My first trip done alone under my belt and it was not bad at all. I got to the train station in Prague in plenty of time and found the platform fine. I didn't know we had assigned seating but I happened to get in the right car and cabin, lucky! I ended up sitting with two girls from Charles University here in Prague. Tonya is from NYC and Rachel is from from Boston. Tonya's mother and uncle were also on the train but were in a different cabin. We got to know each other a little on the 7 hour ride and exchanged numbers so we can hang out here in Prague. I left the train station with them and Tonya's uncle happened to be a priest from Poland and when he went to get the car he walked me to my hostel! I checked into the hostel fine and introduced myself to two girls. Nora and Colleen are from St. Louis University and are studying in Rome for this semester. We ended up planning a trip to Auschwitz together for the next day. I went to bed early to be able to get up at 7am to get the tour bus. Since we had a little time before the tour bus came we walked the main square in Krakow and this is a picture of St. Mary's Basilica. The bus picked us up right in front of the hostel at 8am and it was an hour and 20 minute ride to Auschwitz. We watched an informative movie about the camps and what to expect. One we got to Auschwitz we saw the entrance gates, exhibits of prisoners belongings, the Death Wall, holding cells, the gas chambers, and much much more. This trip if probably second on my list to Santorini not only becasue of the people I met but also this is the most history I have absorbed in one weekend. I learned so much by going on this tour and and so happy I made the trip. Here are some pictures from the weekend. The first is the entrance to the camp that says "Arbeit macht frei" which means work will make you free. Thousands of people where brought through these gates and this is where they were immediately separated between workers and people to be sent to death in the gas chambers. The next photo is of the Death wall. This is where prisoners were executed in between two holding cells. You can see on the left the wooden barricades put in place to prevent the prisoners inside from seeing what was going on outside. Same goes for the brick barricades on the second floor of the building on the right. The next photo was taken at the second camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The fog and distance of the fence added a bit of eeriness to the picture I think. The last photo is the English from the memorial put in place in 1967. The saying is in about 14 different languages. It says "For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe". Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945. This was a very historically fulfilling trip for me. I learned so much and it was another successful journey.
and exchanged numbers so we can hang out here in Prague. I left the train station with them and Tonya's uncle happened to be a priest from Poland and when he went to get the car he walked me to my hostel! I checked into the hostel fine and introduced myself to two girls. Nora and Colleen are from St. Louis University and are studying in Rome for this semester. We ended up planning a trip to Auschwitz together for the next day. I went to bed early to be able to get up at 7am to get the tour bus. Since we had a little time before the tour bus came we walked the main square in Krakow and this is a picture of St. Mary's Basilica. The bus picked us up right in front of the hostel at 8am and it was an hour and 20 minute ride to Auschwitz. We watched an informative movie about the camps and what to expect. One we got to Auschwitz we saw the entrance gates, exhibits of prisoners belongings, the Death Wall, holding cells, the gas chambers, and much much more. This trip if probably second on my list to Santorini not only becasue of the people I met but also this is the most history I have absorbed in one weekend. I learned so much by going on this tour and and so happy I made the trip. Here are some pictures from the weekend. 
The first is the entrance to the camp that says "Arbeit macht frei" which means work will make you free. Thousands of people where brought through these gates and this is where they were immediately separated between workers and people to be sent to death in the gas chambers. 
The next photo is of the Death wall. This is where prisoners were executed in between two holding cells. You can see on the left the wooden barricades put in place to prevent the prisoners inside from seeing what was going on outside. Same goes for the brick barricades on the second floor of the building on the right. The next photo was taken at the second camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau. T
he fog and distance of the fence added a bit of eeriness to the picture I think. The last photo is the English from the memorial put in place in 1967. The saying is in about 14 different 
languages. It says "For ever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe". Auschwitz-Birkenau 1940-1945. This was a very historically fulfilling trip for me. I learned so much and it was another successful journey.
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