Eastern European adventures
Prague
Welcome the the gorgeous Prague, Czech Republic!
My best friend Daniela and I are lucky enough to get to spend 10 days traveling Eastern Europe before graduation. We chose to start with Prague, what I have come to call a "medieval fairytale kingdom." It's even complete with a natural moat, the beautiful Vltava river. It has quickly become one of my most favorite cities in the world! If you can, you must try to get here.
Ps. I'm trying to be more artsy with my photography and capture more unique shots...
Vienna
Wien, Austria. My kind of city: art, culture, opera, classical music, and theatre
When I think of Austria, I think of opera. ballet. art. the Sound of Music. the Hofburg.
And I got to experience almost all of that in Vienna!
We got to experience Vienna with a tour guide of some sort, one of my friends has been studying abroad in Vienna for the past 5 months, so he showed us around a bit! It was nice to see some of his favorite places, even though he has no sense of direction and most of the time we were telling him how to get around. But it was so nice to see him, and to stay at his apartment, meet his friends, and of course he spoke much better German that I do!
We did everything– the Naschmarkt, the Schönbrunn Palace, the Belvedere Gardens, and even the Prater Amusement Park, right in the city! The Hofburg Palace was absolutely incredible and by far the highlight of my trip. If you ever are in Vienna, make sure you go! And we lucked out because it was such beautiful weather!
Krakow
Czy mówisz po angielsku? That means "Do you speak English?" in Polish. It was one of our top used phrases that week.
Poland fascinated me in ways that I can't even describe. The effects of the war were visible everywhere, and I'm not talking about in the concentration camps. I mean all around the cities, the towns, the countryside... everyday life, the people, the food. There are "milk bars," which are like soup kitchens. You can walk by the walls of the ghetto, still standing. And just around the corner is Schindler's Factory, from Schindler's List. We couldn't go to Poland without going to one of the concentration camps, which was one of the harshest realities I have ever seen; Probably the most powerful place I have ever been in my life: Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Krakow was incredible. It is one of the oldest cities in Poland and all of its history is right there laid out in front of you.
I took very few pictures at Auschwitz because it was such a heavy weight just taking it all in. People and sunshine or not, you can never erase the power and significance of a place like Auschwitz. For those of you who have never been there, I can't even begin to describe it. It makes me sick just thinking back at being there and what happened there. But if you can, you must find time to go. Time to appreciate and honor the 4.1 million people who were killed there. The front entrance reads "Arbeit Macht Frei" meaning "work sets you free" which is what the prisoners were told.
