What a semester this has been. With only a week to go with classes my time in Prague will soon be ending. It has been a remarkable time with many new friendships established, memorable experiences, and a massive amount of new knowledge that I will be able to utilize in the future. Since it's not exactly the end of the semester yet I'd like to just share with you my last few trips this past couple weekends. This included Berlin, Germany and Poland, both of which were equally rewarding and amazing.
The first weekend of December a couple of my roommates and I decided to catch a bus the Thursday morning from Prague to Berlin. This was our second time going back to Germany as we had been in Munich previously for Oktoberfest. As usual we left a little later than we needed to, making the bus by a few minutes before departure with all our belongings. I thought I had all my belongings for when the driver asked for identification I realized my passport was not with me. It definitely is always important to carry your passport with you whenever you go to another country, but I wasn't really as nervous with the situation since it was just a bus ride over. I had never been checked for my passport going between countries on the bus before. The driver let me on reluctantly somehow by showing my driver's license. I guess it was to "hope for the best" that we wouldn't get checked by some random border security. A couple hours into the bus ride right the random passport check happened. Just my luck. An officer came on and i was fined. Luckily enough I was still able to get through. A few hours later we arrived at our hostel in Berlin and went out to enjoy the Berlin nightlife.
Our time in Berlin was amazing. We saw many of the historical sites throughout the city including the Brandenburg Gate, Hitler's Bunker, SS Museum, and parts of the Berlin Wall. Berlin is another one of those cities you could easily spend a week out just to see all the different attractions they have. Since the city was heavily destroyed during the war, Berlin was very modern with beautifully designed architecture and buildings. Berliner's really seem to like spacious glass windows for everything seemed to be see through and spacious. We were also able to enjoy a different type of nightlife in Berlin where we attended a few underground concerts and clubs that were in very discrete areas. Some were built within old German ammunition factories such as Tresor club which itself was a unique experience to attend. We stayed till Sunday and were back in Prague that night.
Our following trip took us to Krakow, Poland. I had seen Warsaw last year when I studied abroad in Lithuania and wasn't very impressed with the city atmosphere or its people. Krakow however changed my mindset and view of the country completely. From the extremely friendly people, exciting nightlife, and famous historical sites Krakow was a wonderful city. The Czech people could definitely learn a thing or two in a Polish kitchen on what delicious, scrumptious food really is. The three nights I was there with my friends consisted on monstrous feasts of meat platters, actual dumplings, and grand entrees. I would go back to Krakow in heartbeat just for its food.
Krakow definitely had its defining moments, especially when we went to visit the Auschwitz camps. Witnessing some of the atrocities that the Nazis committed in Poland was horrendous. It was a very tragic and an unspeakable experience to describe how much that visit can change you. The pictures I will share on here will speak for themselves on what a horrific destination that area was for many unfortunate people during WWII. On a brighter side, we also went to see Schindler's Factory and learned about how Mr. Schindler was able to intelligently save many Jews from being deported by employing them. It was a very fascinating visit to see how he was able to coordinate everything and to be inside the actual factory of where the events occurred.
Krakow is one of the largest college cities in Europe and definitely showcased that type of vibrant atmosphere as well. One eventful night took us to a tram party that roamed throughout Krakow for almost three hours. It was a crammed party to say the least. Krakow was a memorable city and I'm sure the boys (Ruben, Thorsten, James, and Ross) will always remember that weekend in Krakow as well.
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