1 week in Eastern Europe is quite an experience. Before I get started I must note that the trains are less efficient there. I will get into some details as I go along. We started off as a class and went to Prague. Of course we had to take the cheap way there so we spent the night in Milan on Friday, but it was well worth it for the dinner that we received. Quite possible the best meal yet because the waiter simply kept bringing me more and more food.
The next morning we got up for our plane which left around 7 A.M. Of course we had to get there two hours early. Then Prague consisted of a walking tour. It was a poor decision because the tour lasted about 6 hours and we were all exhausted from the little amount of sleep we had received the night before. The guide was to quiet because the microphone was not close enough to his face. Not to mention this lasted 6 HOURS. I must say I think I saw the entire city of Prague. That night I was a little American and I went with some friends to TGIF with some ice cream that night.
Sunday we had a bus ride to Auschwitz where we watched Schindler’s list. It was a good introduction to what we were about to see. (We also had to read the book called Auschwitz for a little background) Then after arriving to the hotel we went to dinner and called it a night.
The next morning we went to Auschwitz concentration camp and that was very depressing. We have talked about Hitler and World War 2 the entire semester but it is another thing when you are actually there. To see the actual place where over a million people died is quite upsetting. There are two parts of Auschwitz and we went to both of them. It was a little cold at these places since it is in Eastern Europe and I think that it was good because it made us all a little more uncomfortable. We had a tour guide who walked with us through the camp and described the area around us as well as things that went on.
We ate dinner at a Jewish style restaurant in Krakow where there was music and plenty of food. If Auschwitz wasn’t depressing enough we also walked around the Ghetto and saw the size and place of everything. It was quite surprising just how small the Ghetto was. We toured Schindler’s factory which was a mix between a World War 2 museum and his factory. We also went to a Jewish church which was quite small.
I left some things out about our trip but I don’t want this to be too upsetting. After our study tour was over Aunna, Tiffany, Jimmy and I went to breclav. If you are wondering where this is, you are in good company. We were trying to go to Budapest and our train was 40 minutes late so we missed our connection. Sure enough we ended up at a random place in the Czech Republic. It was about 8 P.M. and when we got there the train conductor said he would show us a place to stay. We met these two people that were traveling around Europe from Canada and they were fun but I learned later not to trust them with train stops. When we all saw where we were going to stay we decided that it looked like a crack house. It ended up that the place was not open anyways. I followed the conductor into another building as he was going to get us directions to another place. Sure enough nobody was thinking because I was the only one that went in with him (the one who does none of the planning and never worries about anything). We got directions and noticed that nobody was around at 8 P.M. We ended up staying in a hockey(ish) stadium. It was a little hard to get a room because the man didn’t speak any English, only Czech and German. We spoke broken German to get a room.
Thursday morning was thanksgiving and we woke up and left Breclav at 4 A.M. We arrived in Budapest around nine and we ended up not having to pay for the previous night. When we were trying to find our hostel I was standing by Canada and he told me to get off at the wrong stop. I was separated from the group but we quickly found our way. For my thanksgiving meal I ate goulash for lunch and a hamburger for dinner. We also went to an Opera that night but left at intermission. I was happy I went.
The next day we continued to explore Budapest and went to a Christmas market. It was quite fun and they had some good snack foods. It smelt like Christmas and it was allowed because thanksgiving was over.
Saturday morning we went to Austria again early in the morning. We all had a good time there and stayed in a bed and breakfast. We nearly missed our tour but a van picked us up so that we could still go. We went to many places around Austria and even a Christmas market there. That was about all that I did in one week. Obviously some things are missing but I figured I can tell you mom and Brennan. Thanks for caring
-Brad
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Italy
I had a great week this past week. Italy was a wonderful place to have a week off of school. Really most places are good places to spend when you don’t have to go to school, but Italy has so much history and many places to see.
I went with 8 other people and we took the train. We left Saturday morning and there were strikes going on in France so we had to take a different route. The plan was to get into Cinque Terre at about 7 P.M. on Saturday night. Due to the change of plans we were unable to make it there and we had to stop in La Spezia late that night. This was a small problem because we didn’t have a place to spend the night. We got off the train and decided to look for anything cheap near the train station. Some of us were joking saying that we could stay in the train station, but we decided that this would not be our best option. We ended up walking around and found one hotel that only had one room but we would not all fit and it was way out of our price range. We continued and we noticed a place that looked like a hotel because there were many keys hanging on the wall but it was not well marked. There were two older people at the desk and we stepped in and asked if they had any open rooms. I think it was a married couple as they had a picture of the two of them on the front desk. The man took charge and he spoke decent English. We explained our situation and he said that he could give us 4 rooms at 20 Euros per person. We thought about trying to negotiate but this was clearly our best option so we agreed. The rooms were nothing special but great for college students.
The next day we continued to Cinque Terre which is a small town on the coast in Italy. It is called Cinque Terre because it is 5 different towns all close together. We were all excited to be in Italy and stop traveling for the day. We found our hostel after a long walk and a bus ride. We had to take some crazy roads to get to the hostel and there was a mini bus that we took for a small fee.
Once we dropped our bags off, we could go exploring. It was raining but we all thought it would let up. Sure enough it ended up raining the entire time in Cinque Terre. We went to all of the towns and there was some beautiful scenery
On Monday we headed off to Florence but half way we stopped in Pisa to take a few quick pictures. We all had turns holding up the leaning tower and it was fun to see. We ended up going there without spending any money. We arrived in Florence and it was still raining. Lindsay and Tony know a friend at Miami who is studying in Florence so I was able to stay in his apartment free of charge.
