Southern Bohemia! A trip full of great memories

Week 10: Last week in the Czech Republic:(   Group trip to southern Bohemia!

Monday we finished up our finals and on Tuesday we were off to our last group trip to southern Bohemia in the Czech Republic! Time is flying by and it's crazy that this was the last week in the Czech Republic and the last days with everyone on this trip. We all started off as strangers at the beginning of the trip and now we have grown into a family. We made sure make the most of the little time we had left together!

Litomysl

The first place we stopped at was Litomysl. It was such a cute little city full of little hidden treasures. When we arrived they told us that we needed to go check into our hostel first, and they were walking to the castle. I was a little confused at first until I realized that we were going to be staying in a nice, cute hostel that was connected to the castle. I felt like royalty. We only had a day in Litomysl but we were able to see some great things! We were given a presentation about the history of Litomysl, which was quite interesting. Then we were able to see the castle, church, and garden/park. The church was amazing!! It was just renovated and finished last year. We were able to climb to the top of it and see a great view of the town. While we were in Litomysl, we also found a bus with a hole in it (some modern art thing that I don't understand), wandered around the town, and enjoyed some great food. We also had a great time celebrating Jessica's birthday!! The little time we had in Litomysl was perfect. 

Litomyl Castle where we stayed

A beautiful view of Litomysl

Lezaky

Wednesday morning we packed up our things, said goodbye to Litomysl, and was on our way to Kutna Hora. Before arriving at Kutna Hora, we stopped at Lezaky. Words were taken away from me. Lezaky used to be a village and now all that remains is a memorial. On June 24, 1942 this village was wiped out. The Nazi came in and killed every single person from this village because they found connections with a man from here that killed a German Nazi commander. This man committed suicide hoping that if he were dead they wouldn't come after the entire village. However, the Nazis did not care and came in and killed everyone in Lezaky anyways. Here we were able to see many stone memorials and foundations of houses. While we were here I realized that when we study the war in school, we never even mention this. An entire village was killed and I never even heard of it before, and this was happening everywhere to many villages. I was surrounded by what used to be a village full of houses, people, and life, and now all that was left was stones and grass. 

Kutna Hora

When arriving at Kutna Hora, we fist stopped at the bone church. I found this church so interesting!! Every decoration was made out of real human bones. It was amazing to see the different ways they placed each and every bone to make a perfect decoration. These bones came from real people, when they moved the cemetery and didn't have enough room for all of the graves, so they decided to just use the bones inside the church. Along with all of the bone decorations, there were also 4 huge piles of human bones in each corner of the church. In all it is estimated that about 6,000 skeletons are in the church. Back home I recently just took my anatomy class so it was actually very interesting to be looking at the differences in all of the skulls and bones, but yet it was still kinda creepy inside the church. After this we checked into our hotel and had some free time to enjoy some great food and wonder around the cute town of Kutna Hora. Next we made our way to St. Barbara's church. It was such a beauty!! This massive church was so beautiful inside and out. That evening we grabbed some bottles of wine and picked up some pizza and sat in our hotel room just talking with each other about life. It was a nice change up to just play some cards and games and talk with each other! The next morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then made our way to the silver mines! We were told that the Kutna Hora silver mines are the oldest mines in all of Europe. These mines were quite an adventure!! We had to dress up in white coats and hard hats before going into the mines. Before entering we were warned that it is very small and narrow- and they were not lying. After climbing down many stairs, we made it to the tunnels. We had to crouch down low, squeeze through many tight spaces, and pack together in small meeting points. At some points I felt like we might get stuck and be trapped down there forever, but overall it was a blast to be crawling around in this old mine. After the salt mines, we were off to the next town!

Everything was made out of bones!

There were 4 big piles of bones like this one!

So many bones!

Enjoying Kutna Hora!

St. Barbara's Church

Great view of Kutna Hora

The entire group after the silver mines!!

Inside the mines!

