Things go wrong! You must remain calm and flexible... Going abroad means money troubles, travel troubles, and those can only be the beginning! I have been so fortunate just being here... but realize things CAN go wrong...
So Nov. 9th I dropped off my computer at the Local Arnhem shop and have not had luck! I turned on my Dell Laptop one morning and the monitor was black. I could barely, barely see the background - it was EXTREMEMLY dim. I could see my welcome screen on the back and even got to my desktop but the bulb has been completely OUT. I have been really bummed out - not being able to skype with my family and friends and it has been tough with all of the group projects and things coming up as well with school. You realize you don't know what you have till it is gone :/ !
I have learned when things go "wrong" at home you have a lot of options/people to talk to and resources, but when abroad you must be open and flexible because when problems happen you must suck it up and deal with it (a lot of times in a DIFFERENT language than your own...). So today is the 22nd and I still don't have a laptop or gotten it back yet. The Arnhem shop (about 2 mins from where I live) only picks up laptops on Tuesdays and Friday's. I dropped it off on a Wednesday (thinking it would be picked up and taken to the store approx. 20 km away to get fixed). Well the man said there was a "mix up" and my laptop never even got picked up from the shop and all it had been doing was sitting in Arnhem - very frustrating! After I called multiple times to try and figure it out they said that they would get it sent to the next town to get fixed. This then took days and days just to get even a call back with cost...etc. The process here just hasn't been efficient and I feel as if I would have to do a lot of micro-managing just to understand the status of my laptop, what was happening and so forth. I feel like back home you would drop your laptop off, get a call the next day, get a quote and diagnostic - not necessarily here.
The Ede computer company (approx. 20 km away from Arnhem where they actually fix the computers) called me on Friday --- FINALLY! They said it would cost 140 Euros (Approx. 185 USD) to change out the backlight of the laptop. The man said this cost would NOT ensure that it would be fixed though. He said he could try but it wasn't for sure. He said it could have something to do with the motherboard or something that "turns on" the backlight and not necessarily the backlight itself (alone). Now I'm no computer genius by any means, but my entire laptop works, it is just so faint that I cannot see the mouse or what I am doing. When I showed him my laptop he said it was most likely just the light because everything else seemed to work - this is what I don't understand? I told the Ede company not to go through with the purchase of 140 euros, because I could not justify spending 140 Euros on something that I don't know would be fixed or not, especially because I could spend the 185 USD back home to go towards a NEW laptop. Make sense? I think if I knew it would be fixed for 140 Euros, I may do it -- but it was too much relying on luck more than anything, so I just couldn't. As I mentioned, it has been a frustrating ordeal being abroad without a laptop but I'm really trying to stay positive and learn from the experience. I hope that others who decide to study abroad will realize that being flexible is key. You get told "if things go wrong abroad".... blah blah blah, but NOTHING ever goes perfect while abroad and you never expect things to happen you just try to deal with them when they do. There are always occurances when things go wrong and you have to deal with things. My friend lost her I-pod and her camera broke after our first trip - i.e. things go wrong. TWO of my other friends laptops broke as well - i.e. things go wrong. My other friend took out 100 Euros from an ATM, and the money never actually came out - though she got charged for it. My other friend bought a bike - and it got stolen.... ALL IN ALL things go wrong. This is life :) You just think it is way worse when you aren't in your "comfortable" home country or home city.
My options now are going to be, picking up my laptop (un-fixed) in Arnhem and then take it to the city center to get looked at by some other shop with a different opinion. This was the first shop I went too and it looks as if it would cost me an outrageous 140 Euros so I am hoping if I take it to a different store they could give me a diagnostic and a quote and hopefully it can be a "quick" fix rather than something really intense or with the motherboard or what not. I went to the IT department at the HAN University and they gave me names of 2 other shops in the city center, but I am also trying to contact them more seeing if I could rent a laptop from the school in order to get me by 'till January. All in all, it comes at a bad time when school is starting to get tough and in depth and having group meetings day after day that I don't have the 2-3 hours to bike to and from the city center and try to meet with people to help sort out my laptop situation. Wishing there were more than 24 hours in a day!
A lot of my friends and teachers at school are saying - GO MAC GO MAC! I've never been a Mac girl, wondering what all of you out there think? I love my Dell laptop and my Mom ended up buying my sister a Dell a few months ago before she started college, and I love PC's but I'm wondering if a change is needed?
