B & B

Like I said in my last post I promised a couple more posts about my continued adventures.  Last I left you guys off at myself leaving for Budapest.  Budapest is by far one of my favorite places that I have been to yet! The atmosphere of the area was a younger, unique vibe.  The vibe I actually get from a place like Boulder, Colorado.  On our first night there we actually hit up some street food and checked into our hostel.  This night was pretty chill due to that we were exhausted from traveling all day.  The next day we were sure to get up and moving at a decent time in the day and see what Budapest had to offer.  We went in and joined a free walking tour, which I highly recommend.  (if you haven't picked up yet, the free walking tours are the way to go.  You learn all of the history and only have to tip your tour guide).  During the tour we learned that Budapest is actually broken up into two different sides by the Danube River.  The sides are divided by the Rich side (Buda) and the modern side (Pest).  No worries, we visited the Buda side and checked out the views they had to offer. On the Pest side we experienced everything that I wanted to do.  We went to a tea house called Sirus and it honestly was like Alice in Wonderland mixed with Narnia.  the had little nooks for you to sit everywhere!  Our group had no issue with taking our shoes off and taking in the atmosphere.  We actually were just being really goofy and playing around for majority of the time, but it was what made it a blast. 

We then went and checked out the ruin bars at night.  The ruin bars were actually brought to Budapest around the year 2000.  These bars consist of the most random things you can think of.  For example we went to the #3 bar in the world and they had about 7 bars designated for individual drinks.  One bar sold only shots, one sold only beer, another sold only mixed drinks, and so on and so on.  Each bar had its own room, so they each had their own theme.  The wine bar had an outside theme so they made a tree out of old chairs and on the other side they had topless cars for you to sit inside of.  One bar was made up of old computers everywhere!  I know this is very hard to comprehend, but it is as if they took everything from multiple garage sales and made a huge bar out of the random stuff. 

The next day part of our group went to the baths.  The baths originally were used for everyone to come and take a bath in to wash up.  Now the baths are a huge tourist site for people like us to go and relax in.  This bath was just one huge hot tub that we honestly couldn't get out of.  the nice thing about the baths is that it isn't chlorinated so by the time you were done relaxing (A.K.A. when they closed down) you didn't smell like you were just bleached. 

This trip was absolutely one of my favorite trips hands down.  The time spent there was too short and I wish I could've extended it.  But we had to make it back in time for our next and last school trip to the Bohemia side of the Czech Republic.

Our first stop was to Kutna Hora.  In this town we went into a church/cemetery for those that died during the Black Death.  This was one of the coolest places that we visited because the entire inside was made out of human bones.  The church started out with 6 pillars made out of the skulls, femurs, pelvis, and other parts of the human body.  They then took two of those pillars down and created words, the crest, and a chandelier for the public to see.  The Chandelier is made out of every bone in the body.  This was awesome to look at because of my major I knew what bones I was looking at and could identify the differences between all of them. 

Afterwards we stopped into the silver mine.  I wish I had pictures to show you, but it was very dark and small inside the mine.  we all had to wear white jackets and hard helmets just like the miners did and I might say I was happy we had to wear them.  The miners had to wear white because it was the cheapest and they could see white better in their light condition than any other color.  The hard helmet was just used for protection.  When we went through I couldn't tell you how many times I hit my head.  The spaces we had to squeeze through were so tiny.  If you are claustrophobic then this was not the tour for you. 

We then went inside of a church, honestly all I looked at was the architectural structure of the ceilings because the way they were designed was perfect for the ceiling to not collapse. On the outside of the church They had pillars that looked like decorative pieces except they were to also help with the structure of the building to not collapse. 

On our next adventure we went to the "real" Budweiser plant.  The reason I put the quotation marks around the word real is because the plant that we have in the United States isn't the same brand.  Budweiser actually started in the Czech Republic and two employees moved to the states and took the idea from them and started a Budweiser.  The difference is that the Budweiser in the Czech is called Budweiser Budvar.  This beer is shipped into the United States, but is always mistaken as the American brand.  When in reality they are two completely different recipes.  A lawsuit happened and took many years for it to clear up over the name.

