Bohemian Rhapsody

Is this Real life or is this just Fantasy?

I've asked myself the question above a million times during my time abroad. I think I have probably written this in every blog, but I am so incredibly grateful to have had this experience. My catchy title is due to our last class field trip to the Bohemian region in the Czech Republic. The country is separated into two regions, Bohemia and Moravia. Most of my time has been spent in Moravia as Olomouc used to be the capital of this region, but then it was moved to Brno. The typical stereotypes of the two regions is that Moravia is known generally for its wine and Bohemia is known for its glass. Obviously,  I have been in the right region during my stay. However, our trip to southern Bohemia was a fun last shebang. We started our trip off in the tiny town(village) of Litomysl. The town itself makes up its population of 10,000 with surrounding villages so I am not sure how many people actually live in the city center/area we were in. We visited a church that somewhat doubled as an art museum and were given a tour by a woman from Chicago(fun to have a little midwest while in the Czech). The church was pretty, to be honest all of the churches after the first week blend together so my opinion isn't a very good one. After the tour we were free for the evening and due to the weather being less than ideal we couldn't explore much of the city so we ate dinner and celebrated Jessica's birthday at an underground pub. We left Litomysl and headed to the next city of Kutna Hora. Our bus took a small detour to the now destroyed village of Lezaky. The village was completely destroyed by

The Bone Church 

Group photo in front of the Cathedral in Kutna Hora

Rafting down the river

German fascist in June of 1942. It was a little surreal to see an area that 200 people lived and to think it was completely destroyed in only hours. Our next stop was on the outskirts of Kutna Hora at the 'Bone Church'. The church is very true to its title, and is decorated with 4 huge piles of human bones as well as skulls constructed into chandeliers and even a family's crest. As you could imagine the church was very unsettling and rather disgusting in my opinion, but it was an interesting thing to say I have seen. Once we were in Kutna Hora we visited another cathedral and the rest of the class visited the silver mines( I opted out of this one due to claustrophobia). We took our final drive into the depths of southern Bohemia ending and stopping in the beautiful town of Cesky Krumlov. Here we visited a Theatre, the Castle, and even went for a little rafting adventure down the river. The theatre was beautiful, but listening to all the history made me have flash backs to a Jack class (if you don't know what that means you are lucky) and I might have gotten a little sleepy. The castle was full of grandeur and all the luxuries you find in a royals home. Rafting was the real fun, and a little nerve wracking. Jan and Martin had told us perviously that they wouldn't join us on this excursion because of the weather, but what do 24 college students decide to do? Go anyway. Some stripped down to shorts and cutoffs for the rainy journey I put on my rain jacket and boots and prayed that the rain would cease. Luckily it did. Our directions before entering the river were keep left on the first rapid, keep right on the second, get out right after the second rapid, and be there by six. We started this journey a little after 2:30 so making it to our pick up location by six would be easy, so we thought. The day rafting down the river was so much fun and such a great experience as our last day together, but once it was six we still hadn't gone through our second rapid. By 6:15 we still hadn't and even by 6:30. I finally saw a white van on the left bank and a man conservatively waving us over.  When I say conservatively I don't think he even had his arm extended away from his body. The five of us rowed for our lives to get to his side of the river and were safely but in a van and headed back to Cesky Krumlov by 6:45. My trip to Bohemia with my class was a fun way to end the trip. I can't believe all of our goodbyes have been said and I only have hours before I leave my new home of Olomouc. Only a trip to Greece and a 9 hour international flight stand between me and the Home of The Brave. I cannot wait to see all your beautiful faces but it will be a very tearful goodbye when I leave Europe in 10 short days. 

The 4 C's of Paris

Croissants, Champagne, Crepes, and Couture

As promised I enjoyed the champagne

In preparation for my study abroad experience I had no intention of visiting Paris, as I already had the privilege to sing my way through the beautiful country of France two years ago under the direction of Clayton Moyer(thanks Moyboy you're the best). Anyway, somehow eight of us 'Czech' students found cheap flights to Paris so voila there I was. The week leading up to our trip other students asked me if I was excited to visit the city of love, lights, and champagne. My response all week was "No, not really I've already been there before.' How arrogant of me.  Once we were there and I got to watch the other seven people experience the city for the first time, I realized how incredibly fortunate I am to be back in a city that most people don't get to visit even once in their lifetime. After this realization I stopped being a little brat and enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Paris.

