Vacation within a vacation

So I know how everyone thinks I'm studying my butt off over seas and getting straight A's right? Well we decided to take a little get away from our hard working life here in Olomouc. ;)

Our trip began in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria. If you have no idea what this city is, I would recommend making a Pinterest board because it is beautiful. It's probably one of the most cleanest and classiest cities I have or will ever step foot on. Between the countless shopping centers and a treasury based off the royal family that once ruled the Austria Hungary Empire. Vienna taught me what a good quality gelato cone should look and taste. It taught me how it is truly is possible to spend 200€ in a blink of an eye. The museums were hands down my favorite luxury of the city. The treasury was so beautiful! When you think about queens and kings, this treasury was exactly what we would see in our history books! I also visited a natural science museum that was very large. It us about 2 hours to tour it and we didn’t even see it all! However, we only spent two days in Vienna so all I accomplished was museums and shopping.

The king's crown and other treasure.

More treasures from treasury in Vienna.

A little from the natural science museum since I am obsessed with elephants.

When you ask people what cities they wish to visit in Europe. Majority of them would say Venice and everyone should say Venice! The beauty behind this city is not like any other place. Within minutes of our train getting to the mainland my jaw dropped. Venice was beyond words. However, with a beautiful city comes an expensive lifestyle. The city was filled with tourist. I don’t think I actually met an Italian in the city because everyone was from somewhere else! The city was one big maze; honestly the way to find your way was to get lost. Somehow we always ended up in the same area near the Saint Mark Basilica where we would sit by the water admiring the beauty of the sea. Most importantly, I ate the best pasta in the face of this planet in Venice. Dal Moro’s changed the meaning of pasta. This pasta to go shop had all different kinds of noodles and sauces to chose from. Oh, and most importantly it was cheap. Cheap food was hard to come by in Venice or cheap anything was hard to find. Besides the pasta I think my other favorite was the gondola ride. Nothing better than experiencing the beauty of Venice on water since that is what majority of the city is! During my stay at Venice, I was the happiest I’ve ever been! All I can say is Venice was breath taking. If I have one advice for people that want to travel it is to visit Venice.

 

A little beauty from Venice.

On the magnificent gandola ride.

Pretty much sums up our spring break.

Italy part II takes place in Rome. Now I am not going to lie that the first day I was a little disappointed with the city but by the end of my three days I was also sad to leave. I think what made Rome a little less enjoyable for me was the entire tourist. The city was packed full of tourist and random people selling things on the streets. The amount of people that were selling stuff on the streets was probably the same amount of tourist on the streets. Even though the city was packed full I am glad I got to see this ancient city. The history behind Rome is mind blowing. My favorite part was hands down the Coliseum. I had goose bumps as I toured this ancient phenomenon.

 

The Colosseum

Everyone has the one city they fall in love with. I can’t even describe or put into words my love for the city of Barcelona. I love the Spanish culture, so relaxed and friendly. Everyone was so grateful that Americans were shopping at their shops or eating at their café. The city was modern but like nothing I’ve seen before. I loved being able to speak Spanish or English. Everyone knew both! I had no language barrier. The beach was a bit chilly but that did not stop us from taking on the rays. Barcelona gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to relax on the beach or take a hike. I think we averaged 15 miles a day from sightseeing. All the sights were about a 30-minute walk from each other. I had one thing on my must do for Barcelona and that was visit park guell. Why? Well I am obsessed with the cheetah girls and when they shot their movie my favorite seen was at that park. So I had to drop 8 euros to reenact their pictures. I see myself in Spain however. I love the Spanish language, the culture, and the enviroment. Everything about the city drew me in. I’ve been an emotional roller coaster since leaving the city. I’ve never questioned my career path or future as much as I am right now. I just want to move to Spain.

The beautiful oceanside view of Barcelona.

The cheetah girls 2.0

We took a skyline over the city of Barcelona.

The nightmare behind Auschwitz

Auschwitz II also known as Birkenau where about 90% of victims were murdered.

History has never been my favorite subject, in fact every time someone would bring it up my mind spaced off. I’ve never been interested in learning anything about the past to be honest. However, as I made my way into Auschwitz I’ve never been struck with so much knowledge that kept me wanting to know more. I remember watching boy in the striped pajamas in high school and still not wrapping my head around the fact that millions of people were killed in the 1940s for either being a Jew, Polish, or simply going against Hilter's viewpoint of the perfect race.

Thousands of pan that were collected by the Nazis when they took the Jew's luggage.

More items taken from the victims.

Just a little glimpse of the room that was filled with shoes.

I however was not prepared for what I witnessed at Auschwitz. I was walking the halls as Nazi soldiers, I was in gas chambers where a million Jews were murdered. I saw piles of shoes that were left behind. Let me tell you when I saw pile of shoes it is an understatement. A room filled from top to bottom of shoes. In the same block we saw a room filled with hair of women that were murdered. My heart dropped, tears starting coming down. The soldiers would shave the women's heads before sending them off to the gas chambers. We weren't allowed to take pictures in this room and quite frankly I understand why. This block also had children's clothes displayed. In this room we saw piles of everything possible that could've been left behind. In a room there were suitcases, the suitcases had names because the Nazi soldiers told the Jews to label their suitcases. I could read actual names of victims. As I left that block I've never felt more disgusted about the evil behind the Nazis. We walked through the prisons where they kept the Jews or polish before they would execute them.