Lets just hope the best scenario comes out of this, I go to the city center - they can switch out the backlight and it won't cost me a lot. My friend Tad here from San Fransisco is really big into computers, and he said that I could order the backlight for my monitor directly from Dell - get it sent to Arnhem and then him and I could go online and look up how to switch it ourselves, I was also thinking of this option. I think I could do it. Why Not! I can do anything... right! ;)
And I'm wondering how much Dell would charge for a new backlight. As I said the computer works and everything is good and fine, it is just the bulb on my screen! Urgh!
I know I post a lot about great things, and the magnificent people I am meeting here and things I am doing - but this proves that Studying Abroad makes you such a better person just dealing with issues outside of your own country. If you would've asked me in September if I could function without a laptop in a foregin country I would un-doubtably say NO WAY JOSE, but now I am doing it and things are essentially fine. You realize what you can deal with and what you can deal WITHOUT. I've met amazing friends here who let me use their laptops at any time and even have sleepovers in their rooms so I am not lonely in my own room without movies to watch before bed :)
Always remember.... when things go wrong -- it honestly COULD BE WAY WORSE! I know there are others out there in the world with thousands of problems much, much bigger than mine :)
If I don't get my laptop fixed before coming home it'll be ok - and hopefully I can find someone at home more computer-literate to help out, for a cheap price :) I can have high hopes, right!
BK
** Stay tuned for the Prague pic's and blog from this past weekend :) It was a wonderful time! I am becoming IN LOVE with Eastern Europe now after Czech and Poland!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Nov. 13th & 14th in Den Haag, Nederland
Just came home yesterday from an amazing weekend! Friday night we traveled to Den Haag, spent the day Saturday at the day of the international student, and Sunday we went to the beach and checked out Den Haag more, as sinterklaas was there too. (We didn't go to Amsterdam this weekend, decided we wanted to see more of Den Haag).
Friday night was great. We couch surfed and went to a few pubs that night, but came home a tad bit early because we were very tired and had a busy day Saturday.
Saturday was the Day of the International Student at the World Forum Center in Den Haag. There were 2,000 in attendance! They day was jam-packed full of activities and the entire thing only cost 12.50 Euros. It started at noon with lunch provided and an information fair. We went to the different booths and learned more about the professional aspect of studying abroad as it relates to jobs, and other booths had a lot of info about the Dutch and the Netherlands in general. The opening ceremony followed, and the whole day was provided by Nuffic. HERE IS NUFFICS WEBSITE WITH A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION
After the opening ceremony (which closed with BMX bike riders doing crazy tricks!) we were able to choose two workshops to go too. The first one we did was "Brand Me" which had you look at the qualities you look for in an organization and how you'd fit in it. This wasn't the best workshop and really wasn't what we expected, but I was happy I did it anyway. The second workshop was all about entrepreneurship and the qualities entrepreneurs had. For some reason I really wanted to check out this workshop and I'm happy I did. I think I share a lot of the same characteristics as entrepreneurs do :) We'll see where my future takes me!
After that we had a closing ceremony with a commedian and also a buffet dinner right at the World Forum Center. After that we used our four free drink vouchers and enjoyed the DJ and the band! We had an amazing time and the band "Tour De Funk" was really great. I'll get photos up stat! The Bands website: http://www.tourdefunk.nl/
After that we went with many other international students downtown and we met one girl from Costa Rica, one from Kenya and one from Nigeria that we hung out a lot with. They said to us that if we are looking for an African Safari to do in the future, to go to Kenya! I think I am going to keep this on my radar.
Then Sunday we woke up and explored Den Haag a bit. We went to the ocean and spent time on the beach. The cold didn't hurt us to much because sinterklaas was going on so there were a lot of kids and a lot of people dressed up celebrating the holiday. It was a great weekend and I'm so happy we decided to go there! Our couch surfing hosts were great and the Day of the International Student was well worth the money and was a great time.
Friday night was great. We couch surfed and went to a few pubs that night, but came home a tad bit early because we were very tired and had a busy day Saturday.
