Flossenburg Concentration Camp

Today has been a good day.  We left Prague at about 11 AM and arrived at Flossenburg around 2:00.  Flossenburg is one of the MANY concentration camps that were here in Germany.  We spent 2 1/2 hours walking through the museum which is housed in the old laundry barracks. 

It was very informative and sad. 

It is hard to understand how people could be so inhumane and hurtful to other people. 

 

These two pictures are of the area called "The Valley of Death".  Thirty thousand people were killed in this camp and many of them were buried or cremated in this area. 

There is a sacred feel to this place knowing what occurred here.

 

 

There is a guard tower in the corner.

The crematorium is at the bottom of the trees.

The square foundation below the crematorium is where mass executions took place.

The mound just below that is called "The Mound of Ashes".  Now explanation needed there.

The monuments in the foreground are called "The Square of Nations". It represents all of the nations that had prisoners die in this camp.

 

 

This is the roll call ground behind me where all of the prisoners would meet each morning and night to be counted.  I love learning about history.  Even the hard stuff.

 

 

On our way back to the autobahn....yes, THE autobahn, we stopped at this hotel to grab a bite to eat.

 

 

Another delicious meal in Germany.  Our meal was huge.  We were both so hungry because we hadn't eaten since breakfast but we couldn't finish our meals.

 

 

 

Back to the autobahn.  It's all it's cracked up to be:)  We stayed in the right lane for the most part because cars were passing us like we were standing still.....and we were going 80 MPH.  We calculated that some cars were traveling 120-130 MPH.  I know Rick would have loved to go faster but he knew I was adamant about NOT going to fast.  I know....I'm a killjoy:(

 

European Vacation (Prague at Night and Freiburg Temple)

So after a little rest and some hors de vours at our hotel on Wednesday afternoon, Rick and I went back to the Town Center and since it was starting to get dark we thought it would be fun to get a glimpse of Prague at night from on top of the clock tower.  It was very beautiful as all of the old buildings are lit up. 

 This is 'The Church of Our Lady before Tyn'

I  don't know what denomination it is but it is very medievil looking (built in the 14th century)

 

 

A night view of the castle and cathedral that we visited during the day.

 

 

Today (Thursday) we started out early as we had a 2 1/2 hour drive to get to Freiburg.  We realized after we left that we forgot our passports at the hotel so it added a whole hour to our trip just to get back and get them.  It was OK though because we were able to get to a later session and we had time for a little catnap before the session was to begin.  This was a very small temple and the people were very helpful.  It was a new experience for me because although I have seen many people use the translators in a session, I have never used them.  It worked great!!  There were people on the session from Bulgaria, so Rick and I weren't the only ones with the translators:)  Rick and I were asked to be the witness couple.  A good experience!

 

 

 

 

Our fancy shmancy car.  Not really but it's getting us where we want to go:)

 

 

After the temple we stopped at a darling place to have a late lunch.  It was by a little lake and we were able to sit out on the patio.  Did I mention that the weather was gorgeous today??

 

 

So I survived my first experience with authentic German food.  You now what?  It was great!!

Here's Rick showcasing our food.  For our appetizers (not shown) we had some Baked Camembert (cheese) with toast, cream and cranberries.  I have never had camembert before but I loved it!  The waitress suggested the Solyanka with bread so that is what Rick had.  It is a delicious soup reminiscent of chili.  For our main course (shown below) I had something called Schweinschnitzel while Rick had Pork with spaetzle.  I think I just might like German food!  I hope the rest of my experiences with it will be this good:)

 

After lunch we mosied around the town.  It was really quaint and different than what we are used to.

 

 

Tomorrow we are heading off to Munich to stay for a few days.  It's gonna be great!

