2014 Czech Republic, Poland (Auschwitz) Day 3

Today was a day that Denise referred to as 'a bucket list day'...........

I slept in longer today than yesterday, waking up at 5:00 AM.  We needed to be showered, fed and ready to go by 7:30 AM.  I figured out the hot water thing so we were able to have hot showers this morning...which was nice because it was cooler this morning.  Michal and Pavel were prompt.  We loaded into their car and off we went to Poland.  Due to an international motorcycle race in Brno, we had to take a longer route, bypassing Brno.  We arrived at Auswitch around 2:00 PM.  Very long driving day for all of us.  We stopped once at a KFC close to the Poland border.  The KFC here only had chicken strips or wings.  They had some sandwiches but other than that...not much else.  It was good....but had a limited menu.

Auschwitch....wow.  There are two camps here, Auschwitch I and Auschwitz - Birkenau.  We arrived at Auschwitch I.  But the tour lines were really long. So we asked someone what was going on.  The young girl said that tours ended at 3:00 PM and after that everyone got in free.  She also said that we could take the free shuttle bus to Auschwitz 1- Birkenau.  So we did that first.  It was amazing to see the size of this camp.  At its high points it held 90,000 prisoners.  But 1.4 million people were killed here.  Their bodies, as we know, were cremated and their ashes were strewn in the fields.  Many of the wooden barracks are destroyed with just the chimney's standing.  We saw the 'hospitals' where human tests were performed.  We saw the underground chambers where people were led believing that they were going to be cleaned and sanitized, then led to gas chambers where they were killed.  Their bodies were generally cremated and their ashes distributed in the fields around us.  It was a bit overwhelming to imagine what transpired at this place.  I was really amazed by the size of the Birkenaur camp.  I am more amazed at what one human is willing to do to another.

While walking around the camp, I noticed 2 girls and a young man coming at me.  I quickly noticed that the two girls were the same girls that sat by us on the train ride from Plzen to Prague.  What a small world to see them again some 5+ hours away from Prague in Poland.   We had no idea that we were both going to Auschwitch. Crazy....

We are now headed back to Brno, which will be a 2.5 hour drive.  We will be staying at their home tonight.  They have been such gracious hosts!

Well, the drive was a bit longer than planned.  There was something on the freeway that brought cars to a halt.  At the same time, Pavel and Michal saw that we were almost out of gas and began to sweat a little bit.  At the first exit that we crawled to, we got off the highway.  But finding a gas station was a different story.  We saw parts of the Czech Republic that were definitely unplanned.  But eventually we found the station before we ran out.  Whoo.....

We arrived at their home at 8:45 PM and met Michal's Mother and Brother for the first time.  We also met his brother's girlfriend too.  Such wonderful,people.  What a beautiful home they have.  Ivanna (Michal's mother) had worked for days to prepare a marvelous meal.  It was so good...Pork Scnitzel, a flattened chicken that was breaded and fried, breaded carp, a chicken in a bath(sauce), potatoes, soup, salad (both potatoe and green).  I think it is safe to say that it was fit for a king.  We were and have been treated as royalty.  I hope they would come to Utah and let us return the favor someday.  I will get pictures tomorrow of their home and post them at that time. Another nice, but long day here.

Auschwitz pictures:

Entrance sign to parking by Auschwitz 1...

Auschwitz 1 Barracks.....

Auschwitz1- Birkenau Entrance.  The trains rolled through here with prisoners.....

Remaining wooden barracks....

Most of the wooden barracks were destroyed and only the brick chimneys still stand....

After they unloaded, they were evaluated to see if they were strong enough to work.  If they were not, they were sent down this road to be 'sanitized' (gassed).  

Toilets....

Part of the crematorium.  When the Nazis realized that their work was being discovered, they tried to destroy as much of this camp as possible.  They dynamited these structures.

Entrance to under ground gassing chambers....

Location where ashes were sprinkled....

New born babies were tested and killed here.....

Many guard shacks lined the fence line...I was amazed how big this Birkenau camp was.  It was huge. Amazing part of history that we should never forget!

2014 Czech Republic (Prague) Day 2

Well, day 2 is in the books.  It will be our only day to tour Prague and what a day it has been.  I woke up at 3:00 AM and could not go back to sleep.  So I laid there listening to Denise howl at the moon for a number of hours.  I finally dozed off and woke up to Denise's alarm clock going off.  Michal and his Dad were coming to get us at 9 AM.  it was almost 8 AM.  So we scrambled to get ready.  Moving quickly was a good thing as both our showers ended up being cold.  We ended up having breakfast just before Pavel and Michal arrived.  Breakfast was simple but good.  Breads, meats, cheeses, creaks, yogurt, and juices.  