We then hopped on the bus and took off for Czesky Krumlov.  When we stepped off we honestly thought we had stepped into a fairytale land.  The rolling hills were beautifully green and all of the shops look like they came out of a Disney movie.  We toured a the castle here.  I learned that bears were actually used to protect the castle instead of crocodiles like everyone things of.  They family that first lived in the castle captured a bear and decided to use it for protect.  Though every now and then they would shoot a bear and stuff it for decoration in the castle.  This meant that they always needed to replace the bears to protect the castle.  They said that one time a drunk person climbed into the habitat and got attacked by one of the bears.  Now they have set a law that no more bears can be replaced inside due to the danger in humans.  DUMB.  Anyways, the castle has a theater and we were able to go inside and see how they used to do their performances.  They would do scene changes in about four seconds, which is very impressive. 

On our next day we ended our trip with a rafting trip.  This rafting trip was a perfect way to end our study abroad adventures with all of our friends.  We drank and some great laughs.  The laughter will not stop anytime soon because we are going to Barcelona!  Watch out for some/serious beach bumming. For now I am peacing out for the night, loves!

Q&A

For my final grade in this class we are supposed to answer questions to help the program grow and to help those who are wanting to study abroad in the future.  Don't worry this is not my last blog post! I will do two more blog posts before coming home.

Here we go!

Packing and Traveling

Specifically what kind of linens do you need to bring?
- I did not bring any linens with me.  They are provided at every hostel and in your dorm room.

What are you glad you packed from home?
- I am glad that I packed a lot of neutral colors because you can mix and match them with just about anything.  I am also glad that I packed a towel with me.  I bought one of the travel REI microfiber towels and it is perfect to fit in my backpack for any trip that we take.  I bought a good pair of shoes before I came and those I am also glad I brought with me.

What do you wish you would of left home?
- I would of left one of my sweaters home and a skirt home.  The reasoning is because we were told that we would have rain and snow a lot here.  When it is been super nice and sunny. 

Do you have any travel tips to pass on?
- Whenever you are planning a trip on your own go to Student Agency and check on their prices first.  Normally they are going to be your cheapest and easiest option.  Remember to always screen shot your confirmation number or code.  you don't always have wifi everywhere, so you cant check your email like you would in the states.

What places do you advise future students to see and why?
- Go to La Spezia in Italy!!!  It was the perfect place to go and lay on the beach all day long.  you can also take a tram or bus to one of the Cinque Terre villages for a day.  The people were nice and the food was amazing.  I am going to Budapest and Barcelona in the next week, but I heard that Budapest is a must do as well. 

Social Life

How did you meet students from your host country?
- I met a lot of students from the Czech by attending one of their group fun meetings.  A group of us Americans went and drank wine with them and learned more about their culture and what the cool things to do around Europe that aren't touristy.

How did you like to spend your free time and why?
- I spent a lot of my free time hanging out with the friends I have made here.  We normally go out to a bar, coffee house, or stay in and chill.

What opportunities for social, recreational, and cultural events that the host university or program offered did you like the best and why?
-  The university put on a sports day for all of the students.  We could attend any class we wanted to for free.  My friend Julie and I went to a class called dance yoga and had a blast! I recommend everyone who comes to the Czech to see what they have to offer for sports day next year.

What piece of advice would you give to future students regarding their non-academic life while overseas?
- Don't be afraid to go on a random tram and see where it goes.  Enjoy every second over here and do things that you want to do.  You don't always have to stick side by side with the people in your group.  Go out and meet people from other countries and do stuff with them.

School Work

How did your academic experience at Palacky differ from your US experiences concerning...

Relations with professors/classroom instruction?
- The classes are all different.  We had a different professor for a lot of lectures.  So it is not like the school we are used to in the states.  Although, it was still really good classes and were at great times. 

Grading?
- Same as UNK, nothing different.

Study Habits?
- Studying wasn't bad at all.  Just have to do the work they say and you will be fine!

Money & Communications

How much money in US currency would you recommend students to have at their disposal for their whole time overseas?
- I brought over around $4,000 and that is the perfect amount.  you still have to budget, but you can still have a good time.

How much money did you have in foreign currency when you left for the program and was it enough?
- I brought over about $250 dollars in korun over.  I liked it because I didn't have to go to an ATM or a currency exchange place immediately.  I was able to enjoy my time before freaking out if I had enough money on me.

