April 27: Ostrava

That day after class we took a train to Ostrava. There, we met Ross Chambers. Ross took the same study abroad trip we are on several years ago. He now lives in Ostrava and started a Harley-Davidson branch there. He is married to a Czech girl and they are expecting their first child. We went to the Harley-Davidson shop and he told us about his life and starting an American company in a foreign country. He said is was really difficult to get the company approved and a struggle with all the paperwork he had. It took him almost five years to get the business going. His story was really interesting and it was neat to think he was on the same trip we were and was inspired to live here. He loved Olomouc as much as we do.  Ross took us to the center of town. We went to the top of this tower to see the city. From there you could see all the factories. Ostrava was heavily influenced by Communism and industry. The town became an industrial center and the steel and coal factories dominate life during the Communist rule. Today, Ostrava still has one of the largest steel companies in the work, Vitkovice. It didn't look that smoggy that day, but Ross said it was a clear day.  That evening a group of us stayed and went to Stodolni street. "Stod" means one hundred, hence the street once had over a hundred bars. Now it "only" has between sixty and seventy. I think we made it to about ten bars that night. Not that many when you think of all the ones to see, but we had a lot of fun. Many of the bars had dance clubs in the back. You walked through the normal looking pub and then walked through another door to a party of fifty to one hundred people. Some bars you had to go downstairs and all the sudden there would be a huge room down there or a bunch of little rooms almost like bunkers. One bar we walked through had a courtyard with a huge tent in the back that was a whole other bar. We had fun and stayed the night with one of our friends from Ostrava. 

April 24: Field trip to Austerlitz

Monument dedicated to Napoleon

After class that afternoon our group took a bus to Austerlitz, which is close to Brno. It was here that Napoleon defeated the Russian and Austrian armies in the Battle of Austerlitz. The battle took place on December 2, 1805. Napoleon was outnumbered but he managed to outsmart the Russo- Austrian army. We visited the hill where Napoleon stood and watched the his troops fight.

Napoleon's view of the battlefield

 Then we went to a nearby museum. I was impressed by the museum's recollection of the battle. There were only a few rooms in the museum, but each had a movie and great sound effects. I enjoyed watching the battle unfold and how Napoleon separated and defeated the other army. Also at the museum was a monument dedicated to the nearly 30,000 troops that died. Inside the monument was a grave and altar honoring those who died. It was a short afternoon trip, but a very interesting one.

Rome

The Collesseum

Arch of Constantine

 Although Rome rained on us a few times, we had pretty good weather. When the sun came out it was quite warm. On our first day in Rome we went to The Colosseum. This was my favorite part of Rome. I loved the feeling of being in the arena. I could picture the gladiators fighting and the crowds chanting their favorite Gladiator's name. The floor where the gladiators fought was gone but you could see passage ways that were under the main floor. It was hard to think I was standing in place where so many people had been, all the people that watched the fights, the emperors and senators that watched as well, and then all the people that had visited the museum over the years.  I also couldn't believe the place was still standing after so many years. For the next two days we trekked all over the city. We would just walk around and every few blocks we would run into some famous monument. We got to see the Trevi Fountain, the Arch of Constantine, the Roman Forum, The Pantheon, the Castel of Sant' Angelo and on and on.

Trevi Fountain

View from Sant' Angelo. St. Peter's Basilica in background

 On our second day we went to the Vatican. We had to take a taxi there because all public transportation was shut down for the day due to a strike. At the Vatican, we toured all the museums. This took several hours. The Vatican has so much to see it would take days to see it all. In the middle of the museums was the Sistine Chapel. It was odd that we could take pictures of absolutely everything except the Sistine Chapel. It wasn't what I thought it would be. I thought it would be a couple big paintings on the wall, but the walls and ceiling were covered in paintings. Some by Michelangelo but many other artists contributed as well. We saw St. Peter's Basilica, but we didn't go inside.

Sistine Chapel at Vatican City

Collosseum at night

  I enjoyed Rome, although I wish I would have done more research on the sites to see. There was just so much to see we couldn't possibly go inside all the sites. Also, I was not a fan of the food in Rome. It was okay,  but nothing really wowed me. The pizza in Italy is also very salty. I couldn't eat the stuff because it was so incredibly salty!

Malta

Malta

 Oh Malta, where to begin? First, a brief description of Malta. Malta is a small island, and it is only about 122 square miles. Malta gained its independence in 1964 from the British. Because of Malta's location in the Mediterranean Sea, it has been ruled by many nations and therefore has a rich history.  We (Hayley, Evan, and I) arrived in Malta about eleven thirty. We took a taxi to our hotel. The first thing we did was go out on our balcony to see the water. It was dark so I couldn't see a lot but it was still nice to be on the coast. The next way we made our way towards the capitol.

