If you don't care where you are, then you ain't lost.

Hello again!

So currently Lexi and I are traveling around the UK. In an attempt to catch up with where we are I am going to pack quite a bit of touring into one post. It will cover our 5 nights in Prague, 4 in Berlin, 2 in Hamburg and 1 in Noordwijk.

It is hard to believe we are nearly halfway into this trip, it has flown by so quickly, but that’s just the way life goes isn’t it?

Prague, Czech Republic

We decided to stay 5 nights in Prague. Now I was a little hesitant to go here initially having doubts about security, which stemmed from subjective ideas rather than facts.

We reserved a hostel named Prague’s Heaven, which was ironically quite hell to find. After traveling by train and bus to Prague’s central station we were at a loss of where to go from here. After doing a few rounds around the train and bus station, we just began following a large exodus of people out of the train station, through a park, than finally to a tram stop. Then ten minutes staring at the tram map we finally got on the correct number nine tram, and things were looking more optimistic. We got off the tram ready to make a fast connection on the next one. We look at the sign, YAY, our connecting tram comes in 4 minutes. Then 4 minutes comes and goes…no 24 tram. 10 minutes….no tram. 15 minutes…no tram. We then decide to jump on the next tram, then get off at the next stop in hopes of catching this evasive connection. After ten more minutes at the next stop, I was beginning to enter into the negative thinking. We were able to get onto the tram, we walked to our hostel tried the door…locked. We rang the bell…no answer…oh my goodness, “why did we even come here?” I was thinking. So we didn’t have a choice…we began to walk looking for internet. After 10 minutes of walking we find a restaurant, we are both tired, hungry and cranky (at least I am) so we decided to rest here. However, the restaurant only takes Czech Korans. Gahhhhhh….

You ever have one of those days where absolutely nothing seems to go right? Time after time you try an alternative route or option only to get closed doors? It was probably this experience where I was quite low, and humbled to the entire experience. It is those moments where we think we can handle a lot that a petty compounding experience such as this brings us back to earth.

So yes everything worked out…eventually…
It was here that we met up with our friend Yvonne (who we stayed with in Salzburg) and shared a room with her again. Here is a summary of what we did. 

We visited the Prague Castle, and here is the changing of the guard we witnessed as we were entering.

 The view of the Prague from the castle in front of the Czech flag

Ok, this picture makes me laugh every time. Here is a tourist trap at the castle where they make traditional bread as you can see in the basket. But the hilarious part is the creeper baker man in the background eyeing his helper...this is a priceless photo. Great shot Yvonne!

 Within the castle grounds there is the St. Vitus Cathedral  pictured above. My favorite part about this castle is the stained glass windows, the best in my opinion being the window designed and created by Alphonse Mucha. This window has the most mesmerizing color scheme that I could have looked at for hours. It depicts the history of Christianity in the Czech lands. Here is a link that provides a bit more information: http://rijksmuseumamsterdam.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/alphonse-mucha-stained-glass-window.html

 My knight in shining armor...although not very tall...

One of the biggest cultural norms I noticed here was when we were on the trams. As with public transportation, the typical civil behavior of giving up your seat for elderly, disabled, or pregnant persons is encouraged. However, it was in Prague where people would strongly glare, even verbally call you out, for not moving out of your seat for others. It was quite encouraging to see that in such a large city people were actually watching out for each other, and that the customs of old have been carried forward into this increasingly fast paced globalized world.

 Food is so amazingly cheap in Prague. A nice meal with a drink at a restaurant would be around $5. I went out to eat every single night at this place near our hostel.

 All the locals in Prague complain about tourists. So here is Lexi acting like a local, since they blocked our attempt at trying to take a photo on the Charles Bridge.

 We went shopping in Prague and Lexi found these amazing BF t-shirts. We decided to use these as our traveling t-shirts, and take photos at iconic locations over the remainder of our journey in these t-shirts. Here we are pictured in front of the John Lenin wall in Prague.