How and where did you access your money?
- I always checked my account through wellsfargo and just used an ATM around Olomouc to pull out cash.  I always pulled out the max I could pull, since I was getting a $5.00 ATM fee.

How much money did you spend on books, school supplies, food, entertainment, local transportation, travel, toiletries, airfare, laundry?
- I spent majority of my money on all of these items, but for school supplies I recommend bringing over a couple of notebooks and pens.  They are expensive here, for the quality they are.

-Food: I cannot tell you specifically how much I have spent on food, but cheap meals are available around Olomouc.  When I would shop at Globus I would spend about $20 a week maybe every week and a half.

-Laundry: I did my laundry at a Laundromat across the street from our dorms.  The guys name is George and he is so nice!  To wash your clothes it cost $5.00 and to dry them it costs $2.50.  This includes laundry detergent and free wifi, which is huge.  I brought a clothes line with me so I could hang dry the stuff I didn't want to be put in the dryer.

-Everything else:  I went to places like EuroRail for trains.  AirBnb, HostelWorld, and Booking.com for places to stay.  Momondo and TripAdvisor for flights.  Use Student Agency if you can!

How did you communicate with the US?
- I kept the phone I have (iPhone) and turned off all my data.  I text people through imessage. Call people through FaceTime Audio.  And Face to Face through FaceTime.  You need wifi to access all of these things, but we have all survived just fine without a phone plan.  I know one person bought a sim card for their phone, but I have been perfectly fine with the wifi.

Tips
- 1: bring an umbrella
  2: waterproof everything you bring
  3: you can buy shampoo and stuff here so don't worry about packing it.
  4: download ConnectifyMe on your computer to turn it into a hot spot.  (It doesn't work on Macs though!)
  5: buy a Europe converter power strip.  We use the one I brought for all of our stuff.
  6: carry a map on you at all times.  CityMaps2Go works on your phone without wifi.

Top Stuff To Do
1: Go to Café St. Angelo, they give you the most coffee for your money and they are super nice.  I go almost every single day. (:
2: gyrodikos delivers for free to your dorm.  It is like Jimmy Johns, but I feel like it might be better.
3: When in Venice, Italy go to Alfredos!  The best to go pasta I have ever had.  Also ride a Gondola, you have to.
4: In Krakow, Poland eat at Momos they are a vegan place, but a group of us went multiple times.
5: Attend the Erasmus parties, they are a blast.
6: Drink at Black Stuff.  They have my favorite beer "Leffe" and amazing wine
7: Go to a Vinoteka.  They are everywhere.  you can try whatever wine you want that they have on tap and when you find one that you like they fill up a one or two liter bottle up with it for you.  When you drink it then you bring the bottle back and you get a discount.  I got 2 liters of wine for $4.00 and it was super good.
8: Enjoy every moment possible.  Make memories for yourself.  Make mistakes and take chances.  Live it Up.

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Like I said before.  I will blog again no worries!  I will keep you posted up till the day I land.  For now I need some shut eye for I have a Czech Language final tomorrow and I leave for Budapest! Night!

A heartbreaking memory one could never forget.

As I said in my last blog, this post is going to be super depressing as we visited Terezin and Poland this past week and a half.  We took a four hour bus ride to Terezin not knowing what to expect.  We have learned a lot about Terezin in our time being abroad.  Terezin used to be a ghetto for the Jews and then later on turned into a concentration camp/ghetto.  This concentration camp did not only hold Jewish inmates, but also important political figures.  The camp was were majority of the propaganda videos were filmed, to make it seems as if the Jews were living in a great environment.  They also used the camp for when the Red Cross would come in and give the approval that everything looked fine and healthy. 

