We finally arrived at around 830 in the morning on Monday. The night train wasn’t too bad; we had a whole cabin to ourselves so I was able to sprawl out on 3 chairs. When we got in it was pretty overcast and of course, it started to rain so we had limited options. We decided a bus tour would be the best. We hopped on the bus and saw all of Budapest’s main sites like: St. Stephens Basilica, The Royal Palace and Castle, Fisherman’s Bastion, the Danube bridge, Heroes Square, and the Parliament. Heroes Square was really cool; it was a gigantic square commemorating all of the people who have helped get Hungary to where they are today. The Royal Palace and Castle was also incredible. We were able to get views of all of BudaPest. It definitely would have been more enjoyable in the sun, but we were still able to see and enjoy much of Budapest. Something interesting to note is that Budapest consists of two different cities, Buda and Pest. The Danube River divides the two cities. Buda is on the West and Pest is on the East. Combined it’s pronounced Budapesht, as we learned on our tour.
After our tour it was pouring rain and we decided we needed to find something to do. We looked online and asked the front desk. We decided that going to one of the famous Roman Baths would be a good idea. Baths are one of the main reason tourists apparently go to Budapest. All baths are built around hot springs, and their central part is one or several thermal pools. They are usually complemented with several steam baths and saunas. We went to the Gellert Bathing Spa and it was pretty cool. Of course I didn’t like the fact that they are massive Jacuzzis with a bunch of people, especially old people, hanging out in them. But I toughed it out and swam anyways. It was also pretty funny because they made everyone wear shower caps, so Dave and I were walking around in shower caps for a couple hours. Overall, it was really cool and I enjoyed it. I had never seen anything like this. The architecture surrounding the walls and the fountains that would pour into the tubs were so awesome.
Right now, we are on our way to Bratislava for a day on the town. Tomorrow morning (Wednesday) we will leave to Vienna for the day.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Krakow
Krakow, Poland really impressed me. I came in with pretty low expectations considering no one ever really talks up Poland, aside from our friend who we met there, Krys. We got into Krakow around 7:30 PM last Thursday. Immediately, we showered and walked to the Old Town Square. It is one of the largest squares in Europe and it is incredibly cool. Throughout the square are restaurants – cheap too! So we went and ate some Perronis and Polish sausage. The food was incredibly good everywhere we went. I wish we had had this food in Spain! After we ate, we walked around and went to a few bars then called it a night.
Day 2 in Poland we went and saw the Wawel Castle. We woke up, grabbed some breakfast and started hiking to the castle. It was really cool; it is up on a hill and overlooks Krakow. So we went and ventured around that for a while. Hundreds of years ago, they supposedly had a dragon that tortured the people of Krakow for years. Finally, a chemist decided to put acid into a sheep and then lure the dragon into eating the sheep. This worked and he was deemed a hero. So now at the castle, there is the lair that the dragon allegedly lived in. So of course we went and checked it out ;) The rest of our day was spent hanging out in the square, shopping around, and eating great food. It was a beautiful day out and really relaxing. It was nice to slow things down after being on the go for 5 days straight!
Day 3 was by far the most interesting! We took a train to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was insane, I couldn’t believe I was actually there considering we have learned so much about it in school. It was insane seeing the last remaining gas chambers and crematoriums. It was also crazy seeing the wall where the majority of executions took place. Just thinking about how many people died there is incredibly overwhelming. Auschwitz was just the first camp we saw. We took a shuttle bus over the second concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. You could tell that they knew what they were doing when they built this camp. It was MUCH MUCH bigger and laid out a lot better. The thing is though, not much of this camp actual exists anymore. The majority of buildings are ruins because the Nazis tried to burn everything down and erase the evidence. Pretty much all of the gas chambers and crematoriums are just ruins now. It was still cool to see, and we saw a lot of pictures of how it used to look so we still were able to get a good idea!
On Sunday we were set to depart to Budapest, Hungary. However, because the Eurail timetable messed up, we ended up in Prague again! We were told online, at the ticket counter, and by multiple workers on board that the train EC 110 would be going to Budapest. Us and other people, also headed to Budapest, jumped on the train and ended up in Prague. So we got off, spent a few hours there and grabbed a bite to eat. We ended up catching a night train from Prague to Budapest and arrived at 10 AM on this Monday morning. We are about to head out and see Budapest for the day and head to Bratislava, Slovakia in the morning. Love you all!
