Thursday, August 4, 2011
Munich, Germany!!!
Today really was soo much fun!!! When we woke up this morning it was indeed again raining cats and dogs, so it took us a while to get started. The minute the rain let up, we made a run for the metro to grab some amazing German lunch. Daniel and I had some really great mushroom, potato, and onion soup, and Tim had MEATBALLS!!! We decided to them check out the BMW museum. I took about 20 minutes looking around and checking out the cars, then I sat in the corner for 40 minutes and read some great Franz Kafka (quite the interesting human being). After Tim and Daniel satisfied their sports car craving, we checked out the Olympic Stadium where the games were held in 1972. It was huge, and the architecture was very interesting and modern. We spent the rest of the day wandering through gardens and going through local markets. Munich was soo relaxing, we all absolutely loved it. We leave for Rome so soon!!! I cant believe it!!! Sorry this blog is short, I have to call my mom with the rest of my internet minutes!!! Chao!!
München, Deutschland
So we had an awesome day in Munich! We started the day with a four hour walking tour of the city. Our tour guide took a different approach than the traditional tour guide. Whether than delving very deeply into the history of a few locations around the city, he strove to impart the culture and history of the Bavarian and Munich people. I will never forget that Bavarians are hardcore Catholic, very conservative, have a lot of money, make good beer, drink a lot of good beer, make amazing pork sausage, and most importantly wear Lederhosen! In the middle of the tour we ate a fantastic beer garden in the middle of a market. Maria was amazed by all of the fresh vegetables and Daniel and I enjoyed our beer and suasage. After the tour, we tried to go up to the top of St. Peters Church, but the skies opened up, ending our short reprive from the rain. We took shelter in the nearby Paulaner Beer Hall and later played cards for a while. For dinner, we went to Munich's famous Hofbrauhaus Beer Hall and Garden! There were probably 500 people there enjoying the truly Bavarian atmosphere of great music, food, and beer. We had another fantastic meal courtesy of our parents (thank y'all so much!) including a multitude of different sausages, pasta, bread, Bavarian desserts, and our favorite cheese and pretzels! We all agreed that it was our favorite dinner of the whole trip!
Well, we are heading out to explore the city for one last day, and then we leave for Roma tonight!
Well, we are heading out to explore the city for one last day, and then we leave for Roma tonight!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
München, Germany
Yesterday was without a doubt the funniest day we have had on our trip thus far. We woke up early (much to the dismay of Tim and I) to eat the delicious 2 boxes of shortbread cookies that I purchased the night before, take a walk across the Charles Bridge, rub the plaque of a lady watching someone being thrown over the bridge (not the plaque of the soldier and the dog!), and find more food. For those of you unfamiliar with the Charles Bridge, it's a long, old, tourist infested piece of architecture that may or may not actually have any historical significance. Really glad we hit that spot.
Also, when we were walking across the bridge, something really strange happened. For at least a few minutes, the clouds opened up we were able to see this big, bright, shiny thing in the sky. I feel like I used to know what that was, but I don't remember anymore.
After crossing the bridge, we found (by mistake) the John Lenon wall (pictures to come soon). Maria particularly enjoyed this monument and added 4 or 5 quotes to the wall. We then found a nice park called Little Venice (hey, we actually did make it to Venice... :p) and just chilled for a while. After a quick, Czech lunch we headed to the train station.
We were really hoping to find a laundomat on the way (we and our clothes smell terrible) but, alas, we didn't. Instead, we played some rummy and I downloaded Catan in preparation for our long train ride.
The train was uneventful except that Maria got uncontrollable giggles and Tim's infamous weezy laugh came back. 6 hours later we arrived in München, checked in at our hostel, chilled in the common room for a few hours (playing rummy, of course), finished our cookies, found some pizza, and hit the sack. Today promises to be another long one (duh) but with Tim's flight only 4 days away, we're really trying to squeeze as much Europe as we can out of the home stretch. Gotta go check on my (clean!) laundry. There may be a video involving that...
