Study Tour Part One!

Hey guys. I hope everyone liked my Dad’s post (which is below) as well as my photos on fbook. I think my Dad did a great job, just wanted to say thanks to him on here! Your writings captured our trip perfectly.

Ok, so its time for me to write this post about my study tour. I planned on doing it yesterday, but life just kind of caught up with me. On Sunday night and all day yesterday, I ran around trying to get stuff together and just generally stressing. I had a presentation in politics class, I had to deal with stuff at the Lux ministry (I still technically don’t have a visa- I will be hopefully getting it Friday when I pick up my passport), and I had to figure out what classes to take back at UVa next semester (I sign up today). On top of all this, I just had to get back to life at home, buy some groceries, figure out laundry, homework, unpacking, etc. I kind of stressed all day yesterday, and when I got home last night around dinnertime, I knew trying to blog and stuff would just be too much (I love writing these posts, but when I’m not in the mood, it can feel like homework). I decided to just veg out, read a book (a comedy one by Chelsea Handler- its my roommaes and the only book available- it was sort of funny but a bit crude for me), and go to bed early. I’m really glad I did, I feel a ton better today and like I can focus more. Ok, sorry to complain about that, I know its no big deal nad I shouldn’t worry, but just wanted to let you know where I stood. Coming back from 17 days of travel can be a bit overwhelming haha!

But so the study tour, which was for my class “The Rise and Fall of Hitler.” It was a really, really interesting experience. I really have enjoyed the class throughout the semester and as I mentioned before, it is one of the main reasons I selected the program I am currently on. For those that don’t know, I am a Distinguished History Major at UVa, which basically means I have to write an extra long (think 70-100 pages) thesis next year doing some kind of original research. I am not positive what I want it to be about, but I know I want it to be from World War II/the Holocaust. Therefore, this class is really important to me, not just because it is fascinating, but because it will be directly relevant to my work next year. I have been looking for topics this entire trip, and I think after the study tour, I have several. The class here is taught by a prominent Luxembourg historian named Dr. Emile Haag, who has been teaching at MUDEC for many, many years (some people in my class parents were taught by him). He is just the perfect definition of a distinguished and classy European man. He can never be found without a beret style hat and Lacoste cardigan. Each class his lectures provide an intense amount of material, he is clearly extremely knowledgeable about the Hitler’s life and the period of the Second World War. We had one exam in his class thus far, and he proved to be a tough, but fair grader. His quite serious and at times slightly intimidating, but on this trip he really loosened up and I felt like I got to know him a bit better. In addition to him, we were accompanied by three other chaperones, a music professor and Haags’ bff Dr. George Backas (who is never seen without Prada shoes), our Assistant Dean Raymond Manes, and then another random older gentleman who was a friend of all the guys and named George. Basically, they were all having a great guys weekend and were excellent, laid back but informative guides. There level of class determined our accommodations and meals, which meant they were of course excellent! Bachas and Haag would never sleep in a hostel, and as a result, we stayed in great, quite comfy hotels and had several lovely dinners.

