Wednesday July 11th

Not sure how it's already Wednesday night, days are really flying by here! 2 1/2 weeks left...keep wanting to round up to 3 weeks but I've got to be realistic.

Yesterday I had class all day...struggle to stay awake towards the end but I'm really enjoying the topics. I have this strong fascination for the period of 1930s to 1940s in Europe.  I'm learning something new every day and I'm able to recall everything weeks after.  Before Prague, I loved history but I hated having to read and listen to lectures, taking notes after notes but learning it here is a totally different experience.  I'm able to see everything that we talk about, the Jewish ghetto in Prague, the concentration camps, the exact turn of where Heydrich was attacked and then died days later, the town that was completely demolished by the Nazis because Hitler was so upset after Heydrich's death, the secret synagogues....the list goes on and on.  I'm so interested in learning everything I can, something my parents are probably pretty happy about! K I definitely feel like a total nerd after writing this...

I know all this information will stick with me because they're topics I've been interested in for awhile now.  I couldn't even tell you how to draw a chair in organic chemistry anymore...shows how much that stuck with me!  I wish I could take more classes but I know this experience is so pure that anything else won't live up to it.

Today my class went on a field trip to Terezin, a concentration camp about an hour outside of Prague.  Terezin was actually a military fortress made by Joseph II in the late 1700s who named it after his mother, Maria Theresa. My professor is so knowledgeable about the most detailed subjects, it's amazing to listen to her. Some of my classmates don't appreciate it but their loss! This was the third concentration camp I've been to in a month and let me tell you, walking through it wasn't any easier. This camp was mostly a transport camp meaning it was a place that the Nazis would organize people to send to the East to be murdered.  Over 80,000 Jews went through Terezin and over half went to Auschwitz to be gassed.  What was different about this camp from Auschwitz and Dachau was that mostly children were there.  The children were allowed access to paper, pens, and paint from which they created diaries, drawings, and paintings.  We're fortunate because many of these forms of media were found and saved after the war.  Each drawing or painting revealed who the artist was and their fate, making the work come to life.  It's amazing how mature these children were, so thoughtful and passionate.  I can't imagine how much more educated this world would be if these people weren't savagely murdered.

After walking through Terezin which is still a town with many inhabitants today, we headed for Lidice.  Lidice is a town about 20 minutes outside of Prague.  In June of 1942, a couple of Czech paratroopers attempted to assassinate Heyrich in Prague (eventually he did die days later but from blood poisoning from a piece of fabric in a puncture wound...so random).  Hitler was extremely distressed after this because it's said that Heyrich would've been Hitler's choice for his successor.  The Nazis searched for the paratroopers all over Prague and eventually were tipped off that the paratroopers had connections in Lidice.  They went to this small village and murdered all of the men and deported the women and children to concentration camps.  During this, they completely bulldozed the town, leaving just rubble.  Many women and children from Lidice survived the war and came back to find that their home no longer existed.  Where the town used to be is now just hills of grass.  It's a story like this that really hits you about how terrible the Nazis were.

I'm currently reading In the Garden of Beasts which is about the US Ambassador to Berlin during the Nazi regime and I've learned even more about the context of the time period. We always think about the Nazis being these people who were extremely anti-Semitic but it's amazing how much of the world was anti-Semitic at the time.  Really makes you think twice about everything we learned in high school about the Holocaust because some of our high ranking government officials were anti-Semitic.  Learning about all this definitely makes you wonder about the what ifs. What if the world actually believed what was going on and did something earlier? What if Hitler didn't become Chancellor of the Weimar Republic? What if Hitler had gotten into art school in Vienna? So much could've been different.

Sorry if this post bored any of you but I just wanted to get my thoughts down and reveal some of the information I've been learning (yes I'm ACTUALLY doing school here, not just traveling!)

Yesterday I went paddle boating after class with my friend who was staying with me and of courssse it started pouring the minute we got out on our boat. Luckily it only lasted 15 minutes. Prague weather is so bipolar!

