Back on Home Soil

My laptop died before I stored it in the Prague airport on May 22^nd. Just this morning I got the gumption to charge my laptop in order to write this blog. Since coming back to the states I’ve still been going at 100 miles per hour. The day after I returned home I quickly did laundry and packed up my life. The following day I moved all my belongings into my new house in Kearney. All these thoughts kept me preoccupied the last few weeks and made coming home a fairly easy transition. I’ve been confronted countless times about how it feels to be back, and each time I struggle to find the right answer.

Following our final class field trip across the Czech Republic I hopped on multiple planes squeezing in the final destinations on my must see list. First on the list was a quick stop in Brussels. We flew into Brussels late and the next day split our time between Brussels and then the afternoon in Bruges. The next morning we headed for Athens. A quick pit stop at the Acropolis and then back to the airport that night to Santorini. It was finally time to slow down with 3 days of beaching in Santorini. After soaking up some Santorini sun we ventured to the Greek island of Crete. Here I spent 6 more days of beaching and zooming around the island in our rental car. Soon enough my sunburnt skin and I were headed back to Italy to pay Milan and Bergamo a visit. The next night was spent sleeping on the ground in the Prague airport. I awoke early and continued my long journey back to the Good Life.

An unforgettable sunset dinner in Santorini

Conquered my fears and held a snake!!

One of the many beautiful beaches of Crete

As I attempt to look back on my last three months it’s hard to fathom what I have experienced. I casually talk about our weekend trips to Paris and Berlin like it’s just something out of the normal. This will no longer be the normal. Others scoff and laugh when I casually mention hopping on a $12 train for Berlin and I have to take a step back and really look at what I have experienced.

I was never home sick and thought I would dread leaving Europe. As my final days came to a close I was indifferent about leaving. I was surprised that I wasn’t sadder about leaving this magnificent continent. My experiences have been indescribable and nothing short of a life long dream. I thought to myself, how could I be ready to leave Europe? My conclusion has been that during my three months I was constantly traveling and looking forward to my big trip the upcoming weekend. Going home was just the next big trip on my itinerary.

We are constantly looking forward to the next big thing in our lives and I question if we ever stop and appreciate the times in between. Being conscious and aware is crucial so you never miss the importance of the small moments in your life. As I reflect on my past three months abroad, the small moments are the ones that mean the most. These small moments have turned into big memories.

Settling into this pace of life is going to take some time to get use to. I look forward to seeing how these past three months will change and shape the next years to come. I’ll do my best to describe and share this indescribable experience I have been blessed and grateful for.

Bohemia Tour

This is the week that we’ve all been waiting for and all been dreading. This past week was our last time spent together as a group. It was also an amazing trip spanning across the Czech Republic. Some cant wait to get home and others never want this to end. You can find me somewhere in the middle, mostly leaning on the side of never wanting this to end. Just give me my friends and family and I could be here the rest of my life. It’s the beginning of the end, and would not want to spend it anywhere else besides the Czech Republic.

My small group and I returned from Paris Monday afternoon, quickly got a few tasks done, and then hustled over to the History building where we took our Czech language final. I was fairly nervous for the test, but ended up doing very well on the test. After the final some of our group headed to Rockstar to have one of our final drinks with Tereza and Ann. The next morning I was up bright and early to pack for our Bohemia trip.

Soon after our departure we arrived in Litomysl, our first stop of our “Bohemia Tour”.  Litomysl is a quiet, quaint town home to about 10,000 citizens. We all checked into our very nice hotel, grabbed some lunch, and then sat down for a presentation on the town. A nice lady from Chicago gave us a history lesson of the city and described the recent revitalization that was taking place. Many of the old buildings, the castle, and school went under a 17 million dollar project. After the presentation we got a tour of the main church in town. Throughout the years it had been destroyed by fires, by the towns people, and then eventually by the Nazi regime. Recently in 2010 the church went under a major reconstruction and is now a beautiful, strong standing church. It possessed a few modern aspects, which is very uncommon for a church of this age, but was necessary in the reconstruction process.

Inside the church in Litomysl

My professor and I!

Next, we were on our own for the rest of the day. We meandered around town and ended up grabbing some traditional Czech cuisine. That day was Jessica Krecklow’s birthday, therefore many of us helped her celebrate at a bar. Approximately 15 of us squeezed into an underground bar and had a night full of stories and laughter.

