Window decoration from one of the many, many chocolate shops in Prague. Not that we have eaten at all of these places, mind you…

I have put off writing a post over the last week. Partly because as our trip winds down I feel an increasing need to try and make our last days in Europe as worthwhile as possible: “No time to write, I’m afraid! I gotta go see X, Y and Z! And explore A, B and C! And eat L, M, N, O and P!”

A life-sizestatue made entirely of marzipan. Weird yet wonderful in its own right.

A second factor in not blogging has to do with what we focused on while in Hungary and Poland. Although there were a number of fun and quirky things I saw during our time in Budapest and Krakow (Krakow’s Marzipan Museum was hilarious), we spent much of our time visiting more somber exhibits and sites that focused on the Holocaust and post WWII-era Communist history. Since the early days of planning this trip, Thomas and I had talked about visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau when we went to Poland, and we did this last Wednesday. I took no pictures during our time there, and I had no inclination to write about what I saw in the first days that followed. I still don’t. This last week was perhaps the most personal of this trip, and I am holding my experience close to the breast for now.

Front of the Municipal House Hall.

We are now in Prague, which is quite a stunning city to explore. We wandered through Old Town yesterday, visited the Franz Kafka Museum and braved the tourist crowds that gathered on the Charles Bridge. Today we toured the Jewish Quarter of Prague and then saw an incredible exhibit on the Art Nouveau period that had just opened at the Municipal House Hall.

A stained glass window from the Art Nouveau exhibit.

We will stay in Prague until Tuesday, and then head on to Munich for two days. And then we fly home. It’s strange to approach the end of our trip. I have enjoyed the last two months so, so much. And, as we wind down this ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure, I feel increasingly ready to return to the familiarity of family and friends. My mind over the last week has often drifted to thoughts of the upcoming holidays. This year’s Thanksgiving and Hanukkah and Christmas may be our last until we return from Peace Corps in 2017. I am so happy to know we will have time over the next two months to enjoy visits with all those we know and love…and to show and share more about what our time in Europe was like (for those who actually WANT to hear more than what the blog has included).

See you on the flip side, all!

Erika