 This is one of the rooms that the Nazi officials built just for the Red Cross to see.  The room was a fully functioning barber shop.  The Jews were never allowed inside of it though.  Once the Red Cross came in, took a look around, and left, the Nazi officials locked this room up so nobody would ever actually use it.  Now I could tell you many stories about what happened in Terezin, but one has just stuck out to me.  Three men actually escaped Terezin successfully.  These men were smart and jumped into the canal while it was raining, therefor the rain would cover up their tracks.  The Nazi officials went to go look for them, but they were never found.  For all anybody knows they could still be living.  Aside from these three lucky men who made it out from Terezin a couple of others did not have as much luck.  Three other men tried to escape at night.  One was caught and shot while climbing over a wall. Another was caught running outside of the wall, brought back in, and was asked to choose a random soul to be shot with them.  Even though the other person did not do anything wrong.  The last was pulled back inside as well.  The Nazi official told the entire cell to stone him till he was dead and if they did not do what he said then they would be shot.  I understand this all is pretty sickening, but this was nothing compared to Auschwitz.

 On a happier note a couple of days later we took a day trip to the home of where the Duke once lived.  We had to wear these weird slippers over our shoes so we could preserve the floors... I had this theory that they just wanted us to wear them so we could polish the floors for them and they didn't have to do it. (:  Anywho,  after the home we made our way down to the winery.  This winery is the second largest winery in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic.  We were able to see where the wine is made and were able to do some wine tasting of what they had to offer.  The walls were absolutely disgusting.. They had mold growing all over them, but this was a good thing for those that worked in the winery because mold meant the proper amount of moisture and the proper temp. to store the wine.  My favorite wine that we tried was a Sauvignon Blanc. 

A couple of days later we took of for our trip to Poland.  This trip was a five hours bus ride, so we got plenty of sleep in for the day.  Our first stop was to an iron industrial distribution center.

This is called the elephant.  The elephant is a dust collector to put into easy terms.  It basically makes sure that the iron is clean. 

This is the inside of a furnace that was once used to heat the iron.  No worries! The furnace is non functioning and is only used for tours now.  After the industrial distribution tour we set off for a salt mine.  Poland is known for three things Vodka, Pirogues, and Salt.  I was able to take a tour of the inside of a Salt mine that used to be fully functional.  The floors were salt, the ceiling was salt, the statues were salt as well!  I only have one picture because we weren't allowed to take any.

 

Julie and I captured our moment of licking the actual walls.  Sure was salty and was something we needed to cross off our bucket list.  The next day we went to a castle.  The castle wasn't as cool as I thought it was going to be.  It honestly just looks like all of the other ones we have seen so far.  The only part that was different was that we saw a dragon dungeon.  A place that they believed a dragon once lived. 

On our last day in Poland we went to the Schindler's factory.  Schindler was this amazing man who took in thousands of Jews to work for him.  If you don't know the story I will give you some detail.  Mr. Schindler is a part of the Nazi Party and figures that we can start his own business in enamel wear for very cheap because he can hire the Jews and not pay them in money.  He would pay these employees in items for them to trade or eat or keep for themselves.  as he starts to build his business ad as he realizes what is going on he starts to hire more Jews to try and protect them.  He built the Jews their own barracks and order the guards to never step foot into it.  He then started to build weapons for the Nazi army, but purposely made them inactive.  This way the guns wouldn't shoot when they wanted them to kill a Jew.  I watched a small film in his factory when we visited and the Jews said that this was like a haven compared to what others were living in. 

This museum was one of the best put together museums that I have ever been into.  Mr. Schindler was a great man and I recommend visiting his factory if you ever have the chance too.  Later that day we made our way to Auschwitz.  Please bare with me as this is one of the most heartbreaking places I have ever been to.  Auschwitz had 3 main camps.  The torture center, killing center, and industrial center with 45 other satellite camps around.  We visited Auschwitz one and Auschwitz two Birkenau.  when we first walked through the gates Arbeit Macht Frei my heart sunk.  This means work makes free. 

Our first stop was in one of the barracks to see some of the left over items that they have found after the war.  they had rooms filled of shoes, little kid shoes, glasses, pots, brushes, and the one that got me the most was hair.  I wish I could show you a picture, but out of respect nobody took a photo of the hair.  I still remember seeing one little girls braid in the mass amounts and all I could think to myself is why...  Around the corner we saw what they used a lot of people's hair for.  they used the hair to make rugs and blankets out of.  Just thinking about this makes me sick.