Kutna Hora was next on our Bohemia tour. Our first stop was outside the city at the bone church. This is also referred to as an ossuary. I was really excited to see this because just the weekend before I was in Paris where I had the opportunity to see the most famous catacombs. I choose not to go in Paris, because I had read on ricksteves.com that the Kutna Hora bone church was one of the best in Europe. Experiencing this church was very different. There was mounds of skulls and a variety of different other bones. It was an eerie feeling walking though and seeing all these bones that stood in front of me. We left the ossuary and checked into another nice hotel with a complimentary breakfast. Our first stop in the city was St. Barbara’s Cathedral. It was very beautiful and large. Jan and Martin gave us a tour and told us stories about the paintings on the walls. After this tour we were free for the rest of the day. I choose to sit on a park bench and write names in the gravel. It was so nice to relax in the wonderful weather we had. I continued my journey by sitting on a ledge overlooking the cathedral and part of the city. From this ledge Molly, Alexander, and I saw a walking path that led into a forest. This was way to intriguing for us and we had to go exploring. We hiked through the woods and got new views of the cathedral. It was so refreshing to go out into nature and get some fresh air. Eventually, we got back into the city and sat down for supper. I can safely say that this was one of the best meals I have had in Europe. My supper consisted of a pork loin with a delicious sauce, a baked potato filled with blue cheese, and finished dinner with a traditional Bohemian honey cake. This was a perfect ending to a great day. A few hours later I was fast asleep in bed ready for the next day.

A look at some of the bones

Playing in the sand like a little kid

St. Barbara's Cathedral

My delicious meal

Two days were down and we had two days left. The next two days were the best days of the trip. We started our third day by touring the Budvar beer factory. I had been looking forward to this tour since day one of the trip. My dad loves Budweiser, and this is where I finally got him a souvenir. We toured the factory and saw each step of the process from beginning to end. The best part of the tour was the free samples we got. Our tour guide filled us glasses straight from the tank, and boy was it good. Next we loaded the bus and headed for our final stop, Cesky Krumlov.

First we checked into our hostel. In our previous towns we had stayed in nice hotels, but not here. Cesky Krumlov is more of a tourist town, therefore it had hostels. After we checked in and got settled we were free to do as we please. Our first adventure was to climb up the hill in order to get a view over the city. This is one of the things my group of friends always wants to do in each city we visit. We hiked up and got some great views looking down onto the city. After our hike we made our way back down to the town and had dinner near the city center.

Us boys at the top of the hike

Our final day in Cesky Krumlov was by far the best. This whole trip the group has been waiting to go rafting. We were scared we wouldn’t be able to go because the weather wasn’t cooperating. Thank goodness it finally did. Soon enough we hopped in our rafts and started to make our way down the river. The next four hours were a blast. We ended up heaving beautiful weather and had an amazing time with each other. There was lots of laughing, stories, and memorable experiences during this trip. Eventually we made our way out of the river and all headed for a group dinner. This was so delicious and a great way to end the trip. We were all at the same table and again shared lots of laughs and enjoyed each other’s company. We continued to have fun by going to one of the clubs in town. There we danced the night away and made our way back to the hostel that night.

Rafting was a BLAST

This trip was been one that I won’t ever forget. It’s sad to think that this was our last week together as a group and we’ll eventually all be going our separate ways. I’m grateful that our last week was spent in the Czech Republic. This is mainly because the Czech Republic is so cheap and is easy on my wallet. It was also great to tour around the rest of the country and get a better feel for the country I have been living in for the past two and a half months. Our Bohemia trip was the perfect final trip together.

It’s now time to do my own thing. I have 16 days left in Europe and still so much to see. I will spend my last two weeks traveling to Belgium, Greece, and Italy. I’m ecstatic to visit Brussels, Athens, Santorini, Crete, and Bergamo. It’s now time to hop on a few planes and make my way to the beach and soak up some sun.

Bonjour My Friends

Spontaneous weekends are always the best. Not that this weekend trip to Paris was totally spontaneous, but an unsure trip. I’ve known this weekend was free for travel since the beginning of the program, but I didn’t know how I wanted to spend it. I looked extensively into making it to Croatia and a few other places were high on the list. Paris was never one of these places on my list until it turned up as the cheapest flight on SkyScanner. My group of friends and I debated for too long about if we actually wanted to witness Paris or travel somewhere else. In the end the eight of us hopped on a plane to France and had an unforgettable weekend.

