We started today with a vacation-staple buffet breakfast. If you've ever been in Europe, hotel breakfast oddly contains the ingredients of an excellent sandwich, with tomato slices, salami, ham, cheese, and fine bread. Oh, and they had waffles. After that, we got on the bus to Dresden. Thankfully, nobody forgot their passport. On the two hour trip there, we slept, read books, played cards, and talked about girlfriends. I finished 'The Martian'... again. In Dresden, we visited fantastical gardens, fountains, statues, and churches. Some of us pretended to be statues of nymphs! Also, on a side note, these awesome places also require awesome funds. Due to their being destroyed during WWII (Dresden is famous for it), the rebuilding costs for churches and monuments are massive- 1.8 million euros for the Frauenkirche, a famous church! Wait, we're in Europe- 1,8 million. Unfortunately, due to a wedding, the Frauenkirche was closed to us. After a satisfying lunch, we visited the Elbe river. Historical fanatics- in this case, insane AP Euro students- recognize this river as the river in the Elbe-Triste divide, a divide that symbolized the split between East and West. Across this line, income, technology, average life-span, and more were often greater to the West than the East. Additionally, serfdom was kept to the East while serfs became peasants to the West, and a middle class formed sooner in the West than the East. After this historical river, we got on the bus to Prague. All of us got some shut-eye during this trip. On first sight, our hotel rooms in Prague seemed old and worn down, but it's actually grown on me. Also, the toilet and the sink are in different rooms. After dumping our luggage in the hotel, we took a walk around Prague and visited some churches and the Charles River. We also got to see another wedding. After that, we had dinner and walked for about two hours to scenic views on bridges and walked all the way back to our hotel. On an unrelated note, happy birthday mom! You haven't gone to a fancy restaurant yet, given the time change, but I wish you a great birthday.
-Kevin T.
Hello parents/siblings/people that aren't in Europe! Yesterday was absolutely fantastic, even though we spent quite a bit of time on the bus. We hit up Dresden for a few hours after leaving Berlin in the early morning, and in my personal opinion I thought Dresden was absolutely beautiful! The beautiful architecture of both the church and the and main gardens were incredible, and the warm weather certainly made it better. Next stop: Prague! Prague is absolutely incredible because it seems to mix in the old and the new almost seamlessly. The city's Old Town Square showcases a beautiful church and a bell tower, both in a gothic style. The bell tower is home to the oldest working astronomical clock in the world, and we got to see it tick! (It sounds lame but it was really cool.) The long trek home was tiresome but so worth it. Can't wait to see what's next!
-Ruhee Singh
With Prague, the overall impression was similar to Dresden. However, where Dresden gave off an aura of cold regality, Prague was more playful and fun. The many apartment buildings were still detailed with almost excessive ornamentations, but they were colored in light pastels, and it was easy to imagine an artist or writer making their home in the creative atmosphere. Tourists teemed the squares and the many high scale stores hat were placed around every corner. Later on though, as we looked at the sun cast its final glow over the city, the once bustling and busy streets were serene, and the people and tourists of Prague settled in for a restful night.
-Katie C.
