08 June 2007

Ok Folks, here we are writing from Prague in the Czech Republic. Sorry it took so long, but Berlin was hopping. We had a relatively uneventful albeit long flight in to Tegel Int Airport through Heathrow. At Heathrow the lines were too long to make our connection, so security told us to go through customs and then reenter the secure area, so we officially did go to England on this trip. We got our passport stamped and everything.

We met Conrad in Tegel who then took us on an hour sightseeing tour before we went to our hotel in Berlin and met with our regular tour leader, Alba, the rest of our group, and Trey, Donna, Susan and Geo (who had a nice day walking around Berlin). The following day we spent on a 4 hr bus tour, followed by some walking around. Then lunch and off to Postdam where Churchill met with Stalin & Truman. Frederick the
Great has two palaces there (similar to Versailles) and we spent a nice afternoon out there.

In the evening after dinner a large group of us took the U-bahn to a street known for nightlife. We stayed together and had a nice time for about two hours before returning to our hotel.

This morning we left Germany. We stopped in Dresden along the way, which was bombed in Feb 1945 right before WWII ended. Kurt Vonnegut was a POW in a slaughterhouse beneath the city and escaped to find the city dessimnated. He went on to write Slaughterhouse V and a plethora of other great novels (and died just this year). In Dresden we saw Rafael's Bella Madonna, that includes the two cherubs you've seen on
LOVE stamps. This is the first artist to use the cherubs in the paintings.

We did a brief walking tour, spent time shopping, and then left Germany altogether. We drove over the border into the Czech Republic now, and we're staying outside Prague. Prague is a beeautiful old, cheap city.

We had dinner and then went out to the hotel where we are now. The money is a little odd, since we change currencies so much. For example 1 Euro is about 72 cents, while 1 dollar is about 25 crowns in Czech. It changes two more times then back to Euro.

Alba, are tour director, rocks! The other groups are nice. Only one other group has students (girls) and, of course, Matt likes that! :) We all get along really well on this trip, and even the travelers who didn't know each other before, are already getting along well. We are safe and happy, and everything is well.

I'll try to figure out how to post pics, too.

2 comments:

Leslie said...

It was so exciting to hear from you! Susan & I were checking the sight (while on the phone with each other) and your post came through and then the pics. It sounds like you're having a wonderful time. I'm interested in knowing more about this "street known for nightlife" ....

Anonymous said...

It sounds like everyone is having fun. I also saw some of the photos posted on the explorica tour diary showing the Berlin Wall. Enjoy Prague! Tell Matt that I hope he has enough clothes to last the trip!