Don't Worry, Mom: Spring Break

We just got back from spring break on Monday. We had two weeks of spring break, the first week was some class field trips to Vienna and Venice. It was incredible to see all of the amazing historical places in these cities. Vienna was a lot of fun, we were able to go into a museum that had some pretty cool dinosaur bones and animals. After the museum we pretty much got to walk around and do our own exploring while in Vienna. Once we arrived in Venice we unpacked and found food. It was some good food. The next day we walked around with our professors for a few hours and saw a palace then a church. After that we were able to split up into little groups and explore Venice. A few of us went to lunch and then started walking around. We mainly just went sightseeing and looked for some cool souvenirs. We did take a ride on a gondola, and that was one of the most amazing things I had done in Venice. It was twenty minutes of riding around the canals and seeing the city. We passed by Marco Polo's house!!!! I got really excited and had to go see it again. Once my friends and I got off of the gondola we started looking for the house. We walked around for about 45 minutes looking for it and we didn't stop until we found it. Once we found it and my friends let me take a few pictures in front of it we went souvenir shopping. It took us a while to find the stands that we were looking for and may have gotten a little lost in the crazy streets of Venice, but we found the right stands. After the shopping we ended up sitting on the side of the street looking at the other islands that make up the city. It was beautiful to look at and hear the water rush past rocks and hit the walls. That day in Venice was perfect. The next morning we parted ways for the second week of spring break. My friend and I left for Rome that afternoon. When we arrived we found our hostel and put our bags down for a few days. The first evening there, we walked around and found the Coliseum! We didn't go in that night however because we had plans to meet some other friends from our group the next day and go see it. We started walking back and grabbed some food then met our friends back at the room. The next day we met some people from our group at the Vatican to hear the Pope speak. It was very moving to hear the Pope speak in person and see him. Once he left his window we started walking around and seeing different things in the Vatican. After about an hour we started walking some more and seeing more old buildings. Later that afternoon we finally made it to the Roman Forum and the Coliseum. I cried a little in the Coliseum and ended up being a tour guide for my friends and told them a few fun facts about the places we visited. We spent hours in the Forum and the Coliseum, it gave me chills to see these places in person and know what happened right where we were standing. It was an amazing thing to see though. Once we finally left we ate dinner and then went to bed. The following day some people went to Pompeii and the last four of us just walked around and looked for cool landmarks to look at. That Monday went by very fast. Once Tuesday rolled around my friend and I made our way down to Pompeii. I also teared up there too. I can't explain the feelings I had when we saw these places in real life. I remember learning about them in classes, but actually being there is something completely different. We were able to walk around the old town for about six hours! Paige and I didn't even manage to see the whole town. I did end up finding some of the bodies of the people who were covered in ash. It was unbelievable to see in person and know the history of this city, then show up and walk the same streets that these people did 2,000 years ago. Once we left we had to go find our bnb where we were staying that night. I couldn't believe that Tuesday was already gone and Wednesday was just a travel day. We left at 7:20 that morning and didn't get to Athens until that evening. My friend and I were lucky that our hostel was close to the metro station. It turned out to be a super nice little apartment style place. Our other friends showed up at about two that morning. The following morning the four of us started walking around Athens and trying to figure out where we could get some food. We found a little shop that had some great gyros. After we ate we made our way down to the ancient Greek Agora. Now, this place made me and my other friend Paige cry. I still can't describe what I was feeling walking on these streets looking at these ruins, and trying to think what it would have looked like all those centuries ago. We saw amazing temples dedicated to the Greek Gods. We all spent a good chunk of time at the agora and once we left there, we made our way up to the Acropolis. The walk looked like a long hike up the hill but it turned out to be a pretty nice little walk. It was amazing walking through the front columns of the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon for the first time. We walked around and looked at all of the temples and ruins on the ground. We found every info plaque that we could find and then went to the edge of the ruins and looked out over the city. While we were looking around we saw the Acropolis Museum and decided to go there next. Once we got into the museum, we found all sorts of artifacts from the Acropolis and we were speechless. We messed around there for a few hours and looked at all of the statues they had. Overall, Thursday was a great day. The following day was spent on a beach in Athens. It was kinda cold for a beach day, but it was still the most amazing beach that I have ever seen. We were there all day and then moved back into the center of town for our last day. The last day was spent back in the ruins for a majority of the day and just soaking everything in. That night we were checking into our flights for the next day and it turned out that one of our flights was booked for the 29th and not the 22nd. So we had to book some last minute bus tickets from Rome to Olomouc. That was a very interesting 19 hour bus ride. At least they had some good movies on the bus. We arrived in Olomouc at 8:30 on Monday and it was a relief to be back in one piece. Spring break was a huge success and I would go back to any of those places in a heartbeat. I can't explain how beautiful and educational it was seeing these places in person and knowing what happened there. It was really life changing. Now we only have about 5 weeks left for our trip and it's kind of freaking me out. There are a lot more adventures to be had over here though. It's been absolutely amazing being here with all of these great people and experiencing all of these new places in person. Walking where others have been walking for thousands of years really makes me emotional. It was a good spring break, probably the best spring break ever!