Class tomorrow and then off to Berlin Friday morning for the weekend! Can't wait to be back in Germany for a bit.

Love and miss you all, see you very soon!

Sbohem,
Whit

Monday July 9th

Back in Prague after a very long day of travel yesterday. We packed up our things in the morning and left our hostel, not without kisses from the hostel owners, too precious! My roommates had some souvenir shopping to do so we left early to walk towards the train station. I haven't bought much from the cities I've visited which is usually not like me. As a kid, I'd want all kinds of trinkets and gifts but now I'm satisfied with the memories I've made and pictures I've taken in each city.

When we arrived at Rome Fluminico Airport to get our boarding passes, my roommates didn't write down their confirmation numbers so they had to call home and wake up their families at 6am Eastern time! They definitely won't be making that mistake again. We got to the security line and it was so incredibly long we were thankful we got to the airport early. I don't know if it's just the Rome airport or just the Italian culture but it was such a haphazard process and they didn't even check our tickets and passports! Anyone could've walked through. Needless to say, I'm quite happy to be heading back to the States soon...

Our flight was delayed an hour (classic) and when it came time for boarding, again, they tried to make the process as inefficient as possible. The guy barely glanced at my passport too! Ridiculous. We took yet another bus to our plane that was out in the middle of nowhere...if I never have to ride a bus again I'll be a happy person. They try to stuff a whole flight on one bus and in 90 degree weather...you get the idea.

Flying through Dusseldorf was quick and painless and soon enough we were flying over Prague. It was cool to be able to point out all the sights I could spot, I could even see where we lived because we have a massive TV tower nearby. Since our metro line was under construction all weekend, we had to take the long way back via bus and switching metro lines. Definitely a public transportation expert by now.

It was such a relief to get back to our apartment but I had my midterm looming over my head that I hadn't started, whoops! I stayed up pretty late to finish it so I could relax today.
Justin, this guy I went to elementary and middle school with, has been backpacking around Europe and headed to Prague today and contacted me since he noticed I lived here.  Facebook is crazy haha but I offered to let him and a friend stay in my apartment for 2 nights, after asking my roommates of course!

We had dinner at my favorite Indian restaurant and it was fun to reminisce on memories and mutual friends. Now about to hit the sack. Still so exhausted from Rome and not sleeping well. Class all day manana!

Sbohem,
Whit

Rome Saturday July 7th

Here I am on my last day in Rome completely exhausted. Every bit of energy has been taken from my body but I'm so thankful for seeing all the sights I wanted to see.

After another night of waking up multiple times, we had breakfast at 9am and got ready for our long, hot day. I haven't slept through the night once while in Europe! So ridiculous and I've been feeling it, especially with all my traveling.

We got to the Colosseum and were greeted with disgusting long lines. Rome is WAY too crowded in the summer. Luckily, we bought tickets online so we got inside in like 5 minutes. We turned on our Rick Steve's podcast and walked in. Again I was speechless. The massiveness of it all takes my breath away. How did they manage to make this in 10 years? It was interesting to hear about the traditional gladiator fights and see beneath the arena floor in the backstage area. I tried to imagine what it would look and sound like which amazed me even more. It's said that 50,000 people could file into the arena in 15 minutes! The Romans should give some tips to sporting events and concerts!

We continued onto Palatine Hill, where Rome was founded. My roommates are pretty into Greek/Roman mythology so they knew much more than I did about the gods and such. Next was the Roman Forum which was incredible. It's crazy to think of all the hustle and bustle that happened on the streets. The grand arches and columns that still stand baffled me with their grandeur. We had a podcast which was extremely helpful. Most of the people there were so lost on what anything was, can't imagine not knowing the significance of the sights.

This day of Roman ruins reminded me of the ruins I saw while in Lebanon 2 summers ago. Both were incredible in their own way, and probably walked around in the same temperature too! It's amazing to think of how vast the Roman Empire was at its peak.

