Back Home Safely

We arrived home safely on Sunday, October 1st after a direct, 9-hour flight from Brussels. We are very happy to be home. We've missed little things--like just relaxing, watching TV, and sitting down to a home-cooked meal! And we definitely missed our dogs.

We did not update from Amsterdam or Brussels. We really enjoyed both. In Amsterdam we went to the Rikjsmuseum (spelling?). We saw lots of Rembrandts and Vermeers....it was a great museum. We also went to the Anne Frank House. No....we did not go to a "coffee house"! The Anne Frank house was my favorite. I had reread the book just prior to getting to Amsterdam and it was so fascinating to see where she had written the book from....the tiny place where they stayed for over two years. It was also very interesting to learn about some of the things that took place after the diary ended. There were interviews from her best friend--who was constantly mentioned in the book, as well as her father and the women who helped them hide. All in all, I thought it was a great memorial to an extraordinary little girl. Aaron is now reading the book....but I don't know if he will finish because he says he feels like an adolescent girl.

In Brussels we stayed at the lovely home of Don and Sue Hutchins, and were definitely spoiled! We got to do actual laundry and have wonderful meals the whole time! They really showed us Belgium--in Brussels we went to the smaller town of Leuven, which is where one of the oldest universities in existence is. It was a great little town--very picturesque town hall and other buildings. We also went to the Atomium, which is a large iron molecule (basically spheres connecting by tubes that are hundreds of feet in the air--see picture above). It was built for the 1958 World's Fair. Then we went into the Grand-Place....which was really beautiful (picture, above left). And we also saw the Manneken-Pis statue, or the "peeing boy".

Then we had a really yummy dinner...."mussels in Brussels". Well, I didn't eat mussels, but I had another Belgian specialty of Waterzoi with fish....a really good soup. Aaron had mussels and I tried some of his. We also had Belgian fries with mayonnaise....yum!

Aaron and I also went into Bruges, Belgium....a beautiful old town with lots of canals and quaint buildings. I'l have to put up pictures of Bruges later. We went to the Market Square to look at the town hall. We also went to a chocolate shop and bought lots of yummy chocolates! Then we went on a boat ride through the canals, which was amazing! Finally, we had one of the best hot chocolates I have ever had. They served a mug of hot milk, and a small plate of melted chocoalte (the best I have ever tasted!, so you can add the chocolate as you desire...I added it all. Then they served a small plate of whipped cream as well as 4 small chocolates from their homemade chocolate company. It was delicious!!

Bruges is only about a 50 minute train ride from Brussels.

So all in all, we had a wonderful, wonderful trip. It was long and tiring at times....but we are so thankful that we had the opportunity to do this. It truly was the trip of a lifetime! So thank you all for reading and sharing this experience with us!

Copenhagen

Aaron and I are now in Copenhagen. It is really nice here! The whole city is full on canals (and lots of bikes!) Last night we took a canal cruise and then had dinner along a canal which was really nice. Then, on a whim, we decided to take the train into Sweden for dessert! The train ride (across a HUGE overwater bridge) into Målmo, Sweden takes about 25 minutes. So we spent a few hours in Sweden last night!

Today we are hanging around Copenhagen and enjoying the city before taking a night train to Amsterdam tonight. Should be fun!

--Emily

Berlin

Aaron and I had a wonderful day in Berlin today. It is such a fabulous city! This is one place we definitely want to visit again. Since the city was basically destroyed only 60 years ago....and half of the city only really free as of 15 years ago....the whole city is very vibrant and new. It actually reminded me a lot of Chicago because there is a river that runs through the center and there are a lot of activities surrounding the river.

This morning...and into the afternoon....we took a walking tour of the Third Reich sites. The tour was fabulous! We learned so much and had such a new perspective about the events surrounding WWII. It was so interesting learning all these things while we were in the city where most of it unfolded. We learned more about how the Nazis were able to come into power....the situation in Berlin following WWI....the actual Battle of Berlin with the Soviets...and what is going on with the neo-Nazis today. It was fascinating. Our tour was supposed to last 4 hours, but ended up going about 5.5. Part of that was because the Berlin marathon was going on today, so the city was kind of crazy. Although it was neat because most of the roads were blocked off so we didn't have any traffic!
One of the neatest things we saw today was the TV Tower....which is a 1,000 foot tall spire which was built by Stalin in East Berlin during the Cold War. This tower soars above all of Berlin and you can see it everywhere. During this period, Stalin had ordered all the crosses and other religious symbols removed from East Berlin because the Communist philosophies did not allow for religious beliefs. However, after the spire was created--as a sign of the atheistic state--it was discovered that when the sun hit the mirrored ball at the top of the tower (the ball is HUGE and basically the spire is topped by big mirrored ball), the way the sun hit the mirrors caused a cross-like symbol to appear. Again...I'll have to show a picture....but the basic principle is that after removing all signs of religious beliefs and taking away religious freedom....the very symbol that they erected in place of religious symbols basically turned in to a giant illuminated cross during the daylight hours. The people referred to it as the 'Pope's revenge'. I think that it was God. Anyway, I thought that was so neat.

