You're my wonderwall & strawberry jam

In Germany, at the BBQ with the most wonderful, hospitable family.

Our new friends and sight seeing buddies

Obviously really excited to be in Prague to see the Charles Bridge...

In Poland standing from the castle wall out onto the river. Poland is beautiful!

Castle in Krawkow. The fire department was there to remove a wasps nest which there is no short supply here in Europe. I was stung in Budapest and now hate all flying insects.

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. We have been very busy having a great time and meeting wonderful new friends. We have bounced from Krakow to Prague and now we are in Merching, Germany with a beautiful family. Gabi is currently in the kitchen making homemade apple streusel- really, it can't get any better than this...

First: Poland:

We had a great time in Krakow. We met a group of English friends staying in our hostel and all went out for a drink after the delicious Polish sausage we ate at the BBQ. I am definitely sick with a sore throat, so this may not have been the best idea I have ever had: staying up to 1am at a pub drinking, telling stories, and learning new games. Whatever, I'm only in Krawkow with this fun bunch of guys once, so we lived it up. And, to add to their awesomeness, they offered for us to follow them to Auschwitz the next day because we would certainly have gotten lost to try to do it on our own... We're excellent at getting lost here.

After the 2 hour long bus ride into the next town through a pouring thunderstorm, we made it to Auschwitz (me being sick, slept the whole way and only woke long enough to see a huge splash of water reach the top of the Greyhound bus as another car sped by- that is how much water was collecting on the ground!). Fortunately, it stopped raining when we arrived and only had to dodge the mud puddles around the camp.

I have mixed feelings about seeing the prison... Maybe it is because I have already visited a concentration camp, but I wasn't hit as hard by the reality of the terror that happened within the walls there as I thought I would have been. The camp has been turned into a museum with each barrack housing an exhibition- some remain preserved as they did when in use to show the living conditions (if you can call them 'living' conditions) while others were turned into factual showcases of history about WWII, the camp(s), resistance, German politics, etc. From school and my own personal interest, I knew a lot of the history and awful practices of the Nazi rule in the camps, so maybe that is why I wasn't hit with as much shock while I walked through the camp. It was almost as if I was just walking through another museum. The reality and horror seemed somewhat removed from me as I couldn't wrap my brian around what I was actually looking at. There is so much time and distance between me and this aweful chapter of history that I guess I was somewhat numb to the experience. I will say, however, that one room in particular tied a knot in my stomach as I stared in awe. The room was strictly designated to house the preserved 2 tons of hair the Nazi's shaved from the prisoners. 2 tons of hair! Just think, hair does not weigh that much... Elise and I are both very glad we went to see the camp and pay some respect to those who suffered. We both felt it was important to see and witness for ourselves and I am glad I had the chance to visit... But, now, on to happier times:

The next day, we went shopping because we are girls. In the afternoon, it started to pour again, so we hid out in a very cute cafe for more hot chocolate and postcard writing. Hopefully, the postcards we send will make it to you- we're never sure if our requests for stamps is translated correctly. Also, while we were camping out, the Tour de Pologna zoomed by and I was able to watch hundreds of bicyclists pedal by looking tired and wet. That night, we boarded the night train to Prague and awesomeness ensued!

Prague: We shared a couchette with four Irish friends traveling around Europe who were extremely friendly and funny. They had met up with another group of Irish friends traveling around too and all 10 of us piled into our 12ft x 6ft box of a room to play the card game Mafia. And it was awesome. We all had a great time playing the game, shouting out accusations, getting to know each other, and not sleeping at all. Luckily, after parting ways at the station when we arrived around 6:30am, we ran into all of our new friends on the free walking tour of the city later that morning. We walked the tour together and then spent a long lunch together over pizza and beer in Prague. Traveling with a group of new friends is very fun and makes seeing that sights that much more exciting! Plus, our tour guide acted like he was hyped up on Ridalin he was so excited to tell us about Prague, so the morning and early afternoon were excellent. Elise and I checked out Prague Castle next. I stayed to see more of the grounds while Elise left to browse around the Beatles Exhibit going on at the Music Museum. We met back at the 'budget hotel' (a very nice place for little money is always welcomed!) for a nap before we went out with our new friends for a pub crawl.

I am pretty sure all of us are going straight to Hell because we danced and drank and had way too much fun in a renovated church. Yes, the pub crawl started out on the top floor of an old church with drinking games and laughter and then moved downstairs for dancing. We had an excellent time! The third stop was an Irish Pub down the street where we all sang along with the live band. While this was one of the best nights I've had on our trip so far, I was not very kind to my voice and now I have none even 3 days later... Oh well, it was well worth it! We made great friends and unforgettable memories.

Unfortunately, that was our only day in Prague (all the more reason to live it up while we were there, right?) and we spent the entire next day on a train to Germany were we had plans to stay with the Kopera family. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this family and their generous hospitality! For those of you who don't know, my mom studied abroad in high school here in Germany and has since stayed in contact with her host family, the family we are staying with now. They picked us up from the train station and showed us a little of the town, Augsberg, after eating a delicious traditional pretzel for a snack. We didn't have much time to wander because we had to make it to a BBQ where we could meet the whole family who was apparently very excited we were coming to visit.

When we arrived, I was greeted with huge, loving hugs and everyone loved that we were there to visit. Fortunatly, almost everyone knew a little English and we were able to talk with each other telling stories of when my mom was here. The food was delicious and the company was wonderful!! Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and I am very humbled by their hospitality. We stayed for a long time around the camp fire and it was great, but I'm pretty sure I was nodding off from a combination of the warm fire, sore throat, and a day's worth of travel. When we got home, Elise and I both passed out cold in the warm, homey bed.

Yesterday, Gabi, Rudi, and Benedict played tourguide and we went for an hour drive to the mountains to see the 'Disneyland Castle'. Sorry Jen, Mickey Mouse was currently on tour in CA :) The castle was very impressive and the lunch we had after was yummy (and huge portions!), but Elise and I had more fun riding the bobsled down the hill like authentic Germans. Haha! After a brief stop at a beautiful church a few miles away, we drove back home so Rudi could make it to his tennis match on time. But, only after we stopped for ice cream and had the biggest portion of ice cream I have ever had in my life. I love ice cream (probably too much) and have never not finished my bowl, but this one was just too big and topped with starberries, whip cream, rum, and chocoalte sauce. I am not kidding when I say I will be returning home with 10 extra pounds with me and it won't be in my backpack... The rest of the evening was spent outside in the lush garden journaling and reading and later with snacks and perfect company. I feel like I am in Heaven. The Kopera's home is so beautiful and they are such wonderful people, I wish we could stay with them longer. I cannot thank them enough for everything!

Today, we are lounging aroung the house- I am terrible and have gotten Elise sick too. But, I will only take half of the blame because she willingly participated in our pact to share all of our food so we can try everything and therefore, I am not entirely at fault. The streusel is almost done- the delicious aroma is wafting up the stairs and I can hardly wait- so, we will take our time making our way back to Munich to catch our overnight train to Amsterdam. We will be able to see a little bit of Munich before the train leaves, so that will be nice.

We obviously are having a wonderful time! 2 weeks down, 2 more to go.

Wishing all of my family and friends in AZ good luck with the first week of school. Hope it's not too stressful and is lots of fun! Let me know how it goes.

And of course, Happy Birthday to Kelsey! and Christopher! Wish we were there to celebrate with you.

Love you all