We then made our way to the torture poles and execution wall.  The Jews would get undressed have their hands tied behind them and then hung them by their wrists till their arms were dislocated.  Now if you don't know already those that were handicapped were inable to work and were the first one killed.. These people that they tortured were now labeled as handicapped and were sent to the execution wall or gas chamber.  The execution wall was where a Jew stood up staring at the wall and was shot with one bullet in the back of the head.  The wall is now a memorial for all of those who died there.

Our next stop was to the place where Rudolf Hoss was hung.  He tried to flee after the war, but was caught and hung right next to the gas chambers where he killed millions of Jews. 

This is the inside of the gas chamber.  I couldn't spend much time inside because I just felt sick to my stomach about what went on inside.  In these gas chambers they would pour a chemical called Zyclon B from the top of the chamber to the inside.  The chemical caused the respiratory system to shut down and suffocate them.  One can equals 700 Jews.  now after you see the pictures you can see many cans that are empty.. 700 Jews per one can, I still cant get over it.

We then moved on to the killing factory in Birkenau and it wasn't what I thought it was going to look like.  Majority of the camp is non existent because the Nazi officials didn't have an escape plan when the war ended.  They tried to blow up the gas chambers and barracks to get rid of the evidence, but instead it just made a mess.  The hardest part was seeing the railroad tracks coming into the camp and to see the actual cart of where they were stuffed in.  All in All Auschwitz is something that I believe everyone should go to witness, but it is one place that I will never visit again.  It is hard for me to think that these tour guides work where main people were killed and tortured and that somebody has to come in and mow the lawn where main Jews died.  I just pray that something like this will never happen again and I hope that those who where killed here are now in peace.

Now I could say much more, but I feel like my post is already super depressing.  Be on the look out for my final for the blog.  It will be me answering main questions like what was my favorite things and what I wish I would have done differently.  No worries though it wont be my last one.  I still have many other adventures to come and tell you about!                  

 

Spring Break!

And part two begins...  As I left off on my last blog post I was leaving for the train to get to Rome, Italy.  We (Taylor, Jenna, Sarah, and I) had this huge fear of missing our train because who knew that Italy likes to hold "strikes" at the train station for fun until 9:00 at night sometimes!  Well thankfully this strike really ended at 9:00 when our train left at 9:15.  We got into the train and started to get super excited for everything that Rome had to offer us.  Now I might get a little negative in the next couple or so lines about the beginning of our adventure, but I will also explain the positives later on as well.  So please don't think that my trip was awful because it was not at all.  Okay back to the train ride.  We had a connecting train in Verona and we had our eyes peeled for the sign so we knew to get off.  Well, we got off on the wrong spot...oopsies! We were still in Verona just at the wrong station.  We did some quick problem solving and got a cab to quickly get us to the correct train station so we could actually get to Rome.  It was sad that we had to pay more for a little mistake, but I am happy that we are all safe.  Now this train was a night train so we had to sleep as much as we could because we were getting into Rome at 6 am.  Without being said we got maybe 2 hours of sleep and realized that nothing opens in Rome until about 8 am.  We thankfully found a McDonalds, got a coffee and muffin, and went to find the famous Trevi fountain.  We sure did find it!  Although, the fountain was off... yes off, they were cleaning out everyone's coins and we weren't allowed to even get remotely close to try and secretly throw in our coin for our wish.  No worries we went back the next day to find it actually on and running.  Not many people get to say they have seen the fountain on and off in the same visit so I felt pretty lucky. 

I also got to go inside of the Coliseum.  This is 1: something I have always wanted to do and 2: something you have to do if you are in Rome.  Taylor and I waited in line for over a hour just to get inside, but it was very worth it.  It was cool to see were they held all the battles and to see all the history right in front of my eyes. 

I was also lucky to see the Roman Forum, Santa Maria Maggiore, Piazza Della Repubblica, Imperial Forum, and the Pantheon.  The Pantheon was actually pretty cool because this is where Raphael, one of the famous renaissance artists is buried.  After seeing all that we did, we were pretty tired and thought it was a good time to find our hostel.  Sadly enough it took us a solid 3.5 hours to find where our hostel was...  With the 2 hours of sleep, light breakfast, electronics dying, no English, and just being lost.  You could probably just envision the frustration and just about breaking point for a lot of us.  After wiping away the tears we freshened up and went to find food.  thank goodness we went into a little mom and pop shop and they gave us one of the best meals for an amazing price that I have had in awhile.  We got a great nights sleep and set out for the rest of our adventure.  ****Side Note!: After this day I can honestly say I grew more than I have in my whole trip combined.  I know that after that day I can do just about anything.  Just know that nothing can be that bad.  A solution is always out there no matter how long it takes for you to figure it out.****