Afterwards we took a break from WWII and Cold War Sites (we also went to Checkpoint CHarlie during the tour), and we went to the Egyptian Museum and the Pergamon Museum. At the Egyptian Museum we saw the bust of Nefertiti, which has come to symbolize much of Egyptian art, and is very recognizable.

The Pergamon was so cool. They basically took a bunch of excavation findings from Pergamon in Turkey and other places in the Middle East and put them together at this museum. We saw the Altar of Zeus which this huge altar with steps that takes up a huge museum room...pictures to follow...hard to describe. The coolest was called the Processional Street...which is a street from ancient Babylon (now Baghdad) from King Nebukanezzer's time (I know I butchered the spelling!) It was gorgeous!

And for those of you who have been wondering. I don't know how much these two events have been in the American news....but they are heavily covered in CNN International. We left Budapest the day that the riots began over the economy and dislike of the current prime minister. We saw some mild demonstrations, but the demonstrations turned violent the night that we left and have been going on for about a week. We feel very fortunate because our guesthouse was only 1 block from the Parliament where all the violence has been occuring. So we would have been caught in the middle of it! Yikes! Also, there was a train wreck in Germany while we have been here and it killed everyone on board....but it involved the test run of a magnetic train line....so there were no real passengers on board....very sad. It was in a different part of the country too....so we weren't affected.

Anyway, we are taking the train to Copenhagen tomorrow.

Rothenburg/Berlin

After leaving the castle area, we took the 'Romantic Road' through the heart of Bavaria. It was a really nice bus ride through a bunch of medieval towns. We ended up in Rothenburg and we fell in love with the little town! It was so quaint and perfect. We stayed at a fabulous little B&B that was just outside the city walls by a little creek. It was an old mill that had been tranformed into a B&B...it was so nice! I definitely recommend going there!

This morning we took a train ride to Berlin....about 5 hours away. So far we have seen a lot in Berlin! We are staying in the former East Berlin and it is really interesting. We really like Berlin. Tomorrow we are taking a walking tour and going to a few museums. There is a marathon tomorrow and it is a pretty big deal. So things are pretty crazy around here!

Bavaria

Aaron and I took a train from Munich to Fussen, Germany this morning....about 2 hours. This afternoon we went to Neuschwanstein Castle, as well as another castle next door. They were both gorgeous! Built by 'Mad' King Ludwig in the 1800s, this was the castle that Walt Disney used as the model for Disney World (Sleeping Beauty castle). We are staying down the road from the castle tonight in a really cute B and B, and tomorrow are taking an all day bus ride through the Romantic Road area, and spending the night in Rothenburg.

Congrats to Vicki and Chris on the birth of their baby girl! I cannot wait to meet her!

Munich

We arrived in Munich early this morning. We both slept really well in our sleeping car, which was a relief! We ended up dropping our stuff off at our hotel and heading out for the day since we couldn't check in until noonish.

We spent the morning at the former concentration camp of Dachau. It was a very sobering experience. There's really not a whole lot to say about it, except that I think everyone should see something like this as a reminder of what happened not that long ago.

After Dachau we completely switched gears and headed to Oktoberfest, which just happens to be going on while we are here! We had a good time. The whole thing is like a giant carnival--with a lot of beer. But they have rollercoasters, carnival games, other rides, lots of people in lederhosen and giant horses pulling barrels of beer. It was pretty crazy, but also really fun! We went to the Hofbrau House tent and each had roast chicken, a beer and a pretzel. I could only drink half of my beer--not a big beer fan--but it was huge, to be fair! Aaron managed his just fine! We had some great conversation as well with a group of people from England. Then we each got a bag of sugared nuts--peanuts for me, almonds for Aaron (he actually had two huge bags!)

Now we are headed back to our hotel to relax and rest for a bit....then head out for dinner.

Prague

We really love Prague!! It is such a nice little town. We arrived late from Budapest, but we made it to our hotel. It is in the Old Town, so the location is perfect! Our room was great....it had a big terrace, and a little sunken living room with a TV, so we could watch CNN. It's funny, because the only TV we have watched in a month has been a little CNN here or there, or BBC....oh yes, and a little Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in German. That was amusing.

Yesterday we had breakfast at our hotel and then headed out to get symphony tickets. We went last night to the Prague Philharmonic and saw a really great performance. We think it was actually the Salzburg Philharmonic Orchestra--but we cannot really be sure, as the translation in the program was a little confusing. But it was good nonetheless. The first half of the performance was the orchestra--with a piano concerto solo by a really good pianist. And the second half was with a Czech choir and three opera soloists....they were really good! And our tickets were only $10 a piece! We had great seats in a little 3 person balcony.

We also saw the Jewish Museum yesterday--which is comprised of 6 synagogues and 1 cemetary. It was really interesting. Ironically, the only reason all of this was spared WWII damage was because Hitler intended to use this area (called Josefov) as his "Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race." Very disturbing, but at least everything was spared.

Today we are visiting the castle area of Prague. And tonight we are taking a night train to Munich. We are planning on visiting the Dachau concentration camp in the morning, and then going to Oktoberfest in the evening.