Reflections on Prague

Czech Republic: August 6 - August 8, 2006

We spent two jam-packed days in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. This is probably my favorite city we visited the whole trip (except, of course, for Riga) probably because I have ancestors from here and because this was the only city that really looked the way I expected a medieval European city to look. EVERYTHING was old with beautiful and detailed architecture. Almost all the streets were cobbled and on every corner there seemed to have been an important historical event. We saw the Prague Castle compound which had many buildings and several churches. The National Cathedral was there which was really amazing becaues it took over 600 years to build and as a result, there are hundreds of years worth of different styles of architecture. The stained glass windows have artistic styles ranging from medieval to impressionist. St. Wenceslas Square was the main square of the Old Town area which had a huge cathedral with a very detailed glockenspiel on the side of it. Dozens of toursits gathered on the side of the church every hour to watch the glockenspiel. Prague was much more touristy than I expected it to be, but I can't complain because that made the shopping great and very cheap. I bought at least twice as many souveniers in this city than I did in any other. One thing I bought a lot of was pashminas, fancy shawls that would have cost a hundred dollars or more in the States that I bought for between $10 and $20. Two of my favorite souveneirs from this city was a t-shirt I bought for myself that says "Prague: Czech me out!" and a shirt for my sister that says "My sister was in Prague and the only thing she bought me was this stupid t-shirt". Prague was also where we went to see the opera, Don Giovanni, in the original opera house in Prague where this opera was first performed and where Mozart sat to listen to his opera being performed for the first time. It was quite an experience.
On our way from Prague to Vienna, we stopped at the memorial to the town of Lidice, Czech Republic. The story goes that several citizens of the Czech Republic plotted and succeeded in killing a top commander in the Nazi Army (whose name esacapes me) and that the citizens of Lidice were either killed or sent to concentration camps and the town destroyed in retribution. It was unexplainable to walk around this area and think how it must have once looked. The statues and monuments to the people were very eloquent and the museum was very well done. They had video from the few people in the town who survived the concentration camps they were sent to. Some of the children were allowed to write letters to family members outsdide of the town, asking for clothing or shoes. It was horrible to hear these letters being read, knowing that the Nazis had killed all of these children before the letters reached the family members. I can't even comprehend what was done to them.