It all started Friday after class when we ventured to Prague to catch our flight to Paris. Of course nothing goes as planned and we faced a 45-minute delay and ended up getting to our Airbnb until very, very late that night. There is no time to waste in Europe; therefore we were all up and to Versailles by 9:00am Saturday morning. I started by walking through the palace and being mesmerized by what King Louie XIV lived in. It’s crazy to think about how massive the palace is and how one is to live in such an expansive space. There was a room for every aspect of life; from tea, reading, music, and even interactions with mistresses. One of the most spectacular rooms was the Hall of Mirrors. I’ve seen pictures on line, but pictures never do the real thing any justice. I meandered down the long ballroom with my neck turning in every direction trying to take in all the details this room had to offer. Eventually we all made our way out of the palace and headed for the gardens.

The beautiful Hall of Mirrors

The gardens were the best part of this trip to Versailles. At first you can stand looking over the garden and see how far they really do stretch. Soon enough we attempted to explore this massive garden where Marie Antoinette and her children once roamed. Walking through the gardens you are met by 10-foot tall bushes on each side and water features around every turn. A few minutes into the gardens we began to hear music and followed it until we arrived at a water show. We were greeted by a spectacular show, which consisted of water shooting into the air in each direction accompanied by some music. I stood in awe as the water danced across the sky and made incredible displays. After the show we continued to mosey through the gardens and ended up finding the rest of our small group at the Grand Canal. Here we took a group pictures and continued to explore the other half of the gardens. This was a little disappointing, but only because the water shows had stopped at the fountains we came across. Nevertheless it was still beautiful and refreshing to walk outside.

A look at a small portion of the gardens

Our group at the Grand Canal

The rest of Saturday consisted at a quick stop at the Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge, and the Sacre-Coeur. The fast paced weekend continued on Sunday beginning with our walking tour. These are a great way to see a lot of the city and learn a plethora of information from a knowledgeable source. On the tour we stop to see Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Love Lock Bridge, and a few other historical monuments. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and had amazing stories about Paris. This was by far one of the best walking tours I had taken thus far. Soon enough our tour was over and we followed our guide to a little cafeteria where some of us chowed down on a huge meal. Afterward my friend Nick and I strolled back down to Notre Dame to see inside. It was mind blowing knowing that you were standing in the same church where previous Popes and Kings of France had stood hundreds of years before. Notre Dame was massive and a great site worth seeing. Next we both waited in line where we got in free to the Sainte-Chapelle, because we got them to believe that we were European Citizens with our international student cards. This was a total win and we gazed at the stained glass that was before us. Once again, I had seen pictures but they did this place no justice. The extensive detail and size of the windows were breath taking. After we began the long journey down to the Arc de Triomphe. As we walked down the Champs Elysees, the Arc began to get closer and closer and larger and larger. I had no idea the Arc was this massive. I once again stood there admiring another monument.

The outside of Notre Dame

There it is!

The famous love lock bridge full of lover's locks

Considered to be the best art museum in the world!

Amazing stained glass in the Sainte-Chapelle

In the distance Nick and I could see skyscrapers off in the distance and an interesting building that looked like it had a hole in it. Our curiousness got the best of us and we made the one and a half hour walk to this mysterious building. Within an hour we cross a river and were in a completely different part of Paris. Imagine a futuristic city with sleek buildings and awesome features. Whatever comes to your mind, this is what it looked like. We had left the historic district and entered the modern district. Nick and I kept saying to each other how cool this area was and how different it was from what we just saw. At the end of our walk we ended up underneath this building with a hole in it. Turns out that it was another arc, built to mimic the Arc de Triomphe. It appears that this massive, modern arc was home to a university. Before long we were headed back to try and catch the sunset by the Eiffel Tower. We made it in time and climbed up to the Trocadero. Here we all sat on a ledge with live music in our ears and the beautiful Eiffel Tower in our sights. It engulfed the night sky as it shined. At dark at the top of the hour for five minutes something spectacular happens. The Eiffel Tower starts to twinkle. For five minutes lights flashed and my eyes were fixed on the beauty in front of me.

A look at the modern Paris, which most don't get to see

It was so relaxing just being able to witness the Eiffel Tower and others sites some people can only dream about. This dream came to a close when my alarm went off at 4 am on Monday morning. This meant an early flight back to Prague and the final journey home to Olomouc.  I never really wanted to go to Paris. That soon turned into another unforgettable weekend exploring one of the most famous cities in the world.

