DAY 1
Aside from the free weekends that we have as a part of this program, we also have the opportunity to go on class “field trips” around Europe. March 21-24 was our first trip all together as a group. We traveled to Prague Czech Republic and Dresden, Germany over a four day weekend. Transportation throughout Europe is so nice because there are so many options! For example, what would have taken 3 hours at least by car, only took us 2 hr and 30 min by train! These trains are super inexpensive, and also just so convenient.
After getting checked into our hostel, we set out to do some sight seeing and learn about the history of Prague. We first went to the St Cyril Methodius Church and Crypt. This is where the masterminds of mission Anthropoid hid out after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. The two men planned an elaborate assassination that would have worked perfectly had the gun worked. So in a sense you could say that their assassination attempt failed because Heydrich did not die on the site. However, he did die several days later in the hospital due to wounds caused by the attack. After Heydrich died there was an aggressive search for the men that had committed the crime as well as a wave of destruction to villages and mass murders of civilians by the SS. These men hid in the cellar of St Cyril until the location of the hideout was given up by a fellow resistance member. The german troops came after them but the 7 men hiding here fought off an army for 6 hours before their resources were exhausted and they took their own lives out of dignity. Seeing the holes that were left by gunfire at that time still in the building sent chills down my spine as I imagined the bloody battle that took place in a holy place of worship. After that somber visit to the church, we had time to roam around the city and explore.
A small group and myself headed to the main square to admire the famous astronomical clock and watch the show at the top of the hour! Two of the girls in our group, Sara and Alex, wanted to take pictures with a giant panda bear that was in the square. There were street performers all over the square, all providing an enjoyable environment that was ever changing. The rest of our first afternoon and night in Prague was filled with delicious desserts, shopping, and the celebration of a classmate’s 21st Birthday. We celebrated in a true Czech way by participating in a Pub Crawl around the city.
DAY 2
On March 22, our second day in Prague, we went on another tour with our two Czech professors, Martin and Jan. We are so lucky to have them as a part of our program to share their extensive knowledge of the history of Europe. They took us to a church that had a memorial for Jan Hus on the side of the building. Next, we walked to Charles Bridge to admire the view and also to learn about the history of it. There is a spot on the bridge that is covered with locks where Good Duke Wenceslaus (St. Wenceslaus) was thrown off of the bridge by the King. He was put to death in this way because he would not tell the King what his wife had said in her confession. For this reason he is looked at as a very loyal figure and later was declared a Saint. We continued to walk along the bridge and were able to admire the beautiful statues that line the edges.
We left the bridge and transitioned into a different part of town which sits lower below the bridge. It was so adorable, as I felt that I was walking through a little old time village. This part of the city has undergone historic flooding many times throughout the years. I thought it was very interesting to see the water levels from each flood that were indicated on the side of a building. The talk of floods made me thing about my home in Nebraska and all the trial that our wonderful state is going through and overcoming.
We walked past the John Lennon wall which was such a cool experience. There were fans of all ages gathered there getting their pictures taken in front of it wearing John Lennon shirts, and even pants and skirts that had John Lennon patches on them. There was a street performer sitting playing Beatles songs. The wall is covered with sentiments of love from all over the world. Tourists often make their own mark on the wall, we saw a tour group that was adding spray paint to the wall through stencils that said LOVE. We took a bunch of pictures and enjoyed the environment.
Our next stop required us to trek up about a million stairs to reach the royal quarters of town where the Prague Castle is located. It was absolutely gorgeous to look out over the entire city from a high point. I loved imagining the business that took place here over the years as this was the headquarters for the royal family. We then visited the cathedral which is also referred to as the Prague Castle. When walking up to the cathedral, I felt like I had stepped back in time and into a fairytale. It was breathtaking from the outside, but little did I know the inside was even more extravagant! The cathedral houses the tombs of Kings, Bishops, and saints. Each tomb is located under a breathtaking stain glass window. The most elaborate tomb was that of St,. Wenceslaus whom I mentioned earlier who has a statue and memorial on the Charles Bridge. Also within the cathedral, there was a balcony specifically reserved for the royal family to sit in while attending services. This balcony was positioned to that the congregation would have a view of the royal family looking over everyone. I found it very interesting that this balcony was directly connected to their chambers/”house”. This means that they were able to just walk down a hallway of their quarters and be in the cathedral.
