Catch up.

Its been a while since my last post. Mostly because not a lot has been going on and because school has actually gotten pretty busy. After our Italian tour we picked up an extra class- sculpture! Three days a week I get to play with clay! The first project was an abstract one where we used 3 or 4 basic shapes to create a dynamic form. It was cool how different everyone's was despite us all using the same few shapes. We just finished the project and now have to transform our sculpture into a human form of some sort. Mine has currently been transformed into a very abstract child rolling on the ground... we will see how it turns out! Studio has also picked up the pace too and we are now in full designing mode.

While school has picked up some we have still found plenty of time to go out and enjoy Krakow. Saturday, Caitlin and I braved the snow, yes snow, and went downtown walking around picture taking for at little bit. This past weekend we especially enjoyed Krakow's nightlife. Friday night a group of us went out to a place called Club Blue. It was tons of fun! We met a group American students who are studying in Prague but were in Krakow visiting. I also met a guy from England who ironically works as an engineer. Scott (english guy) and I talked for a while as I was playing wing-woman for the night as Caitlin let loose and had some fun. Saturday a small group of us went to a place called Bar Italiano to meet up with the Eurasmus (European students) people, who party there on Saturday's. My roommate and suite-mates invited us with them, so we met them there for another fun night! Met tons of Spanish students and a couple French and Turkish guys. I had so many names spinning around in my head by the end of the night! Once again I played wing-woman to Caitlin who finally got to meet this guy from our history class that she thought was cute. So she spent the entire night 'getting to know him' ... I eventually had to drag her away so we could catch the last late night bus. The whole bus ride back she kept telling me that she shouldn't have left, it was comical! Sunday was a recovery day, mostly from a lack of sleep! We also went out last night for Phillip's birthday (he is another UT student here). Just about everyone went out to club Coco where we were all getting our dance on and having a good time! Thankfully, we don't have class till 1pm on Thursdays so we were all able to sleep in some!

Other than that not a lot to report. Oh! a week from today myself and 6 others will be heading to the airport for a 4 day trip to Greece!! I cannot wait!! Also, in about 3 weeks is spring break, and my mom and grandma are coming for a 10 day visit! I will be showing them all the sights of Krakow!! And rest assured they will be eating a kebab or two while here!!

Anyway, time to do some studio work. I will leave you with a few Photo-shopped photos from my wandering around Krakow over the weekend.



(Jacqueline, any thoughts?)

Whirlwind of activity!

Dear blog followers,

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy roaming through Italy, and a little bit of Austria, on a 10 day school led field trip! Life is tough, I know! Now, I thought about giving a run down of every city we visited but that could take me days to write about. So, I am going to give a brief run down of everything, highlighting my favorite places. So...

The trip started two Fridays ago. All 20 of us loaded up on a coach Friday night and had an overnight ride to the city of Graz, Austria. It was a beautiful European city! Lots of charm, very historic, and a definite sense of culture- something I have found in nearly all the countries and cities I have visited in my various travels. If only the U.S. had such a rich and deep root in its history and culture!


From Graz we loaded back onto the bus and headed for Vicenza, Italy! The ride there was beautiful as we drove through the alps, which were still capped with snow! When we reach the Italian boarder we were stopped and had our passports checked. We were all cleared to enter the country! We arrived in Vicenza around 9 and after sorting out rooms we headed out to find some dinner. Vicenza is known for being the home of Palladio, and thus many of the best examples of his work. As a result, our visit there focused primarily on his works which were pretty interesting to see in person, especially since we studied them in our architecture history classes. While in Vicenza we took a day trip to Verona. Home of Juliet Capulet- to which we of course went to her house and saw her balcony and made a wish! Verona itself was a beautiful city and one of my favorites. It was bustling with activity, the main street was packed- it took some maneuvering for everyone to stay together. The main city square was much smaller than Krakow's but was also teeming with activity as tons of vendors were set up in the center selling all sorts of things - masks, scarves, jewelry, you name it!


From Vicenza we headed towards Venice stopping in Padova along the way. Padova is most known for its university. The first female to ever receive her undergraduate degree went to the university. It was also well known for its science/doctoral program.

