Latrines

The sinks flushed the latrines. The water flowed from one building to the next. No privacy.

Chimneys

Every chimney represents a barrack house. There were so many. :(

Barracks.

Three levels of sleepers, 5-10 crammed in each level. 600 people in this cabin.

Gas chamber

Gas chamber and crematorium.

Railway car

Railway car in the sorting yard at Birkenau.

Gas chamber, Auschwitz

Medical equipment

Some of these came from veterans of WWI who fought for Germany. It wasn't good enough for Hitler though.

Children

This is where I was crying. Understandable.

Her eyes...

They say it all.

Human cost

It's brought home when we see the human costs of pograms like this. There were hundreds of pictures displayed and it's just a fraction of what were taken.

Auschwitz

What a long, emotional day. This is probably familiar to most people around the world.

My tour guide

The tour guide was hysterical. It's especially funny listening to a guy in traditional Austrian dress rip on every one and every thing. He has a major sarcastic streak.

Eagles Nest.

This would be mother nature messing with me again. It rained for six hours today. The six hours that I was on a tour of the alps and Eagles Nest. We couldn't see a thing!

Palace

This is one of the great halls in a castle in Salzburg. Everything was High Baroque style, very ornate and fancy. The whole city is in that style I think.

I don't know if this will work...

This is a video of the trip down from the castle in the little rail car. I don't know if it will work or not.

Edit: apparently I can't upload video. Check my Facebook to see it.

Marionettes

I think these things were creepy. Mom would probably love them. This is the marionette museum in the castle. I think these were from a Mozart opera.

Fighting scene

How cool. Medieval fight scene.

The alps

The alps from on top of the castle. These are the best shots I got, you'll see why when I show you the Eagles Nest shots.

Torture devices

This is a torture device from the castle in Salzburg. It was supposedly not used there, but it was one of the most painful and deadly torture devices used. I don't quite understand it, but I think you were stretched using it and then tied to it and rolled through the streets. Something like that.

Von Trapp Family

The Sound of Music happened in Salzburg. Not that you would ever know, it's not like they brag or anything. :) There is a whole tourist industry built up around the movie.

Fence

I saw this in France too. People write their name with their significant other's and lock them on the fences. Then I guess the government has to cut them off every once in a while.

Salzburg, Austria

The public gardens next to an old palace, with a great view. That castle is great!

Sunset over Greece

Sunset on the ferry leaving Greece. I was sad to leave, I felt very comfortable there except thf or the heat. And the not even recognizing the alphabet on street signs. And the not learning a word of the language. But I loved the people and the food and the atmosphere in general.

Poseidon. Or Zeus.

The label on this statue made me laugh. It says Poseidon, or Zeus. You know, one of those Greek gods. He lost his spear or trident at some point, which is why we don't know who he is.

Mask of Agamemnon

According to Rick Steves, this mask is a few hundred years older than Agamemnon, so there is no way it coup be him. The archaeologist who found it named it that though.

5000 year old statues

These statues are humanoid, or at least super early versions of humanoid, and are 5000 years old.

National Archaeology Museum

This Korai (I think I spelled that wrong) statue fascinated me. She is beautiful, in a very Archaic style. The color is still on her dress, and she has cool decorations on it. Of course, she is decorated with swastikas, but that's because the symbol was around a lot longer than the Nazi Party!

Parliament

The Greek parliament building has a changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It's not as big a ceremony as the one at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, but it's cool in its own way. They do this goose step move where they kick their legs up a couple of times with each step.

Trying for artsy

I was trying for artsy in this picture. I think it came out quite well! This flag represents Greek freedom. The story behind it is amazing. When Greece was captured by the Nazis, the soldier responsible for guarding this flag took it down, wrapped himself in it, and jumped off the cliff to his death rather than give it up. Then a few months later a couple of kids scaled the wall and replaced the Nazi flag with the Greek flag again to show they were still fighting back!

Parthenon

A much better view of the Parthenon. The tricks used in this are great (thanks Rick Steves podcast for the info!). The columns aren't straight, the floor isn't straight, just to make them LOOK straight. Very cool.

The Erechtheion

The Erechtheion has been one of my favorite buildings since I first saw it in an art history class in college. The statues are just so graceful but they are so strong too. These are not the originals, but I got to see most of them in the museum next door where they were put for safekeeping and cleaning. I bought myself a mini version of these I love them so much. I also got Finn a mini Parthenon to add to his Eiffel Tower and Colosseum.

The view from the Acropolis

Same guy with the camera. He was really good at picking out great spots for pictures!

Acropolis

This American guy and I took turns taking pictures of each other with our cameras at the Acropolis for a while. I got some amazing shots thanks to him! The Parthenon is cool, I wish there wasn't quite so much construction going on but I totally get why they are doing it!

My view from the hotel restaurant

This is the roof deck of my hotel in Athens. I was turned away from it when I came up, and when I turned I literally gasped out loud. I'm really glad I came to Athens even though I wasn't sure I was going to, because apparently it's the place I really wanted to come to. I know this because I was sitting at dinner looking at this view, and I started crying I was so happy! I know, totally sappy, but I can't believe I'm here.

Better blue

This is a much better shot of the color of the water. Isn't it cool?

Coming up to Greece

This water is the coolest color ever. I don't know how much you can see it, but it is an amazing shade of blue.

Chariot grooves

This is a strange picture, I know. But I'm standing in that groove up over my ankle. That's how deep it was word in the stone from the chariot wheels traveling the street for so long.

House of the Faun

The reproduction of the faun statue from the House of the Faun. It's the biggest and probably most famous house in Pompeii. It's impressive even by today's standards, and without a roof and most of the walls!

Dining room

The colors of the mosaics are so bright still. I can picture them where they were first painted, they must have been stunning.

Beware the dog

This is the beware of dog mosaic. I love it that the Romans had the same signs we have today!

Anyone want a burger?

This is a fast food restaurant. The poor didn't do much cooking because they didn't have the facilities, so they ate at places like this. The food would be in covered containers in holes on that counter and they would take what they wanted for their meal.

Bodies

The bodies that were cast in plaster are stunning. When the bodies decayed, they left holes in the ash which early archeologists filled with plaster. I saw four of the bodies, and some of them still have bones and teeth.

The basilica

The basilica in ancient Rome was like a courthouse today, according to the amazing Rick Steves who gave me a podcast tour of the city. You can see the columns that they were still repairing from the earthquake 17 years before the eruption. I love the cut off wall on the top with the sky behind it, I think it looks cool.

Jupiter

A shrine to Jupiter that survived in the forum.

Pompeii forum

Pompeii is so cool. I spent a lot of time imagining the people there in Roman clothing and pretending I was there 2000 years ago. I'm such a history geek :). But that's Mt. Vesuvius in the background, doesn't it look nice and peaceful? Hard to image it as a pointed mountain the literally blew its top off.

Spanish steps

I don't really get the fascination with these. No, I didn't climb them. I was too hot and tired. But they seem to me like just a set of stairs. Meh. I liked the fountain at the bottom better!

Pantheon dome

That's the cool part of the Pantheon (I'm pretty sure I called in the Parthenon in my last email...oops!). It's amazing how the Romans made this and it is still in perfect condition.

Parthenon

The Parthenon is in such amazing shape. I am impressed with how modern it seems too. The interior is definitely the cool part.

Obelisks

This is probably as close as I'll ever get to a real Egyptian obelisk. They are all over Rome, probably taken when Egypt became part of the empire.