Return from Europe

We just returned from being in Europe for three weeks. Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands and England were the countries visited. It was quite an overwhelming and tiring experience. Many cities and sites were covered including Prague, Krakow (pronounced Crakov in Polish), Auschwitz, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Amsterdam and London. The concentration camps were very depressing and overwhelming. The Birkenau camp was an astounding 450 acres - from the tower at the front entrance, it extends as far as the eye can see in all three directions.

The way the architecture has been preserved is amazing. The history of all Europe is quite extensive, especially in cities like Berlin - not only is it the capital of Germany, but it was the headquarters of the Nazis in WWII and the focal point of the cold war for over 40 years.

We stayed in hostels for most of the trip and managed, easily, to travel for 3 weeks without having a cell phone - we did have to make phone calls occasionally, but this was no problem. Free internet service was available at most of the hostels. It was very interesting to meet people from all over Europe and the world, for that matter, travelling with backpacks just like us around the continent (the name of the main part of Europe). Yes, we travelled by backpack and we carried with us only a weeks worth of clothes. Finding laundry facilities were not difficult to find.

Europe takes transportation to a different level; and it really demonstrates how far behind our country is. We covered over 1,000 miles of land using six different forms of transit - bus, train (high speed), underground (subway), overground (elevated trains), trams and ferry. High speed trains were awesome. In Germany we travelled from one side of the country to the other, some 350 miles in less than 4 hours aboard a train which travelled up to 250 km/hr (~150 mph). From Krakow to Berlin we got to experience our first overnight train travel, where we slept in bunks through the night. Another overnight journey was aboard a ferry from the Netherlands to England across the North Sea.

There's so much else to talk about, but I am tired. Pictures will soon come.

p.s. I forgot, we saw an awesome Pearl Jam concert in London!!!