After an afternoon in Padova we ventured on to our hotel outside of Venice. We arrived around 8 or so and once again went out in search of food around 9. We found a very delicious restaurant with amazing pizza. I had half of a Viennese and half of a Hawaiian. Both were delicious. We all also indulged in some vino de la casa - house wine- which was also amazing! And since Amelia already started blabbering about it, this place also won the award for best looking Italian server! The guy even told us to come back the next night, which I gladly would have done had we not been celebrating Carnival in Venice the next night! Oh well... After dinner we all headed to the beach, which was only 2 streets down from our hotel, for a night walk.

In case you hadn't guessed it the next day was spent in Venice. This was the first city we stopped in that I had previously been to and I was looking forward to being back and experiencing the city again- this time through my own eyes and not through a camera screen! The city was more amazing than I remembered, although that may have had something to do with it being the last day of Carnival- its a giant celebration that lasts several days with lots of festivals and wearing masks and throwing confetti all in celebration of the upcoming Lent. It was pretty cool to experience as we all bought and wore our masks around, fitting in perfectly! It was a lot of fun! The other thing I did, which I didn't do last time, was a gondola ride. Myself and 3 others split the cost for a 45 minute cruise around the various canals. It was a really neat way to experience the city, especially since boat was meant to be the primary means of travel.




Man, this is getting long... From Venice we went to Pisa, which was another repeat place for me. We toured around and of course did the cheesy Pisa pics. We actually met a few fellow Americans while taking pictures. One was an OSU alum- blehh. And another was a Florida fan! Small world! After Pisa we continued on to Florence! It was fun to be back in Florence and see all the sites again, even went to the top of the Duomo for the second time! I will admit that of all the Italian cities Florence is not one of my top cities. Its much busier than all the others and has a slightly different feel to it. Not to say it isn't an amazing city, just not one of my favorites.



After Florence we headed for Siena. The city actually surprised me with its charm and character. At first it seemed like many of the smaller cities we had seen, but there was a certain boldness to it that seperated it from the others. It may have been partly due to the fact that it contained the only church/cathedral that really caught my attention. The cathedral was a complete contrast to all the buildings around it and really had a presence. The city square area was also unique- it was a semi-circle rather than the typical rectangle/square shape in every other city.

From there we headed to our final Italian city- Rome. It was just as impressive as I remembered! It was fun being back in Rome too, because despite having seen nearly every place we went to on our tour of the city, I got to experience them at a different time of day. For instance, the last time I went to the Pantheon was in the middle of the day and this time we went later in the evening so the whole experience was different! I also went into the Colosseum and explored the ancient ruins of the roman forum, which I didn't do last time. And as I said earlier, this time I got to experience the city more with my eyes than through the lens of a camera!

The final stop on our way home was Vienna, Austria. It was a very charming city and an interesting contrast to the Italian cities we had been seeing! It probably would have been one of my favorite cities had I not been so tired from the previous 9 days! But despite being exhausted I did my best to enjoy the city. It was lively like many of the others- which actually impresses me since we were there on a Sunday and other than the fact that all the stores were closed I never would have thought a place would be that active on a Sunday. There were people/families everywhere!

Fat Thursday

Panoramic of Market Square - with blue skies!

Today was a Polish holiday known as Fat Thursday. Basically a day to pig out on donuts and other delicious treats before Lent; which explains why people were loading up their carts with packs of donuts yesterday at the store. We decided to part take in the festivities and so after class we hung out in market square in search of a cafe or bakery shop selling delicious treats! We ended up going into a cafe we had been in once before and grabbed a seat. After a thorough inspection of the menu, everyone chose to get a donut except me. I figured its Fat Thursday, a day to indulge... and well a donut wasn't quite what I was feeling. So I ordered an ice cream- fruit dish that looked delicious based on the picture in the menu. The waitress had a hard time understanding us, so while everyone thought they were ordering a chocolate donut, they all ended up getting a chocolate milk and a plain donut with a raspberry filling. It was pretty funny. Luckily, my order was simply pointing to the item on the menu so I got exactly what I ordered. And it was beautiful when they brought it out... and delicious. I forget the menu name, but it was amazing. It was 3 scopes of ice cream- one of lemon, one of mocha, and one of raspberry- topped with whipped cream with a layer of fresh fruit - clementines, kiwi, grapes, pineapple, cantaloupe, and pomegranate - all on top. It was delicious!!

