Vienna 2011: WARNING: longest blog ever...

The rest of Poland just contined to impress me! On Friday morning, we woke up and had a complimentary Polish breakfast at the hotel and then had a bus drive us about an hour and a half to Auschwitz. Leading up to this, I was kind of nervous. However, I have always been very interested in World War II and the Holocaust, so as weird and wrong as it sounds, I have always wanted to be able to do something like this in my life. It was kind of a quiet bus ride as we all mentally prepared for what we were about to see. I think it was very good for everyone that we had just finished reading the book, Night, and had a long discussion one night about it all. If you do not know much about this time period, you should really look into it. Usually I am not the biggest history person, but for some reason I am always interested in learning about this part of history, it might be because I have a personal connection.... Anyways, back to what I was saying about the bus ride! We were all kind of quiet and a lot of people slept and journaled (journaling is a big deal here!) and then we sang a couple songs all together. It might sound kind of weird that we did that, but it was actually very neat and kind of left everyone in a state of peace right before we arrived. Some advice that we were given before we arrived was that once we leave, there really is no reason to continue to feel depressed for a long period of time. It is the past and there is nothing that you can do about it now. Also, it is okay to be upset about what happened, but take what you learn from this and apply it to your world and your part in changing the world. This was honestly very good information to have. Once we got to Auschwitz, we were led inside, got headphones, and found our tour guide. I cannot imagine my profession being leading people around such a sad place. Auschwitz was actually kind of different than expected.

I kept forgetting how recently all of these terrible events took place, so it was kind of shocking to see buildings kind of resembling dorms. Definitely not as nice as a dorm, but I would just keep looking at the floor in the buildings where all these people were kept and forced to work and the floors were so similar to a dorm. It was so crazy. We walked around this camp for a couple of hours and learned/saw things that you would never think could be real. We saw piles and piles of actual shoes people had once worn, stacks of empty cans that once held gas for the gas chambers, suitcases that people had stored all their belongings in when forced to leave their houses, and even enormous mounds of human hair. This reminded me of The Holocaust museum in Washington DC. I remember how they had piles and piles of actual shoes on display. It is always very disturbing to see all these things in numbers. That is probably the part that you start to actually understand what happened. And I use the word understand loosely, there is no way to fully "understand". I have now seen a death camp and I still do not comprehend/understand and I do not think I ever will. After spending time in Auschwitz, we loaded the bus again and drove a little less than 10 minutes away to Birkenau. This was more of a death camp than Auschwitz and held more people. Although countless people were killed at Auschwitz, it was more of a work camp. Birkenau was more of what I had pictured. It was a lot of land in the middle of no where with probably hundreds of chimneys spread all over the land, which were some of the only things left standing. Towards the end of the war, the Nazis tried to cover up what had been happening, so they blew up a lot of the buildings at Birkenau and all of the crematoriums.

The irony of the day was the fact that it was a perfect day, weather-wise. The sun was shining and it felt great outside. After our tour guide led us around a little bit, we got to walk around on our own for a while and just reflect. It was so neat for the sun to be shining down on such a dark place, but it was a reminder that God is good and we need to go out and do our part in keeping the peace and loving each other. It was an emotionally draining day, as we all got back on the bus and it remained silent and almost every single person slept the whole bus ride home. Even if you weren't tired, you were emotionally tired and I was so thankful for that bus ride home. Our group was great that day and everyone remained very respectful and I know for a fact we all learned so much.

After our bus ride back, we ventured back to the city square for an early dinner/late lunch. The group I ended up going with (Erin, Emily, Virginia, Clair, and all the teachers) went to eat at this Italian restaurant and had the best meal ever!

Appetizer: proscuitto, mozzarella, tomatoes, and arugula

Dinner: spinach dumpling w/ 3 cheese sauce

Dessert: chocolate cake

After we spent a couple of hours here and bonded over great food and conversation, we decided to get some gelato. When in Poland.... ! After the gelato, we shopped a little and walked through this little market strip down the center of the square. They had all different booths selling beautiful painted boxes, amber jewelry, and lots of other souvenirs! This market was one of my favorite parts of Krakow...

THEN, after the market/shopping had commenced, we decided to go to a cafe. By this point, people had split off the group so it was just Virginia, the four adults/teachers, and me. We went to a cafe and I got the best hot chocolate! Honestly, it was a dessert/sweets filled weekend for our whole group! We actually had a really good time and probably spent a couple hours here, too! Friday was SUCH an interesting and changing day for me!

Since this has already become so long, I am going to quickly describe the rest of the weekend and leave out some details. I can't believe how much I have to share about this one weekend trip! Anyways, Saturday we went on a walking/MARATHON RUN of the city. Our tour guide had so much that she wanted us to see, so we went very fast! It was really neat, though, and I got to see the Wawel castle, where Pope John Paul II used to stay, several churches, and the Jewish district. It was great! Later, a group of us had an amazing lunch in the Jewish district, went to a local flea market (one of our favorite things to do on this trip!), and then locked our "LU in Wien love" on a bridge full of locks that people leave to represent them locking their love. It was too cool! We also went to a modern art museum that was kind of strange, but interesting nevertheless. We ended up having dinner in the mall to save a little money and I got to have a tuna sandwich at Subway! Man I have missed those! And we went dessert-hopping again that night. Some people had dessert three or four times at different places! WE LOVE POLAND CHOCOLATE! Sorry for the lack of details, but it was also a fantastic day!

the room the Pope stayed in everytime he was in Poland

the castle

lunch in the Jewish district

Polish flea market

the lock bridge

our lock

one of many desserts...

chocolate globe to represent our travels!

Sunday morning, I wanted to go to mass in St. Mary's Cathedral since we had passed the church so many times and it is such a tourist hotspot. I also think it is so neat that I have the opportunity to go to mass in so many different cultures, countries, and languages! It has really taught me so much! Oh! The inside of this church was simply incredible! It was so ornate and intensely decorated. I am so glad that I was able to attend mass here! We then did some last minute shopping/eating and headed back to Vienna. By the time we got back to Wien, it was maybe almost nine o'clock, but it felt like we were home. I really am so thankful for the chance we had to get away for the weekend. Not because I wanted to leave this great city, but because I was able to leave and return home. This sounds kinda strange, but it was truely a great feeling. Since coming back from Poland, I have been less homesick and I am just trying to live in the moment. I have already realized how fast this trip is going and I don't want to miss anything! Soon it will all be just one big memory! Hard to believe! Oh and I have officially decided that everyone should spend a weekend in Krakow, Poland sometime in their life. We were all actually really sad to leave and we miss it! (although we still love Wien!!)

St. Mary's was incredible!

our last minutes in our favorite square

the train ride HOME

Oh! And back in Vienna, we met SANTA! I can't believe I forgot to mention that! (Mom- you better show this to Dar!)

Now, this week has gone by way too fast! It is currently Friday night and we are leaving tomorrow for our big group trip! I have been anticipating this for so long and it is finally here! We are going to ITALY! AHHHH!!! I have had some great times this week and for your sake, I will leave out all my boring details, but be prepared for another EXTREMELY long blog when I get back from Italien. (German for Italy...) PS: No class next weeeeeeeekkkkkk!!! total tourist mode! eeek!! Oh and tonight some of us watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie in order to prepare ourselves for our big trip! Don't judge! You know it's a fantastic movie! Well, I hope I haven't burned holes in your eyes from my long post, but I hope you enjoyed! I know I will enjoy reading this once I get home! Have a fantastic week everyone and I will see you again when I am fluent in Italian! (my third language to learn since living in Europa!)

Highlights from this past week: