First Days in Prague

After our whirlwind visits to Philadelphia, Boston, and New York we arrived in Prague tired and ready for a break.  So that is exactly what we have done for the past few days.  We have not done one tourist thing yet.  That will change tomorrow when we tour the Prague Castle.  So what have we been doing here?  Recovering from jet lag, getting cell phones/internet set up, laundry, catching up on school, walking around the neighborhood and trying out some different foods.  It has actually been a very relaxing few days.

Even though this is a big city, the area we are staying in doesn't feel big and crowded (at least not compared to NYC).   The streets have lots of little shops that specialize in one thing.  For example, one sells lights, one sells meat, one sells school supplies, one sells cell phones and you get the idea.   We have found the people to be friendly and willing to help.   The language really hasn't been a problem as enough people speak a little English.  When they don't speak English a little charades usually gets the point across.  So overall, even though we haven't seen any of the usual tourist attractions yet, we are enjoying our time here in Prague.

The $30 Snack

In Boston, we tried lobster. We walked around for a while then found a good place to have some lobster. We decided to try lobster rolls instead of straight lobster. The waiter told us that it would be faster and just as good.  It was $30. When it came out we had a 6 inch long sandwich, a cup of chowder, a slice of watermelon, and a pickle. We tried it and Sam and I almost liked it. Joe thought it was ok. Jenna didn't like it, and my mom and dad liked it. After we were done we got the menu and added up all the most expensive things, the most expensive appetizer, salad, entree, etc., the grand total was $177 for a full meal for one person.  I'm glad I had the experience but I won't be ordering lobster any time soon.

Our $30 snack.

Boston and New York [BY JENNA]

Yesterday we came to New York City. It is a very big city. We had a 4 hour bus ride. I slept on the bus most of the way, I slept for 3 hours. It was Sunday and so we could not play games. What's a bus ride without games? We saw an M&M store. It had lots of M&M. We bought some M&Ms. They were expensive. The next day we went to see the Statue of Liberty, and where the twin towers were, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Before New York we were in Boston. Boston is big too. The first day there we went on a trolley. We got on the trolley and then off and on and off. We also went to a playground. The second day we followed the Freedom Trail. When we followed it we came to the Bunker hill Monument. It looked liked the Washington Monument but shorter, we walked up the stairs. It had 294 stairs, I went up and down twice I took 1176 steps. Then we followed the Freedom Trail some more and then we came to a boat. This boat, it wasn't just any boat it was a boat that that fought in 35 battles. It was the USS Constitution.  Then we went to get something to eat. We tried something new. We tried Lobster. It was 30 dollars and I didn't like it.

I have some pictures to show you.

This is the M&M store.

This one is the Statue of Liberty.

This is the Bunker Hill Monument.

We spend a day with the Corbridge's

     The title is misleading, but true. Our second cousins came to Washington DC for a day and so we met up with them at the Lincoln Memorial. There was almost no one there because school had started. Then we decided to walk over to the archives. While we were walking we saw the Vietnam war memorial. That is the big black wall with names on it. We kept walking and found ourselves at the World War II memorial. There was a lot of military people there. It had a big fountain and with all the states and countries that fought in the war. We kept walking and got to the Washington Monument. We took some pictures and kept walking. Finally, we got to the National Archives. We went in and went through security, and saw The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. It was really cool (even if it was the second time). The Declaration of Independence was so faded you could barely read it. The Constitution was easy to read and cool. There was a typo in Pennsylvania, they spelled it Pensylvania. The Bill of Rights was faded and hard to read, but it was still cool that the piece of paper was over 200 years old. After that we went to the Air and Space Smithsonian. We got something to eat at the food court and then went to see the exhibits. We went to one of them, but it was to busy to have a lot of fun. I thought it would be less busy like the Lincoln Memorial, but it was very busy. After that they had to go so we said good-bye and they left.

Us at the WWII Memorial with Utah 

WWII Memorial

Us at the Air and Space museum

Philadelphia [BY JENNA]

We went to Philadelphia, it was very big. We saw a building that had light's everywhere. We saw Constitution Hall where the The Declaration of Independence was signed. We saw the old Capitol, and the old Supreme Court. We saw the Liberty Bell, it had a huge crack.  We saw the mint (that's where they make coins).  I have some pictures to show you

This my family with the liberty bell.

This is where the Declaration of Independence was signed

This is me and Seth in front of Independence Hall.

Seth and Joe in front of the Mint

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9/11 Memorial Void

We've seen many memorials and monuments on this trip:  Gettysburg, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson,  US Marine Corps, etc. While in New York City we got to see the 9/11 Memorial.  I've included a brief video of the memorial below.  Go ahead and watch it and listen.

Of all the monuments/memorials I've seen this one leaves me the emptiest.  Artistically it is beautiful and well-executed.  The squares, the symmetry, the flowing water, the names--all of that is great.  The thing that is hard for me to like about it is the square in the center called "the void" where the water flows seemingly to nowhere, like a bottomless pit.  If "loss" is what the designers wanted me to feel when I experience this memorial then they succeeded.  I feel that plus hopelessness and despair.  When I see the void in the 9/11 memorial I don't feel hope or optimism.  I think and feel "bottomless black hole".

I realize these people are missing from our lives but I'd rather not be reminded of the loss or void.  I'd rather somehow remember the blessings that their memories are.  There's a quote attributed to Dr Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened."  I don't want to cry every time I think of them.  Somehow I'd like to experience hope, optimism, or some other positive feeling from a memorial.  This just doesn't do that for me.

A Little Help From My Friends

Early this morning we made our way from DC to Philadelphia.  Our plan was to spend the day in Philadelphia seeing the sites and then take the "red eye" bus to Boston.  We didn't want to haul our bags all over the place with us so we sought a location at the bus/train station where we could store them.  There is a little (10x10) "Traveler's Aid" (accurate name) station inside the terminal that we wouldn't even have noticed if one of the bus company staff hadn't pointed it out to us.

Elaine had previously read that there were lockers for rent in the terminal.  The kind man at the Traveler's Aid station told us that there were no lockers at the terminal nor at any terminal he knew of.  As we told him our plans and desires he understood just what we needed and the information began to flow...

Here are his AWESOME instructions almost word for word:

• "Don't tell anyone I told you this."
• "Amtrak has a luggage storage service for customers with an Amtrak ticket."
• "See that blue machine over there?  Take your credit card to that machine and buy 4 of the cheapest tickets you can find.  I recommend "Exton".  It is the cheapest destination I know of."
• "See that blue sign on the wall across the terminal?  Take your tickets and bags and follow the arrow on that sign pointing to the left.  Check your bags in to the Amtrak luggage storage service.  There might be a per-bag fee."
• "Go and have fun."
• "When you get back collect your bags."
• "If you really want to game the system, take the train tickets you purchased back to the Amtrak counter and ask for a refund.  Tell them your plans have changed.  There may be a small refund fee but you will get most of what you paid back."

We followed his instructions to the letter and it worked perfectly, just like he said!  In the end it cost us $5 per bag or $25 total to NOT have to carry our backpacks around the city all day.  Well worth it!  Thank you Traveler's Aid!