Eastern Europe Itinerary

On Saturday, we are slipping away for one of our last long trips. Here is our itinerary in a nutshell:
Eastern Europe, 8 nights, 5 cities. Average high: 45 degrees.

OK, here's a bigger nutshell:

1) Fly 700 miles due east to Krakow; our first and probably only time to Poland. Copernicus and John Paul II are both alumni from Krakow's university. We'll have bagels, pierogi, and kosher food in Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. Schindler's factory is also there and hosts a new exhibit on life in the ghetto. After much deliberation, we have decided not to visit Auschwitz, which is a reasonable day trip and one of the reasons we wanted to go to Krakow in the first place. However, we know that Daisy is actually noticing her environment now and don't want her to see some of the things that are there. Since it takes about four hours to see Auschwitz-Birkenau, and since we've already seen a concentration camp in Dachau, near Munich, we are going to honor the Jewish circumstance in other ways instead.

2) Take a night train to Prague, Czech Republic. Despite the number of trips we've taken, we've somehow never taken a night train before. I hear that these rails are a little more jolting than other routes, but to me, that makes it all the more Old World. However, we will certainly have a long day ahead of us after we get off that train at 7 AM. My itinerary is pretty packed for the 2.5 days we're here. Since my Granny's side of the family is Bohemian, I'm excited to learn about the local heroes and food. We've heard about Prague's beauty but also about its scams and pickpockets. Here's hoping we leave with our wallets.

3) Now midway between Krakow and Dusseldorf, we'll stay in the gloriously rebuilt city of Dresden. It was carpet bombed in WWII and shares a powerful reconciliation story with Coventry, England. Our first night there, I will get a birthday present from Chris and my parents: Chris will watch Daisy while I go to see a production of Händel's opera Giulio Cesare in Dresden's beautiful Semperoper.

4) We'll stop in Leipzig for about five hours to see Bach's church and museum, a Stasi museum, and the Nikolaikirche, which played a role in the peaceful end of communism in East Germany.

5) From there, we'll go to Wittenberg, which is where Luther lived and where he posted his 95 theses to the church door. We are pretending to be ultimate Lutherans by coming specifically for Reformation Day (October 31 - happy halloween and happy birthday, Granny!). There will probably be a ton of people, but I hear that they sell "Here I Stand" socks, so it could be worth it. If I get to sing "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" while looking at Luther's grave in church on Sunday morning, my German experience may be considered complete.

Then we're home! Of course, it probably won't all go as planned: we've suffered torrential downpours, taken wrong non-stop two-hour trains, and been grounded because of strikes enough to realize that our itinerary is just a suggestion. We'll let you know how it goes. November promises to be a busy month, so the posts of these upcoming cities will probably trickle in.