Final Blog Post

Packing and Traveling
 
As for bringing items from home, I brought a towel and an extra blanket.  I should have left the blanket at home because I never used it.  I really didn't pack anything special.  I stuck to the list provided and it did me well.  The only things that could have stayed at home were extra clothes.  Travel tips to pass on are:  DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE GOING TO A NEW CITY.....do not try and wing it.  Having plans makes for a smooth and enjoyable experience.  Use books such as Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor is great, and Rick Steves' Podcasts are great because it essentially a free tour for that given city or tourist attraction.  Always do what the locals are doing in the particular area, it is the best way to discover a real feel for the city.  My top 3 places in Europe so far have been: Budapest, Malta, and Salzburg, Austria.  Budapest was a beautiful city with enough to keep someone busy for weeks.  Malta was the sameway,  the ocean was perfect and everyone was so friendly there.  Salzburg was a great short trip from the Czech Republic.  Great food and beautiful landscape surrounds the city.  Everyone has their own favorite places and by doing my homework on what to do in these areas made for great memories to be remembered.

Social Life

I always met students from the Czech Republic at the bars during the evenings.  Experiencing the bar life was a great way to meet students from the Czech Republic as well as other countries.  I liked to spend my free time traveling around to make the most of my trip, eating local foods, and spending a good amount of time at the local pubs and bars.  I enjoyed doing this because I received a great sense of the local lifestyle.  I feel like my free time was used very well.  Although being exhausted by it, I did not come to Europe to sleep but to experience as much as I could in my short time and I feel very cultured by my time spent here.  The top activity for experiencing a vast social and cultural events were the Erasmus parties at Belmondo.  Here you could meet anyone from around the world and learn about their culture and lifestyle.  Everyone speaks English too which is a plus!  Best advice for future students is to use the free time to travel around, have a great sense of adventure, for many people this is a once in a lifetime experience so take anything and everything in and enjoy it.

School Work

I feel as if not much differed from back home as in terms of academics.  Some of our lectures were dry and boring but everyone has lectures like that back home.  As for my study habits, I did not really have any study habits.  I was in Europe after all to have a good time so I completed my school work when necessary then put the thought in the background.  Everyday is a learning process so I was not going to allow school to hinder my experience in Europe.  Library?  Whats that? Never went.....was I  supposed to go?  Keeping an open mind was the best strategy for making the most of any situation either academic or personal experience.  No one will ever enjoy every activity but shutting an experience down half way through kills any enjoyment to be had.

Money & Communications

I would say every cent of $4000 to enjoy the trip without having to worry about money.  I planned on going on this trip 2 years ago.  This allowed me to save a large sum of money to enjoy my time in Europe without having to be conscious of my budget.  I was not a foolish spender while in Europe but I was always comfortable with my financial status.  Anyone on this trip could make the trip expensive if they wanted or the trip can be spent in a frugal mindset.  In terms on finances, it is up to the student on how much and what they spend money on.  I managed my money by using an international credit card.  My particular card is the Barclaycard by Mastercard.  This card has zero international transaction fees.  This was by far the smartest decision because I did not need to worry about carrying cash and horrible ATM fees.  I spent maybe $10 on books, $15 on school supplies, $300-$500 on food and alcohol, $1000 on travel, $50 on laundry, and $20 on toiletries.  Again these are all ballpark numbers,  save early and money will not be a main concern while traveling abroad in Europe.  Skype was the main source of communicating with friends and family back home.  I wouldn't use anything else.

Top 10 Activities

1. Go to Budapest,  I have nothing to regret while going there.  Boat parties on the Danube, pub crawls at night, free walking tours, stay at a youth hostel,  go to the Grand Central market, do not worry about sleeping.....that is what the bus ride home is for!
2. Malta, Malta, Malta -- This was a great spring break destination.  Scuba diving, beaches, perfect ocean weather, and relaxing without a care in the world.  Malta was relatively cheap to travel to as well.  Friendly people and everyone speaks English.  
3. Talk with Jan and Martin----These guys are great and will help anyone out with travel plans or what ever someone might need.  They know so much about European cities.  Ask them questions because they know the answers.  Go to lunch/supper with them when given the opportunity.
4. Travel and experience Olomouc-----Just because it is the home base or where the dorms are doesn't mean Olomouc has nothing to offer.  This is a great city to be experienced.  So many great little restaurants, pubs, and hidden churches.
5. Do what the locals do.  I wasn't sent in a wrong direction because of this.

One Visit Is One Too Many

Time only moves one way, away from yesterday, but the memories never change.

I will start off this life changing adventure with my visit to Terezín.  Terezín or Theresienstadt was a concentration camp, ghetto, and a prison in an area north of Prague.  This was my first concentration camp visit and a definitive eye opener.

 The cemetery outside the walls of Terezin where a few of the victims of the camp were given a proper burial.  Some headstones contained a date while many simply contained a name.

 "Arbeit macht frei"  This German slogan meaning "work makes free" was commonly displayed above entrances to concentration camps throughout Europe.  That slogan was rarely if ever accurate.
This long corridor was the location for registration of prisoners, followed by being given a uniform, and finally marched through the gate into the prison cells.  These cells designed to hold 40 people were often crammed with over 100 people.  Poor diet, horrible conditions, and high levels of diseases made survival unrealistic.  Any mail that the prisoners would received from family or friends was opened by SS guards and rarely if ever made it to the rightful owner.  Any food sent was mixed or cooked and fed to the entire camp.  Medicine, cigarettes, and food was all mixed together and served as food. (if you want to call it food)

These barracks were built as an additional living quarters to Terezin by prisoners; over 600 prisoners would remain here at one time.  The temperatures in the summer reached well over 100 degrees inside and unbearably cold in the winter.  No mattresses, one toilet, and no privacy.  



