Pictures

Day 5- Warsaw, Poland

We visited the Warsaw ghetto musuem first thing this morning, where we saw a moving video on the history of this significant ghetto and explored the exhibits regarding the Uprising. Next, we took a brief bus tour of the city and stopped at the site of the currently under construction Warsaw Jewish history museum and the Warsaw Jewish memorial. We spent some time in Chopin's gardens and the Polish King's summer residence and gardens, which were surrounded by ducks gallore (and some random peacocks too!). Time was given in the afternoon to explore downtown Warsaw, which was gearing up for their big soccer game tonight against Portugal. Ben N., Robbie and Eddie were disappointed that they couldn't get tickets to the game, and will have to settle with watching it on tv. We had dinner back at the hotel and an early curfew is quickly approaching, as we are leaving for Krakow at 7:15 (with a stop at Auschwitz on the way). As of this point, we are officially half way done the trip! Time is flying by!

Day 4 Warsaw, Poland

This morning we checked out of the hotel and headed to the beautiful and enormous Berlin train station to board our Express train to Warsaw. The journey took a little over five hours. We were broken into compartments with six people to a compartment. It was a bit cozy with all of our luggage, but it resulted in some quality bonding time! We were able to see a lot of the Polish countryside, which was a sharp contrast to the city. When we arrived in Warsaw, it was snowing big giant flakes, which added to the atmosphere. After dropping off our bags on the bus, we had a quick walking tour of the Old Town (est. 1200s) and the New Town (est. 1400s). Warsaw is much more westernized then we had imagined- they have everything from TJ Maxx to Dewalt drills, and kids were in awe of the red and white soccer stadium, newly constructed for the European soccer championship this year. The architecture in the city is absolutely beautiful (however most of it has been reconstructed due to WWII damage) and the students seemed excited to explore some more tomorrow. "The best chocolate in the entire world" was had at a cafe in the Old Town-however, the cold, wind and efforts to dodge plow trucks (they take their snow cleanup seriously!) we're beginning to get to us, so we headed to our hotel to check in a little after 6 pm. We had a late dinner at the hotel (soup, gnocchi, carrotts, cauliflower, pork roast and a chocolate/vanilla cherry cake) and everyone is headed to bed shortly. Tomorrow we have a tour of the Warsaw ghetto and more exploring time. Our EF cphone cards are not working at the hotel (but we do have wifi) so if you were expecting to hear from your child but didn't, that is why.

Day 3- Berlin

Today we had our grand tour of Berlin- by both bus and on foot. After a restful evening, we had a typical European style style breakfast of meats, yogurt, fruit, toast and jams and then headed out on the bus for a drive around of both East and West Berlin. We were able to get out and take pictures at the Brandenburg Gate before driving by the shopping districts of W. Berlin. We visited the Jewish memorial and all came up with interpretations of what the astract blocks meant, so ask your child what they think it means! Next we went to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which is located in the American zone of Berlin . This museum covers the years after WWII and had a lot of artifacts (like cars) that people used to escape from East Berlin. A great souvenir shop was right across the street, so our first purchases were made and many of us had an interesting experience at a German McDonalds (different menu!), while Abbey, Alli, and Noah were the only ones to brave the local cuisine. Next we walked to the site of Hitler's bunker (covered over by an apartment complex) before getting some free time to explore and shop. Most students did a great job of using their Euros up on items such as: Pom Pom hats (Danielle, Shannan, Chelsey, Meg), furry hats (Alex), lots of GREAT chocolate, key chains, magnets, Apple soda, Berlin t-shirts and lots of Amplemann products (in East Germany, walk lights are a little green man running and don't walk signs are a little red man with their arms out- they are very cute!). Dinner was at the department store Galleria- soup, fries, and a German meatball with a mushroom sauce, followed by a pudding/jello combination that seems to be quite popular here. For our final activity, part of the group went with Mr. Nolan to the top of the satellite tower I mentioned yesterday. They just got back and said that they got a reduced price because of construction :) Tomorrow we get on the train and head to Warsaw. New country, new language, and new currency! Lots of smiles today - we'll try to keep them coming!

Days 1 and 2

Well it has been a long two days for all of us! After a very smooth journey to Berlin, we've had a jam packed day. A few people fell asleep at dinner, so an 8 pm bed time was set. Today we got a general sense of the city, visited the Germany history museum, semi-climbed on the Berlin Wall and visited the Charlottenburg Palace and gardens- all before 5 6 pm! Mrs. Smith's AP students shined with their knowledge of German history at the museum and the palace. Lufthansa fed us a great selection of meals and snacks. We haven't had a lot of German treats yet, but hope to tomorrow. I have some great pictures to upload, however the blog is currently in German, so I can't figure out how to attach them. I'll work on a bit more tomorrow morning when I've had a chance to start thinking properly again. Our hotel in Berlin reminds me a little of college dorms; students are in doubles for the next two nights. We will see more of Berlin tomorrow, go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum, have some free time to shop and explore and visit Berlin's version of the space needle (cable transmission).

Hi Everyone!
I am starting this blog to keep you posted while we are on our trip. Every night I will update the blog with a summary of what we did that day and pictures of the group. Remember that we will be 6 hours ahead of East Coast Time, so you should check for posts around dinnertime each evening.