Day 2 in Poland we went and saw the Wawel Castle. We woke up, grabbed some breakfast and started hiking to the castle. It was really cool; it is up on a hill and overlooks Krakow. So we went and ventured around that for a while. Hundreds of years ago, they supposedly had a dragon that tortured the people of Krakow for years. Finally, a chemist decided to put acid into a sheep and then lure the dragon into eating the sheep. This worked and he was deemed a hero. So now at the castle, there is the lair that the dragon allegedly lived in. So of course we went and checked it out ;) The rest of our day was spent hanging out in the square, shopping around, and eating great food. It was a beautiful day out and really relaxing. It was nice to slow things down after being on the go for 5 days straight!
Day 3 was by far the most interesting! We took a train to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was insane, I couldn’t believe I was actually there considering we have learned so much about it in school. It was insane seeing the last remaining gas chambers and crematoriums. It was also crazy seeing the wall where the majority of executions took place. Just thinking about how many people died there is incredibly overwhelming. Auschwitz was just the first camp we saw. We took a shuttle bus over the second concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. You could tell that they knew what they were doing when they built this camp. It was MUCH MUCH bigger and laid out a lot better. The thing is though, not much of this camp actual exists anymore. The majority of buildings are ruins because the Nazis tried to burn everything down and erase the evidence. Pretty much all of the gas chambers and crematoriums are just ruins now. It was still cool to see, and we saw a lot of pictures of how it used to look so we still were able to get a good idea!
On Sunday we were set to depart to Budapest, Hungary. However, because the Eurail timetable messed up, we ended up in Prague again! We were told online, at the ticket counter, and by multiple workers on board that the train EC 110 would be going to Budapest. Us and other people, also headed to Budapest, jumped on the train and ended up in Prague. So we got off, spent a few hours there and grabbed a bite to eat. We ended up catching a night train from Prague to Budapest and arrived at 10 AM on this Monday morning. We are about to head out and see Budapest for the day and head to Bratislava, Slovakia in the morning. Love you all!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Prague
So we got into Prague Tuesday morning at around 9:30. We ended up hoping on a train at 4:15 AM from Berlin so we would be able to get in earlier to Prague. Our hotel was called Breniza Pension and it was a total eastern European hotel – incredibly small, no air conditioning, makeshift elevator, etc… But what else can you expect for such a great deal we got for it! We were about a 20 minute walk from Old Town Square, which is basically the center of their city. It has a huge church and an astronomical clock created hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The clock can tell the current time, as well as when the sun will rise and set. Every hour a guy at the top of the church will play a little tune, it’s really cool and peaceful.
We were able to meet up with Nick and he showed us pretty much all of Prague. The first thing we did was check out the Jewish Quarter. This is where they stuck all the Jews and forced them to live (seems like a typical trend in Europe). Everything was closed though in the quarter for Passover, so we just walked around. Next, we crossed the famous Charles Bridge. It’s really similar to La Rambla in Barcelona. There are a ton shops in tents and artists on the bridge. Once we crossed the bridge, we went and checked out Nick’s school and the John Lennon wall. The Lennon wall was a pretty big let down; I was expecting much more. It is supposed to be a wall dedicated to Lennon for his musical work against communism. However, people have really butchered the wall because you are able to spray paint whatever you want on there. Dave decided to lean up against the wall and ended up with some nice fresh yellow paint on his back. After the Lennon wall , we went to the Castle, which overlooks all of Prague and is home of St. Georges Basilica. It was a beautiful view and the walk to get there was just as beautiful. We walked through a bunch of gardens and parks to get there.
The weather was insanely nice, we got there at the perfect time! Yesterday, we rented a paddle boat and cruised around a good portion of Prague. It was a great time and probably the highlight of the trip – it was so relaxing and fun.
Our next stop is Krakow, Poland. We are going to be meeting our friend Krys, who is from Warsaw. It should be a lot of fun considering he speaks the language and knows the city. We plan on going to Auschwitz and checking out some of the Cultural Heritage Sites that are in Krakow.
We were able to meet up with Nick and he showed us pretty much all of Prague. The first thing we did was check out the Jewish Quarter. This is where they stuck all the Jews and forced them to live (seems like a typical trend in Europe). Everything was closed though in the quarter for Passover, so we just walked around. Next, we crossed the famous Charles Bridge. It’s really similar to La Rambla in Barcelona. There are a ton shops in tents and artists on the bridge. Once we crossed the bridge, we went and checked out Nick’s school and the John Lennon wall. The Lennon wall was a pretty big let down; I was expecting much more. It is supposed to be a wall dedicated to Lennon for his musical work against communism. However, people have really butchered the wall because you are able to spray paint whatever you want on there. Dave decided to lean up against the wall and ended up with some nice fresh yellow paint on his back. After the Lennon wall , we went to the Castle, which overlooks all of Prague and is home of St. Georges Basilica. It was a beautiful view and the walk to get there was just as beautiful. We walked through a bunch of gardens and parks to get there.