We immediately headed into the downtown area..  We stopped short to take the metro into the city as parking is tough to find in downtown Prague..  Good thing, there was zero parking there and very crowded.  Lots of tourists.  We first went to the Prague Castle.  This set of buildings sits on a hill looking over Prague.  It consisted of many shops, museums, art collections, churches and the home where the President of the country lives.  There was a ton to take in.  We walked around this place for over two hours.  As we were getting ready to leave, Denise told me that she had already filled up her 4gb SD card in her camera and she forgot to bring back ups.  I couldn't believe it.  We eventually found a store and bought another one at a premium price.  We toned down the image sizes on her camera.

After touring the many buildings on the castle site, we headed down towards the river.  But dark clouds were looming around.  So rather than get wet, we stepped into a liittle eatery to get some lunch.  It was interesting because we were taken to a room that looked like a waiting room.  Denise and Michal sat on a couch and Pavel and I on sofa chairs.  These were around a coffee table.  I tell you this because that was actually our serving table.  It was different.  The food was quite good.  And while we ate, it rained outside.  So that was good.  I have to say that the whole day was cool and nice.  We only had to wait for rain to stop once (other than at lunch).  

We next went over to St. Charles bridge.  I think all of Prague was there.  Very crowded.  This bridge is the most famous bridge that spans the river.  It is for walking only.  But boy, you could get some nice views of the castle and old Prague.  We then walked through old Prague looking at the old buildings mixed with the new shopping stores that have come in.  We eventually ended up at St. Wincelas Square.  This is where protests, parades and such take place.  After taking a few pictures there, we headed back to our car via the metro.  Once we arrived at the car, we got in and Pavel took us towards the 'oldest' part of Prague.  In doing so, he made a wrong turn and ended up on a square where only Trams and people could go.  People just stared and laughed at us.  He was worried that the Police were going to ticket him.  We just quickly followed the trams out as fast as we could.

The 'oldest' part of Prague was beautiful, sitting above the river.  An old church was in the center with a cemetery where only the famous people were buried.  You had to be invited to be buried there.  The headstones were amazing.  After walking through this area, we came back to our hotel to rest before going to dinner.  And rest we did.  Denise and I both could not keep our eyes open and crashed quickly for a quick cat nap.  We were at the hotel for only 1.5 hours.  Michal and Pavel came and retrieved us again at 7:30 PM..  We went to the apartment that Pavel owns and Michal lives in.  It is really nice.  It is in a new building on the 4th floor and you can see the Prague castle in the distance.  We then headed to Michal's favorite place to eat...The Golden Piglet.  It was real close to where he lives.  It was a small, very clean, pub.  The food was excellent.  Denise and I both had different cream based pastas. They also made us a lemonade with ginger leaves in it.  That was very good too.

Well, we are both really tired but thrilled with the great tour that Michal and Pavel gave us.  We will be forever grateful..  Prague is a beautiful city.

Oh, Happy Birthday Mom!  We did think about you a few times today.  We will try to FaceTime with you later.

Prague Castle and views.....

Heading to St. Charles Bridge...

Old, old Prague.....the cemetery.

Honey Cake....

Our 'hotel'....which was quite a distance from downtown.  When we arrived back here, after our city tour, a wedding reception was going on.  Lots of music, people laughing and the host of the hotel was catering the event using his backyard BBQ.

Great day.....

2014 Germany, Czech Republic, Day 1

OThe trip has begun and I am full of anxiety.  It started last night.  I could not sleep.  In the end, I think I dozed off here and there for about 3 hours.  The rest, I stared at the ceiling.  I finally got up at 4AM and got going.  As usual, the plane that once looked wide open to Houston closed quickly.  The good news was that we received seats pretty early.  The bad news was that while boarding someone did something to the masks that fall down.  Mechanical was called.  In the end, they decided to leave the row without passengers.  It caused the gate agent to start pulling standby's tickets back.  They got to the couple that received tickets just after us.  So we sat there for a half hour wondering if they would call us back.  But they didn't. Nonetheless, I was stressed.  I write this has we head to Houston.  When we land, I need to immediately find a place to stay in Prague.  We will get to Munich, hopefully in business class.  There are a ton of seats on the Munich flight.

I am now writing this from a train that just left the Munich train station headed to Nuremberg and then to Prague.  This will be a 6 hour train ride.  Let me tell you this...flying Businrss Class is quite the experience.  Constant flow of food and drink.  Comfortable chairs that go into the prone position.  Great sleep!  It was nice to feel how the other half lives when travelling.