After we walked to the Mouth of Truth where we had to wait in line for the first time since we've been here, rough life! We got our classic picture and headed off to lunch at a local family Italian restaurant. I've been having so much pizza and gelato and my stomach has been completely fine! Such a blessing.

We walked over to the Trevi Fountain to grab gelato at a place my friend Nicole recommended, San Crispiano. Super delicious and hit the spot! We quickly headed back to our hostel because my roommates wanted to attend 5pm mass at St. Peter's. Both of them are pretty strong Catholics so I can see why they wanted to go. I've never been to mass and didn't really feel comfortable going so I stayed back at the hostel to cool off and nap a bit.

We looked up a good place to eat dinner and found this awesome restaurant that was cheap too! I had supa yaummy bruschetta, pasta, and wine. We had such an enjoyable last dinner in Rome that we didn't even realize we had been there for 2 1/2 hours! It's so nice to chat the night away.

We had our last gelato at Valentino's by the Trevi Fountain (recommended by Nicole) and it was the best gelato we've had so far! Great way to end the trip. We finished our night sitting by the Trevi Fountain and headed back to our hostel to get ready for a long day of traveling.

Rome was truly amazing, so grateful to be able to have seen so many sights I've only heard or read about. I wish the city was a bit more romantic, kids dirty, so many beggars and people trying to sell you ridiculous things but all in all, I have to say the trip was pretty successful.

Back to Prague for a full week of school (whhhhat?!) and then Berlin on Friday!

Love and miss you guys! Less than 3 weeks till I see y'all!

Ciao,
Whit

Rome Friday July 6th

Wowow is all I can say about today.

Started off kind of rocky...didn't sleep very well last night cause it was so hot! We walked to Vatican City, guess I can check another country off my list. It was a pretty far walk but it was cool to stumble upon beautiful sites (though I wish I knew what they were!)

We arrived at Vatican City and I was awestruck by the massiveness and beauty of St Peter's and St Peter's square. We had printed tickets before hand so we went right through to the Vatican museum (while being haggled by umbrella and shawl sellers, and tour guides!)

The museum was pretty sick, my favorite part would have to be the room of the maps of Italy. It was 120 meters long and the ceiling was insane. Every room had crazy old statues and paintings but my mind kept drifting to the Sistine Chapel. We finally arrived and my breath was taken away. It was supppper crowded but luckily I found a spot to sit (to listen to my Rick Steve's podcast!) and sneakily snag some pictures. Everyone had their cameras out and it was so loud in there cause the guards had to keep yelling at people to not take pictures and to be quiet. Pretty tough job! The podcast was clutch, he explained every part of the ceiling and Last Judgement painting and described how Michelangelo did it. Too sick to say I've seen it.

We moved onto St. Peter's which was, in my opinion, even more amazing. I've always been so fascinated by churches and this was soooo big! I was wearing a dress with a shawl and was worried about it being a littol too short but luckily the guards just told me to pull it down. That would've sucked if I couldn't have seen it! Again we had a podcast that explained everything. Even explained that Pope John XXIII's body is on display in a glass case...so creepy. Definitely recommend downloading podcast for any city you visit to save money!

By then it was 3:30 and we hadn't eaten since 9am so we found a cheap lunch place. We headed to the Pantheon and listened to our podcast for it. Wowow is all I gotta say. Pretty amazing engineering! Can't believe it.

After we walked to the Spanish Steps to go to the Keats and Shelley museum, 2 English poets who lived in Rome. I found a purse I've wanted for awhile now along the way which was a great find.

We walked back to our hostel to chill for a bit, literally like it was over 90 degrees all day...I felt so over heated!
We walked to find dinner and stopped at this precious place that was cheap as well. Finally got my glass of wine in Italy!

We continued on to the Colosseum, even though we're going tomorrow, we wanted to see it at night. Amazzzing. All the ruins here are too surreal like I don't believe they're real and that I'm here.

Off to bed, long day in the sun tomorrow and our last day in Rome! Way too quick of a trip but very thankful I could see it.
I'm hoping for a better night sleep...may take a sleeping pill to aid that...