Krakow; one of the best places on earth

By this point in my trip I’ve visited quite a few cities and traveled to eight different countries. I can say that without a doubt Krakow is one of my favorites. I wasn’t expecting much from this city and wasn’t really sure what the city had to offer. I was pleasantly surprised and am sitting on our bus heading home, wishing we had more time in Krakow.

Our time in Krakow consisted of three days throughout the city. We loaded up the bus at our dorms and began our journey to Krakow on Friday morning at 9am. After our quick four-hour bus ride, we arrived in Krakow at the Wieliczka Salt Mines. The salt mines are located on the outskirts of town and have been used for mining since the 13^th century. We began our journey deep into the salt mines with our guide by descending 53 levels of stairs to the bottom where our tour started. Soon enough, we began to weave our way through the mines while listening to our guide tell stories from centuries before. Along the way we would stop periodically and lick the walls of the mine and fill our mouths with a salty flavor. I would do this throughout the trip just to sample the different kinds of salt. Half way through the tour we came to a vast open area that is used today as a chapel. It was incredible to see how much salt was excavated and the ornate decorations they had there today. Walking through the salt mine, there were two thoughts running through my head. The first one was how all the salt miners did this work centuries before without electricity and modern technology. This had to be extremely tough and exhausting work. The second thought running through my head was a statistic our guide told us. We were down in the mines constantly walking for two hours and only witnessed 1% of the mines. It was hard to wrap my head around how large these mines must be if we say only a tiny portion.

The chapel deep in the salt mines

Later that day we checked into our hostel and then wandered around the old Jewish Quarter to find some food. We sat down at a restaurant called Mama and ordered pierogis and some drinks. I had two amazing wheat beers and the four of us each had a shot of Zubrowka. After supper we made our way to the square and mosey around until our pub-crawl. Most of our group attended this pub-crawl and it was a blast! We all had a great time laughing and drinking together.

David, Lydia, and myself on our pub crawl!

On Saturday we woke up and made our way as a group to the Wawel Castle, which held the armory and treasury. Our guide took us through the museum where we saw different artifacts and some of the staterooms. By now we’ve seen so many museums and old artifacts, it’s honestly just all the same. Nonetheless, it was amazing to see so much history and hear the stories behind them.

After our tour in the morning we were all free to spend the rest of the day as we wished, so of course I started by eating food. In the Old Town Square there are little huts set up selling jewelry, clothes, pottery, Polish food, and even beer. My lunch consisted of a sausage, potatoes, a strawberry crepe topped with chocolate sauce, a beer, and a slushy. Needless to say, I was extremely full and my pants were expanding at an uncontrollable rate. I then visited the church in the town square, walked around the vendors, and made my way down to the river as my food was attempting to be digested.

Soon enough it was time for supper. A few friends and I sat down at a beer garden and each ordered a liter of beer. After our ginormous beers arrived, the waitress brought me my plate of pierogis and my Polish soup. David Burkink and I shared a mixed plate of 24 pierogis stuffed with meat, potatoes, and cabbage. The soup was marvelous and filled with dill, sausage, and hard-boiled eggs. I sat there incredibly full and eventually made my way back to the hostel in order to have more beers and begin to pregame for later that night. We kept drinking and after searching the streets for a few minutes found the club. We made our way inside and explored upstairs and downstairs of the club while dancing to some great music.

We were also lucky enough to have our hostel provide breakfast for us each morning. Although this sounds great, it’s not as great as it sounds. European breakfast consists of bread with some type of spread, some vegetables and cheese for a sandwich, and maybe some fruit. It’s something to eat in the morning, but not very filling and definitely not what we’re used to back in the states. And I forgot to mention the warm milk. Sunday we woke up had breakfast, packed up our bags, and went to Schindler’s Factory. I was slightly disappointed in this museum.  I was expecting to hear the story about Schindler and what his factory was about. Instead, it was our guide essentially talking to us about the Holocaust.

I’m now finishing this post as I sit in my dorm room at Neredin back in the Czech Republic. Krakow was amazing, but it’s always great to be back in Olomouc. The end of the trip is winding down rapidly and I’m not ready to wake up from this dream I’ve been living. Only 29 days until I’m homeward bound.