Traveling

Fortunately our class schedule is put together so we can travel easily. We are done around noon on Fridays so we took a train to Prague to catch our flight to Paris. Unfortunately after arriving to the airport we were informed our flight was delayed for an hour making our arrival to Paris later than we hoped. Once we arrived in Paris our plan was to use the metro to take us to our AirBnB, however due to our flight delay we were too late to use any of the public transport we planned on. We have all have become pretty resourceful when traveling due to our lack of mobile resources, but luckily at this point we were still connected to Orly's wifi and were able to get an uber to take us to our home for the weekend. Upon arrival to the apartment we were renting for the weekend the Eiffel tower was doing its final 'twinkle' of the night. This was the moment I realized how lucky I was to be back in this city as Clark, Alexander, and Sami sat in awe watching the iconic tower sparkle. We called it a 'night' or maybe an early morning as it was 3am by the time we were all settled and checked in to our apartment and got a little nap in before our weekend began.

The steps behind the Chateau looking at the gardens.

Day One

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed out of Paris to the beautiful palace and gardens of Versailles. I visited the palace when I came with Claybaybay, and was more than excited to go back to see the gardens. The inside of Versailles is something out of a dream. I have never seen something so beautiful and it is absolutely HUGE. My favorite thing about walking through places like this is knowing you are walking in the same place as Marie Antoinette or her husband Louis once did, it is surreal. The only sad part about my visit this time was how extremely packed the chateau was. I was walking shoulder to shoulder and back to back in every room I visited. I even had issues in the vast Hall of Mirrors finding personal space. Although this did take away from the experience a little bit it was cool to see how many people want to see this piece of history. The part that I had not seen on my previous visit was the gardens. It was a little chilly so it wasn't as pleasant as it could have been but I was still left awestruck. These gardens built by Louis the 14th  holds 55 pools and fountains, 600 water features, A closed circuit water consumption of 4500 meters cubed per hour, 77 hectares of formal french gardens, 86 sculpted groups, 155 statues, 235 vases, AND 300,000 flowers are planted each year to fill the gardens. I thought the rock garden at good ole Harmon Park was cool, but the royal gardens of Versailles might just have it beat. We left the gardens to find something to eat and to warm up a bit and hit the ground running back in Paris. That afternoon we saw the Place de la Concorde which hold the famous fountain Anne Hathaway throws her phone in during the movie 'The Devil wears Prada, La Madeleine Cathedral which is absolutely beautiful and I teared up a little bit reminiscing about singing the choral arrangement of Ava Maria in the same space two short years ago, the Moulin Rouge where I tried to take a jumping picture and might have accidentally flashed an old man, climbed all the stairs to visit Sacré-Cœur and have the city of Paris at our feet, and finished the night with a bottle of Rosé in the Parc du Champ De Mars watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle yet again.

Day Two

Notre Dame

We had a little later start Sunday morning(God bless) and headed to a free walking tour around 11am. The cool thing about Europe is the free walking tours that they have in almost every city. The tour guides are free lancers who allow you to put your own price on the tour after you have been on it. So, the tour isn't really free but you can hand the tour guide 5 euro instead of the 30 euro you would spend on a hop on hop off tour. Alberto, our tour guide was incredibly knowledgable about the sights he showed us. Out of all the tour guides we have had he has been the most informative, but we saw the least so I'm not really sure which situation I would rather have. Never the less Alberto took us to the famous Notre Dame, Pont Neuf bridge which is the oldest bridge in Paris, the new lock bridge because the old one was torn down, and the Louvre. I wish I could write about all the fun facts he told us, but sadly my fingers can only type so much. However, I will tell the most interesting and maybe the most gross thing I learned on the trip. Alberto talked to us about the French Revolution and the beheading of Queen Marie Antoinette. The guillotine was used for her beheading and many other nobles, but what I did not know as the ritual of this death sentence. A person would lie down and be told why they were receiving this sentence, have their full name read, and any other thing that needed to be said before their lives were taken. While they were laying down all the blood and oxygen would collect in their head and once the guillotine had done it's job the executioner would hold the head up and low and behold because of the blood and the oxygen in the brain the person was still conscious and would be shown its decapitated body. How gruesome but how incredible that our bodies can do that. After the walking tour we ate lunch and headed back to a cute little macaroon shop. The big task for the day was heading to the Arc de Triomphe. We were still down by the Louvre so we started our 3.4 mile trek from the Louvre to the Arc. Before this trip I wouldn't even walk down the block and now I'm walking around 15 to 20 miles a day. This walking is absolutely exhausting, but I think its my only saving grace so I don't weight 500 pounds after all this yummy european food. We finally made it to the Arc had a mini photo shoot and headed the 2 miles back to lay in the grass by the Eiffel  for the rest of the evening. Another early wake up call was awaiting us the next day and we had to say Au Revoir to the city of Paris. Next stops the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, Greece, and then The States! Until then, I'll keep drinking my fill of champagne, eating croissants and crepes, and wishing I could buy everything couture. Au Revoir!

