Europe - Part 4

     Well we left Prague and took the train to Berlin. We were not sure what to expect but it turned out to be a fun city. It did not have the old history since 80% of the city was destroyed during the war, and one can still see the effects now. But there is a lot of recent history from WWII and the cold war. We took a Third Reich tour which was very interesting, learning new things even though I had read extensively. The next day we took a tour of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp which is just outside of Berlin. It was interesting but very sobering and really hard to take it all in. Many of the things we saw were the Reichstag building, the Brandenberg gate, the Berlin Wall, the Holocost Memorial and many museums.

History Museum

The Brandenberg Gate

The Holocost Memorial

The remains of the Berlin Wall

The Reichstag building

Sachsenhausen concentration camp

Barbed and electrified fence

Bathing room for 300 inmates

The remains of the execution ovens.

     Berlin is a very young city in that the average age is low and there is a lot of activity going on all the time. I do have to say that the German food has a lot to be desired. The Germans are very puntual, efficient and organized which is why their economy is doing so well. By this time we were all tired and ready to get back to the good ole US of A. All in all it was a great trip and I am thankful for my brother and sister and brother-in-law.

Europe - Part 3

     Well we said goodbye to Vienna and took the train to Prague, the city many feel is the most beautiful in the world. It is beautiful in a number of ways with its rich history but is more dirty than Vienna and other western European cities. The first day we went across Charles Bridge, the 14th century bridge with its beautiful statues and towers on each end. We went to St Nicholas Cathedral which may be the most beautiful of all that I have seen - and I have seen a bunch of them. Everything is carved out of marble, even the pillars and then it is all covered with gold.
     We also went to see the Prague castle with its own catherdral. It sits on top of the hill overlooking the city. We did not have time to go in and see al of the rooms or the inside of the cathedral. From there I went on my own up another hill and to the top of the Petrin tower which is a minature Eifel tower. It was a spectacular view of the city. From there we went to the old town square to see the astronomical clock, the Tye church and all the people milling around. We took sunset pictures and had a nice dinner.

The palace cathedral

The Prague castle and cathedral

Charles Bridge and the old and new town

The astronomical clock

The Tys church at sunset

The other St Nicholas church

John Lennin wall

Dinner along the river

Phil and me on the Charles Bridge

One of many statues on the bridge

St Nicholas Cathedral

Me and Lu

Typical street and old buildings

St Nicholas

Beautiful marble and gold inside the church

Another palace

The entrance to the Prague castle

The Petrin tower

The castle and Charles Bridge at sunset

     Other things we did was to see the John Lennin wall which was a form of protest during the communist years. We also took a cruise down the Vlatana River and through a couple of locks. All in all it was a fun time in an old city with a lot of history and beautiful old buildings.

Europe - Part 2

     Well we left Switzerland by train and arrived in Vienna, Austria. It is a beautiful and old city with lots of history. Phil has a friend there whom we met and he was able to show us around. Our hotel was right in the middle of the old town and within walking distance of almost everything. The Hapsberg palace is huge and in one of the rooms the famous Spanish Riding School has it's shows and we were able to see the morning practice sessions. Then there was the old Opera House, the Mozart statue and his apartment, the beautiful St Stevens Cathedral as well as the Parliment building, Belvedere Palace. In summary, there is a lot to see in Vienna.

The gardens of the summer palace

The summer palace

The back of the summer palace

St Peter's at night

Buildings in the town center

The memorial to the plague

St. Steven's cathedral

Spiral staircase to the pulput

The Hapsberg palace

Othe part of the palace

Mozart

Another part of the palace

A walk along the ring

Vienna from the hills

The Belvedere palace - back

The front of the Belvedere palace

Front of the summer palace

     The next day we travelled out to the spectacular summer palace (Schloss Shon Brun) of the Hapsbergs. It is modelled after Versaille outside Paris and is pretty close. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous. We were able to eat at some nice restaurants. I even had time to get a run in but got lost and a 30 minute jog turned into a 2 1/2 hour nightmare.

Europe - Part 1

     Last month Luana and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Europe with my brother, Phil and my sister, Ginny and her husband Bruce. We all met in Geneva and hit the road running. We got to see the church where John Calvin preached and walk around the old town center. It is a beautiful old city and there is a wonderful view from atop the bell tower of the cathedral looking over Lake Geneva. We also met an attorney friend of Phil's who lives there. The next day we took a tour of the United nations building which was interesting.
     We then travelled to a quaint little town called Gruyeres which is an old medieval castle and market and which happens to be where the Sudans are from. In fact when we checked into the hotel, the manager said "Sudan - you are from here". We met with a guy named Francis Sudan who is retired and does geneology on the side. He has agreed to research our family and already has us back to the 1600s in this same village. While there we took in a tour of Nestle's chocolate factory and a Gruyeres cheese making factory.

The Alps

Chocolate - Nestle's - a Swiss company

Gruyeres castle

The castle gardens

The village church

Gruyeres castle at night

The UN in session

The Swiss are known for their clocks

Lake geneva

Speaks for itself

Calvin's church

     One day the guys travelled to Grindelwald to hike in the Swiss Alps along the north face of the Eiger. It was beautiful but only wet my appetite for more.

Miss Nellie

     I know it is a little odd doing a blog post on a car but hopefuly you will see. I named my car Nellie when my brother and I were in Colorado and we did some 4 wheel drive roads, one near Nellie's Creek. Well this little butte just went over the 200,000 mile mark. She is 15 years old and has been the best car. I have had to do very little to it and most of it is still original equipment. But I do not want to brag on the car but on God. God, you might ask? Why God? Well I just feel that it is a blessing to have a car that has lasted so long and done so well. It is certainly not anything I have done (though I do do all of the maintainence that is needed) and there is nothing special about the Montero - it has not won any awards. To make it even better is that Luana also has a Montero Sport which is 12 years old and has 202,000 miles on it. So I want to thank God for this blessing.