So I said I would blog about Switzerland and Prague. Seeing as how the computers are going to be packed away for good tomorrow and I won’t have extended access, I should probably do that. When we left Berlin, we went to Prague. The Czech Republic isn’t covered by our Eurail passes (our train passes) so we had to pay a supplement to cover our train from the border to Prague and again on the way back, but it was really okay and worth it because Prague was pretty and a nice place to walk and not spend any money unless you wanted to. Our hostel was a butt because we had changed our reservations the week prior to make up for the time we didn’t spend in Berlin. Our reservation had to change to the night before we were scheduled and we also had one person back out of our travel so we cancelled her reservation altogether. All our scheduling was changed through e-mail and the last message we had received said our confirmation number didn’t change but our reservation would work out the way we needed it to. When we got there, the guy at reception said we needed to have a new confirmation number if we had actually changed our reservation even though we had the e-mail from them saying otherwise. We ended up having to pay for the other person, but we still had a place to stay so we were relieved. Prague like I said was a good place to walk. We spent a lot of time walking and seeing the sights though, most sights had a charge to enter so we didn’t get to actually go in. This was fine with me though because I’m fascinated by the architecture and differences among the cultures. Prague was also fun because we had been so many places and were familiar with so many different cultures. It probably sounds weird to say that one culture was interesting because of others, but let me explain. Everyone’s familiar with the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace in London. We went up the hill in Prague to look at the castle and about three minutes after we got there music started playing and there was a changing of the guard there. Honestly, it was more interesting than the changing of the guard in London because there was music being played live from the open windows in the palace throughout the whole process. It seemed choreographed even, like a dance (probably why I liked it so much). Also, Prague seemed to cash in on their history in the classical music world much like here in Vienna. Prague seemed like they took customs from other successful economies and countries and made those customs their own in an attempt to be successful themselves.
In Switzerland we had the most relaxing and enjoyable time on this trip. We have had to fill out sheets for each of our free travels with our train numbers, hotel/hostel information, and sites we planned on seeing. We literally put on our sheet for Switzerland “relax and do nothing”. That is EXACTLY what we did and it was AMAZING!!! We literally spent two straight days swimming and sun bathing in the Alpine lake. It was the coldest water I’ve felt in my life, but it was worth getting in and being numb in places that should ALWAYS be felt just to say “I went swimming in a Swiss Alpine lake”. We had trouble finding our hostel because the Rick Steves map that we had showed the hostel on the wrong side of the river. We walked around for probably an hour before finding it. When we did though, it was the cutest of our hostels. It was run by this cute old lady who had like a second house right next door to hers. There was a kitchen, two bathrooms, one shower, and two rooms each with a loft. On the loft and on the bottom floor of each room there were little mattresses lined up one right next to the other to make one huge bed for 7 people. All of us on our free travel were put up on one loft. It was SOOOO funny!!! You probably had to be there, but let’s just say we didn’t go to bed until we were 150% tired so we would fall asleep right away and sleep hard so we wouldn’t kick each other. On Sunday, our last full day of free travel, we hiked up to the viewing platform that was behind the waterfall on the mountain. We took lots of pictures and got very wet. When we got down the hill we had a devo. This devo was led by the two guys on the trip, Joe and Richard. It was a great experience because neither one of those guys is Church of Christ OR a “leader” at their respective churches. This devo made them really get out of their comfort zones. Also, communion that day was a great experience. We literally only had bread and water between the five of us and all grocery stores are closed on Sunday in Europe. We “broke bread” in the literal sense of the word and all drank from one water bottle. Except for Joe…he drank from the water fountain that dispensed Alpine water. Not having the “right” stuff for communion was a spiritual experience for me because it wasn’t routine. It was a beautiful experience watching the guys being stretched as well as a beautiful experience being in such a beautiful place.
As for the rest of the trip: I leave for Paris the day after tomorrow. After that I will be home. It’s a surreal thing thinking about coming home. I can’t say I miss it…I can’t say I don’t miss it…I feel like I’ve been in a dream this entire trip and when I wake up it will all be gone. I’m glad I’ve had a camera (by the way…I’ve taken so many pictures that I had to buy a new flash drive today) because if I didn’t have the pictures, I wouldn’t believe this actually happened. It’s been everything it could have been and more.
