Post Birthday!

My birthday turned out to be pretty amazing because I was taken care of by my friends.  I got to skip one of the presentations in the morning because I went to get my passport which was so easy it literally took five minutes to get done.  And then I ate lunch with my friends who paid for it.  And then we had a shorter presentation afterwards because we had to go meet the mayor of Prague, Pavel Bem.  He is a handsome man for only being 44.  And he has climbed Mt. Everest!  Anywho, we got to his office and there was a huge table full of candy, fruit, water, and soda.  It was amazing and they also gave us these really nice books about Prague and a free pen.  It was good I got the pen since someone stole mine along with my backpack!  Anyway, we chatted with him for about an hour and then he decided he would buy us tickets to the Gypsy Music Festival that was tonight and I already went to it- AMAZING!  Everyone should try to listen to that music.  It makes you want to move!  Anyway, after we went to the mayor's office, my roomie Lindsay took me shopping for a birthday outfit... just turned out to be a top but it is really cute!  When we were almost ready my pals knocked on the door and when I opened it they had a birthday cake with 23 candles!!!  It was so awesome!  These people are so gracious and friendly and we've only know each other for 3 1/2 weeks.  I guess being away from the rest of your friends and families allows for forming close knits quickly.   Then we went out to dinner at this place that turned out to be good once we got the right food.  The waiter told us to tell him the numbers so we did.  Most of us either got the wienerschnitzel or the beef goulash.   The guy wrote down the wrong thing so when the food comes out, us wienerschnitzel folks got a pork knee on a spit.  I'm not even kidding.  So I had to tell them what was up and it was all taken care of.  Afterwards we came back and had cake, walked all over the damn place, to Charles bridge which is kinda far, and then decided to just go to the bar literally at the end of the street our hotel is on.  It turned out to be a great idea and we all had lots to drink.  Some idiot boys tried Absinth- SICK!  Needless to say, once was enough for those boys.  

Today, besides going to the music festival tonight, I basically did nothing.  I got up and got breakfast by myself, came back and slept a little more, and then my roomie was bored so we went and got lunch and some delish ice cream.  Afterwards we were going to go to do the paddle boating in the river but we thought it would be too expensive and none of us have money.  So then we were going to go to the movies and see Indiana Jones but again we just decided not to go.  We ate dinner with one of our professors instead and then took the metro to the concert hall for the Gypsy festival.  We thought it would be outdoorsy tent stuff but it was definitely a concert with a bunch of different gypsy bands.  We had such a great time though.  And my friend Ryan was pretty tipsy and decided that I was going to be the one that he danced with.  So we did an array of dances like the tango, ballroom type, etc. to the music of gypsies.  I tell you that Ryan was really enjoying it and he seemed to like dipping me.  Good times.  He's an awesome kid.  And speaking of awesome kids, the little gypsy kids who were dancing on stage... those kids can move!  It was so cool to see them doing that!  Apparently this concert is once a year and everyone always tries to get tickets to go so we were really lucky that my professor is pals with the mayor.  I found yesterday that the drug laws for Prague were written in my professors living room- SWEET!  Anyway, my roomie, another girl, and I decided to leave early because it was freakin hot!  We got on the metro and got to the part where we had to change lines and then we got on the one going the wrong way.  Luckily we only went one stop before I realized it.  We got home safely, albeit in a thunderstorm, and now I am finishing packing my stuff so we can go to Dresden tomorrow.  Hooray! Until next time...

Presentation Day

Today I had my group presentation on the Nuremberg trials.  It was on the book written by Joseph Persico, a very famous historian and biographer.  We ended up doing a good job and were able to make our presentation be the full 2 1/2 hours.  Unfortunately, there were people in our group who didn't read the book and made themselves look really stupid.  Not to mention, they made our whole group look disorganized which pissed me and one of my other group members off.  We're thinking of discussing it with the professors.  

After our presentation the student advisor/RA for our group took me to the U.S. Embassy so that I could work on replacing my passport.  We got there at like 12:30 and it turns out their lunch break is from 11:30 until 2, and only if it's an emergency can you come after 2.  So we went to the police station with our trusty interpreter (Dasa, pronounced Dasha) to file a police report.  Too bad that it's in Czech and I don't speak Czech but I have it just in case!  Then it turns out that you have to pay $100 to get a replacement passport.  So we had to go to the Bankomat (ATM) and get money... not mine of course!  But luckily, I am also getting the money thing taken care of so it's being fixed.  Anywho, we got to the embassy and we only had to wait maybe 45 minutes for them to tell me that I will be able to pick it up tomorrow.  Hooray!