I loved Florence and it has so much history. There were many things that I recognized from my art class that I took last year. I don’t want to admit it but I am happy that I had a little background knowledge about some of the artwork. It was fun to see huge churches and so many sculptures. I went to see Michelangelo’s David and it was truly amazing. It was so big and for someone who normally doesn’t like art, I feel like it says something that I was so impressed by the sculpture. I was amazed by the size and could not believe that it used to be a large chunk of marble.
We went into so many churches went shopping at a market. I thought it would be a lot like China because you could negotiate prices. I was disappointed when they didn’t come down to much in price but was still excited to negotiate. All three of us had been to China before and we thought we would have been more successful in lowering the price; nonetheless we still had a great time.
On Wednesday we went to Rome where we rented an apartment. It was a great place for the price, the only down side was the fact that it was a little far but by public transportation it was not too bad. We went all over Rome and visited the Vatican. The Vatican was amazing because it had so many places that were simply covered in artwork. It would take so long to paint so many walls and ceilings. We went to the Basilica in the Vatican and were lucky enough to see the Pope. It wasn’t very close but it was still neat to see him. We also explored the Coliseum and it was the only place we paid a little extra for a tour guide. It was fun and it made me want to watch Gladiator again.
Saturday we decided that we had seen a lot of Rome so we would go to Pompeii. After a series of events it was clear that we were going to be unable to make it there. We ended up spending the day in Naples and it was disgusting. There was lots of trash on the street and I can say that the only good thing that happened there was the pizza that we ate.
We were lucky to return to Rome that night and we went to a few places at night. Now for those of you that made it this far I have to say congrats…….I left lots out simply because I am so tired of typing and I can’t imagine how boring this must be to read……if you want to know more just ask.
I went with 8 other people and we took the train. We left Saturday morning and there were strikes going on in France so we had to take a different route. The plan was to get into Cinque Terre at about 7 P.M. on Saturday night. Due to the change of plans we were unable to make it there and we had to stop in La Spezia late that night. This was a small problem because we didn’t have a place to spend the night. We got off the train and decided to look for anything cheap near the train station. Some of us were joking saying that we could stay in the train station, but we decided that this would not be our best option. We ended up walking around and found one hotel that only had one room but we would not all fit and it was way out of our price range. We continued and we noticed a place that looked like a hotel because there were many keys hanging on the wall but it was not well marked. There were two older people at the desk and we stepped in and asked if they had any open rooms. I think it was a married couple as they had a picture of the two of them on the front desk. The man took charge and he spoke decent English. We explained our situation and he said that he could give us 4 rooms at 20 Euros per person. We thought about trying to negotiate but this was clearly our best option so we agreed. The rooms were nothing special but great for college students.
The next day we continued to Cinque Terre which is a small town on the coast in Italy. It is called Cinque Terre because it is 5 different towns all close together. We were all excited to be in Italy and stop traveling for the day. We found our hostel after a long walk and a bus ride. We had to take some crazy roads to get to the hostel and there was a mini bus that we took for a small fee.
Once we dropped our bags off, we could go exploring. It was raining but we all thought it would let up. Sure enough it ended up raining the entire time in Cinque Terre. We went to all of the towns and there was some beautiful scenery
On Monday we headed off to Florence but half way we stopped in Pisa to take a few quick pictures. We all had turns holding up the leaning tower and it was fun to see. We ended up going there without spending any money. We arrived in Florence and it was still raining. Lindsay and Tony know a friend at Miami who is studying in Florence so I was able to stay in his apartment free of charge.
I loved Florence and it has so much history. There were many things that I recognized from my art class that I took last year. I don’t want to admit it but I am happy that I had a little background knowledge about some of the artwork. It was fun to see huge churches and so many sculptures. I went to see Michelangelo’s David and it was truly amazing. It was so big and for someone who normally doesn’t like art, I feel like it says something that I was so impressed by the sculpture. I was amazed by the size and could not believe that it used to be a large chunk of marble.
We went into so many churches went shopping at a market. I thought it would be a lot like China because you could negotiate prices. I was disappointed when they didn’t come down to much in price but was still excited to negotiate. All three of us had been to China before and we thought we would have been more successful in lowering the price; nonetheless we still had a great time.
On Wednesday we went to Rome where we rented an apartment. It was a great place for the price, the only down side was the fact that it was a little far but by public transportation it was not too bad. We went all over Rome and visited the Vatican. The Vatican was amazing because it had so many places that were simply covered in artwork. It would take so long to paint so many walls and ceilings. We went to the Basilica in the Vatican and were lucky enough to see the Pope. It wasn’t very close but it was still neat to see him. We also explored the Coliseum and it was the only place we paid a little extra for a tour guide. It was fun and it made me want to watch Gladiator again.
Saturday we decided that we had seen a lot of Rome so we would go to Pompeii. After a series of events it was clear that we were going to be unable to make it there. We ended up spending the day in Naples and it was disgusting. There was lots of trash on the street and I can say that the only good thing that happened there was the pizza that we ate.
We were lucky to return to Rome that night and we went to a few places at night. Now for those of you that made it this far I have to say congrats…….I left lots out simply because I am so tired of typing and I can’t imagine how boring this must be to read……if you want to know more just ask.
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