 

 

 

 

European Vacation (Prague)

We made it to Prague!!  We left early Monday morning and flew throughout the night into Frankfurt and into Prague.  We arrived at the hotel about 1:00 in the afternoon on Tuesday (Prague is eight hours ahead of Salt Lake) and even though we were both very tired I knew that if we took a nap that our bodies would really have a tough time adjusting to the time difference.  We set out to find something to eat and started our sightseeing:)  Prague is a very beautiful city.  The architecture of the many buildings here is amazing!  Everything seems so ornate.  The streets are made of cobblestone and of course the city is very old. 

We walked to "The Town Square" and enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. 

 

 

We stopped at a stand and got something called a Tredlnik.  It is dough rolled onto a long post and then dipped in sugar and roasted over a flame (spit style).  Rick just loves this kind of stuff!

 

 

Around the corner of the town square is the astronomical clock.  It records in three different times;  Old Bohemian time, time as we know it, and Babylonian time.  It was built in 1552.  On the hour those two doors above the clock open up and statues of the 12 apostles pass by.  It's pretty neat!

 

 

We rode to the top of the clock/bell tower by way of elevator and got a beautiful view of the city.

After seeing the sights for about 4 hours we headed back to the hotel.  I took a hot bath to get warmed up and actually fell asleep in the tub because I was so tired.  I don't think I have ever done that!  Thank goodness for a nice soft bed!

 

 

The next morning we got up bright and early....Rick woke up at 4:30 and went jogging but I made myself stay in bed until 7:00.  Darn jet lag!! 

We wanted to see Prague castle so we used the public transportation (the tram).  That was interesting!  The concierge told us exactly how to get to where we wanted to be but we still made a couple of mistakes.  (It is really difficult when everything is spoken and written in Czech).  We had to make a tram transfer and when we got to our stop I hopped off but the doors closed before Rick could get off.  I just motioned to him that I would wait right there until he got back to me.  I wasn't all to nervous because I figured I could find my way back to the hotel if I needed to.  After about ten minutes I saw him walking with a girl.  She had been on the tram with us and realized that he might need a little help so she got off at the next stop with him and walked back to find me:)  We made the transfer and after only one more wrong stop we finally made it up to the castle. 

 Here we are at the castle gardens.  The tulips are just about to bloom:)

 

 

Inside the castle courtyard

 

 

The amazing gothic St. Vitus Cathedral.  It is an amazing building!  Lots of spires, stained glass windows, and gargoyles!

 

 

Here's a view from the front with the clock/bell tower.  Rick climbed to the top of the bell tower. 

Two Hundred Eighty five steps!!  You can barely see him in this picture.  He is in the middle of the three openings and is barely visible.  He was way up there!

 

 

Rick with our # 22 tram coming to pick us up:)

 

 

The Vltava river.  In the distance is the Charles Bridge.  The funny thing is that I thought we were on the Charles Bridge.  It is one of the places that I wanted to go so we walked all the way over to it just to cross it.  It was worth the walk.

 

 

The Charles Bridge lined with statues and the bridge tower in the distance.

 

 

Prague is known for it's handcut crystal.  I was just going in this shop to look.......really I was.

I bought a beautiful vase to bring home:)

 

 

After lunch we walked back to the Town Square for more sightseeing. 

On the way back to our hotel I found a stand selling these scrumptious brownie things. 

I haven't eaten it yet but I'm sure it will be delish!! 

LOTS of walking but all in all.......

A wonderful day in the Czech Republic!

 

Funny Faces

This past weekend we drove to St. George to celebrate the wedding of Derek Allen to Nikki Monnett.  At their reception on Saturday night they had a picture taking booth.  It was different than  any other picture booth that I have ever seen because it had fun props to wear.  It was kinda silly but lots of fun.

 I'll start with the bride and groom...

 

 

The Phelpses and the Bomans

 

 

The Allen girls and The Cousins

 


  D & D and The Harrington's

 

 

Kallie and Hannah

The Matt and Daniel Allen Families

It was a fun evening!!

Congratulations to to the bride and groom!!