After recently returning from a school trip to Eastern Europe, I decided to Rank the cities we visited.

5. Berlin– The first stop on our trip, Berlin was a big city with a lot of modern architecture, but it was unlike New York City with towering skyscrapers. There was a lot of street art and a section of the Berlin Wall remained up as a massive canvas for artists. Other than that, there was nothing special about the city. However our tour guide said Berlin was, “An acquired taste.”

4. Krakow– Krakow had a large center square with fine dining and shops all around. It was most beautiful at night when the main market building was lit up. Outside of the city center we visited a castle which had a statue of a dragon that occasionally breathed fire. It was one of the less memorable cities, but was a bit more interesting than Berlin.

3. Dresden-Outside of Slaughterhouse Five I knew nothing about Dresden. So when we arrived I was surprised to see that they had rebuilt. In fact, the palace we visited looked as if it hadn’t been damaged at all, but on closer inspection some of the bricks were blackened. I was amazed with how well the reconstruction had been done. However, the beautiful church in the main square had been restored by just leaving the rubble alone after the bombing and then rebuilding the church with the original bricks. It was a great city and I wish we had spent more time there.

2.Budapest– Budapest is actually two cities, Buda and Pest. They are divided by the Danube river, the second longest in Europe. Buda was more hilly, while Pest was flat. During the day, we visited the Matthias Church in the morning, which had a commanding view over the Pest part of the city. In the afternoon, we walked around the city’s main center and shopping district which was super nice. Budapest was the Buda-best!

1.Prague– Prague was a blast, from the Prague Castle (The largest castle complex in the world) to the wall dedicated to John Lennon. The main square of the city sports a large church and the old town hall with the third oldest astronomical clock. Prague is also divided by a river and so there are many bridges to cross it including the historical Charles Bridge, dating back to 1357. However, this city was the sketchiest (we had been warned of the city’s pick-pocketing problem). Prague also had the best hotel of the trip, the boys were able to enjoy a roomy 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom suite. Overall my favorite city.

Gallery • 7 Photos

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany