My trip within a trip

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During the week of December 5-10 we had three days off of school for Spanish holidays, so two friends of mine from class, Jon and Tomás, and I went to the Czech Republic to stay with Jon´s friend from home, Jessica, who is teaching English in Prague for the next year or two...or three.

AND to add to the list of coincidences I have had on this trip, Jessica graduated from St. Pius X in Albuquerque, NM which is the same school five of my cousins graduated from!! The theme for this trip is definetly: ¨It truly is a small world after all¨.

After a couple days in Prague we took a train to Berlin. There we took a walking tour of the city. It was amazing! We got to see the Berlin Wall and the site where Hitler´s bunker is and Checkpoint Charley and all the historic sites. The tour was essential in this city becuase everything was so spread out and for example, Hitler´s bunker is below an ordinary sidewalk with no markings or anything so if we hadn´t been with a guide we never would have found it. The German people are still really sensitive of their past so they want to keep everything relating to Nazism low-key.

Then on our trip home we had a 14 hour layover in London so we took a bus into the city and saw Big Ben and the London Bridge and got lost for a long time trying to find some fish and chips. Unfortunately, it was pretty late and all the English restaurants were closed so I didn´t get to try to native dish, I was very disapointed.

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Photos

Prague

Town Square
Architecture in Prague was so beautiful and so dark at the same time.

Town Square at Night
It was cool to be there during the Christmas season. There were lots of temporary markets set up all over and Christmas trees everywhere.

Blue Christmas Tree
This tree was so blue it was hard to focus on.

Coo-Coo Clock
Everybody gathered around this clock in anticipation for a great show, but when it went off nothing really happened. It was kind of funny...in a disapointing way.

Jessica and I
This is Jessica who graduated from St. Pius X and is teaching English in Prague.

Great View
The girls´ apartment was on a hill and they were on the top floor so they had an incredible overlook of Prague. It was great to wake up to this view every morning.

Thank you
In Czech

Bombed-out Church in Berlin
They left this church in ruins as a memorial to the losses of war. This was one of the first things we saw when we got out of the train station and it really made us feel like we were in Berlin.

Berlin Wall
It was unreal being at such a historic site.

Checkpoint Charley
According to the lady that helped us order food the first night, even though there is no longer a physical separation between East and West Berlin, there is still a distinct separation in the attitudes of the people.

Holocaust Memorial
This memorial covers the space of two football fields and the cement rectangles gradually get taller and taller towards the center, going from 1 inch tall to over 15ft. tall.

Hitler´s Bunker
This was the best representation of the bunker I could find. There was no sign or any markings to tell you his bunker was below you. Apparently, it is still a very touchy subject for the people in Berlin.

Congressional Building
By the end of the war this building was completely bombed-out but the congress still met here before they rebuilt it. They wanted to show the people they were strong and would persivere.

Very Famous Hotel
This is the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the railing. Rooms here start at €4,000 a night!!

My Aussie Friend
There are lots of Australians all throughout Europe. This is one of them that I met in Berlin.

Big Ben
This guy snuck up on us. We were lost and wandering, when all of a sudden someone said, ¨oh...there it is¨ and boom! there was BIG BEN towering over us.

Tower Bridge
It wasn´t falling down.

Tower Bridge
Jon couldn´t hold the camera still so this is the best picture I have of me in front of the bridge.

Tele Booth
These booths are so London.

Worst Sleep Ever!
This was at the end of the 14hr layover in London. I couldn´t sleep on the cold hard floor but Jon and Tomás had no problems.

Comments

[Jessica]

Lovely Prague
Wow, your photos of Prague are quite lovely. It took Meg and I a second to realize that one was taken from our living room window.