Open bus tour

 We decided to take a bus tour so we could see as much of the island as possible in the two days we were there. The bus had two levels, one level covered and one open so you could see more and take pictures. The bus went through many villages and you could get off the bus whenever you wanted and catch one of the next buses. We got off a handful of times. We saw the capital city of Valletta, the sandy beach at Golden Bay, a fishing village where we stopped for lunch, the ancient city and old capital of Mdina, and the gorgeous cliffs of the Blue Grotto.

Fishing village

Blue Grotto

 Malta is absolutely stunning. Everyone was so welcoming there also. I had some fabulous fish and the Maltese dish of rabbit.  I didn't want to leave, but we had to catch our plane on Wednesday morning. Now comes the real fun part. We arrived at the airport about an hour before our plane was scheduled to take off. My boarding pass was in my purse but my passport was not. Panic was my first reaction. Then I realized I had left my passport at the bar we were at the night before. The bar had a computer and printer and we were using it to print off boarding passes for our flight from Rome back home on Sunday. I knew I wouldn't have time to take a taxi all the back to the bar and make it back to catch the flight. We got the number of the bar from the hotel but the bar didn't open until later.

My taxi to the airport on the wrong side of the car!

So we decided that Hayley and Evan would take the flight and I would get another one later on. They didn't want to leave me there but I knew I would be fine. So after an adventure of taking two buses to get back to the town our hotel was at and get a taxi to the bar and then back to the airport. I got another flight and flew to Rome. I took another train from the airport to the train station and then a taxi to our hostel. I was exhausted from stress and traveling but Hayley and Evan were there to greet me. They even got me flowers, a little teddy bear and a beer that was called The Lost Abbey. I missed them both! So I learned my lesson to always double check for my passport.

Venice

Swiss Alps

Swiss Alps

 Our group took a bus to Venice. We drove through the Swiss Alps on the way there. No offense to the Rockies, but the Rocky Mountains have nothing on the Alps. It took almost two hours to drive through the winding roads and tunnels of the Alps and I couldn't tear my eyes away the entire time. Every turn revealed another beautiful snow-capped mountain or quaint mountain town. It was really something to see.

Streets of Venice

After seven hours in a bus, we made it to Venice. We took a train to get into the city. Venice is the first island I've been on, another first for me. It was rainy and cold again, but the city was still so beautiful. It is still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that the entire city is built on water. There are no cars, only boats and foot to get around. We took a water bus through the Grand Canal to get to our hostel. We walked the winding and confusing streets to the Academia bridge and then to the main square. There we saw San Marco Basilica, the clock tower, and the Parliament building. We walked around a lot that day. Venice is purely a tourist town, there are almost no locals still living in the city. So, literally every shop is full of souvenirs. One thing I noticed in almost every store are masks. The masks are of every color, size, and shape you can think of. Venice celebrates a similar holiday like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. It was fun to see all the masks, some were quite pricey.

Venetian night with fellow Americans!

That evening after a delightful dinner of pasta and wine we ran into a group of Americans from Minnesota. They were studying in Italy and this was there last night in Europe. So we all went to a pub and celebrated their last night in the city on water. One kid was originally from Nebraska and now goes to school in Kansas. The next day we went to see the old parliament building in the main square. The Italian government was comprised of a select group of families, although they held "elections" for government positions. These families also had a great deal of money and every ceiling and wall in the parliament building was covered in gold. After seeing all the gold I thought to myself, that's why gold is so expensive now, because the Italians used it all in their parliament. Dinner that night was expensive... Again. I loved Venice but everything was so expensive! The next day was the official start of our week of Spring Break. Hayley, Evan and I didn't leave until late afternoon so we went to another museum. Jan, our guide, took us to an old royal family's house that is now a museum. I enjoyed seeing the way the home was decorated, it was very lavish. One interesting thing I saw was a couple of the rooms had glass chandeliers. There were really extravagant and had little glass flowers where the candle sticks would have been located. The third level of the house was a gallery of art. There were some really nice paintings there. We left Venice about five o'clock to get to the airport and catch a plane to Malta!

Vienna

Site seeing really wears the Americans out

One of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I was really in awe of its beauty and history. Happy Hostel was our home for the two days we were there. It was a really nice hostel with a private bathroom, little kitchen, and a TV! Although we never turned it on. Our hostel was quite far from the main square so it was a long jaunt to get there. We walked down a long street full of shopping stores to get to the main square. In the main square we saw the winter palace of the Hapsburg monarchs. The architecture of the palace was nice to see but we never did go inside to tour the rooms. We did get to see the summer palace the next day.

Schönbrunn Palace

 Schönbrunn Palace (the summer palace) was once on the outside edge of town but now the city has grown up around it. It was a really rainy and cold day so that put a damper on the beauty of the palace. However, the inside took my breath away. Every room was lavishly decorated. Maria Theresa had many of the rooms redone in her taste. We saw where the family lived and ate and got a look into their daily life. Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I had fifteen children. Marie Antoinette was the youngest of their children. I liked being in the home of such important historical figures.

Inge and I. It's not just the places you see that make traveling such an experience, it's the people too.

