We went to the travel office, and they told us about a hostel nearby. We walked to the hostel,and there was no room there so they sent us to another one about 100 feet away. I now know how Mary and Joseph felt, although a barn would have been better than a train station :) The hostel was great, super clean and for an amazing price. It was also a Christian hostel! We slept most of the day since Jono was still sick, and now worse after spending the night in a cold train station.
The next day Chaney and I set out to explore Berlin! Jonathan spent he day resting, as he was not up to walking still. We went to all the big monuments, the Brandenburg gate, the Reich stag, and my favorite the Berlin wall. It still exists in 4 places, and we went to the biggest section and just walked the length of it. It was so crazy walking there, and seeing the murals of freedom on something that once represented division and communism. It made me think of all the people that fought and died for our freedoms, and how lucky we are to live in the places we do. We don't think about it often, but let us consider how blessed we really are.
Its so cool to live beyond the Iron Curtain too, because two decades ago it would have been impossible to be here.
After Berlin we went to the much anticipated city of Prague. It was a beautiful city as everyone had told us it would be. It is actually considered one of the oldest places in Europe, as it was virtually untouched by WW2. Hitler loved Prague in fact, and hoped to make it his HQ after the war. In fact he never destroyed the Jewish temples because he wanted to make them a place to showcase his defeat of the Jews, and one day set up a museum. Even though its great he never did, its also means that they have some of the oldest Jewish temples everywhere. Awesome for me because I love the Jews. Needless to say the Jewish district was our favorite.
Everywhere you look there are amazing buildings and old castle-like structures. Another highlight was the world famous astronomical clock in Prague built in 1410. It was made by an amazing scientist who was so brilliant, that the king at the time had hot coals poured over his eyes so he could never make another clock like it for any other city! It goes off about 9 times a day, and these 4 figures come out while the 12 apostles circle through the top. Its pretty cool to watch if you want to check it out on Facebook. The castle was cool there too, and the river through the city made it even more beautiful. Seriously recommend Prague.
After Prague we went to our last destination, Salzburg Austria! Such a beautiful city, and not super big. It had the cobblestone streets, and amazing sights everywhere. We saw all the sights from the sound of music, the gardens where they sing Do Re Mi, the gazebo where they sing I am 16 going on 17, and the steps from the old cathedral where they flee from the Nazis at the very end. We saw the gravestones and graveyard where they also hid form the Nazis, the abbey where Maria was from, and the beautiful castle overlooking the entire city. It is one of the best preserved castles in all of Europe, and definitely worth seeing. Everyone should go to Salzburg at some time in their life.
We took the train home to Budapest and stopped to see the Wallace's before coming back to Vajta. We were so glad to come home! Just hearing Hungarian again and not striving to figure out what people are saying all the time was even a relief. After 5 weeks of travel, through stress and fatigue and sickness, we were so glad to have a few days to rest. Even though we came home a few days early it was worth it. Chaney left on the 19th, ready to go back home and start teaching. It was overall a great trip, and totally worth it. However we will probably never do it again, well, at least for five weeks at a time!
