Ciao! From London to Rome...

Ciao!

Sorry for the long wait between email updates, it hasn't been as easy as I thought to find good Internet cafes, let alone time to upload photos from there. My camera is also on the fritz now, so that isn't exactly helping either. I have managed to get a few online from Amsterdam, Berlin, and Munich but not nearly enough to give you a fair idea of what we've been up to. As always, you can see those photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/cestory
Until I can get more photos up, here is a somewhat brief synopsis of the happenings and adventures since I last emailed:
Before departing London, we toured Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. Along with the big sites, we happened upon some fun side sights like Millenium Bridge, the ruins of Winchester Palace and more. The next day we slept in before boarding the Eurostar train to Brussels (the "Chunnel" under the English Channel as Americans call it).
We arrived in Amsterdam after a tight train connection, and mistakenly walked right through the red light district on the way to our hotel - it was a good welcome to town! The next 2 days in town we toured Anne Frank's House, Rijkmuseum, and Van Gogh museum, watched the USA vs England game in a pub full of rowdy England fans, and walked around all the districts. We did the Heineken Brewery tour and tried some traditional Dutch food - pancakes! - too.
After 2 nights there, it was off to Berlin via night train - a first for Thomas and Alex both. Maybe arriving at 430am didn't help, but they didn't get much sleep. We did a walking tour of the city that afternoon; I would highly recommend it if you ever get to Berlin. We heard the history and interesting myths and such from our Aussie guide about WWII, the Berlin Wall, etc. We visited museum island (who knew Berlin had more museums than Paris and London combined?), checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's bunker, the Berlin Wall, Brandenberg Gate, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The last sight in particular was extremely powerful and thought-provoking. I have never experienced a memorial where you are literally enveloped by the enormity of it. The lack of words and being left to your own interpretations also furthers its depth. Along with our city tour we also tried the various types of German food from currywurst (sausage with tomato sauce and curry), to the ever popular doner kebab (similar to a gyro but always with beef and on bread not a pita).
Another overnight train ride later, we arrived in Munich at a more sane 730 am. We did an excellent, informative and hard to imagine tour of the nearby concentration camp in Dachau. This was actually the first camp built where the Nazi system was perfected, and though it was not as large in terms of lives lost, the conditions there were worse than every other camp - a camp meant for just a few thousand had 75000 by the end of the war. It was interesting to see how the survivors of this camp had really taken the initiative to preserve the history, honor the lost, and really make it in their vision for visitors to see.
The rest of our time in Munich was spent drinking beer, walking between enormous beer gardens and watching the World Cup, seriously. It was awesome though :). We had a stein (aka a full liter glass) at the three largest gardens and another famous one - Hofbrauhaus - you may have heard of it haha! We had a great time relaxing and enjoying the many types of delicious beer over lots of football matches.
Onto Prague in the Czech Republic! After a rough but scenic bus ride, we arrived in time for a break before the disappointing US vs Slovenia match. What a terrible call! The next day we did a city walking tour and saw Tyn Castle, the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, the many types of architecture, the Old Jewish quarter and cemetery, Charles Bridge, and more. I especially enjoyed the many eras and influences the city has seen, yet the Czechs are very proud of their heritage and independence. That night we did a very nice scenic boat tour and dinner - Prague is beautiful from the waterfront at night - great idea by Thomas. We were however the youngest people on the cruise by about 25 years, and drank several rounds of wine and beer before realizing alcohol wasn't included oops! I think our parents especially enjoyed the phone call that night after we arrived back at the hotel - it was a good night ;).
The next day we toured the Jewish museum at Pinkas Synagogue and the Jewish cemetery. The synagogue had the name of every single of the 80000 people who were murdered in WWII, along with hundreds of pieces of art done by children while they were in the camps. The cemetery was unbelievable - just to imagine not having enough burial space that the dead are stacked 8, 10, or 12 deep at some places. It was creepy to see so many tombstones, plain rocks and upturned/uneven ground. That afternoon, we toured the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. The cathedral was the highlight to me, as I love the Gothic style architecture and the enormity of this church was crazy. We also walked to the highest point in Prague at the monastery above the castle. The monks there also brew the best beer in the Czech Republic! Definitely the best wheat beer I have Ever had, in my top 3 overall. That night we went on the Pub crawl around town, met some other travelers from all over, danced like crazy, and had a good time. Somehow didn't lose each other in the madness, but "misplaced" one cell phone oh well.
Flew to Rome, Italy Monday morning way too early after a late night. After a good nights rest, we toured Vatican City yesterday with a semiprivate group. It was especially informative to know the history and neat side stories of the famous pieces, as well as the lesser known ones. I think our guide's explanations of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica helped us really appreciate them even more. Today we plan to actually get some real things done like camera, phone, Internet, and other issues. Tomorrow we are touring the Colosseum, the Forum, and Palatine Hill before departing for the coast near Naples and Capri. Yay for beach and hiking and sunshine :)

If you actually read this far, thanks and hope you can enjoy these mental images until photos are posted online! Keep checking back to my picture site ( link at top of email), and feel free to write back too. We can't respond to all of them now, but we do read every one and are glad to hear from you. Talk to you soon!

Love, Christina, Thomas, and Alex

London... Start of Europe 2010

Hello - Hope you are doing well and enjoying the summertime weather. My brothers, Thomas and Alex, and I just left Tuesday to begin our long-planned European adventure. We landed in London and have spent the last 4 hours touring the city mostly on foot the first day-- it's quite a big place. About 6 hours of touring on Thursday, and headed to Amsterdam on Friday. As I promised, I am trying to keep up with everyone who wanted to hear about it and see photos along the way. Some are posted, and others will be added as we go along, here: http://picasaweb.google.com/cestory (the site never changes, so save this email or this link!) Also, I have posted a ''calendar-style'' itinerary which we will are hoping to follow. :)

Cheers, Christina