We found our way back to the city square in about 15 minutes and set off for the Vatican City.  We went inside the St. Peter's Basilica one of the biggest churches in the world.  On our way out it started to rain and then hail.  This resulted in us finding the closest place for shelter and that just happened to be GELATO!  We waited out the storm, left Rome, and moved on to our next city of La Spezia, Italy.

When we saw the coast line on our train on our way to La Spezia our hearts filled with joy knowing that we would be sitting on a beach in less than 12 hours.  Our hotel in La Spezia was hands down about American as you can get in Italy.  They had a continental breakfast, clean shower, nice bed, and the nicest employees that we have been around.  The hotel was called Hotel Ghironi if anyone is interested!  Now I know that not a lot of people know of La Spezia.  People just instantly think of Cinque Terre, but if you are wanting nice sandy beaches then this is the place to go! Needless to say we enjoyed all day by being beach bums and just taking things as they came to us.  This relaxation is just what we needed after the crazy tourism in Rome.

On our next day we went to the well known place of Cinque Terre, Italy.  This place consist of five small villages that have a trail connecting one another for you to hike on.  Our plan went like this: we bought a ticket to ride the ferry to the second to last town and we were going to hike our way back.  Instead we got to the villages parked ourselves and enjoyed more of the sun till we realized it was abut time to go home.  So unfortunately we didn't get out there and hike, but I bet it sure did look beautiful for those that actually went.  this was our last night for beach bumming relaxation because on the next day we took off for Pisa, Italy.

Going to Pisa, Italy was nice because we got to see the famous leaning tower of Pisa.  Other than that the city doesn't really have much to offer.  We got a free dinner in our hostel and called the night an early one so we could be to the airport in plenty of time to make it back to Prague, Czech Republic. 

Our flight went as smooth as I could of imagined it to be.  We were home safely in the Czech Republic.  With this being about the fourth time of us being in Prague we seemed to actually understand where everything was.  Instead of being too touristy we found a nice beer garden and chilled for the rest of the day.  On Easter Sunday we took off to finally go back home to Olomouc, Czech Republic.  It was nice to unpack and be settled in again.  This is the finale to our spring break adventure.  We were away from our dorm room for a total of 2 weeks, visiting a total of 7 cities, having a blast, and making memories that will last forever.  Be ready for some pretty depressing blog posts coming soon... we visit Auschwitz on Monday next week, but before that we have our American Party! Time to rep our Red, White, and Blue pride of the good ole USA!!!

Ciao!

 

 

Talk About Chills...

Woo! These past two weeks have flown by in the blink of an eye.  With the long amount of time it has been you have to brace yourself and bare with me as I try to catch you up on as much as possible. And yes that means a lot of pictures as well!

When I first thought of going to Austria I was thrilled! All I could think of is singing in the hills just like they did in the movie the Sound of Music.  When we arrived I was very confused by the fact that we were in the city rather than the country side.  I should have known better, I was just jumping to conclusion.  It is like when I say I am from Nebraska and people only think of cows, corn, and outhouses.  I took the country side look out from my head and followed the group into the City Square.  The plan was originally to take a tour outside, but it started to rain and hail.  We took off on run to find some shelter and changed our plans in a jiffy! Instead we went into the Hasburg’s family heirlooms museum.  The Hasburg family line still exist to this day, although they are not allowed in Austria unless they take an oath in agreement that they will never claim as royalty and will not step up to the thrown if ever needed again.

keys to the city

 

We moved on from the museum to an amazing Catholic Cathedral.  In this cathedral I instantly felt happy.  I mean I am a happy person most of the time, just you know that feeling that you get when you just feel safe and happy?  That is the feeling I got when I walked in. I felt like I needed to go to some candles and just pray.  While I had my friend take my picture I noticed this elderly lady standing next to me and her husband right across taking a picture of her as well.  This couple looked so familiar, I just didn’t think anything of it at the time.  Later that night in our hostel I went flipping through some paperwork that thankfully my grandma printed out about our family history and saw my great grandma and grandpa’s name being in Vienna, Austria as one of their favorite places.  Having chills that I already did I talked to my mom and she sent me a picture of them immediately.  Sure enough this couple looks just like them.  Now my great grandma and grandpa died when I was younger so I don’t remember much of them then, but seeing them that day made me feel the safest I have ever felt during my trip here to Europe.

