Day 8-Prague

View on top of St. Nicholas Church of Praha

Stairs leading up to the Royal Palaces...Quin loved this

Changing of the guards. The men loved this!

Beautiful Old Town. I LOVE THIS AREA RIGHT HERE!

Beautiful Prague church

Quin=Knight

These amazing cinnamon rolls on a stick called-Trdelnik- OMG AMAZING

The amazing bell tower

St. Peter and Paul right by where we were staying

Wow...Prague is an amazing magical city. So much of old mixed with new. We started off at St. Nicholas's church and hiked up to the bell tower. It was a magnificent view of the city and the flowing trees and rooftops. We then walked up the castle steps to the palace grounds where the Czech president works today. So neat, with their own 17th c. castle. pretty convenient. My favorite part was Old Town. The huge, sprawling city center, the old clocks. I felt like Mandy Moore on Chasing Liberty...lol They also have these rolled cinnamon roll things that were heaven...can't go wrong with that. We took a bus tour and loved the city's history...dating far back. What a blessing WWII didn't hit this remarkable city where my first novel may take place in =') I also felt at home,(despite my lack of Czech,) becuause my grandpa is from somewhere in this area...So it was neat to want to learn more about my people, the bohemians. All in all go visit Prague or Praha everyone!

Day 7-Enroute to Prague 6/5/13

We first stopped in Lisbrec where Quin's companion from the mission lived, and it was so neat to hang out and learn about the Czech Republic. It was a great day with them and traveling to get to Prague. Prague at night is amazing!

Our cute hotel

Day 6

TOday was Berlin. We started off with a four hour walking tour of the city. It was neat. We traveled through many of the major sights of the city. Like the Berlin wall. It was amazing too see this towering wall put up by the Soviet Union back then. How awful to learn about these families often separated from East to West. Checkpoint Charlie was the American/ Soviet checkpoint and I loved learning and seeing all the history there. We saw the Berlin Dome, The Reichstag (government bldg,) the place where all of the books were burned by the Nazi's, the Two churches facing the opera house. One German and one French. They just wanted both there. We really loved Berlin.
We visited the Pergamon museum, the tower of terrors right by the wall remnants and the Jewish Museum today (6/5/13.) So the Pergamon was basically the world civ. classes that I teach. It started with some Babylon gates that were unreal. Called the gates of Ishitar. We loved learning more about Gilgamesh and other Sumerians. The tower of terrors was where a lot of mistreatment happened in the basements of the SS or SA, basically secret service. It was an amazing history of the Nazi's, and the horrible reign. Probably one of my most favorite places to learn more about, because many of the mistreatment happened right there and all around the city where we were visiting. We also saw the buildings with the red roofs where Hitler committed suicide with his dog and girlfriend Eva. They were found by his own men, and brought out in front of the buildings and almost all burned and left for the Soviet's to find. Then Stalin wanted his head off, and brought to him. We don't know what he did with it, but it's still there today.
We ate at Augustine's Bavarian restaurant, and thanks Rick Steve's...it was awesome. Delicious, German food!  Today was the Jewish Museum, and it was amazing too learn about the history of these people. I loved the tree of life and their perception of pomegranate on the tree for Adam and Eve. It represented fertility and new life...super cool.
We also spent the morning eating delicious breads at back factory, (soft, delicious waffles, herby bread, cheesy things, yum yum!) & doing laundry....need to do it someday!

Where the burning of all non Nazi books were burned

One of the famous people of Berlin who escaped over the Berlin Wall into West Berlin

One of the neatest places in Berlin. The Holocaust Memorial Site. It's up for you to determine what it means.

You may have seen this before, but it's the big Protestant, not Catholic, church in Berlin

The huge gates of Ishitar

The Berlin Wall, or just a small part of what's left

Day 5

Today was really fun. We set out towards Berlin, and toured Bachaus (Bach's house) and Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther locked himself up to translate the Latin bible into German. So we ate at Bach 'restaurant for lunch and I heart German food! I had a dumpling, beef broth soup, a delicious salat, and some of quin's bratwurst, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Yum yum :) Really good food! We loved Bach's house. He grew up there. He had 13 children, and was an amazing genius. We listened to great music and learned of Bach's life. So neat...this was all in the city of Eisenach. We then went to Wartburg Castle, and took  a neat tour mostly on St. Elisabeth who lived there. Plus, Luther and his small hide out. Huge, beautiful castle in the middle of nowhere... Really fun

Day 4

Today was Frankfurt, and it was a great Sun at Quin's international ward where he served...great members...we loved being with them today. So after we explored Frankfurt and really enjoyed the rich history. During WW 2 most of the city was destroyed, and they rebuilt it after...so it was neat to see all they did to rebuild their lives. I especially liked The Zeil which is a pedestrian zone. There was a really cool outdoor eating gathering too, which made it even more fun... we ended the night eating crepes with the Francois family. They are so sweet and great pioneers of the church. Great examples for us, and Quin loved them as a missionary :)

Quin's main area where he street contacted people as a missionary!

Day 3

Europe is awesome! Why don't Americans go here more? I totally wish I spoke all of their languages too :) Today was centered around the Friedrichsdorf temple near Frankfurt. We went to an English session with one of Quin's companions who lives near there. It was a neat experience to see the faithful German saints and feel of their love of the true gospel. They are great, happy people. We also were able to visit some other members who were having a youth conference. It was so neat to see the youth in action living the gospel. We also had some great German food. Can't go wrong there. We then hung out with Quin's companion and his adorable little family and got to know them. It's funny how all Germans think their English is terrible when in reality it's really good...so it's been fun today to listen to them speak many different languages...who knew Austrian was different than regular German. So cool! We then hung out at a pseudo European mall...then ate amazing German food at our hotel in Bacharach. Holy cow, best German food so far! (Pictures soon!) I had this tender beef, dumplings and red cabbage and Quin and Joyce had spargel, (white asparagus that's famously grown in Germany around this time). Then Apple strudel. Wow...best I have ever had...delicious layers of goodness. So apparently we really like food, but it's a huge part of culture and I'm loving it.... :) So really great day...don't want to leave...

Day 2

So today started off a little rainy and cold, but this is normal in Germany...and we had a great German breakfast. Delicious bread, meat, homemade marmalade, muesli...it was really fun...we were late meeting Bruce & Joyce, (Quin's parents,) bc we're sleeping next to a train and we have to wear ear plugs and didn't hear our alarm...haha!
We decided to go to Berg Eltz castle today, and it was so beautiful...hidden in the trees...there are so many beautiful trees in western Germany, it's unreal. We then had really good German food and Applesaft. The next trip was to Dusseldorf, one of my favorite cities in Germany. Small, but many people live there, with a thriving city center and right on the Rhein. Plus it became sunny! It was 70 degrees and so sunny! We walked around the city, I attempted German, and ate amazing Italian pizza. It was funny because it was a holiday yesterday, and so many people were out for the long weekend. So as a result, apparently many people get married around this time,so this means many bachelor and bachellorette parties. Let me tell you, these people are crazy! Drunk and wearing funny outfits as they frolic through the streets often singing! It was so fun to watch, and see their fun outfits and just having fun. We also explored many of Quin's areas on his mission and got to see what it would have been like talking to so many Germans. It was fun to see Quin reminisce. So far loving the countryside and really a (schade...bummer) that i'm not German...