Well Fed.

I was really worried about missing Thanksgiving while I'd be here in Lith. It's just one of the best holidays. I love to give thanks for everything I have and to show people that I am grateful for them. And obviously, I love to eat turkey and mashed potatoes & gravy. I definitely didn't expect my host family to do anything about it since it's obviously just an American holiday. So, the girls & I planned to go to our favorite restaurant, Vapiano. It's the most delicious Italian restaurant I've been to! We planned to go Saturday for lunch, instead of trying to go on a school night. And because lunch there is cheaper. And that was to be our Thanksgiving. Well, our host mom got a call from her sister-in-law and was told that she had bought a 10 kilo turkey or something and it was just too big for only her and her small family. So she invited our whole family over for dinner that night along with some of her friends from Amsterdam. We were so excited! We were going to be eating turkey ON Thanksgiving IN Lithuania. What could be cooler? We get there that evening, walk in the house and are immediately absorbed into the smells of Thanksgiving. The table was spectacular! It was all set and ready when we got there, each plate filled with turkey, potatoes & carrots. In the middle of the table was salad, cranberry sauce (best I've ever tasted) and something similar to Greek Tzatziki sauce. We ate until we were beyond full topping the evening off with cake and tea. And then we chatted with the friends from Amsterdam. Their names were Raymill, Yanice, and Nivari. But they were such nice people! They all spoke English very well so we had some good talk about cultures, food, theatre, etc. Raymill was my favorite. We talked up a storm and he was just one of those people you immediately just love because they are so themselves and just so friendly and interested in the person he's talking to. What a hoot! We plan to meet again before they go back to Amsterdam, so I'm excited for that. That dinner was so neat because there were so many cultures present. Our Lithuanian family, the sister-in-law (Rita) and her boyfriend who is American/Norwegian, Our dutch friends, and then us Americans. I loved that. And everyone knows english so well, it seems, so we can all communicate and we just had the nicest night!

Auschwitz.

Our trip to Auschwitz was the next morning at 9. I found a nice tour package that included transportation to and from Oscewim, which was an hour away, a guided tour of both Auschwitz & Birkenau camps, and a documentary video. It costed only $30 for all of that! it was well worth it. Auschwitz I was so different than I thought. To be honest, it looked very nice. Other than the haunting sign "Arbeit Macht Frei" hanging over the entrance. The buildings were red brick and were set up like a little village. The grass was green and there were trees around. I didn't understand how this could be such an awful place when it looked so nice! It blew my mind. But that all changed when we walked into the first block (building). They set it up like a museum so you could peer into each room, but the doorways were covered in glass. The blocks were where the prisoners lived. Some of them were literally just rooms full of hay. That's where they slept. SOME had beds, but you can hardly call them that. Just cold, wooden bunks. Up to 12 prisoners would be stuffed onto EACH bunk to sleep. When I looked at it, I squirmed at the thought of even 3 people being able to fit. That's how dreadful it was. In the hallway of this building they had hung photographs of each prisoner. It couldn't have been all of them, because it only filled one hallway. Left side women, right side men. They must have been taken when the prisoners first entered the camp because some of them even had a hint of a smile on their face. It hurt my heart to think of these people, having no idea what they were about to step into. Hell, really. We toured a few more blocks with original photographs, and maps of other concentration camps, and statistics. You can't even comprehend how many people were murdered here. I don't even want to show you the picture with the numbers, but I will. 

We then saw the "Death Wall." This was a wall at the end of a courtyard where they'd place their prisoners to be shot to death. It had flowers placed all around it. We went into another block that held the "starvation room" and the "suffocation room." The title tells you. They were just cement rooms about as wide as a bedroom with nothing but a tiny window with bars on it. Where innocent prisoners were left to starve or suffer. One of the rooms that hurt the most was a tiny room with 3 little brick rooms in it. They were 1 square meter each. These were called the standing rooms. Not even enough room to lay down in. Prisoners were placed there to suffer as well. I can't even imagine the claustrophobia. 

We went into another building that held all of the prisoners shoes, suitcases, pots and bowls, toothbrushes, razors and hair brushes, and...hair. Yes they had one glass room that was almost completely full of the human hair that they shaved off of each prisoner. I was staring at their hair...it was surreal and it still is. As I stared at the shoes I tried not to imagine a child having their favorite (if not only) pair of shoes ripped off of them and thrown into a mass pile to never be seen again. But, that was the ONLY thing I could think of. The tears couldn't stop. All of these belongings taken from people for no reason. When they were given a number, they couldn't even keep their own name. Who you were didn't matter anymore. All that mattered to them were people who could do work. 80% of the humans brought to Auschwitz were killed immediately. Before they were even registered into the camp. Children and babies, mostly women, and weak men. 