Ok, so know that you have the background, I will begin the recap. The tour began on Tuesday, which for me was a day of travel. I woke up early in Nice with Jill and we headed to the airport. She caught a 7:00 flight to Geneva, and I waited a bit and then boarded an 8:30 to Paris. In Paris a little after 10, I then had to wait until 2:30 for my flight to Prague. Unfortunately, Easy Jet (the budget airline I flew which turned out to be a lot better than Ryan Air- just less hectic) does not do connection flights and transfer luggage, so I had to claim my checked bag in Paris and then go through security again and recheck it. This sounded like a pain, but turned out not to be bad at all, all Easy Jet flights are confined to a small region of Charles De Gaulle airport, and everything went smoothly. I used the couple of hours to write my entire Paris with my parents blog, and paid a few Euro for an hour of internet so I could catch up on emails and facebook. Before I knew it, I was on the flight, headed to Prague. It was quick and easy, and once in the Prague airport I changed a bit of money into the Czech currency- koruna - they are in the EU but not yet on the Euro. Then I grabbed a cab to my hotel, since I was alone and had a bunch of stuff, I just didn’t want to deal with public transport. It worked out in the end, but when I first was approached by a cab man as I exited, I got a little worried. He was driving more of a town car, and I knew my parents had had a bad experience with a fake cabbie, plus scenes from the movie Taken were flashing in my mind. I know Prague is quite touristy and developed, but I hadn’t yet been in Eastern Europe, and was just slightly more nervous than usual. I told the cabbie I wanted a yellow taxi, but then he showed me his badges, list of prices, and that he just had a fixed rate to my hotel. It was the same price as what the lady at the money changer told me, so I knew he was legit and got in. He turned out to be quite nice, and spent the entire time telling me about the city and his daughter, a girl my age who was studying in Zurich. Anyway, he dropped me safely at my hotel, and I checked in and found my room. I was staying with a girl I am not super close with but who I knew was very nice named Jamie. She was already in our room, so we chatted a bit, then I took a power nap and quick shower before dinner. At 7:30, it was time to meet the group in the hotel lobby. Our class is composed of about 42 students and it was good to see everyone after a week and a half of being completely removed from MUDEC. Ill admit, it was nice to just get away from my program and everyone for awhile, but I was eager to see some of them. I am pretty close with my roommate Ali, and my friends Kate, Margaret, and Cody, who were all there. It was great to hang out and catch up on our trips, everyone had been to so many interesting stories, it was nice to hear about their adventures. We went to a group dinner that night, one of many which was organized for us and “free” (actually not really because we paid in tuition, so really on our parents tab haha). We went to a local Czech place that served us family style, for each course we had a huge plate to share between a group of 5-6 of us. I have to say right here that Czech and Polish food is not my favorite, it is quite heavy on the meat, meat, and more meat, with some potatoes thrown in. Despite my love for the occasional hamburger or steak, meat is not my thing and I really don’t eat it much at all, except of course when I am in Eastern Europe (when in Rome I guess, as my funny boyfriend would put it). This food was quite good despite my prejudices! I especially enjoyed the cheeses and peppers that came with the appetizer plate and the roast chicken on the main course one. The main course one literally had a whole roast duck on it, as well as slices of tongue (I tried the duck but just couldn’t do the tongue) it was crazy and so so much food! I was starving from a day of traveling and just eating some random airport food, so it was nice to have a big dinner with friends, eat my fill, and relax. We all crashed in the hotel after dinner.

The next day was our big day of sightseeing in Prague. We had a walking tour scheduled from 9am to 6pm! Everyone was slightly intimidated/unsure of this adventure, that is a looooong walking tour!! In the end though, it turned out to be really informative and overall enjoyable despite its length (I’m not going to lie, it still was too long and our guide just too verbose). Our guide was a guy named George, and the first thing I noticed about him was his epic MURSE. For those of you who don’t know about male European fashion trends, a MURSE is a MAN PURSE. Let me tell you, they are all the rage over here in Europe, I have no idea why! They are like fannypacks which went out of style when I was about six, only worse. But men here seem to think they are really cool (this is one of the primary reasons I am so glad my boyfriend is a blue blooded American boy). Anyway, Georges had a Murse that was decorated with a map of Prague. He would often whip it around his body to point out (with his umbrella which he brought def as a pointer since it was not raining at all, it was a beautiful day) where we were. I couldn’t help laughing slightly each time and I did manage to take a pic of this fashion statement.

Ok, so sorry for the digression. Despite his fashion inadequacies, Georges was a very good tour guide for the most part. He was very knowledgeable and told us a ton about Prague’s rich culture. He was especially keen on the city’s architecture and pointed out how it has changed throughout the centuries and the way that almost every major architectural movement since the middle ages is represented in some region of Prague. We started out in the main square of old town, and saw the famous bell tower and its clock, as well as the temporary Easter Markets, which were in full swing peddling food and souvenirs, especially those tiny painted eggs that are a specialty here. We then walked throughout the Old Town, down Prague’s quaint cobblestone streets. We wound throughout the town in the morning, and I can’t tell you exactly which buildings we saw, it was so windy and a Georges gave us so much information it was hard to keep track! It was beautiful though, Prague definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. During World War II, Prague was very lucky, and experienced very little bombing. As a result, much of the old city looks as it did hundreds of years ago. The roofs in Prague are mostly an orange, reddish color, and the buildings remind me a bit of the colorful ones I have seen in German towns like Trier and Speyer. It has a very nice effect!

