Just Call Me Unqualified Rick Steves

And now comes the final post! I’m home now, and after a good night’s sleep feel surprisingly not jet lagged. So in the end staying up all that time did work. It does feel weird that people around me are speaking English again, but I guess that was to be expected. It’s always strange coming home after feeling so so much has happened, it’s almost like it all wasn’t real. But, it was, and it’s probably been the most amazing experience of my life (so far). Now I’m not going to get all pretentious here and pretend that I’ve got some kind of deep and complex understanding of the universe because I did a study abroad semester, but I did learn a lot, so here’s a list of The Most Important Things I Learned From My Semester Abroad. 

1. Long flights are going to suck, no matter what. The best you can do is mentally prepare yourself for it. 

2. Earplugs will save your life-on the before mentioned long flights, and especially in hostels

3. Hostels aren’t as bad as everyone makes them out to be, but read the reviews on the site. 

4. Buses are terrible, always take the train

5. Good shoes will make or break you

6. Same with a good backpack

7. Sometimes it’s worth it to pay a little extra for an amazing experience.

8. It’s okay to not like something. Just because it’s Europe and you’re supposed to be having the time of your life doesn’t mean everything will live up to expectation, and that’s okay. 

9. Carry a water bottle even if it makes you look like an American, bottled water is expensive and Europe has good tap water anyway.

10. Never take a free public bathroom for granted. If you see a free public bathroom, use it, even if you don’t really have to go. 

11. Understand that while it’s hard for you to understand people, this is their country and their language and if they speak to you in English they’re doing you a service. So be respectful.

12. But also hold your own against people who are being rude, again, it’s okay to not be happy with something. Also let people know when things aren’t right, otherwise it won’t get fixed.

13. Try everything, but if there’s something that just doesn’t interest you at all, you don’t have to do it. 

14. Accept that you’re not going to be able to do everything, and focus more energy on the things you can do.

15. There will be times when someone says something to you and you have no idea what it is and it’s terrible and you’ll want to die but then it’ll get sorted out and you’ll be okay. 

16. Along with that, accept that making mistakes is never the end of the world and that you can move on from them.

17. Always opt for arriving somewhere too early rather than too late.

18. Trying new foods is important, but also sometimes it’s okay to make spaghetti for dinner every night of the week because it’s cheap.

19. Even with a map, you’re going to get lost. The important thing is you’re lost with a map. 

20. Efficient public transportation  is a Godsend. 

21. People are going to try and sell you things on the street, just ignore them. Don’t get caught in a conversation, once you do you’re trapped.

22. Don’t worry so much about “having an experience”, just take things for what they are.

23. That being said, write things down, take pictures, keep souvenirs. You’ll regret it if you don’t. 

24. You’re going to get sick of the people you’ve been around for four months, but be patient with them, because they’re sick of you too. Even if you want to punch them, you need each other. In the end your trip will be more memorable because you shared the experience with someone else. 

25. You’re going to be scared. Accept that it’s scary and do it anyway. Do it because you’re scared, and then you’ll be a little less scared for whatever’s coming next. 

I was just going to do one more blog post with some final reflections, but we had an Experience today so I now I have to do a whole separate one about it. This morning we had to arrive at the airport at 3am since our flight was at 6 and for international flights they tell you to come 3 hours early. I don’t know why, considering we arrived before pretty much all of the airport staff. The night before I decided that it would be better to just stay up all night and then sleep on the long flight to try and get myself back on Pacific time. Needless to say, I was already pretty tired by the time we got to the airport in Vienna, but I had enough adrenaline to keep me going. At this point my biggest fear had been something going wrong with the airport taxi, but it was actually very easy and we got there without any problems! 

Our first minor upset of the day was when Justine had to check her bag as overweight, but the people manning the desks had just opened up for the day and were taking FOREVER to process her bag, which was making me nervous because our boarding time was looming closer and closer. Turns out their credit card machine was broken, so they just let Justine check her overweight bag for free! It was kind of a downhill slide from here. 

How did we get here? Wasn’t it August five minutes ago? How do I only have two days left????  Well I made it through finals week with minimal damage and only a little bit of panic. They were all actually surprisingly easy, even German, which automatically makes me suspicious. But I survived, like I always do. We even got to do a couple fun last things, like go back to our favorite cafe for one last cake. Tuesday night was especially fun because an improv team from the US came and we got to go see a really funny show. I think we really needed it. Then on Wednesday we went and saw the morning practice of the Lipizzaner stallions, because it’s way way cheaper to go to the morning practice than the actual show. It was pretty interesting, but we didn’t stay long because since it is just the morning practice they kind of just walk the horses back and forth. But I’m glad I went, because it’s one of THE things to see in Vienna, so how could I not? 