Sausage,Pierogi's, and Vodka. Oh my!

Kraków

Chapel of St. Kinga

This past weekend I had the opportunity to visit Krakow, Poland on a class field trip. I wasn't sure what to expect from the city, or even from the country on the trip, but ended up having a wonderful time. We started our trip at the Wieliczka Salt Mines. I was little nervous about entering due to my claustrophobia, but took the voyage down 53 flights of stairs hoping for the best. I was pleasantly surprised with wide open spaces on the tourist route of the mine which only travels through 1% of the mines total area. The thought of only seeing 1% of the mine after a 3 hour tour was baffling. The mine is not used only for the escavation of salt but it is also used for medical treatment. The depth and the aroma of the mine aides those with respiratory issues. Once a year groups of children venture in to the mine to spend a week clearing out the bacteria in their lungs simply but breathing in the air. The mine also holds the Chapel of St. Kinga which is still in operation every Sunday morning at 7:30am(too early for me to visit) but still amazing to see such a beautiful place of worship.

St. Mary's Basilica in the City Center

Breakfast of Champions 

After leaving the salt mines we headed to dinner, being the picky eater I am I didn't try the traditional Polish pierogies  but tried a bite of Sami's. The different cuisines of countries are so fun to try but it is also very interesting to see how the cultures of different countries have been absorbed into ours. That evening we experienced the Krakow night life and had a few samples of the Wodka(Vodka) that the Poles are famous for. The next morning we visited the castle state rooms, armory, and treasury. I didn't think I would ever feel this way, but I am a little bored with castles. I love looking at the outside of them but beyond that, Princess Brianna is just ready to live in her own and stop visiting other peoples. Following the castle we ventured to the city center. I enjoyed a Polish sausage for lunch and an afternoon of walking through the beautiful markets. The best part of Krakow, especially for my wallet, was how inexpensive the city was. 1zt = .25 of a USD so we divided prices by 4 to know roughly what we were spending. These low prices led us on an adventure to get piercings (yay the nose ring is back) to my mother’s dismay a tattoo was not added on this trip but maybe before I leave. Post piercings we spent a night in to catch up on some much needed sleep. The next morning I woke up refreshed and ready for the day after a yummy eggs benedict breakfast. We spent our last hours in Krakow at Schindler's Factory. As a class we have discussed and visited many outcomes of the Holocaust, but this museum was very different than I expected. The factory led us through the entire process of Hitlers take over of Poland to the liberation after the war. It gave me an entirely different view on such a dark part of the worlds history. I am very happy with my weekend trip in Krakow, next stop the land of champagne and love, I’ll only be partaking in the champagne, Paris!

hello, it's me. (again)

Class

yours truly in front of the history building the Nebraska
Semester Abroad Program calls home.

I thought I'd give all my faithful readers a little glimpse into the 'rough' life of someone studying abroad. While I absolutely love it here, and am so grateful for everything I have seen, it's hard to be away from my usual crazy schedule that I love (and hate) back in The States. A typical weeks schedule on the class side of things is Monday through Thursday we meet from 3:00pm to 6:15pm and then on Fridays we meet from 10:30am to 1:00pm to accommodate traveling on weekends. Each day we normally have a guest lecturer from the Palacky University faculty and either a Czech lesson or another lecture from our beloved professors and go to Czech locals, Jan and Martin. The guest lectures are normally over the previous Communist Regime in the Czech, country relations with the Czech or the US, and sometimes they are just random topics the lecturers enjoy or have their Doctorate in.  Our Czech lessons are... hard. Czech isn't a language useful language for anywhere else in Europe, but it is nice to have for my short 83 days here. It is very cool to finally somewhat understand what signs say and be able to read a menu without my handy dandy google translate app. Speaking the language is the most difficult for me, so  don't expect me to come back and be able to teach you how to say something cool( unless ordering wine, beer, orange juice, and asking for the bathroom is cool.) The lectures Jan and Martin give are my favorite. Jan gave a lecture before we left for spring break on the Habsburg family, which I mentioned in my previous blog, and it was so incredible how much he knows. My favorite lecture that Martin gave was about witches and vampires. Overall, it makes me a little sad that I'm not studying theatre or dance here but it is fun to learn a new culture and language and from professors that are completely opposite from my crazy theatre family in the Fine Arts Building.

