Day 6: Terezin

Today we visited Terezin Concentration Camp today in Terezin.  This was the site where prisoners were placed before being sent to the Extermination Camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka.  The camp was associated with the town of Terezin which is a fortressed town built by the Austria-Hungarian Empire in the late 18th Century.  The camp was also originally built as a fort by the Austria-Hungarian during this time period to halt Prussian advances which never happened.  The camp eventually became a prison and was the site where Garvilo Princip, the assassin who killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and almost single-handedly began World War I, was imprisoned and the site where he died.  The Nazis used both the town and prison during the Holocaust.  The town was used as the ghetto which was where many of the Jews resided and was masked to the outside as a spa town for the Jewish people.  The prison was used for those who didn't obey in the town or were sent there for other reasons as well.  There were a couple thousand who died at the camp, but many died of old age or disease, while a vast majority of those who stayed at Terezin eventually were killed when they arrived at their next stop.  The town, which held 40,000 Jews at its peak is currently home to 2,000 residents and the Ghetto Museum.  It was a very interesting day.  This will probably be my last post until Monday as we are travelling by train to Dresden and then we are going to Leiden in the Netherlands after that.

Day 5: Religion in Czech Republic

It is very interesting to see how other countries adopt religious practices and how the degree of their religiosity changes over time due to a wide array of factors.  Many impressive churches were built in Prague before the 19th Century, however today many are being used for concert halls than for religious functions.  One example in particular is St. Nicholas Cathedral which we happened to stumble upon in our search for Prague Castle.  St. Nicholas Cathedral sells tickets for 70 CZH to enter their church with a nun taking the money at the front gate. The immaculate church with multiple small altars and an impressive large altar covered in gold is a sign of how important religion was to the Czech during this time period. An interesting history of this church is that it was originally built by the Eastern Orthodox Church, but they were kicked out and the Catholics established the church for themselves.  The church might have Sunday masses however when we were there more were gazing up at the gold plated angels than praying.   The Czech people lost much of their religious identity during their Communist Era from 1945-89 as the Communists banned religion and that is one reason why many of the old churches today are being used as concert halls for classical performers.  Another religious complex that is no longer being inhabited by religious peoples is the St. Thomas Monastery in Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic.  The monks fled Brno during the 1950s as the Communists forced them to escape to Austria to allow for them to keep practicing their faith.  The monastery today is better known for a monk who lived their during the later half of the 1850s and that is Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics.  Mendel grew his pea plants in a garden inside the monastery's gates and today the Mendel Museum operates in a building that was once a classroom that he once taught in.  Another impressive church in Prague that is used for a different purpose today is St. Vilnius Cathedral at Prague Castle.  Today this church is a tourist attraction as the grounds it sits on claims to be the largest Castle complex in the world.  The church is of the Gothic style and is much older than the St. Nicholas Cathedral and plays an important cultural role for the Czech people.  Below are pictures of the St. Thomas Monastery, St. Vilnius Cathedral, and St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Day 4: Americanization of the Czech Republic

It has been very interesting to see how American culture has impacted life in the Czech Republic and how American culture has helped create a generational gap in the Czech Republic.  We went to a mall yesterday and there were American fast food shops all over the mall with places like Burger King, McDonald's, and KFC.  We also went to a toy store and it was interesting to see how many of the toys were in English and are found in stores in the US.  One example is how the lego sets that they use are in English and are based on American characters such as the Simpsons and Star Wars.

Day 3: Getting around Europe

Well Day 3 is in the books and as I am writing this now one of the things that stands out to me is how people get around in Europe and big cities in general compared to how we get around in rural communities like Galena.  Everything seems fast-paced here, which is common in many big cities in Europe.  It is also important to note that the Czech Republic drives on the same side of the street and driving from same side of car as we do in the US.  However, there are a lot more trams here than I have seen in any big US city (I have a picture of one below that was taken right outside our hotel).  Like big cities in the US they do have metros (subways).  However, these were faster than those that I have rode in the US (in places like DC), but there are fewer cars as it seems many prefer the trams.  I have a picture of the metro station 10 minutes from out hotel.  It is also important to note how these trams connect people 25-30 walking minutes from the downtown area like where I am to that business and tourist area.  It is much hillier here than I expected, very similar to home, so the trams are essential for people to get around.  Tomorrow I have yet another mode of transportation as we are taking a train from Prague to Brno so I will include pictures of that experience in the near future.  I also have included pictures of a couple places we toured today and visited briefly such as the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock. Enjoy!

Day 1/2

Well we finally landed in Prague today after leaving Chicago at 4:40 yesterday.  Even though it is now 6:57pm here it is only 11:57am at home, so it is still hard to adjust to the time difference.  I am extremely exhausted though due to lack of sleep as I might have only slept two hours during both plane rides.  We had a layover in Sweden this morning and it was very interesting as there was popular American music playing on the loudspeaker such as  "Happy" and "Timber".  Flying over Europe was interesting as it looked very similar to the United States with a wide variety of farm fields and little towns.   We arrived in Prague at 2:30 and have been trying to stay awake until 8:00 so our rhythm gets situated with the European time zone.  We walked down to St. Nicholas Church in our neighborhood, and I have posted a picture of it below.  I will try to post often but our wifi isn't strong.

Introduction

Prague, Czech Republic will be our first stop on this trip as I will technically arrive there on May 20, 2014 after our flight from Chicago (with a layover in Stockholm, Sweden)

This blog will be updated semi-regularly on my trip to Europe starting on May 19, 2014 and ending on June 4, 2014.  Through this blog you will be able to take the trip with me and see some sites or sights that I thought were interesting and those moments that I want to share with all of you.  I am not sure how often I will be able to post to this, but I will try to do so as much as I can.  The trip will include stops in Prague, Amsterdam, Leiden (Netherlands), Dresden (Germany), and Rotterdam (Netherlands), just to name a few.  I hope you enjoy this blog!