Friday and Saturday were also kind of fun because we helped out at a Christmas Bazaar. It was run by the Anglican Church, which means everyone was from the UK which means everyone spoke ENGLISH which was so refreshing it was unbelievable. We helped out at the “White Elephant” booth, meaning we were selling all kinds of random knick knacks and whatnot. It was fun but a little stressful because a lot of the customers were speaking in German, obviously, BUT I actually managed to get by with English and even some of my German skills, which made me feel more accomplished than anything I ever did in my German class. I think we would have enjoyed the Bazaar more if we all didn’t have our final paper still looming over our heads, but it felt good to help out and we got some yummy free food, so it was okay. 

We’re coming down to the wire here folks. I officially only have one week and three days before I’ll be back in the good old USA. Once again, it’s finals season so I’m afraid I’m not doing anything very exciting. We went to the Belvedere art museum for our class, which was lovely, and then to a neat little museum that had a bunch of rooms showing what a typical Viennese apartment and streets looked like throughout the decades. Courtney and I also checked out the Viktor Frankl museum, which I enjoyed very much because it was all about his theories on therapy that he invented,which is of course very interesting to me. 

Is it possible for one’s entire body to be congested? Most of my Venice illness has gone, except for the feeling that I’m breathing through a tub of glue. But that’s okay, because it was Thanksgiving! Obviously Thanksgiving is not a holiday here, at least not American Thanksgiving, but our school is nice enough to give us a nice dinner at a restaurant with the traditional fixings. The dinner was at a restaurant run by an American where they seem to have a Thanksgiving buffet set up, mostly likely cornering the niche market of homesick Americans living in Vienna. The food was excellent; we had the traditional turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc, and they even served mini apple and pumpkin pies for dessert so one could eat both kinds. It was nice that we all got together to celebrate even if it couldn’t be the same as at home. It did feel a little weird because I had taken a German test earlier that morning. Obviously I’ve never had to take a test on Thanksgiving before so it was kind of funny. But they tried to make the dinner and the day as close to authentic as possible, and it was! I even got to make the cranberry-orange bread that we always make at home, even though it tasted slightly different due to differences in European flour and whatnot. But overall, a success.

I woke up feeling much better today thanks to a good night's sleep. Other than a sore throat and a bit of a headache I had pretty much recovered from whatever I had on the train. So after some breakfast and Advil I felt ready to explore more of the city.

Today we went to San Marco, the most touristy part of the city. The thing about Venice is that the city is the attraction. It's not like you go specifically because of one museum or famous landmark, the city itself provides plenty of experience. However, there were several museums in San Marco that seemed interesting, and they were in that we did learn more about the history of the city and see some historical artifacts and art. Actually, our favorite exhibit didn't have anything to do with Venice, it was a travelling collection of royal jewelry from India that was absolutely gorgeous. We The Doge Palace and San Marco itself were beautiful too, especially the Basilica, but there were a lot of tour groups and flocks of seagulls, some of which literally attacked a guy in an attempt to get his sandwich. Also we have yet to learn the meaning behind all the winged lions that are on pretty much every building.

After seeing everything there was in the square we went off to go find a highly recommended take-away restaurant called Dal Moro's. They make fresh pasta right there and give it to you in a container to eat immediately. The line was out the door, but it was so worth it. I got seafood fettuccine with tomato sauce and it was seriously some of the best pasta I've ever had. Venice is famous for its seafood, and rightly so. It tasted very fresh and the noodles themselves were chewy and delicious.

We ate our lunch as we walked back towards the San Marco area, where there's a huge waterfront that stretches quite a ways down the island. We got some gelato and just strolled down the street, enjoying the golden hour (which at this time of year is 2pm) and watching the boats go by. It's very relaxing here despite the crowds, and honestly it's refreshing to go to a city where you don't feel like you have to hustle to see this museum or that famous building. It was just nice to walk around and see all the beautiful canals and old houses.