Love and miss y'all!

Ciao,
Whit

P.S. forgot to mention yesterday that we saw a proposal at the Trevi Fountain last night! Way too precious, everyone was clapping so luckily she said yes! Kinda hard to top!

Roman Holiday, Thursday July 5th

Can't believe the trip I planned the first week I was in Prague is finally here!
We started off our day at 7am when a driver picked us up. We would've taken public transportation but they're working on the metros this weekend so it would've taken us way too long to get there on our own.

We flew to Dusseldorf, Germany...never heard of it before! And waited for our flight to Rome. Unfortunately our flight was delayed an hour...we were so frustrated because we really don't have that much time here.

Once we arrived in Rome we got o. A bus to take us to the city center which costs 5 euros and took about an hour. We could've taken a train that takes 30mins but it was 14 euros and we're trying to save our money for food! As we were driving it still hadn't hit me that we were here, even now I'm in disbelief. Everywhere you looked on the ride there was some sort of ruin or establishment, so awesome.

Our hostel was recommended to me by my friend Nicole who was in Rome a couple months ago. She warned me that it was impossible to find and wow was she right! We were so tired and hot and luckily asked someone who directed us to it. There's no sign for it at all which is ridiculous. Our hostel is super precious. It's basically someone's flat that's converted into a bed and breakfast. A really precious couple runs it and they were so cute and helpful. We have a private room which is really nice and we haven't seen anyone else yet so we don't know if we're the only ones.

We planned our days for the trip back in Prague so we had some sights we wanted to see. Trekking out into the heat, I soon realized my camera wasn't working! I had just charged it so I was pretty bummed it was dead (it's working now of course). Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain. Walking to it we saw such amazing sights, though we wished we could've known what they were.

Trevi Fountain was straight out of a movie. Too surreal, I still can't believe I saw it! It's so much larger than I thought it would be. Of course it was supa crowded but we managed to get some classic coin throwing pictures. We also grabbed some gelato and wow did we need it, we realized we hadn't eaten all day! We then headed to the Spanish Steps which were pretty awesome. We learned some history about it from a sign which made it all more cool.

We continued walking to the Piazza del Popolo and then walked down the river. Gotta say I wish my mom was here cause she'd have some travel book that would say what everything is! We have some research to do for the pictures we took.

We had dinner at the Piazza Novena which was good but definitely over priced. It was a beautiful view with fountains though so we were pretty happy. I'm so tired of having to pay for water at restaurants....this trip is going to make a huge dent on my wallet!

After we met one of Jesse's friends at the Trevi Fountain and walked around a bit more. She had been in Florence for 5 weeks so it was cool to hear about her experiences. We got another gelato, but this one was so much better! Only get gelato from tins that are covered. Nicole recommended a couple gelato places to me but I haven't found them yet! Gosh there's so much good food here....

I tried to meet up with a friend who's studying in Rome but she's leaving for Pompeii early tomorrow and she lives pretty far from our hostel so that was a bummer.

The walk back to our hostel was so nice, the weather was just right! We were ready to konkkkk out. Of course the wifi wasn't working so sorry to all that I didn't respond to!

In disbelief I'm here, everything is so beautiful and ancient. It's crazy to think about all the history here.

Vatican tomorrow with our Rick Steve's podcasts! Not tryin to pay for tours.

We were talking about how once we get back to Prague, the next 3 weeks are going to fly by...so sad!

Love and miss y'all!

Sbohem (ciao!),
Whit

4th of July!

Happy 4th!!

I have a couple days to catch up on so I'll do it quick!

Monday was my last day in Stockholm...really sad to leave! We walked around the city, looking at the beautiful architecture and shopping a bit (I had so much money left over!)
My flight was at 2pm so at noon I headed to the metro to get to the train station to go to the airport (public transportation in Europe is THE greatest.)  Saying goodbye to my family was sad, I had such an awesome weekend with them! I'm so lucky to be so close to my extended family. It was see you later since they live 10 minutes away from me at home!

