Hey everyone! Sorry about the lack of updates over the past week, we,ve been busy busy. We met up with my family in Potsdam, Germany, and travelled with them to my Opa,s hometown(s) close to Magdeburg. We both learned a tonne about my family,s history, and about German culture. Very, very hospitible hosts in Germany. The mayor of Ebendorf welcomed us jovially into his apartments, and his family prepared mountains of pastry and deli- style snacks. Oh, and we...

So, yesterday we went to Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau). We have both agreed that, if it weren`t for the survivors collective agreement to keep the place open, we would have no problem seeing it burned to the ground. What a terrible, terrible place. Even nowadays, as you step through the entrance gates at either camp, you feel as if you are entering hell. The facilities themselves are in very good condition (Auschwitz 1), and you feel like you are in a sm...

AH...one of my many homelands! Mother to polski ogorkis, perogies, and many people who have `ski`in their last names. Hoorah! So we arrived here this morning after a less-than-pleasant-but-more-pleasant-than-the-last night train. Here were our predictions: - It was at one point behind the iron curtain, so we were expecting grey, drab buildings with graffiti. - Good food - Well, we actually came here not knowing what the city was like at all, and boy were we ...

Hello from Austria! It has been a few days since we last posted a message, and so we figured we would let you know where we have been. We were staying in Menaggio, a small town on the shore of lake como. Karen and Derek, we will let you know absolutely everthing there is to know about that area, and you are so lucky to be going there as it is has been the prettiest place so far. We went for a hike up Mount Refuggio, and had a view of the enourmous lake and its ti...

Hello from Rome! Again, I must be brief s here I go! Please bear with mispelled words as Italian keyboards are quite amusing... We are now in another campsite outside of rome in a small bungalow. After a sleepless night beside yet another night club with tribal drumming that is cool when you're having dinner, but not so when your head hits the pillow. So we were up at the crack of dawn and off to the colloseum, the forums, sites around the capitol and the disap...