After our walk we slowly made our way back to our Airbnb, stopping to pick up some souvenirs along the way. Then we rested a bit until we got some pizza for dinner (delicious, of course) and then went back to the wine bar we tried last night where we joined the others casually hanging out in the square, drinking wine and just having a good time. It's pretty cool how people are content to just stand and mingle here, without the need to go to a fancy club or anything. After enjoying our wine we headed back to our rooms, stopping for one last cannoli on the way.

It's always something. Last night Justine and I took the night train to Venice for my last weekend trip of the semester. Now the day of I actually wasn't feeling great and my muscles were kind of sore. However, I had exercised the day before so I thought it was just because of that. I took some ibuprofen and felt better. Then we got onto the train and things got interesting. Like I've said before, night trains aren't exactly the most comfortable, and I was already feeling pretty pooped, so I was pretty intent on lying down on my couchette and not getting up again. The train was a little chilly but we had plenty of blankets. The problem started when I got out of bed to go to the bathroom. When I got back into bed I could not stop shivering. Even with all the blankets my legs were shaking pretty hard and it felt like I had the chills. I didn't have a thermometer, so obviously I wasn't positive I had a fever, but since my throat was also a little sore and my muscles ached that seemed like a reasonable possibility. So, I bundled up. I'm talking wearing my socks and hat to bed like when you go camping. This stopped the chills and I had a restless night of sleep (eventually I woke up TOO warm and had to remove layers, but I felt cooler after that). In the morning I didn't feel amazing, but I was determined to push on and see Venice.

Since I've already been to Rome I was pretty interested to see how Venice differs and if I would end up liking one city more than another. Honestly, it's pretty hard to compare the two. Venice is absolutely gorgeous, but in a very different way than Rome. Rome feels ancient and sprawling, while Venice is very compact. The buildings are obviously older and some are dirty, but it kind of adds to the charm of the city in the way. People were leading me to believe that Venice would be the dirtiest city I had ever seen, but honestly it was pretty clean. There was an occasional plastic bag in the canal but the streets didn't have garbage lying around or anything. The little winding streets and tiny bridges are so unique and, similar to Rome, the whole city just has a more relaxed, easy going feel.

We didn't really have a plan today other than exploring the city, and I'm so glad we did because we saw so many beautiful little side canals and tiny streets. The first thing we did was stop in a cafe where I had some Italian hot chocolate, which can only be rivaled by the hot chocolate we had in Paris. Immediately we noticed cultural differenced between Italy and Austria, mainly that here it's common to slurp your coffee standing up and go, which would be appalling to the Viennese who spend three hours sitting in a coffee shop. The one touristy thing we did was shell out money for a gondola ride, which was on the expensive side, but was so worth it. The gondola man pointed out all the interesting buildings and gave us some history of the city. It was very relaxing and fun.

Winter is definitely approaching which not only means that the temperature is dropping, but that the sun is setting at the late hour of 4 PM. Normally this would be depressing, but the semester is also winding down, which means the work load is picking up, and combined with all of our sightseeing there’s hardly time to sit and be blue. We did manage to get one day of sun on Tuesday, so Courtney and I took the opportunity to go to the Tiergarten (zoo) at Schonbrunn! This just happens to be the oldest zoo in the world, which is pretty cool. They have all the standard zoo animals such as tigers, lions, elephants, etc. We went a little late in the day so some of the animals had already been brought back inside for the evening, which was a little disappointing. Nevertheless,I really enjoy zoos and the animals we did see were nice. My favorite were the wolves and the giraffes. Oh and the cows of course! I don’t care if you can see cows anywhere. I love cows. We walked around the gardens for awhile once we left the zoo, but once again the sun was going down and it was cold so we didn’t stay long.

On Wednesday Courtney and I went to one of the English movie theaters to see the new Thor movie, which was great. It’s funny because even though the movie was in English the title was still in German, so we went to see not Thor: Ragnarok, but Thor: Tag der Entscheidung. The next day we had a tour of the Kunsthistoriches art museum with our history professor, where we saw the personal collection of art belonging to the Hapsburgs. The most valuable item in the collection is a little gold sculpture valued at 68 million dollars that is, essentially, a salt and pepper shaker. Apparently somebody stole it once, but they just buried it in their backyard, which is the lamest thing to do if you’re an art thief. He deserved to get caught, honestly. 

