JRHS Writing BLOG

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The Highlights

Budapest, Hungary
Budapest was split into 2 parts, East Budapest and West Budapest, the river that separated the city was a major influencing factor in how the city was run. the river actually helped protect part of the city from the Nazi army because they were able to just burn the bridges and halt the flow of german soldiers. The river is also a major form of transportation for industrial purposes, but not so much for the average citizen.
-Ben

Prague, Czech Republic
On the eighth and ninth day of our trip to Europe, we had the pleasure of going sight seeing in Prague. Prague lies in the North Western part of the Czech Republic. The first day in that beautiful, scenic city, we took a tour of the old town. We were able to take pictures of well-known attractions. Some of them being the Charles Bridge, the Church of Our Lady, the Old Town Hall with its Astronomical Clock, and the Prague Castle. The next day, everyone was excited to see the Prague Castle. Within the castle walls lied many buildings such as St. Georges Basilica and the Old Royal Palace. When you first enter, there are two beautiful fountains with an astounding palace next to them. After everyone took their turns daydreaming of living in the palace, we split up into groups and went to different museums. Along with some friends, I decided to go to the Museum of Communism. Here they had articles that were used during World War II and the Cold War. There were many photographs, which were presented with writings. After my head was filled with interesting facts, I felt the need to go shopping. The souviners were less expensive than many of the other places we had visited because one US dollar was 20 Crowns. There were streets of shops, some expensive and some not. Prague is the ideal place for women to travel, along with people who love history.
-Nessa

Munich, Germany
While in Munich we had a scheduled plan that would allow us to go see Dachau (Concentration Camp). A piece of history that will never be forgotten. Emotions and momories that will always be there. We watched a 20 min. video informing us the basics and every day life that happend there during that time. Some found themselves to cry and be upset of this unacceptible Era of the human race. However for me my focus was on the GOOD that come from it. Imagining all the people that have an amazing story to tell on not giving up hope. Hope that helped them stay alive! Memories will never be forgotten, just like the people. Walking were the people walked, smelling the air they breathed, seeing the desserted area of what was once, a time in history, now never forgotten. A place of sadness, joy, hope, love, death, pains, and overcoming fear! “Dachau - the significance of this name will never be erased from German history. It stands for all concentration camps which the Nazis established in their territory.”
(Eugen Kogon)
Crissy

Berlin, Germany
While we were in Berlin we got to see the Berlin Wall, or what remains of it. Where the rest of the wall use to be has now been replaced by a line of bricks that run along were the walls use to be. The tour guide that lead us on our bus tour was by far the best out of them all. We also saw other places such as the seven different monuments given to Berlin as gifts throughout the years. Even though we never entered the zoo in which they now have Knut the polar bear (which is bringing in the must needed tourists for them) we did get to see the Elephant gate and the Hardenberger entrance. We also saw Checkpoint Charlie. The place looks small from the outside, but once you go up to the second floor and the third floor it really is a big place. The German Parliament building was a place in which we had to do a lot of walking to get to and then a whole lot more when we went to go to eat afterwards. The actual place was quite heavily guarded. We had to go through airport security, and then we were escorted into an elevator that had mirrors lining all the walls. When we were finally up to the top the security was still their but we had our freedom to walk around where ever on top of the building. on top of the parliament there is this big glass structure and the walkways that lead up and down from it could be described i guess as a slinky but stretched out. The hotel was very nice and it was the last night we had in Germany. We all had a great time there, but we were all glad to be coming home again.
-The III