Before
After

Once we finished our snacks a group of us headed out to wander around market square and take some pictures as today was the first day I was down there while there were blue skies! The weather is slowly improving; hopefully by the time we return from out 9 days in Italy it will have warmed up a few more degrees! And yes, we are getting ready to go on a 9 day excursion to Italy, with stops in Austria! The bus leaves tomorrow at 10pm (4pm eastern standard time) and we will head to Austria and then a bunch of cities in Italy. I have to admit I was kind of hoping that our European tour would be some place other than Italy, but we got to the itinerary today and are going to 5 or so Italian cities I haven't been to along with places in Austria. Needless to say I'm pretty excited! Vicenza, Verona (home of Juliette), Firenze, and Siena are a few of the places we are going that I haven't been. I have a feeling its going to be a long 9 days as we will be visiting 11 cities in Italy and Austria, but well worth the exhaustion that I know will follow!

Anywho, just thought I would give a quick updaete! I'm tired and have class in the morning so its bedtime for me. I'll try to post a time or two while in Italy, but no guarantees as I am not taking my laptop and don't know when I'll be able to find an internet cafe.

Auschwitz.... (warning: depressing post)

I'm sitting here trying to write about my visit to Auschwitz, but the words are hard to find. I'll start by saying that it was depressing. I want to say that it was interesting, but I'm not sure that's the right word to use... after all we all learned about WWII in school and about the concentration camps, so I didn't necessarily learn anything about what went on at these camps... instead it was eye opening and heart breaking- those are probably better words to use. As I said, we all learn about the atrocities of the Holocaust, but to actually visit a concentration camp is an experience. To be honest I'm not sure I can entirely put it into words, but I'll do my best...

I started depressing adventure with Corey, Taylor, and Gabrielle. We barely caught the train in time and then had a 2 hour train ride to Oswiecim (the town where Auschwitz is located). The ride wasn't bad at first. We even made friends with a fellow American who was going to see Auschwitz as well. She has been living in Prague for the last 2 months just traveling around Europe on her own 'avoiding the real world'. She was really nice and helped us find our way to the camp once we arrived in the town. But otherwise the train ride began setting the mood for the visit to Auschwitz. Once we got 30 or so minutes outside of the city the landscape became barren. And with the snow on the ground it was almost as if I was traveling back in time. I began picturing a war taking place outside my window... soldiers advancing through the wooded areas, tanks moving across the cold, open fields and planes dotting the sky above...


From the moment I walk up to the gate a sort of eerie stillness took over. I hardly said a word as I walked around despite wandering around with Taylor. When we did speak it was quiet and something to do with how we couldn't believe something we saw or read. Once I had passed through the gate into the camp I hadn't gone more than 30ft before there was a sign telling how the SS would hang the bodies of attempted escapees along the wall of the first building you passed as you moved into the camp as a warning to other prisoners. Opposite of that was another sign describing how the camp orchestra would play marches to help keep the prisoners in step as they were sent off to do a full day of grueling work. It was insane. All I could think was yeah, lets have an orchestra play music to keep people in step while on the wall of the opposite building dead bodies just hang out... that sounds lovely.... not. The whole thing was just stick and twisted and I hadn't made it more than 50 feet.

Needless to say that it didn't get much better. They had many of the barracks where prisoners stayed open to walk through with exhibits to look at. We went in the first one we found and it was the most depressing thing ever. First off, when you walked inside it was cold, colder than being outside. Second, it was even creepier than walking through the front gate. Especially thinking about how many men, women, and children lived in this one building and the conditions in which they lived in and then realizing how many of them were probably killed. Last of all, the exhibit itself within this one building was an incredible downer. There were pictures of the destruction in Warsaw and small towns which had been bombed or burned to the ground. And there were pictures of children suffering from starvation- you could see every bone they were so skinny. Then there were the quotes of Hitler and other Nazi leaders. One of Hitler's quotes said "I will provide a cause for the war whether true or not is irrelevant for propaganda purposes." It was insane to think how he managed to brainwash so many people into believing the things he said.

The worst part of the exhibit was when I walked into a room that had what I would describe as 50 or more scarecrow resembling things that were dressed in the clothes of actual prisoners. And I would hardly call them clothes, they looked more like striped pajamas. On the wall behind it were the photos of hundreds of prisoners. It was, by far, the most depressing and hard-hitting moment the entire time there.


