Prague Dresden Berlin

Incredible last 4 days. In this time I travelled with almost all of the Rotary exchange students in Austria through Prague (Czech Republic), Dresden, and Berlin (Germany). We were here for some sightseeing in these three cities as they are not part of the EuroTour next summer.

Our trip began on October 31^st. We all met in Linz (same place I had my swim meet only 3 days beforehand) at 10:00, meaning I had to wake up at 4:45 to catch the train to Linz early that morning. It was good to see everyone again although it had only been 10 days since the Vienna weekend. Our large group was split into 2 travel buses, the Americans and Canadians on one and everyone else on the other. Straight from Linz to Prague was about a 4-5 hour drive and once there we met our tour guide and got a brief but concise tour by foot of the city. Unfortunately, because we arrived quite late, it was already getting dark so we didn’t see much of the city in the daytime. But on the other hand, it was still gorgeous at night. Everything was well lit and all of the shops, streets, and older buildings were illuminated on this Halloween evening. I didn’t learn much about the city simply because we had such a big group of people for only one tour guide, but I hope to return one day and recognize many of the things I saw that day. Prague was truly a beautiful city and I would love to see it again sometime. It was by far my favorite Halloween.

Next part of my trip was the excursion to Dresden, Germany, a city close to the Czech/Germany boarder. From our hotel in Prague on the 1^st, we drove with the buses again about 2 hours to Dresden and once there met a tour guide who joined our bus and gave us the tour from the bus. The weather was rainy and cold but later that afternoon after the tour it cleared up a bit making it more pleasant to walk around during our free time. I bought some pins for my Rotary Blazer and went to a few malls with Johnny and Crash. Dresden is a nice city that is of good size and although modern, also has its share of historical importance.

The final leg of the weekend was the Berlin, the capital of Germany. We didn’t spend a night in Dresden, instead driving directly to Berlin. We arrived in the early evening and ate dinner at our hostel and had more time that night to explore the city a bit on our own. Crash, Johnny, Jessie, and I walked to the Hauptbahnhof and then along one of the 6 rivers that flow through Berlin. We saw a really cool office complex and the Reichstag and eventually the Brandenburger Tor. All of these were amazing at night and it was a great first impression of Berlin. The next day we got another bus tour of Berlin and I learned a lot about World War II and the Cold War. We saw Checkpoint Charlie, parts of the original Berlin Wall, the Holocaust memorial, and a lot more. That afternoon our group of 4 and Laura went out for lunch and walked through the Tiergarten and eventually we ended back up at the hostel for dinner. In the evening I explored some of the city on my own and went to bed pretty early.

Saturday the 3^rd of November was 14 hours of travelling. All in all this was a fantastic trip; certainly worth it and I am heavily reconsidering doing the EuroTour after all. Berlin was my favorite city, but I’d love to see more of Dresden and Prague sometime.