Koprovski in Europe 2018

Today was a very sad day. We had to wake up at four in the morning to prepare to leave for the airport. It was a miserable experience, and the van ride to the airport was full of sullen silence. At the airport, stress was abundant. Several of us had overweight luggage and we had to reorganize our bags to distribute the weight. Then Anna and Peyton got extra searched by security and had their bags searched. Then we all went to the gate to settle down.  I think we were all extra stressed due the he lack of sleep. But we persevered and managed to get to our gate, which was on the other side of the airport :(  . This is when the feels started to kick in, when the rest of the group go to their gate, Peyton and I had to leave to go ours. We said our goodbyes to the group and left. I can’t believe I’m not going to get to see the group for another whole month.  But Peyton and I have a whole new experience in front of us. I know we’re going to arrive back in the states a...

Today was a pretty uneventful day, but that gave me some time to contemplate on my experience thus far. I really am going to miss this place. I’m going to miss the civic pride that keeps this place so clean. I’m going to miss the convenient metro system that could take us anywhere in the city. I will miss making memories with everyone on this trip. Memories like the time we ran into a strange flute player in the middle of the woods when we were lost. Or the time that we took the longest underground slide in Europe.  I honestly will never forget this trip. I will always carry this trip with me. It will always change the way I act, I will be more kind to outsiders and those who are less fortunate than I am. It will also affect the future more directly. I now have a more direct idea on what on earth I’m going to do with my life. But regardless of what I do, I will forever be grateful for Dr. Demers and Professor Ray for what they’ve done for me on this trip. 

Today was a full day. We started the day by deregistering, and after all this time in Vienna, I still don’t understand what on earth the whole registering thing was for. But regardless of its purpose, deregistering didn’t take long at all. When we deregistered it felt like we had severed a link that was keeping his in the city. Now if feels much more like we are about to leave the city and it’s a crushing weight on me. But I can’t let it get me down.  When we were all finished we walked with the professors to the USA embassy. Natalie had set us up to talk to a foreign secretary officer to tell us about her job and the role of the embassy.  When we got there we had to pass through some pretty impressive security. But the security detail guarding the entrance gate was a local Austrian private security company, which I personally thought was incredibly weird. I expected he embassy to be guarded by American diplomatic security personnel. But we all passed through security...

Today was our last completely free day in Vienna, I can’t really believe its coming to an end. We all chose what all we wanted to finish up today last night at dinner. Anna and I met bright and early at the Aida in Stephansplatz for an early morning cappuccino. By the time we had finished our drinks, everyone else had arrived. To start, we went to the back of Stephanzdome to walk up the spire that rises above the city. As we started to ascend the spiral staircase in the spire, the bells above us started to ring out for the mass that was beginning below us. It was a special mass for the holiday of Corpus Christie. Getting to listen to the bells as we emerged at the top of the spire and look down on the city was awe inspiring. We stayed up there for a while, taking in the sights and watching the mass outside.  Going down the spire took what seemed like forever, the constant spinning make us dizzy and the lack of sunlight made us unsure how far down we had gone. But we popped out...

I swear my body is giving up. Today I slept in late yet again. The later in the day I went to bed early too.  I have an entire backpacking trip after this so I better get it together.  After getting up after sleeping in, Peyton and I went into town to get brunch together in the Neubegasse area. We ate at Figo’s and got a mix of savory and sweet breakfast foods.  After brunch, we went to meet up with the professors and everyone else to grab a bus to take us to Lichtenstein castle. Let’s just say this was no easy feat. We missed our first bus because we were at the wrong stop, and then we got on the wrong bus and had to hop off of it. Then when the right bus came, we kept getting off on the wrong stops. But it didn’t really bother me, getting lost on public transport should be expected when trying to navigate a new area of a foreign city.  We finally made it to the Lichtenstein castle, after walking quite a distance. The castle stands alone in the forestry...

Today was the day to trip to the city of Krems to see the Medical School there. We woke up early and rode to a metro stop in north of Vienna proper. Then we boarded an intercity train to go all the way to Krems. The train ride was beautiful, the Austrian countryside is always a beautiful sight to behold.  The train ride was direct to our town so it was a pretty easy ride, about an our or two. We were able to all sit together on the top floor of our carriage. We all spent the morning talking and working on our blogs as the countryside sped past us. When our train arrived in Krems we were meet by our contact at the town’s private medical school. She walked us the 20 minutes or so to the medical school on the other side of town.  Krems is a really quaint town.  Not as cute as Salzburg or Dorfgastein but it’s cute nonetheless. I would call it a large smaller sized city. With a train to Vienna close by and reasonably close, it wouldn’t be a bad place to live. The actu...