Daily Life

Hot chocolate with a scoop of ice cream
and Sami enjoying herself at Cafe 87

I've given you a glimpse into my class schedule so I guess its only fair to tell you what I do for the other 12 hours of my day. I can't lie. I'm lazy. When I am in Olomouc I normally stay up until two or three in the morning catching up with people from back home or (gasp) watching Netflix and sleep until noon. When I do drag my butt out of bed I love walking around this lovely city. Its starting to get nice now so I cannot wait to see and explore the ring of parks that are all around Olomouc. I also like to taste my way through the city. I have been to a couple of restaurants twice because they are so darn good but most of the time we just wander into a random restaurant after class and hope for the best. One of my favorite places is Cafe 87. I love love love breakfast food and they have omelettes and toast YUM! I've frequented the shopping malls maybe a little too much which could be one of the many reasons I will be coming back with a two cents left in my bank account. The tough thing about the city is that the things I would do back home I can't really do here. I'm used to dancing close to 25 hours a week between classes and rehearsals, as well as choreographing for shows and show choirs. It's been a little tough not being able to dance in a studio setting but I make up for it at Belmondo. This is a Wednesday night treat for all of us. Belmondo is a club close to the city center that showcases a new country each Wednesday, sadly the US doesn't get to have a night this year but experiencing and DANCING my way through other cultures is super fun!

I went to Berlin!

Berlin Board

Breaking away from daily life and class, I went to Berlin, Germany this past weekend! We left Friday afternoon on a six hour train ride adventure to get to our final destination of Berlin. I wasn't feeling well that morning so the train ride was a little rough and when we finally got there I only had enough energy to eat, but thank god I did. My first meal in  Germany was so so yummy. Clark and I shared the Berlin Board which had fun little tastes of different German foods and I had the yummiest potato soup with sausage in it. The next morning I still wasn't feeling the best, but toughed it out for a really awesome day. We went on a three and a half walking tour and our guide was amazing. Her name was Susan and she was from Canada and I could already tell she was going to give us a great tour from how excited she was when she welcomed the group. We went to Alexanderplatz, the city centre, the old library, a few museums, part of the Berlin Wall, a Holocaust Memorial,Brandenburg Gate, and so many other places. The most surreal thing we saw that day was the site where Hitler killed himself. Our guide walked us through a beautiful little park area and stood next to a parking lot. She noted the beautiful scenery and then said 'But its not what you see with your eyes at this moment. It is what lies three stories beneath us." Three stories below our feet was the bunker of Adolf Hitler. The man with millions of innocent blood on his hands lived literally right under my feet only a few decades ago. The bunker has never been opened due to the history being so recent and the threat of,neo-Nazis creating a shrine over their 'leader',  it also isn't on any map, and the only think to mark it is a small poster next to the parking lot.  The actual modern city of Berlin is only 25 years old which is absolutely astonishing to me. A place that holds an incredible amount of history has only been able to move forward from in the last 25 years.  Our last day in Berlin we went to the May Day celebrations. I'm not 100% sure what makes May Day so celebrated in Berlin but it was an amazing experience. There were over 45,000 people celebrating May Day in a tiny three to five mile stretch of park. I had never seen anything like it. The incredible part was everyone was very intoxicated and it still was a pleasant place to be. I'm not legal in the states, obviously, so I haven't experienced anything like this before, but I couldn't image 45,000 Americans being that intoxicated and not see a single fight or an other altercation happen. I love just sitting there for a few hours and watching everything around me. Berlin was a really cool trip that I didn't expect much from, but it was well worth it. I'm sorry to my blog followers that this is such a short and not very in depth post, but I promise to do better next week. Until then!

The gang watching a street performer in Berlin