Saturday was the Day of the International Student at the World Forum Center in Den Haag. There were 2,000 in attendance! They day was jam-packed full of activities and the entire thing only cost 12.50 Euros. It started at noon with lunch provided and an information fair. We went to the different booths and learned more about the professional aspect of studying abroad as it relates to jobs, and other booths had a lot of info about the Dutch and the Netherlands in general. The opening ceremony followed, and the whole day was provided by Nuffic. HERE IS NUFFICS WEBSITE WITH A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION
After the opening ceremony (which closed with BMX bike riders doing crazy tricks!) we were able to choose two workshops to go too. The first one we did was "Brand Me" which had you look at the qualities you look for in an organization and how you'd fit in it. This wasn't the best workshop and really wasn't what we expected, but I was happy I did it anyway. The second workshop was all about entrepreneurship and the qualities entrepreneurs had. For some reason I really wanted to check out this workshop and I'm happy I did. I think I share a lot of the same characteristics as entrepreneurs do :) We'll see where my future takes me!
After that we had a closing ceremony with a commedian and also a buffet dinner right at the World Forum Center. After that we used our four free drink vouchers and enjoyed the DJ and the band! We had an amazing time and the band "Tour De Funk" was really great. I'll get photos up stat! The Bands website: http://www.tourdefunk.nl/
After that we went with many other international students downtown and we met one girl from Costa Rica, one from Kenya and one from Nigeria that we hung out a lot with. They said to us that if we are looking for an African Safari to do in the future, to go to Kenya! I think I am going to keep this on my radar.
Then Sunday we woke up and explored Den Haag a bit. We went to the ocean and spent time on the beach. The cold didn't hurt us to much because sinterklaas was going on so there were a lot of kids and a lot of people dressed up celebrating the holiday. It was a great weekend and I'm so happy we decided to go there! Our couch surfing hosts were great and the Day of the International Student was well worth the money and was a great time.
Food For Thought
My friend Dani sent this to me a few days ago, kind of interesting "Food for Thought".
Enjoy :)
"What the U.S. Can Learn from the Dutch About Teen Sex"
CLICK ON THIS LINK, or go below
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/09/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-the-dutch-about-teen-sex/#ixzz15MEBsq9M
http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/09/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-the-dutch-about-teen-sex/
Enjoy :)
"What the U.S. Can Learn from the Dutch About Teen Sex"
CLICK ON THIS LINK, or go below
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/09/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-the-dutch-about-teen-sex/#ixzz15MEBsq9M
http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/09/what-the-u-s-can-learn-from-the-dutch-about-teen-sex/
Friday, November 12, 2010
Weekend of 11/12/2010
So last night we had a quite night in watching "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and tonight we are headed to Den Haag! We'll couch surf Friday night (tonight) and Saturday night, and then Sunday we'll head to Amsterdam. All embassies and government buildings are in Den Haag as it is the third biggest city in The Netherlands behind Amsterdam and Rotterdam. We are excited to see some of the judicial institutions and possibly take some tours or check out some museums while there. We will arrive late tonight, but tomorrow there is a "Day of the International Student" at Den Haag. So all of the International Students that are studying in the Netherlands will be there. They have the whole day jam packed with things to do and people to meet as well as like a lunch and dinner thing as well. After this we will meet up with our couch surfer for the night. Then on Sunday we hope that our couch-surfer/host will show us around Den Haag a little more. We've heard there is a lot to do and a lot to see, and the beach is something great to see as well (as we have heard). So hopefully we'll learn a lot and see a lot in this Netherlands city! We all had a goal of not only traveling here, but see the Netherlands. Of course it is cool to travel from country to country, but if I am living in the Netherlands, I'd like to see some of the other cities and go around a bit, because the country is very small.
Then after site seeing in Den Haag on Sunday we'll head to Amsterdam for the night. I do not have class until 12:45pm on Monday, and Sinterklaas is coming to town! How exciting! (This is Saint Nick for those of you wondering...). We've heard the festivities are very fun and they even have a parade. I absolutely love the Christmas Parade back home in Downtown Appleton (though of course it is always freezing!) so I really wanted to see a parade here, and in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas is very big. I guess a lot of the kids get candy, and the lights are beautiful around the town.
Here is a little bit about Sinterklaas
Then after site seeing in Den Haag on Sunday we'll head to Amsterdam for the night. I do not have class until 12:45pm on Monday, and Sinterklaas is coming to town! How exciting! (This is Saint Nick for those of you wondering...). We've heard the festivities are very fun and they even have a parade. I absolutely love the Christmas Parade back home in Downtown Appleton (though of course it is always freezing!) so I really wanted to see a parade here, and in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas is very big. I guess a lot of the kids get candy, and the lights are beautiful around the town.