The weather was insanely nice, we got there at the perfect time! Yesterday, we rented a paddle boat and cruised around a good portion of Prague. It was a great time and probably the highlight of the trip – it was so relaxing and fun.
Our next stop is Krakow, Poland. We are going to be meeting our friend Krys, who is from Warsaw. It should be a lot of fun considering he speaks the language and knows the city. We plan on going to Auschwitz and checking out some of the Cultural Heritage Sites that are in Krakow.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Berlin
Dave and I made it to Berlin yesterday safe and sound. I don't have much time so I'll give the highlights.
We took it easy yesterday and hung around where we are staying in Warchauser Strasse. The hostel is pretty awesome, it's called Plus Berlin. As for today we rented bikes and rode around all of Berlin from 10 am to 7 pm. We did all of the following today:
The wall
The wall museum
Pariser Platz -- a big square
The TV tower
A bunch of cool parks that we rode through
Holocaust Monument designed by the same person who is redesigning the world trade center
Victory Monument
Parliament building
Just a whole bunch of cool things and a really nice city. Renting bikes was key, we were able to see literally the whole city in a day. We are either going to leave for Prague tonight or early tomorrow morning.
We took it easy yesterday and hung around where we are staying in Warchauser Strasse. The hostel is pretty awesome, it's called Plus Berlin. As for today we rented bikes and rode around all of Berlin from 10 am to 7 pm. We did all of the following today:
The wall
The wall museum
Pariser Platz -- a big square
The TV tower
A bunch of cool parks that we rode through
Holocaust Monument designed by the same person who is redesigning the world trade center
Victory Monument
Parliament building
Just a whole bunch of cool things and a really nice city. Renting bikes was key, we were able to see literally the whole city in a day. We are either going to leave for Prague tonight or early tomorrow morning.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Awesome weekend in Barcelona!
Last Thursday, I went to the aquarium and it was pretty cool. I wasn't overly impressed, but it was still worth it just to get out and do something for the day. I had a good time, especially in their famous aquarium tunnel. You step onto a conveyor belt surrounded by the tank, so sharks, fish, and stingrays are all literally right in your face. At one point, I was a good 6 inches beneath a shark -- it was pretty freaky but definitely cool!
This weekend we really took advantage of the beautiful weather and hung out at the beach all day Friday and Saturday. Also played a good amount of cards and ping pong in the park. The parks here are incredibly nice and well kept. I think our favorite one is Ciutadella, which is right next to our school. There is a Zoo and Nick was in town again so it was cool to see him. We ended up going to Montjuich to catch the sunset which was a nice little hike up the mountain.
As for today, we have been working on our papers that are due tomorrow. I am pretty much finished up with mine. I just need to put the final touches on that and the powerpoint presentation I have to give. Can't remember if i mentioned it, but the project is on the Design museum I went to a couple weeks ago. Then on Wednesday I have a presentation on another Museum. Then the following Monday, I have 3 finals, but they should be pretty easy. After that, I am done for the semester!
This weekend we really took advantage of the beautiful weather and hung out at the beach all day Friday and Saturday. Also played a good amount of cards and ping pong in the park. The parks here are incredibly nice and well kept. I think our favorite one is Ciutadella, which is right next to our school. There is a Zoo and Nick was in town again so it was cool to see him. We ended up going to Montjuich to catch the sunset which was a nice little hike up the mountain.
As for today, we have been working on our papers that are due tomorrow. I am pretty much finished up with mine. I just need to put the final touches on that and the powerpoint presentation I have to give. Can't remember if i mentioned it, but the project is on the Design museum I went to a couple weeks ago. Then on Wednesday I have a presentation on another Museum. Then the following Monday, I have 3 finals, but they should be pretty easy. After that, I am done for the semester!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Beautiful day
Great day today in the middle 60s. We ended up taking our paddles to class and heading to the park right after our 11 am lecture. We got a few games in and headed to the beloved Jaume I stop to grab some bagels before class.
As I am typing, I am watching the opening ceremonies of the barcelona 1992 olympics for the 2nd time today.
As I am typing, I am watching the opening ceremonies of the barcelona 1992 olympics for the 2nd time today.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Museums
The last week has been extremely busy! I had a final in my International Strategic Management class and it went very well. I am incredibly happy to have that class over with since it was so late in the evening on Monday and Wednesday.
