Hungary? Try Budapest!

This weekend, about 14 of us decided to take the train to Budapest while we have a free weekend. We had to wake up at 5:30 Saturday morning in order to make it for our 7:06 train. For the record, I'm really, really not a morning person. Luckily the train ride was beautiful on the way out to Hungary, so it was pretty entertaining.

The view from the train car. 

The train itself was packed, and we all kind of had to split up in order to get a seat. I sat in front of a lady that had a dog with her. Dogs are everywhere in Europe, which I love. Usually you don't see them on trains though, so I thought it was funny. He had his own seat and everything. After awhile, we stopped at one of the stations and I watched as a girl got up. She bent down to pick something up and... it was a pet rat!! A long white rat! She just put him inside her jacket and zipped it up! Animals galore on this train!

So we finally made it into Budapest, and we all went to the ATM to get our new currency: Forints. We hopped on a tram and somehow made it to our hostel. It had started raining at some point, but Abby and I decided to go explore in the city center. With umbrellas up, we made it to the subway station and miraculously, we made it to the center perfectly. We walked through the fashion district and went and walked along the Danube River. We dove into a café for a late lunch and some Hungarian beer. We decided we'd take the dinner cruise on the Danube. We walked around for awhile and pretty soon we were freezing cold and wet. We were so wet and my poor boots were falling apart. We went into Humanic and we both bought a pair of rainboots. Those boots served me well! Dry feet is key while exploring! We went to another café for some dessert and coffee. It was finally time for the dinner cruise, but once we got there, they were sold out of tickets already! We decided to head back to the hostel for the night.

One of the statues near St. Stephen's Basilica. 

The next morning was Easter Sunday. Seven of us decided to go to mass at St. Stephen's Basilica, the huge Catholic Church in Budapest. After Church we got tickets for the Bath House, and the dinner cruise.

In front of St. Stephen's Basilica on Easter Morning. 

 The spa was pretty interesting. It was a network of different pools and hot tubs, all with different minerals and purposes. Our favorite one was a HUGE hot-tub, that was probably the size of an Olympic pool.

One of the outside pools in the bath house. This pool was warm, but not hot.

This pool was the hottest. It was crowded because it was so cold outside!

After spending the afternoon at the spas, we went back to the hostel and changed before our night on the Danube River. The cruise was amazing. We were all handed champagne when we got on the boat, and we were seated next to a huge window. Although it was raining a little bit and it was chilly outside, we were nice and toasty inside. The food was a huge buffet of Hungarian courses: goulash, dumplings, pork, chicken, beef, and an array of desserts. It was SO good. We all gorged ourselves on the delicious food and couldn't get over how beautiful the view of the city was from the river. We had a great night together.

The girls in the subway on our way to the Danube.

During the dinner. (L-R, Hayley, Abby, Evan, Jed)

The beautiful Parliament building. It's the second largest parliament building in the world. 

The group of us on the Danube River, after a full day of activities!

--Author's Note--
Budapest was a beautiful city, and there was so much to do! Luckily, my parents visited me in May, and I was able to spend a couple more days exploring the city with them! :)

Bratislava, Slovakia

Another week down in the Czech Republic.


A small group of us decided to take a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia to go hiking. There was 6 of us, and we left our dorm at 6 am to take the train to Bratislava. It was an early morning and it was chilly. 

Bratislava Train Station

The girls on the train on the way to Bratislava.

We arrived in Bratislava and figured out that we needed to take another 6 minute train to the outskirts of town in order to go hiking. So we bought tickets and climbed onto true train only to be the only ones getting off 6 minutes later at one of the sketchiest stops I've ever seen.  There was no one around and it hardly looked like a train stop at all. We walked down into the park and stretched before beginning our "hike". 

Stretching before the hike! 

It turns out that we were all horribly out of shape, couldn't read Slovakian, and had absolutely no idea what we were doing. We didn't make it to the castle ruins (because we couldn't read signs, or understand anyone's directions) but we ended up having a blast going up and down the Small Carpathian Hills. We even spotted Sasquatch! We had a blast getting some fresh air and climbing up he hills. We made our way back to town and walked to the Town Square. We had a great lunch at Slovakian restaurant. Meals of pork, duck, dumplings and chicken were shared across the table. The weather was chilly and very windy, so before we made it back to the train station, we camped out in this coffe and ice cream shop. I was in love with the building, it had been an old bunker but it was now furnished with comfy chairs and chandeliers. We listened to a boy play the piano beautifully as we sipped on our lattes and relaxed.  Bratislava was a nice city, but we were ready to go back to Olomouc by the end of the day, so it was the perfect day trip. 

