The Last Day of Our Trip

By: Lauren Tilstra 

Today was the last day of our trip. We had a really relaxing day. This morning we went to the Budapest market where we found food, clothes, and other souvenirs. People from all over the world were at the market, so we had expierences speaking with people in German, and Spanish. We also found many other Americans who were visiting Hungary. It was really cool to find people that had the same culture as us in such a foreign place. It felt like we had found long lost family members! After going to the market, the group split up for some free time before we went to a folk dancing show. The show was really cool to see, and it was amazing to see how talented the dancers By: Lauren Tilstra 

Today was the last day of our trip. We had a really relaxing day. This morning we went to the Budapest market where we found food, clothes, and other souvenirs. People from all over the world were at the market, so we had expierences speaking with people in German, and Spanish. We also found many other Americans who were visiting Hungary. It was really cool to find people that had the same culture as us in such a foreign place. It felt like we had found long lost family members! After going to the market, the group split up for some free time before we went to a folk dancing show. The show was really cool to see, and it was amazing to see how talented the dancers are. The show portrayed different aspects of Hungarian culture, which was a cool way to wrap up our time here. It has been an unforgettable trip, and we have all created memories that will last a lifetime. 

LGBT Rights in Hungary

Post By: Alex Brask
Location: Budapest, Day 11

Our morning started with a meeting at the Central European University (CEU) to meet with PHD students and the leaders of the gender studies program at the university. There were four panel members who were all very intelligent and passionate about gender issues and equality. Three of them are politically active and participate in activism. Our main discussion revolved around their fields of study and what try have concluded in their dissertations. All of the questions they are asking are very similar to the gender questions we have in the states. What interested me the most was our discussion about how parliament and politics play a role in equal rights for homosexuals in Hungary. The current Conservative party in office has made it difficult for homosexuals in Hungary. At the same time the liberal parties have not made very much headway in parliament and currently are vastly outnumbered. It seems that no party wants to take sides with the gay community because of potential backlash from voters. This was interesting because in the US it seems that supporting gays and equal rights for homosexuals has been popular and worked out for the left. The students concluded that there is much work left to do in Hungary to get equal rights for people and that there are complications with the EU that also come into play. Nonetheless the conversations we had were excellent and I think everyone learned a lot about each other's countries and cultures. After the meeting it was nice to get a chance to walk around Budapest and relax in the parks.

Budapest

Photo 1: Traditional Goulash for dinner

Photo 2: Dinner with Hungarian family and friends

Photo 3: The rockstar of the family 

Post by: April Donovan

Location: Budapest, Day 10 

Today was the group’s first day in Budapest, a new language, new currency, and a whole new country. We arrived by night train at 9 am, exhausted. We brought our luggage to the hotel and they gave us free breakfast, and by 10:30 we were off on our first bus tour of Budapest. Our tour guide spoke very good English and was a teacher in Budapest. She told us a little about the Hungarian language. It is one of the oldest in Europe. Our first stop on the tour was the city park, where we drove by the oldest zoo in Europe. She then took us to look at one of the many spas that utilized Budapest’s hot-springs. The spa building had beautiful architecture and a faint scent of sulfur from the springs. We could only see the actual pools through a small window. The waters are medicinal and some doctors even prescribe them to their patients to help treat many joint diseases.

After our tour of the park we got back on the bus and went up the hill to the Buda side of the river. She explained to us that Budapest is actually made up of two parts Buda and Pest (similar to Minneapolis/St. Paul), but they were unified in the late 1800’s. The view of the Budapest landscape from the top of the hill was spectacular! However, our tour guide suggested going again at night because “Budapest is like an old woman city, she looks best in candlelight.”

We had a few hours to rest and eat after the tour, and then we were off to a local family’s house for dinner. They made us a delicious goulash dinner with huge bread slices twice the size of my face. We sat and ate in their backyard and talked for hours. The family was a younger couple, George and Agnus and their four kids. One of the boys and their neighbor played guitar for us. We were very glad to have been invited to share a meal with such nice people, and they were equally excited to meet us. Overall, it was a great first day in Hungary.

The Best Way to Experience Prague: "Get lost in it!"

Post By: Caitlin O'Brien
Location: Prague, Day 9

This morning we figured out that public transportation might be cheaper but not faster! The group last night decided to experience what Prague had to offer at night! We experienced one of the biggest night club in Eastern Europe! Half the group took a cab home, where the rest of us took advantage of the public transportation, which was quite the adventure. We waited for the bus for an hour, then had an hour bus ride which took us to a spot where we had mapped out. After getting off the bus we didn't recognized anything around us. We all just stopped looked at each other and were like shoot! As we all pulled out our maps to get us back a bus with our stop had drove by that we quickly caught and finally made it back to our bus stop little over 2 hours later! That being said we were all thrilled that we got to sleep in this morning after that long night/morning! 

 Lost in Prague at 4:30am

We woke up had breakfast packed our belonging up and meet to check out! Since tonight we have the night train we had all day to kill in the city! We all went into the central square of Prague where we all spilt up and did the last things we wanted to do in Prague! After our last day to explore the city we meet up and relaxed on some green grass before dinner! During our stay in Prague it had been raining a lot but today was beautiful with the sun shining so we all soaked up the sun and relaxed for a bit! We grabbed our last meal in Prague and then went back to our hotel to grab our luggage and meet the bus to go to the train station! 

