Day 2

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=95 BGCOLOR="#999999" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="08f005f0ermwup.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>International Ringette Federation (IRF)</B></FONT><B>     </B><B>|     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="International Ringette Federation (IRF)"><B>home</B></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=189 style="border-right: 1px solid #CCCCCC;" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id128.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 1"><B>Day 1</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id129.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 2"><B>Day 2</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id130.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 3"><B>Day 3</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id131.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 4"><B>Day 4</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id132.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 5"><B>Day 5</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id133.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 6"><B>Day 6</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id134.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 7"><B>Day 7</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id135.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 8"><B>Day 8</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id136.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 9"><B>Day 9</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id137.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 10"><B>Day 10</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id138.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 11"><B>Day 11</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id139.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 12"><B>Day 12</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id140.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Day 13"><B>Day 13</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id142.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Finnish Experience in Czech Republic"><B>The Finnish Experience</B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=385 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Day 2</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="529" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1048 WIDTH="523"><div> Yesterday, we woke up early (what else is new) and took a tour of Salzburg, Austria. We saw many, many churches and learned that most of the churches are Catholic. We learned about the Bishop Princes, some of their ideals and some of the reasons why the buildings and castles were built, which we found was to mostly show off or protect themselves in war. We spent most of the morning with Hans (our tour guide) as he took us around the beautiful city. He showed us the markets and the theatre. What was really interesting was being able to see some of the places where the movie "The Sound of Music" was filmed. We saw the fountain where the kids danced, the fountain that she splashed in, the stairs where the kids learned how to sing "Do, Re, Mi" and the theater where the Vontrapp family said goodbye to Austria before the Captain had to go to war for the Germans. Don't worry, we all got more than our fair share of pictures to share with our family and friends back home. When Hans concluded the tour and said his Goodbyes, we were given two choices. We could either go to the Dachau concentration camp, because we could not go the day before, or we could stay in Salzburg. Most people went back to Germany to see the concentration camp. The people who stayed shopped, walked through the markets and the stores to look for fresh fruit & souvenirs and enjoyed the beautiful sights. </div> <bR> <div> The people who went to the concentration camp also had a very impacting day. We arrived after another long bus ride to a bare, depressing camp, surrounded with barbed wire and filled with haunting secrets. Our group split up and walked through the museum, which was very harsh and full of information that opened many of our eyes. Little did we know that beyond the museum we were able to see the real thing, which scared many of us, and we couldn't believe that this could happen to anyone. We saw where the prisoners slept, which was in hard wooden bunk beds that were pushed together and had to be completely clean or else they would be punished. The sleeping area was only supposed to hold 200 people, instead, they stuffed in 2000 people in these confined areas. We saw the area where the soldiers did roll call and tortured the weak, old, and sick prisoners. If one person would fall, the people were not allowed to help them, even if they were dying. The soldiers had to hide the torture and crime, they did this by killing mass numbers of people. They would line them up and shoot them or another way would be to put many people in the "showers" and instead lock them in and kill them with poisonous gas, and then put the bodies in the cremation machines. Walking through this building was breathtaking as it all seemed so unreal and unbelievably disturbing. We also saw the solitary cells were the prisoners were punished. Some were even put in small standing cells that were so small that their knees touched both sides of the wall and they stayed there for around 72 hours. </div> <bR> <div> This was truly an experience that we wouldn't want to miss, and we believe everyone should get the chance to see one of the many concentrations camps and maybe get a little understanding of the pain and torture that these innocent people had to endure. It was truly an experience that many of us will never forget. </div> <bR> <div> After this depressing and important experience, we took another long bus ride back to our hotel in Austria and had a great dinner, and a good nights sleep in the mountain air. </div> <bR> <div> Jamie & Rebecca </div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> photo 001 is Team White with Coach Lonnie in front of this same fountain</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 434 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0cc3aac0.jpg" border=0 width="570" height="428" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="523"><div> photo 002 is Team Red with Coaches Bob & Don in front of the Residence Fountain in Salzburg </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 434 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0ce3aac0.jpg" border=0 width="570" height="428" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>