View of the castle
River rafting
Country Hopping in Europe
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Bohemia Trip
The last trip of the program was more than
amazing. I consider it the best trip,
out of all the other ones we took as a group.
This is for various reasons.
First of all, I really liked how it was structured. One our way to our fist destination, Kutna Hora,
we stopped on the way to see a historical village, Lezaky, which was destroyed
by the Nazi during the Second World War.
When we arrived at the city of Kutna Hora, we toured a medieval silver
mine. That was very interesting. My favorite part of the tour was when we were
in complete darkness, as a way to experience what the mines experienced when
their candles went out while working. I
have never been afraid of the dark and at that moment I felt an unexpected
peacefulness that it surprised me. I
felt free and calm, as if there were no boundaries, no limits. I’m glad I got the opportunity to tour the
mine.
The next day we went to visit the cathedral. There is a painting of St. Christopher and a
legend that if you saw that painting you would not die that day, so the miners
would go into the cathedral every day before going to work.
Second, I enjoyed this trip more because we did
several different activities and most importantly we did outside
activities. One our way to the second
destination, Cesky Krumlov, we stopped to visit the Budweiser Budvar. The brewery was very cool to see and the
process of how the beer is made is quite splendid. Upon our arrival at Cesky Krumlov, we were
free to go explore the town. I liked the
town a lot because even though the buildings were very crowded, there are
trees, green nature, everywhere. Walking
along the river was very relaxing. The
following day we visited the castle and the medieval theater. From the castle, the view of the city is
precious. The castle had always been
sort of guarded with bears and up until today, they still keep two bears by the
castle.
That same day we went river rafting. This experience is unforgettable and it is
one of the main reasons why I really loved this bohemian trip. I have been river canoeing before, so I
thought it was going to be kind of the same.
However, it was more fun than I expected. It was very exciting in the beginning and we
almost flipped into the water, but I’m glad we didn’t although that would have
been a great story to tell. River
rafting lasted a few hours, very relaxing hours. The scenery was so peaceful that I wish we
would have done this kind of activities more often. Rowing was difficult to figure out at the
beginning, but once I had it, it was so much fun.
Another reason why I
really enjoyed this trip is because it was the last one and it gave us the
opportunity for the entire group to have an adventure together. The trip was a good closing ceremony for the
program. These three months in Europe
have really been like a dream come true.
I never really thought that I would be visiting all the places I went
to. It has really been a one of a life
time opportunity. In this trip I made
stronger friendships and new ones too. I
realized that I am extremely lucky because nothing ever went wrong past the
point of being fixable. There were some
difficulties and some getting used to the new lifestyles of different cultures,
but it was all worth it. I still have a
week of travel in Europe. It has not hit
me yet that it is almost over. So, I
will enjoy each and every single hour I have left because most probably I will
not come back in a really long time. I’m not sad to leave; on the contrary, I am
excited to go home and see my family. I
will take all the fun, sad, weird, happy, scary, crazy memories of my time in
Europe and most importantly I will take everything I learned. I did learn to be more patient which is a
very good thing for me. On the other
hand, I leave wanting to learn more about the holocaust and its survivors. Nevertheless, I did learn and see things that
broadened my understandings and my perspective about life itself. At the end of the day, I would study abroad again
without hesitation.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Budapest!
The parliament, it looks like a castle to me!
Second biggest mosque in Europe.
The market. It looks like one in Mexico, but cleaner and more organized.
The chain bridge.
Buda castle! Fireworks video was filmed here...awesome!
The fishery.
Thermal baths...first time in one...excellent experience.
Had to take a picture with the cool statue.
Second biggest mosque in Europe.
The market. It looks like one in Mexico, but cleaner and more organized.
The chain bridge.
Buda castle! Fireworks video was filmed here...awesome!
The fishery.
Thermal baths...first time in one...excellent experience.
Had to take a picture with the cool statue.
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