Video of Europe with Joel
adminIt took more than 6 months to get to, but I finally finished putting together video from the trip to Europe with Joel in March. It’s a bit rough, but at least it’s done!
Europe 2017 Photo Gallery
Though it took more than 6 months to complete, the video of this trip is also here:
Day 8, 9 – Athens
Last stop in Athens. Spent 2 days just wandering around neighborhoods and enjoying Greek food. I visited the Acropolis along with all of the other standard tourist sights. Plenty of photo ops along the way.
I had not planned it intentionally, but it turned out that my last day in Athens was Greek Independence Day. The whole city shut down and there was a huge military parade. An unexpected surprise and a lot of fun.
This has been a great trip but I really miss Jodi and Kenzie. Now it’s time to get back home…
Day 5, 6, 7 – Stockholm
The weather in Stockholm was just starting to warm up for the season when I arrived and there was almost no snow left on the ground. Lots to do here including visiting the Ice Bar, the Nobel Prize Museum, visiting the Royal Palace, and plenty of other museums.
I had a very interesting experience while visiting the Royal Palace. I was chatting with a “security guard” in one of the palace halls (she was about 75 years old and had a comfortable chair so she didn’t have to stand for too long). I asked if the building was actively used by the royal family. She said yes, in fact the king was in the next room over meeting with the president of Croatia. The door to that room was about 20 feet away and you definitely got the feeling that it would be inappropriate to go open it not because you’d be grabbed by the Swedish version of the secret service and wrestled to the ground, but rather that it would just be rude and so nobody would consider doing it. There was no security check when I entered the building, no metal detectors, nobody wanting to look through my bag. She said in Sweden they just don’t have the sort of security worries we have in the U.S.
Day 2,3 and 4 – Prague
Wow. Just wow. What an amazing city. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. Incredible buildings and history, and the people are so friendly and welcoming. We spent a lot of time just wandering around town and through the castle, but also took a tour covering Prague and World War Two. One of the pictures shows today vs 1945 from the same place as the Nazis entered the city. Also scattered around the city are these small memorials in front of building doors with the names of mostly Jewish residents who were sent to concentration camps during the war and when/where they were killed. I didn’t know what to expect from Prague, but I’m leaving VERY IMPRESSED!
Terezin (Czech Republic)
About an hour northwest of Prague is the Nazi concentration camp “Terezin.” Visiting a concentration camp is something I’ve always wanted to experience, but the way the timing worked out I was not able to take a traditional tour. So I opted to hire a taxi for the afternoon since this was the only way I’d be able to fit it in.
Terezin was not a typical killing camp like Auschwitz, but instead was a holding camp where people were gathered before being sent to an extermination camp. Even so, the condition resulted in many many people dying while they waited.
This was definitely not enjoyable in the traditional sense, but ABSOLUTELY something worth seeing at some point in your life. Being there and seeing this, it’s hard to wrap your head around what we as people can do to other people given the right circumstances.
The sign above the arch says “Work Sets You Free”
Day 1 – Paris
We only had 24 hours in Paris. But we managed to cover a lot of ground in a short time. We visited the Louve, the science museum, zig zagged around town on the subway, and had a fantastic lunch at a random cafe. By 3:00 it was off to the airport. Next stop…Prague.
A Quick Tour of Europe
Joel’s new job has him traveling to several of his company offices around the world. In January he had to go to New York so I took the opportunity to tag along and make use of his free hotel room and do some sight seeing while he was working. Then I took a quick trip to Boston on the way home. It worked out so well that we figured we’d try it again but this time to Europe. The plan is to meet up in Paris for a night, then visit Prague for a couple of days together, and from there he will head off to visit offices around Europe while I go to Stockholm and Athens on my own. Here goes…