TheTresAmis
Also, when we were walking across the bridge, something really strange happened. For at least a few minutes, the clouds opened up we were able to see this big, bright, shiny thing in the sky. I feel like I used to know what that was, but I don't remember anymore.
After crossing the bridge, we found (by mistake) the John Lenon wall (pictures to come soon). Maria particularly enjoyed this monument and added 4 or 5 quotes to the wall. We then found a nice park called Little Venice (hey, we actually did make it to Venice... :p) and just chilled for a while. After a quick, Czech lunch we headed to the train station.
We were really hoping to find a laundomat on the way (we and our clothes smell terrible) but, alas, we didn't. Instead, we played some rummy and I downloaded Catan in preparation for our long train ride.
The train was uneventful except that Maria got uncontrollable giggles and Tim's infamous weezy laugh came back. 6 hours later we arrived in München, checked in at our hostel, chilled in the common room for a few hours (playing rummy, of course), finished our cookies, found some pizza, and hit the sack. Today promises to be another long one (duh) but with Tim's flight only 4 days away, we're really trying to squeeze as much Europe as we can out of the home stretch. Gotta go check on my (clean!) laundry. There may be a video involving that...
TheTresAmis
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Prague, Czech Republic
After a GREAT night's rest I am so ready to write this blog. Yesterday TheTresAmis had the largest dose of Prague that you can possibly imagine. As you've noticed, we've found that free walking tours are the absolute best way to discover all these awesome European cities, because we get to see so much of the city along with an explaination of tons of the city's HISTORY!!! All three of us have proved to be very intense history buffs which is good because Eastern European history is SOOO complicated. It was amazing how the tour guide explained to us yesterday how one lady who was born in Prague in 1908 and lived in the same house her entire life, but indeed lived in eight different countries during her life.
So we did TWO walking tours yeaterday from 11am-6pm. On our way there we grabbed breakfast from a locel market and Daniel made an all time AMAZING value purchase of 2 bread rolls for 6 Czehk korona, which is only 26 euro cents and 35 American cents!! I on the other hand spent 50 korona on some yummy white peaches and plums!!:-) The walking tour began and we saw amazing churches, a million types of architecture, and the the huge Prague Castle. One church had a particularly interesting story that I would love to share with you. Roaming through Old Prague was this theif who would do absolutely anything to get money, but the problem was he had a very hard time stealing enough to get by, so therefore he was very hungry. At a point of most excrutiating hunger around midnight, he went banging on doors in the square pleading for ANY morsel of food. Approaching St. James church, he thought he had a good chance because he thought the priest would have compassion upon him. As he banged, the priest did not come, so he forced his way in. As he looked at the church he thought of a better plan, he wanted to steal the Madonna at the front of the church. He reached up to grab her, but at that moment the Lady Madonna grabbed him. As he wiggled, her grip became tighter and tighter. He stood there all night long in her tight grasp, and finally the priest came early morning. The preist was so amazed that the Madonna came alive and so he summoned all the clergy in town to come see it. They decided to set the man free they had to take drastic measures, so the preist pulled out a sword and cut off his arm!! The great part is that the arm is still hanging there today to warn off anyone who thinks they can too steal from the church. Prague is full of myths and legends such as this. Prague is filled with breathtaking cathedrals, but it is so sad because no one will go to worship in them. The Czech Republic is 90% athiest. Horribly sad. After the 7 hours of walking around we stopped for an amazing Czech meal. Daniel and I had Beef stew with bread dumplings and potato cakes. Tim had some incredible Czech SAUSAGE!!