All of these people have turned into my second family! 

Thanks for a great semester!!

Cesky Budejovice

On our way to Cesky Krumlov, we made a stop at Ceske Budejovice. We stopped here for one reason only- to have a tour of the Budweiser Budvar Brewery! All of us have found it pretty funny that our professors from the Czech Republic literally have mandatory pub-crawls and tours of breweries in our syllabus- which would never happen back home in the states. It is also very normal here to go get a beer with your professors, and the history department even had an end of year party full of grilling and drinking beer with all of the professors and students on the university property, which is something we are not used to at all back home. Our time at the Budweiser Brewery was a blast! We were able to walk through and observe every single step of the brewery, from the start of plain water to the end product of beer and the bottling. It was so interesting to be able to see each step. We also got to have some samples of the great beer. Everyone in our group has now been converted from American Budweiser to the Czech Budweiser Budvar! :) 

The brewery!

Straight out of the barrel!

Budweiser Budvar

Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov is a town straight out of a fairy tail book. Everything there was so cute and perfect. The castle sitting at the top of the hill with the river running through the center of town and the beautiful scenery surrounding it all made this town picture perfect. I fell in love with the charm and beauty that this town had. When we first got there a bunch of us girls went roaming around looking at all of the beautiful little shops, and exploring the town. That night a group of us ate at a mid evil restaurant that was delicious. It was such a fun place to eat because it felt like an old castle and there were no lights anywhere, just little candles. The next morning we got a tour of the beautiful castle and the old theatre. Every little detail was so pretty. We also got to see some great views of the entire town, which was just stunning. That afternoon it started raining, but we weren't going to let that ruin our plans of rafting! Even though it was only suppose to take us 2 hours, it actually ended up taking us 4 1/2 hours. I cannot describe how much fun we all had on this rafting trip. Many times we fell (or jumped) into the freezing cold river, which was pry not smart but it was worth it. By the end of it, we were all shivering and miserable, but we all had such a blast and we would have done it all over again in a heartbeat. Rafting in Cesky Krumlov goes down as one of my favorite memories that I have had in Europe. We all had a great time laughing with each other and spending our last time together. It is a memory I will never forget. That evening was bittersweet as our entire group went out to eat together one last time. We enjoyed a delicious feast with all of the group, our 3 professors, and our bus driver. We all ate way too much food and we were in actual pain from how full we all were, but it sure was delicious. Our relationships with each other have grown so much and we have become a family over these last 3 months. The next day we said goodbye to Cesky Krumlov and made a stop at the Hluboka Castle. This was by far the biggest and most beautiful castle we have visited yet. It was just amazing. Then we had a long bus ride back home to Olomouc. It is unbelievable to think that this was our last time in the Czech Republic. 

Cesky Krumlov

Trdelniks:)

Cesky Krumlov- I fell in love with this fairy tail town! 

Best roomie I could have asked for!

yum yum

The rafting crew!!

Memories that will last a lifetime!

Best boat crew around!

Just hanging out at the Hluboka Castle.

It will be weird to not be traveling with everyone from now on. We have seen one another every single day for the past 3 months, and we spend every waking minute with each other. Although many times we have become annoyed with each other, we were all sad when we realized this is the last time that we would all be together. Being on this program and living in the Czech Republic has been one of the best decisions I have made, and I will miss it terribly. I already can't wait to come back and visit it again sometime in the future.  

London is always a good idea

Week 9: Weekend trip to London!

It all hit us out of nowhere- this is our last week that we would be living in Olomouc, staying in our dorms, and going to class. The time has flown by! It is crazy to think that we have to leave so soon when it feels like we just got here. Our last week was sure a busy week! We had lots of classes, a trip to a castle, finals to take, going away parties to attend, and meeting up with our Czech friends to have one last drink with them. We also made an American/Nebraska presentation for the Czech students and professors here. It was such a great week being able to spend time with the entire group and all of the Czech people we have had the chance to meet! I am so sad that my time here in Olomouc is coming to an end, but I’m very grateful for the time we have had here! Olomouc will always hold a special place in my heart.

