After an eventful adventure in Leipzig having our own little musical tour of the city, Kristi and I took a spontaneous (but secretly planned) trip to Prague. Two trains and four hours later, we arrived in the city and laughed at ourselves as we realized that not only do they have a crazy confusing currency but neither of us could speak a word of Czech. A true testament to an amazing day.
The Old Town of the Orloj, built in 1407, along with the old town hall on the right side.
We explored to the point of getting completely lost and on the very sketchy side of town. So, as the astute young Americans that we are, we went to the closest bar.
Note to anyone itching for a trip to Prague - the exchange rate is wonderful. Beer was 76 cents! And cocktails were 3 euros! Not that we ordered any alcohol...
About an hour before our train was about to leave, we decided it might be smart to figure out where the train station was. Every person we asked directions from said the same answer "it's about a 20 minute walk. Maybe take a cab?" So, as the astute young foreigners that we are, we decided to walk and hope that maybe we'd just magically run into it.
It's about 15 minutes until our train leaves the station when we realize that this the very last train out of Prague and back to Germany until the next morning. So we start to run. And it starts to pour. I mean, POURING rain. There is lightening and a thunderstorm and we are running in the streets or Prague not having any idea of where we're going except for maybe North.
We finally jump through puddles, run through grass, and make it to the train station with 5 minutes until our train leaves. Oh yes. All signs are in Czech. And we have no idea how to read or speak to anyone. At this point, I am blurry on how we ended up on the right train but we did, laughing and soaking wet. To top everything off, it was a reserved car train only and of course we didn't reserve seats. So we picked a random cabin and made camp in there hoping that we wouldn't get kicked out. A perfect way to end our adventure in Prague!
The next morning, she and I left Leipzig and met the rest of the gang at our hotel in Berlin. Fourth of July!
So the whole group went out to celebrate and advocate our country to the citizens of Berlin.
The following morning was the start of our new segment to the tour - WWII historical memorabilia. We made our first stop at the Berlin Wall Museum/Checkpoint Charlie. Learning the routes that citizens used to escape to the other side of the wall was completely mind-blowing. What I most appreciated about this museum was the fact that all artifacts were real. Several of the museums I have been to on this trip contained replicas of the real artifact, which is never nearly as genuine. The uniforms, passports of the government officials, cars, and other tools of escaping, such as suitcases, and the original wagon from Tunnel 57, were all displayed. It was definitely an eerie feeling being there and experiencing something so close in time to us.
We walked down the street about a block when we came across a segment of the remains of the Berlin Wall.
Though we're all exhausted at this point and are desperate for coffee, water, and maybe a nice foot massage, we were so inspired by the history of WWII that we decided to visit the Holocaust Memorial a few blocks down. We're walking, not quite sure where we're going, when we stumble upon this:
2,700 tablets spanned the entire block, all in dedication to the 6 million murdered Jews of the Holocaust.
No matter what you mentally tell yourself, one can never be prepared enough to endure the sights and footage of the Holocaust. The minute the four of us walked down underneath the cemetery to visit the memorial, I felt disrespectful for even taking my camera out. So I chose not to and let it all sink in.
There are no words to describe that experience. Seeing the letters, postcards, and diaries of Jewish victims from the Holocaust, reading about the families, and sitting in a dark room listening to the audio guide read off each and every person's biography (which would take approximately 6 and 1/2 years to present) was just... wow. I have never in my life felt so incredibly moved, angry, sympathetic, heartbroken all at once. I think I can speak for my group in saying that that was a very revealing and intimate experience. Many tears were shed and I know I have certainly looked at my personal life in a new light.
After that tremendous experience, we came back and went out to our dark dinner. And when I say dark, I mean, pitch black. No OUNCE of light. The restaurant is made famous for having blind waiters serve you while you eat a mystery meal in complete darkness. If you close your eyes in the blackest room, that is exactly how dark it was for us. Again - another crazy experience. I have never felt so in touch with my other senses! It took the six of us 3 hours to finish our 3 course meal. Only a couple of spills occurred and mostly just anxiety at the table spread as we realized we really couldn't see a SINGLE thing.
This morning we went out to Unter den Linden street and visited the Brandenberger Gate as well as the Berlin cathedral. Beautiful spots. Tonight we're laying low and prepping for our long train travels to Copenhagen, Denmark tomorrow.
Until then,
<3 Allie
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