Europe Finale

Well my apologies for not getting this done sooner.  But it was really good to be able to have a week of recovery and getting back into routine when we returned home on Sunday evening.  So thank you for your patience, and I will finally finish the second half of our trip!

We left France and traveled back to Tasha and Bjorn's.  We spent the weekend with them before heading out to Southern Germany and Austria.  It was neat to go to church with them as well!  Meeting people was interesting, as not many knew English, but it was nice to have translators there =)  During the service, Bjorn sat in a little room off the balcony and translated the sermon for Ben and I into headphones we wore.  He did a good job, and it was a good sermon preached by his dad.  The songs (although in German) were for the most part all familiar melodies, so we sang along in English!  

Monday, we left for Munich, Germany.  Tuesday we went to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial.  It was...I'm not even sure I can come up with an adequate word.  There were so many thoughts swirling in my head as we walked around.  The memorial was very well done and incredibly informative, heartwrenching, inspiring, moving and deep.  I would recommend a visit to a concentration camp to anyone who has never been.  

This was the entrance.  This gate was the gate all the prisoners walked through.  Really small, considering how many people were herded through them.  On the gate is a sign in German that reads "Work is Freedom."  It was meant to be taunting, as their work was not going to lead them to freedom.  

This was directly to the left as you walked through the gate.  A HUGE open yard area where they did prisoner counts.  And beyond is one of the barracks.  There were only two barracks standing out of several dozen.  And those were actually replicas built to be exactly as the ones 70 years ago were.  

Inside one of them, they showed the various stages of prisoner quarters that changed as they kept packing prisoners in.  

This one was the first.  Everyone got their own defined space in the bunk.

The next phase, they took out the separation boards between each "space" and therefore could pack more people into them if needed. 

The final ones had no space definition at all.  It was just a long flat surface, three bunks high that was crammed with as many people as could fit. 

This is one of the pictures of what the prisoner quarters looked like. 

Their bathroom. 

This is what the Camp Road looked like...it was a long road with barracks off of either side. 

This picture was taken from the camp road, looking out over where the barracks used to stand.  The long raised gravel beds are the foundations of the barracks.  In the distance is one of the many guard towers looming over the camp. 

This is the ditch and electric fence that surrounded the whole camp.  Often times, desperate prisoners would attempt to cross it.  Mostly they were spotted by soldiers in the guard towers and shot, but if they weren't, they were attempting to reach the fence and electrocute themselves. 

Set outside the camps fence was the crematorium.  Dachau was mainly a work camp, and not a mass-murder camp like Auschwitz.  The crematorium was for already dead bodies they needed to dispose of.  They did make a gas chamber in an adjacent room, but there was never any documented proof it was ever used, except for in test-runs.  

This is the outside of the crematorium

All in all, it was really sobering.  And like I said, I would encourage people to go visit a concentration camp if you ever have the chance.  I have to say one of the disappointing parts was seeing all of the school groups there that had kids who didn't understand the gravity of where they were.  They were laughing, joking, looking bored...and it was really sad to me.  Places like this deserve to be--must be-- remembered, as they mark a very dark time in history that should not be forgotten. 

Right after that we drove to Vienna, Austria.  

We stayed in a boarding house that was absoultely wonderful.  This is the inside of the building where the boarding house was.  If you are ever going to Vienna, let me know and I will pass along the information to this place...it was perfect and reasonably priced! 

There was something about the architecture that was different than both Germany and France.

A statue of Brahms

Ben and I outside the Musikveiren.  It has been a dream of mine since my early teens to visit here.  One of my favorite (fictional) book series was about a Jewish girl who played violin here during the war.  And Ben took me to see a Mozart concert there! 

Inside the Golden Hall was beautiful! 

We were three rows from the front.  Not always the best for orchestral listening, but it wasn't too bad, and it was definitely amazing being that close for the opera numbers!  These were the two who did the opera pieces...and they were amazing!  I generally don't enjoy much opera (and probably couldn't sit through a whole one), but these two did a fantastic job with a few fun numbers from Mozart's operas. 

All the players dressed in period clothes from Mozarts day.  It was fun.  Actually, the man in the center of the picture in the green coat ended up sitting  across from us on the metro on our ride back.  It was neat to talk to him about playing there. 

At night...so beautiful all lit up! 

The next day we went to Schonbrunn Palace where the royalty of Vienna used to live.  It was huge.  And not particularly inviting from the front.  But around back it was beautiful.  We didn't take a tour of the inside, as it was expensive, but really enjoyed the grounds! 

This was a fountain they had out back. 

A view of the back of the palace from behind the waterfall!  

the many intricate flower gardens between the house and the fountain/waterfall

We also went to see another cathedral.  We visited one in almost every city we stayed in.  

Back in Germany for our last few days, we met up with Tasha, Bjorn, Ronny (their neighbor) and Sebastian (Bjorn's brother) for some delicious Mexican food!  (it actually wasn't that bad considering it was in Germany!

Tasha, Alana and I watching the guys play volleyball

I was glad Ben had some time to hang out with the guys from church there.  He had been tagging along with Tasha and I during the day, and needed some guy time =)

We went to Cologne with T&B and saw yet another cathedral.

It was beautiful and so old! 

Ben and Bjorn climbed up to the top (too many stairs for me-533 steps up and then back down) and had a beautiful view of the Rhine River. 

We ended our trip with a picture by the Dill River in Dillenburg, Germany.  It is not too many miles from where T&B live, and it was neat to see our name all over the place! 

Overall the trip was absolutely amazing.  Definitely exceeded my expectations.  Ben is such a great travel companion.  Doing it all was great, but doing it all with him was even better. From experiencing such beauty together to all of our time road tripping...eating yummy food and getting caught in rainstorms.  It was everything a trip should be.  And we are both grateful for good health and safety...not only for us but for Bambino.  I definitely had to say a blessing over my food and water as I was never sure quite where it all came from.  But it was a good exercise in handing things over and trusting God with every aspect of our journey...food included!  

We have tons more pictures and so many more stories that we would be happy to share if you are ever interested.  

Thanks for checking in with us along our journey!  

We are grateful to be home and back into a routine!