Pierogies, Prosim!

So this last weekend, I traveled to Krakow with CIEE. The trip was amazing and I'm so glad I went.

We left Thursday evening at midnight, and began our six and a half hour bus ride to Auschwitz. The ride was fairly uneventful, as I passed out and slept the whole ride, which was wonderful, as we arrived at Auschwitz at 6:30 am and had our tour of the concentration camp at 8 am.

I won't go into the details of the camp here, because no explanation can really do justice to such a powerful experience. But while I normally don't do such things, I'd like to dedicate this entry to Gina Lanceter. Since I was 12 years old, she has continued to be a major role model in my life, and a true inspiration to me whenever I find myself in difficult times. She, like so many others, witnessed first hand the atrocities of the Holocaust, and I find her strength and spirit incredible. I love you, Gina.

After the camp, we traveled 2 hours to Krakow, where we got ourselves changed and put together before going out to explore the city center. Kelly, Marya, Lisa, and I enjoyed a delicious meal of soup and meat pierogies, the first of the trip, but not the last! We then wandered around the town, and discovered some fun characters along the way!

 

 After napping in the hotel, a huge group of us went to find some dinner. We found a kebab and falafel place, which while probably HORRIBLE for us, was fantastic. We tried some Polish beer for the first time, and all I can say is that I'm TERRIFIED for my return to the States, because even to Polish beer I now had an aversion. We then wandered around attempting to find a bar called Alchemia, which we eventually found. We tried the Polish version of Becherovka, and I hated it almost as much as the Czech version. Why these people enjoy this...is beyond me. Regardless, it was a fun night, but Kelly and I headed home early as we were POOPED from the day!

Kelly and Lisa at Alchemia

Me and my boys from my two schools! (Sam-Conn, Paul-Gtown)

On Saturday we woke up and headed off on our guided tour of Krakow. The tour to be honest was fairly disappointing, as the majority of it was spent showing us things, but not actually going into things. The one thing we DID go into was St. Mary's Cathedral, and despite my thoughts that I was really over churches in Europe, this one blew my mind.

Altarpiece at St. Mary's

After St. Mary's we were left on our own, so I headed off with Jessica, Kelly, Kate, Nina, Kara, and Jackie. We went to get some lunch and once again, our meal was fantastic. I got a mushroom soup in a bread bowl to start, but I have NEVER seen a bread bowl that looked quite like this. I finished off my meal with some potato and cheese pierogies...yum!

Seriously? It had a top!!

So much better than Aunt Alice's

We then went shopping for amber goodies, and boy did I do some damage to my wallet. Bought some gifts for people back home, as well as some presents for myself. The experience was really fun, and attempting to haggle using my Czech while they used their Polish...an interesting experience to say the least!

Top: Me and Nina, Top Left: Kelly and Kara, Bottom Left: Kate and Jackie

At night we pregamed in the hotel before heading out to look for fun clubs. Overall, we failed at that, but the attempt was fun, and let's be honest. We came to Krakow to go to Auschwitz, not to party, so any success at all was a good one.

The next morning we said goodbye to Krakow and headed to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. While I had heard these were cooler than they sound, they still managed to catch me off guard. These people built a CATHEDRAL INSIDE A SALT MINE. Excuse me?!?!

Carving of the Last Supper inside the Cathedral

After the Salt Mines, our trip was over, and we headed back onto the bus for the long 8 hour bus ride home. Completely exhausted, we arrived back in Praha at 9 pm. A really fantastic weekend and the perfect way to spend my time NOT studying for my midterms! :)

Forum 2000

So, despite not having mentioned it on here, I got an internship here in Prague. I'm interning for Forum 2000, an annual conference held here in Prague. While my job isn't over yet, the conference was last week, and it was fantastic.

The first panel I attended was on "Religious Law and Human Rights". My job during the conference was as a reporter, so I had to take notes during the panel and then after each one, had 30 minutes to write a 200 word summary on the panel. I then (stupidly) signed up to be a proofreader, and would then have to read copies of other teams' summaries and edit them, at which point the summaries were published in a newsletter that went out throughout the conference detailing each panel.

The first panel was comprised of 5 delegates:

Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Chairman, West Asia-North Africa Forum, Jordan

Michael Melchior, Politician, Chief Rabbi of Norway, Israel

Václav Malý, Titular Bishop of Marcellia and Auxiliary Bishop of Prague, Czech Republic

Geshe Tenzin Dhargye, Buddhist Scholar, Tibet

Shahira Amin, Journalist, Egypt

Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Michael Melchior,  and Shahira Amin were all really interesting. They chose not to focus on their individual religions, but instead to focus on the commonalities between them all, and the importance of not prioritizing one over the other. My favorite quote from the three was from Melchior, who said:

"If God and God’s name only can be used to crush human dignity, to crush the other…then we do not need God in this world."

Geshe Tenzin Dhargye and Václav Malý really didn't add much to the panel, at least in my opinion.