Chills

The next day we split up into groups and went to the museum of our choice.  I decided to go to the natural science museum.  The natural science museum gained my interest because a female clay figurine that I have learned about in college was there.  She is the sign of fertility and people used these all the time as almost a good luck.  She was a lot smaller than what I expected her to be, but it was still amazing to see her in person.   The other part of the museum that I didn’t put in to play was the 15 rooms filled with taxidermy animals.  For those that know me I am a vegetarian and it was honestly hard for me to see all of these animals dead.  I just hope that all of the animals were sick or already dying and they put them out of their misery. After the long emotional trip in the museum we grabbed some lunch, hit some more museums and set off for Venice. 

 Our bus ride to Venice was about an 8 hour long bus ride. Lets just say I got a lot of sleeping in.  As we entered into Venice my heart filled with joy to see all of the canals and gondolas.  We made our way through the town and made our first stop to the Jewish Quarter.  This Jewish quarter still had those that survived from the Auschwitz living there.  Jan told us it is very odd to have the survivors come back to their original home because they wanted to get rid of all the bad memories.  Although, these people wanted to form a community again.

Jan our leader for the trip

 

After visiting the Jewish Quarter we made our way over to the bridge of sighs.  This bridge was the place where the prisoners would get to see their last glimpse of life before being executed.  Legend has it that Casanova was the only one to escape within a month of staying in prison.  Soon after the bridge we broke off for some lunch and was lunch not one of the best parts of my day!  A group of us stopped at a place called Alfredo’s and had some of the best pasta that I have ever consumed.   This pasta was so good that we decided to have more the next day. 

Mr.Alfredo his self!

 

On our last day in Venice a group of us decided to check something off of everyone’s bucket list and take a ride in a gondola.  The ride was super fun and relaxing all at the same time and I recommend for anyone who has the chance to, to go on a gondola.  After the joyous ride we started to head back to our hostel to pack up and get ready for our spring break adventures.

 

Be ready for Part two because we haven’t even started spring break yet! Ciao!

Long time no chat!

So a lot has happened in the past week and I haven't had time to actually sit down and type it all out.  Please bare with me if I start to ramble I just have so much to say!!!

On Thursday of last week we packed up all of our essentials into our backpacks and took off for a journey in Prague once again.  The train ride from Olomouc to Prague is about 2 hours, so it was the perfect amount of time to take a little snoozy and be refreshed for the day.  When we arrived to Prague we checked into our hostel, dropped our stuff off, and set off for the day.  Jan [Yawn] and Martin our fearless, genius, and organized leaders took us to the famous John Lenin wall.  The wall started to be painted on during the Cold War .  People would voice their opinions using their artistic ability in graffiti.  The Soviet Union painted a solid color over it every night and eventually it got to be too much to paint over the graffiti every night.  John Lenin is a huge part of this wall because he was a big icon at the time for peace and love.  As time went by and the communist regime ended the wall is now a place to mark your spot and say you were there.  When we were at the wall you could still feel all of the peace and love from people singing and expressing their feelings to one another.

As our tour came to an end a group of us went to seek out some grub.  We found a bagel shop and decided to take a peek.  I ordered bagel French toast and it was probably the best French toast I have ever had, I am going to have to try and remake it once I get back home.  That night we did absolutely nothing, but relaxed.  It was a nice to just chill, drink, and get to know more of my peers that are on this excursion with me. 

On Friday we took off on a hike to the Prague Castle.  We were able to go inside and see the multiple styles of architecture.  The Cathedral inside of the castle is breath taking.  The stained glass is so fine in detail for the specific people buried in that section.  The old kings and the saints are buried in the center of the church and it is a definitely a sight to see!