Baby clothes and shoes that were displayed.

 When the Jews would arrive to the camps they were selected, those that would go to work at the camp and those who would be put into the gas chamber. Usually women and children were sent to the gas chamber because they were "useless" only those who would benefit the Nazi would live. The Nazi's would tell the Jews they were being relocated to have a better life because they were not wanted in their countries. They would tell the children they were going to take a shower but instead were taking into gas chambers. It is hard to believe that the Holocaust happened. That innocent people were killed because they were different.I don't believe there is an excuse for what the Nazi's did and I hope history never repeats itself.

Inside the gas chamber.

I don't believe my body has ever felt so many chills as it did when I stood in one of the remaining gas chambers in Auschwitz. All the others were burned down by the Nazi's so they would hide all proofs of the evil they did. About 1.1 million people were killed in Auschwitz. What I don't understand is how the Nazi's were capable of doing this for so long? How could the world stand aside and watch innocent people get killed? Our tour guide told us that 1-2 years after the camps were shut down, victims opened the camp as a museum and gave tours. Its fascinating to me how so quickly after this chaos victims were telling their stories. I could not imagine reliving my nightmare every time I gave a tour. 

Everyday is a new chapter in history. Some chapters are longer than others, some we wish we could skip, some we wish we could replay. The holocaust has made an impact on our lives whether we know it or not. It is its own story that leaves us speechless but pushes us to be better in today's world. As awful as the Nazis were it is up to us to make sure history never repeats itself and to honor those innocent victims that were murdered by Hilter.

Hungary for an Adventure

Welcome to Grandio Party Hostel!

So I was Hungary for an adventure this weekend...and an adventure we got. So we booked a hostel without looking much into it because it was really cheap! Well, right when we walked in this place was the definition of a party hostel. The employees jumped out of the bar to greet us and were yelling for each other to check us in. The bar was the reception. I was crying in the inside because I was so terrified. I've never experienced anything like this before. As we sat down and filled out our check in sheets and conversed with the employees I felt a little better. These people were the prime example of free spirit. I gave the hostel and then a chance because well I'm in Europe, I'm going to encounter things that push me out of my comfort zone but that's what makes an adventure.

We got the keys to our room and the Russell Brand looking guy walked us over. The room was bright with awful lighting and writing on the wall everywhere! I sat down and just laughed to myself. Our roommates in the hostel turned out to be American too that was studying in Vienna! I've never been so happy to English before. We had some French girls as well who were super sweet. As the night went on they invited us to go out with them and even the employees came into our room inviting us to join them for the night. The employees were the coolest people I have ever met. They helped us with everything we needed, they drew us a map to get around Budapest, gave us the best places to eat, helped us tickets to our boat cruise and baths.

These baths were probably the greatest thing I've done so far.

Hannah, Aubrey, and I enjoying our wine on a boat tour.

Budapest has been on my bucket list so I had my Pinterest board filled with ideas for the weekend. My two main things were getting a boat tour of the city and doing the famous baths. Both were accomplished and neither one disappointed me. As we experienced the nightlife of Budapest, I was so fascinated by the beauty of the city. I didn't get to hear much of the history of Budapest but we had 7 different kind of Hungarian wine and heard all the facts about that so pretty much the same thing?

This trip however was great not because of what I saw but of who I met and what I learned from them. Yes, if you ask anyone in my group they would say I stayed in the scariest hostel ever. Trust me I thought that at first too. But I actually envy the people that worked my hostel and even the people of Budapest. They don't care about anything.. They're so free... They're having the time of their lives by working in something they love. I don't know but too me that all I want in life. I want to stop caring what other people think of me or live up to their expectations. I met so many people this week who just travel wherever they want, whenever they want. I only have 2 more months to do that before I can't do that no more.

I'm obsessed with Budapest's nightlife views.

This weekend was more eyes opening then anything. I got to experience the culture in Budapest hand on hand. This is city is known for its crazy nightlife and free spirit people. I'm in Europe; I'm never going to experience weekends like this back home! I wouldn't change this weekend for anything, not even staying at a sketchy hostel. Who knows where I'll go next week or next month but I know it'll be just as amazing if not more than this week.

Another great picture with my partners in crime.

I'm so lucky to have Hannah and Aubrey in this trip with me to experience sketchy hostel stories and just laugh about our weekend. These girls have become my partners in crime which makes missing home a little easier. So, what was learned from this weekend... YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT AND STOP CARING WHAT OTHERS THINK.

Sappy post alert:

To my friends back home... I always hated being left out of things and of course you guys knew that. I've never been so happy to waking up to 5 minute long snap stories of you guys at formal with a cut out of me. Having friends like the ones I do back home is why I get homesick so much. Who else has best friends that take a cut out of you too formal? And send miss you snaps and viber messages like every waking minute. I am blessed with such an amazing opportunity overseas and what I would do to have all of you guys here with me. There's not one thing that I do that doesn't remind me of one you.. I go to an art museum and I know how much Kami would love this. Or I go to a club.. All I want is Bridgette breaking her moves here. I could write forever about how much I appreciate you guys but this blog is about my trip to Budapest not me at formal. I love you all. See you in 62 days.

Yes, my best friends took me to formal.

Reason #1232534543 why I miss my best friends.