Later that day, I went to the Albertina, a modern art museum. There I got to see my first Monet and Picasso. It was lovely. There was so much to see there and afterwards I was exhausted. Later that night we went to a small pub down the street from our hostel. It was there that we met Inge. She was the owner of the pub. Inge is Austrian and her husband, Gary, is from San Francisco. Gary was in the U.S. visiting his family so it was just Inge. She told us about how she met Gary and even though they couldn't communicate very well they fell in love. Gary moved to Vienna and they have been married for almost twenty years. She touched all of our hearts. The next morning we left for Venice.

Budapest

St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest


 Another weekend, another country. I've been to four countries in four weeks. How amazing is that? I have been in the Czech for a month now. Sometimes it feels like I have been here for longer than that and other times time seems to be going by fast. This weekend was Easter and we had Monday off because it is a national holiday. Thirteen of us went to Budapest, Hungary for the weekend. We left early on Saturday morning. It took about five hours to get there and we switched trains in Breclav. It was about noon when we arrived. Budapest is home to about 1.74 million people, but if you include the surrounding suburbs it is closer to 3 million. Budapest is famous for its geothermal springs. There are over eighty springs in the city. You cannot go to Budapest without visiting one of their spas. Budapest is also famous for the Chain Bridge, Fashion street, one of the largest Parliament buildings in the world, and many beautiful churches. The Danube river runs through the middle of the city. One side of the city is called Buda and the other Pesti, the two sides were joined and now the city is called Budapest.  Once we arrived, we bought our metro (subway) tickets. Hungary has their own currency, the Forint. Five thousand Forints is equivalent to twenty U.S. dollars. I've definitely improved my mental math skills by constantly converting currencies to U.S. dollars. We found the right metro line and found our hostel. Unfortunately, our hostel was located far from the city center so we had to take the metro anytime we wanted to go anywhere. The hostel was newer though and the rooms were nice. It was a cold and rainy day on Saturday, but my roommate, Hayley, and I went to the center of town anyway. Everyone else stayed at the hostel. The main square is called Deak Ter. We walked around the square and did some shopping. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the river, but ate inside because it was so chilly. We had a Hungarian beer called Soproni, it was very good. It was a light beer, similar to Heineken. After we ate, we went to a souvenir shop. It started pouring rain and we went to a cafe to escape the rain. We wanted to go on a dinner cruise on the Danube that evening, but it was sold out by the time we got there. So we decided to just go back to the hostel. When we got back, we got some drinks and spent the rest of the night playing card games.  

Sunday morning we got up and went to church. We went to mass at St. Stephen's Basilica. The basilica was very close to the main square. It was a beautiful church with several large domed roofs. The inside was richly decorated in marble pillars and gold trim. There were statues and paintings everywhere. The service was in Hungarian so we didn't really know what was going on. The church was also freezing, so we were shivering the whole time. It was nice though.

Outside thermal pool


 Afterwards we ate at a traditional restaurant. It was very good. We wanted to go to a spa that afternoon so we went to buy tickets. We bought our tickets for the spa and a boat cruise on the Danube for that evening.  We took the metro to the spa called Szechenyi. The spa was basically a huge circular building with saunas, massage places, changing rooms, and indoor pools. Then there were three huge outside pools in the middle courtyard of the building. There were 18 pools total at the spa. It was cold and windy that day, but the pools were like large hot tubs. Some pools were warmer than others and some of the indoor pools had different minerals in them. Some smelled like mint and others smelled terrible because of the sulfur-like smell that came from the natural springs. Two interesting things I observed that may or may not be worth mentioning: European men like to wear speedos, especially the older gentlemen. We could easily pick out American boys as they all wore long swimming trunks. Secondly, couples often engage in intimate activity in the very public pools. We got a kick out of watching some couples get a little "too close" in such a public place. European couples are much more open about their relationships though. It is quite normal to see two people making out on the street or a man grabbing a woman's butt. Americans find it weird to engage in public affection like that, but they do say Europeans are the best lovers... The spa was a great time and we enjoyed relaxing.

Night cruise on the Danube River

 Afterwards we had some time to kill before we needed to meet for the cruise so we went back to the hostel. The cruise began at ten o'clock. We walked as a group to the boat. When we boarded, we were given a glass of champagne. They provided a buffet of traditional food. It was all very good. They had salad, soups, meat, potatoes, dumplings, cheeses, and of course dessert. My favorite was the Hungarian goulash soup. It was a tomato based soup with potatoes, carrots, and chucks of stew meat. The dessert was little cups of mousse. The cruise was about an hour and a half. The city is gorgeous at night. We took a taxi to the hostel after the cruise. We got up early again to catch the first train home. We all wanted to get home so we could rest and get ready to leave again for our group trip to Vienna and Venice and then Spring Break. We leave Wednesday morning for a two day trip to Vienna, Austria and two days in Venice, Italy. We then have a week off for Spring Break.