On April 6 we left for Germany. It took the majority of the day to get to Freilassing, Germany. Our hotel was fabulous! We were all on the same hall and our windows and doors opened onto a large porch and to the roof. We were able to spend our nights out on the roof enjoying the view and the weather. From my hotel window, I could see the Swiss Alps! So beautiful! Here is a picture of our view!
On April 7 we had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. The hot chocolate was divine! It was the best I have ever had! The weather this day was wonderful, so we decided to do our outdoor activities. We took a boat tour on Lake Konigssee. It was so beautiful. The lake was surrounded by mountains. We stopped at an island and had free time to hike and put our feet in the water. It was so relaxing. Here is a picture of our view from the island!
On April 8 we went to Salzburg, Austria. We saw the gardens where a part of The Sound of Music was filmed. Then we went to Mozart's house! It was really neat getting to see where Mozart was born, a lock of his hair, and some of his first pieces of music. By mid afternoon, we met back up with the group and headed to the Salt Mines! We rode on a train that took us into the mine. To go further underground we had to slide down slides! Here is a picture of some of our group on the train car about to go into the mine. It was a blast!! We learned about how they mined salt and received a free sample as we were leaving.
On April 9 we went to see Neuschwanstein Castle. Walt Disney modeled Cinderella's castle after this castle. It was really pretty! We had to take about a four hour train ride to get there. Then we hiked about 20 minutes to get to the castle. The view was beautiful from the top of the mountain. We had a guided tour through the castle. It was neat getting to see the inside. Here is a view of the castle before we hiked to the top.
On April 10 we went to Dachau Concentration Camp. What an experience. The week before I had been thinking about going to the concentration camp and thinking about how it is going to feel to walk through it. I was a little nervous. I was thinking it was going to be intense and gut-wrenching. When we arrived at the camp, we had about 2 hours to walk through the camp. There was a museum that contained all the information about the camp, the war, and the prisoners. There were multiple times where I teared up reading about how they treated the prisoners. Some of the things were absolutely awful. After we walked through the museum, we went out into the camp. The weather was beautiful and there was not a cloud in the skype. It felt weird having such nice weather and beautiful greenery surrounding you while you walk through a concentration camp. We entered through a gate that said in Germany "Work Brings Freedom." It was so surreal reading that, knowing that millions of prisoners walked through the same gate and read those same words. We were able to walk through the barracks and see where they slept and showered. There were so many beds crammed into one room. I could not imagine living in a room with so many other people. We walked along the main path between the 31 barracks. It was unbelievable how many prisoners could be housed there. We walked to the back of the camp where the gas chamber and crematorium was located. We stood in the room where the prisoners were told to take off their clothes for a "shower." Then they were taken into the next room, the gas chamber. Then the dead bodies were taken to the next room where they were cremated. It was such a chilling emotion to walk through these rooms of death. Here are a few pictures from the camp.
I am so thankful that I was able to go to this concentration camp. There was a memorial within the concentration camp and on one of the walls it had "Never Again" written in four other languages. The sadness and awful treatment of human beings will never be forgotten in my mind. In the book Night a boy and his family are sent to a concentration camp and as the boy is watching terrible things happen he keeps asking, "Where is God? How could God let something like this happen? Is there really a God?" Can you imagine being in that circumstance where your faith is tested. I hope that I never lose sight of God, even through destruction. God is always there and in control.
After we had time in the concentration camp, five other people and I headed to Prague, Czech Repulic!
On April 11 we went out to explore Prague! We went to see the John Lennon Wall, the Charles Bridge, an Easter Festival, and other monuments in Prague. The weather was great this day! The Charles Bridge was very pretty! You could see so much for the bridge. People had stands set up with paintings and jewelry. The John Lennon Wall was really neat because there were people from all over the world who wrote things on the wall. Here is a picture!
On April 12 we went out into Prague to see the Prague Castle. We also went back to the Easter Festival and went up in a tower where you could have a panoramic view of Prague. It was absolutely beautiful!
The Easter Festival is Prague is a major ordeal. It lasts for almost a month and there are stands set up with authentic food, elaborately painted Easter Eggs, and crepes! It was fun going to a festival in a different country. The night we went to a bridge next to the Charles Bridge to take picture of Prague at night. It was very pretty when the sun was setting!
On April 13 we headed home to Verviers, Belgium. It was an all day trip. We were so excited to get back "home"! This trip was a lot of fun!
Our next adventure is a day trip to Amsterdam on April 16. Our final trip before returning to the States is our 16 days of free travel to England, Ireland, Scotland, and Cinque Terre, Italy. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Be looking for new posts soon!