After that I just wanted out of the building so I quickly finished the exhibit and headed back outside not wanting to go inside another building like that again. So Taylor and I continued walking around the camp. We saw where the area where prisoners were hung and another place where they were shot against a firing wall. We did venture into another building. It wasn't quiet as depressing, but still not much better. In this building we saw where prisoners where stripped and washed before being marched out to the firing wall. In the basement we saw where some of the more troublesome prisoners were held- the rooms were small concrete boxes with a small window with metal bars and a toilet in it (the toilet looked like nothing more than a wood box with a hole cut out of it)(Ameila- I'm glad you weren't here as I can only imagine the things you may have 'seen'). We also got to stand in what was called the 'standing' room. It was literally a room, well more like a closet that was maybe 3'x3', and prisoners would have to crawl through a tiny door to get in and they would force four people in at a time. They were so crammed that they couldn't lie down, hence the name. The two of us stood in one and it was pretty crammed so there is no way I could imagine having four people in there. Once we made our way out of there we silently wandered around some more.


The idea of having a conversation while touring the grounds of what I would consider a cemetery just seems weird and insensitive. What is there even to say? Nothing seems like the right thing. Everything whispered death and suffering, so thinking that anything said would really mean something was crazy. I don't know how people were walking around talking like it was no big deal. All I wanted to do was stay silent. And as I said, when Taylor and I did speak it was short.

Taylor and I walked around aimlessly some more when I spotted a visitor restroom. Now I only mention this because it was the strangest bathroom experience ever. Not because it was creepy or anything like that, but because a. who knows what the building the bathrooms were in was originally for. b. I felt weird using a real toilet in such a depressing place, especially after seeing what was considered a toilet for the prisoners. and c. the restroom was located right next to the gas chamber/crematorium.

The crematorium was the last place Taylor and I went in during our visit of Auschwitz. Strangely, it was probably the least depressing place of all. It was certainly creepy but I think the other areas we saw first were far worse. I think it felt this way simply because this was the place where the suffering ended. Yes, it is absolutely horrible that people were killed in such a manner, but after having toured the place I think I would have wanted to die. Everywhere else in the camp wreaked of pain and suffering and humiliation. But in the chamber, all that ended... the people went to a place much better. In some ways, as painful and hard as it is to say, I think the people who died were far luckier than those who survived and had to live with the memory of being there.


I just finished rereading this... probably the most depressing blog post I will have during my 4 months here. And while I feel the need to end this post in some sort of uplifting manner, that doesn't quiet seem fair after everything I saw today. So my apologies for the downer blog post today.

Transportation

Wowel Castle.


Wowel Castle and the river.

After weeks of anticipation, my semester of studies in Krakow officially started this morning with my 10am Urban Theory class. I must admit that I am quiet happy about the start of the semester as winter break has lasted a little too long and I'm ready from some stimulation of the synapses (that was just for you Daddy). Now, I know a 10am class doesn't sound too bad and during any regular semester I really wouldn't mind. However, here a 10am class means getting up at 8am to get dressed and eat a quick breakfast in order to catch the bus in time to make the 40ish min commute to class.

It's actually quite the adventure to get to class- first we have to hop on bus 139 and take it 13 stops to Plac Inwalidow. From there we hop off and get on either trams 4, 8, or 13 and take it 3 stops to the university stop and then its a short walk to the building. Fellow peers have already begun commenting on how they are going to appreciate having a car to go places whenever they want. Frankly, I think they are jumping the gun some. In the few days I have been here I have already grown quite fond of the transportation system. I agree it takes a little longer to get places, but there is definitely a sense of community and a certain buzz, that to me, brings the city alive. We were told a few days ago at orientation the 'Krakow is a city that sustains its people' and the bus/tram system is a great example. Today for instance, I was able to take the tram and bus to school then we took the tram on the way to our site (we began our site analysis today in studio class) then walked the rest of the way to the site. Once we finished we simply headed over to the bus stop, looked up which bus we needed in order to get back to the dorm, and after a short wait the bus we needed came and took us home. There was no need to worry about parking or traffic or really anything except paying attention to where we needed to get off. Otherwise we could sit back and watch as Krakow passed by our window.