The second panel I attended was titled "Europe's Future: Constitutional or Populist Democracy?". The panel was made up of 6 delegates:

Karel Kovanda, Former Director-General, DG External relations, European Commission, Czech Republic

Adam Michnik, Editor-in-Chief, Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland

Ayse Kadioglu, Professor of Political Science, Sabanci University, Turkey

Shlomo Avineri, Professor of Political Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Jacques Rupnik, Political Scientist, France

Jiři Pehe, Director, New York University, Prague, Czech Republic

This panel was really interesting, particularly the woman from Turkey. She kept reminding the European delegates the importance of Europe returning to the roots of the meaning of democracy, acknowledging the irony of she being the one to point this out.

The Forgotten Day of Atonement

So in all my posts of my wonderful travels, I forgot to mention last weekend, and the Jewish holiday. Now, as those of you who know me well may be thinking, "Why the hell is Sam posting about the Jewish holiday...she's not religious". Well, you'd correct. However, the Jewish experience in Prague was one worth reporting on.

My upstairs neighbor Rachel and I decided to check out services on Saturday morning. After lengthy research online, we got a general idea of where to go for some services. We made our way to the Jewish quarter and found cops EVERYWHERE. We found a sign with some English writing on it, so wandered over, and discovered our hopeful synagogue was not listed, and no conservative or reform services were listed. Finally, this nice (and rather cute) Czech guy asked us what we were looking for. He informed us that we were standing in front of a conservative temple, and could go there for services if we wanted.

At this, the security guard at the door began the interrogation. What interrogation you ask? Oh, it went something like this:

-Are you Jewish? (yes, yes we are...that's why we're here?)

-Where are you from? (New Jersey...)

-Do you belong to a Jewish community there? (Well, if by that you mean a synagogue, yeah sure...can we go in yet?)

-What's your rabbis name? (Rabbi Cooper, although if I said Rabbi Cohen, you'd have to believe me, wouldn't you?)

-How many people are in a minion? (10. 10 men. Are you kidding? LET ME IN!)

-What was the most recent high holiday? (Rosh Hashanah. There's a sign behind your head that SAYS THAT IN ENGLISH)

-Are you carrying weapons? (No. Seriously? I want to pray!)

-Okay, you may go in.


Wait...really? You're just gonna ASK if I have weapons? Okay, if you're letting me in, that's fine.

After about an hour and a half of service, Rachel and I decided we'd had enough and went home. I seriously considered going shopping again, but after yesterday when we went to Zara, where I actually almost orgasmed over the amazingness of this dress, I figured my credit card could use a break.

PS, of course I bought it. Nothing like a new dress to celebrate a cleansed and forgiven spirit, right?

Later, we broke the fast (which I basically participated in due to my nap that lasted all day) with delicious Indian food, before going out and getting nice and drunk at various bars with the 8 people still in Prague for the weekend.

I'll update soon, I'm trying not to slack on this as much!

La Belle Vie

Okay, so overdue update #2. Two weekends ago was Ata's birthday, and not just any birthday, but her 21st. So of course, we had to do it big. In Europe, we've been legal for years, so to make her birthday exciting, we decided we had to go to...

Yup, that's right. Paris.

Ata, Ben, and I left for Paris on Thursday night (the 28th since this late post makes dates confusing) and arrived in Paris around 11 pm, where we met up with Ata's friend from Denison, Nina. After wandering the neighborhood by our hostel, (The Aloha Hostel, since apparently Paris is now located in Hawaii), we went to bed early so we could be up and ready to go in the morning.

We got up around 8:30 and left the hostel by 9:00 to begin our jam-packed day. Our goal was to see as much of Paris as possible in one weekend...and we succeeded. We started our morning by going to the Eiffel Tower and climbing up to the 2nd level. The view, was spectacular.

After taking in the view we climbed our way back down the 669 steps and got ourselves some well-deserved breakfast. Even at a random cafe on the side of the road, the food in Paris is unreal.

My DELICIOUS croque monsieur

We then made our way to Napoleon's Tomb. Now, don't get me wrong, I know he was an impressive dude, but I really didn't expect much from his tomb. Didn't seem like much to get excited over. CLEARLY, I was wrong.

The tomb...for a tiny guy, sure needs a big tomb.

The tomb was so well thought out; I was blown away. Around the base of the tomb lists the military victories of Napoleon, while the walls of the room depict carvings of his civilian accomplishments. The whole thing really was a tribute to all that he did.

After Napoleon, we made our way to the Notre Dame Cathedral, the part of the trip I was most anticipating. Something about that Cathedral is absolutely stunning to me, and I was so excited.

By then it was time to go home, so we decided to attempt to act like the locals, and take the Metro. But instead of PAYING, we decided to sneak on. Everything worked out until we discovered that much like in DC, you have to use your ticket to get in...and out. After switching to various metros, we found one we were able to sneak out of, took a cab home, and raced like maniacs to get to our dinner cruise on time. On the way, I managed to break my shoe, so that I had to run under the Eiffel Tower barefoot. But hey, at least I can say I've done that now!