Our group also was able to tour the royal chambers. Here we viewed a grand hall that was used to host a variety of events. For example, they would cover the floor with sawdust and have horse shows and jousting for entertainment. I enjoyed seeing the coronation room where much of the royal business was taken care of. On display in this room there were replicas of the crown jewels. The rest of our tour of the royal grounds consisted of a medieval church, tiny servent houses, and a torture dungeon.
Myself Sara, Alex, and Cici (three of my best friends on this trip) were taking pictures of the barrier walls of the kingdom when a girl about out age asked us if we could take her picture on the wall as well. We of course helped her out, because girls have to support other girls! :) All five of us started walking down the kill into the city and we continued to talk. Her name was Kristen and we discovered that she has been backpacking around Europe since January by herself! I loved hearing about her travels because I will be traveling solo for a month after the end of my academic program here. It was such a blast to hear where she had been and all about her experiences. We invited her to have lunch with us and then she ended up hanging out with us for the remainder of the way. We made our way back to the main square after stopping back by the Lennon wall.
After crossing the bridge, we decided to climb to the top fo the bridge tower to check out the view! Turns out it was even more spectacular than I had anticipated. We had an incredible view of the Prague Castle and the rest of the city as well. We sat above the city for quite a while people watching as we observed the hustle and bustle of the people on the bridge below. Tourist were looking at vendor booths who were selling paintings, homemade jewelry, and little trinket souvenirs. Above all, my favorite part of most of the cities that I have been to is the live street music that add to the ambiance of the moment. This moment was no exception as a live band played down below serenading us with sweet tunes. It was a magical experience with the castle off in the distance, the sweet smell of Trdelnik and music in the air. As I admired the view, I couldn’t help but think of all the other people who have looked over the city from this spot over the past 600 years and what sights they might have seen.
The five of us decided to venture and find the “best” trdelnik shop in Prague to break our “Chimney Cake” virginity. A trdelnik is a split cake which is prepared with dough that is wrapped around a stick and then baked on an open fire. The chimney cake is then topped with a mixture of sugar, walnuts, or cinnamon sugar. There are many variations of these delicious treats, but of course I choose one filled with chocolate ice cream, nutella, brownie bites, carmel, and whipped cream. Yes, it did taste like diabetes, but it was ohhh so wonderful! If you find yourself in Prague ever, I would recommend stopping by the “Good Food” shop to get a Trdelnik!!
Next on the agenda was some fun time in the square getting some souvenir pictures with the bubble man! Each of us had so much fun taking turns to play around in the bubbles like the the little kids we still are inside! Of course, while traveling without your mom means that your friends must fill the role of capturing moments like this. So you could say that we are each others own poparazzi crew. ;) It was after this that we said goodbye to our new friend and headed back to the hostel to take a little snooze before we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out on the town!
Day 3
On the third day of our travels, we took a bus to Dresden Germany where we learned about the effects that WWII had on this beautiful city. Dresden was almost completely destroyed by bombings. We learned that during the war most bombings took place during the night, which meant that the pilots had to extensively study the rivers on their journey to the target because navigation back then was unreliable, so they had to rely on water that was lit up by the moon to guide them to the target. As a defense mechanism, inhabitants of the city would board up their windows at night to make the city completely dark and therefore making it harder for bombers to be able to find it. This defense worked for a while as they avoided destruction that other major cities like Berlin and Hamburg underwent, but on February 13, 14, and 15, 1945 they were finally hit. More than 1,200 British and US heavy bombers dropped nearly 4,000 tons of high- explosive and incendiary bombs on the city.