We were taken to the gas chambers and crematoriums. I stood in a gas chamber in Auschwitz. Reading about it in school, the thought didn't even cross my mind that i would ever do that. Unreal. Want to know the sickest part? The Cyklon B gas that was dropped into each chamber had a subtitle: Gift Gas...

The crematoriums were small, but about 400 bodies were burnt per day in them. 400. 

Our tour ended at Auschwitz I, and next was Auschwitz II-Birkenau. 

Now, Birkenau was what I've seen in pictures and probably what you've seen, too. It was a large brick building with an archway that you walk through. On the other side were train tracks in the middle and barracks on each side. Birkenau had many more crematoriums than Auschwitz I, but they were all destroyed by the Nazis near the end of 1945. At the end of the walk, there was a very nice monument with a memorial sign. Then there was a large stone plaque in over 20 languages with the memorial written on it. Flowers everywhere. That was the only nice thing I saw in that 4 hours. There were 5 latrines in the whole camp. And they had to be shared between over 20,000 prisoners. With only one hour in the morning and one hour at night that they were allowed to use them. And they weren't allowed to relieve themselves outside. That means they literally had no other choice but to urinate/defecate on themselves. No wonder there was so much sickness and disease. The tour ended after about an hour, and then we headed back to Krakow. You are completely humbled when you leave that awful place. Your first world problems no longer become as heavy and you learn to appreciate your uncomfortable bed or your cracked phone screen or your minimum wage job. I'm grateful that I was able to experience this. I wish that everyone could at some point in their lives. You can't completely understand it until you have stood in it.

 

 Prisoner's blocks at Auschwitz I.

 The Death Wall. Where they shot and hung thousands of innocent prisoners.

Block 11 contained torture chambers. Like small, dark rooms where prisoners were locked for several days with no food or anything. Others were punished to stand in standing cells. They are these TINY rooms where up to four prisoners would have to stand for night after night because there was no room to sit or lay down. And if they tried, they were shot. 

 The gas chamber & crematorium in Auschwitz I.

 "Work Makes You Free."

 Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

 Birkenau was huge. And so cold and misty. It added a lot to the experience.

 The train tracks at Birkenau. 

 Guard watch tower.

 One of the train cars that held prisoners on their way to Birkenau. Some of the journeys, like from Italy or Greece, took up to two weeks in these cars. The prisoners were forced to urinate/defecate on themselves, so a lot of people came down with awful diseases before they even got to the camps.

 The ruins of the crematoriums at Birkenau, after the Nazis destroyed them.

 Prisoner's blocks at Birkenau. 

 Toilets. They had a group called the "Sheist Kommando" which literally translates to "Shit Commander" in German. This group was forced to clean up all of the feces in these toilets.  

Bunks in Birkenau. Up to 12 prisoners were forced to sleep on these. No blankets, no comfort. BUT the Nazis DID create them so they would be slanted, to offer more comfort for the prisoners. So after gassing and shooting millions of prisoners for absolutely no reason, they are concerned about their sleeping comfort? Mind boggling.

 Prisoner's shoes. There were 2 or 3 HUGE glass displays with shoes in them.

 Toothbrushes, brushes, razors.

Krakow, Poland.

