We are alive! Sorry for the delay...

Looks like the last time I wrote was right before our Poland night train adventure... Moving has speedbup much since then and we are beginkng to slow down a little... We have lots to fill you in on!

First, Poland was worth the little sidetrack trek. We arrived in the small town that auschwitz is located in at about seven am with a friend we had picked up on the night train from Mexico. He was a young student travelinlg alone and was a good compainion/body gaurd through Poland. When we got there the town was just waking up and it felt like a ghost town. We walked about a mike or so to the camp and had a very heavy experience. We will have to tell you more about it in person, it's too difficult to describe in words. After the camp visits we rode a train to krakow, in which we were tormented by young polish kids for an hour solid. Another story better told in person...

A few hours later were back on a night train, for Berlin. The nigt trains were actually quite enjoyable. The first one we hardly slept so by the second night train we were beat and slept without a problem. Imagine a closet with three beds suspended from each side if the entry way of the closet, fill that with six adults and their belongings and that's what a nigt twain looks like. Talk about accomodation! It was funny.

We arrived in Berlin early Friday morning and were escorted through the subway system by an older man from Moscow. We were so out of it and he was moving so quickly when we arrived at our street we quickly split ways and looked at eachother like, what just happened... It was funny! Berlin is a huge city! We walked around the first day, went to the museum of modern art and an outside bar/music place that had six stages. The second day we rented bikes and went on a beautiful bike ride under Bradenburg Gate and through the largest most beautiful park I've ever seen! Wish you could have been there pops! We also biked to the Jewish musem and spent hours indulging in history and checked out Checkpoint Charlie. On our way back home we were starving and found the most adorable tiny Italian restaurant run by a man and his son. The food was great, the service was great and they gave us a free shot for desert. Or third day in Berlin we took a long walk to view what remains of the Berlin wall. It was interesting. Beautiful, yet disturbing in some ways. By the time we made it back to our belongings it was time to get on another train, to Dresden!

Dresden is probably one of our favorite places so far, if not the very best. We met a few very nice locals and a woman who had lived in Dresden her whole life gave us a ride to our hostle once we had arrived. She owned a shop and the next day we went and visited her. She told us she felt bad that her English was not better, but that when she learned English when she was younger they were a part of East Germany and the GDR did not allow people to cone and go, so she never got to use it. I felt bad imagining what that type of captivity must have felt like.

Dresedn is a beautiful place. In the midst of the ruins from the Allied bombing in 1945 that destroyed the entire city, there are new structures, culture and life all around. Many of the buildings are still being reconstructed. We rented bikes and took a ride on one side of the center in the morning, past the Slaughter House 5 ruins. Then walked around the old city taking in the atmosphere. We found an organic fair trade cafe and had the best tomatoe soup ever. Then took another bike ride in the opppsite direction. It too was beautiful and the weather wad perfect. After a little bike lock fiasco and a visit to our new friend we headed back to the train for Prague.

On the train to Prague we met some young travelers who had nowhere to stay. So when we arrived at about ten pm the four if us, very disoriented, becausecwe arrived at a non central station, spent about an hour finding our hostel. It was a pretty funny journey and crew. So far I. Prague we have walked through old town square, crossed the river, explored the castle a little and satboytside enjoying some great people watching. We are planning on staying up all night to see the sun rise over the Charles Bridge and to ne nice and tired for our sixteen hour train to Amsterdam. Should be exciting!

Sorry again for the delay, but happy to report that we are healthy, in good spirits and enjoying our last week of the journey. Will write again from Amsterdam.

Much love,
the girls :)