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.