I miss you all and will be home shortly.
Auf Weidersehen!
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Europe. Show all posts
Berlin
This second free travel began in Berlin. We were only there for a few hours and I was originally really bummed about that. I had hoped to be there longer and our original plan was to spend a night there. Plans were changed however, and we decided to go to Switzerland too so Berlin got shafted and we were only there while we waited for our next train. This didn’t end up being too terrible a thing. It rained while we were there. I swear, it has rained nearly every day no matter what country we’re in! Europe’s simply rainy. While in Berlin we got to see checkpoint Charlie, the holocaust memorial, and the remains of the Berlin wall. Checkpoint Charlie was interesting because they had listed successful and unsuccessful attempts at crossing the border into West Berlin. Most of the attempts both successful and unsuccessful were aided by U.S. soldiers. This aid ranged from physical smuggling of citizens into West Berlin to letting citizens wear U.S. troop uniforms. The remains of the wall were also interesting. Berlin seems like it would be a history buff’s dream come true. I was always fascinated by the wars that occurred in history and if anyone was more interested than I they would be immersed in that fascination everywhere they turned in Berlin. Some pieces of the wall have been given to up and coming artists and they have painted on them and they are on display throughout the city. The main remains however, are still standing in their original place in the center of the city. There’s probably a block or so left of the wall. It’s blocked off so the best pictures we were able to take were from across the street. Seeing the wall in it’s place with the graffiti still intact really made our history seem attainable…maybe attainable isn’t the right word…real? I guess it made it feel real. History isn’t just something I read about from a textbook that happened a long time ago…it’s real…and it affects people and the way we do things every day. Some of the graffiti said “save our planet” Alex would probably have some smart remark about that but what I thought about it was that the hippies and riots really happened! Not to make anyone feel old or anything but I didn’t live through that…I haven’t lived through a “hippie” era or an era where young people felt so strongly about something that they would riot. In today’s society, making a difference is something that young people leave to the people who “know more”, “have more experience”, or “have lived through more” and the young people who do want to make a difference are left to do it quietly because today’s society is very good at covering things up. Society today is about conformity and I guess it was the same then as it is now but more news was drawn to it. If someone had a cause they drew attention to it…they got it in the papers and in the news. Now, if someone is fighting for something, they are covered up by the election or a “breaking news” report about another robbery or stolen car. Sorry about that little rant, you don’t want that, you want the facts. The holocaust memorial is in a word…disappointing. It is a fitting memorial because it is a bunch of concrete blocks of varying heights that span over a few blocks in the heart of the city. It looks like a concrete cemetery. It’s as if the architect wanted the give a grave and tombstone to each of those victims who were buried on top of or under 10, 20 or 100 other people in the mass graves. The memorial is disappointing because there is absolutely nothing to tell you what it is. There isn’t a big sign, in fact, the only sign I saw was a piece of glass the was about 1 foot wide and stood about 6 or 7 feet high with white etching on it. If you weren’t looking for the holocaust memorial, you would think this was a modern art sculpture by an awful artist and walk right by it. Oh, and another thing! It isn’t called “the holocaust memorial” it’s called “the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe”. Joe got mad at me because he says I need to learn to keep my cynical comments to myself and he’s completely right but I think I can share this one with all of you. “yeah...the Jews YOU freaking murdered!!!” I’ve really about had it with the attitude of Germans toward the war AND the attitude of one of the sponsors of this trip. That is the attitude of “well, we told you we wanted the Jews out of our country and you didn’t take them, so you did this”. No I did not do this!!! My country was not the country that killed hundreds of thousands of people like dogs just because I didn’t like them…that was all you.
On this free travel we also went to Prague, Switzerland, and passed through Salzburg. I’ll post about them later but seeing as I just filled up an entire page in word on Berlin, I should probably take a break.
On this free travel we also went to Prague, Switzerland, and passed through Salzburg. I’ll post about them later but seeing as I just filled up an entire page in word on Berlin, I should probably take a break.
Since free travel...
Hi!!!
I’ve heard that people have been asking my mom for an update. There’s a lot to say so if I don’t complete thoughts, I’m sorry…I’m just trying to get it all out at this point. The internet connection is still bad here at the castle. They tried to fix it many times but we’re right on the edge of the Vienna woods so it just comes and goes. Joe can attest to the fact that right after free travel I spent 35 minutes typing a blog just to lose internet connection while posting. I lost everything…even when I hit the back button, I had lost all that I had typed.