One major architectural casualty that we toured was the Dresden Frauenkirche, which is a Lutheran Church that was destroyed, located in the main square. Almost 50 years after the bombings, the church was restored to its original glory through reference to pictures from its earlier years. The use of pictures for reconstruction was also used in the restoration of the town square located around the church. Due to the fact that these buildings were rebuilt to resemble their original existence, it is difficult to notice that this city was ever torn in pieces. One indication of the destruction that can be seen today are the dark stones that can be seen on the facade of the church. The darker stones are those that were recovered from the rubble and used to rebuild. As the exterior of this church is quite impressive, the interior is just as stunning. Being a Lutheran personally, I had a hard time believing that this was a Lutheran church because of the elaborate design and attention to detail.
After looking around for a little bit, part of our group took an elevator, and also climbed a bunch of stairs to get a look at the city of Dresden from the dome. Once again, the birds eye view gave me an appreciation for the beauty of yet another city. As I peered out across the city, I tried to imagine what it would have looked like 74 years ago after the destruction hit. More than the destruction of infrastructure, I tried to imagine the number of lives that were impacted as a result of onslaught of bombings from aerial raids on this city.
Next on our activity list for the day was a tour of Residenzschloss Dresden which is home to the historic Green Vault. The Green Vault is a unique historic museum that contains the largest collection of treasures in all of Europe. This collection of jewels and treasures was mind blowing as I viewed the most unique, colossal, green diamond known to man! It is believed that its unique coloration is owed to natural radioactivity that the stone came into contact with at some point in time. However, no one really knows the origin of this stone, it is a mystery that died many many years ago. What I do know is that I would be happy adding this magnificent piece to my jewelry collection. :) HAHA
Of course, before leaving Dresden, we had to get some delicious ice cream from a cute chocolate shop. Before I knew it, our time in Dresden was over and it was time to head back to Prague. When we arrived to Prague, my friends, Kira, Cici, Sara, Alex, Erika, Kristina, and myself went out for drinks in the main square. We finished off an amazing day with a gorgeous view of the famous Prague astronomical clock!
Day 4
During the morning of our final day in Prague we visited 3 synagogues and 1 cemetery. First we went to the Pinkas Synagogue which has been turned into a memorial for the murdered Jews of Moravia and Bohemia (The Czech Republic), the walls were covered with the names of almost 80,000 names of those who lost their lives. It was a very somber time as we viewed the covered walls and listened to the names of the victims being recited for remembrance. The upstairs of the synagogue help an exhibit that showcased artwork that jewish children had created illustrating things that they saw in their daily life at the Terezin Ghetto. These pictures depicted such pain and evil that small children were seeing and expressing in artistic form. I couldn't help but start crying when looking at the purity and truth of the artwork by the children who were taken from this earth by pure evil. Almost all these children eventually lost their lives at Auschwitz.
The cemetery located behind the synagogue is called the Old Jewish Cemetery, rightfully named, as the sight of it is quite unsettling at first. The cemetery hold no actual victims from the holocaust but dates from 1439-1787. It is estimated that roughly 12,000 jewish graves are located within this area. The gravestones are places in no strategic way, but instead are sticking in every direction and leaning on each other. It is Jewish tradition to be buried in a way that allows their bodies never to be found and connected with their identity. This means that there is no rhythm or reason for the placement of bodies in this cemetery. Graved have been essentially built on top of one another for so long that the cemetery sits at a much higher level than the surrounding streets. Many other cemeteries like this one used to exist across Europe, but were destroyed during the war.
We visited two more synagogues as a group. The Klausen Synagogue has been turned into a museum of the Jewish religion and their lifestyle. It is rumored that Hitler kept the cemetery and the artifacts displayed in this museum to create a museum of the race that was exterminated. Next, we say the Old-New Synagogue which is the oldest in Prague dating back to the 13th century. It is the only practicing synagogue still active in the Jewish Ghetto today. I was also able to visit one more synagogue with my professor Dr. Matt Mims. We went to see the Spanish Synagogue which was a completely different style and my personal favorite of the day! The style of this one most likely was brought back with the Jewish families who moved to Spain when Jews were being kicked out of Europe.
After a nice lunch, and a little shopping, we were back on our way home after an enlightening weekends of exploration, history, and bonding!
If you stuck through and actually read all the way through this lengthy post I applaud you!! HAHA
Hugs and Blessings,
Annalise