10 Countries ~ 67 Exchange Students ~ 17 Days ~ And 1 Bus (Part 1)

Here comes the long awaited blog post: Euro Tour!  And I will try to stick to only a few pictures in each country so this post isn't a mile long!

We started to tour in Berlin! The first night we were in Berlin, Germany played the USA in the world cup.  A bunch of us exchange students went to a car dealership store where they had a big screen playing the game and at least 100 people in there watching.

After the game the city went crazy!! There were fireworks, parades, singing shouting, and just all around partying.  There were also quiet a few police out trying to keep the fuss down, but that did not too well. 

Couldn't have asked for a better first night of the tour!

 

The next morning we went to the Stasi (secret German police) museum.

 

 And of course, we went to the Berlin Wall.  The East Side Gallery is a section of the wall that is still standing and has been painted into many different murals.

 Checkpoint Charlie

 This brick line went through the entire city marking where the Berlin Wall used to be.

 That night I went back to the river and walked a little bit more along the Berlin Wall.

Next Stop: Cracow, Poland!

 

Our first night we got a typical Jewish dinner accompanied by the music of 

a string bass, clarinet, and accordion.

 

The next day we got a guided tour through the Jewish quarters of Cracow and the city walls that used to enclose the city.  On the top of the hill there was a church, government buildings and other beautiful architectural buildings that I really don't know what they were for.

 Before heading to Aushwitz we had a few hours to explore the city center.  There were street dancers and singers everywhere you looked!

 

Lit up at night it was just as pretty.

And then Auschwitz... I would hate to say that it was the worst day, because it wasn't terrible.  It was just very eye opening and really hard to believe.  I couldn't bring myself to take very many pictures in their either.

Third city was BUDAPEST!!!

 Budapest was my favorite city!  I absolutely loved the architecture and how the river went right through the middle of the city.  And at night when all the bridges light up!  Oh I will definitely be going back there!

 As you can probably guess the day we had in Budapest was Canada day. 

So all Canadians went a little crazy.

The Aussies felt a little left out, so they showed their Aussie spirit!

Our last night in Budapest we took a boat along the Duna during the sunset.
 

 

On our way to Austria we stopped in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava!

 

Bratislava isn't known for something special. So the government decided to place fun statues around the city.  Here are a couple.

 

 And then we were in Austria, Zell am See where we got to spend the day hiking in the Alps!


But you have to go to the other blog post because apparently I have too many pictures and they can't all fit on one!

**Photo credits go to many other exchange students on the trip, not just myself**