady doesn't. Yes, my 4 year old was totally unimpressed with the Munich zoo. The day was saved when he played on a giant playground and wrode the electric car. Oh yeah, the crocodiles, flamingoes, and penguins were ok too.
Juliette's so excited, she's pointing to grass!
Brady LOVES climbing trees.
This guy wasn't waiting for someone to buy him food! Biggest smile of the day!
Juliette's so excited, she's pointing to grass!
Brady LOVES climbing trees.
This guy wasn't waiting for someone to buy him food! Biggest smile of the day!
Me vs. Flying Insect
We have had a few flies and mosquitoes make themselves at home here in our house. I was reminded of an encounter I had while in Germany, as I was swatting at a fly on the kitchen table, missing the fly, and sending peas soaring across the room.
The kids were finally in bed and Greg followed closely behind while I finished up some catch-up blogging. We had the door open most of the evening because our cabin gets hot and we were letting some of the cool night air in. At the time it seemed like a great idea until a HUGE flying insect started bouncing around the lights. I don’t know what it was, but it looked dangerous to me. Armed with a fly swatter and a broom- I’m not really sure why the broom, but it seemed necessary at the moment- I began swatting at my cabin invader. In an ideal world, I would have swatted once and the monster would have been taken down, however, we do not live in an ideal world and I have terrible aim. So I continue swatting hoping I’ll make it dizzy or I’ll just hit it in the air and my problem will be handled. I did hit it and it disappeared. I searched the ground and then stood very still hoping it was dead, but waiting for it to reappear. Nothing happened. I sat down at my computer and continued typing. This bugger started coming out from behind my computer. With the trusty fly swatter at my side, I quickly began making work to hit the thing. Again, I have terrible aim, so my great plan didn’t work. Instead of killing it, I injured it, this means that instead of bouncing from light to light it began bouncing from floor to my eye level. In an ideal world, Greg would have come to my rescue and slayed the monster, showing his bravery and love for me. However, we do not live in an ideal world and Greg continued to snore in the next room. I found it again on the floor, attempted to hit it, I think I hit a leaf and then had no idea where it was. Now it was certainly possible the monster was in the bedroom. All I could do was pray a hedge of protection around us while we slept, praying we wouldn’t get bitten and that it wouldn’t take it’s revenge on me while I slept.
9.25.2011
Dachau Concentration Camp, Pt. 2
This isn't pretty. This isn't the breathtaking Alps or the bright green grass, home to sheep roaming the hills. This is history, the ugly truth. I do not have any graphic pictures, but it is not hard to imagine. The thickness in the air, the smell, the billow of smoke rising behind the trees, meant to be hidden from view.
This was the original building built for the cremetorium. It quickly became too small.
Instead of ending the cruelty and murder, they built a larger one.
This statue is the “Unknown Inmate” with the inscription translated something like “To honor the dead, to warn the living.”
I don’t have the answers to how something like this could happen. I don’t know how SS soldiers slept at night. I don’t know where the line in the sand was drawn. I don’t know why so many people were murdered. I know this was a terrible tragedy in history. I know that people should never be treated this way. I know it is my responsibility to stand up to injustice. I know I will never forget.
This was the original building built for the cremetorium. It quickly became too small.
Instead of ending the cruelty and murder, they built a larger one.
This statue is the “Unknown Inmate” with the inscription translated something like “To honor the dead, to warn the living.”
I don’t have the answers to how something like this could happen. I don’t know how SS soldiers slept at night. I don’t know where the line in the sand was drawn. I don’t know why so many people were murdered. I know this was a terrible tragedy in history. I know that people should never be treated this way. I know it is my responsibility to stand up to injustice. I know I will never forget.
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