Berlin

While Andersons were here, we took a three-day road trip to Berlin, Germany. We squeezed a 6 hour drive into 8 hours.
Berlin is a beautiful, well kept, old yet modern city. I loved it! We got there in time for a dinner of schnitzel with schpagel (white asparagus). .Our hotel was right in the city on the best street of shopping I've seen in a long time. We went to Checkpoint Charlie, The Pergamon Museum, and Starbucks! We had such a great time touring around a great city with great friends


stay tuned for the final post: Auschwitz

Doin' Cracow

We took Andersons on a sight-seeing tour of Krakow. It was a great excuse to finally see all of the sights for ourselves, since we hadn't really taken the time to do that yet.

this is the view of Krakow from the castle

Wawel
There's a massive castle right in the middle of Krakow. It's called Wawel (pronounced Vavel) It's gorgeous from the road but even better up close and inside. It was great to finally walk around in there after just driving by for 3 months! It was beautiful.

It was a beautiful day and such a great time of year to see the castle with everything in bloom.


Old Towne
This is the center of Krakow it's the oldest part of the city and it's beautiful. We love to go on the weekends just to walk around. It's definitely "the place to be" in Krakow. It was really special to have Anderson's here and to show them around "our town". WE LIVE HERE!





The Salt Mines
This is a popular tourist attraction near Kraków. It had been in continuous operation until 2007, producing table salt, since the 13th century. It was one of the world's oldest operating salt mines.

this is a picture of us licking the walls. I couldn't resist. I still don't understand how anyone could go through there and not taste it at least once.

We had to go down about 400stairs before we even began the tour. This is a look down the center of the stairwell...we couldn't even see the bottom.

There were many sculptures and carvings in the rock salt throughout the tour. Also featured is a large chamber with walls carved to resemble wooden chapels built by miners in earlier centuries; an underground lake; and exhibits on the history of salt mining. The mine is often referred to as "the Underground Salt Cathedral of Poland."

The four of us waiting in line for the elevator ride back up to reality.
An hour and a half later...when we finished the tour, we were over 1,000 feet underground. Thankfully, the elevator only takes about 30 seconds to reach the top.



Jeff's
For breakfast Sunday morning, we took them to one of our favorite restaurants in Krakow, Jeff's.







The Jewish District

Just now in recent years, because of all the tourism, the Jewish District is being renovated a little at a time. There are areas that are beautiful but most of it is still the old ghetto...empty buildings very run down. It feels like a movie set.
There is a memorial in the square where the Jews were forced to leave all of their possessions before boarding the train to Auschwitz. There are many reminders such as this of the suffering they endured that are just sobering.

We went to the Shindler Factory Museum, saw the quaint little hotel where Steven Spielberg stayed while filming "Shindler's List", and we even went into a Jewish synagogue.

It's a Jewish restaurant now, but it used to be a hotel. Spielberg stayed here.

I had never been in a Jewish synagogue before...it was such a different feeling to be inside a church building with no acknowledgement of Jesus or the cross.



to be continued...

Friends From Home

Our best friends from Minnesota, Joel, Sue, Josh and Alena recently came to visit us here in Krakow. They were here for 10 days and every minute of it was so special. They're the kind of friends who are more like family.
They flew into Warsaw, so Q and I took the early morning train to pick them up (it's a three hour train ride-one way). Even after all the planes, trains and automobiles we were home in time for dinner...I made a big pot of pink borscht. What a gift to have them here with our family it was such a special first night. We were a bit over maximum capacity for Paul and Cindy's kitchen, but it was so much fun to be all together that nobody even noticed...except for maybe Jezzie who evidently had to sit on the floor.


For dessert: Of course, a brownie selection from "more than a Cookie"!
This is Sue tasting her first brownie...

Well, needless to say, they were so excited to finally experience the cafe with all 5senses! So, first thing Friday morning we were off to enjoy some "More Than a Cookie" baked oatmeal for breakfast. They had the full-blown tour of course and got to taste and sample a little bit of everything...we all agree that the cafe is just so much cuter and better in person. I guess you will all just have to come visit!





more to come...