Honey, I'm Home!

Hello! I'm back after an unbelievably hectic week. 3 days in Berlin, 2 in Poland & a wedding - it's been pretty full on! I'll start with Berlin :-)

What an amazing city!!! It was a history trip, so we visited a lot of Holocaust sites including the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe designed by Eisenman, the Grunewald memorial, a Stasi prison, the Wannsee Conference villa and The Typography of Terror museum. We heard some incredible stories, including that of our tour guide's father at the Stasi prison, something I will never forget. Our 3 days were packed with activities, and we also got to visit the East Side Gallery (where I am in the picture above!), the Reichstag government building at night, and go up the famous TV tower. It was really an amazing few days, although fairly chilly! A visit to a biergarten and a German restaurant also added to our trip, and I can't wait to go back to Berlin (hopefully for a bit longer next time!)

An overnight coach to Krakow in Poland, an hour nap and then we met a Holocaust survivor. It was absolutely incredible, and I felt so lucky to be able to hear her story (although through a translator) as she sat only 2 metres away from us. An inspiring woman. 

We also visited the Krakow salt mines which I wasn't expecting to be so impressive, but they are definitely worth a visit! We had a fantastic meal in a Jewish restaurant, where a live band played to us & we were able to just relax & enjoy our last night. The next morning we woke up to a blizzard for our final visit of the trip - The Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Although it was my main reason for going on the trip, nothing could've prepared me for it. We were taken on a tour round, and it's hard to describe my experience. It's really something you have to see & feel for yourself. We also visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau site where millions were killed, in comparison to the first site where thousands were murdered. It was something I'm glad to have experienced but I think it'll take a bit more time to really process.

The snow finally cleared for our flight back - Home at 1am & up again for wedding prep at 6am! My lovely cousin Annie asked me & my sister to be bridesmaids, which was really exciting! Running on caffeine & adrenaline I powered through until midnight. Our family our notorious for our love of a good disco, and the dance floor was occupied from 7.30! My Uncle Phil's Mick Jagger impression is really something to see, and it came out at least 4 times. Annie & Rob had personalised a lot of the details, including making the guests favours, bridesmaids necklaces, and bunting for the hall. It looked beautiful and was such a special day! There was a funny photobooth with props & a pick & mix. I'm so excited for all the official photos! 

So that accounts for the lack of posts in the last week or so! I hope you've all had lovely Easters :-) X