The free travel was great. It’s a wholt lot of fun to have opportunities to be with a smaller group of people for a while (a group of three to five) rather than the huge group of 36 (including sponsors).
Beginning in Bruges, Belgium: It was quaint. There was a chocolate museum that we went to but that was about all there was to see. We spent 2 nights and 3 full days there but I think it was a day too long. It’s sort of an island and a very cute place to visit. It’s referred to as the “little Venice” because it’s surrounded by a canal and you can go on canal cruises but seeing as we spent the same amount of time in the real Venice, Bruges got repetitive. We did get to see a vile of Christ’s blood. There was a church in Bruges that claimed to have a vile of Christ’s blood and we visited it while we were there. The blood was crystallized and in a “church” that was created just to hold this “blood”. I put quotation marks around those words because I find it hard to believe. I think it would be more believable if this were found in Rome or some place like that; simply because the Romans kept such good records of deaths, burials, and things of that sort. I just find it unfathomable that a random place in Belgium would gain access to such an important piece of Christian history. I also find it hard to believe that someone would take a random guy’s blood and put it in a vile and save it for so long. When you think about it, not many people even believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be so why would they take a vile of His blood and keep it safe for so many years? I say this but I still find it fascinating that people who were also visiting this church were so reverent. Religion is so different here in Europe. People find relics and put their entire faith in them. It’s almost a sort of idolatry, but it’s not considered that here…it’s simply faith. They find things that may help them grasp a sense of closeness to their God…most of the time it is God that they worship, but not always…and they run with it. I honestly don’t know if I’m making any sense but I’m doing this blog with a discussion of politics, a heated discussion, going on in the background and I’m doing the best I can with that HUGE distraction. On our last day in Bruges Joe and I rented bicycles for the whole day. It was funny because the bikes cost 7 euro for 4 hours or 10 euro for the whole day. There was a student discount for the whole day but not for the 4 hours. The student discount was 7 euro, so we paid the same for the whole day as we would for 4 hours. It was probably the best money we spent in Bruges because we had so much fun. I was scared to ride on the quite marrow streets so we stuck mainly to the bike paths and out by the canals and windmills. Yes…there were windmills…they were ADORABLE!!! They were just like you would picture them. Cute, big, and on a hill.
As for Rothenburg…it is the cutest place I’ve seen in my life. Think Beauty and the Beast when Belle is singing and walking through the town. We spent one night and 2 full days here but I could have spent the entire free travel. Rothenburg is the best preserved medieval town/city in Europe. It is so well preserved because while it was a thriving place in the middle ages, the 30 years’ war brought a siege and Rothenburg was unable to completely recover financially before we, the U.S. bombed it during WWII. Basically, while other places in Germany and the rest of Europe were “modernizing” and tearing down older buildings to freshen themselves up, Rothenburg was too poor to do so. The stories and coincidences about Rothenburg’s history are really great. Like how we bombed them on a cloudy day but only destroyed the North West 40% of the city then were going to go inside and take it by force because part of the German army had taken hiding in the city walls and the U.S. general called off the attack because his mother had visited Rothenburg as a tourist years prior and this general had taken a liking to the city. It’s a great story in detail…if you’re at all interested, ask me when I get home and I’ll tell you the WHOLE story. Rothenburg was 2 days very well spent!
Since we got back to Vienna we’ve been doing the norm…going to sights every day and having class early in the mornings. Yesterday, we visited Mauthausen concentration camp. … … … “…” is about all I can say about that in a blog. The feelings that I have about the whole thing can’t be expressed in a blog. Honestly, I don’t know that they can be expressed at all. The feeling you feel after visiting a place where such cruelty took place can’t be recreated for someone else, it’s something you have to experience for yourself. If anyone reading this is planning a trip to Europe any time soon I would suggest visiting a concentration camp over anything else. Sure, the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben would be nice to see but I promise you they won’t have the impact that a concentration camp will. It will give you a new perspective and appreciation for the life you’re living, no matter how you feel about it right now…I PROMISE. It is one of the hardest, most emotional, most religious, gut wrenching, most numb to the core all at the same time experiences you will ever have.