Here is a little bit about Sinterklaas
Thursday, November 11, 2010
As I promised, Pictures from our wonderful trip to Krakow, Poland
Wawel Castle
The little market that you can buy different Polish things as well as Jewlery
Of course the horse and carriage to take you around the city at night.
Krakow
Another Underground Chapel at the Salt Mine
At the square in Krakow
At the square in Krakow
This was a work of art done at the Chapel inside the Salt Mine.
Market square at night in Krakow
Inside the underground chapel at the Salt Mine. Unbelieveable how this looks and it is sooooo many feet underground!
Zurek Soup! My favorite! We had this every day, it has sausage and potatoes in it. This is a traditional Polish Dish.
The Old Synagogue
The Old Synagogue of the Kazimierz historic district in Krakow
Traditional Polish Food! Perogi (filled with meat, though you can fill them with other things as well)
Salt Mine
Wawel Castle
I needed to take a picture next to the wall outside FULL of the "snowboarders" party promotional posters.
Wawel castle
So Jo took us to the "opening" weekend of snowboarders party. This is us three at the beginning when we first walked in to the factory. I can say it is my first "going out" event when I was at a factory! Very cool to check out, we had a great time. And ANOTHER form of knowing people in other countries, we never would've known of some of these things if we didn't know someone in Poland. This is Zuwenah and Kristie who I traveled with to Poland. Zuzi is from San Fransisco and Kristie from Brisbane, Australia.
This was in the market square (main area of Krawkow). We went inside, so beautiful!
Checking out the water inside the Salt Mine
Wieliczka Salt Mine
This is inside of the Wieliczka Salt Mine
This is at Wawel Castle
Again, this is the park we walked through all of the time, but at night - the lights in the city were very pretty.
This is the restaurant we ate at the first night with traditional polish food. It was delicious! The exchange rate at the time was 1 Euro to 3.9 zloty's, this meal was three courses for 14 zloty's! Jo took us here, and we would've never found it without being with an actual Polish person. We were very lucky.
Some of the buildings in town as we walked around checking things out.
At the top of Wawel castle, these are the views!
The burger in the Jewish Quarter.
In the Jewish Quarter on our last afternoon in Krakow we went to a place Jo recommended. She mentioned the have the BEST burgers anywhere, here is a picture inside at the wall. This place was so cute and so cool! Burgers were scrumptious! We also had potato wedges with the burgers. This is when we alerted each other how much we'd be hitting the gym when we got home ;)
This is inside of the Wieliczka Salt Mine
This is Jo's car! For her job she gives tours of the Communist areas outside of Krakow, and her company gave her this car! How cute is it?!
Theatre in Krakow
The park we walked through every day
Salt Mine
The first night we arrived, Jo knew we'd be tired of traveling, so we went to a few laid back clubs, this was one of them! I thought it was totally cute and creative. These were located all over the bar.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Poland -- So much site seeing and history!
I'm currently in Poland but thought I'd quick blog about some of the things we did while being here (we're currently cookin' some dinner at our Friend Joannas). We've been so lucky staying with people that we know in different countries. My Australian friend Kristie lived in Scotland for one year, and she lived with Joanna, and Joanna lives right in Krakow so we are staying with her.
Well today is Monday, we leave tomorrow morning for our flight back to Dusseldorf, then Duss to Arnhem and we unfortunatley have to back to classes ;)
We arrived on Thursday Nov. 4th and that night we had a traditional meal with our friend Joanna. She has been an awesome host, and we were able to spend the night walking around the Market Sqaure in "main" Krakow. There are lots of restaurants, cafe's and bars and such. As well as horse carriage rides! (We didn't do one though, it was 100 zloty's!) We took lots of pictures in the main square, and it has been beautiful here. Lots of history in Krakow, and Poland in general. I have experienced Spain and Portugal so far, which is Western Europe of course - so this has a very Eastern European feel, now that Poland is in the EU. In 1999 Poland became a non-communist country and then in 2004 it became a part of the EU. Our friends here say that it will transition from the złoty (Polish Currency) to the Euro within 2 years or so. They really don't know what it will be like, or how it will effect their economy, hopefully things don't get too expensive. For us it has been great because we are used to the Euro. It is 3.9 Zloty's to 1 Euro, so we've had a very, very cheap trip. We'll get a coffee for 11 zloty's (or even 10) which is a little over 2 Euros! You'd never get that in the Netherlands. During our dinner Thursday night Joanna talked a lot about April 10th 2010 when the Polish President was killed in a plane crash. She explained to us a lot of the theories and controversies surrounding it. The Polish President was named Lech Kaczynski and he died along with his wife, the head of the Polish central bank and various other senior government officials, after the plane they were traveling in crashed western Russia. I'm glad Jo explained to us what the Polish feel and what is going on just after this happened in April. It is unbelieveable. Of course all I thought about is if my grandparents or mother or someone called me while being in Europe saying Obama and is 80-90 most important delegates all got killed in a crash, I truly would never be able to believe it. Jo was telling us about the communist era and that the "cue" (line) was so long just to buy toilet paper - you had to go at a specific time and that is it. The Polish also had a curfew by 10:00pm. Things we could never imagine - and all of these different things that are extrememly recent in history. It was a great dinner and I learned a lot. It makes me wish in America we got more news stories from around the world, as around the world they hear EVERYTHING about American politics. Like my friend Kristie said in Australia they hear about American politics constantly, if ANYTHING happends they hear. When unfortunatley we do not hear the same about other countries.
