Update on the last 2 months... OOPs!

POLAND
On May 8 Amanda, Jess, and I started our trek to Poland! We took a short train ride to Vienna, and then got on our night train to Krakow. The train was definitely not what we expected but was actually really fun! There were 6 tiny bunks crammed into one compartment. It was us 3, and two older German ladies, so we were pretty packed!

About an hour into our trip, the train randomly stops and the announcer comes over the intercom and starts explaining the situation in German. He then translates it back to English saying our train is stopped for an hour due to, simply, "Police". The ladies in our compartment said that isn't even remotely what he had announced in German so I'm still not really sure what happened. We got in a few hours of sleep and then arrived early in the morning in sunny Poland! We dropped our things off at our wonderful hostel, and then headed out to explore Krakow. We did a huge circle around the entire city... I literally have never regretted wearing sandals more. So. Painful. We went to the cloth market, a huge open air market in the square that sells all sorts of Polish goods. We also walked miles and miles to Schindler's factory... which was so surreal to see and think about! We were ready to die after the walk though because we were all in flip flops and the walk took over an hour in the heat! For dinner, we went to this cute little restaurant and all ordered chicken and zucchini salads. Everything in Poland is so cheap, I love it!

our hostel!

the cloth hall

the main square

The following morning, we walked to Starbucks (hallelujah!) and enjoyed a REAL coffee since all they serve in Europe is a shot! A large coffee here is literally one gulp. So it was nice to have a taste of home. Then we got picked up by our tour guide that drove us to Auschwitz-Birkenau.It was such a beautiful day, which made our experience there a lot less eerie. This was one of the main things I wanted to see on my trip abroad because it is such a historic spot. We toured the buildings in Auschwitz and even went into one of the gas chambers that hadn't been destroyed.. thankfully we were only in there for a minute or so because I may have gotten sick otherwise. There were also rooms full of suitcases, glasses, shoes, and human hair. Luckily the Holocaust museum in DC prepared me for this, but it was so surreal to think that I was standing where all of this actually happened. We then went to Birkenau, which is the huge eerie train port with all of the barracks and barbed wire... this is where it all felt real to me. I really couldn't believe I was standing where all of these atrocities took place.

"work makes free"... not

Birkenau train port....

After Auschwitz we walked around Krakow for the night and got a nice Polish dinner in the square. We grabbed dessert, saw the city by night, and made our way back to the hostel. The next day it took many trains and 17 hours to get back home....

CROATIA
I spent May 21-28th in Dubrovnik, Croatia. I stayed at this gorgeous apartment in a small town called Zaton Mali. The owners were so sweet and made me homemade olive oil, wine, and liqueur. They had a golden retriever named Otto who was sooo sweet and I played with him every day! There was a man living in one of the other rooms, who was in Croatia writing a book. He left dinner in front of our door and took us out to an extremely nice seafood restaurant in a tiny town about an hour from the apartment called Mali Stone. I tried grilled prawns for the first time and I am now obsessed! I went to the Island of Lokrum, which is where they film GAME OF THRONES!!! So exciting in my book. I also took a few days exploring the old town and spent a day kayaking across the Adriatic. It was tough with the rough water! Croatia was absolutely gorgeous, just wish the weather would have cooperated!!

VIENNA
I took a class trip to Vienna at the beginning of June. Because Austria and Germany is flooding, it was quite a trip! We took a train, then a bus, then another train.... so confusing and a hassle but we finally made it! We toured Schloss Shonbrunn and the gardens behind it. We then had the night to do with it what we wished so a group of us got Mexican food next to our hotel (go figure) and went out for a few drinks. The next morning we woke up early for a city tour. We hit all the main points of Vienna, which is mostly just the stunning architecture! I was supposed to go to the Leopold Museum with my group but got the opportunity to go to the Spanish Riding School where the Lipizzaner Stallions originated and are trained and perform... so I did that instead! I am so glad that I did, it was an amazing experience for me since I am OBSESSED with horses. The palace was gorgeous and the performance was so entertaining, even in the standing-room-only :).

riding school :)

Other than these trips, I have been doing school non-stop and making the best of my last few days abroad! Lots of dinner dates, biking, running, hiking, lake time, and friends! I went to Rome and Greece for my last vacation, but that is another blog post for another day :)