The highlight of the week was this weekend when Courtney and I headed to Germany to see the famous Neuschwanstein castle. It’s about 6 hours away by train, but we had to transfer twice so it actually wasn’t that bad of a trip. We waited to go this late in the year so that there would be some snow (making for ideal photos.) To see the castle you actually have to stay in a little town called Fussen, which is pretty much the epitome of small Bavarian mountain town. It’s obviously very touristy, but extremely charming. We stayed in a tiny hostel that was pretty adorable, which I never thought I’d say about a hostel, but they had cookies set out for guests so that was a plus. We got there in the evening and we arrived ravenously hungry, but tourist towns are expensive and we actually ended up in an Italian restaurant for some very satisfying pasta.

When visiting the castle you have to get to the ticket center an hour before your tour time in order to pick up your tickets, so we had a decently early start to the day. The weather was cloudy, but the rain actually held off, which was good because we decided to pick the free option of hiking up to the castle itself. Now I know everybody thinks of Disney when they think of Neuschwanstein, but in my heart it will always be the castle from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I watched an obscene amount of times as a child. The castle itself (like most landmarks) isn’t as big as it looks in pictures, but is just as impressive. It really is just stuck on top of a rock in the mountains, and the snowy peaks made it all very picturesque. We even braved an extremely crowded suspension bridge to get a good view of the castle. I was most interested in actually seeing the inside of the castle, because this part wasn’t in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It turns out that most of the rooms aren’t even finished because king Ludwig of Bavaria died pretty young. But the castle is preserved exactly how it was in the 1800s, and the rooms we did see were stunning and obviously royal.  After we finished our tour we realized that it would be a 40 minute wait for the bus that would take us back into Fussen. We decided that we would take the walking trail back, because adventure and fresh mountain air and all that. It was actually a pretty pleasant walk, with some more gorgeous views of snowy peaks along the way. The only hiccup was that towards the end of the hike we got slightly confused and ended up going on part of the trail that was DEFINITELY off limits, which was confirmed when we arrived BEHIND the rope and sign blocking the trail and informing us that this part was forbidden. But nobody saw us and we lived, so I guess my only punishment is that I must live with my terrible crime. Just kidding, but it was pretty funny that we accidentally trespassed. We were once again extremely hungry by the time we got back to town, and made it back in time for a Chinese buffet that was pretty tasty and only cost us 4 euro since it was so close to the end of their lunch hours. You’re probably asking why we didn’t eat any German food, and to that I have to say that A: Bavarian food and Austrian food are pretty much the same, and B: FOUR EUROS. After that we were in serious need of a nap, and we only got up again to eat a slice of cake from a local bakery and get some Doner for dinner. (Once again, cheap, available, and yummy.) 

I feel like I haven’t updated this blog in so long, but I guess it’s only been a week as per usual. It was a pretty busy week though, starting off with our bus trip back from Munich, which was fine except it was VERY stormy outside which made the bus disturbingly wobbly. All traces of warm weather seem to have left Vienna, and I’m already pulling out the heavy marshmallow coat. It can only get colder from here.  On Halloween we actually had our first classical music concert in the famous Golden Hall of the Musikverein (apparently where they show some famous New Year’s broadcast that I have never heard of). We thought it was going to be Beethoven, so when we told one of the language assistants that all we were doing on Halloween was go to this concert he joked “Well it’s spooky because Beethoven is dead!”, which is a perfect example of slightly morbid Viennese humor. Halloween really isn’t a thing here, except for very small children who don’t even go trick-or-treating I think they just get candy, or college students who get drunk at parties. So kind of similar to America, I guess. But, the concert we went to was very nice and was actually Bach, Mozart, and a composer I had never heard of named Mendelsson. 

Today after eating breakfast Justine and I headed off to the Bavarian National Museum. It was COLD today, colder than it felt even in Krakow because there was wind chill here. I didn't think I would need my heavy winter jacket that makes me look like a marshmallow, but apparently I did because I shivered all the way to the museum. But the inside was nice and warm, and the museum itself was pretty interesting, although I think I'm suffering from a bit of museum fatigue. The best part was a bunch of nativity scene displays and dioramas they had, as well as miniature models of several German cities. There was some nice art too, but after a while all the Gothic European art starts to blend together.

