When you study abroad you learn some special skills, one of them for example is packing lightly. Our study abroad group went on a field study this past weekend where we hit three different cities and could only carry one backpack. Needless to say one learns very quickly as to what the essentials are!
Our first stop was Cesky Krumlov (above), known for the medieval town and castle the destination is one of the most popular in the Czech Republic. In the center of town is a pretty large castle, surrounded by bears kept in habitats. This off-the-beaten path castle would have to be one of the coolest and breathtaking places I have been. Filled with the original furniture and paintings the castle is utterly untouched compared to most castles you tour in Europe; where they either hollow out the structure and make it into a museum or have to completely reconstruct the inside from scratch. Not Cesky Krumlov, the castle had about 90% of the original furniture and it even had the only original working Baroque theater in the world, which was beautiful by the way. After falling in love with the sites and picturesque landscape surrounding the town our group headed to Vienna.
Vienna is a place you hear a lot about. It’s like Paris or Madrid, you have certain expectations to be met when you arrive in a place like Vienna (above). I expected fanciness, literary cafes, and large romantic buildings. Vienna did not disappoint. We started our tour of Vienna in a chateau on the outskirts of the city. It was beautiful and had perfectly trimmed trees. Walking around the gardens of the Chateau was like experiencing a Disney princess movie, with the oddly shaped trees and horse drawn carriages strewn amongst the fountains and flowers. The rest of Vienna really reminded me of a less populated Paris. The shops were high end, the streets were windy and the people all seemed like they had a place to be, it was very similar. With that in mind I failed to find any authentic looking cafes and spent most of my time just wandering the city with friends. Some of the people in the group spent the evening watching Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at the Vienna Opera House, which was supposedly amazing. We did eventually stop at the original Sacher café, known for their signature sacher-torte cake which had been invented there.
Budapest was a whole other experience. I wasn’t expecting much from Budapest (above), for some reason I expected Vienna to be the main attraction but I was surprisingly mistaken. Budapest is a city that doesn’t seem to know how beautiful it is. It was the Vienna I was looking for in another country. The streets were littered with cafés and book stores, the bars were funky and classic, and the architecture was to die for. The Budapest Parliament building, which we first saw from a night cruise down the Danube is the second largest in Europe, only after London, and in all honesty the most stunning Parliament building to ever be seen. Any picture I took of that building did no justice, it was aww incurring. We passed by the Jewish Synagogue, another breathtaking event and these caves built-in to the side of a mountain next to the Danube, while we were on the night cruise. Since we had two days in Budapest instead of one we spent most of the second day just pacing the city. We went on a picnic with some delicious Hungarian bread, cheese, and sausage and our group gave us a night tour of the Budapest castle. I would have to say that Budapest was the city that blew my mind the most; it was the place to be.
On our last day of our weekend excursion we stopped in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Bratislava was a small beautiful city that reminded me very much of Prague. We only spent the afternoon there but we enjoyed a small tour of the city and meandering through an Easter market. Bratislava did not give me the same satisfied feeling that I felt after Vienna and Budapest, it felt dark there and more of a tourist attraction than an actual city. Vienna and Budapest, to me, are living, breathing cities that are always moving.
On our way home from the exhausting journey, which we bussed the entire way with 50 something kids, we stopped at castle and roman ruins called Devin outside of Bratislava. This would have to be the second coolest part of the trip. We got to look at Roman ruins in Slovakia! That is insane to me that something from that long ago still exists in such a random place like Slovakia. The castle ruins were amazing as well and if you went to the top of a destroyed tower you could see the Danube and three different countries, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
This weekend has probably been one of the most eventful in my program, it felt like a second spring break almost. Although I am happy I went to three different countries in the span of four days I have to say that I missed Prague and was so excited to come back to a country that I don’t necessarily understand but call home.