So to get to Italy we go through....

Berlin, Krakow, and Prague!

Left Portland early in the morning on Friday Sept. 7^th. Flew to Chicago, had a layover, flew overnight to London-Heathrow. Heathrow is insane! I don’t know if any of you have traveled through there, but it is so confusing! I arrived at terminal 4 and had to take a bus from the plane to the actual terminal. Then waited in line to take another bus over to terminal 1 where my flight to Berlin was leaving from. After the bus ride, I waited in line to go through security for the third time that day and finally made it through. Heathrow is more like a giant mall than an airport, with a little Disneyland mixed in. I started walking towards my gate and there were signs with how long it would take to walk to certain places. Well, they hadn’t yet announced which gate my flight was leaving from, so I just wandered around where the gate signs are posted. Eventually I met up with my friend Alex, since we both had the same flight to Berlin. We found a bar in the airport and got drinks. This was at about 7am London time.

Eventually we made it to Berlin and Alessandro from Gonzaga-in-Florence Student Life was there to meet us. About a dozen GU students were already waiting in the airport and after Alex and I joined with them we waited for about another hour for the bus to come pick us up.

After much travel I arrived at the Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz. The hotel was really nice! Down comforters on the beds and everything. Alex and I went to get some food and tried to fight the jetlag. But after a schnitzel and about 20 minutes of wandering around, we gave up and went to take naps. Since I’ve never traveled this far before, I had no idea what real jetlag was like. But after a nap and a good nights sleep I was fine the next day.

That day was a bus tour of the city in the morning. While we were driving around on the bus, the driver kept telling us when we were in East or West Berlin. It’s so strange to think that this city was once completely divided. Also in Berlin in the ancient wall from medieval times, there are many walls in the city. Berlin is very interesting because it is so modern but at the same time full of things from long ago. The tour took us to an interesting memorial for Holocaust victims. It is the first memorial to be built by people who did the wrong thing. We saw the Reichstag (Parliament Building), American Embassy, where the President lives, The Berlin Dome, several parks, the Victory Tower, fountains, churches and endless old buildings and bridges. It was all very historical.

Berlin was really fun. You can get bratwurst for one or two euros, so you can eat pretty cheap. Beer is also about two euros at restaurants and is very good. J But a lot stronger than the beer back in the states.

We went to Checkpoint Charlie too, it was actually a little anticlimactic walking all the way over there. They put the actual checkpoint building back and some of the signs. There is a long wall with information about the former sectors of Berlin.

On the last day in Berlin, I along with Alex and Lena went to find this piece of the wall that is over 1km long to take pictures. The concierge at the hotel told us to take the metro for three stops. We did. Then we couldn’t find it. Then it started pouring rain! We looked for over an hour, asked directions several times, got soaking wet, but eventually, we found it! Success!

To celebrate we went to cake time. Cake time is only from 3pm to 6pm and there are 70 types of cakes! The three of us shared two pieces and it was delicious! Any time you go to restaurant in Europe you have to expect the service to be extremely slow. Also it takes forever to leave because they think it is rude to bring the check quickly after you finish eating. I think we always ended up having to ask for the check. There was a dinner with everyone at GIF that night and Dr Burke announced that we are going to CHINA for Christmas!!

The next morning I was on a bus on the way to Krakow, Poland. Its only about 350 miles, but it took us about 10 hours to get there and get to the hostel in Krakow. I stayed at Nathan’s Villa which came equipped with its own bar in the basement (and free breakfast of bread and nutella). I went out to dinner at a place that had all sorts of things, but they specialized in pizza. So I had some pizza, Polish style. It had chicken, corn, paprika, onions and tomatoes. I picked off the tomatoes, but it was really good! Back at the hostel, we met some Australians who were in Europe on vacation and chose to spend a majority of their time in Poland. If you ever get the opportunity I would really recommend going to Poland. Krakow is absolutely amazing!

The next morning on a walking tour of the city we went to Krakow University, built 500 years ago, then up to the castle on a hill. The castle (Wawel Hill) had several buildings including a cathedral and a market square. The market square was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! Please Please Please go look at the pictures, though they don’t show much of it. Everyone has to go through security before entering the square, just like at the airport! We then walked down to a cathedral, the best on in Krakow. Inside I didn’t even know where to look, there were paintings, gold sculptures, and people EVERYWHERE! Unfortunately, no pictures allowed!

In the afternoon they took us all to Auschwitz, the main concentration camp of the Nazis because of the central location to the SS Empire. It was probably the three saddest hours of my life. I took a few pictures, we were only allowed to take pictures outside the buildings. Inside the block houses had been turned into museums and displays. The outside gate says “Arbeit Macht Frei,” German for work brings freedom or work shall set you free. Inside the camp you have to keep quiet out of respect and children under 14 aren’t supposed to come in at all. We had a guide take us around the camp and show us different places. I didn’t start crying until we got the block that had the display of the belongings that were less than 1% of all that was taken. The items were all taken in the last few days before liberation so they hadn’t been sold yet. Some of the things on display included: human hair (took up about three American sized bedrooms), eye glasses, medical equipment (crutches, prosthetic limbs etc.) suitcases with names and where they were from written on them, shoes, toys, hairbrushes, combs, jewelry, cooking pots, clothing, prayer shawls, and even baby clothes.

One of the blocks was redone in the original style to show us the different cells used to house and execute the prisoners. We saw suffocation, starvation, and standing cells. The standing cells are 4 people put in a space of about 4 square feet with one tiny hole in the wall for breathing. And yes, we walked through the gas chamber and saw the incinerators. Across the street was Auschwitz II, where Shindler’s List was filmed. All the wooden buildings have been destroyed, but one row was re built and filled with beds like it would have been back in 1942, and we were allowed to take pictures. You can look at them if you want to get depressed, but they aren’t really the same as being there. It was like being at a funeral for a million strangers. Ok, now that everyone is good and sad…

That night we had a group dinner with Polish food, where everything is either fried or pickled. Next morning, went shopping! I went to the Amber market and bought a ring for 39 zloty (about $15). Then we had a group lunch with more fried and pickled things. That afternoon we went to the salt mines. They were really cool actually, though the tour dragged a bit at the end. I didn’t pay to be allowed to take pictures but I’ll try to get some from someone else. The miners sculpted about 20 scenes out of salt and even a full church where they have weekly masses. In all we went over 100 meters underground!

But can’t stay in one place too long! So next morning off to Prague! Another loooooong bus ride and a new currency: Czech crowns! Let me just tell you that Prague is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen, I can’t wait to go back someday! We went another walking tour from Prague castle, which is the highest point, down to the Main Square. Prague is a total walking city and they have a good subway system too. That night was housing signups, and I ended up in a double in Manola Pensione. More about that later!

The hotel in Prague was really nice, but Prague is more expensive city than Krakow. We had two group dinners at the hotel and breakfasts were provided. On the next day in Prague I went shopping! I bought a present for Mom, but you don’t get it for 8 months cause I don’t want to pay shipping! And I bought myself a pair of earrings. They are crystal, and made with Swarovski components! Cool! Dr. Burke took us down to the old Jewish Quarter later in the afternoon. The Jewish Cemetery was quite interesting to see, but since we didn’t pay to get in, all we could do was look through the gates. In the old days the Jews were only allowed to be buried in this one place, so its crammed full, with over 100,000 people buried there, sometimes up to 12 layers deep.

That was the last day in Prague, so now I am in Florence/Firenze! I love it here! Can’t wait to start exploring the city! Had to go to classes today…

Arrivederci!

PS Pictures will be up later this week, expect an e-mail!!