My Viennese Vacation

Vienna arrival was smooth from Prague. I caught a bus and it was an easy four hour ride. I got turned around getting off the metro trying to find my hostel, but a lovely older Austrian stopped and asked me if I needed help then pointed me the right way. I checked in, got some food, and passed out. Not a lot of sightseeing the first night but I was tired from Prague.

My second day started at the Stephensdome in the center of town with a visit to the inside if the cathedral and the catacombs. I wandered around the center for a while before grabbing some lunch and heading to the Leopold museum. It took me about 2 hours to wander through all five levels, but it was well worth the visit. I saw some Gustave Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and the worlds largest collection of works by Egon Scheile. I also went and saw the Rathaus building and walked around to get my bearings better.

The next day I woke up a little earlier and went to Schönnbrunn palace. It was gorgeous and huge. It would have taken me ages to go through every single room. I opted for a shorter visit but still got to see a wonderful amount. After the palace I went to Charles Church and scaled the sketchiest staircase/ scaffolding to reach the very top of the churches dome and look out point. I was scared to death the entire time but it was very cool once I was up there. 

After lunch I went to an organ concert at a St Peters church in the center of town. It was a different expletive from anything else I've done, but I really enjoyed it. The inside of he church is wonderfully decorated and one that hadn't been destroyed recently, so the paintings and sculptors were well preserved. The concert was different.. Beyonce wasn't on the set list, even though I requested it. But it was still cool to hear the whole church fill up with the vibrations of the organ. 

That same evening I went to the Museum if Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna, or MUMOK for a visit. I was able to see some very cool pieces by Indiana, Export, Motherwell, Rauschenberg, Ray, Bacon, Warhol, and the most exciting, Duchamp!

The next day in Vienna I spent running around again, first to the Belvedere to see some Klimt. Then to to Prater Ferris wheel for a slightly scary and cloudy view of the city. After a quick lunch I headed back into the center of the city for some souvenir pick ups and to do some window shopping and warm up a bit. I made my way towards the Rathaus and opera house for a evening view, and go stuck trying to go home because there was a university protest going on so they had shut down multiple streets and underground metro stops and wouldn't let you leave. So that made getting home a little tricky, but I managed.

My last day Vienna consisted of hiking up this hill right behind Schönnbrunn to the Gloriette. It's a magnificent little villa on the top of the hill with a great view of Vienna. I was lucky with the mostly clear day. Although the wind and freezing temperatures made the visit a short one. I spent the resting the day wandering around and just trying to soak up as much Vienna and sun as possible before we went our separate ways. 

I really enjoyed the culture and homeliness about Vienna. Unlike Prague, there was a warmth about the people and a way of life that was attractive. Overall, I ha a great stay in Vienna! I'd love to go back to Austria and do Salzburg as well. One day!

Czech Me Out In Prague!

From the start Prague was a whole new world. There's an entirely new language that isn't readable like German, the money is completely wonky, and it's an entirely different place from Spain or Germany. I realized about 20 minutes before my bus got in that while Czech is in the European Union, they are not in the Euro Zone. And all I had a wad of Euros that were going to cost me an insane amount to change them to Korunas. I found a cash machine and pulled out that I thought would be just enough to make it from the bus station through the metro to the hostels so I could look up the exchange rate and figure out how much I needed. For you information, one euro is about 25 czk, and one usd is about 20. So 400 czk is only 20usd. But to a little white girl who only knows usd, Loonies and Euros, seeing something marked 600czk is pretty intimidating. I managed to get it together and I slowly wasn't so shocked every time something was marked 600czk.

In Berlin, I had taken a free tour that really was free. And I had a really good time, and found everything to be incredibly helpful and interesting. Plus the guide wasn't bad to look at or listen to for three hours. Hoping to have similar luck in Prague, I did the same free tour with the exact same company. Unfortunately, it wasn't as interesting, and a tour through one of the most romantic, beautiful cities was more like a long, cold lecture  that didn't lend helpful insight to Prague at all. BUT I did get my footing around the city and some good pictures, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I also went to castle hill where the Prague Castle is located. I had a great afternoon watching the guard changing, seeing the big cathedral and walking around the old town. It's a very different  part of town from where I stayed which is  a little more industrialized. So it was fun to see the difference. I also saw an exhibit of the art Nuevo artist, Alfons Mucha. He was born in what would be today the Czech Republic and Prague has adopted him as part of their tourist scheme. I'm a big fan of his work so to see some of his smaller pieces and more realistic pieces was fantastic. 

One of my last days in Prague I went and visited the Jewish quarter of Prague. There I visited multiple synagogues, a ceremonial hall and the Jewish Cemetery. This neighborhood in Prague was one of the only ones to survive Hilters destruction, and while they had some damage, for the most part the majority of the buildings remained intact. The reason Hitler let this one slide? He wanted to make a museum of the extinct race. 

In one of the synagogues which has been transformed into part of the Jewish museum, there is an exhibit of children's drawings from Terezín concentration camp. The drawings were of all kinds of themes, life before, life in the camp, and what they hoped for for the future. Over 8,000 children under the age of 15 went through Terezín, only 242 remained alive till 1945. The majority were deported to Auschwitz. It was an incredibly moving, and difficult exhibit to walk through. But well worth the experience. 

On one of my last Days in Prague I scaled one of the many spires in the city in an old belfry and got a great view of the Prague fog and some of the skyline.

