A Final Farewell

In three days time, I will no longer be living out of a suitcase, parading around Europe like I own the entire continent. I will no longer be able to enjoy the sweet sound of another language coming out of my waiter's mouth, nor the puzzled looks said waiter gives me when I order in English. I will no longer be able to fly to three different countries for less than a train ticket, nor heave a heavy suitcase on my shoulder in order to sprint to the bus that I am already 15 minutes late to. I will be at home, back in Nebraska, with only my souvenirs, my pictures, and my memories to remind me of the last three months. It is a bittersweet feeling. On the one hand, I love traveling around Europe. The amazing history that permeates throughout the streets of every little town and village, the friendly faces of friends and teachers that helped to make our semester abroad a trip to remember, and the wonderful food, oh god the food, will be steeped in my memories for a long time coming. However, on the other hand, it will be good to get back home, to see loved ones and relatives and to finally shave my face (my trimmer broke two months back and I look like a bedraggled homeless man now). I will miss the majestic buildings and beautiful architecture of the cities we've visited. I will miss the small laughs our professors made when we attempted to speak Czech to them. I will miss the long bus rides with friends as we chat and laugh and sleep like a family all our own. This semester has taught me a lot, not only about the Czech Republic and its neighbors, but about myself as well. I came into this experience hoping for a break from the hustle and bustle of life back home, a pause in my newly begun adult life. While this trip did succeed in that aspect, it also taught me that while I may not have everything planned out at this point, there is always time to take a break and enjoy the world for what it is while I still can. To worry about the future is to not live in the present, and the present is what counts because there is no guarantee of tomorrow. As I sit in a Viennese hostel, the lost stop on our three month journey, it is hard not to recall all the great and not so great memories of the last few months. From stepping on to that plane in Scottsbluff amid teary goodbyes from my parents three months ago to me stepping on the plane in Vienna in three days, it feels as if the trip of a lifetime has come around full circle. And yet there is still so much to do. The last few days I have in Europe, I will be exploring the beautiful city of Vienna. Museums, art exhibits, cafes, and of course the hostel to write the 12 pages of homework I put off til the end of the semester (please someone, kill me now). It has been a long time coming, and yet here we are at the end of our journey and it still hasn't sunk in just how close we really are. Three days, that's 72 hours (minus a few) and I will be boarding a plane, headed back for the states and a home that seems so very far away right now. It will be good to see those I love and cherish once more, but still I feel that sinking feeling in my chest that tells me that my heart will again yearn for Europe once I am stateside again. It'll be strange not being able to order beer at dinner, buy plane tickets for nine dollars, or catch a tram to the city center. It will take some adjusting when I return home. Having my own vehicle and being on my own time schedule will be a nice change. However, I already know I will be back to Europe sometime in the future. The continent is far too interesting and filled with history for me not to want to return. And with that, my blogs are complete. No more intricate details about everyday life abroad, no more stories of vomit or random acts of violence. I am homeward bound, but I promise to return one day and finish my tour of the continent that has held my interest for the last six years.

Prague

     Prague, the crowning jewel of the Czech Republic. A bustling city with crowds of visitors and far too many tourists to count. It is a beautiful city full of history. When I heard at the beginning of the semester that our group would be headed to Prague for a class trip, I was ecstatic. I had wanted to visit the city since I learned about it on my last trip to Europe (which unfortunately never visited the city). I was not disappointed. The city was far more beautiful than I could have ever thought, and the architecture was amazing. I know I've said that a lot throughout my blogs, but at one point in my past I wanted to be an architect so please forgive me for geeking out over beautiful buildings.

     At one point, we visited a large church (the name of which escapes me at the moment). From the outside, it didn't look that impressive, especially when compared with other religious monuments like the Vatican. However, looks can be deceiving and inside the church opened up into one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen. I am not the religious type, but let me just say if my church were held here, I'd go every Sunday. Not only were the ceiling beautifully arched and tall as a mountain, there were also some of the most ornate and beautiful mosaic window panes I think I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. They were beautiful, and my only regret is that we went to the church on a partially cloudy day so the full effect of the artists handiwork was not in its full splendor. Even without light streaming in, which would have been amazing, the works still took my breath away, and I think I took a picture of almost every one of the murals. I have been to many art museums while abroad, seen everything from VanGoh to DaVinci , and yet the art that probably impressed me the most was little bits of colored glass pasted together in a beautiful church in the heart of Prague.

