Reality is
hitting hard today. I’ve visited four countries in the past two weeks and am
now finally back “home” in Olomouc! Realizing the program is already half way
over has me a little more upset than I imagined, not quite sure if I’m ready to
go back to Nebraska anytime soon. (Sorry Mom and Dad I'm having too much fun)
Our weeks
of traveling started on April 12th with a trip to Vienna, Austria! Luckily it
was a quick bus ride that only took about 2.5 hours and unfortunately the trip
seemed like it lasted that long as well. I don’t feel like two days was enough
time in Vienna, the city was so big I feel like I hardly saw any of it. We
stayed in a cute little hostel on the outskirts of the city center, which was
about a 20-30 minute walk to get to the main center. Hands down my favorite
part of this trip was going to the Habsburg Treasury. When the Habsburg family
was overthrown for being too powerful while in Vienna in the 1800’s they were
forced to leave all of their belongings behind which are now displayed in a
museum filled with beautiful clothing items, jewelry (including their crowns),
swords, paintings, house decorations, and much more. The Habsburg family even
today is no longer allowed back to Vienna alive, only their bodies can be
brought back to be laid to rest. I found this museum super interesting seeing
all their belongings and imagining what it would be like to be forced from your
home and not being able to bring anything with you, I can’t fathom how
difficult that would be.
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| Habsburg Crown |
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| More from the Treasury |
We also had
the option to pick between an art history museum, a modern art museum, and a
natural science museum. I chose to go to the natural science museum, which I
found to be very interesting. They had anything from insects and birds to
elephants and giraffes, actual dinosaur bones, the evolution of humans, fossils,
and rocks. It was definitely a good way to spend a few hours of the afternoon!
Oh I also got to see what I would look like if I were a monkey, which is pretty
darn cute if I say so myself.
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| Me as a monkey :) |
On April 14th
we were up bright and early at 7am to take a 7-hour bus ride to Venice, Italy.
Lucky for me I was stuck next to Lydia, which made it a very uncomfortable 7
hours. She didn’t smell too bad and she shared her chocolate so it was okay. We
passed through the Alps on our way to Venice, which was absolutely beautiful
and playing the game heads up with half the bus made for an entertaining ride.
Once we got to Venice we had to take a ten-minute train to the main land since
there are no cars at all, only boats. Venice was crazy pretty with all the
canals and bright buildings; it was nice not seeing cars or trams for a few
days. We went into a few museums with hundreds of paintings, which truthfully
by this point I wasn’t too interested in. Of course they were all incredible
but after looking at paintings all the time you kind of lose interest and they
all start to look the same.
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| Passing through the Alps |
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| Beautiful Venice <3 |
Venice was probably the most relaxing trip we’ve
had, we had a lot of free time to ourselves which we spent eating the best
‘to-go’ pasta I’ve ever had (and the cheapest that we’ve had in Italy) at a place call Dal Moros, they
fill Chinese food boxes with the pasta of your choice and I had to get a mini
bottle of wine to go with it because after all I was in Italy. We had this to
eat twice while we were in Venice and both times we ate by the water and sat
around talking and telling stories. I’m so luckily I’ve made such good friends
with Lily, Aubrey, Jessica and Lydia while in Europe, none of these trips would
be the same without them. They definitely make my time away from family and
friends back home so much easier and way more enjoyable. Of course we had to be
typical tourists and take a ride down the canal on a gondola, because you can’t
go to Venice without taking a gondola ride. Our last night was spent having
drinks and letting loose, a perfect way to end our class trip and start our
spring break!
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| Del Moro's pasta and wine by the water |
Although Venice was beautiful, four days was a
perfect amount of time to be there. The prices were very expensive compared to
anywhere else we’ve been and I was ready to move on to our next city! I’ve
really been enjoying my time traveling around; I’ve seen some of the most
beautiful places in the world, never did I think I would be so lucky to take an
adventure such as this one. Only a month and half left and I can’t wait to see
the adventures the rest of the trip has to offer. Can’t wait to tell everyone
about my spring break and future trips that I have coming up! It can only get
better from here
J I
don’t think I’ve ever been as happy I am now! Don’t know what else I can ask
for. Talk to you soon fam and friends <3
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| Gondola Ride |
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| My lovely roommate |
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