When I got back to our hotel I went with some friends to go shopping so they could get something to wear for my birthday tomorrow for dinner.  Forgot to mention, my friend Lindsay, and roommate, gave me some money and that made me very happy :) She is a sweet girl!  Back to shopping, we found some stuff for people and then we ate at Subway because we were all having a hankering for some American food.  It was some of the best Subway I have ever had.  Then I asked the girls if we could go to the bookstore to find me a new journal to start back writing in and it turns out, they were planning to buy me one for my birthday as a surprise!!! Even though I ruined the surprise on accident, it was so sweet because they knew how upset I was that I lost my journal.  Love them!  And then, they bought me a new wallet because I don't have one of those either!  Ah, such good friends.  Can't get it until tomorrow but that's ok!  Until next time...

A Moment of Silence

It is a sad day my friends and avid readers.  Some person has stolen my backpack, and at a dang KFC (that's right, Kentucky Fried Chicken in Prague)!  While they may have had a good reason for it, like perhaps that they were hungry and were hoping for money, I wish they would have just come up and tried to get it from me instead of taking my backpack.  Most unfortunately, besides losing my money, ids, passport, iPod, etc., I have had my own personal journal stolen from me.  In it included EVERYTHING about everyday since I've been here, even the plane ride over.  And while my blog does detail the things that I'm doing, it doesn't necessarily portray the social aspect of this trip.  For example, I wrote just last night before this terrible event, that I could not get away from these few people who were particularly annoying and really irritated me.  I kept trying, but in vain, because they somehow ended up with our group of friends!  I had tried to give them a chance, but they are persistently annoying so I chose to distance myself from them instead of being a jerk (I thought it was a good idea!).  And for what! AAAH!!!  And, on top of all this fiasco nonsense, I have to give my big presentation today and coincidentally, we were at KFC working on our project when by backpack was stolen!!!  Is it karma for me wanting to get away from people?  I don't know, but it definitely sucks!  And KFC had a camera right near to where we were but the police said they couldn't use it.  Stupid Czechs!

And so, the only thing that wasn't stolen was my computer which is the most valuable thing in there, probably of everything combined.  For this, I am happy.  Most importantly, it is only stuff and I could have been taken instead of or with my stuff.  That is the silver lining in this drama.  And also that I had no credit cards!!  So today AFTER my presentation, my professors said I could go to the police station to file the report.  How awesome... NOT!  And I feel bad because I have no money so I must rely on my friends until I can somehow get some money... I still haven't figured that out yet.  Until next time...

P.S. My postcards that I was going to send were in my backpack as well, so, you might not get one in the mail, but I will definitely replace them and just give them to you!

P.P.S.  Hey Uncle Randy! Hey Kathy Strakis!!

Praha

So we are back in Prague for a week.  This is a week of intense study and lecture series.  Today we had a lecture on Reinhard Heydrich, the 3rd highest ranking Nazi official behind Hitler and Heinrich Himmler.  The guy who gave the lecture (via our translator, Eva) was very thorough and had so much interesting information about the beginning of Heydrich's rise to power and up until immediately after his assassination.  We then went to the village that the Nazis randomly picked out and destroyed after Heydrich's death, as sort of retaliation against the Czechs for supposedly hiding the parachuters who killed Heydrich.  All very interesting.  Tonight we watched a movie called 'Divided We Fall' where these non-Jewish Czechs who used to work for a Jewish industrialist before they were sent away, end up hiding the eldest son of the family for 2 years in their apartment.  It all turns out so awesome!  Tomorrow we have a day full of presentations, each 2 1/2 hours long.  And then we have another movie.  Might not go to that because I have to make sure my presentation is awesome for Thursday and the people who are presenting tomorrow didn't go to the movie so why should I?  Anyway, must go do group work.  Have I ever mentioned that I strongly dislike group work, especially this one because the only people who have actually finished reading the book are myself and my roommate.  Great.  Until next time...

