Poland, Germany & the Czech Republic - part I
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:12 am
I spent most of September running around Europe, mostly to places I either haven't been to or places I haven't seen in a long time. My girfriend, who is Czech, and my Mom were also in tow. Just a tiny sampling. Shot over 5,000 photos with 2 different cameras. All pics in order of visitation:
3 hour boat ride along the Rhein:
Wuppertal, Germany-famous for the hanging train:
Schloss Burg, Germany:
Zons, Germany:
This particular type of beer, known as Altbier, is brewed around the Dusseldorf area. I would have to say it is my #1 favorite beer in the world.
Berlin:
No offense to those who live there, but of the trains in Poland I can only say this: they suck. Everything about them & related to them is such a cluster f***, the likes of which I've never experienced in any other country.
Gdansk (Danzig), Poland. My favorite city in that country:
Malbork, Poland. One of many World Heritage Sites we saw throughout the trip. The largest brick castle in the world, the largest Gothic castle in Europe & the largest castle in the world in terms of area.
Krakow, Poland. Lots of tourists, almost to the extent of Prague:
Wieliczka salt mine, outside of Krakow (the only place we had to take a mandatory tour):
These are the steps leading down into the mine. I don't know how many there are, but it took a long time to get to the bottom.
Everything is carved out of the salt.
Auschwitz, Poland. Lots of fog when we were there, which really just added all the more impact on such an already grim place.
Birkenau, Poland. This is the camp that was shown in Schindler's List, at least the portion involving the trains. I knew it was larger than Auschwitz, but the sheer size is overwhelming. My girlfriend & I walked the entire perimeter and it was just massive. Not a happy place, but a place that needs to be kept intact as a reminder to all.
Just the building foundations & chimneys are left in this portion of the camp.
Kutna Hora, Czech Republic. Famous for the "bone church" which contains human remains (30,000 people) that have "aristically" been placed together. Beautiful town that I like more than Prague.
One of the days we were there, they were holding an annual festival of some sort. Our hotel was right on the main square of what is normally a peaceful town, and the festival was set up right below our windows. It was pretty nice to watch concerts at night, along with the contents of the Internation Miss Princess bus that stopped by on a tour of Europe.
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. This place involved lots of different train connections & time. Very big with the Asians for some reason, but another absolutely beautiful town & another World Heritage site.
Since I'm being a photo hog, I'll continue in a 2nd post.
3 hour boat ride along the Rhein:
Wuppertal, Germany-famous for the hanging train:
Schloss Burg, Germany:
Zons, Germany:
This particular type of beer, known as Altbier, is brewed around the Dusseldorf area. I would have to say it is my #1 favorite beer in the world.
Berlin:
No offense to those who live there, but of the trains in Poland I can only say this: they suck. Everything about them & related to them is such a cluster f***, the likes of which I've never experienced in any other country.
Gdansk (Danzig), Poland. My favorite city in that country:
Malbork, Poland. One of many World Heritage Sites we saw throughout the trip. The largest brick castle in the world, the largest Gothic castle in Europe & the largest castle in the world in terms of area.
Krakow, Poland. Lots of tourists, almost to the extent of Prague:
Wieliczka salt mine, outside of Krakow (the only place we had to take a mandatory tour):
These are the steps leading down into the mine. I don't know how many there are, but it took a long time to get to the bottom.
Everything is carved out of the salt.
Auschwitz, Poland. Lots of fog when we were there, which really just added all the more impact on such an already grim place.
Birkenau, Poland. This is the camp that was shown in Schindler's List, at least the portion involving the trains. I knew it was larger than Auschwitz, but the sheer size is overwhelming. My girlfriend & I walked the entire perimeter and it was just massive. Not a happy place, but a place that needs to be kept intact as a reminder to all.
Just the building foundations & chimneys are left in this portion of the camp.
Kutna Hora, Czech Republic. Famous for the "bone church" which contains human remains (30,000 people) that have "aristically" been placed together. Beautiful town that I like more than Prague.
One of the days we were there, they were holding an annual festival of some sort. Our hotel was right on the main square of what is normally a peaceful town, and the festival was set up right below our windows. It was pretty nice to watch concerts at night, along with the contents of the Internation Miss Princess bus that stopped by on a tour of Europe.
Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. This place involved lots of different train connections & time. Very big with the Asians for some reason, but another absolutely beautiful town & another World Heritage site.
Since I'm being a photo hog, I'll continue in a 2nd post.