As I said, Georges gave us a ton of info in the morning and I can’t (nor do I really want- it may be boring for you) to recount it all. However, two interesting things I did learn was that Charles IV (whose son Charles V would later rule over half of Europe- I remember him from AP Euro), the second King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, was a key figure in Prague history. He made Prague the imperial capital of his lands, and transformed the city so that under him it experienced its Golden Age. He built the University, a famed and beautiful bridge, and a prominent square, all of which now bear his name in remembrance. Essentially, he made Prague the place to be in the 14th century and is responsible for a lot of its beauty even today! The other cool thing I learned is that Good King Wenceslaus is a real person who ruled in Prague in the 10th century! That Christmas carol is not made up, he really was a nice guy!

We took a break midday for lunch (lunch was meat and potatoes of course), and then stopped by the Jewish quarter quickly in the afternoon. Sadly, Prague does not have a tolerant history in terms of its relationship with the Jewish population. For nearly ten centuries (from Pragues’ beginnings in the 900s to the 1840s) Jews living in Prague were confined to a small ghetto. They lacked many basic civil liberties, and were unable to leave the ghetto after certain hours and had to wear identification. I think a big part of the Holocaust is the very very deep rooted anti-Semitism that was present in a lot of the areas where the Nazis implemented the Final Solution, and Prague really revealed this. In 1848, after revolutionary movements and civil rights fever swept across Europe, the Jews were granted much more freedom and assimilated into Prague’s society more than ever. Sadly, these reforms did not last, and when the Nazis invaded Prague and began rounding up Jews and again confining them to the small and unlivable (it was far, far too small to fit all the Jews), the non Jewish population did little to stop them. One of the things I learned on the trip that sticks out most to me is just how much the Nazi’s Final Solution (which means their plan to exterminate all the Jews in Europe) actually was successful, and literally cleared all the Jews out of these areas in Eastern Europe. We learned that in Prague before the war, their were 700,000 Jews. Now, the population is less than 500! This is crazy!!! I cant believe such a thriving, important community is just gone from the city. It is the same in Crakow. Those who were lucky enough to survive mostly emigrated to American or Israel. I don’t blame them, why would you want to live in a country where all of your family and friends were killed?!

After the stop, we boarded a bus for a quick ride up to Prague castle. We spent the afternoon walking around the entire area of the city around the Castle, I think it is called New Town (it is on the other side of Charles bridge and overlooks Old Town). It was really pretty and had great views, seeing Prague from above was one of my favorite parts of the trip! I got a bunch of great pictures. We also walked throughout the gardens surrounding the Senate building, they were quite nice as well and even had some peacocks wandering around. Sadly we were unable to go into the actual Prague Castle because of a tiny man named Barack Obama, who happened to be in Prague meeting the Russian President and signing a major nuclear arms reduction treaty. Oh Obama! Haha, it was actually cool that he was there and I am sad we didn’t get to meet up (he wanted to come on the pub crawl we went to but Michelle said no). Security all around the castle area was heightened the day we visited, they were prepping for the actually signing the next day, so we weren’t able to go in, but that is ok. After a coffee break, we continued and walked to the Imagine Wall- a wall of graffiti dedicated to John Lennon that was started when he was shot- and then crossed the Charles Bridge, which is probably Prague’s most well known land mark and gorgeous. It has great views of the city and was bustling with people on this busy day! Georges then walked us back to our hotel in Old Town and said goodbye. A long tour, but really interesting, and I felt like I saw all major points of the city and got to know Prague a great deal!