I arrived at the airport and since the printer at the hotel wasn't working, I had to get a boarding pass. Wow was that a joke. I was behind 2 huge school groups at the check-in counter and there were only 2 people working...Czech Airlines sucks. It took about an hour to get through to the front where it took literally 5 seconds for her to print my boarding pass. Luckily the security line was non-existent so I went right through! It's going to be hard to get used to going back to the states and taking forever to get through.

I was so exhausted from the whole weekend that it was so nice to be able to relax for a bit in Prague...till I leave for Rome!

I had class on Tuesday all day, pretty standard. Tuesday was the anniversary of Franz Kafka's death, a famous Czech author, so we visited his grave. Later in the day my class went on a World War II tour around the Old Town.  I've learned so much about World War I and II that it's getting pretty repetitive!

My roommates and I wanted to attempt to make our 4th of July as traditional as possible and it was actually a pretty awesome day! We woke up early and had breakfast at our favorite French cafe (the waiter now knows us and our order.) and then headed to school to print out our boarding passes and tickets to museums for Rome!
After we walked across the Charles Bridge (sooo incredibly touristy, getting tired of having to walk across it so much!) and went onto an island on the river to rent paddle boats! The weather was so nice and it was extremely relaxing to be on the water. We had a bottle of wine from our local farmers market which was supa yaummy!

For dinner we went to the Globe, an American bookstore and restaurant. I ordered a burger and a beer, trying to be all American. The burger was definitely not beef....sketch, didn't sit well in my stomach. But it was the closest to an American meal I could get. As I was eating, I spotted a beautiful golden retriever out of the corner of my eye! Gift from God, I've been missin Tucker like no other!

We then met up with some friends and headed out to these fairgrounds outside of the city. The carnival was sooo vacant and abandoned we thought it wasn't open but sure enough it was! We were the only people there and it seemed like one family was running the whole place (there were lots of trailers around so they may actually live there.) It was so much fun to go on some rides!

All and all, I have to say that this 4th of July is one that I'll remember.  It was awesome to be able to hang with fellow Americans and realize how privileged we are to be able to have these experiences. I'm sad I'm not in Chester, CA at Lake Almanor with my family and close friends as we go there every summer for the 4th but it was still an amazing day!

Packing for Rome, we're getting picked up at 6:50am! Long day ahead but can't wait to see, eat, smell, hear and experience everything Rome has to offer. It's going to be 90s all weekend!

Love and miss y'all!

Sbohem,
Whit

Sunday July 1st

Wooow reality is setting in that it's July and at some point I'm going to have to return to the states. I've got to say I have mixed feelings about it, miss my family and friends but my time here has been nothing but amazing. 25 days to make the most of my European excursion and almost half of that time I'll be traveling! Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam/Brugge are ahead for the weekends in July.

Today we woke up early and walked around Ostermalm, a prominent part of the city. It was a beautiful neighborhood with so many parks , gardens, and Parisian architecture. We then got on a ship to go to Vaxholm. Stockholm is so stunning because of how many islands make up the city and surround it. I enjoyed traveling through all the littol islands on the way, all had such cute houses. It was such a beautiful day so when we arrived we walked around the island, did a bit of shopping and grabbed a snack and then headed back to Stockholm.

After we got lunch at this AMAZING burger place (and y'all know how much I love burgers.) called Vigarda. Hipster-chill place. We went shopping for a bit (a lot pricier than Prague!) and then grabbed coffee and headed back to the hotel to rest. My parents have been to Stockholm and recommended this one restaurant called Five Small Houses which we ate at this evening. The restaurant combined 5 houses (hence the name) and was mostly underground, it was really sick! The food was amaazing, reindeer anyone?

So incredibly sad to be leaving Stockholm tomorrow. If you ever get the chance to go to Stockholm, do it! (I would only do it in the summer though!) it's 11:30pm and it's still light out...so crazy
It's great to be with family, love them! I definitely needed this break!
Busy week ahead, class Tuesday and Rome Thursday morning!

Sbohem,
Whit