The Munich airport is very large and pretty.  In between the two large terninals is this cool outside court of stores and stuff.  It was pretty unique.  Finding the train station was pretty easy.  And getting the Bayern day train ticket was pretty easy.  It is going to cost us only 30 euros to get into the Czech Republic (about $45).  And once we cross the border, it is another 200 Kronas ($10) for the rest of the journey.  Not too bad for a 6 hour trip.  It would be a ton more if we used standard tickets.  But this Bavarian day pass makes it pretty cheap for multiple riders.

I have been amazed by how green it is here.  It is cool (about 60 degrees).  It is fairly flat.  And all the homes...get this....look German!  Pretty fun.  I am amazed how much alcohol is drank in public places.  Young adults packing German beer every where with bottles opened at midday.  

We arrived at the exact time we told Michal.  And there he was, standing at the train platform waiting for us.  He has not changed.  The 6 hour train ride was a killer...seemed to last forever.  We are both really tired.  We jumped into Michal's Ford station wagon and headed out to find our 'hotel'.  It was a good 20 minute drive winding through the streets of Prague getting to the outskirts of town.  This place is on old farm house that they converted into a little inn.  It is nice.  We ate at the restaurant here on site with Michal and his father, who drove over from Brno to be with us.  The food was really yummy and quite inexpensive (less than $10).  

Well, it is lights out time.  We are dead.  Tomorrow we tour Prague.

Plane food.....

In between terminals at Munich....

Happy travelers.....

With Michal in front of train station....

Our room....

2014 Spain / Portugal Day 9

Day 9 ... Leaving Portugal.

A bit more about day 8 in Lisbon.  We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express near the airport.  We arrived around 6:30 PM.  After settling in, we wanted to get something to eat.  We had asked the young lady at the front de ask if there were eateries nearby.  She said, yes, but we would need to walk a bit.  She also said at 7:00 PM a crew came into the hotel to prepare dinners in the hotel.  So we opted to do that.  We decided to share a meal.  We chose a veal dinner that came with a drink and dessert.  Our choice for dessert was chocolate cake or fruit.  That was a no brainer.  After we had sat down, a young man came out to us and told us that they had dropped the cake on the floor!  I thought...yea....right.  Nonetheless at the conclusion of our meal they brought us two apples and an orange.  I wanted cake for my 13 euros!  Oh well.....

We turned lights out at 9PM even though there were many English TV channels to watch (unlike Spain).   I slept great until 4AM.  But since it was a travel day, my mind would not let me go back to sleep.  So I read the newspaper (Deseret News) and quietly listened to the BYU basketball game.  At around 6:30 AM, We headed down for breakfast.  It was ok...lots of rolls, meats, cheeses, fruit juices and hot chocolate.  Nothing in the food that you would see on an American breakfast menu.  We ate, returned to our room to retrieve our bags, and then paid for a shuttle to the airport.

Our flight to Newark left at 10:15 AM on time.  The Lisbon airport was really nice, really clean.  Our process to get on was easy.  And there were a lot of seats.  We were assigned an exit row to share.  Tons of leg room.  Really quite comfortable. The flight to Newark took almost 9 hours.  And even though we left Lisbon early, we arrived 30 minutes late.  To give a perspective...flying to Madrid one week ago took 6.5 hours.  Flying home....9 hours.  The pilot said the head winds were so strong that they altered their course to take a more southern route to Lisbon, not their normal route.  

We arrived at 2:00 PM to the gate in Newark.  While taxing, I looked at the plane loads.  Our best option was to fly to SFO and then back to SLC.  More seats appeared to be available.  But we were not listed on that flight.  We were listed on a flight through Chicago and another through Houston.  All three flights (SFO, ORD, IAH) were gated right by each other...which was real fortunate.  The SFO flight was to leave at 2:45, the ORD flight at 3:05 and IAH at 3:20.  Now coming in internationally, you go through passport control, then baggage control, then because we were connecting to another flight, back through the whole TSA security check.  When we arrived at the SFO flight, the gate agent would not even consider putting us on.  We were too late even though the plane was still there and had seats.  So I walked down to the next gate where Chicago was gated to ask if stand by seats had been issued.  I was surprised to see that both of us had been issued seats.  So we got in line to board.  I went first and headed down the jetway.  As I walked down, I turned back to see if Denise was behind me.  She was not. I stopped.  In a minute or so, Denise came down and said that the agent wanted to check her bag.  She took her ticket thinking Denise would return.  I said come on....let's go see if there is overhead space...and there was.  So Denise boarded anyway without her ticket.  I kind of waited to see if the gate agent would be coming after her.  But she never appeared.  Whoooo.