The buses also offer the chance to take in some of Krakow's culture as the bus is full of people. Just listening in to conversations of the locals is interesting even though I don't understand a word of it. Although, it is pretty exciting when I do recognize a word or two - words usually limited to yes, no, excuse me, hello, goodbye, and thank you. Anyway you look at it the bus and tram systems within Krakow are a huge part of the city. Without them, the very pedestrian oriented streets and city center would not function. The city would no longer be able to sustain itself, just like NYC would be crippled if the subway system was removed. Its part of the cities identity and without the fun of taking the buses everywhere we go our experience in Krakow would not be complete.

That went on a little longer than expected, as I had intended on telling more about my day... Honestly the day wasn't exceptionally interesting. We had the Urban Theory class which we got a brief history of Krakow. Then we had 2 and a half hours to kill so a group of us went to this small place called Makaron (I think I spelled it right... I'll double check Wedns.) but it was this really good place that served pasta, pizza and salad. I got a very delicious chicken and broccoli pasta dish and a hot tea to help warm up! It was freezing cold here today, I don't think it got above 25 degrees- I might invest in some long underwear! After a long lunch we headed to studio where we were introduced to our site analysis project, which we will be working on for the next week in preparation for our studio project. The site is located on the other side of the river, opposite of Wawel (pronounced Vavel) Castle. We toured around for a short time before the cold got to us and we headed home. Tomorrow is Architecture History... hopefully it warms up because I am under the impression that the class is conducted by touring around Krakow.


Neat looking hotel next to Wowel Castle.... wink wink nudge nudge


Interesting painting on the side of a building near our site.

Orientation and Exploration

I'm letting the pictures do the talking. Today was orientation and exploration day. We found our studio building and met with our professor for a little then headed to Europe's largest mall - the Galeria- for some lunch and shopping/browsing. Then headed back to the dorms for a nap before heading out after dinner to go explore the city square and get some dessert.





The main building I have classes in - studio, urban theory, drawing, and sculpture.


Europe's largest mall - Galeria Krakowska. Apparently, people from all over Europe fly into Krakow to shop here.


The plaza outside the Galeria.


St. Mary's Church and Clothe Hall in the city square- the heart of Krakow.


Clothe Hall- lit up at night. (the reflection is off a marble bench)

I made it!

My dorm room... its pretty small!

Taking off from Charlotte at sundown, heading to Munich!


Just a quick post as I am about to head to bed. I made it to Krakow!! When we first arrived we were taken to our dorms and given room assignments. My roommate is Jeslynn, she is an exchange student originally from Malaysia, but she studies in Australia. I also have to suitemates who are from mexico... I am the lucky one who got all random roommates. Everyone else is roomed with other UT students, and the one guy who doesnt have a UT roomie has UT suitemates. Luckily, we are all in the same hall so while I have random room/suite mates I am till with everyone.

Once we got all our rooms figured out yesterday two Polish students showed us how to us the buses to get downtown and to our studios... the dorms are about a 20 minute bus ride from the city square. Along the way we stopped for dinner where I got pierogi ruskie- they are essentially dumplings/ravioli filled with mashed potatoes and cheese. Delicious! After that we all headed back to the dorms to unpack and hit the sack early for us...

Today, I woke up feeling well rested and a couple of us headed over to the mall (about a 15 minute walk or a 3 min bus ride plus 5ish min walk). Inside we found what is easiest described as a super walmart but a little smaller. We got all the essentials plus a few things that we needed, like towels, snacks, and water. After that we came back to the dorm and had a pretty low key afternoon. I finally got my internet setup and reconnected to the world. Around dinner Sonja, Caitlin and I headed back to the mall to find food- KFC (or as we call it, Krakow Fried Chicken) then went back into the store, which we dubbed wal-mall, to get a few things they had forgotten. Caitlin was trying to find a pre-paid phone so trying to communicate this with people working at Poland was rather amusing as there is a clear language barrier. We were able to get what we wanted across once a man who knew a little English came over and we pulled out our phrase book. We actually were able to hold a very short conversation with them, which is a start.

At this point everyone else had gone downtown for dinner and then, for those up to it, drinking. Since we decided to stay in, we decided to get a few small bottles of various Polish beers to try out. So when we got back to the dorms we hung out in Caitlin and Sonja's room and sampled the more popular (according to one of our polish guide books) beers. There weren't too bad. I will admit that one smelled like skunk, no joke, but actually tasted pretty good!

Anyway, now its bedtime as we have and orientation thing in the morning. Then some exploring of downtown. So more later. Dobranoc!