Bohemian Wonders

The Czech Republic is split into two separate regions, Moravia and Bohemia. Olomouc is in Moravia (eastern half of the country) and Prague is in Bohemia (western half of the country). However, after this week traveling through Bohemia, I have learned that there is so much more to the region than just the City of Spires.

We started our journey going to a little town called Litomysl. It was a town of about 10,000 on the border of the two regions. We started off our day by getting to roam and explore on our own for a few hours before taking a guided tour of a church/museum. This “angel church” was in the process of being rebuilt and redesigned and was just opened to the public in 2014. It was a beautiful example of incorporating modern elements into a Catholic sanctuary. Unfortunately, due to a little unfortunate weather, we weren’t able to explore much more of the city, so we went to a nice dinner instead and enjoyed one another’s company.

The second town that we got to experience was Kutna Hora. On our way, we stopped at an ossuary (bone church). Essentially, when mass graves existed, there were just people buried on top of people on top of people. So, when excavations had to be done, nobody knew what to do with the bones. They decided to make a church to commemorate the lives of those in the graves. They took the bones and made structures out of them and built a chapel on top. After our quick stop at the church, we headed into the little city of Kutna Hora. We had some free time to explore the city a little bit before our tour of the cathedral. We got a little taste of the town and got to enjoy the day before meeting at St. Barbara’s. Because Kutna Hora was a town that boomed because of mining, they decided to build a giant cathedral dedicated to St. Barbara (patron saint of miners). It was a beautiful day to see a stunning cathedral and to appreciate our second little town in Bohemia. After a quick night, we got up and took a tour of the silver mines that we had heard about. We dressed up in “typical” miners attire (white coats, hard hats, headlamps) to experience the conditions that the miners worked in. Walking through passageways that were between 40cm-120cm, we definitely got an intimate idea of just how awful mining for 9 hours a day would be.

The whole group going down into the mines

Ossuary (bone church)

Artsy picture of St. Barbara's

Saying goodbye to Kutna Hora, we hopped on the bus, once again, to say hello to Cesky Krumlov. The first stop of the day was the Budweiser (Budvar) plant just outside of the city. It was such a cool tour that we got to take. Being a supply chain management major, I loved seeing the efficient packaging line that this company has perfected. It was a logistics dream, and having the product be a beer made it that much better. We got into the cute little town and were free for the day. So, a few of us decided to find a hill to climb to see an overview of the city. After getting a tad bit lost, we asked a local and made it up to Cross Hill. There was a chapel on top of a hill overlooking the entire valley. It was all I could have asked for after being cooped up in a bus all day, the hike was great, the view was impeccable, and it was a good way to start off Cesky Krumlov. Our second day in Cesky Krumlov was also one of the best days I could have asked for to end our trip. We took a tour of the local castle and theater and got to view the history that made the little city into the tourist destination that it is today. I loved that we got to see the under-workings of the theater. It was something different that I have never really seen (or thought about) before. After our morning tours, we went back to get ready for the infamous rafting through Cesky Krumlov. It was a blast. Hands down, it was the most fun that I have had in the 87 days that I have been here so far. I loved that our whole group got to experience it together. We were all just happy to be in each other’s company and laugh together and enjoy our last adventure together.

 

View of Cesky Krumlov

Ready for a trip down the river

Bohemia was, by far, my favorite class excursion that we took. I don’t know if it was because we all knew it was the last shebang, or if it was the fact that we got to see and do so many things, or what it was. However, the Czech Republic is a beautiful country and this trip let us experience so much more of it. I am extremely grateful for all of the trips that we have been fortunate enough to take and I couldn’t have asked for a better itinerary. I also couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my study abroad program. 


~"At the end of the day, life's about realizing one's human potential. I don't know if I've realized mine, but I've certainly gone a long way towards realizing some goals and some dreams." -Linton Johnson

La Vie est une Belle Aventure

Before I really knew anything about traveling, I thought that the most important thing that "topped my bucket list" was to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris. However, now that I have been spending three months prancing around Europe, it ended up being number 11 on the list. But, nonetheless, I went to Paris for the weekend and had a magical time eating crepes and looking at the Eiffel Tower sparkle in the moonlight. 

We started our trip by taking a tram to the train station, a train to Prague, a bus to Vaclav Havel Airport, a plane to France, and an Uber to our hostel. So much public transportation that made our little weekend possible. After a few delays and mishaps, we made it to the beautiful "City of Love", and immediately fell asleep because we were dead tired and had a fun filled weekend that awaited us when the sun rose. 

The sun ended up setting its alarm too early, because our morning in Versailles seemed to jump out at us. Taking the RER (the metro system in France), we made it to the magnificent palace of Versailles. We approached the gilded gate that was once resurrected after the French Revolution and sat in awe at how massive the palace actually was. The Sun King (Louis XIV) went all out when he spent one half of France's GDP building a house for himself. We toured the staterooms and the king's rooms listening to good old Rick Steves telling us about the history of the palace as well as little tidbits about the art and decorations that surrounded us. Once we got tired at looking at all these priceless artifacts, we purchased tickets to look around the gardens. By far, the gardens were the most royal thing of the day. There were perfectly trimmed trees lining dancing fountains surrounded by the air filled with music. I felt like I was of nobility just walking through the gardens. We basked in the sun for a little bit before heading back in the the city. That night, we hiked across Paris to look at the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Minor Basilica. The church was phenomenal. It was placed perfectly on a hill with a marvelous view of Paris, as well as having a cozy, divine interior. When it was finally time to leave, we walked back to our Airbnb (situated approx. five minutes from the Eiffel Tower) and stopped to have a glass of wine and look at "le Tour d'Eiffel" light up for the night. 

