Hello everyone!! I think it's about time I update you on what I've been doing for the past month or so :) I've had a couple of blog posts written up from my October travels and I'm just now getting around to editing and posting them so bear with me as I bombard you with my abroad adventures.
Last month my core course spent a week in Germany and the Czech Republic on what DIS calls our Long Study Tour. This week was jam packed with academic site visits, sightseeing, food, and culture and it was definitely a highlight of my semester so far. Click here to czech (hehe) out the video I put together of my trip and keep on reading if you want to learn more about what I did!
Day 1: The trip began with an early morning flight out of Copenhagen to Berlin. The plane we took to Germany was a propeller plane and probably the smallest plane I've ever been on. There was room for two seats on each side and not much else! After arriving in Berlin, we quickly dropped off out luggage at the hostel and went straight to the parliament building for lunch. In order to get in we had to show our passports and be checked off of a list at security - it felt very posh and official. We took a huge glass elevator all the way to the top floor and ate at the restaurant they have there. The weather was perfect and we had an unreal view of the whole city.
After a delicious but slightly weird lunch of pork and caper meatballs (??) we headed to Fat Tire Bike Tours for a biking tour of the city. This turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip - we saw all of the major sites in the city (the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the TV tower, the Bebelplatz, Brandenburg Gate, holocaust memorial, and many many more) and our tour guide told us so many interesting stories about the different historical landmarks. For some reason I was absolutely blown away by how much history the city has - much more than I ever have in any other city. I guess it's one thing to learn about WWII in school but when you're actually standing where Hitler gave his speeches or where the Nazis burned thousands of books it's kind of surreal. One of the most interesting parts of the tour was when we went to the spot of Hitler's bunker, where he waited out the end of the war and ultimately killed himself. Today it's literally a parking lot with no indication that anything happened there because the Germans didn't want to attract any sort of 'memorials' to the Nazis.
We ended the bike tour at the main church in the city center. It just so happened that we were in Berlin during their Festival of Lights so there was a super cool music and light show being projected onto the building. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to check into our rooms and went out for burritos for dinner (if there's one thing Copenhagen is lacking it's Mexican food!!).
the parliament building where we ate lunch
check point charlie - the final crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War
the book burning memorial at the Bebelplatz - these empty underground bookshelves have space for around 20,000 books, as a reminder of the 20,000 books that went up in flames here
the holocaust memorial - the artist has never told anyone what it exactly means but it is a bunch of massive brick pillars that descend into the ground
one of the last standing sections of the Berlin Wall
the Brandenburg Gate - where Ronald Reagan famously said, "Tear down this wall!"
the Berlin Cathedral - the largest church in the city
Day 2: On Monday, the class was split into small groups for independent company visits. My group visited the Aspen Institute. This international think tank recruits intellectuals across many fields to give talks and influence global policy on a variety of issues. It was super interesting to learn more about how the organization operates and remains non-partisan despite government funding.
Afterwards, my group headed over to the East Side Gallery, a stretch of the Berlin Wall that has been converted into an art exhibit. Hundreds of artists took sections of the wall and painted it with all kinds of imagery - from bright and abstract flowers to controversial political cartoons, to dark images of the wall's original purpose. We spent a good hour and a half looking at each installation (and taking a few hundred photos of course). Here are a few of my favorite shots:
Then we headed in pursuit of kurrywurst for lunch. This classic German dish is comprised of sausages smothered in curry tomato sauce. My verdict? Solid 6.5/10. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city before going to our next company visit, Deutsche Bahn. This is the company that provides almost all of the trains and railways in Europe and we learned how they approach business strategy and regulation in the EU. The session was on the top floor of the building and we again got an amazing view of Berlin. Following the visit, we had a group dinner where we were served what my professor referred to as the typical Oktoberfest meal. It was quite possibly the largest pork leg I have ever consumed in my life.
kind of hard to tell but this thing was literally huge
Our post dinner group activity was a field trip to a wine bar where you pay 2 euros for a glass and can have as much wine as you want for the entire time you're there. It was all self service and they would switch out different types of wine as the night went on. At the end of the night you paid what you felt they had earned! I thought it was a super interesting concept and super fun way to bond with my class and professors.