 An amazingly creepy statue outside of the Estates Theatre. It is a character in Mozart and Da Ponte's opera Don Giovanni which premiered at this theater on 29 October 1789.

        In Prague I went to the Prague Christian Fellowship church. It has been such a blessing being able to go to these English speaking churches that have been located in major cities we are visiting. At this service the pastor spoke about Acts 8 in the Bible. I really enjoyed this particular style of preaching because it was historical as well as relevant to Christianity today. The pastor shared about the Samaritans in the Bible and how they were viewed at this time as 1/2 Jew because it was in this region where people married outside the Jewish community, which was against what God had spoken to the Israelites in the past. Jesus then comes along and paints the Samaritans in a good light, which is quite backwards to what the Jews in Jerusalem understand. Then move forward to the time of Acts, in chapter 8 the Holy Spirit is being poured out on to the Samaritans. The moral of the story spoken in the service highlighted the fruitfulness of crossing the prejudicial barriers of the day allowing the power of God to manifest, which is still very true and relevant in the world today regardless of location.
          It is also worth noting that the fellowship in this church was particularly memorable. After chatting with some fellow students, I was able to briefly chat with the loveliest couple from Indianapolis who were also visiting Prague for the week. I was completely humbled when they prayed for me and the remainder of this journey.

On the last morning in Prague I woke up at 530 to catch the tram into the city and watch the sunrise first from the Charles bridge (bottom right) then from the Prague Castle. It is one of my favorite ways to see a famous city because there are so few people, it helps to really appreciate the beauty of the cityscape.

Germany

Dresden

Our next stop in our trip was Berlin. However, we made a pit stop for the day in Dresden.

Dresden is an amazingly resilient in that it was nearly completely destroyed by bombing in WWII. From a local map it states 2 basics about the city. 1) "August the Strong (1670-1733) is the guy who made the Old Town look the way it does. Without him, Dresden would still be a village. 2)On the night of Feburary 13th, 1945 Allied forces bombed the historical city to ruins. Between the 13th and 15th of February, at least 18,000 people died, most of them civilians. 3) After the war, Dresden became part of East Germany (GDR or German Democratic Republic). The communist government kept some of the ruins as a memory of the terrible war. 4) In 1989 when the wall fell, the city started a new life. People painted flashy colors all over the gray history and a lot ruins were rebuilt to look old again. Even today the Altstadt (Old Town) is a partially constructed site.

We visited the Dresden Schloss (Castle). Absolutely beautiful!

All I can think of to describe this picture is with a song from Toy Story, "You've Got a Friend in me". :)

Dresden's claim to fame. They have the oldest suspension bridge in Europe, the biggest fleet of steamboats, the biggest porcelain artwork on a wall, the oldest mountain cableway and the 2nd longest tram in the world (45 meters)! Furthermore, they invented the teabag, toothpaste, the Wonderbra,  shoe polish in a tube, the beer coaster, milk chocolate (even before the Swiss) and the reflex camera. Isn't it a little bit much for such a small city?

The Furstenzug is claimed to be the world's largest mosiac. It's painted on 23,000  porcelain tiles and shows the Saxonian kings, lords, and electors between 1127 and 1904. Fortunately, it survived the bombings of 1945. Funny fact: There's only one girl on the whole artwork in the middle of a group of children. (All the info is copied from the Use It maps, they are the best maps I have found written for young travelers, found at http://www.use-it.travel/home )

Below is the walk towards Albertplatz. 

Berlin

We stayed in Berlin for four nights. Our first day we went to the holocaust memorial.

Here is a view of the memorial above ground. The idea for a Holocaust Memorial was first proposed in 1988 but the design for the monument wasn't approved until 1999. At that time, U.S. architect Peter Eisenman's controversial design was chosen as a fitting tribute to the Jews that died before and during World War II, as part of Hitler's plan to exterminate them.