     While in Prague, we also visited a centuries old graveyard for Jewish families which doubled as a memorial for those Czech Jews who were taken during the Holocaust, never to return. The memorial was a large building, an old Mosque that had been taken over during the Nazi invasion. the walls of the building were covered in names, the names of those victims of the Holocaust taken from Czech lands. The building, mind you, was not small. It was a multi level affair. And on all of the walls, so thick it looked like paint when viewed from more than a few feet away, were the names of thousands upon thousands of Jewish people, Jewish families, entire Jewish communities, that were wiped out during the Holocaust. Out back was the graveyard, used for centuries before the Holocaust ever took place. The gravestones stood crooked and at awkward angles, giving it the appearance of a typical haunted graveyard you might see in a horror movie. Doug told us that people were buried here one on top of the other, with entire generations of families being buried in the same spot. It was a solemn occasion as we trundled through the looping path of the graveyard, which never seemed to end. It just kept winding behind buildings, revealing more and more graves as we walked. It was eerie, but also incredibly interesting taking a step back into a time before smartphones, before airplanes and cars, sometimes even before electricity.

      Prague's Jewish quarter houses one of the worlds oldest Mosques still in use. It was a tiny, dimly lit building that housed the relics that Jewish people use for worship in a cellar like basement. It was quite cramped, as the entire building wasn't much more than one room with chairs and a podium for the rabbi and those worshiping. It was an interesting place to be, especially knowing that it was still used fairly regularly by those Jewish people living in Prague today. Our final stop was another mosque, this time with a much darker back story. This was one of the few surviving mosques that Hitler left standing in Prague. In a show of triumph over his heinous deeds, Hitler was in favor of turning the Mosque into a museum for the people he wiped off the face of the earth. There were many different artifacts from all over Europe that German soldiers had stolen from Jewish houses and placed in the museum to commemorate the race that would be no more. Thankfully, Hitler did not fully enact his plan, but it still was a solemn place to be, seeing just how truly disgusting the Nazi regime was.
     With all the museums and mosques visited, it was time to wish Prague adieu. It was an interesting trip, to say the least, and one of the last we would take as a class this semester. It marked not only the start of the countdown to the end, but also the last major trip we would take in the Czech. From here, it was only Vienna waiting for us, not counting the impromptu trip to Bratislava the following weekend, but that's a story for a different time.

An unplanned trip to Bratislavaaa!!!

     It was 1 a.m. on Thursday night. I was getting prepared for bed, watching YouTube while I brushed my teeth and contemplating what I would do over the weekend. Although talks of going to Spain or Venice had taken place earlier in the month, weather and high airline costs made us ditch those plans. I figured we'd just stay around Olomouc after those plans fell through. Boy, was I mistaken. As I shut off my overhead light and lay down to sleep, a loud knock came at my dorm door. With a sigh, I got up, turned on the light, and answered the door. Sheyenne was standing there impatiently tapping her foot to the beat of the music playing in her earbuds. "The girls need to talk to you," she said as she walked off to talk to Nick and Kody. "You all leave in a couple hours." Leave? Leave where? Before I could ask her, Sheyenne disappeared into Kody and Nick's room. Begrudgingly, I trudged across the hall and knocked on the other girls' door. Bree answered with an eye-roll and a look that said 'get me out of this room before I kill someone'. As I came around the corner, I saw why. Bailey and Ashley were sitting there gabbing away excitedly about the surprise trip they had booked for us all of four hours before our bus left the station. We were headed for Bratislava at 6 a.m. the next morning. Not at all surprised by the lack of preparation by our group of procrastinators, I wished them all a good night and headed back to my room. After a quick pack, I took a much needed rest for the three hours I had remaining. I was awoken the next morning to a text from Ashley asking where I was. I had overslept my alarm and our bus was leaving in less than 20 minutes. Hurriedly, I changed, grabbed my bag, and hopped on a tram to the bus station. Breathlessly, I met the others just in time in front of our bus and we were away.

     Now, just to clarify for those that don't know, Bratislava is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. They speak a very similar language to Czech with a few minor differences, but their attitudes are completely different. Where Czech people typically keep to themselves and seem rather uptight, Bratislava is a party town. Clubs on every corner, hostels up the wazoo, and bars everywhere. The hostel we ended up staying at was called the Wild Elephant, and it carried this motif of party right along with the rest of the city. It's a tiny little hostel above a Mexican restaurant right off the main square. It's run by other travelers and students to the university. The lobby smelled of weed and the patrons were tatted and pierced, with hair all different shades of the rainbow. It was most definitely a party hostel. Art of (shall we say) interesting taste covered the walls, signed by those who had come before. After paying the down payment, the receptionist took us to our room, which was a large room with 20 bunk beds in it. We would be staying in this room with 20 other people who would come and go at all hours of the night and day, with only one shower to share between us all. Needless to say this was not my type of place, but I think it was a good experience to stay in an actual hostel environment at least once while in Europe. Upstairs was a bar and a room for drinking games or lounging. It was definitely an interesting place. After unpacking our stuff, we went out on the town to get food and look at the Christmas markets that had sprung up in the town center.