Day 3: Tuesday began with a visit to the Story of Berlin Museum. It's exactly what it sounds like - a museum that details the history of the city from its origins to post WWII. Not my favorite activity of the trip but we did get a private tour of the bunker located under the museum. It was built in the 1960s and could house over 3,000 people in the case of a nuclear bombing. I couldn't even imagine staying down there for more than a hour. The 'beds' were stacked three high, there were only a few bathrooms, very little air flow, and the only access to the outside world was via a single telephone. Thankfully the shelter never had to be used and today part of it serves as a parking garage.
At lunch we were served another classic Eastern European dish: goulash! This definitely ranked higher on my list than the kurrywurst. Afterwards we went to another company visit, this time with the German Car Association. We learned about the singer market for cars in the EU (all cars produced and sold in the EU have to pass strict standards on emissions and safety), alternative fuel cars, and 'Dieselgate' (VW's emissions scandal). After the presentation a few of the girls in my class decided to go to the top of the TV tower. This tower is the second tallest structure in the EU, but it's going to regain its status as tallest post Brexit, when the Shard is no longer in the EU. The tower was built in the 60s and definitely gives retro but modern vibes. It kind of reminded me of something that would be in Tommorowland in Disney World. We got to the top after dark and got to see the whole city sparkling with lights.
the TV Tower with projections from the Festival of Lights
Day 4: On Wednesday we hopped on a train to Prague! The ride (or at least the parts I was awake for) was beautiful - we passed through so many cute towns in the German countryside. Upon arrival, we checked into a beautiful 4-star hotel (shoutout to DIS) and immediately left for a walking tour of the city. Again, this was a great way to get oriented with the new city. Highlights included the Prague castle, Charles Bridge, and the Old Town Square. As we ended the tour and got some time on our own before dinner, I spotted a guy in the square who was wearing a Villanova Engineering sweatshirt. Turns out he was there with another Villanova student on Fall Break. Small world! Dinner was goulash soup and regular goulash as the main course! I think it's safe to say that we were pretty goulash-ed out by the end of the week :) That night I got to meet up with my friend Maggie, who is studying abroad in Prague for the semester, and four of my sorority sisters who were also visiting the city for their fall break!
outside the Prague Castle
inside the castle
tons of beautiful stained glass!
beautiful view from a lookout over the city
walking around the old town
Day 5: The next day we headed a little bit outside the city to visit the car company Skoda. They produce all of their cars at the massive plant they have in the Czech Republic because it's so cheap there. We got to go inside the plant and see the cars being assembled which was super cool! We also toured the museum on-site which showcases Skoda cars from throughout the years. After lunch, we had the whole rest of the day to ourselves so my friends and I did some exploring in the city. We got trdelníks, a typical Czech dessert that's basically a donut cone with chocolate spread on the inside and filled with vanilla soft serve ice cream. So. Good.
definitely a highlight of the week
We also checked out the John Lennon wall, a wall filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs. That evening we walked around the city a little more and ended up at a rooftop bar where we watched the sunset. Prague is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to - I swear if you google 'photos of Europe' pictures of the quintessentially European streets found in Prague would show up. That night I met up with my friends from Villanova for dinner. It was so nice to be able to catch up with them and hear about their study abroad experience (two of them are studying in London this semester) and get the update on campus life from the two that are at nova this semester.
second famous wall of the week!
we saw this street from the lookout on the first day and knew we had to find it somehow!
the castle at sunset
view from the rooftop
Day 6: On the final day of the study tour, we had a company visit with Skanska, the fifth largest construction and development company in the world. Instead of going to their office, we had the information session at their culinary school! After the session was over we took a cooking class with a Czech chef. We made a delicious Hungarian dish of chicken with paprika sauce served with rice. My class was split into groups of three and we all competed to see who could make their sauce taste the best. The chef chose my group's dish as the winner and said it tasted exactly how his grandma used to make it! For dessert we made an apple tart with vanilla cream sauce. It was a delicious and super fun way to end the trip - out of all the planned activities I definitely think it was my favorite. Afterwards we headed to the airport and made our way home to Copenhagen.
the final product of our cooking adventure
The long study tour week was absolutely exhausting but so incredibly fun! I had such a great time exploring two new cities and making memories with my class. One of the reasons I chose to study with DIS was because of their planned travel included in our curriculum and I can 100% say that this study tour exceeded my expectations.
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