Berlin

 Berlin was a great trip and there was WAY more history there than I realized. Also, Germany has some great Christmas markets and festivals.

Here is one of the many Christmas markets

Complete with Ferris wheel and ice skating rink. 

The Brandenburg Gate. This is where the people would come through into the city, in the ancient days, to sell their goods. This is where the city taxed them and managed the flow of people throughout the city.

 This is a memorial for the Jewish people that died. There is so much to say about this place, but little to type. Ask me about it in person...

about 100 feet below this parking lot is where one of Hitler's primary bomb shelters was, and where he finally killed himself. The Soviets got his body first, but never told the American forces until some years later. This was a part of what started the cold war... It was not just an arms race, but also a knowledge race.

The Berlin Wall

Throughout the city, this brick line signifies where the wall once stood.

A Church that I've forgotten the name of...

There is a Paralympic Games exhibit in Berlin. They are amazing athletes that compete at an incredibly high level...

The Berlin Wall again. This stretch is known as the gallery because it is entirely graffiti on the wall. There are some amazing pieces of art created on the wall.

London Bridge came falling down...

London is an amazing city. Once again verifies that I will never live in such a large city but was still a great experience and best of all, my dad met me there and we got to spend a lot of time together. We went to a rugby match, saw a British comedy show, went to Wimbledon, saw Windsor Castle, walked around most of London, learns the Tube like the back of our hand and had some wonderful pub beer and food!

Here are some of the best pictures from our excursion.

Buckingham Palace. This is where the Queen spends most of her time during the week.

Big Ben Clock Tower

On the right is the Parliament Building and on the left is Big Ben; both across the Thames River.

Wimbledon. Simply brilliant. Smaller than I had hoped, but still an incredible thing to see.

Pops

We also went to a rugby match between Cambridge and Oxford...

This is my dad and I outside of Windsor Castle. this is where the Queen lives on most weekends. It was spectacular and probably my favorite thing that I've seen in all of my time in Europe. 

The flag when we got to Windsor Castle...

...and the flag when we left, this is the royal flag that is flown when the Queen is home! 

This is NOT London Bridge.. it is Tower Bridge... London Bridge is the bridge that I'm standing on while taking this picture.. it is JUST A NORMAL BRIDGE!!! and I feel it is my duty to tell the whole world about this misconception... 

Lastly, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. 

Thanksgiving in Prague with PCF

We celebrated Thanksgiving here and I feel as though I have never had more to be thankful for!

Our 'micro-kitchen' as I call it where I made mashed potatoes for 20 or so people. (I don't want to say too much, but I got GREAT reviews from everyone at dinner!)

I bought 10kg of potatoes and used about 5kg of them... I have plenty of left overs!

Marketa prepared all of the meat for the celebration! She made duck, turkey and chicken! Nothing is as good as my family's... BUT... she came very close!! The duck was even from her parents farm.

Katri's kitchen is much nicer than ours (she just moved in to this place) and it quickly became full of good food and better company!

Some of the gentlemen in attendance. From left to right: Benny, Reed, Allen, ?, Mikah, David.

Dinner... it was remarkably similar to any meal people had in the states. And everything tasted fantastic! I was really impressed with everyone's good work!

And dessert! (The apple pie somehow escaped this picture...)

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over... I put up Christmas lights in our room to have at least a little bit of holiday spirit while in Prague.

Krakow and the Bull...(not really)

Last weekend went to Krakow, Poland and saw four things worth mentioning: Auschwitz  Birkenau, Schindler's Factory Museum, and the Salt Mines. It was an incredible weekend despite some inefficient use of our time because of a wonderful man named Janez...

I wrote this blog and then came back to the top to write this paragraph. I found it incredibly difficult to write about some of these experiences. I simply don't want to write about everything that I saw and felt. I don't think we should forget about these events in any way, but it is impossible for me to communicate the emotions I felt by writing here. It may be possible to explain in person the magnitude of these events... but I am not a skilled enough writer to do it through this blog.

So, shall we begin?

This rose was on a replica train car inside of the Birkenau camp... it is the most beautiful rose I've ever seen, especially within the context that it was seen.

This is Birkenau. It is another, less known, concentration camp in Poland. This road lead the prisoners to their execution if the doctor ordered them "left" when they got off the train after arriving to Birkenau.

Here are some barracks that the prisoners were housed in at Birkenau.

The railroad tracks inside of Birkenau. These tracks brought the prisoners in from all across Europe.

This is the outside of the gas chambers at Auschwitz where 90% of the holocaust victims were killed.

And the inside...

The wall where many people were killed by firing squad in Auschwitz.

This was one of the most shocking things about visiting Auschwitz... This is a room filled with hair. The room was about 150x30 feet and the hair was piled higher than my head. It was estimated at about 7 tons and roughly 10% of the total hair removed from prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Outside of the fences at Auschwitz...

The entrance to the barracks grounds at Auschwitz.

This is the outside of the Schindler Factory Museum. I believe, but am not certain, that this building was the actual location of Schindler's factory.

This is the highlight of the Salt Mines. This is the church that they built inside of the mine. The mines were so dangerous that they built several chapels within the mines and the miners would regularly pray and attend mass in the chapels.

It was really foggy most of the trip and especially at night. It added to the experience, but it made seeing the city difficult.

237th Marine Birthday Ball

Well I've eluded to this event several times and it was definitely one of my favorite things that I've done thus far in Europe. This first photo is of the two guys I've got to know the best. To my right is Luis, and to my left is Jose. Ironically enough, they are both from New York and of Dominican decent. I met Jose first through the church and home group and then he introduced me to Luis whom I play basketball with on Tuesday nights... We're trying to get Jose to come with us one of these days!

Olivia and I... isn't she pretty?!

Here are some of the military people that were in attendance. There were Marines, Air Force, Navy, and some other nations represented.

This is the ballroom. I was seated with half of the Marines in the center of the room.

On the far left is the US Ambassador to the Czech Republic. He was the guest of honor and had his security personnel present all evening.

Jose, standing in the background of this photo on the right side, was the youngest Marine and therefore was a part of the opening ceremony. The guest of honor received the first piece of cake, followed by the eldest Marine present and the followed by the youngest Marine present. This is a symbolic passing of the torch to the next generation.

These are all incredible young men and women and we are very fortunate to have them fighting on our behalf. I felt honored just to be in their presence for one evening. Remember to thank ALL service men and women, past, present and future, for their service and say a prayer for them. They do things that most of us couldn't imagine, let alone actually do all to keep us safe and comfortable in the great nation that we get to call home; The United States of America.