After the museum we stopped in the park to see the famous surfing they have in Munich. Yes, surfing. They do it on man made waves in the canal and it's actually pretty cool. I'd actually be pretty scared to surf here because everyone who surfs comes dangerously close to smacking their heads on the concrete sides of the canal. But it was very interesting to see people surfing somewhere other than a beach. After watching this for awhile we walked to the outdoor market and I got some currywurst (sausage with curry sauce) and french fries for lunch, and of course another pretzel. Justine and I also split a famous Spaghetti Eis, or ice cream put through a machine so it comes out looking like spaghetti noodles. It's a pretty trendy thing in Germany and was delicious.

We had a lot of time to kill before dinner but again it was so cold that we didn't really want to walk around outside a lot and again had some museum fatigue. So we ended up sitting in a nice church for a little bit before meeting up with Jesus to watch the famous Glockenspiel clock go through its little routine at 5:00 (which was pretty cool actually) and then find some dinner. The game of "find the cheapest food in the touristy city" is always a blast, but we found a nice little beer house and I had some yummy Käsespatzle and a much more reasonably sized beer. Still not a fan, but I can tolerate it now. I'd much rather have wine or a mixed drink though. Once again we were too full, tired, and cold to do anything after dinner so we just headed home for the night.

Today we had a rather late start, but this was fine since we didn't really have a strict itinerary or anything. We started our first full real day in Munich in an adorable little breakfast cafe where I had the classic Weißwurst and a Brezln (white sausage and a soft pretzel). The sausage isn't like an American breakfast sausage, but apparently it's traditionally eaten in the morning so that's what I did. We want to try as many Bavarian foods as possible in the span of two days, and I got two down in one meal. It's kind of pricey to eat out, so after we left the restaurant Justine and I walked through the rain to get breakfast stuff at the grocery store before heading out to see the city.

The first place we went was the BMW museum. The thing is, I don't know anything about cars. I think vintage cars are neat, I think fancy cars are nice, but I have no knowledge or interest in how cars are designed or how they work. However, much to my surprise, the museum wasn't totally boring. It was kind of neat to see how cars had evolved through the years, and the museum itself felt very modern and classy. It wasn't a terrible experience but I don't think I'd go back.

Next we went to Marienplatz, the main square and old part of Munich. It's pretty much what we've come to expect from all these European cities, some nice Gothic and baroque architecture, fancy shopping streets, cafes, and some cute little cobblestone side streets. Nevertheless, these were all very nice, and since the rain had stopped it was nice to walk around and explore. After stopping briefly for some cake, we went to the Beer and Oktoberfest museum.

The museum itself is the top two floors of an old tavern and is very small. But we paid only 2.50 to get in and it was pretty interesting to learn a little about the history of brewing beer in Munich and how the Oktoberfest got started. Mostly it made me glad I wasn't in Munich during Oktoberfest because of the thousands of people we saw in the pictures. After the museum we had some time to kill so we just went window shopping. I bought a cute keychain and had my first "you break it you buy it" moment when I accidentally knocked a magnet onto the floor and part of it broke off. Honestly I probably could have gotten away with leaving it and running off, but my conscience won and besides the cashier didn't seem too worried about it. I can fix it when I get home and it's not that bad of a magnet; it's a plate with a little pretzel and some weißwurst on it, which I actually did eat so I guess it's fitting.

Well we can officially add telling time to things that I am not good at. The day started out well, with Justine and I heading off on the train to spend a day in Linz before going on to Munich by bus. Linz is a lovely little city by the Danube, and the only weird thing was that since today is a national holiday in Austria there were absolutely no people around in most of the city. We went into the New Cathedral to see the amazing stained glass windows and we were the only two in there. There were barely any cars. We worried that we wouldn't be able to find any open restaurants for lunch, but we managed to find a nice café in the main square where we had a sandwich, some hot chocolate, and a famous Linzer Torte. Linzer Torte is supposedly the oldest cake recipe in the world, and is like a spiced crumb cake with jam. Not to be disloyal, but I actually liked it more than Sacher Torte. After eating we walked along the river and enjoyed the sun before heading back to the train station to catch our bus to Munich. This is where the day got interesting.

In order to get to the bus station we had to take the regular city bus from the train station. Since it's a holiday apparently this means only two city buses run per hour. But we had plenty of time so we weren't worried. Once we got off the bus we realized that by "bus station" they actually meant "a curb with a sign for Flixbus". There is seriously no station, it's just the side of the road. But the schedule on the sign matched the time on our tickets, so we weren't worried and settled down (on the curb) to wait. And wait. And wait. And then it was almost time for our scheduled departure and there was no bus. We re-checked our tickets, everything seemed fine. We assumed that the bus was just running late. Then Justine checks the tickets again and says:

"Is this ticket for 3am?"