I am writing this as we fly to Chicago.  One more flight.  If we get on, we will get into SLC at 8:30 PM.  If not, we stay the night in Chicago and try tomorrow once again.  No other options.  In Newark, the Chicago to SLC looked full.  But in standby flying...you just never know!

Yahoo...just got our tickets to SLC!  It will feel good to be home.

Sitting on a seat with a leg extender.  First time I had seen this I ban airport.

Looking back at the coast and beaches of Portugal.  We had a great trip.  And it was so nice to spend it with Kelly and Zella.

2014 Spain / Portugal Day 8

Day 8 ..... Hasta la vista Espana.  Bienvenidos a Portugal.

We are travelling on a train to Lisbon from Faro, Portugal as I write this.  It was sad to leave Espana.  We saw a ton of stuff Kelly and Zella.  Lots of old forts and castles that date even before Christ walked the earth.  Really cool.  Plus, we were on the Mediterranean Sea most of the time.  Amazingly beautiful.   We will remember our time in Southern Spain fondly.

We left our hotel today at 9 AM.  Instead of going southeast, we travelled southwest across the Spain / Portugal border.  It took, maybe, 1.5 hours to get to the border.  Portugal happens to be one hour earlier...which gave us one more hour touring around.  We first drove into Faro, a coastal town where many Northern Europeans fly down to vacation and hang out on the beaches.  Portugal appears to me to be much poorer than where we were in Spain.  But the people appear to be happy, more open to have a chat with you.  After finding the train station, to make sure we knew where it was, we headed west along the coast to a town called Silves ( pronounce Silvesh).  There, in the middle of town was a Moorish Castle.  The town was amazingly quaint, pretty small.  It was Saturday so the people were out and about.  We drove by a nice farmers market.  The castle was pretty awesome.  It gave you a  wonderful view of the lush hills that were farmed by the people.  We spent about an hour there then headed back to Faro.

One funny note....upon entering Portugal, the signs had tourist drivers pull off into a lane where a machine was located.  There you were asked to pay a toll but you could only use a credit card.  So Kelly put his in.  The receipt came back saying he had paid .60 euro.  Cheap.  So off we went.  Then about eveyr 10 miles or so, we would see signs indicating a new fee to be paid but you never had to pull up to a machine again.  So we did not think anything of it.  But then it occurred to us that at every sign tha indicated a new fee we drove under a bridge thing that probably had some kind of monitor that recognized your car.  The question was....do they recognize us?  That perked Kelly up to think his credit card was getting dinged every time we went under one of those.  I would say, "cha ching' every time we went under one of those bridges and Kelly would squirm in potential financial pain.  If his card got billed each time...I am guessing it was hit between 5 and 10 euros.  I can't wait to hear if he was being charged or not.  Needless to say, we did not take the major highway back to Faro!

We travelled back to Faro hoping to drive on coastal roads.  But we never could.  The secondary highway did not get close to the shoreline.  However, the ride was fun as we passed through one small town after another.  We eventually arrived back in Faro.  In the food category of the GPS it had Burgers.  So we selected that and up popped McDonalds and Burger King.  So we headed to Burger King.  Turns out that it was in a really cool food court in a really modern mall.  In the end, we ended up getting sandwiches, fries and drinks at a local chain called Pan.  The lunch was great.  But the Postres Denise bought were even better.

After lunch we headed to the train station.  The station is really old.  It only has a few tracks.  The trains in Portugal are not as modern as their counterparts in Spain.  Nor do the travel as fast.  However, the price was right compared to Spain.  We paid 22 euros per ticket in Portugal.  In Spain, we paid 68 euros.  The distance of travel was fairly equal.

Once we get to Oriente, the Lisbon main train station, we plan to grab a taxi to take us to our hotel.  More to come.  We leave Lisbon tomorrow at 10:15 AM putting us in Newark a few hours before the Super Bowl starts there.  Think we can get tickets?  We will then either go to SLC via Chicago or Houston.  Chicago is the best choice because we could get to SLC by 8:30 PM .  But as usual, seats are tighter going that route.  And who wants to get hung up in Chicago in subzero temps.  Been there done that!  If we go Houston, the earliest we can get home is 11:30PM.  Long day ahead!

We arrived right on time to the Lisbon train station.  We hailed a cab and arrived at the hotel real fast.  We are now in for the night.