Moving from Thursday to Friday ---
We went to The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. The mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007 as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines (the oldest being the Bochnia Salt Mine). It is believed to be the world's 14th-oldest company still in operation. The mine's attractions for tourists include dozens of statues and an entire chapel that has been carved out of the rock salt by the miners. About 1.2 million people visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine annually. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding.
The mine was soooo cool - we really liked it! When we first got in the tour we walked down over 300 stairs just to get down to the mine. There were a lot of tourists but we heard a lot of stories and learned a lot about Poland's history. The underground chapels are absolutley beautiful, and hopefully I'll post some pictures shortly!
Saturday--
This is they day we traveled about 1.5 hours to Auschwitz. As many know, this was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. It was the largest of the German concentration camps, consisting of Auschwitz I (the Stammlager or base camp); Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the Vernichtungslager or extermination camp); Auschwitz III-Monowitz, also known as Buna-Monowitz (a labor camp); and 45 satellite camps. Our tour guide was a teacher of Literature in Poland, and she explained to us a lot. The tour was long, but we wouldn't have had it any other way, we were engaged the whole time.
We went to Auschwitz and toured the entire complex/concentration camp. By far us three girls thought this was the best tour/activity we did so far. We loved learning and hearing stories about the Jews and Poles in the concentration camp (along with many, many other countries) and truly learned a lot. Of course it is a very depressing place, but was so interesting hearing about what German soldiers tried to destroy due to evidence of the genocide. We were able to see a lot of belongings and also documents in regards to the camp and what was going on with it. Here are some Auschwitz facts: In all, 1.1 million people died during the four and a half years of Auschwitz's existence; one million of them were Jewish men, women and children. Other groups of people who died included Polish political prisoners, Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsy families, homosexuals, people with disabilities and prisoners of conscience or religious faith (including several hundred Jehovah's Witnesses). More people died in Auschwitz than the British and American losses of World War Two combined. Nazis at Auschwitz offered some non-Jewish female prisoners the option of 'light work'. As the women soon discovered, 'light work' meant prostitution. A Star of David was placed above the entrance to the gas chamber and a sign was painted in Hebrew on a purple curtain covering the entrance to the gas chamber that said "This is the Gateway to God. Righteous men will pass through". A unit in Auschwitz where valuables snatched from incoming prisoners were kept was known as Canada, because Canada was thought to be a land of untold riches. Some Jewish prisoners secretly wrote eye-witness accounts of the atrocities of the gas chambers and hid them in bottles or metal containers buried in the ground. A number of these accounts were discovered after the war. A total of about 7,000 staff at Auschwitz, only 750 were ever punished. Many went on to build good careers, including one man who became head of human resources for a large German company. There are approximately 500 survivors of Nazi death camps or ghettos living in Britain today.
After that tour our friend Joanna took us out, because it was the opening weekend of snowboarding, and I guess that is big here! We went to a huge factory in Krakow for the opening weekend of snowboarders - they had a DJ and a singer there for a big party for all snowboarders.