     Since we were in Bratislava anyways, we decided to join in the fun and experience the night life the city had to offer that first night. Bad idea on my part but we'll get to that. We joined a pub crawl the hostel was hosting, which started in the upstairs bar. I had a few drinks playing some games, then came the wheel of fortune. This hostel's bar gave away free drinks to anyone who spun a little wheel on the wall. The prizes ranged from free shots to a nude-y run through the hostel, with lots of other similar things thrown in the mix. Bailey spun first and had to kiss someone. A few other people spun and then Bailey talked me and Ashley into spinning, even though we were gonna split whatever we got. As the wheel spun in a blur of color, I prayed to the almighty that I wouldn't have to nude-y run, even if Ashley said she'd do it with me if it came to that. Thankfully, it landed on a free shot, but this is where the real trouble came in. This shot they gave us was a good 70% alcohol and felt like drinking gasoline. It sat in my stomach weird and I immediately felt sick. However, I've never thrown up from drinking before, so I figured another shot of something better would settle my stomach down. Wrong choice. Before the second shot even had a chance to slide down my throat, I puked my guts up on the floor, splashing everyone in the vicinity with vomit (I don't think Bree will ever let me live that one down). Hoping I could make it to the bathroom all of ten feet away, another gag led to me vomiting again on the floor just outside the bathroom, which was lucky because there was a few people waiting in line inside that definitely would have had their night ruined by some random dude puking on them. After making it into the bathroom, I once again ralphed, this time in the sink as someone was using the one stall available. However, after that I felt much better. I cleaned myself up and attempted to unclog the sink, but was told by the management that their night staff would do it. I went down to our room and sat on the bed, feeling kind of shitty. However, Bree, Ashley, and Bailey were still planning on going out and I didn't feel comfortable leaving them on their own as I know how Bailey can get when she drinks. So I told everyone I was done drinking for the night and would go along as a caretaker. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful but fun, as we visited three bars and danced the night away at one of Bratislava's many clubs. Needless to say we didn't do another pub crawl.

     The next morning got off to a slow start, as the hangovers were rough for the girls. However, we ended up meeting up with a free tour of the city which actually turned out to be really interesting. We visited lots of memorials and some of the cities most well known landmarks, like a castle at the top of a hill that offered some great views of the city and yet another Christmas market. We also visited a few churches and the ruins of another castle on a hill outside the city. This was probably one of my favorite stops during the entire weekend. The ruins were super cool and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous, although I may have lost a few fingers to frostbite since it was windy and cold the entire time we were up there. On Monday, we paid our remaining dues and headed back to Olomouc for the last time this semester, as we will be headed for Vienna and the end of our trip on Wednesday this week.

     For being a trip that wasn't planned, I actually had a lot of fun in Bratislava. Despite a few hiccups (no pun intended), the party vibe of the town and the interesting things we found to do made for a great last weekend in Europe.

A Return to Germany

     It was the summer of my sophomore year in high school. My bags were packed, my passport ready, and my snacks stacked high as I made my way through security at Denver International. I was stoked because I was going on a trip, not to a different state, but to an entirely different country. In just a few short hours, I would be thousands of miles away from home, living the life of a German. It was a lot for the mind of a young, immature high school student to take in. After watching at least three two-hour long movies, eating some questionable airline lasagna, and taking probably the most uncomfortable nap of my entire life, our humble little group of nine high school buddies and two 'Fraus' departed the plane in Germany, and my life hasn't been the same since. That trip (nearly three weeks abroad exploring Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and more) sparked a love for travel that would stay a part of me for three years and would eventually lead me back to the place where I first discovered my life long ambition of travel.
     If you would have told me back then that I would once again be exploring the German countryside, this time with a gaggle of close college friends, I would have probably called you insane. And yet here I was, walking the cobblestone streets of Wittenberg and Dresden, gabbing and laughing with Bree and Ashley as I attempted (however poorly) to translate what little German I recognized from high school for them. Arriving in Wittenberg after a 6 hour bus ride, we were all a little exhausted and ready for some good German cuisine. After checking into our hostel, which sat right behind the church in which Martin Luther of Lutheran fame is buried (which is one of the reasons we traveled to Wittenberg in the first place), we separated from the rest of the group and found ourselves a nice little restaurant with pleasant waitstaff. The elderly gentleman that served us spoke English quite well, although his understanding of some words seemed to be a bit lacking. For instance, towards the end of the dinner, Ashley became thirsty and asked the man for a glass of ice water. He looked a bit puzzled by her request, but went behind the bar and came back a few minutes later with a glass of ice water. As he set it down in front of Ashley, he apologized and admitted he wasn't quite sure if the beverage was what she was looking for. We collectively lost our shit after leaving the restaurant at the apparent difficulty in making a glass of ice water. In all fairness, that isn't a very common request in most of Europe, but it still just seemed so ridiculous we couldn't help but laugh.
    After a restless night on one of the flattest pillows I've ever slept on, the group congregated outside the large church in our backyard and began its tour of Wittenberg. Luther's church was much like many of the other churches we visited throughout the semester, small and quaint but with a lot of history hidden within its walls. This church in particular was especially important to a couple of the students as they were Lutheran. It served almost as a holy visit for those students, as they got to see the burial place of the man who founded their sect as well as the room in which he orated his 95 thesis. For those of us who had no idea what any of that meant, it was still a fairly cool church to visit, and the view from the top of the tower was beautiful. After the church, we walked to a museum built on top of an old portion of the town that had been buried for hundreds of years. This museum was essentially a love letter to Lutheranism, and it held all the history of the religion and its founders. Although I personally didn't care much for the museum as I am not particularly religious, I think it was good for those in the group that are Lutheran to see a bit of the history behind what they hear about in church every Sunday.

