Prague!

Greetings from the city of 1000 spires! No, I have not been here long enough to count them so I will just take the travel book's word on that one. We drove for 8 hours last night and arrived here at around 830am. Rabbi Lynn said we could either shmy around until 11(breakfast) or we could schluff. I chose sleeping because I have not been getting much of that since I got here. I woke up at 1130 and had time to shower and check out the area around the hotel before we headed for Terezin, our final concentration camp/ghetto. We looked through the museum at this place and saw one of the hidden temples that the Jews in this ghetto created so that they could continue praying even after this act had been prohibited. Terezin is interesting because the area is beautiful. The Red cross wrote to the Nazis and told them that they would be coming to inspect on x date at x time so the Nazis tore down the factory in the center of the town, planted roses and even put in candy shops and other nice features. There were very few survivors from this area so the beautiful architecture is merely a facade.

That was the last camp..I was promised. So we headed back to Prague for some fun. The group rented out a tour boat and we dined on the boat and had a tour of Prague from the river. Dinner was delish..salmon and sushi (seafood themed because of our location). I spent time on the roof of the boat chatting with some of the gentleman from the trip about their college experience and their impressions of the trip thus far. General consensus: we appreciate the sites and the historical significance but the religious discussions are getting to be a bit much. After the boat tour we went to Bed..a bar, not a mattress in a hotel room. Then some of the trip leaders wanted to find this bar that they had visited when they were in Prague on their trips so I decided to join them. We never found the place but I had a lovely walking tour (nearly 45 minutes) of the area. I met up with some of the guys on the way back and we stopped in at one last bar before heading back to the hotel. It was a fun night and it definitely was needed after so many difficult days in Poland.

Tomorrow we will be touring the Prague castle and Jewish quarter. I am interested to see the Jewish quarter because the Nazis left Prague intact so that when the Jews were annihilated it could serve as a museum to the lost people. I am assuming it will be beautiful and I am really looking forward to spending a day sight seeing. Then we are having shabbat and attending services.

OK that is all for now. Lots of love,
Someone who is VERY happy to have made an exodus from Poland (aka Hope)