Sunday--
We did Wawel Castel and saw some of the: State Rooms Royal Private Apartments Exhibition "The Lost Wawel" Exhibition "Oriental Art" The Royal Gardens & Dragon's Den. We walked around the whole castle but didn't get to see too, too much. We also did some shopping/hair cuts at the Galeria
Today/Monday--
We started off by making our way to Schindlers Factory. It was free today being the 2nd Monday of the month, so we were very excited! After getting there it was closed due to restoration - we were very bummed. But then we walked through Kazimierz the neighborhood/historical district of Kraków, best known for being home to a Jewish community from the 14th century until the Second World War. We were able to walk through and take a lot of pictures of the Old Synagogue (15th century). The Jewish quarter was very cool to walk around and look at, and we also ate at a very cute place.
We also love Zurek soup! It is traditional here and is delicious. Of course perogi as well.
Pictures are soon to come!
Well today is Monday, we leave tomorrow morning for our flight back to Dusseldorf, then Duss to Arnhem and we unfortunatley have to back to classes ;)
We arrived on Thursday Nov. 4th and that night we had a traditional meal with our friend Joanna. She has been an awesome host, and we were able to spend the night walking around the Market Sqaure in "main" Krakow. There are lots of restaurants, cafe's and bars and such. As well as horse carriage rides! (We didn't do one though, it was 100 zloty's!) We took lots of pictures in the main square, and it has been beautiful here. Lots of history in Krakow, and Poland in general. I have experienced Spain and Portugal so far, which is Western Europe of course - so this has a very Eastern European feel, now that Poland is in the EU. In 1999 Poland became a non-communist country and then in 2004 it became a part of the EU. Our friends here say that it will transition from the złoty (Polish Currency) to the Euro within 2 years or so. They really don't know what it will be like, or how it will effect their economy, hopefully things don't get too expensive. For us it has been great because we are used to the Euro. It is 3.9 Zloty's to 1 Euro, so we've had a very, very cheap trip. We'll get a coffee for 11 zloty's (or even 10) which is a little over 2 Euros! You'd never get that in the Netherlands. During our dinner Thursday night Joanna talked a lot about April 10th 2010 when the Polish President was killed in a plane crash. She explained to us a lot of the theories and controversies surrounding it. The Polish President was named Lech Kaczynski and he died along with his wife, the head of the Polish central bank and various other senior government officials, after the plane they were traveling in crashed western Russia. I'm glad Jo explained to us what the Polish feel and what is going on just after this happened in April. It is unbelieveable. Of course all I thought about is if my grandparents or mother or someone called me while being in Europe saying Obama and is 80-90 most important delegates all got killed in a crash, I truly would never be able to believe it. Jo was telling us about the communist era and that the "cue" (line) was so long just to buy toilet paper - you had to go at a specific time and that is it. The Polish also had a curfew by 10:00pm. Things we could never imagine - and all of these different things that are extrememly recent in history. It was a great dinner and I learned a lot. It makes me wish in America we got more news stories from around the world, as around the world they hear EVERYTHING about American politics. Like my friend Kristie said in Australia they hear about American politics constantly, if ANYTHING happends they hear. When unfortunatley we do not hear the same about other countries.
Moving from Thursday to Friday ---
We went to The Wieliczka Salt Mine, located in the town of Wieliczka in southern Poland, lies within the Kraków metropolitan area. The mine continuously produced table salt from the 13th century until 2007 as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines (the oldest being the Bochnia Salt Mine). It is believed to be the world's 14th-oldest company still in operation. The mine's attractions for tourists include dozens of statues and an entire chapel that has been carved out of the rock salt by the miners. About 1.2 million people visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine annually. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding.
The mine was soooo cool - we really liked it! When we first got in the tour we walked down over 300 stairs just to get down to the mine. There were a lot of tourists but we heard a lot of stories and learned a lot about Poland's history. The underground chapels are absolutley beautiful, and hopefully I'll post some pictures shortly!
Saturday--
This is they day we traveled about 1.5 hours to Auschwitz. As many know, this was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. It was the largest of the German concentration camps, consisting of Auschwitz I (the Stammlager or base camp); Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the Vernichtungslager or extermination camp); Auschwitz III-Monowitz, also known as Buna-Monowitz (a labor camp); and 45 satellite camps. Our tour guide was a teacher of Literature in Poland, and she explained to us a lot. The tour was long, but we wouldn't have had it any other way, we were engaged the whole time.