Love and miss you all!
I’ve heard that people have been asking my mom for an update. There’s a lot to say so if I don’t complete thoughts, I’m sorry…I’m just trying to get it all out at this point. The internet connection is still bad here at the castle. They tried to fix it many times but we’re right on the edge of the Vienna woods so it just comes and goes. Joe can attest to the fact that right after free travel I spent 35 minutes typing a blog just to lose internet connection while posting. I lost everything…even when I hit the back button, I had lost all that I had typed.
The free travel was great. It’s a wholt lot of fun to have opportunities to be with a smaller group of people for a while (a group of three to five) rather than the huge group of 36 (including sponsors).
Beginning in Bruges, Belgium: It was quaint. There was a chocolate museum that we went to but that was about all there was to see. We spent 2 nights and 3 full days there but I think it was a day too long. It’s sort of an island and a very cute place to visit. It’s referred to as the “little Venice” because it’s surrounded by a canal and you can go on canal cruises but seeing as we spent the same amount of time in the real Venice, Bruges got repetitive. We did get to see a vile of Christ’s blood. There was a church in Bruges that claimed to have a vile of Christ’s blood and we visited it while we were there. The blood was crystallized and in a “church” that was created just to hold this “blood”. I put quotation marks around those words because I find it hard to believe. I think it would be more believable if this were found in Rome or some place like that; simply because the Romans kept such good records of deaths, burials, and things of that sort. I just find it unfathomable that a random place in Belgium would gain access to such an important piece of Christian history. I also find it hard to believe that someone would take a random guy’s blood and put it in a vile and save it for so long. When you think about it, not many people even believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be so why would they take a vile of His blood and keep it safe for so many years? I say this but I still find it fascinating that people who were also visiting this church were so reverent. Religion is so different here in Europe. People find relics and put their entire faith in them. It’s almost a sort of idolatry, but it’s not considered that here…it’s simply faith. They find things that may help them grasp a sense of closeness to their God…most of the time it is God that they worship, but not always…and they run with it. I honestly don’t know if I’m making any sense but I’m doing this blog with a discussion of politics, a heated discussion, going on in the background and I’m doing the best I can with that HUGE distraction. On our last day in Bruges Joe and I rented bicycles for the whole day. It was funny because the bikes cost 7 euro for 4 hours or 10 euro for the whole day. There was a student discount for the whole day but not for the 4 hours. The student discount was 7 euro, so we paid the same for the whole day as we would for 4 hours. It was probably the best money we spent in Bruges because we had so much fun. I was scared to ride on the quite marrow streets so we stuck mainly to the bike paths and out by the canals and windmills. Yes…there were windmills…they were ADORABLE!!! They were just like you would picture them. Cute, big, and on a hill.
As for Rothenburg…it is the cutest place I’ve seen in my life. Think Beauty and the Beast when Belle is singing and walking through the town. We spent one night and 2 full days here but I could have spent the entire free travel. Rothenburg is the best preserved medieval town/city in Europe. It is so well preserved because while it was a thriving place in the middle ages, the 30 years’ war brought a siege and Rothenburg was unable to completely recover financially before we, the U.S. bombed it during WWII. Basically, while other places in Germany and the rest of Europe were “modernizing” and tearing down older buildings to freshen themselves up, Rothenburg was too poor to do so. The stories and coincidences about Rothenburg’s history are really great. Like how we bombed them on a cloudy day but only destroyed the North West 40% of the city then were going to go inside and take it by force because part of the German army had taken hiding in the city walls and the U.S. general called off the attack because his mother had visited Rothenburg as a tourist years prior and this general had taken a liking to the city. It’s a great story in detail…if you’re at all interested, ask me when I get home and I’ll tell you the WHOLE story. Rothenburg was 2 days very well spent!