Eisenman's design is quite unique and has drawn both praise and criticism. Occupying about 205,000 square feet (19,000 square meters) of space near the Brandenburg Gate and just a short distance from where the ruins of Hitler's bunker is buried, the Berlin Holocaust Memorial

is made up of 2,711 gray stone slabs that bear no markings, such as names or dates.

The slabs undulate in a wave-like pattern. Each is a five-sided monolith, individually unique in shape and size. Some are only ankle high while others tower over visitors. The paths that are shaped between the slabs undulate as well. Eisenman hoped to create a feeling of groundlessness and instability; a sense of disorientation. Most will agree that he succeeded. (http://www.aviewoncities.com/berlin/holocaustmemorial.htm)

The memorial begin by providing a sweeping summary of the event, using photographs and text as you can see.

Each of the six columns represents one million of the estimated six million total Jews who perished during the Holocaust. For the sake of space I cannot include all of the photos from the exhibits of the memorial but this is a definite must see in Berlin.It bridges gap between the often unimaginable scope of this tragedy and the personal accounts of the people. 

Visiting the Bradenburg gate and the Victory tower. The festival of lights was happening when we were there, which is why these icons are so colorful.

Visiting the Bradenburg Gate (above) and the victory tower (to the left).

We also visited the Berlin Wall Memorial. 

The picture above shows where the impassable wall used to be

 today people here go from either side freely but this memorial serves as a reminder of the not so distant past.

There was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic, starting on August 13, 1961, that separated West Berlin from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls. It is in this location that sits the only road that remains divided between East and West Berlin. This park included personal account of escape attempts to West Berlin, and the layout and evolution of the security features from the 60's all the way until the demolition of the wall.

The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery is a 1.3km-long section of the wall near the center of Berlin. Approximately 106 paintings by artists from all over the world cover this memorial for freedom and make it the largest open air gallery in the world. The following are some of our favorite paintings on the wall...

We visited the Pergamon museum  known for it's Roman and Greek collection. This internationally renowned ancient history museum contains several fantastic artifacts, including the huge Altar of Zeus and the famous Ishtar Gate from Babylon (pictured below). Reconstructed to the left is the market gate to Miletus.

The Ishtar gate to Babylon dates back to the 6th century BC. Ishtar is the Babylonian Goddess of love and war depicted as a lion on the wall.

For those who haven't seen it yet on facebook, Lexi found some BF t-shirts in Prague. We are now using them as our traveling t-shirts and taking photos at iconic traveling locations. Here are the photos, with the Brandenburg gate in the background. My personal favorite photo is the one below :).

Pictured to the left is the Holocaust memorial, with the Reichstag in the background. On our last evening in Berlin, we were able to go up on the roof and the round dome you see pictured here. 

The large glass dome at the very top of the Reichstag has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from inside the dome, and natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would not only cause large solar gain, but dazzle those below (wiki). 

The view of Berlin from the roof of the Reichstag.

Hamburg

Hamburg Rathaus town hall

In Hamburg we went on a tour of the city. After the tour we enjoyed a lovely dinner then went on a scenic ferry ride. Here was the gorgeous sunset over the Hamburg port.

After dinner, the tour guide Stephen and a fellow tourist Alan hung out for the evening. This was all of us on the ferry ride.

Pictured below: Funny realization that the 'Piss' sign is understandable in German or English and is straight to the point. Although even without the sign one could easily deduce its purpose from the smell that radiated from this place. 

This evening was so fun, and I probably tasted the best hot chocolate of my life. Hamburg or Northern Germany in general is the place to try some 'real' hot chocolate. After hanging out with guys, we said our goodbyes and caught the overnight train to Amsterdam. 

We only spent one night here in Noordwijk, Holland but it was a beautiful place. We met two sisters from Switzerland spending a few days of vacation here. We made a lovely crepe dinner/desert together, and spent an evening enjoying great food and company combined. The next day we left and headed for the ferry to the United Kingdom.

Until next time! Thanks for reading!

Hebrews 3: 4,6
For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything...Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold onto our courage and the hope of which we boast.