I'm Back!

After a short hiatus while in Cesky Krumlov, a tiny town in Western Czech Republic right near the Austrian border, I have the internets again!  The town was so small and cute but definitely had no internet.  The only thing to do there is drink and buy cheesy souvenirs!  Oh well.  Anywho, while we were in Cesky Krumlov, we went river rafting or 'Rafty' as they call it and then we went on a hike in the Sudetenlands national park area.  This area was one that the Soviets chose to be the buffer zone between the Iron Curtain and the rest of the Soviet Bloc.  They destroyed whole villages so that no one who was trying to flee could find refuge there.  We walked to two such villages, or the areas where the towns used to be, and there were memorials in their places.  It is such a beautiful area, and since there hasn't been anyone living there for a long time, this area has thrived in plant life.  And so, it remains one of the largest and most beautiful national parks in all of Europe.  Anyway, we had a great time there.  The only problem was that we had to haul our luggage to our hotel and back on cobblestone streets.  OUCH!  Tomorrow we have a free day which I will be devoting to school work since I have my presentation on Thursday... great.  Until next time...

Mr. Hamburger

This morning we went to the Nuremberg city museum and the only cool part that was there was the mini city model that was carved out of wood by 4 men in 1939 that is on a scale of 1/500!  It was very awesome!  We got to see all the buildings, before they were bombed.  Then we had to watch this movie on the history of Nuremberg and there were these headphone things that played an English soundtrack.  Too bad my headphones didn't work.  It was le miz!  Afterwards we walked back to our hotel only to have like 15 minutes to change into nicer clothes because we were going to meet with the president of the Nuremberg Jewish Community. When we got there, we went into a small little meeting room where they had tables and chairs all set up with cookies, coffee, and water.  It was so precious!   This man, Arno Hamburger, was spared from the concentration camp by being sent to Palestine with a large number of Jewish children.  His parents were placed in a concentration camp in Latvia.  He joined the British army and went back to Nuremberg in 1945 after all the camps had been liberated.  He was able to be reunited with his parents in Nuremberg.  His story was so amazing.  His vice president had a different story, but his parents were sent to many camps, and only his father survived, with whom he later reunited with.  

Tomorrow we have a free day so I am going to the Nuremberg Zoo with some of the people from my group.  After that I am working hardcore on my school work.  I have to say though, I'm doing better than a lot of people because I am already done with 2 of the 6 books and I have been keeping up with our journal entries.  WOO! Until next time...

Palace of Justice

Today we went to the Palace of Justice where they held the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis back in 1945. We actually were able to go in to the courtroom where it took place and had a tour of the place from the Vice-President of the Court. It was awesome to see all the things there, especially since I just got finished reading the book about the trials that we had to do for our trip. Plus, my book presentation that I have to do (a 2.5 hour presentation, ugh!) is on this book as well so it was good to go there and be in the environment where it took place. It turns out that Nuremberg is the International City of Justice... who knew! We also went to the old city hall- the Rathaus- and we got a private tour of the dungeons which were supposed to be closed. It was really awesome because the building was started in 1318 and finished in 1340 and the prison was used all the way up until 1806. We also saw all the torture devices that were used back in the day. Some of the things were pretty ridiculous! And one stupid girl was getting all freaked out about it- she sucks. She cried when she went in to the Jewel Room of one of the palaces we went. She really sucks. Anyway, I have no clue what we are doing tomorrow. I think it might be going to a museum, but I could be wrong. Tomorrow night me and the group of girls that I am friends with are going to have a small partay in one of our rooms because we have a free day on Wednesday! Woo hoo! Finally! Anyway, will update when I can. My computer hates me right now and so I have to post on the hotel's computer. Ick. Until next time...

I forgot something!

When we went to the Neuschwanstein Castle, there was a huge group of Asian tourists there and they were SO incredibly pushy! AND they smelled like cabbage, kind of like carnies! Anywho, will post more later on from today's trip! Until next time...

Nuremberg

Today we drove to Nuremberg.  It took a really long time, a lot longer than I thought it would!  However, we went straight to the Nazi Rallies sights at Zeppelin field.  It was absolutely amazing to see how much power they could wield over such a enormous number of people.  So interesting!  Tomorrow we are going to the courthouse where they held the trials.  I'm really looking forward to that because I just recently finished reading the book that was assigned for this trip about the trials.  It was an awesome book so it will be cool to see where the actual trials were since I know all about it.

