For four months, I studied abroad in London, England. These notes are select entries from my experiences in the United Kingdom and Western Europe from that time.

Tuesday, November 24 –

We woke up around 8 a.m. and had breakfast in our room after grabbing self service in the hallway. We caught up on news with Deutsche Welle on our television. Then we took a walking tour of the Staré Město during the morning.

Me at the Jan Hus Memorial in the Staroměstské náměstí

Chrám svatého Mikuláše (St. Nicholas Church) in Staroměstské náměstí

Prague Municipal House

The Old Town of Praha is just so beautiful. My favorite was seeing the Prague astronomical clock, or Prague Orloj, a medieval astronomical clock first installed in 1410. It is the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working. We watched the “Walk of the Apostles,” an hourly show on the clock of the Apostles and other moving sculptures. What’s bizarre is a grim reaper of death skeleton figure strikes the time!

After observing the Orloj, we climbed up inside its tower which is on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square. The views were spectacular. We could see all the way to Mala Strana and Prague Castle!

Unfortunately we didn’t have too much time left to explore Prague. After returning to the hotel and checking out, we walked with Martine to the main train station. After saying au revoir and Martine giving us the customary French kiss on each cheek, we watched Martine board the train before it left the station back to Berlin.

Then Barry and I grabbed some sausage sandwich, chips and Evians for lunch. One thing I had never seen before was that the bathroom there charged for use and for brown paper towels. Very interesting!

We said goodbye to Prague and my first trip to a former Iron Curtain country and climbed in our Opel. It is amazing to think of the progress and freedom that have blossomed in the Czech Republic in such a short period of time!

We passed through the city of Plzen on Czech highway 5 along the way towards Germany. We crossed the German border near Waidhaus and arrived in Nürnberg around 16:15 p.m.

Nürnberg dates back to Charlemagne and is considered one of the most historic and beautiful of German cities. Like Dresden, much of it was damaged in WWII and rebuilt after the war.

Dresden’s beautiful skyline

Dresden’s Fraukirchen

We toured the Altstadt (old city) by foot and by U-bahn before getting a hotel that we booked at the train station. After checking into our hotel, we went on a walking tour of the city. We had supper at an old Ghost hospital restaurant that extends over the Pegnitz River and is famous for its food. I had a steak, fries, chocolate fudge sundae and pilsner for supper. We then walked the old city before making a phone call to grandmother. At the end of the evening, we came back to the hotel and wrote journal entries before going to bed at around 1 a.m.