Today we are seeig a few more things in Prague, but mainly the most important thing is getting LAUNDRY done, one last time. Talk to you soon in Munich!! Big hug, TheTresAmis
So we did TWO walking tours yeaterday from 11am-6pm. On our way there we grabbed breakfast from a locel market and Daniel made an all time AMAZING value purchase of 2 bread rolls for 6 Czehk korona, which is only 26 euro cents and 35 American cents!! I on the other hand spent 50 korona on some yummy white peaches and plums!!:-) The walking tour began and we saw amazing churches, a million types of architecture, and the the huge Prague Castle. One church had a particularly interesting story that I would love to share with you. Roaming through Old Prague was this theif who would do absolutely anything to get money, but the problem was he had a very hard time stealing enough to get by, so therefore he was very hungry. At a point of most excrutiating hunger around midnight, he went banging on doors in the square pleading for ANY morsel of food. Approaching St. James church, he thought he had a good chance because he thought the priest would have compassion upon him. As he banged, the priest did not come, so he forced his way in. As he looked at the church he thought of a better plan, he wanted to steal the Madonna at the front of the church. He reached up to grab her, but at that moment the Lady Madonna grabbed him. As he wiggled, her grip became tighter and tighter. He stood there all night long in her tight grasp, and finally the priest came early morning. The preist was so amazed that the Madonna came alive and so he summoned all the clergy in town to come see it. They decided to set the man free they had to take drastic measures, so the preist pulled out a sword and cut off his arm!! The great part is that the arm is still hanging there today to warn off anyone who thinks they can too steal from the church. Prague is full of myths and legends such as this. Prague is filled with breathtaking cathedrals, but it is so sad because no one will go to worship in them. The Czech Republic is 90% athiest. Horribly sad. After the 7 hours of walking around we stopped for an amazing Czech meal. Daniel and I had Beef stew with bread dumplings and potato cakes. Tim had some incredible Czech SAUSAGE!!
Today we are seeig a few more things in Prague, but mainly the most important thing is getting LAUNDRY done, one last time. Talk to you soon in Munich!! Big hug, TheTresAmis
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Prague, Czech Republic
Today was....long, but rewarding:-) The reason it was particularly rewarding is because last night we «missed» our train from Krakow to Prague. We were there at the train station 45 minutes before our departing time, but the problem was we do not know one lick of Polish. So we did what we usually do and looked at the departure board to figure out our platform. It prompted us to go to platform 1, but we decided to ask a nice Polish man who worked at the train station, just to make sure. He proceeded to just point in the general direction of platform 1. So we waited....and our departure time arrived and there was no one else at the platform and most importantly, there was no train!!!!so we asked another Polish lady and sher just spread at us in Polish. At that moment or hearts dropped because there was a train from platform 2 that was pulling out of a station. The most frustrating part was running to another man who worked there, showing him our tickets and getting a response of a shrug...FROM A MAN WHO WE WORKS THERE!! Shrug after shrug....despair. Daniel was very upset, Tim was trying to figure out a solution, and I was frustrated. We knew the train had left so we got last minute tickets out to Prague in the morning. There was not one hostel left that had availabe beds so...we stayed in a hotel:-) Good thing we were in Poland, or else it wouldve cost an arm and a leg.
The train ride was probably the most exciting and interesting one yet. We met a med school student named April who is studying in Poland. We had this great conversation about traveling, people, books, and funny stories aboutour lives. She gave us some great tips about Prague which have already proved to be great suggestions.
When we got here, FINALLY, we checked into our hostel, decided to grab a quick dinner (yummy sausage), and then we went yo mass in a gloriously beautiful church at 9pm at Our Lady of Tyn. I wish I could understand the homily because the priest looked soo joyful!! After we went to get some yummy hot chocolate which tasted like chocolate pudding soup. It was quite lovely. We had a great conversation about opportunities in our lives and having the courage to seize them!
Now were in the hostel playing cards, and im drinking a giant carton of orange juice because I have a sore throat:-(. More mystical, medieval Prague tomorrow!!
The train ride was probably the most exciting and interesting one yet. We met a med school student named April who is studying in Poland. We had this great conversation about traveling, people, books, and funny stories aboutour lives. She gave us some great tips about Prague which have already proved to be great suggestions.
When we got here, FINALLY, we checked into our hostel, decided to grab a quick dinner (yummy sausage), and then we went yo mass in a gloriously beautiful church at 9pm at Our Lady of Tyn. I wish I could understand the homily because the priest looked soo joyful!! After we went to get some yummy hot chocolate which tasted like chocolate pudding soup. It was quite lovely. We had a great conversation about opportunities in our lives and having the courage to seize them!
