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Paris and Amsterdam and home

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Well, it is now September, I apologize for the long delay. We got sick, one by one, from Morocco to Paris, through Amsterdam, and back home. I believe it was a water-borne protozoa called cryptosporidium, based on symptoms and incubation period. Amonte luckily was spared. In Paris, there was a vomit-from-the-loft-bed incident. So that was memorable. We visited the Eiffel Tower, took the stairs to the second level, and waited in line less than an hour. I think we timed it well, we were ascending as the sun was descending, so we saw the sun set and the tower light up. I prefer the Eiffel Tower at night. We did so much walking in Paris, from Les Invalides to Notre Dame and back the first day. We saw the Louvre, but did not enter. After that we decided to get metro passes. I enjoyed visiting the artists on Montmartre and Sacre Coeur cathedral, I think by this point the boys were pretty sick of cathedrals, since we have been in so many grand buildings this summer. Then we w...
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Our tour of Morocco

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After a crazy travel day to Tangiers, we explored the city for a day. We woke up in the hostel and were greeted with this view from the rooftop terrace We walked along the beach and had a wonderful meal. We went to the American Legion museum -  I didn't realize that Morocco was the first country to recognize the US as a nation independent from Britain, and our countries have long been friends.  Because we were taking an overnight train that left at midnight, we ended up spending about 5 hours at the mall, since we had all our luggage with us, and the main train station is under renovation so there was really nowhere else we felt safe as the sun went down. Crossing the streets was an adventure in itself, they don't really stop for pedestrians unless you are right in front of their car. I have always wanted to stay in a sleeper car, and it was a lot of fun. I think the train car was from the 1960's, and the bathrooms were not great, but we all enjoyed the 11 ...
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The end of our time in Spain, and travel to Morocco

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We had some fun at the end of our time in Spain, my parents were with us and we went on some adventures. First, we went on the "Caminito del Rey", a 7 km path that goes through a narrow river gorge. Up until 2010, it was called the most dangerous path on Earth, because it was an old path with no railing between you and the canyon far below. They have redone it, but you can still see remnants of the old path. For a terrifying YouTube video, search "Caminito del Rey 2010" and watch a video by "videotekandote". If I had seen this before we went, I may have chickened out! But it is much safer now, and quite beautiful. We then took a day trip to Seville, and only scratched the surface.... While there, we saw a pigeon with string wrapped tightly around it's feet, so Jeff caught him and I removed it - my first "surgery" in Spain! It's hard to see the bird in the photo, but he is there. I think locals probably thought we ...
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Morocco

Hello, This will be quick, our wifi has been quite poor here in Morocco, so no pictures. In fact, this is the first time I have been able to load the page to post to the blog. We have had an amazing time, it was quite a culture shock at first. We took a ferry from Spain (near Gibraltar) to Tangiers, after 24 hours in Tangiers we took an overnight train in a sleeper car to Marrakech. Then we joined a guided tour and visited a Berber village in the high Atlas Mountains, then an oasis in the desert, then the Atlantic coast (with a camel ride on the beach), and now back in Marrakech. We will fly to Paris tomorrow and hopefully will be able to update more and post some pictures. I can't believe we will be home in 10 days! Kristi
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Prague and Terezin

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Hello, we are back in Spain for a few days, but I will post more from Prague.... Jeff said Prague is his favorite city so far, so I am glad we visited for his birthday! We visited some more churches, the royal garden, and we saw so many beautiful buildings, here are a few photos Then we went to Terezin, outside of Prague, near the border of Germany. Terezin was a fortress originally, then a camp for political prisoners in WW1. But it is most famous as a prison/concentration camp/ghetto in WW2. Though it was not an extermination camp like Auschwitz, 30,000 of the 150,000 people who came through Terezin died there due to starvation, crowding and disease, and most of the 90,000 who were later sent to extermination camps also perished. I didn't take a lot of photos, but here is the entrance to the camp, with the motto "work sets you free" We went into one of the rooms, about 30x30, that housed 100 people. The bunks were still there, hard to fathom the s...
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