Now for an enjoyable experience?  Definitely!

The trip to Kroměříž will always be a great memory.  This city was relaxing and enjoyable, while keeping its own identity different from any city I have previously visited.  

 The view from the top of the tower in the Kroměříž Palace of the Archbishops, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

The palace garden was a unique experience to encounter.  This palace garden was massive, extending in every direction from the picture above.  This garden contained several lakes, a stream, and its own zoo.....Not a bad place to live.

The next stop in Kroměříž was the highlight of the day and one of my many favorites while visiting Europe.  The wine cellars of the Archbishops of Kroměříž.  Here we enjoyed a guided tour and a tasting of all natural high-quality sacramental wines, whose tradition goes back more than 730 years. Wine vats of various sizes scattered the cellar where the delicious wine matures.

 Private wine lockers available to rent from the cellars.  I'll take 2 please!

 The cellar's temperature and atmosphere are perfect conditions for making and storing this adult grape juice.  The temperature varies only a few degrees.  The temperature is always between 48 and 51 degrees Fahrenheit.  Almost the entire cellar is covered in mold, walls and ceilings included  (picture above).  Not sure how this stands on a health point but if the wine is happy then I'm happy.

 One of the many vats in the cellar.  Can anyone guess the amount of wine stored in this vat?  19, 100 liters of wine or 25, 466 bottles. 

 Above is the wine stored produced in the cellar from the previous year.  Close to 50,000 bottles are stored in this room alone.

 A quick stop in Ostrava to visit Vítkovice Ironworks was interesting.  Over 90 million tons of iron was produced here while the factory was in operation.  This industrial park is now toured daily with people from all over the world.   Even though I am not an expert on iron ore production,  I still enjoyed learning about the aspects and being able to have the opportunity climb the various structures like employees of the factory used to do so.

 

Schlindler's factory in Krakow was a great visit.  Easily the best museum visited thus far in Europe.  The preparation and design of this museum was a near perfect replication of what life was life in Krakow during German occupation. 

 The replication of the Jewish ghetto in Krakow was one of my favorites during the museum visit.  Feeling the rock beneath my feet with a barbwire fence gave me a small sense of how extreme the ghetto was. 

 Walls on walls of Nazi propaganda scattered throughout the museum.

 This simple statement needs no explanation.

Some of the thousands of pieces of metal ware produced by the factory of Oskar Schlindler.

The Wawel Castle in Krakow was another place visited in Poland.  During the visit to the castle, we visited the castle armory, the dragon's den, and the estate rooms of the castle.

The visit in Krakow was great.  This city is in my top 3 cities visited thus far in Europe.  The food was fantastic and the people were extremely friendly.  I would love to make a return visit in the near future.

Auschwitz

Usually when visiting a new place, I can feel excitement for this new and upcoming experience.  My excitement or desire to visit Auschwitz was non-existent.  Upon arrival,  I was shocked by the presence of hotels and restaurants right next to Auschwitz I.  How people sleep so close to a place where obliteration and eradication of human life occurred?  That is one question I may never understand.

The pictures above are the entrance to Auschwitz I. Most people just think of Auschwitz as 1 camp but there were 3 main camps with over 40 smaller satellite camps.  The camps are as follows: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkneau/Killing Camp), & Auschwitz III or Monowitz-Buna (Labor Camp/Factories).  The picture of me smiling did not last long once our tour began.  You will see in the upcoming pictures, which are extremely difficult to explain, why a smile is impossible to create.

Locations of people transported to Auschwitz.  Many of these people went straight to Auschwitz II to the gas chambers. Upon entering these buildings, my first impression or feeling was the staircases.  Warped and worn cement staircases and uneasy to walk on, my first thought was how many people had walked upon these stairs.  That was an uneasy experience.

 A picture from inside a block at Auschwitz.  A look out the window still resembled a prison. 

 1 can of Zyklon B claimed the lives of 700 people.

 Names and descriptions of items taken from people arriving to Auschwitz.  They were often told to leave their belongings and they will be able to return later to collect them.  These people were never able to return, most went straight to the gas chambers.

Well over 500,000 pairs of shoes......difficult to talk about and even worse to view in person.

 Block 11.  A prison inside of a prison.  In my opinion, this was one of the worst parts of Auschwitz.  The cement wall was the execution wall where human lives were taken by the squeeze of a trigger from a German SS official.  The slanted posts were a torture methods used when arms were placed behind the back of the particular person and hung by the eye screw by the rope binding the hands.  Germans prevented the inmate from touching the ground while being exposed to this torture method.  This often resulted in the dislocation of the shoulders and/or broken bones.  After this punishment lasting 1 hour, many were sent straight to the gas chamber because if you cannot work you cannot live.

The two pictures above are of Auschwitz II or Birkneau.  It was here where people were unloaded like cattle and by the direction of a finger movement from a German officer the fate of that person was decided.  Right to the gas chamber or left to the work camp.  

The means of transportation for people taken to Auschwitz.

Inside of Auschwitz II.

After visiting Auschwitz, the experience to difficult to speak of, let alone think about.  The memory of Auschwitz will always remain in its own preservation but the interpretation of this place will be forever changing as I continue to learn about my life and the changes the world will experience.  I have no desire to ever return here.  One Visit Is One Too Many.

Until next time....

Thad

--Always do as the locals do--