Now were in the hostel playing cards, and im drinking a giant carton of orange juice because I have a sore throat:-(. More mystical, medieval Prague tomorrow!!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Krakow, Poland
Hey guys! We had a fantastic day in Poland! I started the day by filling out at police report for my stolen iPhone. It took a while because we used a translator and the secretary used 2 fingers type. Because my phone was stolen, I unfortunately won't be able to post anymore pictures, but don't worry Daniel will be replacing me. Even more importantly, we have lost the ability to play Catan. Hopefully we don't go insane on the remaining train rides!
Meanwhile, Daniel and Maria started part 1 of out walking tour extravaganza. I caught up to them after I took care of business. We learned about St. Mary's, the bishop palace (where JPII lived), the Wawel (royal castle), Royal Cathedral, and a dragon.
In between our tours, we hade some delicious pierogis and a restaurant recommended by our guide. We also stopped for Kosher ice cream before part 2 of the tour!
Fun fact: Maria drys her hair with paper towels.
For the second part of our tour we walked through the Jewish quarter (or old Jewish quarter, since there only 200 of the original 68000 Jews before WWII). We saw synagogues, Broadway Street, a corner where you could see different times of the area, the alley where the famous scene of the boy saving the woman in Schindler's List was filmed, the old Jewish ghetto and part of the wall surrounding it, and Oscar Schindler's factory. We really enjoyed this walking tour because our guide was native to Poland and was super knowledgable. He also founded the company and is only 25!
We ha great time in Poland, partly because it is so cheap, but mostly because of it's uber Catholic and has a vibrant history.
We still need eat dinner before we catch our train for Prague!
The Tres Amis (Tim)
Ps: we all may come back with annoying accents!
Krakow, Poland (29.7.11)
Sorry for the delay on this post! Because it is a day late, today's post will immediately follow (yay!)
On the 29th of July, 2011, Tim Norman, Daniel Harrison, and Maria Landry woke up at 5:30 AM. They proceeded to walk towards their hostel. They walked for about 30 minutes in the rain without a map. They later discovered that the hostel was about 10 minutes away from the train station (yay 2X!!).
On a serious note, yesterday was awesome. We got to our hostel, checked our bags, and (without a shower) headed to Auschwitz (which I will not attempt to spell in Polish. In fact, I will not attempt to spell anything in Polish for the duration of our stay here. I still do not understand how you can put the letters S, C, H, Z, and P next to each other in a word and still make a word. Where are the vowels?)
Since probably middle school, I have been particularly interested in the concentration camps, death camps, and the Holocaust in general so I had been anxiously anticipating this day for our whole trip. We toured both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau), which took about 4 hours all together. Auschwitz I was not at all as I expected it to be. It was small, had brick buildings, and only one gas chamber. Birkenau is the death camp most Americans imagine : massive, 4 gas chambers, wooden barracks, and a train track running through its center, where Holocaust victims were separated : those fit to work, and those deemed "unfit" who were taken directly to the gas chambers.
We've all read about what happened during the Holocaust, in fact, some people reading this blog were alive while it happened, so I won't go into all the details of what we learned and relearned on our tour. I will talk about a few of the things that were special to TheTresAmis in general. St. Maximilian Kolbe is very important to me because he was my confirmation saint. He died at Auschwitz I, either from lethal injection or starvation, in the place of another man who had a large family. On our tour, we passed by the cell where he died, which has been transformed into a sort of sanctuary. We did not get to spend as much time with my confirmation saint as we were able to with St. Bernadette or we will be able to with Padre Pio, but I will never forget the moments in which I came as close to Kolbe's life as I probably ever will.
We were particularly moved by the remains of the victims of Auschwitz. In one of the barracks on our tour we saw piles of suitcases, children's shoes, and even human hair that had been confiscated by Nazis before their possessors were executed. Hearing the details of the "experiments" that some of the victims were put through and even the amount of time that some spent in the camps (as little as a few hours before being led to the gas chambers) was also difficult.
Visiting Auschwitz was exhausting. Mentally and physically. However, none of us will regret this stop on our trip.
