Day 2: Frankfurt, Weimar, Buchenwald, Berlin

I woke up Dad at 6:30 a.m. and we went down to the breakfast buffet, which was quite nice: crepes, croissants, potatoes, bacon, yogurt, fruit, etc. We checked out and made one final shuttle trip to the airport, then took the S-Bahn to Frankfurt’s main train station. Took a Deutsche Bahn train to Weimar, which is a cute sleepy little town. Got to see lots of German scenery on the way there. Walked around Weimar a bit to kill time until bus to Buchenwald.

After a short bus trip, we arrived at the Buchenwald Memorial and bought a video/audio tour—an interactive guide using a PDA. First we saw the railway station built to bring in prisoners, then walked to the Belltower/GDR Memorial—a grand memorial with huge stone monuments, circular walls surrounding mass grave pits, a series of pillars representing the countries of people killed at the camp, and a giant tower, all with a terrific view of the surrounding countryside. We walked back down to the main camp area, and visited several interesting sights, including the camp gate (featuring the motto “Jedem Das Seine” [“to each his own,” or more sinisterly, “everyone gets what’s coming to him”]), the crematorium, and even the remains of a zoo built by the SS right next to the camp fence. Overall, it was a couple of hours that both shook and reconfirmed my belief in the potential of humans.

Another bus trip later, and we were back on the train, this time to Berlin and our first night in the upside-down room. We arrived in Berlin by 7:30 p.m. and were immediately impressed by the huge and buzzing train station. After taking a little time to get our bearings, we got train passes (though a train drivers’ strike is supposed to start tonight at midnight, with uncertain effects on our ability to get around) and took a quick S-Bahn train to Charlottenburg station. A few minutes walk (the first part of which passed through what seems to be the erotic store area of the city) brought us to our hotel. It seems we were expected at 4 p.m., and got a lecture from the guy who let us in. But now we’re here in our upside-down room, which is pretty much as we pictured it: carpet floor tiles, a bed, a lamp, a table, and a few chairs on the ceiling, with the floor seemingly bare. Opening trapdoors reveals beds and seating areas with side- and underlighting. What I didn’t expect was the “atmosphere creator,” a device with six different sound channels, from a trance-music-style insistent beat to cricket noises. The bathroom was also a surprise, with lots of exposed fixtures and no enclosure for the shower—just a heavy plastic sheet hanging from the ceiling and a drain in the middle of the room. I, of course, like the industrial feel, and sleeping below floor level is quite the experience...