I booked these bus tickets about two weeks ago, and while doing so I apparently just saw "3:10 departure time" and went for it. Without remembering the 24 hour system that I have LITERALLY BEEN USING SINCE I GOT HERE. If we had actually booked tickets for that afternoon it would have said 15:10. But it said 3:10 and so we discovered that I bought tickets for a bus that left 12 hours prior. I had a moment of intense panic and deep anger at my own stupidy, but was saved by the amazingly patient Justine who calmly suggested we go back to the train station and see if there was anything to Munich. People book last minute tickets all the time here, so we weren't super worried. Mostly we were stressed because we had to wait a whole extra half hour just to wait for the city bus back to the train station. But we made it back, bought a train ticket (after some slight confusion when the ticket man thought we wanted a night train and tried to tell us there was only one at 1am) and made it to Munich only two hours later than originally planned. I hate buses.

Today was the fun day of our trip. We had to get an early start at 8am to go to the salt mine, but it was well worth it. I know "salt mine" doesn't exactly sound like a thrilling place, but this isn't just some hole in the ground. They've completely modeled the inside not only to show how the miners lived and worked, but added in beautiful pathways, salt sculptures, and even a full blown church with chandeliers and religious scenes carved into the walls. It really was a beautiful place and the history of the mine was very interesting. You could tell that the Polish people really take pride in it and love to show it off. Plus I got to eat some salt straight off the wall of the mine. It tasted exactly how you would think. (Salty)

After the tour of the cave we had the rest of the day free, so we decided to go to the Schindler Factory and museum. I had to watch Schindler's List in high school, but I recently re-watched it and definitely appreciated it more as a not-fifteen year old. The story of Schindler and his factory is fascinating, even if the movie dramatized some of the events. The museum itself is not how the factory originally looked, other than Schindler's office and a couple other rooms. The whole inside of the factory has been made into an extremely interactive and comprehensive history of the Nazi occupation of Krakow, as well as the history of Schindler's factory and how he saved so many lives. The museum was extremely well done, and was definitely impactful. My favorite part was a series of pathways made to look like the insides of the Krakow ghetto, with quotes and pictures of ghetto life lining the walls, as well as audio of what it would have sounded like within the ghetto.

As someone who studies psychology I am often required to theorize about the causes of human behavior and how we react to and deal with challenges in our lives. About a month ago the director of our school recommend we read Man's Search For Meaning by Austrian psychologist Victor Frankl who survived Auschwitz and went on to write about the psychological phases of concentration camp imprisonment and his own theory that man is driven not by primal urges but the search for a meaningful existence. It was an amazing book and a fantastic intro to what we saw today.

Today we started off with a tour of the castle hill here in Krakow, which was nice but I think I'm getting a little castled-out. Our tour guide was very nice though and gave us a lot of good information about the history of Krakow. After the tour we got some surprisingly good pizza for lunch and then got on the bus towards Auschwitz.

I didn't cry today. I thought I would, and I came close, but the experience of Auschwitz can't really be described as simply as "sad". It's a combination of sadness, horror, disgust, and vague feeling of unsettled incomprehension of the massive scale of the atrocities that were committed here. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be poetic about this, because romanticism has no place here. It's just hard to convey such a complicated mix of emotions.

We met our guide at the entrance to the complex. The parking lot has a restaurant attached to it, which seems kind of distasteful if you think about it. But we followed our guide under the Arbeit Macht Frei sign and into Auschwitz I. This wasn't the extermination camp yet but the barracks where prisoners worked and we're forced to live, and that now make up the museum. The day was fittingly grey and gloomy, I think it would have been extremely unsettling to see it on a nice day. We walked through the museum full of pictures of prisoners arriving at the camp, pictures of prisoners in their uniforms, pictures of nearly starved children. The most hard-hitting exhibits were the rooms filled with the possessions that the prisoners brought with them to the camp. Thousands of suitcases, eyeglasses, shoes, bowls, hairbrushes. And an entire room just with hair. The closest I came to crying was in the room filled with children's shoes. We also got to see some of the rooms used for punishment where people were often forced to stand in the dark often four to a room built for one. Another unsettling moment was seeing the death wall where over 7,000 people were executed. The last thing we did before leaving the first camp was to walk through the only remaining gas chamber and crematorium. I don't think there are any words. I didn't linger for long.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is the camp that people probably most often think of, which the large front entrance and railroad tracks. This was the extermination camp, and has been kept as close as possible to what it looked like the day it was liberated. Again, the sheer size is the most unsettling part, that these barracks were filled and filled again. We passed one of the train cars used for deportation, again I didn't linger long. It was beginning to be dusk and we had to hurry before the complex closed for the night, but we saw the inside of the barracks and then walked to the back of the complex to see the remains of the blown up gas chambers and crematorium. All that's left is charred rubble so it's hard to believe that these used to be buildings in which so many were murdered. The last thing we saw was the memorial, with plaques written in all the languages of the prisoners. In the fading light the place felt even more solemn.