Since we got back to Vienna we’ve been doing the norm…going to sights every day and having class early in the mornings. Yesterday, we visited Mauthausen concentration camp. … … … “…” is about all I can say about that in a blog. The feelings that I have about the whole thing can’t be expressed in a blog. Honestly, I don’t know that they can be expressed at all. The feeling you feel after visiting a place where such cruelty took place can’t be recreated for someone else, it’s something you have to experience for yourself. If anyone reading this is planning a trip to Europe any time soon I would suggest visiting a concentration camp over anything else. Sure, the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben would be nice to see but I promise you they won’t have the impact that a concentration camp will. It will give you a new perspective and appreciation for the life you’re living, no matter how you feel about it right now…I PROMISE. It is one of the hardest, most emotional, most religious, gut wrenching, most numb to the core all at the same time experiences you will ever have.
Love and miss you all!
Ready to go again...
This is me at the tower of London
That's the Colosseum
This is in Florence
Guess what...I rode one of those!!! This one's in Venice.
This is inside Stephensdom in Vienna.Right now, I'm supposed to be packing for the first free travel on this trip. This week I will be going to Bruges and Rothenburg, Germany. I won't be posting anything while I'm gone because those 2 places are very expensive for internet access...like 3.50 for 15 minutes. Absolutely RE-dic-U-lous!!! I thought I'd try and post some pictures though it's only a few...one in each place actually. Facebook isn't working very well so even though I've tried to post photos on there many times, I simply can't. Hope you all like the pics!
Home Base Part 2
Sorry guys! Internet is kind of sketchy here and people were losing connection when I was posting last night. I just posted what I had typed already so I wouldn't completely lose it. Not even two seconds after I posted I lost connection too.
Anyway...
A television show will be filming in the main entrance and also in the wine cellar here at the castle. They apparently needed a dark and creepy old place for a coupole of scenes so that's why they chose the wine cellar. Also, a ball will be held in the ballrooms on the second floor tomorrow night. It's a private ball so I can't crash the party, no matter how much I may want to.
The day we got here we had a scavengar hunt so we could get acquainted with the city. It was like that t.v. show Amazing Race. We had to go to all the sites that we will be visiting while we're here and answer a question about each then take a picture with our team as proof that we were there. The prize for first place was double the allowance for dinner that we would have received. My team came in first and I was sooooooo excited! I've always wanted to be on that show and I guess I would be a good contestant too. Joe and I aren't on the same team which really sucks. We do KP and other chores with our team so Joe and I have different schedules completely. Joe's team came in second place in the race not even three minutes behind mine. This only made me wich even more that we were on the same team so we could share in the glory.
Everything is going superbly and I'm loving every minute that we're here. Miss and love you all!
Anyway...
A television show will be filming in the main entrance and also in the wine cellar here at the castle. They apparently needed a dark and creepy old place for a coupole of scenes so that's why they chose the wine cellar. Also, a ball will be held in the ballrooms on the second floor tomorrow night. It's a private ball so I can't crash the party, no matter how much I may want to.
The day we got here we had a scavengar hunt so we could get acquainted with the city. It was like that t.v. show Amazing Race. We had to go to all the sites that we will be visiting while we're here and answer a question about each then take a picture with our team as proof that we were there. The prize for first place was double the allowance for dinner that we would have received. My team came in first and I was sooooooo excited! I've always wanted to be on that show and I guess I would be a good contestant too. Joe and I aren't on the same team which really sucks. We do KP and other chores with our team so Joe and I have different schedules completely. Joe's team came in second place in the race not even three minutes behind mine. This only made me wich even more that we were on the same team so we could share in the glory.
Everything is going superbly and I'm loving every minute that we're here. Miss and love you all!
Home Base
Hello all!
We are finally at our home base in Vienna. We got here on the overnight train Sunday and just worked out the wireless so we can get on whenever we want. We are staying at the Schloss Neuwaldegg. It's a beautiful yellow castle which doesn't make much sense to me because when I think of "castle" I think of cobblestone walls and such but whatever...it's still beautiful. The castle was originally built in the 1300's and has since been restored. There are such amazing views! From the ballroom balcony on the second floor, you can see basically ALL of Vienna. There is also a baroque garden right out front that has statues from the original construction of the castle. This place is so well known that next week a television show will
We are finally at our home base in Vienna. We got here on the overnight train Sunday and just worked out the wireless so we can get on whenever we want. We are staying at the Schloss Neuwaldegg. It's a beautiful yellow castle which doesn't make much sense to me because when I think of "castle" I think of cobblestone walls and such but whatever...it's still beautiful. The castle was originally built in the 1300's and has since been restored. There are such amazing views! From the ballroom balcony on the second floor, you can see basically ALL of Vienna. There is also a baroque garden right out front that has statues from the original construction of the castle. This place is so well known that next week a television show will
Hi!!!