During the week I went to quite a few museums.Last Tuesday I went to the CosmoCaixa science museum. We have to write up a marketing proposal for any cultural attraction so we figured it'd be a good idea to pick one in Barcelona and check it out. It's pretty funny, the Spaniards really talk up this museum, but honestly wasn't that great. They had a pretty cool Dinosaurs and evolution section, a physics area, a sea tank with cat fish and turtles, and lastly they have a section for how the human brain works.
Like I said the museum was ok. They had english write ups for each station so were able to get the whole feel for the museum. There just wasn't that many interactive learning experiences like there is at the science museum in Arizona. There were so many little kids on here too; I felt the museum could have done a lot better job creating hands on learning games.
The next museum I went to was for my Past and Present class. I basically just have to give a report on a museum, so I ended up choosing the Design museum. A little gay sounding at first, however I was really interested in checking out the 3d printed objects and their lab where the 3d architecture and printing occurs. Needless to say, the exhibit was really cool and I was able to watch how these things are made and designed. Being American and "clueless" can get you into a lot of places because Spaniards just think we don't know any better. So I wondered past the ropes and into their lab and at one point was behind a guy designing an action figure that will be printed in 3D. He spoke a little english and obviously said I wasn't supposed to be back here, but I told him how interesting I thought it was and he actually walked me through the basic process, which was awesome!
The other exhibits there were kind of lame, one was a room that had a bunch of fashion tips on what to wear in the 1970s or some crap. The next one was somewhat interesting, just because the idea behind it was so out there. It was a save the environment exhibition. I'll sum it up with one idea that was in the exhibit: Basically, this person wanted to put cows onto a pasteurized ship and they will travel around our earth in the sky freeing our lands from them...Ridiculous
The next place we went was CaixaForum for my class Marketing Cultural Heritage. It had pretty dull exhibitions. One was an art museum filled with famous communists and kind of told a story about the history of communism. The other exhibition was really interesting though. It was a combination of documentary interviews turned into movies. It was crazy to see the production from square 1. They tied in every interview into the movie in someway. It really made you think and I liked that -- it was a big change of pace from the communist art exhibition.
As for the weekend, we enjoyed a lot of sunny days at the beach and a significant amount of ping pong. Having a beautiful park and an endless amount of tables less than 10 minutes away is incredibly nice. You all would be proud of how often I go out and do things here!
During the week I went to quite a few museums.Last Tuesday I went to the CosmoCaixa science museum. We have to write up a marketing proposal for any cultural attraction so we figured it'd be a good idea to pick one in Barcelona and check it out. It's pretty funny, the Spaniards really talk up this museum, but honestly wasn't that great. They had a pretty cool Dinosaurs and evolution section, a physics area, a sea tank with cat fish and turtles, and lastly they have a section for how the human brain works.
Like I said the museum was ok. They had english write ups for each station so were able to get the whole feel for the museum. There just wasn't that many interactive learning experiences like there is at the science museum in Arizona. There were so many little kids on here too; I felt the museum could have done a lot better job creating hands on learning games.
The next museum I went to was for my Past and Present class. I basically just have to give a report on a museum, so I ended up choosing the Design museum. A little gay sounding at first, however I was really interested in checking out the 3d printed objects and their lab where the 3d architecture and printing occurs. Needless to say, the exhibit was really cool and I was able to watch how these things are made and designed. Being American and "clueless" can get you into a lot of places because Spaniards just think we don't know any better. So I wondered past the ropes and into their lab and at one point was behind a guy designing an action figure that will be printed in 3D. He spoke a little english and obviously said I wasn't supposed to be back here, but I told him how interesting I thought it was and he actually walked me through the basic process, which was awesome!
The other exhibits there were kind of lame, one was a room that had a bunch of fashion tips on what to wear in the 1970s or some crap. The next one was somewhat interesting, just because the idea behind it was so out there. It was a save the environment exhibition. I'll sum it up with one idea that was in the exhibit: Basically, this person wanted to put cows onto a pasteurized ship and they will travel around our earth in the sky freeing our lands from them...Ridiculous
The next place we went was CaixaForum for my class Marketing Cultural Heritage. It had pretty dull exhibitions. One was an art museum filled with famous communists and kind of told a story about the history of communism. The other exhibition was really interesting though. It was a combination of documentary interviews turned into movies. It was crazy to see the production from square 1. They tied in every interview into the movie in someway. It really made you think and I liked that -- it was a big change of pace from the communist art exhibition.
As for the weekend, we enjoyed a lot of sunny days at the beach and a significant amount of ping pong. Having a beautiful park and an endless amount of tables less than 10 minutes away is incredibly nice. You all would be proud of how often I go out and do things here!
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