Venice, Italy

Amazing sunset!

Gondola ride through the canals

Gondola ride through the canals

Status Update

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be a little behind in posting for the next 2-3 days. The internet where I am right now is too slow to upload pictures, so I'll catch you up to speed when we move on to the next location. Thanks so much for following me on this journey! Talk to you soon! -Chandler

Budapest / Salzburg

Over the past 4 days, we've been in two different locations. The first 2.5 days we spent in Budapest, Hungary, and the other 1.5 days we were in Salzburg, Austria.  Budapest was very city-ish and bustling. While in Budapest, we decided to take a double-decker bus tour of the city which was very informational and great for sightseeing. Another highlight was going to dinner at a traditional Hungarian restaurant with live gypsy music. After our mini-visit to Hungary, we took a train to Salzburg and packed as much action into our 24 hours as possible. We began by meandering through the streets of the rustic downtown area. We saw some sights and monuments that were in The Sound of Music which was fun too! Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg, so that night we went to a dinner-concert. Through the evening, musicians played several sets of pieces by the famous composer, some of which were accompanied by opera singers! We had a great time overall with lots of fun packed into our short visits. Here's a few photos from our trip:

Inside Budapest's train station - Matchy-matchy outfits unintended. Haha!

View from the citadel in Budapest

Budapest, Hungary

The beautiful Budapest Opera House

This Austrian castle on a hill looks like it came right out of a fairytale.  :)

A view from the train of a little Austrian village at the base of a mountain.

Mozart Concert

Also at the Mozart Concert

Inside St. Peter's Cathedral, Salzburg

Poland

June 8th - June 11th: Poland!!!

Poland was so amazing! Probably my favorite location so far! This is the view from the center of Old Town Square. We went to Sunday mass in Polish at the big cathedral on the right.

St. Faustina, Pray for Us!

My favorite food ever: Pierogi! (Polish dumplings consisting of mashed potato, onion and cheese in dough.) Usually I make them at home with my mom  from a family recipe and we freeze them to save for special holidays, but here they're extremely common and cheap! My dad and I tried them at about 7 different restaurants in search of the best pierogi in Krakow. There were definitely some good ones!

The gates of Schindler's Factory which has been transformed into an extensive exhibition about the effects of Nazism and Communism in Poland.

Along similar lines, we took a tour of Nowa Huta, an experimental city established by the communists in an effort to create a "perfect city" based on the ideals of socialism. Though they eventually gave up their efforts and moved out, nearly all of the original buildings and design styles are still in place. It was a little eerie to see because everything seemed just a tiny bit "off". The buildings were very stark in their colors and appearance. Everything seemed a little too generic. In a way I felt like we were in one of the districts of Panem. (Hunger Games)

WWII Tank on display in Nowa Huta

There is one Catholic church in Nowa Huta which was installed toward the end of the communist reign in that area. This is one of the many monuments dedicated to Pope John Paul II in honor of his efforts to free the citizens from communist control. He his very loved all throughout Poland, especially Krakow as he was once their bishop!

Inside the prison yard of Auschwitz

This is the room in which they administered the lethal injections to some of the prisoners of the concentration camp. I bought a book called "I Was Doctor Mengele's Assistant" in which one of the main physicians of Auschwitz (who was a prisoner himself) recounts the stories of some of the terrible things that went on inside the camp, specifically from a medical view. Its insane and horrible. 

Here is a memorial dedicated to St. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest and martyr who gave his life to save another man at Auschwitz. This is the cell in which he died.

This is Birkenau, aka "Auschwitz II". This camp was classified as an "extermination camp" rather than a "concentration camp" because all prisoners sent there were killed with no exceptions.  It is an incredibly huge camp with rows of barracks as far as the eye can see. 

Interior of one of the barracks of Birkenau

After the war had ended, some of the barracks were disassembled so the wood could be used to rebuild the city. All that remains in their place are the foundations and chimneys. To gain some perspective of how massive this camp was, the chimneys seen here represent only about 1/5 of the total barracks. 

Stormy night in Krakow

It was heartbreaking to visit the concentration camps, but overall we had a truly great time visiting Poland!  I'm writing this entry as we sit in a train station in Katowice awaiting our connection to Budapest, the next stop on our journey. Off to Hungary!

Prague Photos

An amazing view of the beautiful city of Prague! Or as locals call it, Praha.

While we were there, everyone was very concerned about the flood, which was the worst one in about 500 years. It didn't disrupt much except for the Charles Bridge and the subway system luckily.

One of the many beautiful churches found in Old Town Square.

This is what can be seen from the tower of Prague's castle.

The cathedral inside the palace was incredible to see!

This is Lennon wall, a huge graffiti wall dedicated to the famous Beatles member.

Germany

Begrüßung from Germany! Today was our second day here, and we're having such a great time with Ute and her family. Here's a retelling in photos of our experiences thus far:

After we were picked up from the train station yesterday morning, we all went to Sunday Mass at the basilica of St. Freising.  Coincidentally it was the same church where Pope Benedict XVI was ordained a priest! 

After Mass, Ute took us to a 1000 year old brewery called Weihenstephan. She told us that she used to be a waitress there when she was about 17 years old, and so did her mother who is currently 93!

After lunch we went to Ute's sister's house to meet up with the rest of the family. We sat around her table talking for hours! Thank goodness we had Ute to translate! They taught my dad and I how to play German Gin Rummy and we all played together for hours as it rained outside...and flooded the basement. 

This morning, Ute, Joe, Carl-Heinz, my dad and I went to visit Nazi concentration camp: Dachau. This was a very solemn morning for us as we remembered and learned more about the terrors of these death camps. The whole experience was very moving. Actually being at the camp walking around the grounds and through the gas chambers, crematoriums, stubens, and other prisoner facilities was heartbreaking. Knowing that such evil ever existed is enraging and horrendous. We need to pray that nothing like that ever happens again.

"Arbeit Macht Frei" is a German phrase meaning "labor makes (you) free". The slogan is known for having been placed over the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps, including Dachau as seen here.

Inside the concentration camp

On a happier note, we saw the famous Glockenspiel! Every hour as the clock chimes, ornate figurines dance around the clock set to music from the bells. 

This is the Hofbrauhaus! This is the biggest, loudest, most fun place to eat traditional German food ever! 

In the evening we went to visit Marcus and his wife at their home in Freising.

This is Lavender, their pet pig. It is an indoor pig, and as you can see she was taking a little nap under the covers in her bed. Lavender is big now, but when they bought her several years ago they were told that it would stay small forever. Regardless, they still call it their Mini-Schwein. 

In case you were hoping to see something amazingly adorable, here's a photo of Lotte the pug riding on top of Lavender.   Its a pug on a pig, folks!