Mormon Stake Center in the middle of Sevilla.  We passed this as we left Sevilla.

As we drove to Portugal we noticed these large bird nests on power poles.  Guess what kind of bird it is....Storks!

Sign entering Portugal and telling us foreigners about the electronic toll.

One of the high speed Portuguese vehicles.  I think grandma and grandpa were topped out at 40 km/h.

Denise and Zella in Selvis.

Denise with the protector of the Selvis Castle.....

The small town center of Selvis....

Kelly on the castle wall...

Some very good orange cake....

Faro train station on the sea...

She is ready to go to Lisbon!

Happy rail travelers!

2014 Spain Day 7

Day 7…. Malaga.

 

Today was another nice day touring around Spain.  From Sevilla, we drove about 2 hours down to Malaga, a coastal based city.  I drove today.  The drive was one a freeway system from Sevilla.  It was raining off and on throughout the trip.    I think we have mastered the GPS pretty good.  But still, when in these old part of these cities, the streets fly by quickly and you don’t get the right turn off.   But we are getting better.  Anyway, in Malaga sits an old Moor Castle and Spanish Fort.  They are on a hill that you have to climb…and it was a pretty good climb to get up to the Castillo de Gibralfaro (fort).  But boy what a view looking out over the Mediterranean Sea.  By the time we had reached the top, the sun was out and we had a spectacular view of Malaga.  We spent probably a good 3 hours touring the Castillo and the Alcazar.  Pretty amazing……pretty beautiful what these people (the Moors) built.

 

After we had visit the Castillo and Alcazar, we walked into an area of shops and stores.  There, we saw a cafeteria that offered another ‘Menu del Dia’ for 8.50 Euros per person.  I had Seafood Soup and a pork chop for my ‘primero and segundo’.  The pork chop came with French fries.   I also tried one of their sodas….the first in Spain.  It was Fanta Limon….and it was quite tart and good.  Kelly is not a fish lover and Zella gives it a go.  So we have been pushing them to try the ‘bottom of the ocean’ seafood that these folks want to share with us.  It has been fun to watch.  Denise ordered Paella…a common Spanish rice dish.  It was full of seafood…and good also.

 

After this late lunch, we took off on foot to find a Museum of Glass and Ceramics.  After Kelly stopped a number of people for directions, we finally made.  Upon entering, I saw a nice couch to sit on.  At that moment, I made the decision that  the couch was for me and Denise could go look at the fine china…or whatever they had to show.  Kelly agreed and sat down with me.  So the two ladies paid the 5 Euros and off they went.  We were there….maybe an hour.

 

After finding our car, we decided that we wanted to drive down the Mediterranean coast to see how the other half lives.  We saw some nice homes overlooking the beautiful sea.  But after having done that, we decided to take a road that took us into the mountains.  We thought it would be a bigger highway.  It was a two lane, EXTREMELY slow trip.  The road wound around the mountains and a car in front of us would only go about 25 miles an hour.  We went up the mountain and then as we came down the other side, we were in the clouds….fog and rain.  It was pretty treacherous.  I wanted to try and pass the slow person knowing that I could go a little bit faster.  But no real opportunity presented itself to do this.  So it took about an hour plus to go, maybe, 30 to 40 miles.  Very frustrating.  The last time I drove, we had a similar mountain driving experience.  Bottom line, we were in the mountains for the majority of our trip back to Sevilla arriving at the hotel around 9:15 PM.  We were just glad to be here.

 

Malaga is beautiful….well worth the drive and trip.  I would love to come back to these coastal cities one day in the future when it was warmer and you could get into the sea.

 

Tomorrow we are off to Faro, Portugal.  There we will tour a bit then catch a 3:00 PM train to Lisbon.  Our trip with Kelly and Zella will conclude.  It has been a TON of fun meandering our way in our little car throughout Southern Spain.  It will be a memory to be cherished in our lives.  My thanks goes to them for planning and preparing the sites to see.  We have seen so much…so much good stuff. 

 

Hasta la manana….

 

Another beautiful parking job!  This is a parking garage in Malaga.

Some beautiful flowers on our hike up to the Castillo (fort).

Looking out across the port in Malaga.  You can see that it was a bit cloudy.

This looking down into the cities bull ring.  This is the biggest one that we saw on the entire trip.

This was one of the MANY walls that we walked on.

I showed you the old sport(bull fighting).  In this photo you can see the stadium for their new sport (futbol).

Part of Malaga tucked in the hills.

One of the fountains in a garden area in the Alcazar.

Our lunch stop....

Objects in the glass museum...

Still kicking.....

It has been a great trip!