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
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