Final Reflections

It is hard to put into words how much I learned and experienced in my CETS experience. I met 18 amazing friends that I grew incredibly close to over the course of this trip. I have never made friends so fast that I opened up to right away. Traveling through Europe is already an amazing opportunity, but doing it with a great group of people makes it so much more enjoyable.

            I learned so so much about the architecture, geography, and music of each city that I will never forget. With each experience was a learning opportunity, and it was great to try so many things that I most likely would never try if I hadn’t gone on this trip. The opportunity of seeing so many places in such a short amount of time is so unique, and I think this trip is so special in that way. The bonding that happens with traveling is unforgettable, and I appreciate the fact that I got this incredible opportunity!

            After this trip, I realized that traveling will always be a priority for me in my life. I think there are so many things to learn about yourself by getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new in a new location. Seeing these beautiful cities was so special and it made me want to see many more foreign areas. I will be back to Europe at least once again in my life, and I can’t wait to see more of the amazing country. Life is short, and why not see as much of the world as one possibly can? Europe has left a long lasting impression on me, and I can hardly wait to visit again in the near future!

Krakow Highlights

Krakow, Poland was such a unique and fun city to visit. My favorite academic experience here was without a doubt going to Auschwitz. The experience was indescribable, and I think it is something that everyone should see if they visit Poland. It’s a place of insurmountable tragedy, but the people who died here need to be remembered, and going here brought life to those poor victims of the Holocaust. I bought two books here to help me remember my experience on this day.

            There was a really cool market place in this city that was one of my favorite geographic elements! It was a central spot for everyone to gather in the city, and so much fun. There were many souvenir shops here and I got a large chunk of my souvenirs for friends and family here. There were lots of vendors and food places all around and it was fun to explore this area.

            My favorite extracurricular activity in Krakow was simply hanging out at the hostel’s restaurant with friends at nighttime. The restaurant had really yummy pizza and I had some great times with the group just chatting and relaxing here after some long days of exploring! It was the perfect way to relax and reflect on the day and experiences we had.

            The food I would recommend here was the sesame chicken that I ordered at this authentically Polish restaurant we went to. It was really tasty and everyone was very satisfied with their meals here. It is cool to see authentic cuisine, and this was definitely the place to see that! I would have never guessed that the food here would be as good as it was, just judging the place from the look of it.

Budapest Highlights

Budapest was possibly my favorite city on the trip. I had no idea what to expect in Budapest, so I was only pleasantly surprised! We saw so many fun things as a group, and one of those was the Hungarian Folk music concert. Even though it was incredibly hot in the building, the concert was unbelievably good. The music was amazing, and the dancers were so talented. All of the performers were having such a good time that it made it impossible to not enjoy this performance.

            Amber, Katie L. and I went to the Jewish shoe memorial and I was really fascinated by this piece of geography. The memorial had shoes representing the shoes of the innocent Jews that were pushed over the ledge and into the river. I think this is very historically important, and I like that they made a monument to remember all of the innocent lives that were taken.

            After the Hungarian Folk concert, a big group of the girls were looking up music videos on a laptop and it was so fun. We were all dancing and singing along for hours and it was such a fun experience. We all have so much fun together as a group, and it was nice to listen to some old favorite rappers like 50 cent and Nelly! Going to the baths in Budapest were another extracurricular activity that I loved. The baths are so fun and relaxing, and they are a must see in Budapest. We went here twice and I had a blast both nights.

            I would recommend eating at the Citadella here, which is where we had our final group dinner. The view of the city is remarkable, and it was such a fun restaurant. We took some group pictures outside of the restaurant and had a really good time there. Our food was amazing and the staff was really great too. 

Vienna Highlights

Right away in Vienna, I noticed the exquisite beauty of the city. The city spends a large amount of money and time on keeping the city pristine looking. I think that it’s interesting how much of a priority that is here. It makes the city really breathtaking.

            My favorite academic experience was without a doubt the wine and bike tour through the Wachau Valley. This was one of my favorite days of my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I love biking and I love wine, so I knew this would be a day that I would absolutely love. It was the perfect day all around, and the Wachau Valley is stunning. We all had so much fun tasting the delicious wine, and riding around the valley. We biked 18 miles but I could have gone much longer, I was enjoying it so much!

            A fun extra-curricular activity was going to an Irish Pub with Bethany, Katie L, and Jordan. It was just a tiny little pub but it was cool because the people who worked there were actually Irish, and had the best accents. I ordered an amaretto which was yummy, and we just had an all-around good time. I love exploring different areas of the cities we travel to, and this was just a spur of the moment decision which made it really fun.

