***iLikeSloths***

[OrangePixyStix]

I loved your newly added pics from your trip! I thought it was really neat how you did some of the shots of Auschwitz in black & white. I read the book "Night" and think it would be very moving to see the actual setting like you did.


As someone who grew up playing piano, I think it is very cool that you visited the graves of Beethoven and Mozart.

Did you stay at hostels most of the time, or did you do any B&B's?

[ILikeSloths]

Thanks, OPS!

I've really been wanting to read "Night." I saw him on Oprah (old episodes) before we left for our trip, and his story really stuck with me. He has a way with words and how he articulates the experience. I thought Elie's quotes were a great way to say that even though pics are disturbing, it's good to share them so people know what happened and spread compassion.

Being at Auschwitz and seeing it in person was surreal. Auschwitz II/Birkenau is massive in size. I know a lot of people don't want to visit concentration camps which is understandable, but I really recommend it for anyone who gets the chance! I'm glad I went. When you were in Europe did you visit any? We spent most of our time in Central/Eastern Europe and it seemed like there were camps everywhere...it's so sad.

It was cool seeing the composers' graves! I envy that you can play piano. I'd love to learn!

We stayed in hostels the whole trip. It was our first time doing this so we were a little nervous, but we had mostly good experiences and met some nice people.

[OrangePixyStix]

Unfortunately I did not visit any of the concentration camps yet, but I would want to visit one or two if I could next time I am over there. The aftermath of Europe's torturous history can be seen in so many ways that it's good to have that impression while travelling there as much as the happy stuff. I remember parts of Croatia being sombering to visit because some of their towns never recovered from the war they went through and it shows, and that wasn't even as intense of a war compared to the Holocaust!

I am glad you had good experiences with the hostels, you went at a good time of year it seems (many of them don't have A/C, which I learned sucks ass in the summertime when it gets hot). Sounds like you did so much adventuring and sight-seeing that hostels were the perfect way to make your money stretch and get to meet some other folks along the way.

[ILikeSloths]

I had no idea you visited Croatia. It's on my mighty long list of must-see places, too. It sounds like you had an eye-opening experience also. Gah, this is why I love traveling so much and talking to other people! It really opens my eyes.

Yeah, I can't imagine not having A/C in the summer! Especially sweating bullets in close quarters to other people. Haha. I love that staying at budget friendly places is an option though. I wish hostels would become more common in the States too.

[OrangePixyStix]

I totally agree that hostels would awesome to have here, at least in the bigger cities, and would probably encourage more travel even just within the US.

One of the H's roommates in college was from Croatia and currently lives there, his dad sent him here to Texas for school back in the 90's when they were going through war and he turned out to be H's best friend for a long time. They have stayed in touch all these years and he really treated us well when we got out there. It was neat for me also because my paternal family is of Croatian descent so I got to see where some of my ancestors were from.

Just a couple weeks ago the No Reservations-Anthony Bordain show featured the Croatian coastline and that was cool to watch since he visited a couple of the same exact little villages as we did. I get really happy when I see some travel shows filming in the same spots since they rekindle memories from the trip. Croatia really is an underrated destination, and especially since it is too weak to be under the Euro, it's fairly affordable compared to, say, London or Paris.

[ILikeSloths]

I was browsing the web last week for hostels in the U.S. and managed to find a few here and there, but the prices were pretty disappointing. Some weren't much cheaper than a budget hotel, especially if you're traveling in pairs. It would be nice to have more of a variety to choose from.

That's really neat that you got to see where your ancestors are from and you had a friend from Croatia to show you around. It's nice that it's still fairly inexpensive, too. Your trip sounds awesome all-around.

I love Anthony Bourdain's show for the same reason you mentioned and I also love seeing new places I'd like to go someday. I really miss having cable so I can watch the Travel Channel, lol.