So I'm on a bus once again. As I write this. Yes, a lot of my vacation time is spent on buses. It is sort of a bother, because that leaves less time to actually spend where I am going. And yeah you may say "getting there is part of the fun." HA! I'll tell you right now, riding buses is not. Fun. You're squashed together like Sardines, everyone wants to recline their seats so your knees are uncomfortable, getting to the water closet is a journey in itself because you have to crawl over people's legs and squeeze through the tiny aisle, and they lie and tell you on the website that they have tv screens with movies but nooo...they most certainly do not. Well, at least this ONE bus lied. Back on my 10 day vacation, we had a 13 hour his ride ahead of us. I knew it would be horrible, but on the website I read that this bus was very fancy and had nice screens with movies and music available for you. The bus pulls up and there were no screens to be seen. I wanted to cry. I was now unprepared for the ride and it made me quite angry. Anyway. Back to the point. My group and I went to Krakow, Poland this weekend for our last little vacation off of school. We left Thursday night after school got out. Before my host mom dropped me off at the bus stop, she handed Kelby & I a bag full of bus goodies. She called it our midnight lunch :) my host mom is the absolute sweetest. She packed us each our own little goodie bags with an orange, a banana juice box, tons of chocolate candies, instant oatmeals, chocolate cinnamon buns, and my FAVORITE cheesecake bars. And this part kills me: she knew my favorite bar was the double chocolate and that Kelby's was the vanilla, so she packed our favorite flavors. Is that not the sweetest? She's just so thoughtful. I don't think she understands how much the little things like that mean to me. To have a mom this far away from my real mom, that not only just does the necessities, but actually does care about you. I couldn't ask for a better host mom <3 we got on the bus an headed to Warsaw where we had to make the connection to get to Krakow. If you didn't already know, Krakow is near Oscewim which is home to Auschwitz concentration camp. That's our main reason for deciding to go to Krakow for this last vacation. We made it Krakow Friday afternoon, but you'd think it was 10:00 at night. Since the time change, it has been getting dark here around 4:00pm. We arrived around then and it just felt like I should have gone to bed. Haha. But we settled into the Atlantis hostel and headed out to Old town. It was only a 10 minute walk so it was convenient to not have to take the tram. Krakow is chalk full of cathedrals. I think it definitely had the most. And the few that we went into were completely breathtaking. I wish we had structures like them in America. I've never been inside an LDS temple, so I'm not sure what they look like inside but I can't imagine anything being more beautiful than these European cathedrals. The Alexander Nevsky cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia; St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Hungary; St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. Look them up on Google right now!! 

We found a lot of lovely souvenir shops where I bought the rest of my souvenirs/Christmas gifts for everyone. Poland is the cheapest place I've been so far. I got 2 nice leather bracelets, 3 pairs of earrings, and 3 shot glasses for $10! And plenty more. It's so nice to have all my souvenirs bought. I just need to buy chocolate and that's all :) we headed back to get some sleep around 9 or so. I read some of Grandma's book (which I am LOVING by the way.) it makes me feel a lot closer to her when I read these personal accounts of her life. I cannot wait to get home so I can discuss it with her. I know she will love that. 

The next day we spend in Auschwitz Concentration camp. I will write a post after this about that day, because I think it deserves its own post. After Auschwitz, we got back and relaxed for a while. We were all pretty drained from seeing all that we did, so a rest was needed. Then we headed back out to town and bought more souvenirs. And I ate a delicious Kebab! YUM! I'm going to miss those a lot when i go home. They don't have them in America, as far as I know. They're similar to gyros, but better. And then i got a McFlurry at McDonald's because they are the best in Europe. They have magnum flavor! It's so chocolatey and has almonds in it and chocolate chunks! a dream. Oreo doesn't even compare. 

The last day in Krakow is when we saw all the sights. The 2 previous nights it was dark when we went out so we didn't get to see the pretty castles and cathedrals much. So we woke up and went to the Wawel castel, which was right around the corner from our hostel! It was BEAUTIFUL! It was set on a hill, with a huge wall surrounding it. It was just so cool. It had a nice courtyard up top that had pretty green grass and walkways. I really enjoyed it. And then we found a statue of a dragon that blew actual fire (ever few minutes or so.) We climbed up and took pictures with it! Krakow had a lot of dragon things, like in their souvenir shops and stuff. I like that :) It went well along with the castle! We sat in on sunday mass at a cathedral, which was really neat. They handed us a hymns music sheet and I KNEW one of the songs that was on there! It blew my mind that I would even recognize anything there haha. It was "Kyrie Eleison." If you were in Snow canyon middle or high school choir, then you know this song :) We didn't have time to stay so I didn't get to sing it with the congregation, but how cool would that have been? We walked around to a few more sights and got some lunch. Then we sat at this little cafe under some umbrellas for a while as it was downpouring. Then we got some subway to go and headed back to our hostel to check out and head to the bus. My last vacation in Europe for the duration of this trip. Twas sad :( But I'll be back. I'd love to go back to Europe and I believe that I can! On our last bus ride home, this guy decided he didn't have a bubble and laid his head on my shoulder the whole ride home. He had his eye mask and ear plugs in and just went right off to sleep. I don't even think he realized the whole time that he was on me. Maybe he was drunk or something..It was funny though!

 Me and my Kebaaaaaab.

 Wawel Castle.

 Pigeons are everywhere. everywhere.

 What a lovely place.

 We make a good team :) 

 Such beautiful art work.

 Town square.

Bus friend.