On a side note, Nuremberg still has its city wall from Medieval times!  It's crazy!  The food here is not as good as it has been elsewhere although, we did go to a great Asian place where the Asian people had German accents!  It was great!  I can't get on the internet from my computer which makes me upset because everyone else can but me.  The computer nerd kid said he thinks I need to update so he's going to help me tomorrow!  Hooray! Anywho, not much going on but reading tonight.  Until next time...

Yesterday and Today

So yesterday I didn't  post because it was mostly uneventful in that we went to a museum that used to be someone's house, the Lenbachhaus Museum.  The things that people called 'art' were just ridiculous! It really was one of those places.  There was a circle on the wall with a whole bunch of little black line- looked like a game of Pick-Up Sticks.  Then there were huge squares on the wall, with one that was all black with a tiny corner that was white, and then a white square that had repeating numbers so faint that you couldn't really read it.  Needless to say, we left in a quick hurry and just hung out in the old city area for a few hours and then came back to the hotel.  Then after we had our movie time we went to the Hofbrauhaus!  It was so freakin awesome, really hot, and FULL of drunk people.  It's amazing how many mugs they can hold at once.  We made friends with the German (older) guys at the table near us and they invited us to sit with them- that's when we found out they were really freakin creepy!  Oh well.  We had fun anyway!  Please believe I had the biggest beer you can get!  They close at 11pm so we left at like 10:15, hit the gift shop, and then back to the hotel.  On the way back we stopped by a fountain to get a picture and these young guys came up and was like we want photo- we thought they wanted us to get a picture of them.  Turns out they just wanted to be in our picture and when I tried to speak German to them it wasn't coming out very well so I just stopped trying- good thing because they were Italian! HA!

Today we went to the Neuschwanstein Castle.  It was started in 1869 and finished in 1886 by King Ludwig II but then he died shortly thereafter so there are rooms that weren't decorated.  The tour was of all the completed rooms and it literally lasted all of 20 minutes.  It was a huge castle in the Alps that was a bitch to climb up the hill to get to it.  Not only was it winding, but it was also very steep and it started to rain.  Not cool.  For those of you who know, please pray for my hammies! :):)  Anyway, after the castle we were supposed to go luge-ing and take a cable car to the top of one of the mountains but the clouds were really thick- we couldn't see the top and it was apparently really gross at the top.  And we couldn't luge because the track was too wet.  GRR! However, we came back to Munich and now have the rest of the night off to work on school shit.  We leave tomorrow for Nuremberg.  Until next time...

Dachau

We went to the Dachau Concentration camp today.  It has been very different from the other two that I went to and I'm not sure if it's because of the sheer enormity of the complex or the fact that it was a self-guided audiobook tour.  Not sure.  Could be both.  They had a huge creamatorium and gas chamber but they said that supposedly the gas chamber had never been used and that the Germans accused the Americans of building it after they liberated the camp to further incriminate the Nazis... I disagree.  It looked exactly like the one I saw at the other camp that we went to.  Dachau was the place where they did most of the really heinous and insane physical and psychological experimenting.  Very sad to see the before and after pictures.

A lot, though not all, of the people from our group are going to the Hofbrauhaus tonight but not me.  I'm not sure what's holding me back.  Maybe the fact that we now have 5 weeks left to finish reading all 6 books or that we have to do a 2 1/2 hour group presentation on a specific book, or that we have a 12-15 page paper due at the end of the 6 weeks.  I just don't know but they are all good reasons!  I am also getting tired of the food here.  It's either fried or a sandwich.  And the meat in the sandwiches is always something that I have never eaten or didn't like when I tried it.  So I'm stuck with things like pizza (Germans love pizza!), french fries, or some weird sandwich.  Haven't come across too many wursts or anything but the kebabs or 'kebaps' as they call them are pretty good but you can't eat too many of those or you will be hurtin'!

Something that I have also learned is that Germans are really smart folks.  They conserve energy by having lights only able to work when you turn the key, the lights turn off until they pick up motion and then they stay on, AND the escalators stop unless they detect motion as well.  The most brilliant thing is that they have figured out to how to make ice cream cones that are rounded at the bottom so that your ice cream doesn't start dripping out the bottom!  Smart!!!  Tomorrow is a day full of museums... I don't know how I feel about all of that.  Until next time...

