Vienna, Venice, Rome, & Malta

Hello again,

The 2591 mile trip started off in Vienna, Austria.  The city was far from my expectations.  Vienna felt like being in Chicago or some other big city.  When I visited Salzburg, Austria my expectation for Vienna were similar to the look and feel of Salzburg.  The group visited several museums, but I had little interest in them.  I understand that the Habsburgs are very important to European history but I have little interest in that particular area.  The part of Vienna I enjoyed the most was exploring the city, seeing the different styles of architecture, and visiting the Naschmarkt.  This small market has been a staple of the culture of Vienna by existing since the 16th century. One highlight of being in Vienna was the schnitzel; I can say that I ate my fair share of that wonderful dish. (Pictured below was a great tasting schnitzel!)  St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna was another highlight.  Of all of the churches visited in Europe thus far, it is number 2.  Number one will forever be St. Peter's Basilica but that will come later.  Maria Theresa Square was one of my favorite places in Vienna.  This square had great landscaping, bueatiful massive buildings, and great statues.

Representing the Huskers all the way in Vienna!  Throwing bones.....GO BIG RED!
This was taken at Figlmüller.  Great restaurant known for the schnitzel.

 Great group picture of us visiting St. Stephen's Cathedral.

Picture of Jacob, Molly, and I sitting in the center of the Maria Theresa Square.

As we left Vienna and began traveling to Venice, it was great to see such a variety of landscapes.  Being in the midst of the Alps and then the lush wine country of Italy was great to see in such a short amount time.  That journey alone had several great views.  My favorite was looking back on vineyards with the Alps in the background.

VENICE

My first impression of Italians was extremely negative.  Train stations on strike, rude employees at train stations, and pure laziness.  The time in Venice was great, easily one of my favorite cities I have visited during my adventure in Europe.  Jan was great to have with us as he took on a short tour on Venice explaining the history of the word "ghetto", the Jewish part of Venice, and St. Mark's Square.  After the short tour, Venice was ours to explore.  Our small group immediately found some great gelato and pasta.  We all ate more pasta and pizza than we knew what to do with.

The next day consisted of visiting the museums of Venice at St. Marks Square.  It was great to again see former dungeons and prisons of ancient Venice.  The highlight of the day was visiting St. Marks Basilica.  My third favorite church in Europe.  We were able to visit this after the conclusion of Palm Sunday Mass and during the visit we were allowed to take a small piece of a branch if we desired.  This was unusual because back home I am used to a traditional palm during that particular service.

Great group picture on one of the many bridges scattered throughout Venice.

I would have liked to stay in Venice at least 2 more days, but we had our plans for Spring Break which included Rome and Malta.  Rome was a great choice.  I learned so much about the city as well as my personal faith by having the opportunity to visit Vatican City.

We began the adventure in Rome with an open air bus tour to familiarize ourselves with the city.  Our flat we stayed at was in a great location between Vatican City and the Colosseum.  There were so many buildings and monuments in Rome that I loved by my favorite was by far the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II.  This building is a tribute to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.

The pictures above are of the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II during the day and again at night.  Once darkness fell in Rome,  I feel as if it became a new city.

It was great to be back in Olomouc after Spring Break.  I was spent after that much traveling.  With classes resuming,  I attended several classes taught by Dr. Gaudenz Assenza.  This professor had a great way of thinking forcing myself to take a thought/idea and force it into a detailed plan for the future.  He was by far one of the most motivational enthusiast and supported of individual ideas.  Within each class I absorbed so much information to stimulate new ideas on my future, new economic ideas and thoughts,  new political thoughts and insights, and personal motivation.  Dr. Assenza spoke of opinions on several topics, which I found amazing.  He knew so much about each topic and voiced an opinion but never took a side.  He remained neutral to each topic.  I am not sure if this style was for our benefit to choose or side, at least that is how I took it.  I'm thinking not everyone interpreted the material as I did, but I enjoyed these lectures and look forward to communicating to Dr. Assenza in the future.

Until next time....I will keep doing what the locals do

-----Thad


Favorite Parts of Being Abroad

• Everyday is a new experience
• Doing what the locals do
• Although not always enjoyable the different foods
• Beer!
• Meeting new people

What I Miss from Home

• Family & Friends
• Being able to use a restroom without paying for it
• My mom's cooking
• English
• People being able to correctly say my name.