A group of us decided that once our tour was over we would go and experience the night life in the square.  Night life is different because the whole square is lit up and live music comes out.  We decided to get a delicious treat from a food vendor ( I got a honey coconut crepe, yummm!) and grab a beer to sit and relax and enjoy everything going on around us.  For those that plan on studying abroad or plan on traveling  to a foreign area for a long amount of time.  Remember to enjoy the little things and enjoy the life that is going on around you. 

We rested our eyes and prepared ourselves for Germany in the A.M. Once we awoke for the day, we took a two hour train ride to Dresden, Germany.  Sadly nobody stamped our passport to prove that we were in Germany, but I have all of the cool memories to share (:  We went to the castle museum and saw all of the armory and art work.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but I swiped one to be able to show you the amazing art. 

This is the coffin that they built for the dead.  The coffin was made of marble and shows some of the finest detail I have ever seen.  The armor that we saw was amazing as well.  I saw the different swords used for battle and ceremonial.  The blacksmith signed every sword he made and then put the name of who it was for on the sword as well.  I couldn't swipe any pictures of those, but I recommend for you to go if you ever have the chance!  Once we had seen everything in the castle museum we set off to find some lunch.  I was super excited because the place we found served vegetarian burgers! Not just a tofu burger, but black beans, corn, and other yummy ingredients.  Besides the yummy food in Germany the views from up high are amazing!  we climbed to the very top of the church and basically saw all of Dresden. 

We enjoyed our time in Germany, but it was time to go back to Prague.  On our way out we realized that we had five minutes to catch our train!  A memory that I will never forget is running through the square in Germany, pushing people out of the way to try and make it on time.  A group of five of us actually made it up to the train to watch it leave.  We sadly walked backed and had a two hour wait until the next train coming through to Prague came along.  So we enjoyed our time outside and enjoyed a beer while we waited.

On our last day in Prague we visited the Jewish Quarter.  Hitler kept this Jewish Quarter standing because he wanted this place to be known for the extinct race.  As I walked in tears immediately were brought to my eyes.  Thousands of people's names were painted on the walls of those who died, their first and last name, date of birth, and date of death.  Some of these names of the people I saw were only one year old... It really hit because this wasn't that long ago that all of this terribleness happened. 

 

 

Another room had art work from the children who died in the concentration camps.  A lady knew that the only way these children could cope with what was going on was to paint, draw, and piece together art work.  She stuffed thousands of these pieces into two suitcases and put them behind a wall so they would never be damaged.  As years went by and after the war was done people went back and found these pieces of art work.  The art shows everything from living situations to seeing people being shot and hung.  The most moving part of the whole quarter was the cemetery.  This cemetery is about 11 ft. deep and who knows how wide.  Try to imagine a hole being dug and bodies just being thrown in and piled on top of one another..  This is what it was.  They didn't care about placement or anything.  They just needed a place to put them.  Later on tombstones were placed everywhere they could possibly place them.  A lot of these tomb stones show the date of death, but not the date of birth.  The reason behind this is that some of these people said they were never born.  If they were to die for no good reason and nobody would remember them because they did nothing to be remembered for than they never lived in the first place. 

After wiping away the tears and packing up our stuff we headed back home to Olomouc.  Not a whole ton has happened in Olomouc.  I have learned the days of the week in Czech and got an A on the first quiz we have taken here.  The weather went from being super nice back to the rainy/gloomy clouds.  Which is fine because it was time for a relaxing day to get chores done and shop for some food to survive until this Thursday.  On the agenda is to leave for Vienna on Thursday go to Venice afterward and then head to Rome for spring break!  So be ready for some posts on that!


Random Thoughts Time!!!
1.  The elderly ladies have the style of dyeing their hair weird colors, like pink and purple.
2.  All of the dogs around here are never on leashes, but are all wearing muzzles.
3.  These dogs are allowed everywhere, including into restaurants.
4.  The driving in this country is worse than the city... If the car fits then it can drive there.
5.  Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, not dinner.  so if you ever travel here be prepared for everywhere to close super early and to just have beer for dinner.
6.  By the time we leave to come back home to Nebraska is when I will actually figure out the entire tram system. heehee!

Until next time! and remember to enjoy everything around you and to not take things for granted.  Enjoy it while you can.