Usually we only take pictures of things, so we decided to get a real picture of us at the gardens of Versailles

With another early sunrise, I got up and went to a little mass in French close to the city center. I met back up with the group and we started a free walking tour through the heart of Paris. We got to see famous landmarks such as Notre Dame, l'Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre. Our tour guide had been giving tours for many years so he was excellent at explaining the history behind certain buildings and illustrating stories that accompanied the places that we saw. After the tour, our group split off to go eat and go back to see certain things that we might have missed. I went back to see the interior of Notre Dame and see what all the hub was about. Personally, it wasn't my favorite church thus far, but the impeccable stained glass was unparalleled to anything that I have seen. Afterwards, I grabbed a croque-monsieur and we just walked around Paris and got to see what the city had to offer to us. We concluded the day with going to a little Italian restaurant that was the best place that I have been to in a long while. We were immediately greeted with a "bonjour" and a high five by our cute little Italian waiter. We saw that there were Rick Steves books as decorations and our waiter said that Mr. Steves had visited a few years ago and recommended the place in his books. Our calzone and real Italian wine hit the spot and was a great last meal to have in Paris. We bought a second bottle to go and went back up towards the Trocadero to once again sit and watch the sky fall behind the most famous landmark in the world. 

L'Arc de Triomphe

Le Louvre

Paris was a city that I didn't expect. It had so many different personalities and was filled with little twists and turns that I could never have anticipated. I feel like we short suited Paris a tad bit because we only dedicated two days to the beautiful haven. Once again, it was a spectacular weekend filled with astounding people and breathtaking scenery, and I am overjoyed that I got to experience "la ville de l'amour".


~"Travel fosters human understanding, and empathy for people whose lives are unlike your own; it opens your eyes to otherness, including other cultures and religions" -Nathan Lump~

When in Krakow...

I got a text from my family on Saturday asking me which I country I was in for this weekend. Sometimes I forget that it isn't normal to be in a different country every week seeing all the tiny corners of this giant world that we live in. However, the corner that I was fortunate enough to get to see Krakow, Poland this weekend. Like every other city that I have been too, Krakow had a unique fervor about it that made everyone in our group light up. 

The first place that we visited was the Wieliczka Salt Mine just outside of Krakow. We embarked on a three hour tour (our fate was more pleasant than Gilligan's) and went down the 53 flights of stairs to actually get into the mine. We were approximately 800 feet underground when the journey began. I have never actually seen how salt was mined (or thought about it). I've been to silver and gold mines throughout Colorado, but the salt mine was a different experience. I thought it was fascinating that this was still an active mine and we only got to see 1% of  the excavation. I would have liked to actually walk through where they sill mined the salt to get the full experience of salt mining. But, instead we got to physically lick the walls. Evidently, when you are surrounded by salt all day, you just get to lick it off of the wall. We stopped and our tour guide told us that this was the most "popular" wall to taste, so we stopped and tasted what the mine was giving us. Moving on from the eating of the wall, we went down into a chapel made out of salt. There was a giant statue of Saint Kinga (patron saint of salt miners) and another statue of Pope John Paul II (former bishop of Krakow), as well as chandeliers made out of salt crystals. We finished our tour and got to take the elevator back up 800 feet to the surface and out into the bright sunny day that Poland was offering. 

Chapel in the salt mine

After a light night out in Poland, we got up the next morning and marched off to the armory, treasury, and staterooms in the castle. It was just average I suppose. I think that our group is tired of seeing the same thing over and over (yes, this is a priceless tapestry that is stunning but we've seen way too many). So the group was extremely sluggish throughout the entire tour. After we were let free for the the day, I went off with a few people in the group to grab some traditional Polish food in the vast street markets of Krakow. Since we were fortunate enough to have beautiful weather (again) we sat outside and operated on "island time" for the afternoon. One of the most memorable things about the square was the cathedral that loomed over it. St. Mary's Basilica was essentially the most beautiful church that I have ever seen (sorry St. Peter's). With vibrant colors, majestic altar piece, and a quiet adoration chapel, it was exactly what I wanted to see that afternoon. Once I drug myself out of the cathedral, we just wandered the city and tried to read the feeling and see a true Saturday afternoon in Krakow. Once it started sprinkling a little bit, we went back to the hostel to freshen up before dinner. We got to go to a beer garden in the Jewish Quarter of the city and enjoyed liters and pierogies (traditional Polish pasta stuffed with meat, potatoes, or cabbage). Fantastic meal with exquisite company. Then the night was really nothing to remember, so I won't allude any details about it.

Krakow's main square with a view of St. Mary's Basilica

 

Pierogies (traditional Polish food)

I got up, somehow, on Sunday morning and found a Polish mass to attend before we shipped off to Schindler's factory. This was an unexampled view of the Nazi regime throughout Poland. With all of our lessons and tours about the Holocaust, this was just a different way of looking at it. Our tour guide was fantastic and extremely passionate and knowledgeable about his work. He told us about the impeding Nazi party that took over Poland in just 20 short days and the "average life" from there on out. It will most definitely give me a new perspective when I watch Schindler's List again. Once our tour was over, we all boarded up the bus and set back off for Olomouc. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. Not sure if it was the weather, the people, or simply the impeccable city that we were lucky enough to get to see, but I left Krakow with very good memories. 

~"Have nor fear of moving into the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you, therefor no harm can befall you; all is very, very well. Do this in complete faith and confidence" Pope John Paul II~