Friday after class we literally ran out the door and made it to the train station just in time to catch our train. We were on our way to London!! Once we landed in London, we were tired and confused, but excited! Waiting in line for our bus, we met some Huskers fans! They were so friendly, helpful and great to talk to! After leaving the airport, it took us quite a while to finally make our way to our hostel. At this point we realized just how big and how expensive London really is. Our hostel wasn't exactly what we were expecting (definitely not what the pictures looked like) but we made it work. We weren't going to let a minor bump ruin our whole weekend in such an amazing city! When we finally got out and about into the city, I absolutely fell in love. Everything around us was just perfect. Right when we stepped out of the metro line, we were all stunned. The Big Ben was towering right in front of us, with the London Eye to the left, and a perfect view of the river. To the right we could see the House of Parliament, Victoria tower, and Westminster Abbey. What a view! As we took a long walk along the river we saw the Sherk tours, many fish and chips restaurants, numerous street performers, and we also eavesdropped into everyone's conversations so that we could listen to their lovely British accents!:) As we approached the London Bridge, I was just in awe. I was falling in love with this amazing and beautiful city. 

Lily and I at the Big Ben!

The London Eye with the group of girls that made it to London!! 

The London Bridge!

To top of an already perfect day, that evening we went to the Wicked show. I felt like I was one of the few people in the world that has not seen Wicked, so I was so excited that I was able to see it for the first time in London. I went in to it not know what to expect, and I was blown away. The performers were phenomenal! I cannot get over how absolutely amazing their signing was!! The costumes were perfect, the scenes and props were unbelievable, and the special effects made this fantastic show even better. The atmosphere was set perfectly, and it made me get into the show so much more. I am now absolutely obsessed with Wicked. If you have not seen Wicked before, I recommend that must go see it.

Waiting to go in!!

We had such a Wicked good time!

We can all now say that we are officially obsessed with Wicked!

My seats weren't the best, but the stage was amazing!

Sunday morning we made our ways to the Camden Lock Markets. Our time here was filled with bargain shopping, getting pushed around in crowds of tourist, and admiring some great hand made crafts. Jessica and I also spent quite a long time at a Chinese buffet where we totally pigged out. It was great. Next we made our way to the grand Buckingham Palace, which was amazing. On our way there we found a big park and decided to relax a little bit, we ended up falling asleep in the sun for over an hour. The rest of the day was spent roaming around the streets, popping into many places, and taking too many pictures. Just another great day! 

We made it to the Camden Lock Markets!

The Buckingham Palace! 

I had to take a picture of the famous guards.

Our flight Monday morning was extremely early, so since we are cheap college kids, we decided to not buy another night a our hostel and to just hang out at the airport for hours. Of course I loved that I was saving money, but this also meant that for the entire day on Sunday we had to carry out big, heavy backpacks everywhere with us, which is a lot more exhausting than you would think. Since we arrived at the airport about 7 hours early, we had a lot of time to waste. This included trying to take a nap on the cold cement floor (but not succeeding), attempting to study for our Czech language final (also not succeeding), and also trying to connect to a little wifi (which of course was also not successful). Time pasted by pretty fast and we were on our way to Prague. From there we caught a train to Olomouc and finally arrived home in the afternoon. We made in back just in time to get to our last class to take our Czech language final. As you all know, I am horrible at this language so you pry can't even imagine me trying to talk in this foreign language when I haven't slept at all. However, I made it through it and completed all of my study abroad classes! Even though it is always a great feeling to finish your classes every semester, I was having a lot of mixed feelings because this meant that my time in the Czech Republic was coming to an end. The time here has just flown by! This week we will be spending our last week in the Czech Republic on a class trip. We will be traveling to southern Bohemia to make to the most of the little time we have left in this great country!