 

9 Days Of Backpacking.

So I just had 9 wonderful days off of teaching. Hehe. I don't mean to sound so thrilled,  but after all, teaching IS quite exhausting. And having not only the weekend, but NINE days off to travel was the greatest thing I could have asked for. I could easily bore you with all of the funny/awesome/pretty details, but I fear you might hate me and choose to not continue reading (because, let's be honest, when someone writes too much and doesn't post enough photos, I hate them.) Hahaha. So instead, I'll share the highlights and main events of this trip!

Warsaw, Poland:
Sadly, I didn't see a lot in Poland. We mainly just used it to commute through to get to the other destinations, but I will return in 2 weeks and will spend more time there!
P.S. A lot of these photos were taken on my iPod, so that is why they are sooo fuzzy and awful. I apologize!

 This lovely rainbow lit building in the center of town.

 So much more modern than the rest of the cities I've traveled to. 

Let the back aches begin! Actually, in this photo my backpack looks so small, but I promise you, it was 30 pounds or more! My back was killing me! 

We didn't see much outside because since our backs hurt so badly, we sat in the mall all day and rested until we were to catch our bus that night. The mall was really nice though and I was happy to eat Subway for lunch there! 

Prague, Czech Republic:

I think Prague was my favorite out of this backpacking trip. It had the best old town and such great views of the city! Lovely palaces, GOOD FOOD, and nice people! Here is a list of things that caught my eye in Prague:

-There are pretzel appetizers on every table that you see in the restaurant windows.

-The beggars are interesting. Instead of sitting and holding their cup out to you begging you for money, they kneel down and rest their heads and hands on the ground and just set their cups out in front of them, sort of like they are praying. It showed me that, even though they had nothing and were begging for things, they were still humble. 

-They sell Absinth everywhere. It's a VERY strong alcoholic drink, usually filled with bugs or lizards in the bottles (EWWW)

-They sell marijuana flavored lollipops?

-There are SO many American tourists.

-They have the best granola (Musli) I've ever had!

 Charles Bridge

 Shorty's Burger, from a little fast food stop. Boy was it good. It might have even been better than the GIANT burger from Street Burgers in Latvia that I blogged about before. I want another. 

 Joni, Jenna, Hayden, Kelby & I.

 St. Vitus' Cathedral.

 The street our hostel was on. It was probably the best street in Prague. Although here it is empty.

 The Astronomical clock.

 A Bagpipe band! This was the coolest thing ever!

The John Lennon Wall.

We met some really nice boys in our hostel. One from India named Irfan and one from Iraq named Sham! They were SO awesome and I talked with them for a while. They invited me out to the Charles Bridge with them and their group to just enjoy the night view, but of course I couldn't leave because I can't go anywhere alone -____-

We took a nice ferry tour on the river and our tour guide was super cool and knowledgeable. It was 45 minutes long and he shared lots of facts and stories about Prague with us. Before we got on the ferry, we were in this little mall thing, and I was getting money out of an ATM and Kelby was a little distance away from me and she was standing behind this man and she noticed him taking pictures of me and some of the other girls. Like, literally snapping pictures on his phone of us. So she came up to us and told us and we got a little freaked out. We walked past him and then noticed he was talking on the phone now. At first, I got a little scared like "What if he was photographing my pin number when I was getting money out of the ATM." But then realized that's highly impossible because he was pretty far away. Then we looked back and he was taking more pictures of us. It was really scary. We got on the boat and were worried that he'd corner us or something when we got off, but nothing happened. It was really strange though. 

I will return to Prague some day. That is a definite must!

Budapest, Hungary:

Budapest was a lot different than anywhere in Europe I've seen yet. Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Prague were pretty similar with their red roofs, pastry cafes, and Old Towns. Budapest reminded me more of..Greece maybe? It's hard to explain but it was definitely a lot different. So amazing though! The Parliament building was one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. So bright and enchanting! There was also the St. Stephen's Basilica that was SO beautiful inside and the panoramic view at the top showed all of Budapest! Panoramas are my favourite. 

 We went to a Jazz club and saw this amazing concert. 

 The Szechenyi Thermal Baths.

 These were so cool! It was like a hot tub, but pool-sized! And there were different pools with different temperatures. And they had a sauna there that was pretty much like sitting in Hell. I couldn't open my eyes or breathe openly. I had to cover my nose and mouth to breathe. And then when I tried to walk out, the Hellish air was completely scorching my lungs. It was crazy! But then there is an ice cold mini-pool waiting for you outside of it and you hop in there and it's very refreshing!

 Inside St. Stephen's Basilica.

 Just a palace on the hill side :) 

 Found a play ground!

 Boy, aren't I cute? -___-

 St. Stephen's Basilica.

 Panoramic view off the top!