            As far as food goes, the Siebensternbrau is a restaurant I would completely recommend! We went here for our final group dinner and the food was beyond amazing. I ordered spaetzle with bacon and it tasted like mac and cheese with bacon. I haven’t had anything remotely close to mac and cheese on this trip, so this really hit the spot for me! I also tried a beer called Hanf beer which was very tasty. The group dinner was awesome, and I tried so many tasty dishes. Everyone can find something that they love on that menu!

Brno Highlights

Brno was great to get a different perspective of the Czech Republic, outside of the big city of Prague. My favorite academic experience was by far visiting the Roma museum. I learned so much about the Roma people, and the tour guides were truly amazing people. They gave us all books as gifts for coming, and they were so passionate about teaching people about the Roma that it was inspiring to me. I learned so much and had a really good time here with the group.

            I was surprised by the fact that the Roma people are so ostracized in the community and live in “ghettoes” outside of the main part of the city. It is interesting that after all this time the geography is still this way in Brno. It’s sad that life is so isolated for the Roma people, including their living conditions.

            As weird as it sounds, my favorite extracurricular activity was probably being able to catch up on my laundry. It had been two weeks and I had so many clothes I needed to wash! We have been extremely busy so I really appreciated some down time on our free day to get to clean my clothes so I could have fresh clothes to wear! It was definitely worthwhile to take the time to do that while there was some free time here.

            One of my favorite restaurants of this trip was here in Brno and it was called Adria. I went there two different times and the first time I ordered tortellini with spinach and the second time I ordered a veggie salad. Both were delicious and super affordable! The tortellini ended up being only 6 American dollars and that included a soda as well. Everyone who goes to Brno needs to visit this lovely restaurant!

Prague Highlights

Prague was one of the locations I was most excited to see on our trip. It is really pretty, and definitely a giant tourist area. We saw one area of Prague called the Nove Butovice community, and it was really interesting to me. It is a community that holds 100,000 people and it is a bunch of big apartment complexes with a huge park in the center of it all. I believe this community was built under communism and it is an interesting idea, geographically. The space is very efficient and makes a lot of sense, but I’m not sure if I would like to live here myself. The park was awesome, and a nice green space for the people of the apartment complexes. I have never seen an area like this in the states, so it was interesting to see!

            My favorite academic experience was visiting the Prague castle. It is an enormous tourist attraction, and it was really beautiful. The castle was majestic, and touring it was pretty cool to see. I ended up buying many of my family souvenirs here, because we have a strong Czech heritage. I bought my dad a Czech recipe cook book, and I bought a Prague history and picture book for myself. I also bought some awesome postcards from these little shops that used to be where the workers of the castle lived. Prague castle is a must see in Prague.

            A big group of the girls and I went to a Prague pub crawl and it was awesome. It was seriously one of the best experiences and I would so recommend it! We met a lot of people from Australia, and I loved their accents! The pub crawl was nice because you paid one fee and then got to go to 3 bars and the biggest club in central Europe at the end. Due to flooding, we weren’t able to go to the final club but it was still a ton of fun!

            I didn’t try too much different food in Prague for some reason, and actually ended up eating at McDonald’s twice… Although we clearly have them everywhere in the US, everyone has to experience a McDonalds in Europe! They are so much different than the ones that we have and it is a cool experience, I think. They have McCafe’s in them which are completely separate cafes with coffee and desserts in them. Some of their meal options are also different. It’s something everyone should check out just to compare them to the ones we have in the States!

Dresden Highlights

Dresden was another really cool city in Germany. It was very heavily bombed in the war, and I was fascinated by how new the city was. It was definitely the most restored after the war, and it reminded me of the states more than any of the other cities have so far. It is a very modern city because of the rebuilding.

            There was an awesome supermarket by our hostel, and it was packed with so much yummy food! I love exploring the supermarkets because there are so many new types of foods to try. A bunch of the girls and I went here and bought some groceries for dinner. We ended up having a feast of salad, cheese, chocolate, wine, and other snacks! It is so fun to try the different food, and everything that I tried was really good.

            Academically, I really enjoyed going to Kunsthof Passage. It is this really cute passage way that is painted bright blue and gold. There are objects on the walls outside that are designed to make music while it rains. We visited it while it was raining, but I don’t think it was raining hard enough to make much sound. It’s cool to me that the local businesses keep the place up, to make sure that it stays in this area. It is such a simple area, but I thought it was so uniquely special that I really enjoyed visiting this part of Dresden!

            One of my favorite parts about our stay in Dresden was the sky bar on top of our hostel. It was fun place for our group to gather and unwind at night time, and there were some truly beautiful sunsets here at night time. I enjoyed being able to watch the sunset while having a drink, and getting to know the members of our group better. We had some really fun times up here at night, and there were lots of bonding experiences with new friends from the trip! This was my favorite hostel so far!