Auschwitz I and II - Birkenau

Simply put, this was a tough day.   Our travelers invested fully.  To do so, we had to consciously commit to take care of ourselves and each other and we did.  I will not attempt to articulate my experience or generalize for the group. This is the only photo I took that day. We are entering Birkenau.  

Day one in Berlin!

This post is a recap of our first day as it was never originally posted due to wifi issues. Our tour guide, Ellie, has us look at a map of the Berlin Wall, at, well, the Berlin Wall. 

On the wall of buildings are pictures of the Berlin Wall. Berlin was separated into the east and west. Westerners could travel to the east but westerners could not travel between the borders. The west was controlled by socialists and the east was controlled by communists. To keep the east under communist control, they did not allow East Berlin citizens to leave.

Here Jeremy poses against the wall. He presses his arms against the oppressive symbol. 

Many of the parts of the wall are stripped to their iron bars. 

During free time on our first day in Berlin, Amila, Hannah F, Mikaela, and myself found a very pretty church just two blocks from our hotel! Europe is beautiful! 

On our first day we were tired. We were adjusting, slowly. Our last hotels didn't have wifi good enough to post pictures! Sorry! I will be sure to recap everything that happened. We loved Berlin, even though it was very alternative and at times seemed a bit tired. World War II was not kind to Berlin. You could tell that  Berlin seemed a bit worn down.

Some long awaited updates!

Tonight is our seventh night away from home and our last night in Kraków. We depart around 9am tomorrow for Budapest, but will be making a pit stop in the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia. It is going to be beautiful! Before we get to that though, let us provide you with some details from our trip so far, since we finally have reliable Wifi. 

Day 1: The Berlin Wall. Behind this piece is an remaining example of the militarized zone that existed to prevent people from crossing into the West. 

Here is an image of the militarized zone. What looks like a sand pit was where mines and traps were placed to punish those who were trying to flee the East. There were guard towers placed thoughtout, too.

These stones represent underground tunnels that once existed, created by people, to help East Berliners escape. Behind it, you can see steel bars that represent the wall.

These are just a few of the great pictures that we have from Berlin. Others will post more on this soon!

Prague!

St. Vitus Cathedral. Began being built on the 14th century, and wasn't completed until the 20th century. Talk about commitment! 

The Charles Bridge from our boat cruise!