Wittelbach Residenz

Today we toured a huge, and I seriously mean huge, palace in the center of the old city of Munich. It was the palace of the kings and dukes of Munich when Bavaria was a state itself.   It was very cool to see the decorations of the rooms from the different time periods like the Renaissance and Baroque.  If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!  Ha, sorry.  Anyway, wasn't able to take any photos because it had to be without flash and I didn't want to bother with it.  All you need to know is that it had lots of paintings, exorbitant amounts of gold garnishing, and lots of marble, silver, and gold furniture.  Pretty stuff!  And, there were 10 courtyards in total.  After we were done with that we split up and just went around the city again but in daylight so we could see all the cool stuff there was to see.  We found a Starbuck's; it's true that they are taking over the world.  Tomorrow we are going to the Dachau Concentration camp.  This will be the first explicitly concentration camp that we have been to.  The first was just a transport place and the second was labor.  This one, I fear, will be much worse.  You never can really wrap your head around the whole idea of gassing someone to death until you've stood in a gas chamber where people have died.  Eerie sensation to be under the shower heads that released the gas.  Until next time...

Muenchin!!!

Munich is wonderful!  Our hotel has the smallest elevator on the planet that fits two people and some luggage... very tightly!  However, the rooms are very nice and the pillows are huge and very fluffy!  We went on a city tour today but it was hard to understand the lady because she kept busting out laughing at herself... we still don't know why!  We went to an awesome palace built by King Ludwig I and each king after him kept adding on so it's huge! And the gardens are just beautiful!  There are baroque and English gardens there so it's cool to see the differences in what people call gardens.  After the tour we came to the hotel and tried to nap but they are currently doing construction on our hotel (oddly enough, adding another elevator) and they just happened to be on the scaffolding right outside our window.  Fell asleep anyway because sleep is hard to come by.  I can't believe we have been here less than a week!  

After the nap we went to the Hard Rock Cafe which is right across the street from the world famous Hofbrauhaus!  The Hard Rock was cool and I was very happy for the English menu because my German doesn't include all the foods they serve here!  We got ice cream afterwards, which is only 1 euro per scoop and it includes the cone!  Chocolate is so much better here.  We walked back to our hotel and let me just say there are soooo many shops and opportunities to shop here.  It's crazy!  And it's all like a 10 minute walk from our hotel.  Too bad I have no money for shopping for myself :(  Anyway, we're going to more castles tomorrow.  Until next time...

Salzburg City Tour and Berchtesgaden

Today we went on a city tour of Salzburg. It is nestled between the Alps of Austria and Germany and is a very beautiful city. We saw several places where scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed... you know I took some cheesy photos! :) I was finally able to get a few souvenirs! Lucky for some of yous! After the tour we went up into the Alps to Hitler's summer retreat home that his men built for him for his 50th birthday (sorry I couldn't build one for my folks!) It is over 6000 feet high and it was still mostly covered with snow! It was really cool to see! The views from up there are just amazing to see. Tomorrow we are going to Munich where we will be spending 5 days. Until next time...

Trip to Salzburg, Austria

This morning we set out on our adventure to Austria. What is unfortunate is that my poor roommate was sick all night... from both ends. We rode on the front of the bus... needless to say, but she did not get sick after that so hooray! We stopped at a gas station to get gas and stop for peeing and as soon as we turned off the bus, some dumb woman backed straight up at like 15mph and so we had to wait for like 25 minutes for the police to get there and then it took like another 45 or so minutes to have them get everything straightened out... the people didn't want to admit fault... stupids.

We went to the Mauthausen Labor camp in Linz- the place where Hitler spent his youth. It was very sad. The guide actually took us into the gas chamber and the creamatoriums. Very disturbing to see and to know that there were so many people who died there. It brought some people to tears. I can't post the pictures because now I am in Salzburg at an internet cafe because our rooms don't have internet. Salzburg is pretty but things here don't seem too modern. We will be here for 3 days. Tomorrow we will tour the city and Hitler's mountain home, Berchtesgarden. I will post as soon as I can. Until next time...