Dresden, Germany

While staying in Prague, our group took a day trip on Saturday to Dresden, Germany. We weren't sure what to expect. Many people to,d us Dresden was a very gloomy, depressed city. That we would be unwelcome there as Americans, and that it would be a very dreary day. As we climbed off the train upon our arrival into Dresden, "gloomy" couldn't be further from our minds. It was a beautiful sunny day and we watched a community clean-up day, complete with a musical band. We took the tram to the German Military History Museum. It was a huge modern museum, complete with five floors and just unbelievably full with artifacts and information. We spent a couple of hours trying to comb through the information, but you would need weeks to go through everything properly. 

Walking up to the museum in Dresden.

After leaving the museum, we made our way to the Dresden Town Square, which was complete with the Church of Our Lady, a Luthern Church, and a statue of Martin Luther in front of it. The church itself had been demolished after the bombing of Dresden that happened in Febraury 1945 during WWII. Reconstruction began later and almost 4,000 stones from the original church were able to be salvaged and used in the reconstruction. These stones can be seen today as the darker stones that are speckled throughout the church. 

The Luthern Church in Dresden, Germany. The darker stones that appear on the church are the original stones from the church before the bombing. They were able to use some of the stones in the reconstruction of the church. 

Our afternoon began with lunch outside just off the square. Katie, Abby, Alyshia and I shared wine and German meals of sausage, dumplings, chicken, and roast as we enjoyed the sunny weather. Our day in Dresden was actually a wonderful day, and it was just the right amount of sight-seeing and information, topped off with a little bit of relaxing.

A statue in Dresden is silhouetted by the setting sun. 

The four of us girls after lunch in Dresden.  (L-R: Abby, Katie, Alyshia and I)

Praha

After being in Olomouc for a week and a half, all of us were so excited to go back to Prague. We began our trip to Olomouc on Thursday, March 22nd. We took the train to Prague, which was a 2 1/2 hour trip. The train ride was through beautiful scenery, and even though it was early in the morning, I couldn't sleep as we went through tiny little towns that all were made up of beautifully colored houses and gorgeous churches. We stayed in our first hostel, and it wasn't as bad as we had expected. I shared a room with three other girls and although the bed wasn't a Serta, it seemed clean. We had a short walk from the hostel into the Prague town square. I was shocked at the amount of people. The square was beautiful, but really didn't seem that much better than Olomouc's and it was packed with an unbelievable amount of people. We walked to the gorgeous Charles Bridge, Which was built during the 13th and 14th centuries. The bridge was also packed with tourists, and lots of stands on the side with painters, vendors and even a band. It was a gorgeous day and the weather seemed to put everyone in a good mood. 

Abby and I on Charles Bridge.

We walked to the John Lennon Wall, which is a wall that has been a welcoming place to graffiti artists since the 1980's. The wall was strikingly bright and colorful, with Beatles lyrics, images of peace and love, intertwined and layered upon each other. The Lennon Wall was something that I had heard about as a teenager and had always wanted to see. 

An image from the John Lennon Wall

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Another "must-see" in Prague that we saw was the Pinkas Synagogue Museum, located in the Jewish quarter. This museum left me with a feeling that was indescribable. The Pinkas Synagogue is dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust from Bohemia and Moravia; their names are inscribed on the walls of the building. The names are written in black and red and they are listed from floor to ceiling throughout the space. The names were listed along with the year that they were born and the year they were killed. The names were categorized by the city they had lived in. I felt a more personal impact when I found several "Herzog" and "Herzogova" names. Although I'm probably not related, it made me think so much more about what these families went through. 

The Old Jewish Cemetary lays just beyond the Synagogue. This Cemetary was one of the most spiritual, stunning places I've ever seen. The Cemetary had been expanded several times, but it still did not suffice to the number of graves that needed to be dug. Earth was brought in numerous times to layer more graves. It is assumed that there are up to 12 layers of graves in the Cemetary. 

An image of the Old Jewish Cemetary

Prague is full of history, life, and death. While I felt that it was overly crowded, I can understand why so many people would want to visit one of Europe's most beautiful cities. The cobblestones, the Charles Bridge, Prague castle, and the Old Jewish Cemetary all combine to make the Czech Republic's Wonderful capital city. 

