Happy 49th Anniversary to Ron

Our romance started in Rome in September 1968 on our way back from Kenya. We first kissed the Trevi Fountain so it is appropriate to post this picture of us there this past December.  Ron and I threw 3 coins in the fountain in 1968 and wished  to return to Kenya. That happened in 1988 when our family moved to Kenya. So our connection to Rome is strong and we had not anticipated returning to Rome. I did throw 3 more coins into the fountain and made another wish. No reports on that wish yet.

Ron and  have have many wonderful travel experiences through the years. We have been blessed with family and friends that have supported us, prayed for us, and encouraged us wherever we have lived. Today on our 49th wedding anniversary, July 17, 12018 we are not together. I leave Rome tomorrow and Ron leaves Oregon where we will meet at the Washington Dulles Airport and then go to our son, Mark's house for be with family. On Friday we go on our final grand children's trip with Rania and Micah to Costa Rica. We are blessed.  - Nancy

Heading toward US via Rome

My European tour finished at breakfast but I had a late afternoon flight. I walked back to the Schönbrunn Palace Gardens to wander through the gardens until it was checkout time at my hotel. My flight to Rome was delayed for an hour but I arrived at the Ianus Guesthouse in Rome in fine shape. My two large suitcases that I had stored there were delivered to my room ready for my flight to DC on Wednesday morning July 18. -Nancy

Back to Vienna

Today we arrived back in Vienna where this Trafalgar tour started. That means that tomorrow I head back to Rome and makes me closer to getting to D.C. on July 18. I am so anxious to get back to see Ron and other family. Much of the day today was on the bus from Prague to Vienna. We stopped for a break this morning at the small town of Tabor in the Czech Republic. Our hotel in Vienna is easy walking distance to the Schonbrunn Palace. It was first built in 1548. Our family visited it in 1990. It will be fun to compare pictures of that visit with this visit. I walked to it to see the gardens before I went to our group's farewell dinner and a concert of mainly Strauss and Mozart music. It was a lovely way to end the tour. - Nancy

Views of a day in Prague

Today we had a walking tour which included going into the St. Vitas Cathedral. In the afternoon we took a boat tour which included lunch, 

Evening Walkng Tour of Prague

After settling into our hotel we set off on a walking tour, dinner at an historic Prague restaurant, and a walk across the Charles Bridge at night. Our family visited Prague in the summer of 1990 right after it became free of communist rule. The city center looks about the same, Prague was one city that was not damaged during World War II. 

Very rainy day in the bus with a stop in Dresden

Today we left Berlin to go to Prague. It was a very rainy day. We saw one very serious accident on the motorway. It was at a time when there was very heavy rain. I was thankful for safe travels. We stopped for lunch in Dresden, Germany, The entire city center was completely destroyed at the end of World War II by Allied forces. The estimate is that ove 25,000 people died in the bombings. There is a statue of Martin Luther in the city center square since the city became mostly Lutheran during the reformation. But when Ausgustus the Strong converted to Catholicism 1717 he had a Roman Catholic Cathedral built. The inside of the Lutheran Church is very ornate. - Nancy

Sights in Berlin

YToday was a day to tour Berlin. Our group had a local tour guide and learned lots of history about Berlin, both before and after World War II. We went to the viewing platform of the radio tower in Berlin. The tower was built by the Soviets in 1969. It provides great views of the city. It is extremely flat around Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie (now a tourist trap), various sections of the Berlin Wall, and the Brandenburg Gate were all stops today. Berlin is a very green city with lots of parks.

After our tours I found an electronic shop and learned that the hard drive in on my computer is dead. I will have to deal with that when I get back to Oregon. This means that my blog postings are very basic. If you can't see all of a horizontal picture just click on it and you can see all of it. - Nancy

May 10, 1933 Book Burning

The night of May 10, 1933 students in Berlin burned upwards of 25,000 books in the square of the State Opera in Berlin. These are some of the topics that were burned - pacifist literature, popular entertainment, books by Jewish authors, any book degrading German purity, literature with liberal tendencies, and many other topics. Now there is a small underground area with empty bookshelves that's is light at night. It was a time for me to reflect on how important it is to have freedom to read and freedom of the press.

We also saw some other sights of Berlin at night and then enjoyed a dinner together st a traditional German restaurant. - Nancy

Moving onto Berlin

Today was mostly a long bus ride from Warsaw to Berlin. It was a rainy day for part of the trip so it was a good day for travel. We stopped for lunch at the Polish town of Poznan. It has a lovely town square. The town mascot is two goats. At noon each day the two goats come out of the clock tower, butt heads and then retreat. 

Warsaw

Warsaw is a city that seems to be booming. There is lots of new construction. The city was 90% destroyed during World War II. The Jewish ghetto was a plac of horror and now has a large mememorwble and a museum. Today we went to the Wilanow Palace that was not destroyed. It is modeled after Palace of Versailles in Paris. We had a driving and walking tour of the city. The highlight of the day was a Chopin piano concert by the premier piano player of Warsaw, Macicj Poliszewski.

Day in Auschwitz

Today we toured Auschwitz. It was a very somber experience. Over one million people died there.

My computer has died and I am having trouble getting the pictures from my phone to this blog.

Much of day was spent in the bus traveling from Krakow to Warsaw. -Nancy

Jewish Ghetto in Krakow

Ghetto Heroes Square.

In the afternoon I explored the Jewish Ghetto. There is a public square there named Ghetto Heroes Square. It has 33 memorial chairs of iron and bronze. These chairs symbolize the tragedy of the Polish Jews. The book, The Krakow Ghetto Pharmacy is about
the one and only non-Jewish inhabitant of the Krakow Ghetto, Tadeusz Pankiewicz, who had a pharmacy within the ghetto walls. During the existence of the ghetto he and his personnel provided all kinds of help and aid for the Jews imprisoned there.

These inhabitants of Krakow were imprisoned in the Krakow Ghetto during the Second World War and the German occupation of Poland. And then afterwards losing their lives to the Germans on the premises of the ghetto and in several German death camps. My next stop was the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków which was Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory and featured in the movie Schindler's List. - Nancy

Plaque honoring Oskar Schindler

Many, many pictures about the Jewish Ghetto

Entrance to the Museum

                                          

Walking Tour of Krakow

Older section that has not been refurbished

Here are some sights from the walking tour in Krakow. - Nancy

Wawel Castle

Vistula River

Wawel Castle

Wawel Cathedral

Main Square

St. Mary's Basilica