     Once we had finished the museums, we got some free time to explore the city. First, we found a cool little 'Eis Cafe' (essentially an ice cream parlor). The Germans do this interesting thing with some of their sundays where the push it through what looks like a Play-Doh mold and make the ice cream look like pasta. I remembered learning about it in German class, so I decided to try the real deal. Let me just say, that was some of the best ice cream I've ever had. It was vanilla ice cream squeezed into thin noodles topped with fresh strawberries and strawberry jam with shaved white chocolate as a finishing touch. If I hadn't know it was ice cream, I would have thought I'd ordered a bowl of spaghetti. Once I'd had my fill, it was off to the chocolate shops to find some German chocolate. German's take great pride in their chocolate, as they should, because it is damn good. However, its always best to be able to read German if you want to buy some authentic German chocolate. For example, I bought a little tray of what I believed to be chocolate covered pretzels. I love chocolate covered pretzels so I was really looking forward to it, but the instant I bit into the first morsel, my eyes teared up and I regretted my buying decision. Don't as me how they did it, but somehow this candy store had covered liquid rum in a chocolate ring. It was one of the worst surprises I think I've ever received. However, there was a silver lining. No one was aware of the nasty innards of the chocolate so I decided to play a trick on everyone with the remaining candies. I offered one to each of the other students. Bree was immediately suspicious and attempted to break the chocolate open to see what was inside, resulting in her dousing herself with sticky chocolate rum. Ashley took it enthusiastically and stuffed the entire thing in her mouth. I could see the moment she realized it wasn't what she expected as the juicy innards gushed into her mouth and she gagged with a look of dread and betrayal in her eyes. Nick decided to take a bite of half the candy, and as the rum dribbled down his chin, he rushed to the trash can to spit the chocolate out of his mouth. Kody saw all of this and immediately threw his away without even attempting a taste and Sheyenne just watched laughing as she got lucky and doesn't like chocolate to begin with. I feel a bit bad about the nasty prank, but then again, it was absolutely hilarious and the reactions were priceless.

    From Wittenberg, we traveled to Dresden. Dresden is a much bigger city than Wittenberg, and has some interesting history of its own. During World War II, Dresden was firebombed by the allies. This means that many of the buildings in and around the city are simply recreations of what used to be there from reconstruction efforts since the end of the war. However, some scars are still visible to visitors. Many of the more historical sites, like the large Lutheran church in the center of the city, still have some of the original stones that were used in the reconstruction. It was cool to see the pristine new stones next to the charred, black stones from the original building. Those buildings that didn't need to be completely replaced also bore scars from the raid, looking black and charcoal-y from the immense heat of the bombs.

     Dresden also housed some interesting museums. One displayed the history of warfare, with an entire section dedicated to the animals of war, which was extremely depressing but also very interesting. Apparently, back in the world wars, both sides used dogs as mini suicide bombers. They would strap bomb vests to the backs of dogs and teach them that treats could be found under tanks. The vest would trigger when the dog would go under the tank looking for these treats. Scientists also used animals for testing of lethal gases and medicines. There was a stomach turning video of a cat exposed to the gas used in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and other concentration camps. It was really hard to watch as the cat pleaded for help as it coughed up its own lungs and eventually died an agonizing death. With that bit of sunshine out of the way, the rest of the museum was very interesting, especially to me being the huge history nerd I am. There was a whole display of letters and such that soldiers' families sent them not knowing their kids were dead or missing. It was a somber experience, but an interesting one nonetheless. The other museum we visited was an art museum. Although the art portion was pretty boring, the museum had a beautiful garden area that we sat and chatted in for a couple hours, just enjoying the scenery.

     With that, our journey to Germany came to an end. It was another 6 hour bus ride back to Olomouc and then time to start packing for Prague.