Today was another sightseeing day. We got to sleep in again, which after the previous night was well appreciated. The entire group met at Shöbrunn palace for a tour of the Austrian Royal Family’s summer home. It started off a little rocky when we all got to the Shöbrunn stop. Turns out Dr. Demers was already there but we didn’t meet up with her for almost half an hour. But we finally found her and Lisa, and we began the walk to the palace. When we got to the main gates, I was blown away by their majestic and powerful design. The royal family of Austria lived extremely lavish lives. I know that’s how it is in every monarchy but it still blows me away to see how they used to live. The front plaza of the palace had fountains and manicured small gardens, along with hundreds of tourists. We got several group pictures of us on the large front steps before heading inside to start our self guided tour. Inside, the palace was beautifully decorated and full of priceless art work. The rooms seem...

Today was another free day in Munich. We got up late, as several people got a little too lit the last night. Eventually everyone had cleared themselves of any hangovers and some of us went out to see more of Munich. We did some souvenir shopping and sightseeing but none of us were really up to much exploring. Partly because we were partly hungover. Mostly because I feel a lot less confident in Munich than I did in Vienna. In Vienna I feel like I could get anywhere easily but in Munich I’m scared to leave the city center and venture out because I don’t know what to expect.  But we did alright for ourselves. We ate lunch close to our hotel to make it easier for people who stayed at the hotel. On our way to eat we noticed that there were several rowdy soccer fans walking in the same direction. We asked a passerby what was going on, and they said that if Munich’s team won the game that was about to start, then Munich would advance to the next round of the tournament. Im kind of ha...

Our first day in Munich was full of ups and downs. We started the day hunting down brunch, which proved to be quite a challenge. After everything around the hotel failed to draw us in, we decided to go towards the city center: Mariensplatz. When we got off at the Marienplatz subway station, we got to see some proper Munich architecture. The architecture in Munich is more comparable to that of Vienna than Budapest was, I guess because of the proximity and similar cultures. We found a place right off the central square and had a really good brunch.  I had an American sandwich and the waiter joked about how I shouldn’t order an American sandwich in Munich, but I needed a slice of home.  After brunch we just walked around the city taking in all the sights. One of the first things we ran into was a drunken group of British men celebrating one of their mate’s marriage. They let several of the girls spank the bachelor with a paddle and we were all about to die of laughter. ...

Today was a much needed relaxing day. We started the day off with breakfast at our bed and breakfast. It was more typical Austrian breakfast so I was ready to hit the ground running. A small group of us; Anna, Caroline, Victoria, Peyton, and I; split off from the main group to walk around the town of Dorfgastein by ourselves. Our group wandered to the town church and toured that. The church was beautiful on the inside, but the smaller size gave it a more cozy feel than any of the other churches we’ve been to. After that we meandered over to a large plant store on the edge of town. Looking at all the different colors and smells really put the rush of the past few days behind me. There’s just something about soaking in nature’s beauty that really calms a person. After the plant nursery visit, we took a walk back into the city center and got coffee. The five of us just talk for about an hour, and it and it was honestly so nice. I hate when people say they had more fun than I did just bec...

Today was the day all the Sound of Music fans were waiting for. Today was the Sound of Music tour around the town of Salzburg and the surrounding towns. The day got off slightly rocky because our tour guide was late. But only by about half an hour or so. Well he got there eventually and we were off. Our first stop was the manor that the sound of music was filmed at. We were only able to look across the lake at the house, because the house is now a 5 star hotel. On a lot of my study abroad experiences, it seems like the wealthy are more and more pushing culturally significant places out of everyone’s reach. Like gorilla trekking in Rwanda, where everyone at the main camp, over 100 people, were white Westerners. I just get bothered by this kind of stuff.  But I’ll save trashing the 1% for another day. After the manor we drove to a palace/garden that Austrian Royalty used to use. Here is where the Gazebo used in the movie is currently housed. It’s here because it brings all the r...