Photo 1: The number of tourists in the Old Town Square in front of the Astronomical Clock 

Photo 2: Josh admiring the ferrari

Photo 3: The John Lennon Memorial Wall

Photo 4: Our entertainment the last day in the city

No one in the group has been to Budapest so we are all experiencing a new place together! Our train leaves at 11:45 pm where we arrive in Budapest at 8:45am! It's going to be a long night but it will be worth it to see a new country!

Waiting for the train to Budapest

First Day Alone in Prague

Post By: Christina Gervais
Location: Prague, Day 8

Today was the first day where we were able to take on the city of Prague on our own. Our only assignment was to converse with three locals. We started out by stumbling upon a museum called Speculum Alchemlae, which is the 2nd oldest building in the city. This was a place where they made potions and gold in the 16th century. The most incredible thing about this museum is that the underground tunnels were founded in 2002 and opened to the public only in 2012.

Another thing that I really enjoyed today was going on a boat tour along the river. It was very enjoyable to see the river from the water since we have already seen it from the streets and on top of the hill. The tour guide was very interactive with the group and at the beginning had everyone go around and say where they were from. There were tourists from all over the world Denmark, Norway, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States. We were told that 2 million tourists cross the Charles Bridge each month with a population of Prague being 1.2 million. I am anxious to get to Budapest and experience another city in Europe!

Photo 1: The secret door in the Speculum Alchemlae

Photo 2: View of Prague and the River Danube

From Jewish Ghettos to Lover's Hill

Post by: Maeve Adam
Location: Prague, Day 7

We began our day with a tour of the Jewish Museum in Prague. The museum has the richest amount of artifacts of all the Jewish museums in the world due to the sheer amount of Jewish people in Prague before World War II. The Jews were only allowed to bring 50 kilos of personal belongings with them to the work camps in World War II. All of the belongings that were not brought to the work camp were donated to the already existing Jewish Museum. This was allowed because the Nazis were willing to let the Jews in Prague preserve their culture. However, about two thirds of the Jews that were sent to the work camps were killed and never returned to Prague solely because of their religion and culture.

The artifacts were housed in six different synagogues in the ghetto, an inner city area where the Jews were only allowed to live. Each synagogue was unique to the group of people that built it. The most intricate, detailed synagogue (and my favorite) was the Spanish Jewish synagogue that was adorned in exquisite designs all over the walls and ceiling. These six synagogues are now surrounded by new, expensive shops and flats because the ghetto was so dilapidated, it had to be torn down. The ghetto was a strong reminder of all the persecution the Jewish people have suffered from, even before the war began.

In my opinion, the most emotional parts of the museum were the Holocaust memorial and the children's art pieces. The memorial consisted of a list of all the Jews from Prague who were murdered in death camps. The names were written on the walls of the synagogue in three different rooms. This display showed the magnitude of the Holocaust in a tangible, overwhelming way. In this same synagogue, pictures drawn by children in the work camp were shown. Some colorful pictures showed happier times in the ghetto while other darker pictures showed life in the work camp. This exhibit shared the specific lens of the Jewish children which touched me deeply.

Our tour was led by a Czech man who was raised Roman Catholic by his parents, but had Jewish ancestors. His parents did not tell him and his siblings that he was Jewish until he was 18 because they were so afraid of the Holocaust happening again. Our guide's parents were actually in the work camp during the war and only survived because they put on plays. His remarkable story reminded me of how personal and recent the Holocaust is especially in this area.

We finished our day with sight seeing and a beautiful dinner on top of Lover's Hill. As we basked in the views from the restaurant and reflected on the emotional morning at the Jewish Museum, we are reminded of the horrific history of the area and hope for a better future in this beautiful city.

Photo 1: The dinner entertainment 

Photo 2: April with her dinner from the IWL! Dishes included: venison, duck, wild boar, and smoked salmon. 

A New Day, A New City

Post by: Leah Ranta
Location: Prague, Day 6

The tour of Prague was very different from those we took in Berlin. Instead of looking through a bus window, we had the opportunity to experience Prague along side the locals. Our tour guide picked us up from the front door of our hotel and we walked to the metro station. From there we ran to see the changing of the guards at the Prague Castle, which holds the current office of President Milos Zeman. This visit was nothing like going to Washington D.C., or even the parliament buildings in Berlin. Street performers and cobblestone walkways surrounded the building, not a single back was checked by security, and the view overlooking the city was breathtaking.

Some other highlights of the day included seeing the oldest town square in Prague, viewing memorials from protesters that contributed to the fall of communism, and walking through the former Jewish ghetto.  We have seen many historic sites, but my favorite part has been witnessing the contrast of the two cities, Prague and Berlin. Though the bus ride was only a few hours away, the equivalent of traveling from Minnesota to Wisconsin, the two countries could not be more different. The architecture, atmosphere, local food, forms of transportation, people, pace, and even pubs, could not be more different. That being said, one day is not nearly enough to begin to understand this beautiful city.

Though the weather is more rainy and cold than Berlin, I am excited for what today has in store for us!

Photo 1: Touring the oldest town square in Prague

Photo 2: View of the Charles Bridge at night

Photo 3: Street performers in front of the presidents office

Photo 4: Group picture in front of the Prague Castle