We went to Auschwitz and toured the entire complex/concentration camp. By far us three girls thought this was the best tour/activity we did so far. We loved learning and hearing stories about the Jews and Poles in the concentration camp (along with many, many other countries) and truly learned a lot. Of course it is a very depressing place, but was so interesting hearing about what German soldiers tried to destroy due to evidence of the genocide. We were able to see a lot of belongings and also documents in regards to the camp and what was going on with it. Here are some Auschwitz facts: In all, 1.1 million people died during the four and a half years of Auschwitz's existence; one million of them were Jewish men, women and children. Other groups of people who died included Polish political prisoners, Soviet prisoners of war, Gypsy families, homosexuals, people with disabilities and prisoners of conscience or religious faith (including several hundred Jehovah's Witnesses). More people died in Auschwitz than the British and American losses of World War Two combined. Nazis at Auschwitz offered some non-Jewish female prisoners the option of 'light work'. As the women soon discovered, 'light work' meant prostitution. A Star of David was placed above the entrance to the gas chamber and a sign was painted in Hebrew on a purple curtain covering the entrance to the gas chamber that said "This is the Gateway to God. Righteous men will pass through". A unit in Auschwitz where valuables snatched from incoming prisoners were kept was known as Canada, because Canada was thought to be a land of untold riches. Some Jewish prisoners secretly wrote eye-witness accounts of the atrocities of the gas chambers and hid them in bottles or metal containers buried in the ground. A number of these accounts were discovered after the war. A total of about 7,000 staff at Auschwitz, only 750 were ever punished. Many went on to build good careers, including one man who became head of human resources for a large German company. There are approximately 500 survivors of Nazi death camps or ghettos living in Britain today.
After that tour our friend Joanna took us out, because it was the opening weekend of snowboarding, and I guess that is big here! We went to a huge factory in Krakow for the opening weekend of snowboarders - they had a DJ and a singer there for a big party for all snowboarders.
Sunday--
We did Wawel Castel and saw some of the: State Rooms Royal Private Apartments Exhibition "The Lost Wawel" Exhibition "Oriental Art" The Royal Gardens & Dragon's Den. We walked around the whole castle but didn't get to see too, too much. We also did some shopping/hair cuts at the Galeria
Today/Monday--
We started off by making our way to Schindlers Factory. It was free today being the 2nd Monday of the month, so we were very excited! After getting there it was closed due to restoration - we were very bummed. But then we walked through Kazimierz the neighborhood/historical district of Kraków, best known for being home to a Jewish community from the 14th century until the Second World War. We were able to walk through and take a lot of pictures of the Old Synagogue (15th century). The Jewish quarter was very cool to walk around and look at, and we also ate at a very cute place.
We also love Zurek soup! It is traditional here and is delicious. Of course perogi as well.
Pictures are soon to come!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Barcelona, Spain (In a nutshell)
Once again we were lucky and had amazing weather in Barcelona. We stayed in a hostel near the beach/Port and we were about 5-10mins away from Las Ramblas. It was a great location. As you'll see below we saw a lot! Our tour talked a lot about Gaudi and we were able to see a lot of his works, as well -- we saw a lot and heard a lot about the Olympics! As Barcelona was the host in 1992 (the year my beautiful Sister, Kathleen was born).
Placa d'Espanya - setting of the 1992 Olympic Games -- One of the city's biggest squares, It was designed by Josep Amargós. The fountain at the centre of the square was designed by Josep Maria Jujol, a collaborator of Antoni Gaudí, while Miquel Blay designed the statues. The buildings were designed by Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí.
Venetian Towers - they are 154 ft tall and lead the way to the MNAC via Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, an avenue commonly used to host trade fairs.
Fira de Barcelona
Parc de Joan Miró - previously known as Parc de l'Escorxador (Abbatoir Park), it is nowadays named after the Catalan painter Joan Miró, whose 22-metre-tall statue Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird) can be seen in one of its corners.
Arenas de Barcelona, a bullring - It was built in 1900 in the Moorish Revival style and is being converted into a shopping center.
Park guell (Gaudi's work)
Park Güell (Catalan: Parc Güell) is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
Sagrada Familia-Gaudi's dream
Sagrada Família, is a large, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026.
Considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years. The church is to be consecrated and proclaimed a Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7, 2010, during his visit to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona
Sagrada Familia-Gaudi's dream
Gaudi’s work
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect who worked during the Modernisme (Art Nouveau) period but became famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs regarded as beyond the scope of Modernisme. He is sometimes referred to, in English, by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí.