So I don't know what everybody else thinks of when they think of a night train, but I grew up listening to the Cats soundtrack, so I think of a charming experience with a cozy little room on a train with happy conductors and a cat that tends to your every need. Turns out a real night train is just a regular train but the seats are sideways. I haven't had a rougher nights sleep since I spent 17 hours on a bus. There were six of us in a compartment and it was boiling hot, not to mention the bed was only a little more comfortable than a board and the jostling of the train made for a rough nights sleep. But we made it to Poland with no problems.

Fall is in full swing here in Krakow, complete with fog and noticeably cooler weather than in Vienna. Cities always look prettier when it's sunny, but Krakow is nice even in the fog. It mostly reminds me of a less touristy Prague. Once we got off the train we went to the hotel and had breakfast, then set off on a tour of some of the oldest parts of the city. We saw the old University, market square, and famous altar in the Basilica. It was all very nice, but I was tired and so my patience for other people and walking around was kind of thin.

I'd been looking forward to coming to Krakow, not just because it's an interesting historical city, but because of my own Polish background. I guess I can't claim any real cultural knowledge other than what I know from the Polish dinner I had at my great-aunt's house once. Still, it feels strangely satisfying to be in the country where my family came from. I will say that, at various times in my life, at least three different people have said that I either have looked Polish or had "Polish eyes". I never knew what they meant, and now I can conclusively say that I still have no idea what they meant. At the very least I already knew a little more about Polish food than the others! After our tour we got lunch and I had some soup and spinach and cheese pierogies. Food is pretty cheap here, and the exchange rate is good with 1 Polish zloty equalling about 4 euros.

After lunch Justine and I went to the stained glass museum, which turned out to be a tour of a working stained glass workshop where they explained the process of making stained glass. It was more something that Justine convinced me to go to, but it was still interesting and we saw some beautiful stained glass. We wanted to go to a historical museum at market square too but it closed so we just did some window shopping at the souvenir stands until we ate dinner. I had a traditional mushroom soup in a bread bowl with a not too bad Polish beer.

I’ve officially reached the halfway point of my semester abroad. Now I’ve got about two months left and it’s hard to believe I’m already this far in. It feels like we got here yesterday, and that we still have so much left to do and see. I’ve definitely learned a lot, both about Europe and myself. I guess the biggest change I’ve noticed is a growth in confidence. I was so scared that when I tried to travel during fall break I wouldn’t be able to handle it, that I would mess up everything and that somehow everything would go wrong and that I would be revealed as the phony adult I am. But it was fine! Nothing went wrong! We didn’t die or get mugged or arrested! The train back to Vienna from Rome wasn’t too bad either (certainly better than that godforsaken bus to Paris) and we even reached the alps right as the sun was setting, so it was beautiful as well. We did get back pretty late to a very cold and wet Vienna, but it was surprisingly not terrible! 

On Tuesday our German classes at the University of Vienna started, and since my class is a full two levels above where I was expected to be I was pretty nervous. The class is mostly full of like...real adults, as in people who have stable incomes, spouses, and children. But there are also a few people my age mixed in, and even a guy from the Portland area which was pretty funny. The class is going to be hard, especially since it’s clear everyone in the class has had more than two months of German experience. But I’m not totally and completely lost and the very nice teacher seems to think I’ll be okay, so I’m going to give it a go. Mostly I’m just terrified that I’m not as good as everyone seems to think I am and then, again, I’ll be revealed as a blundering fool. At least I’ll probably come out of this knowing a decent amount of German. (I hope.)

