CLICK HERE to view the pictures from my weekend in the Netherlands
Hello all,
Last Friday was our last day doing camp at Slim School in Bergen. It was sad to say goodbye to the kids. This week it was off to a new location in Fallingbostel, another British base about a 30 minute drive from camp in Hohne.
So far camp has gone pretty well for the few days we've been in "Fallie" (that's what the Brits call it). Our facility is a bit difficult to work with, but we are adjusting to the new changes the best that we can. Just a week and a half of camp left!
Let's talk about my last weekend in the Netherlands shall we!
Well we left early Saturday morning instead of Friday this time, but got into Utrecht, Netherlands around noon. Utrecht was where our hostel was for the night, and let me just say, it was an experience! Our hostel was super sketch... first of all when you enter the front door on street level you have to climb about three flights of probably the steepest and skinniest stairs I have ever seen, just to get to the main lobby, which was pretty much just a living room :). We slept in a 16 bed mixed dorm and it was truly an experience. I slept well though haha
There was a "Summer Darkness Gothic Festival" going on that weekend in Utrecht, so it was quite the sight waking up to men squeezing into these elaborate black leather outfits in the morning. I could never be a "Goth," that's too much work!
Anyways, we spent Saturday in Utrecht and it was a very cool little city, with lots of canals and cellar bars and restaurants tucked in along the canals. The main focal point of the city was the huge Gothic Cathedral and Tower which is the tallest tower in all of Holland. I really wanted to climb it, but when I went to climb it the place had closed just 3 minutes before I got there :(. Anyways, we just explored the city, took a canal cruise and ate a nice Italian meal at a restaurant on the canal. It was a nice break from the fast pace of Berlin.
We woke up early on Sunday morning, checked out of our hostel and took a 25 minute train ride to Amsterdam, where we were to spend the day. The weather wasn't so great, pretty gloomy, but the city was beautiful. When we arrived in Amsterdam we made our way straight to the Anne Frank House. I was a bit skeptical about waiting in line to go inside, but I'm so glad we did because it was a very interesting experience. It was amazing to see where her family had hid from the Nazis for two years before being captured and sent to concentration camps. Also, I don't know if you remember me mentioning this in another post, but Anne Frank died in a concentration camp (Bergen-Belsen) just down the road from where I'm living... So it was really quite surreal to experience a piece of her life first hand.
After the Anne Frank house we ate brunch at this little pancake house, that at the time we were there, happened to be filled with American tourists. None the less, the food was great! After brunch we explored the main city center, bought some souvenirs and on our way back to the train station walked through the red light district... You can't go to Amsterdam without at least walking down this strip. It's all that it's talked up to be... just not my cup of tea :/
After that it was back on the train to Celle, and once again another great weekend trip. However, we had some train trouble on the way home, it took us 7 hours, but we made it back safe. Off to Paris this weekend!
Until next time,
Auf Wiedersehen!
Ps. I came across a stone engraving of a swastika and Adolf Hitler's signature signed in 1933 today on base. It was quite surreal to think that Hitler once visited the place that I'm living right now. Hohne Garrison was once a German military base home to multiple Panzer divisions during the second world war. The British liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the base in 1945 and have occupied it ever since.
Last Friday was our last day doing camp at Slim School in Bergen. It was sad to say goodbye to the kids. This week it was off to a new location in Fallingbostel, another British base about a 30 minute drive from camp in Hohne.
So far camp has gone pretty well for the few days we've been in "Fallie" (that's what the Brits call it). Our facility is a bit difficult to work with, but we are adjusting to the new changes the best that we can. Just a week and a half of camp left!
Let's talk about my last weekend in the Netherlands shall we!
Well we left early Saturday morning instead of Friday this time, but got into Utrecht, Netherlands around noon. Utrecht was where our hostel was for the night, and let me just say, it was an experience! Our hostel was super sketch... first of all when you enter the front door on street level you have to climb about three flights of probably the steepest and skinniest stairs I have ever seen, just to get to the main lobby, which was pretty much just a living room :). We slept in a 16 bed mixed dorm and it was truly an experience. I slept well though haha
There was a "Summer Darkness Gothic Festival" going on that weekend in Utrecht, so it was quite the sight waking up to men squeezing into these elaborate black leather outfits in the morning. I could never be a "Goth," that's too much work!
Anyways, we spent Saturday in Utrecht and it was a very cool little city, with lots of canals and cellar bars and restaurants tucked in along the canals. The main focal point of the city was the huge Gothic Cathedral and Tower which is the tallest tower in all of Holland. I really wanted to climb it, but when I went to climb it the place had closed just 3 minutes before I got there :(. Anyways, we just explored the city, took a canal cruise and ate a nice Italian meal at a restaurant on the canal. It was a nice break from the fast pace of Berlin.
We woke up early on Sunday morning, checked out of our hostel and took a 25 minute train ride to Amsterdam, where we were to spend the day. The weather wasn't so great, pretty gloomy, but the city was beautiful. When we arrived in Amsterdam we made our way straight to the Anne Frank House. I was a bit skeptical about waiting in line to go inside, but I'm so glad we did because it was a very interesting experience. It was amazing to see where her family had hid from the Nazis for two years before being captured and sent to concentration camps. Also, I don't know if you remember me mentioning this in another post, but Anne Frank died in a concentration camp (Bergen-Belsen) just down the road from where I'm living... So it was really quite surreal to experience a piece of her life first hand.
After the Anne Frank house we ate brunch at this little pancake house, that at the time we were there, happened to be filled with American tourists. None the less, the food was great! After brunch we explored the main city center, bought some souvenirs and on our way back to the train station walked through the red light district... You can't go to Amsterdam without at least walking down this strip. It's all that it's talked up to be... just not my cup of tea :/
After that it was back on the train to Celle, and once again another great weekend trip. However, we had some train trouble on the way home, it took us 7 hours, but we made it back safe. Off to Paris this weekend!
Until next time,
Auf Wiedersehen!
Ps. I came across a stone engraving of a swastika and Adolf Hitler's signature signed in 1933 today on base. It was quite surreal to think that Hitler once visited the place that I'm living right now. Hohne Garrison was once a German military base home to multiple Panzer divisions during the second world war. The British liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the base in 1945 and have occupied it ever since.
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