Port Vell next to the Sailboats
Near the Christopher Columbus statute
The Columbus Monument (Monument a Colom in Catalan, also known as the Monumento a Colón and Mirador de Colón in Spanish) is a 197 ft tall monument for Christopher Columbus at the lower end of La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain. It was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona and is located at the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after Columbus' most famous trip.
Candy at the Market (Las Ramblas)
Also at the market ! Yikes !
The Port
We saw on our Tour the Port Vell Attractions: The IMAX theater features three projection systems: the Omnimax screen, the flat IMAX and the 3D IMAX for which spectators use 3D glasses. The biggest attraction of the Port Vell is the aquarium, one of the largest in Europe. The aquarium boasts 8000 Fish, including 11 sharks in in total 22 basins filled with 6 million liter (1,5 million gallons) sea water. Basin 17 features an 80m long tunnel from where you can observe mediterranean deep sea fish, including sharks. Southwest of the Maremàgnum is
Aduana Buildingthe Aduana building, an old customs building constructed in 1902. Adjacent is a long pier with the new World Trade Center.
We went into the Maremagnum and shopped around/ate.
Next to the Port near Las Ramblas
I AM SO LUCKY! Got to see and look around the 1992 Olympic Stadium! (Where the opening and closing ceremonies were as well).
Barcelona, was selected over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane and Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 17, 1986, during the 91st IOC Session. It had bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, losing out to Berlin.
Placa d'Espanya - setting of the 1992 Olympic Games -- One of the city's biggest squares, It was designed by Josep Amargós. The fountain at the centre of the square was designed by Josep Maria Jujol, a collaborator of Antoni Gaudí, while Miquel Blay designed the statues. The buildings were designed by Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí.
Venetian Towers - they are 154 ft tall and lead the way to the MNAC via Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina, an avenue commonly used to host trade fairs.
Fira de Barcelona
Parc de Joan Miró - previously known as Parc de l'Escorxador (Abbatoir Park), it is nowadays named after the Catalan painter Joan Miró, whose 22-metre-tall statue Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird) can be seen in one of its corners.
Arenas de Barcelona, a bullring - It was built in 1900 in the Moorish Revival style and is being converted into a shopping center.
Park guell (Gaudi's work)
Park Güell (Catalan: Parc Güell) is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of el Carmel in the Gràcia district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built in the years 1900 to 1914. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
Sagrada Familia-Gaudi's dream
Sagrada Família, is a large, privately-funded Roman Catholic church that has been under construction in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1882 and is not expected to be complete until at least 2026.
Considered the master-work of renowned Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), the project's vast scale and idiosyncratic design have made it one of Barcelona's (and Spain's) top tourist attractions for many years. The church is to be consecrated and proclaimed a Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7, 2010, during his visit to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona
Sagrada Familia-Gaudi's dream
Gaudi’s work
Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect who worked during the Modernisme (Art Nouveau) period but became famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs regarded as beyond the scope of Modernisme. He is sometimes referred to, in English, by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudí.
Port Vell next to the Sailboats
Near the Christopher Columbus statute
The Columbus Monument (Monument a Colom in Catalan, also known as the Monumento a Colón and Mirador de Colón in Spanish) is a 197 ft tall monument for Christopher Columbus at the lower end of La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain. It was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona and is located at the site where Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Barcelona is where Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella and Ferdinand after Columbus' most famous trip.
Candy at the Market (Las Ramblas)
Also at the market ! Yikes !
The Port
We saw on our Tour the Port Vell Attractions: The IMAX theater features three projection systems: the Omnimax screen, the flat IMAX and the 3D IMAX for which spectators use 3D glasses. The biggest attraction of the Port Vell is the aquarium, one of the largest in Europe. The aquarium boasts 8000 Fish, including 11 sharks in in total 22 basins filled with 6 million liter (1,5 million gallons) sea water. Basin 17 features an 80m long tunnel from where you can observe mediterranean deep sea fish, including sharks. Southwest of the Maremàgnum is
Aduana Buildingthe Aduana building, an old customs building constructed in 1902. Adjacent is a long pier with the new World Trade Center.
We went into the Maremagnum and shopped around/ate.
Next to the Port near Las Ramblas
I AM SO LUCKY! Got to see and look around the 1992 Olympic Stadium! (Where the opening and closing ceremonies were as well).
Barcelona, was selected over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane and Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 17, 1986, during the 91st IOC Session. It had bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, losing out to Berlin.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)