On Thursday Courtney, Justine, and I had dinner with a recent Linfield grad who Courtney and Justine were both friends with before this semester, and who also studied abroad in Austria. He’s now back in Vienna for a Fulbright program, and we spent a fun evening in his slightly sketchy apartment filled with weird and slightly creepy stuff left behind by the landlord. (as in “mystery bottles” filled with mystery liquids) It’s nice to hang out with new people and talk about mutual experiences in Vienna as an American and in a study abroad program. Also it’s just nice to talk to new people when you’ve been talking to the same 8 people for two months. (Not that I don’t love my friends ;) )  On Friday we had a class excursion to Klosterneuburg, which is a little town right outside of Vienna (technically still part of Vienna??? Maybe like a suburb) that has a famous monastary and Imperial residence. The church was beautiful, as was the weather. It’s been very warm this week and all of the leaves are changing colors, so it’s very picturesque around the Vienna Woods where Klosterneuburg is. It’s nice to get out of the main city and relax. Afterwords we went to Traunfeld, in Lower Austria just outside of Vienna, which is a famous area for wine. We went wine tasting at a local winery, and I felt very fancy and a little homesick since the owner of the winery has worked in California and was talking about it. (Too bad all the wine country is on FIRE). They make mostly white wine there, and it was all very very good. We also got an excellent dinner of vegetable goulash, meat, dumplings, and rice, with a nut strudel for dessert. I even bought a bottle of wine to take back with me. It was only 6 euros! Apparently this is an amazing price for the quality of wine we got. It was a very relaxing day and we got to see some gorgeous scenery (and drink a lot of good wine). 

You know I think hostels get kind of a bad rap. Yes I'm sure there are some truly horrible ones out there (the one we stayed in Prague was kind of iffy) but both our Paris hostel and our hostel in Rome have been pretty nice, especially the one in Rome which offers cheap brunch, clean rooms, and lots of activities and tours you can sign up for. (Okay so we didn't sign up for any but they're available.) However, there are definitely downsides, such as a guy snoring so loudly that I could hear it through my earplugs. Let's just say I did not get the best sleep. Despite this, we had a truly lovely last full day in Rome.

Courtney and I got a pretty late start (thanks snoring guy from New York) but this was okay because our whole plan was to have a casual day of exploring the city. After another big brunch we got on a bus to go see the Pantheon. Quickly we realized that we are both bad at figuring out directions. Siru had a working map app on her phone so she had been saving us from getting lost all week, but today it was just us and so we ended up spending twenty extra minutes on the bus because we got on the wrong direction. Then, seeing the first building with columns and heading towards it, we eventually resorted to (sit down) using a PAPER MAP to find our way around the city. Shocking, I know, that we millenials know what paper is. But we got to the Pantheon, and it was really neat! It was a nice quick thing you could kind of just walk in and out of without too much fuss, which is nice after a week of long long lines and huge museums. Plus it had beautiful architecture, of course.

After the Pantheon we planned to walk about twenty minutes to the famous Mouth of Truth, which I wanted to see mostly because of the scene from Roman Holiday. Of course with our sense of direction and poor map reading skills this took us much longer, because we ended up walking around some beautiful streets and piazzas that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. One of my favorite places we saw was a tree lined street next to the river, and we took a detour to see the famous Romulus and Remus statue and ended up seeing a beautiful view of the forum. Finally we found the Mouth of Truth, took our touristy pic, and went on our way.

Our only other goal of the day was to eat some cannoli, and I had found a promising looking bakery through Google earlier in the morning. We found it (after still more confused wandering) and the bakery was in another beautiful little area of the city with cobbled streets and stairways. The cannoli was delicious, I had one regular sized one and a mini chocolate one. At this point we'd had quite enough walking, so we went back to the hostel to rest and look up places for dinner.

We ended up eating in another place close to the hostel, and while the gnocchi I had was good what was more memorable was the conversation Courtney and I ended up having with the Australian man at the table next to us. He asked us about our trip, what we were doing in Europe, and we had a long talk about travel, differences between Europe, the US, and Australia, and for some odd reason driving laws. It was really nice to talk to someone else who was traveling and having to get through situations without knowing the language, and it felt good just to have a friendly conversation with someone knew. It wasn't until we parted ways that Courtney and I realized we never learned his name, and he never learned ours. Sad, but still it was a nice talk and a fun way to spend our last evening in Rome.