The Parliament building! I wish my camera did it justice, but it just doesn't. You can tell how regal it is though, can't you? <3

We sat down at this little cafe for a while, and one of the girls left her phone there, we realized a few hours later. We were about 2 miles away when she realized it so we had to walk back there, thinking it would probably be closed since it was late by then. But thankfully it was still open and we walked in and they could tell by our anxious faces that we came looking for the phone. So that was really nice that we got it back! That would have sucked to lose it here. I also got this really incredible Kebab on the streets in Budapest. It was this shredded chicken in a pita, with tomatoes, lettuce, garlic and this really hot chipotle sauce. It. Was. HEAVEN. I gobbled it and seriously wanted another one. AND wanted one for the rest of my time there. Every meal I think. But I ended up only eating it once :/ BUT we did have this thai food at Buddha Express :) That was really good, too. I just got some honey chicken and rice with veggies. And then they brought us free sodas for no reason! It was lovely! That was a really good night. We met some cool people in our hostel there. A guy named Mark who had biked there from London. Yes, biked. And he had been biking Europe since April. Pitching tents in random spots in the forest, and bathing in rivers, cooking over the fire. I thought that was the coolest thing I've ever heard. If you know me, you know my heart resides in the forest and mountains. I would love to live this way. That's why Into The Wild is one of my favorite movies. Living off the land I just think would be so invigorating and humbling. If only I were fit enough to bike across a whole continent ;) 

Vienna, Austria:

Vienna was BEAUTIFUL! I just felt so fancy when I was there. We stayed in a huge hostel, it was called the Wombat City Hostel @ Naschmarkt. Naschmarkt is this big, outdoor market. It was so fun to walk through it and see all the vendors selling schnitzel and pickled vegetables. Also many goods like jewelry, clothing, and pottery. We only toured if for a little bit, but planned to come back the next day. We later regretted that after we found out that there was a national holiday in Austria that next day and EVERYTHING would be closed. Goodness. That was a real bummer. All of the supermarkets and souvenir shops were closed. But at least, the sights were still open. Like the operas and that palaces. We tried to go to an Opera, but it was 49 Euros for the CHEAPEST seat. So that definitely wasn't happening. I found some really good chocolate in Vienna, but that's a given. I bought a bit for the fam, but I wish I could have bought more. We had our go at Kasekrainer, which is a type of sausage. We knew that coming to the land of sausage, we had to try it somewhere. We had zillions of options. On ever other corner, there was a street vendor selling brotwurst, schnitzel, vienna sausages, you name it. We picked one, and it was perfect. The man explained what each sausage was like (spicy, cheesey, smoked, etc.) I went with the kasekrainer, which was a sausage with cheese inside. Not like the gross kind that you get at the grocery store in America. It was completely infused with cheese, but it wasn't overwhelming, you feel? He put it in a bun and threw in some sweet mustard and ketchup. Oh boy. I wish everyone could try it from that very shop. I was in wiener heaven. I could have had another, but I need to be more frugal with my money :p Haha. But just know I've dreamt of it a time or two since then. We then went off to get some delicious gelato and see more sights. We found a beautiful park with ponds and trees that is sitting right on this palace looking building! I wish I knew its name, but I didn't. We climbed a tree and took photos, and then sat in the grass and just soaked in the sun. Austria was sunny the whole time we were there! They also had Christmas shops which was Siiiiick! I actually understood a lot of words, but not enough to actually speak to anyone in German. I wish I could get back to Austria some day. I could easily live there. 

 Naschmarkt.

 Gelato love <3

 One of the most beautiful cathedrals I've been in yet!

 Not sure what this building is called but it sure was lovely.

 The names here are just insane. I loved it! And also, i love the U-bahn/Metro whatever. 

 Beautiful parks all around!

 Hi.

 Okay this is hilarious: We wanted to get pictures of us throwing leaves up in the air because, duh, it's fall and who doesn't do that? So we pick a spot and Kelby goes first and she's throwing these leaves and all of a sudden this little group of Asians come up and start photographing her as well. And then that little group turned into huge group of Asians and they just kept saying "again, again!" And so we all got up there and started throwing leaves for these Asian photographers. I felt famous for a minute! Hahahaha. I'll never forget that. Maybe we'll end up on a billboard in Korea or something :) 

 Here is a nice Sun-bather.

 Rose garden.

 Mouth-watering bread.

 St. Stephen's cathedral. Look at that design! That roof.

 Eating my Kasekrainer!!

 Accidental photo but I liked it!

Relaxing after a long day, in front of this palace.

The coziest book store I've ever seen and it was in Austria. Life complete.