Week One

After my first week in Olomouc, things are really going well. Now we know which trams to use, when to get off, and the general directions of where we need to go. We have had a few Czech language classes, so we're also becoming more comfortable with that. Although pronunciation is still difficult and there's a lot to learn, we are making progress. We make a stop at Cafe 87 almost daily. It's nice to feel comfortable somewhere, but it is my goal to visit as many cafes as possible, so hopefully we'll begin to switch it up. Cafe 87 is a great stop though because we can get. Coffee and pancakes in the morning (crepes, which are good but very sweet), Cola and paninis for lunch or supper,and best of all, free wireless Internet. In order to talk to friends and family in Nebraska, I rely heavily on Skype. Since there is a 6 hour time change, sometimes after class around 1:00 pm is a nice time to call Ryan since its 7 am there. Two and 3 pm are also good times to call my parents because they are just getting to work. Evenings are more difficult because we are always so busy, and when it's 10 pm here it's only 4 there. Luckily, everyone is flexible so it works out. Today after class I'm hoping to take the bus to Olympia, which is the Olomouc mall. Most of the stores are kind of similar to ours but I love that they have an H&M. Abby my roommate and I noticed they seem to have a lot more shoe stores than American malls. We decided that is because they do much more walking than us that they must wear out their shoes faster! The public transit and the walking is only one of the many differences between the Czech Republic and Nebraska. Everything is just a little different from what we are used to, right down to their rough toilet paper! Several of my Nebraskan classmates are jonesing for Mountain Dew, Diet Dr. pepper, Mexican Food, Mac 'n' Cheese, and regular Ketchup. I'm not really missing any food yet, because if you look you can find something that's good on practically every corner. My goal for the next week is to eat at as many new places as I can and to try new foods that are popular here.

Olomouc, Czech Republic

After landing in Prague, it was about a 3 hour bus ride to Olomouc (pronounced Oh-Low-Moats). The bus was comfortable and I was able to take a little nap, but I didn't want to miss anyang that we drove by. When we got to Nesredin, our dorm, we were given about an hour and a half to move in and shower and get ready before going to see the town. We took the tram and got to see our school and part of the city. We ate our first Czech meal for supper at a restaurant called Caesars. I ordered my first beer (pivo) and it was delish. I saw on their menu it said Local Specialties: fried Oloumac cheese and mashed potatoes. Well I love cheese and mashed potatoes but it wasn't exactly what I had expected. The cheese is definitely an acquired taste. It's not "bad" but it's Really different. The mashed potatoes were not our kind of mashed potatoes either. They were chopped up and had lots of different seasonings. At least my beer was good! This was my first of many interesting food-ordering adventures. Also, something else that's interesting is the fact that water was about 30 kc or Korunas, (about $1.50) and beer was about 18 so barely $1. In other words, this college student will be drinking beer if that's what I need to do to save money!

Europe Bound

From Top to Bottom: European Sunrise, The Whole Group of Us! (Minus Jed), and Ryan and I before we got to the Airport

My flight for Europe was 7:17 AM Monday morning from Omaha. That meant Ryan and I had to go down the night before. We stayed with Jay and Becky and saw Pat and Elliott Sunday night. Packing was kind of a nightmare because not only did I have to pack for the trip, but I also had to pack my entire room up because Jordan is taking my room while I'm gone! Which helps me out tremendously financially, but it was probably one of my biggest stressors. Anyway, several totes and two suitcases later, I was all packed up and ready for the Czech Republic! Ryan drove me to Omaha, so we had to get up at 3:30 AM in Lincoln in order to be at the airport by 5. Checking in was a little nerve racking to make sure I had all the right slips, paperwork, etc. Everything worked out well, though, and we boarded the plane for Minneapolis. Omaha -> Minneapolis is only a 45 minute flight, so that was a breeze. Then we had about an hour and a half in the MN airport before boarding for our 2 hour flight to NYC. We had about 4 hours in the JFK Airport before we had to board for our flight to Prague. We ate at Chilli's and wasted as much time as we could. Our flight was long and it was through the night. I wasn't able to sleep at all. I played word games on my iPad and read a few short stories but more than anything I just wanted to get up and walk around. We FINALLY landed in Prague at 8 AM. Breaking through the clouds in the plane was so exciting. Everything just looked like a story book. All of the red roofs and different colored buildings were just beautiful.