Arcen, Netherlands, September 2025, Part Two

 The weather seemed to be against us much of the time, but we took advantage of one nice day to drive about 20 minutes south to Venlo, the closest big city. And we loved it!

We parked at the central underground parking garage, right in the middle of the city center. First stop was an outdoor market area with all kinds of things, including eggs and cheese.

For non-German speakers, this sign says Uncle Jacob has the biggest eggs in Venlo, (Uncle Jacob being the owner of the booth). "Eier" (eggs) is slang for testicles.

We took a nice long walk down the street -- purely pedestrian zone, how lovely -- and saw all kinds of things.

"9 out of 20 love chocolate, and the tenth one is lying."

The City Hall was built between 1597 and 1601. It is a national memorial

And given my professional background, this statement on the pavement of the pedestrian zone nautrally caught my attention. "Stores open, cyclists walk".

Arcen, Netherlands, September 2025

We decided to get away for a few days, and chose a new (to us) place in the Netherlands. The Resort Arcen is in North Limburg, about an hour drive, and practically on the German border. In fact, the closest stores were in Germany (although we drove a bit further and hit the Dutch shops, always a pleasure.)

It is in fact a relatively large park, with, as far as I could tell, few amenities or attractions.

The house we had selected had definite advantages. The living area was wonderful. There were two bedrooms, each with a full bath, although the bedrooms were small. There was also a half bath. The biggest advantage was the hedge surrounding the patio area, so that Anton could run there freely. There was parking for one car directly at the house, with the other parking place about a 30 second walk away.

The living area was modern and light. 

We even had a little visitor!

Anton felt right at home. 

One night we picked up pizza for dinner from the park restaurant, and it was truly outstanding.

Norbert and Lucas explored the area with Anton. 

There was no view to speak of from the house, because of the hedge, but we did get some sunset colours.

Hard to tell from those photos, but on the whole the weather was not cooperative with our plans to be out and about, a situation which unfortunately lasted the whole autumn.

We hit the two big Netherlands supermarket chains, Albert Hein and Jumbo. Nice to find some familiar products. 

Baltic Sea and More, May 2025 -- last days

After touring the camp, we had hoped to eat at the cafe in the museum on-site. It was, however, absolutely overflowing with teenagers, and there would have been no possibility of finding a seat.

So we went out to the little cafe/Imbiss (snackbar) by the parking lot. I had a bratwurst with fries, Norbert must have had something similar.

We then headed south, in the direction of Berlin, and our hotel for the evening. It was the "zur krummen Linde" Gasthof and Hotel, in Stolpe, a village to the northwest of Berlin. Like our previous Gasthof, one got the impression from the websites that it was in the country, while both of them were actually in older residential areas in villages.

We had a nice room with windows on two sides, and much nicer furniture than in your usual hotel room.

We ate there, and all I can say is that was adequate. Afterwards we went for a walk. This is at the front. The name of the hotel means "at the crooked Linden (tree) and you can see how it got the name.

Of course Norbert had to test the local beer. 

Breakfast was, again, adequate, nothing more. I guess we were spoiled by the wonderful breakfast buffet at our hotel in Graal-Müritz.

We then drove around Berlin to Königs-Wusterhausen, a suburb to the southeast, This town was the reason for this whole trip. Norbert's hobby is repairing and restoring old tube radios, and the group he belongs to meets once or twice a year. Königs-Wusterhausen was the site of Germany's first radio transmitter (1920) and the building is still open.

We arrived at the hotel too early to check in, but ran into several other group members, so we all had a good visit. We had a nice big room, with a large sitting area but twin beds instead of a double. 

It was time for a late lunch, so we strolled first toward the K-W Hunting Lodge and Garden, now a museum. 

We walked around it and found a lovely wooded and water area.

This led us to the Mühlencafe (Mill Cafe) and yes, it is located in an old water-driven mill. The first mill on this location dates from 1375! It has a unique and modern menu. They were actually still serving late breakfast, so I had this pancake sandwich. Two pancakes with 2 or 3 small bratwurst (sausages) in getwen, and topped with a fried egg. So unusual and good!

In the later afternoon we went up (literally, it was on top of a hill) to the Transmission and Radio Technology Museum on the Funkerberg. Unfortunately, the location proved to be a bad choice for most attendees. It is an old industrial building with few to no facilities, like heat or rest rooms. At some point I told Norbert that I was going back to the hotel, which I did.

I also did not attend the next day. I had a lazy morning in the room, and then took off in search of lunch. I headed back to the Mühlencafe but it was closed for a private party. So I wandered a bit further and was beginning to give up hope when I saw a sign that said Imbiss with an arrow.

I followed the arrow and found a small food truck with the inevitable bratwurst and fries, which were quite good. And it had a lovely location, right on the water!

Went back to the hotel room and watched a bit of whatever cycling race was on. Norbert joined me during the afternoon, saying even he didn't want to put up with it any longer.

This is the hotel. The building to the left is the related restaurant. We ate dinner there, and it too did not live up to expectations.

The next day was Sunday and we made the long drive home. All in all it was a satisfactory trip. After our road trip in Canada and North Dakota in August 2024, we wanted to make a road trip here, and all worked out well. We saw several place that we had always been interested in seeing, so we can cross them off our list.

Baltic Sea and More, part 4 -- the Concentration Camp

January 2025 saw the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps in Germany. We watched the tv coverage of the events, and when we were planning this trip, Norbert said he would like to visit one of the memorials.

So on the Thursday morning, we left the Müritz area and drove about an hour and a half south to Oranienburg, just north of Berlin.

The Gedankstätte and Museum Sachsenhausen is the site of the Sachsenhausen Kz (Konzentrationslager) a concentration camp. It was operated by the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. Overall it held more than 200,000 prisoners, with more than 30,000 killed on site. After the war, the Soviets took it over and used it until 1950. Around 60,000 people were held there over the five years, and at least 12,000 died of disease and malnutrition.

It is now operated by a foundation and is open free of charge. 

Guard tower.

The guard house and main entrance to the camp itself.

This the "neutral zone". Wikipedia tells us, "The neutral zone was located between the camp wall and the prisoners' camp. Between the zone and the wall was a trip wire, cheval de frise, barbed-wire obstacles, an electrified barbed-wire fence, and a sentry path"

And if that wasn't enough, this sign warns that anyone found there would be shot on sight,

Of the many barracks, only two remain. 

You can visit room Nr. 51, which is stripped to the walls. Eleven Jewish youths were held in this room for one year, as tests were conducted on them with such diseases as hepatitis. Surprisingly, most or all survived.

German law required an autopsy for every death. The sheer number of deaths made this difficult, so they resorted to short cuts, with most of the autopsies done by prisoners. 

Some of the photographs and descriptions on display may be disturbing, but on the whole there is nothing gruesome there. It is more a place of quiet and reflection on man's inhumanity to man.

it is also heavily visited by teen-aged students. There must have been several hundred there when we visited, and we heard at least three different languages. One can only hope that they understood the message of the camp.