Prague, Brno, and Pivo!

I am back again enjoying a nice pivo as a write my next update of the past weeks adventures.

We started the great trip off by headed to Prague.  Martin and Jan lead us for a quick tour of the St. Wenceslaus Square, an introduction to the New and Old Town of Prague, and finished the tour off at the John Lennon Wall.  After this the day was ours to be lost in the city of Prague.

 I feel this wall needs a nice GO BIG RED!!! tagged somewhere.  Maybe in the near feature....

 Here is a quick picture of Jacob, Kaitlyn and myself by the wall.

The face of Lennon is about the only recognizable part of him or the wall that remains. 

The group stopped by a little pub to enjoy lunch, more Svíčková and pivo.  After the great traditional Czech lunch, my sister met up with us and was our tour guide for the rest of the day.  We quickly took off for the Petřín Lookout Tower which is a replica of the Eiffel Tower but only a third of the size.  We all had a great view of the city of Prague from the top.

 The 2 spires are the cathedral of the Prague Castle. 

 The Charles bridge is hardly visible.  This photo does little justice.

Molly made me do this on the way down in the park of the tower.  Someone can laugh if they want.

After being in Europe for nearly 3 weeks, the group was all craving some American food and I knew of a great place for that thanks to my sister.  By the grace of God, a nice woman from Kentucky moved to Prague and opened The Tavern.  She knew what she was doing as well.  This took care of my fix for the remainder of my trip. 

The Apoka Burger ---For the End of Times
The guys were speechless while eating.  This was much needed but it's back to the local cuisine for the rest of the experience here.

From Prague the entire group day tripped to Dresden, Germany for another new experience.  This city was a definite change from what everyone was accustomed to.  Modern buildings, no graffiti at all, and a another new language.  This city was heavily affected by the war.  All of the buildings were replicas of what the city used to be.  This was a great trip minus running through the city trying to catch our train that I joyfully watching leave the station without us.  Bier break while we waited, it's not pivo anymore.

Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) was the focus of the following day.  This castle is in the top three largest castle's in the world. 

Not the best picture but some idea of the magnitude of the cathedral can be noticed

These windows lined the castle windows, added in the late 19th century

Nothing for justice here, the cathedral is amazing from a personal view.

The final day in Prague was spent visiting the Jewish quarter, it was here that I'd find something I did not expect.  This area holds walls of names of Jewish people who were killed during World War II.  The name in the picture confused me for the remainder of the day....

Very surprised by this...I was always told my last name was German

From here we continued the Jewish cemetery where well over 100,000 bodies are buried on top of each other.  This experience was difficult to explain.  I'm sure everyone has a different interpretation and feelings.  The pictures do little but an idea can be gained.

The return to Olomouc was anticipated by all.  Personally, I was tired of the tourism and busyness of Prague.  Olomouc has its own degree of slowness and a relaxed feeling whereas Prague is far from it.  Classes flew by for the week but we still managed to enjoy Olomouc during the week by going to our favorite brewery, Svatováclavský.  Here is always a great pivo, chocolate, banana, or their original brews are all fantastic. 

Jake and I enjoying our liter pivo!

The middle of the week as usual was broken up by the Erasmus party on Wednesday.  Slovakia was the hosting country, we all enjoyed a different atmosphere while having a great time.

 

After another week of classes, nine of us bought bus tickets for a trip to Brno (city in the Czech Rep.)

The best part of Brno was the Capuchin Crypts. Here monks and wealthy citizens who supported the church were placed in a crypt where their bodies could still be seen.  41 bodies can be seen in this crypt, most of them at least 250 years old.  Several walls of the crypt contained the Latin inscription of "Tu Fui Ego Eris" which means What you are, we were, what we are, you will be.  After reading this and walking throughout, this message was discussed in the group due to its truth.  Seeing this crypt was a great experience for all.

This large open tomb was the place for several monks, some still had a rosary or a cross on or next to them.

 

If I said, "I was excited for our next trip I would be a fool."  Vienna, Venice, Rome, and Malta is the plan for the next two weeks.  Being in Rome for the beginning of Holy Week will be a once in a lifetime experience.  As for Malta, our group is in need of a beach life and some warm weather.  I hope the island doesn't keep us there forever.   The next post should be a great one.

Until then.....

Thad