Since I know you have all read that last VERY incorrect post, I thought I would clear things up, lol! There was MAJOR confusion over who was actually held in the prison and when. So...Peter and Paul...in Rome...got it...so...no earthquake...(awkward pause)...LOL!!!
K, so now we are in Florence getting ready to leave for Venice in the morning. Florence has been a major let down. The ONLY thing to do here is shop. That would not be considered a bad thing if the shopping were any good but we are talking like, Chanel, Gucci, Prada kind of shopping with the same prices only in euro which is now 1.6 U.S. dollars. So...the last 2 days have been kind of dull. We are still having a great time though and are still safe. Joe is sooooo sweet, he just does not want to write in the blog. Did I tell you all that he bought me crown jewels at the Tower of London??? Well, he did. He is making this trip even more fun...and he has been keeping me smiling even through the dullness of Florence...that is QUITE a feat!
Love you all and will be in touch!
Since I know you have all read that last VERY incorrect post, I thought I would clear things up, lol! There was MAJOR confusion over who was actually held in the prison and when. So...Peter and Paul...in Rome...got it...so...no earthquake...(awkward pause)...LOL!!!
K, so now we are in Florence getting ready to leave for Venice in the morning. Florence has been a major let down. The ONLY thing to do here is shop. That would not be considered a bad thing if the shopping were any good but we are talking like, Chanel, Gucci, Prada kind of shopping with the same prices only in euro which is now 1.6 U.S. dollars. So...the last 2 days have been kind of dull. We are still having a great time though and are still safe. Joe is sooooo sweet, he just does not want to write in the blog. Did I tell you all that he bought me crown jewels at the Tower of London??? Well, he did. He is making this trip even more fun...and he has been keeping me smiling even through the dullness of Florence...that is QUITE a feat!
Love you all and will be in touch!
Hello all!
I am in Roma right now and am working on a very foreign keyboard so I will not be using apostrophes because I cannot find it on this board. Everything is going superbly! I am having the absolute TIME OF MY LIFE!!! And I cannot express that any more eloquently. Today, we started our day at the Roman Pantheon and from there went to the COLOSSEUM!!! I could NOT believe it! I wrote my fùresearch paper on the Colosseum for my Western Civ. class so I knew more about this than any of the other sites we have been to so far. I had high hopes for the Colosseum and was definitely NOT disappointed. After that, we visited the Roman Forum, the Mamertine prison, where Peter and Paul were put in prison and they were worshipping (that time the doors opened and the guard wanted to kill himself but the prisoners were all in their cells so he did not), and the chains of Saint Peter. Those were interesting too because supposedly they are the chains that kept Peter as he went to his crucifiction...I think. I find myself fascinated by the fact that I am here in Rome walking cobblestone streets Just as Jesus and the rest of his apostles did. Some of the original streets are still here, so I very well may be walking in their footsteps. I am blown away by many things here and cannot wait for the rest of the trip! I miss you all and hope you are well!
I am in Roma right now and am working on a very foreign keyboard so I will not be using apostrophes because I cannot find it on this board. Everything is going superbly! I am having the absolute TIME OF MY LIFE!!! And I cannot express that any more eloquently. Today, we started our day at the Roman Pantheon and from there went to the COLOSSEUM!!! I could NOT believe it! I wrote my fùresearch paper on the Colosseum for my Western Civ. class so I knew more about this than any of the other sites we have been to so far. I had high hopes for the Colosseum and was definitely NOT disappointed. After that, we visited the Roman Forum, the Mamertine prison, where Peter and Paul were put in prison and they were worshipping (that time the doors opened and the guard wanted to kill himself but the prisoners were all in their cells so he did not), and the chains of Saint Peter. Those were interesting too because supposedly they are the chains that kept Peter as he went to his crucifiction...I think. I find myself fascinated by the fact that I am here in Rome walking cobblestone streets Just as Jesus and the rest of his apostles did. Some of the original streets are still here, so I very well may be walking in their footsteps. I am blown away by many things here and cannot wait for the rest of the trip! I miss you all and hope you are well!
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