London was a great weekend filled with laughs and some great memories. We had a blast seeing some great sights, eating plenty of fish and chips, and roaming around. We also had lots of adventures rushing through the underground tube line trying to navigate our way through the huge city. London was definitely one for the books. 

A great weekend with some great girls!

On to another city- Kraków, Poland!

Week 8: Class trip to Kraków, Poland

Another country has been added to the list! This weekend we made a class trip to the great city of Kraków, Poland. Although we had a very shot time there, I enjoyed every minute. It was fun to dive into another culture and explore new places. While we were there, we noticed that their language is very similar to Czech, which I found very interesting. However, like in most cities, everyone can speak English so we never really ran into any communication problems. When we first arrived we visited the amazing salt mines. Our trip to Krakow also included seeing the beautiful city center, markets, churches, and the castle of Kraków. We also were able to check out the popular nightlife there, and lastly we ended the weekend with a trip to Schindler's Factory. 

The Wieliczka Salt Mine was such a sight to see! After waking down 800+ steps we made it to the cool mines. We were told that as tall as the Eiffel Tower is, that is how far deep we were under the ground. The tour was so fascinating as we explored many chambers and tunnels of this enormous mine. It felt like we were walking around everywhere and that we had covered the entire size of the mine, until we were told that we had only covered 1% of the entire mine. Crazy! The chambers were enormous! On the tourist route there was many status and exhibits that were massive and extravagant- and of course all of it was made out of salt! One of the big chambers also included a sanctuary, which was so beautiful!! Every Sunday a mass is held there and there are also many weddings there too. The carvings on the walls looked like paintings and the chandlers were all made out of salt crystals. Our guide was told us about all of the different salts and of course we all licked the walls to try the salt! It was a blast at the salt mines! 

Inside the salt mine

Some carvings in the walls of the salt mines.

That night we checked into our hostel and had an amazing Polish dinner and then we decided to go on a pub-crawl. Kraków is pretty famous for their nightlife and for their special Zubrowka vodka. It was fun to go and hang out with our whole Nebraska group! The next day we made our way to the treasury and castle. Both were very beautiful! Then we were set free to explore the city on our own. We tried many different foods from the stands and also wandered through all of the great markets. Poland is very cheap!! So it was nice to look at all of their jewelry, pottery, and handcrafted items at these markets, and also to get some souvenirs. We also made our way to the vintage markets in the Jewish ghetto! 

Delicious Polish Pierogies!

Along the way we stopped inside many grand churches and were in awe of their beauty. Another cultural difference from the Czech Republic is their religion here. In Poland they are very devote Catholics and about 90% of their population is Catholic. This is very different from the Czech Republic since it is one of the least religious countries in the entire world. So when stopping in these amazing churches, we found them packed full of people praying. Many times when we visit churches in the Czech Republic they are either practically empty or there are tourist just coming inside to look at the beauty and history of the church. It was a nice and refreshing scene to see churches in Poland actually being used for its purpose by so many people.

Inside St. Mary's Basilica 

The last day we were in Kraków, we made our way to Schindler's Factory. What a powerful place. Oskar Schindler was a Nazi solider who saved over 1,200 lives by having Jews work for him in a factory. He protected his workers by convincing commanders to have these people work in his factory rather than being sent to death camps and concentration camps. At the factory, our guide did an amazing job of making us feel as though we were being taken back in time to relieve the history, and looking at WWII in different perspective than I have ever imagined it before. Similar to Auschwitz, it is hard to find the right words to fully explain it. I could never imagine living though something like that. It is so important to be able to learn about such terrible times in history so that they will not repeat themselves. It was a great experience to be able see and learn about such a historical event.

Inside Schindler's Factory. These are pots that were made by the Jews that worked at this factory. 

All of the names of the people who Schindler saved. 

Kraków, Poland made for a good weekend! It was full of fun times, great people, amazing food, nice sights, cheap prices, and important history.