With disregard to our fatigue (after a poor night of sleep on a train) we made an impromptu stop in at the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy. We only learned that this even existed a few days before our arrival in Krakow (good work Maria!), and are very lucky that we got to have this experience. We went to mass in the same chapel that houses the remains of St. Faustina. We were ugly, smelly, and improperly dressed (Maria was given a cloth to wear over her legs because she was in shorts... whoops...) Also, we didn't speak Polish. Also, we were in the front row. Also, we were on live TV. We got over all this reasonably quickly (the cameramen just didn't put their cameras on us when we should have been moving our mouths). At the end of mass, we said the chaplet of the divine mercy (in Polish) and venerated the relic of St. Faustina that was on display in the chapel.
Okay, this blog is too long. I'm ending this quickly. Later, we had dinner. It was good and Polish. Tim lost his phone. Maria dried her hair with paper towels. I am still the perfect (Tim disagrees). That is all.
Love you. Miss you.
Daniel
On the 29th of July, 2011, Tim Norman, Daniel Harrison, and Maria Landry woke up at 5:30 AM. They proceeded to walk towards their hostel. They walked for about 30 minutes in the rain without a map. They later discovered that the hostel was about 10 minutes away from the train station (yay 2X!!).
On a serious note, yesterday was awesome. We got to our hostel, checked our bags, and (without a shower) headed to Auschwitz (which I will not attempt to spell in Polish. In fact, I will not attempt to spell anything in Polish for the duration of our stay here. I still do not understand how you can put the letters S, C, H, Z, and P next to each other in a word and still make a word. Where are the vowels?)
Since probably middle school, I have been particularly interested in the concentration camps, death camps, and the Holocaust in general so I had been anxiously anticipating this day for our whole trip. We toured both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau), which took about 4 hours all together. Auschwitz I was not at all as I expected it to be. It was small, had brick buildings, and only one gas chamber. Birkenau is the death camp most Americans imagine : massive, 4 gas chambers, wooden barracks, and a train track running through its center, where Holocaust victims were separated : those fit to work, and those deemed "unfit" who were taken directly to the gas chambers.
We've all read about what happened during the Holocaust, in fact, some people reading this blog were alive while it happened, so I won't go into all the details of what we learned and relearned on our tour. I will talk about a few of the things that were special to TheTresAmis in general. St. Maximilian Kolbe is very important to me because he was my confirmation saint. He died at Auschwitz I, either from lethal injection or starvation, in the place of another man who had a large family. On our tour, we passed by the cell where he died, which has been transformed into a sort of sanctuary. We did not get to spend as much time with my confirmation saint as we were able to with St. Bernadette or we will be able to with Padre Pio, but I will never forget the moments in which I came as close to Kolbe's life as I probably ever will.
We were particularly moved by the remains of the victims of Auschwitz. In one of the barracks on our tour we saw piles of suitcases, children's shoes, and even human hair that had been confiscated by Nazis before their possessors were executed. Hearing the details of the "experiments" that some of the victims were put through and even the amount of time that some spent in the camps (as little as a few hours before being led to the gas chambers) was also difficult.
Visiting Auschwitz was exhausting. Mentally and physically. However, none of us will regret this stop on our trip.
With disregard to our fatigue (after a poor night of sleep on a train) we made an impromptu stop in at the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy. We only learned that this even existed a few days before our arrival in Krakow (good work Maria!), and are very lucky that we got to have this experience. We went to mass in the same chapel that houses the remains of St. Faustina. We were ugly, smelly, and improperly dressed (Maria was given a cloth to wear over her legs because she was in shorts... whoops...) Also, we didn't speak Polish. Also, we were in the front row. Also, we were on live TV. We got over all this reasonably quickly (the cameramen just didn't put their cameras on us when we should have been moving our mouths). At the end of mass, we said the chaplet of the divine mercy (in Polish) and venerated the relic of St. Faustina that was on display in the chapel.
Okay, this blog is too long. I'm ending this quickly. Later, we had dinner. It was good and Polish. Tim lost his phone. Maria dried her hair with paper towels. I am still the perfect (Tim disagrees). That is all.
Love you. Miss you.
Daniel
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