Overall, Prague was a gorgeous city with very interesting history and culture. I'm so glad I got to experience a country more on the Slavic side. I'm excited for my next two cities, and I'm excited to be returning to Seville in less than ten days! This break was a major stressor for me during fall semester, and to think that I accomplished this trip and so much more traveling solo makes me very proud of myself.

My body and mind have dragged me through Europe, fed me weird food, slept in rooms with strangers and been my only traveling companion for the past month or so. I accomplished this, and I will accomplish so much more. Watch out world; this girl's feeling independent  and confident in herself. 

All my love,

XOXO

In an unrelated post...

I understand how media has become a life force for the world. I am a consumer of the media everyday, I know it and admit I am addicted to social media and the news.

But there is something happening in the US that disturbs me. The United States and its people need to realize that there are other countries in the world. And while their day to day life may not affect Americans directly, we still need to be listening. There is blood being shed by civilians in a fight for democracy and an attempt to join the EU in the Ukraine. The peace talks in Syria are on unstable ground. And not once on my newsfeed on Facebook  have I seen anything about either big story.  I hear about some football player ranting after winning a football game  from at least 10 different friends. And had he taken a moment to have said something meaningful and worldly, I wouldn't have to get on my soapbox every time something like this happens. I could spend hours and days listing all the things that American do wrong. But rather, in light of Martin Luther King day in the US, if we only stand by, we are enabling those to continue to do harm.  

As the said most powerful country in the world, how good are we if we don't use that power for good? Use the education that some people only dream about, use the media on your smart whatever that costs more than some people will make in their life, and realize we are not alone, and there are so many more people in the world than our 50 states. People who only dream about what we have as rights and liberties. People who are fighting and praying for more than days off work, Superbowl games and their online show to load. 

Be something more than the American who only talks about sports and reality tv. Be the American who can hold a conversation about somethig not pretaining to he US. Be the American who knows what the capital of Canada is. 

Bilbao, Barcelona, Berlin oh my!!

It's been forever since I updated. Mostly because as soon as I left Ponferrada, I've been in a constant state of flux. I arrived in Bilbao at 9am after a six hour bus ride for Ponfe. I was exhausted and ready for a nap, of course the check in time given on the website was wrong. So I was a little disappointed when I had I wait another 3 hours to check in. I toughed it out and made my way to the Guggenheim and killed my time there. Bilbao was a little hard for me just because I had been with a family for two weeks and was used to being with them. And here I was, alone. It didn't help that the day of Reyes Magos fell on one of my days there. It's the Spanish version of Christmas and instead of December 25, it happens January 6th. So shops are closed, families swarm together and big cities more or less shut down. Usually this isn't an issue for people, but as a traveler, it made for a quiet weekend.

From Bilbao I headed to Barcelona. They are not close in distance and I questioned not stopping somewhere in between somewhere during hour 4 of the 9 hour bus ride. But once I got there, Barcelona was totally worth it. From what I had heard and seen, I was expecting Barcelona to be a pretty city like Paris. More art and pretty buildings everywhere. It was way more industrial than I originally thought. But still a very lovely place. I was there only for 3 days, but I made it through most of the big things. I loved the Sagrada familia- if you haven't seen the video, there's one online that shows what it will look like when it is completed. Very interesting! I really liked the building, but it makes me a little sad as how buy the one they finish, they'll probably have to replace the older parts. It may never be whole, and I think it really will be a wonder if it ever makes it. I made it to he Picasso museum which is a great collection of his earliest and not so famous pieces, but it was set up so you could see the progression of his work which was very cool. Plus I've seen Guernica in Madrid so I was totally okay looking at other pieces of his work.

From Madrid, I hopped on a plane to Berlin, Germany! I spent six nights there and really enjoyed my time there so much. The city doesn't have an actual center because of the division from the wall, but it has distinct areas and neighborhoods. It reminded me of a bigger, busier PDX. There are a lot of international immigrants, lots of young, very intelligent people, and lots of hopeful aspiring artists. Berlin is so historically full and interesting, there was so much to see and learn about. Some of my highlights include a visit to the top of the TV tower, (supposedly the tallest in Europe), Charlottenburg Palace, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Museum island, the Reishtag dome, the Sunday market and my favorite sight, the Brandenburg Gate! I had some fabulous currywurst, good beer and saw a lot of old, very interesting things. It was chilly the entire time, but nothing a coat and scarf couldn't take care of. I was really worried about the language, but my experience was that everyone on Germany speaks perfect English. Overall, I was smitten with Berlins vibe and culture, I really enjoyed my time there.

On a more open ended note, some personal thoughts on my travels so far: 1 it's not a race to get to the hostal or catch the metro, there is always another train three minutes behind it, and the hostal isn't going anywhere, no need to stress about getting there in 20 minutes. 2 People in all countries respond to a smile much better than a hurried, frantic white girl. 3 some people really like Americans, other don't, how you treat them either changes or confirms that opinion. 4 it is not necessary or possible to do everything / see everything in five days. Rather find the things that interest you! Just because everyone says you have to go somewhere doesn't mean you'll like it, think about if you will get something out of it. 5 travel days will kick your butt if you don't make sure to recharge. You can't go 100% for two weeks straight and not crash, it's okay to be in bed at 9pm. And lastly, there is no one right way to see a city or be a tourist/ traveler. Everyone had different ways, and that's okay too.

Sorry for typos, my iPod is not the most ideal piece of technology.

All my love,

XOXO