The wait is over

Finally I got my act together to start blogging again. My humblest apologies for all those who had to wait sooo long between this post and the last. It's been very hectic with my parents visiting me and all the major assignments I've had to hand in. The end of my assignment hell is not yet in sight, but I'm pushing through and am confident I'll get through it and be a better person for it;-)

Below are some photos taken last week at some of the places I visited with my parents. The foges (as my parents will from now on be known as) arrived on Sat, 20 Jan. The first couple of days were spent getting to know Hamburg. On the third day we visited our first concentration camp (KZ) - Neuengamme, just outside Hamburg, which was also the largest KZ in north western Germany. For those who don't know, there is a difference between the death camps (which were mostly situated in Poland) and KZs. At the KZs the prisoners had to work and they basically starved to death. Also, although most of those imprisoned at these camps were Jews, other nationalities/races were also represented. In Neuengamme Russian, Belgian, Greek and Slovak (to name a few) non-jews died. The place doesn't have as much atmosphere as I had expected, but the numerous exhibits were quite moving. It gave one an idea of what life was like in the camps - what people had to go through during those difficult times. I'm planning to go back there before I leave Hamburg since it's impossible to take everything in after one visit. It was heartening that there were school children, who seemed to have tasks they had to perform which required them to get information from the exhibits. It shows that there are serious efforts for Germans not to forget this terrible time in their history.

The next day we visited an old haunt of mine: Lübeck. Lübeck is a lovely old city, old being relative, since the old buildings had to be restored after the bombing during the 2nd world war. It was a lovely day, sunny and cold with snow everywhere. It was a different experience to see the city wearing its "winter coat". However, I'll let the pictures convey the winter beauty of Lübeck.

It was strange that the week that my parents were in Hamburg, was the only week we really had winter. Sub-zero temperatures prevailed and the snow was a great experience for my parents. After it started snowing last Wednesday we went out in the dark and walked in the snow so that the foges could get up close and personal with the snow. It was a wonderful experience and I'm glad the foges were there to share the moment with me.

I have to return to my assignments now. However, you can look forward to a post and pictures about Copenhagen - the most nothernly city I've ever visited. It will also be the most northernly European country I'll be visiting. The world out there is too flat and monotonous (unless there's snow) for me to be curious enough to venture up there again.

Ciao