![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/image15.jpg\")
<\/a>Guard Tower at Sachenhausen<\/p><\/div>\n
All of Day 3 is essentially used up getting on the boat and to seeing how well our \u2018Unlimited Drink Package\u2019<\/strong> works. We take a bus from the hotel to the port, get on our ship, the Star<\/strong>, and head to one of 15 or so bars on board. Sorry, I\u2019d like to tell you more about it, but I don\u2019t really remember too much more after that. But I do know that Norwegian Cruise Lines<\/strong> got the raw end of the deal when they allowed each of us couples to purchase unlimited cocktails for 9 days for only $250. We spent that before we waved goodbye to The Little Mermaid.<\/p>\n The morning of Day 4 we cruised into the port of Warnemunde, Gemany<\/strong>, where we got on a train and went to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp<\/strong>, which is about an hour outside of Berlin. I\u2019m sure most of you have read accounts or seen movies or documentaries on TV about German concentration camps. \u00a0I will tell you, and those who have been to one know this, it is noting like being there. The feeling I got as we were toured around the camp and told the many gruesome and heartbreaking stories, was visceral.\u00a0\u00a0 As I stared out over the expansive grounds, saw the weathered watchtowers where machine guns mowed down anyone trying to escape and learned of the harsh day-to-day agony that these people went through, I tried to imagine myself experiencing what they went through. We visited the gas chambers and crematorium, saw the gallows where dissidents were publicly hanged and walked through the barracks to see the unlivable living conditions in which the prisoners lived. I could not imagine this example of man\u2019s inhumanity to man, and yet, it wasn\u2019t that long ago. These Nazi bastards were some sick sons-of-bitches.<\/p>\n Sachsenhausen<\/strong> was not just a camp for Jews<\/strong>, it held any enemy of the state, foreign and domestic, which included gypsies, homosexuals, the handicapped, enemy soldiers and essentially anyone who was not in lock step with the Third Reich. It was a very moving and disturbing experience.<\/p>\n After nearly three hours there, we got on our bus and continued on into Berlin<\/strong> where we made several stops along the Berlin Wall<\/strong>, including \u2018Check Point Charlie\u2019 <\/strong>which is now Tourist Trap Charlie<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 As we traveled along \u2018The Wall\u2019<\/strong>, our guide told us of the many stories of families being separated and people being shot as they tried to escape East Germany<\/strong>. We toured through the city stopping at several iconic landmarks like the Brandenburg Gate<\/strong>, the Reichstag <\/strong>government building and the Holocaust Memorial<\/strong>. Because much of Berlin<\/strong> was destroyed during the war, many of the buildings are new and the city was bustling with both locals and tourists. But for me, the atrocities of Sachsenhasen<\/strong> still lingered and hung like a dark cloud over the rest of the day.<\/p>\n The \u2018Unlimited Drink Package\u2019<\/strong> came in handy as we arrived back at the ship for dinner.<\/p>\n Next: Day 4-5-6 Estonia and Russia<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow All of Day 3 is essentially used up getting on the boat and to seeing how well our \u2018Unlimited Drink Package\u2019 works. We take a bus from the hotel to the port, get on our ship, the … read more