Terezin

Today started out pretty nice.  The weather was so beautiful pretty; pretty much a cloudless day.  We went to the Prague Castle which was really awesome.  I think that they started building it in the 800s so it's pretty old.  There was also a giant cathedral there that we couldn't go in to because they were actually having mass... on a Saturday.  Apparently it is a hotly contested issue in the Czech Parliament- pretty much changing things on a weekly basis.  It was full of beautiful stuff and surrounded by palaces that were built by the aristocratic families to show the king that they had money.  All were giant and everything is cobblestone streets.

After we went to the castle, we went to the city of Terezin.  It was the city that the Red Cross visited in 1944 to check on the supposed 'concentration camps' but the Nazis made all the Jews there act like everything was great and that the city was a paradise for Jews.  They even had a play and a concert orchestra that entertained the Red Cross delegation.  It was so sad that the Nazis were able to dupe the Red Cross so easily.  There were two parts that the Nazis used.  THere was a small fortress that was built in the 1790s that was used as a prison for the Jews, kind of like a small concentration camp.  It was basically where they were held until they could be transported to other camps.  There was also the city of Terezin itself where the Nazis drove out the Czech citizens there so that they could store the Jews there.  In a city that had 7000 inhabitants before the Nazis came, they stored 55,000 people there.  How cramped and crazy.  It turns out that they told the old people and the intellectuals that they should come to this city because it was just for Jewish people and they could be free from persecution.  Lies.  It was something to really see.  I will post pictures soon of the barracks and the things from the camp.

We are leaving early in the morning for Salzburg, Austria.  We are stopping at the Mauthausen concentration camp on the way there.  Should be interesting.  Until next time...

Prague Day 1

Today we went to a couple of Jewish synagogues.  They were so amazing.  The most interesting was the Pinkas synagogue because it has the names written on the walls of all the Czech Jews that were transported and they have the dates next to the names as well as other family members.  Also, they have art/drawings made by Jewish children that depicted what they were going through.  Quite moving.  Funny thing though, there was an old lady in there who worked there and she kept SHHHing everyone but she had bright red dyed hair and blue glittery eyeshadow... she was fun.  We went to the Jewish cemetery and the grave stones were falling all over each other.  It was just amazing to see all those tombstones in such a tiny area.  

Later on we went to our classroom.  It was cool and we had a guest speaker but he only spoke Czech so we had to have our guide sit there and translate for us.  That was something very cool.  She didn't miss a beat in telling us everything he was saying.  

Tomorrow we are touring Prague Castle and then later on we are going to the Jewish Ghetto/city of Terezin or Theresienstadt.  Until next time... 

In Prague pt. 2

It smells in my hotel like old chinese food and cigarettes.  Not pleasant but at least it doesn't smell like that everywhere in the hotel, just downstairs.  Bleh.  We went to dinner at this place... I don't even know the name but it was like all about Mammoths and hunting and that type of thing and there was a guy in a furry loin cloth thing playing the didgeridoo, holding mini-maracas between his toes, and playing the drum at the same time.  AND this guy was singing some Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bob Marley.  Really awesome!  The food wasn't terrible but there were definitely some critters from the sea that I could still see their suction cups on their legs... GROSS!  Anyway, have to get some sleep since it's been over 36 hours since I've had any.  We are going to some Jewish synagogues and the Jewish ghetto tomorrow.  It should be interesting.  Until next time...

Here in Prague

So I'm here in Prague. I am pretty sure that no one believes in air conditioning. At least not in the rooms... heh!!!! It was weird when we were landing because there was barbed wire fence all around the airport but there were people sitting in the grass on the other side watching the planes come in. It was strange. Also, they have these bright yellow fields that are supposedly plants that help make oil. Also strange. There is a sex shop right across the street from my hotel... lovely. The weather is gorgeous and despite the fact that there are questionable businesses in the buildings, the actual buildings themselves are just beautiful. And also different... there is a lot of Indian art on buildings and statue wise. I have to go find something to eat. Until next time...

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Today is the day!!! I'm soo excited!!! Only a little bit nervous now but I'm just ready to get on the damn plane!!!

Pre-EuroTrip

Very excited but slightly nervous.  I'm going to miss everyone, especially my fuzzy puppy!