Reflections on Berlin

Germany: August 1 - August 5, 2006

I fly into Berlin at around noon on the first, after a short layover in Munich. I expect to meet customs on the way out after getting my luggage but I end up seeing the Lazdas (my professors, a married couple, for the tour). That was kind of strange. I meet the whole rest of the group soon after and we head out to our hostel. I share a room with 3 other girls and we get some time to unpack and get settled before we walk around Berlin. I really want to take a nap since I've been awake since yesterday morning at about 10 and only slept for about an hour on the plane, but I don't because I heard its better for jet lag the next days to not take a nap. As a result, I end up falling asleep on every 5 minute bus ride between sites and I don't really remember anything that my professors said or things that we saw. The whole night, I felt like you do when you are reading a book and start thinking about something else and then suddenly realize that you don't remember what the last 5 paragraphs were about. I had flashes of awareness but most of the night is a blur.
I realize tonight that the rechargeable batteries I bought didn't come charged so I miss every photo opportunity on the first night. I leave my batteries in the charger overnight, and wake up to realize that I have fried both my converter and my battery charger because I left them plugged in too long. So I had no converter, no battery charger, and only the two batteries that managed to get charged a little overnight. I also wake up feeling sick, and throw up a grand total of seven times that morning, four times at the hostel before we leave, once on a train, once in a train station, and the last time next to the grave of Frederick the Great and his favorite 11 dogs at his summer palace. I hope that's not sacreligious or something. Sans Souci (Frederick's summer palace) is amazing, though. I finally ask to borrow someone's batteries and manage to get good pictures of the palace that I missed when I was sick and didn't have batteries.
It was quite cool visiting Cecilienhof palace where the Potsdam Agreement was signed at the end of WWII, also. One thing I remember was how the setup of the three powers' rooms told about their attitudes. The USSR was way on one side of the building with 2 exits available to the inhabitants, while the States and Britain were at the other end of the house, right next to one another. This showed the isolation and suspicion characteristic of the Soviet Union and the close relationship between the US and Britain. We visit the Pergamon museum next which has recreations of Greek temples and of a Babylonian gate entrance and walls. I was overwhelmed by the size of everything there. One interesting thing we noticed while walking around Berlin is that the clothing store H&M is very popular. We counted 4 in the downtown area within about a one mile radius of each other. Our third day in Berlin was our busiest day there. We visited the Reichstag which was the headquarters of the Third Reich, the Victory Monument of Berlin, a monument to Prussian foreign minister Bismarck, a Monument to the Soviet Army that was left intact due to an agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, the Brandenburg Bridge, the Jewish War Memorial, the History Museum, Humboldt Uniersity, a monument to the War, Identical churches built separately for the French and Germans, and finally the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. It was quite powerful seeing pictures of what a building and street looked like with the wall, and then turning around and seeing the exact same building and street without the wall. On our last day, we visit the Egyptain museum which was really cool, especially to see the bust of Nefertiti. We had the rest of the day off, so the group all heads as one to have lunch, and then splits in two for the afternoon. The group I go with does sightseeing, so I ended up going back to the Reichstag to go up to the Dome, and then we also climbed the Freedom Monument.
Berlin seemed like an interesting mixture of a very contemporary city, while still paying attention and respect to the past. I would love to come back because I know there is a lot more to see in Berlin and also in the whole of Germany.
We stopped in Dresden for the afternoon on our way to Prague. Dresden was virtually destroyed by the Allies at the end of WWII, but you wouldn't know it to look at the city now. Every building, every street, every bridge looks the way you would imagine it looking hundreds of years ago. They truly rebuilt the city the way it must have looked before the war. We visited the Zwinger palace which now has an art museum that houses Rafael's famous painting of the Madonna and Jesus. The looks on their faces are so striking. I could stare at their faces for hours. There is so much emotion there, its hard to describe. And the painting is absolutely massive. I also learned that the famous cherubs one sees absolutely EVERYWHERE are the cherubs that grace the bottom of that painting.
We also saw the Green Vault at the Zwinger that houses all of the valuables from the Saxon dynasty, like a recreation of an indian king's birthday that is over a square meter large and has over 100 separate movable pieces, and the tea set that took several people four years to make but can't be used because the metals of the cups and saucers would get too hot if you actually put tea in them. Everything there was completely over-the-top, ridiculously gaudy, detailed, and ornate, and totally my style. If I had been the Saxon rulers, I probably would have bought every one of those things, too, nevermind the starving peasants.
Dresden was so beautiful, much more what I pictured an old European town to look like.

Differences between the States and Europe

Some differences I've noticed between American culture and European culture:
-Europeans use military time instead of am/pm
-reataurants don't put ice in drinks
-food is given in much smaller portions
-Europeans drive MUCH smaller cars; I hardly saw any SUVs or minivans
-the drinking age is lower; 18 or younger
-alcohol is a lot more prevalent and cheap; some menus we looked at had more pages of alcohol than food
-Europeans say the date as day, month, year instead of month, day, year
-stoplights go red and yellow simultaneously before the light will turn green so everyone knows when to get ready to go
-people are much more open to sex - I've seen pornography sold in gas stations and nudity in newspaper ads
-pet dogs are allowed many more places such as public transportation and some stores
-make sure to order STILL water at a restaurant or there's a good chance you will get sparkling/mineral/carbonated water which happens to be the most disgusting thing on the planet (in my opinion)
-public transportation is much more prevalent and efficient
-Europeans use commas where we would use periods such as in prices and they use periods where we use commas such as when expressing something in thousands
-many Europeans don't shower as often or wear deoderant frequently, its not as strong a part of their culture
-service at restaurants can be very slow and you need to ask for the check or your server will never bring it; I guess this is part of the whole thing where Europeans savor their meals - weird
-cell phones are called handys
-its common to see American sitcoms on tv but they are all dubbed, not subtitled
-they sell white cotton candy - not pink or blue or green but WHITE
-I can't seem to find french dressing or peanut butter ANYWHERE
-many people speak english and a lot of signs are in english (ok, thats maybe not a difference, just an observation)
-bathroom is called the WC and its not unheard of to have unisex bathrooms or to have to pay to use it
-things close earlier, as early as 7 or 8 sometimes
-there arn't any screens in the windows
-customer service is not the same; cashiers don't hurry to check you out, people don't smile or greet you when you enter a store (generally); I've been told that this is left over from Soviet times when people were told if they smile, that means they are not serious
*Note: These are all generalizations and the observations of the author. I mean no offense to any person, thing or culture.