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We have definitely been slacking a bit with the posts so we will try to get you guys up to speed here. The last time we wrote, we were in Prague, which was great fun. From there it was off to Krakow in Poland...again, a great time.
We got in and found a hostel, the Dizzy Daisy, which was...sufficient. That first night we didn't do much, just had dinner and checked out the town, but still it was fun. The next day we decided to do laundry, and to pass the time in between moving things from the washer to the dryer, we went and had a few beers. Just to put things in perspective, we've been in Europe for 3 weeks and we have tried upwards of 50 different types of beer in said time. That is crazy and not exactly beneficial to the liver...but hey, sometimes it is cheaper than water so what can you do? Anyway, we kind of wasted the day away there, but we still had a great time and Poland, the people, etc. is/are very nice.
The next day, we checked out the Wawel Castle and Wawel hill, which was pretty cool. Other
than that, we just walked around the city and actually ended up at a mall watching Mission Impossible 3, which won't win any awards but was entertaining nonetheless.
The next day we went to Auschwity/Birkenau, the Nazi Concentration Camps from WWII. It was everything you would expect: breathtaking, depressing, necessary to see, eye opening, scary, etc. There's really no way to put into words the flood of emotions that comes with seeing something like that, but again, it is a reminder of the good and bad of human nature. We as humans have done and are doing some pretty messed up things and sights like Auschwitz are important to remind us of how out of hand a situation can get if we don't think about our actions beforehand.
That pretty much concluded our time in Poland. We spent that last night enjoying the sights of the town square and prepping ourselves for the next leg of the journey. We had a nice dinner, grabbed a couple of drinks, and got a good night sleep. The last morning there, we grabbed one more round of Pierogi, Polish Dumplings (My new favorite food...especially the mushroom and cabbage and the potato
and cheese...mmm) and caught a flight to Berlin. Again, budget airlines are the greatest thing in the world. We checked train prices and found out that it would be around 70 Euro, well it just so happens that a plane is the same and only takes an hour instead of 9. You gotta love that.
Arriving in Berlin was a vacation from our vacation. Chad picked us up from the airport and we came back to his house to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. All of the countries in Europe have their country contest to find "the best song and band of the country" and then they participate in the contest. The only thing is, it doesn't seem like they take it very seriously because the music was crap, as was the show. Either way, it was quite entertaining and the Finnish Band took it with "Rock and Roll Hallelujah." If you haven't heard it yet, you have not lived. Look for it on MTV because apparently, they already have a video. Just to give you an idea, think Gwar with limited English skills. It is quite entertaining.
The next day we took a neighborhood tour. If you
are headed to Berlin and need a tour guide...I know a guy. His name is Chad Robertson and he happens to be a very close friend. The price isn't cheap but you sure will learn a lot about the city. No, really, Chad has been an incredibly gracious host and he does know a tremendous amount about this city, the history, culture, etc. It has been awesome to have someone who not only shows you around and translates the language but also puts you up in his apartment. I believe the song goes something like this, "the good times, the bad times....that's what friends are for" and we're lucky to have the ones we do.
After the tour, we went to the park and played some Football (American Style) which got us in the mood to watch the Rose Bowl, which Chad has on DVD. As we all know, it is the greatest College Football game of all time and we thoroughly enjoyed watching it again and I have a feeling it won't be the last time we do. I think Ian even enjoyed it even though he had to listen to Chad, Teresa, and I go on and
on about the greatness of the "real UT" and their football program. That pretty much conlcudes the first round of Berlin. From there it was off to Amsterdam and Brussels, which is a whole other story and since this is getting pretty long already, we'll sign off for now and get the rest of it to you this weekend. We plan on also adding some photos of the last month and a half so that should add even more flavor to this severely neglected blog.
Hope all is well...We only have about a month left which is no bueno, but hey, I guess you can't live like this forever. It's time to start thinking about the job search again...wait, I do not want to think about that yet. I'm going to disregard the last statement. It is still over a month away. Anyway, we will try to get the pics and the rest of the story to you this weekend...
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aunt sherry
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thanks
always enjoy seeing these, and knowing you're having a safe and great time. Keep it up! love, sherry