Saturday, August 24, 2013

London at Night

Finally, I am finishing up London. It's been almost two months since we've been there!! Friday night after we did Harry Potter World, we went back to the apartment, get Kason into bed and the Brad and I headed out for a little night on the town! 

We headed for Trafalgar Square first: 









We sat on the statue in the middle and just people watched for a bit and enjoyed each others company. Brad took a little cat-nap...




Then we walked over to Big Ben & The London Eye so we could see them all lit-up. I love cities at night and London was especially fun. But, there were some weirdos out so we didn't hang out long. 




Then we headed back to the apartment! We had to get up super early the next morning to get to the airport in time (we didn't want a repeat of our last London trip!). The rest of our time while my mom was visiting was spent hanging around our town, we made a trip up to Poland for pottery shopping and we hit up Prague for a few hours. Other then that, we really didn't do too much with them (they did a couple thing on their own). It was fun to have family visit!! 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Flossenburg Concentration Camp

So, I went to go start this post, assuming I had finished London, which in deed I have not but, the pictures are already uploaded for this post so, we're skipping ahead. 

The Sunday after we got back from London we went to a Concentration Camp that is close to us. I have really been wanting to go to one ever since we moved here and this was our first opportunity to see one. I am pretty sure Flossenburg is a "toned down" version of the average concentration camp but, that didn't keep it from have a very somber and reverent feel. 

This was the headquarters for the camp: 


When you walk in you see barrack-style buildings and off to the left is the "roll call" field. Each morning the prisoners would have to report here and listen for their number to be called. This was also the central spot for hangings, right out in the open so everyone could see.


When prisoners were brought to the camp, they would be sent down this hall. This is where their name was taken away and they were given a number to be known by, their heads were shaved (usually by fellow prisoners), they were given their prison attire and eventually they were all sent into a washing room. Sometimes the water was freezing cold and other times it was scalding hot; the prisoners weren't given a choice about getting washed. It was so humiliating for them to stand in a huge open room, completely naked, being washed clean of their "filth". 


The washing room:


Outside it was hard to believe that such a pretty area was home to so much horrific history. I could only imagine the prisoners holding on to the beauty that surrounded them allowing it lift their spirits, since not much else could. 




There were watch towers surrounding the entire perimeter of the camp. 


This was known as the "Valley of the Dead", for good reason. It was home to the killing grounds and the crematorium. Again, how can such a beautiful place has such a wicked past? 



This reads: "These are the ashes and bones from mass-burnings"



And ... "Prisoners were shot in mass here"


The crematorium had such a sick feeling to it, I couldn't stay in there for long. 



These fence posts were the original posts that were there during WWII. I would imagine with a lot more barbed wire. 


Now, there are memorials all over the concentration camp. Memorials for Army, Marines, Air Force, the specific units that helped free the Jews and here is a Jewish memorial for all the 30,000 some Jews who were killed at Flossenburg. 


The Nazi's decided that they had so many Jews/Homosexuals/Criminals that they were having to cremate that they built a little track for a cart to transport the prisoners down to the crematorium. This was the opening: 


They had "sick bunks" that would be filled to the brim with those who were too sick to work but, they wouldn't ever give them medical attention. It was pretty much a cesspool for germs and disease. You knew if you ended up in the sick bunk, you wouldn't be coming out alive. If you wanted to stay alive it was important for you to keep working, the minute you were deemed to sick to work, it was off to the sick bunk with you. These are the remaining foundations of the sick hall. 


They had solitary confinement for anyone who acted out or spoke their mind or stood up for someone else. They were removed completely from the group. 





This view has changed a lot since WWII. You can see in the picture that the hill used to be covered with barracks for the prisoners. 


It was a very humbling experience to be able to visit a concentration camp. I was disgusted at the ways the prisoners were treated, with absolutely zero respect. The scary part is Flossenburg is a pretty low-key concentration camp in comparsion to Dachau or Auschwitz. 

To lighten our moods, we visited some castle ruins that are near by, before heading home ...  







Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Harry Potter Studio - London

So ... this post will probably be incredibly boring for anyone who is not a Harry Potter fanatic, much like myself and my two guys. We're kinda obsessed and I don't know if it's safe to admit that on the world-wide web. However ... when we went to London, we visited the Harry Potter Studio tour and it was easily the highlight of the entire trip for me. 

Harry Potter Nerd Level = Expert 

So, in King's Cross Station they have Platform 9 3/4 (the portal that gets the wizards to Hogwarts via the Hogwarts Express) and it was surprisingly popular. I should have known. But we almost missed our train because of the line ... eek! Kason chose to be part of Slytherin ... I chose Gryffindor (naturally). 

(ps: this is a long post with a lot of pictures ... I even scaled back on what I'm putting up. you've been warned.)



Thank heavens he took a cat-nap ... do they ever stop being loveable when they're sleeping? 


We're SOOOOO excited!!!!!


"The closet under the stairs" 
(those glasses are one of the original Harry Potter frames)



Getting ready to enter The Great Hall! (I'm gonna be real honest right here and tell you I felt like I was at Disneyland ... seriously, this was so amazing for me!)







These robes are the original robes Harry Potter wore in "Year 1"




Harry Potter's bed ...


And wand ... 


Gryffindor common room: 


The studio is fun because you just walk and see all the different props, outfits and sets. It was pretty cool. 




Dumbledore's Office: 





Random props from various movies ... 










Brad & Kason got to practice their spells and they had a green room area where we could all "fly" on brooms. (But you couldn't take pictures...)


The Burrow ... 



"He Who Must Not Be Named"



Then we got to go outside and get some BUTTERBEER!!!! Brad & I were both so excited to try some real Butterbeer. It was pretty delicious (think ... cream soda and butterscotch. Mmmm!) Kason didn't really care for it (crazy!!!)





Outdoor Props (Privat Drive House, Bridge at Hogwarts, Harry's house in Godric Hollow, the Night Bus etc)










Then we went into another building that had two more rooms of props & Diagon Alley ... 



Kason loves Dobby and he was sad because he dies ... ha! 


Diagon Alley:




The last thing we got to see was the Hogwart's castle. I took way too many pictures so I'm sorry I'm not sorry ... it was pretty amazing. Like ... awe-inspiring. For reals. 











We then got to go inside Ollivander's Wand Shop ... they had the real name of the movie actors on the wand boxes, this one is Harry Potter's (aka Daniel Radcliffe) 


Then, we shopped till we dropped! Well, sort of. 


Kason walked away with a pair of Harry Potter glasses - doesn't he look adorable? He even wore them to church the next Sunday. I'd say he's being raised up with the right type of addiction ... 


Then, we headed back into London! It was a perfect day. I was happy. Brad was happy. Kason was happy. I call that a success!