That night, I was able to meet up with my friend and roommate from last semester, Kelly, who is studying in Prague! She stopped by my hotel to pick me up and then we went out for dinner. Since being in Europe, I have really wanted to try Indian food, I know it is kind of random but it is super popular over here and I have heard great things about it! I told Kelly I was not in the mood for traditional Prague food (meat and potatoes) and since she is a vegetarian, she felt the same. We decided on an Indian place near the hotel, and it turned out to be great. We split two veggie dishes in different sauces, plus some rice and nan bread! I really enjoyed it and will most def be getting Indian food again! So spicy and tasty. Kelly and I talked non stop and were able to catch up a ton! One of the best lessons I have learned from traveling is if you know someone in a city you are visiting, even if you aren’t bffs, call them up when you visit and meet up!! It really changes your experience to talk to someone who actually lives in a place, and you are able to get a much better feel for it!! I have met up with way more friends across Europe then I expected, and I am so happy I have. It is also just so nice to see a familiar face sometimes. Kel and I talked a bunch about our different experiences and traveling stories, it was great to compare notes. Kelly had been to Auschwitz already and she was able to tell me about her reaction, which was really helpful, I think it made me more prepared for what I would see in a few days.

After dinner, I was planning to meet up with a bunch of people from my class for a pub crawl, which everyone who had been to Prague suggested we go on and claimed it was the best one in all of Europe. I invited Kelly to come along, and I was so glad she joined us. She had been to some of the bars before, but I think she had a lot of fun meeting my friends and just letting loose! We went to four bars and then a dance club, and I am happy to report I was one of the select few (maybe 8 out of like 30) to make it to the end! Kelly too! Hooray for UVa for training us to drink and dance like champs! A great night and day in Prague!

Thursday
The next day was intended to be a full day of travel and I think a lot of the hard partying and staying up late on behalf of our group had been in anticipation of a day only consisting of a long bus ride. We were scheduled to leave at 11, and me and my friend Margaret woke up pretty early so we could get some shopping done. We were tired, but took a few hours to wander the Easter market and shops of old town square, and I got some nice souvenirs! We reported back at 11 ready for the bus, only to find our bus delayed and our teacher telling us to be back in 3 hours when we would now leave! We laughed at the irony of our waking up early, but decided to look on the bright side and take advantage of more time in gorgeous Prague on a perfect sunny day! We walked down to Charles Bridge again to take in the view, and then made a spur of the minute decision to hop on a boat tour! We were so glad we decided to go. I had learned in Paris that boat cruises really give you a different view of a city, and this was true again in Prague. Our captain’s sailor costume and commentary were both a bit cheesy, but that didn’t matter. With out tickets, we got a free ice cream and drink so that was great! We had originally bought Subway for the bus ride, so we ate that on the boat. American I know, but it tasted great and was the first time I have had turkey on this trip! Anyway, we just vegged on the boat, enjoyed lunch, and took in the sights! It was a great surprising way to take advantage of our extra time!

The rest of Thursday was spent on a bus, it was about a 6 hour ride to Auschwitz. I got a bit of a cat nap in, and also spent some time finishing reading the book about Auschwitz that we were assigned for class. It is called Auschwitz and is by the British journalist Lawrence Rees (it accompanied a BBC documentary made on the camp) and if you are interested in the topic, I highly recommend it. It is full of first hand accounts of the camps horrors, and despite being emotionally challenging to get through, in terms of writing style, is well done and easy to follow. Check it out if you would like. Also on the bus, we watched Schindler’s List, which I am sure many of you have seen and I will not therefore give you a summary. I had not seen it yet and I thought it was a great, great movie. It is such an incredible story. As you know, it is based on the life of Oscar Schindler, who lived and operated in Cracow, where we were going after Aushcwitz. I’ll tell you in Cracow about all the sights we saw that were in the movie and a part of Schindlers’ life including his actual factory. But the movie was excellent and a great way to prepare us for what we would see in the next few days.

We arrived at our hotel, which was a few hours from Auschwitz, around 8 and had a nice dinner in their restaurant. Then everyone was pretty tired and just trying to get ready for the next day. I did a little reading and then hit the hay.

Ok, I am going slow on this and will be back later with more about the rest of my trip!

Care