We started the day with the hotel breakfast. Breakfast in this country is so much healthier than in America. I’ve always heard that America’s breakfast is just desserts. I think eating breakfast here prepared me better for the day, I feel more nourished.  After breakfast, we got back on our trusty Dr. Richards bus and drove to the town of Hallstatt. Hallstatt is the location of the worlds oldest salt mine, and has exceptional natural beauty. The drive there was gorgeous, we went though several tunnels and winding mountains. When we got closer to the town, the road got even more winding. It was starting to get stressful until we popped out of a small tunnel and found ourselves in a beautiful, small village. We got off our bus and headed straight to be salt mine store that was only a few blocks away. When we got there Dr. Demers bought us tickets for the gondola car that carried us to the top of the mountain. The gondola ride was beautiful. We got a full view of the lake and mos...

We meet at the institute bright and early this morning to drive to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. The bus ride was unremarkable, except for the view, which was beautiful. Austria continues to amaze me with it’s natural beauty. Everywhere I turn there’s a picturesque landscape staring back at me.  When we arrived at Mauthausen, the imposing brick walls stood guard all around the front of the building. We got audio guides which let us to the tour by ourselves and at our own pace, and I think that was a very good idea because a place like that is best taken in by yourself. The part of the camp I found the most fascinating were the statues that lined the road up to the main entrance. There were statues from Israel to the Soviet Union, all dedicated to the thousands that had died at the camp. The next paragraph isn’t meant to dismiss or minimize the atrocities at the camp, but they are my personal feelings about the camp.  While the camp was very humbling and sobering,...

I am going to put my thought and experiences about the shades tour on my blackboard account. For reasons also explained there. Today we went on the Shades tour, a tour of the city by a homeless woman named Susan. She was incredibly sweet and I learned a lot from her. After the Shades tour, the group took the U lines to Neubegasse - a large boulevard lined with shopping outlets. I absolutely loved his day because I never get to go shopping back home with people who know what they’re doing. I’ll be honest: I’m not a fashionista :( But regardless of that, I had a blast with everyone shopping at stores from Zara’s to a party/souvenir store named Heaven and Hell. I didn’t buy anything, but to our generation, just being around people and browsing can be a lot of fun.  After we finished shopping, we started heading to Hunderwasserhaus, a colorful and “wavy” apartment building. I’ll have to include a picture because it’s the only way I am describe it. It was so funky and out...

Today we had a chance to rest and take take an easy day. We went to the Mass at the main church next to the National Library. The service was beautiful, and the music that was played was very good.  However, since it was a Catholic service (and it was in German) I haven’t a clue what was going on. After that, we got a light brunch at a nearby coffee shop. The food and beverage selection in this town makes me so jealous. I could never find food like this in Arkansas. We then got food from Anker to eat in the park as a picnic. We ate lunch in the large park next to the Austro-America Institute, and it was so pleasant. Seeing all the couples and families in the park living life makes me love this city more.  After the park we meet up with the rest of the group and we took a short walk to the Natural Sciences Museum. It still amazes me how densely packed this city is, and how many interesting things there are to do in this city. I feel like we could stay here for a year and...

May 19 Let me just say: I’m so happy I got a letter train ticket out of Budapest. Victoria, Grayson, and I spent the day trekking around the historic Buda side of the city. We left the hotel well before most of the others had managed to get to breakfast. We walked to the old Jewish Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter and looked around that area for a while, and when we were done we took the hop-on-hop-off there to the Citadel. The Citadel is a monument on the top of one of the many large hills on the Buda side of the city. Our bus took us about 4/5 of the way up the side of the hill, and then we had to walk the rest of the way. Even that last 1/5 really got to me and I was out of breath by the end of the hike. But he views from the top of the citadel made it worth it. We had an amazing view of the entire city. Incoming fun fact: our taxi driver from the other night told us that the statue was the Soviet response to the Statue of Liberty.  From the citadel we hiked down the mou...

May 18 Our first full day in Budapest was a blast. Our hotel served us a surprisingly good breakfast for free when we woke up. Which was a good thing because our day was packed with activities. At the hotel, Dr. D gave us our bus tickets and explained how they worked. Some people complained about the bus system we used but I really enjoyed it. Being able to ride on top was a lot of fun and they took us everywhere we needed to go. The only problem I had with them is the long wait time between busses, but even that problem wasn’t a big deal. We walked from our hotel to the nearest bus stop, and that proved to be quite a challenge. Apparently the city of Budapest doesn’t believe in cross walks because we spent a solid 10 minutes trying to find a way across a 5 lane road. But through rigorous trekking, we found a zebra crossing and managed to get across the street to our bus.  Just riding the bus around town was a lot of fun. We road on the top of the bus with the top down so ...