The dinner cruise was phenomenal. Amazing views, delicious dinner, and some hilarious photographs later, we were relaxed, full, and happy.

The girls on the boat...notice my hand-fixed shoe???

The cruise docked right by the Eiffel Tower, so we went over to the lawn and sat and took in one of the most beautiful sights I've seen. There is nothing like the Eiffel Tower at night, and to see it in person was something I'll remember.

 

After enjoying some champagne and vodka on a bench near the hostel, we headed to bed...exhausted.

The next day we woke up slightly later, around 9:30 and headed out once again for our second day in Paris. Our first stop was the Louvre.

 

After wandering around in the hall of Ancient Mesopotamia, I stumbled upon this...

 That's correct. Hammurabi's Code. Absolutely amazing.

We then continued on to the Champs-Élysées where we putzed around for a few hours. The stores there make the Short Hills Mall look cheap, and there was actually a LINE outside of Louis Vuitton.

 

Nina, with the tourists on line at LV

Next on our itinerary was the Arc du Triomphe. I had NO IDEA that you could climb to the top of that as well, so we did, and yet again, a beautiful view.

Me, Ben, and Nina atop the Arc

After the Arc we made our way to Montemartre. My God is that place beautiful. It's entirely different than the rest of Paris and I loved it. If I go back to Paris, I know I'll be spending more time there. We made it up there just in time for sunset by the basilica at Sacre Coeur. The combination of the sunset, being in Paris...I don't know but I found myself tearing up. Absolutely amazing. We all bought a bottle of wine (each) and then sat outside the Moulin Rouge and enjoyed.

Me, Ben, and Nina enjoying our bottles :)

We finally wandered back to the hotel where it was time to celebrate Ata's birthday. Ben passed out before we went out, but the girls wanted out to Cafe Oz for some partying. Pictures of that night should NEVER be seen by the public, but here's one for a sample...

No words. At all.

The night wouldn't have been complete without us standing outside for a cab from 4-5:30 in the morning desperately trying to hail a cab so that Nina could make her 7 am plane. After much frustration and drunken phone call attempts, we managed to get her a cab and off to her plane (which she made, thankfully).


A wonderful weekend in Paris. Happy birthday Ata, hope it was memorable!!

Wow do I suck at updating this...

But I'm gonna try to be better. I have a million things to update, so I'm gonna do them in separate posts, to make reading easier (I hope)/I have no idea who actually reads this haha. This one will be about....



OKTOBERFESTTTTTT!!!!

(aka the greatest celebration ever)

  Also, JONATHAN CAME TO VISIT!

So basically, it was a great week. I left for Oktoberfest on Friday and met J in Munich mid-afternoon. We weren't quite ready for Oktoberfest yet so we did some sightseeing instead, which I'm actually quite glad we did. We went to the Nymphenberg Palace, which I had studied in architecture at Conn so it was cool to finally see some of the stuff I learned, and to realize I actually remembered some of it!

Rough life to live in that place, right?

Then, Saturday was OKTOBERFEST DAY. We woke up super early (7:00) to be at the tent by 7:30. It was a bit excessive, but in the end, totally worth it. We were inside the tent by 9 am and drinking beer (see above) by 9:30. Kinda gross, but the beer was so good it was okay.

That's a pretty good view of the tent by around 11 am. Absolute debauchery, and so much fun. People getting on tables, singing, cheering, having a blast. And the beers are HUGE. But delicious. Some of our friends joined in with others in standing on the table and chugging a beer...luckily they finished theirs or there would have been plenty of booing!

And, there's Ata...drinking like a champ.

So after enough time in the tents, we decided to explore the festivities. But first, drunk as we were, we of course needed food. We bought two half chickens, gobbled them up as fast as we could despite their burning temperature, and were on our way. (Btw, if anyone is headed there in future years...GET THE CHICKEN. Worth whatever on earth they charged). Because I'm me, we of course had to hit up the ferris wheel, and while J recovered from the beer, I was loving the view:

After much exhaustion, we went back to the hotel and passed out. Best. Nap. Ever. We finally rallied and went out to meet up with a kid J knew from law school along with his friends. Grabbed a beer with them after some good food, and then went back to the hotel and slept.

The next day we planned on going back to the tents, but were way too exhausted, and instead did some more sightseeing. We went to the English Garden, which was really nice and included the Chinese Beergarten which was really cool to see:

And then we went back to Nymphenberg to see all the pavilions, which was really cool and again proved to me that I actually did learn something in that God-forsaken architecture class freshman year. After an amazing weekend, we headed back to Praha.

J was in Prague for 3 more days, during which I took him to the Castle, the Lennon Wall, Mala Strana, the Charles Bridge, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some more. We didn't go anywhere too crazy at night, but he got to see U Sudu which was fun, and resulted in a drunken me thinking that consuming two fried cheeses was totally acceptable. (NOT.) It was an amazing week and I'm so glad he came!