|
Last night, three in our group were fortunate to get opening night tickets to see Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet at the Globe. Jackie Kirshtein summarized their feelings this way: "Being able to see Romeo and Juliet at the Globe on opening night was a dream come true! The Globe was magnificent; exactly the way I imagined it would be. Everything was the way that we learned; the seats, the stage, the whole setup. The only thing that disappointed me was the actress who played Juliet. But all in all it was an experience I will never forget as long as I live." Earlier in the week others attended performances of the Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Fame and Mama Mia. All agreed that theater in London is exceptional!
Another small group took the last night to ride the London Eye. The view over the city at dusk was spectacular, even in the drizzling rain.
We departed at 5:15 a.m. with four members of our group making it from bed to bus in less than five minutes. We boarded the Eurostar for Lille, France in the rain and enjoyed a nap on our way through the "Chunnel". Next came our bus ride through Brugges where we stopped for a short walkabout and lunch. Many in the group took this opportunity to begin our European Cultural Comparison of Pastries.
The Belgian Waffles were a big hit with many in the group trying various toppings. Jessica Brock used this opportunity to begin a photo gallery of her favorite desserts.
We were fascinated to hear many different languages as we walked the streets of this very old and quaint town. We learned that people from all over the world come to Brugges to learn the art of lace-making.
We arrived in Bastogne in late afternoon in a light drizzle and quickly made our way to the bank machines to acquire Euros. After a delicious 3-course dinner at our hotel, several in the group took advantage of the opportunity to mingle with the local residents. We listened to a Belgian Elvis sing "Release Me" while the seniors from the Bastogne area danced better and more energetically than the college students.
On Sunday and Monday we were most fortunate to be educated by Col. Henri Mignon about the Battle of the Bulge and the associated Belgian countryside. Colonel Mignon lived through the battle as a nine year old who watched as his father was killed by the Nazis. His stories were riveting.
The students were excited and energized when we visited the Ardennes to view the foxholes built by Easy Company. We had watched Band of Brothers in class and the cold, thick fog, and rain reminded us of the horrible conditions the soldiers lived through during the war. We could easily imagine how much worse their conditions were. Another highlight was visiting the Luxembourg American Cemetary in the Grand Duché of Luxembourg. More than 5,000 American soldiers are buried there, and looking at the plain white crosses and Stars of David was both overwhelming and sobering.
It appeared that every town we drove through had a memorial thanking the soldiers for liberating or sparing them from the Germans. We were all quite touched by the number of memorials, how well they were maintained, and the beautiful fresh flowers that had been placed at each site.
We all observed how invaluable it is to know another language. Most of the peoplein Bastogne did not speak English, so we relied on the five in the group who spoke some French for important communication (like ordering pastries or buying chocolate).
We had another opportunity to ride a train today. We took a bus to Köln and boarded a train for our six hour trip to Berlin. What a sight we must have been — 28 Americans pulling various colors and types of luggage, carryons and backpacks through the train station. Of course, we made a pastry stop before boarding the train. The German breads are many and look delicious!
Upon arriving in Berlin, we had a long hike to the hotel dragging our luggage. Before departing for the hotel, Dr. Nitsch made us all count off in German (as we always do to make sure no one is missing). We could see the Germans snickering at our pronunciation. We did a brief walkabout down the KuDamm, after checking in, and scattered in small groups to have dinner and do further exploring before bed.
We spent this morning on a three hour educational bus tour of the city. Our guide, Katrina, was very knowledgable and very Prussian. We tried to get her to smile for a picture and she said, "I am Prussian, what is there to smile about!" Despite another day of cold and rain, the students are exhibiting great resilience. We visited the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Jewish Museum. Both were very informative and solemn (each in its own way).
The highlight of Berlin, for many of us, was our trip to the Pergamon Museum this morning. We could have spent many hours in the museum, but since today is our last day in Berlin, we still had other important sights to see. We broke up into smaller groups to explore the Reichstag, the Berlin Zoogarten, the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche (The Hollow Tooth), Tiergarten, Brandenburg Gate and some shopping at the KaDeWe. Tomorrow, we are off to Prague and are hoping for no rain and warmer temperatures!
— Karen Reynolds | 
