My 3 days in Slovakia and 3 hours in Vienna

Hey everyone! Just returned from the Stanford-funded trip to Bratislava and Vienna, which was an epic 3 days of Slovakian castles, lecture halls, Bratislavan pubs, 9 hour train rides, and volcanic ash.

The 9 hour train ride was the result of the volcanic cloud that swept across Europe this past week. Damn Iceland volcano haha. We began our journey at 6 in the morning at the Sudkreuz Berlin train station, mentally preparing for a 9 hour train ride. I feel like I keep repeating that phrase but it's just kind of an epic thing to say you've experienced haha. 9. hour. train. ride.

Anyways, the 9 hour train ride actually wasn't terrible. There was a lot of room to stretch out, pass out, eat my Nutella and pretzels, etc. And you got to see the beautiful German and Czech countryside which was unbelievable. We got in to Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) around 4 and went right to a bus/walking tour through the city. It reminded me a lot of Krakow in how it was structures... everything was built around the Old Town. The old town was beautiful and had tons of really old buildings but once you got outside of it you could really see the Communist industrial influence in terms of the building style. My brain was pretty dead during the bus tour but once it got some oxygen on the walking tour I think we all perked up. I had a great time trying to figure out the signs and advertisement because Slovakian is really, really close to Polish. There's another guy in the program who speaks fluent Bosnian so between the two of us we could figure most things out. After traipsing around the city we had dinner at the hostel, had an introductory lecture that unfortunately I do not remember thanks to my sleep-starved state, and passed out around 11.

The next day we woke up early, had a fabulloussss hotel breakfast and headed out to the main Bratislava University for some more lectures. It's really interesting for me actually to be able to not only see the city as a tourist but also from an academic point of view. I was able to get some coffee in me before the lecture so this one I found really interesting. He talked a lot about the differences and similarities between Czech and Slovak culture and language, and about how a lot of Slovaks did not even want to two countries to split. He also talked a great deal about Slovakia's struggle to be recognized as an official country, both officially and unofficially. They also have one of the most supportive populations when it comes to being a member of the European Union.

After the lecture, we had some free time so Bianca and I passed out in our hotel room before getting ready for the Slovak pub. We had 15 euro to spend on food and drinks and nothing really cost more than 3 euro - so that was kind of an epic night haha. The only stipulation was that we were not allowed to spend more on drinks than we did on food. Good times : ) I am in love with Eastern European prices.

The next day we had more lectures in the morning on Slovakian and Eastern European economies - comparing them to Western Europe and the different kind of challenges they face in the transition from capitalism to communism. It was really, really interesting for me to hear about another Eastern European country that's not Poland in depth. Because I know a lot when comparing Poland to Western Europe but not a lot when it comes to comparing it with other Eastern European countries. I feel like I learned a lot not just about Slovakia but also about Germany and Poland just by comparison.

We then went to lunch at the Communism tv tower. It has a restaurant at the top and you rotate around so you can see panoramic views of the city. I was doing ok with my anxiety and fear of heights until the entrees came. Then I had a mild freak out session and had to come down for some fresh air haha. Once I realized just how high we had been I decided to keep my feet on the ground until they were done with dessert haha. I'm a chicken, I know.

I popped an anxiety pill before we winded through some steep, high country Slovak roads on the road to famous Slovak castle ruins. Those were absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful. I have never been to any kind of castle ruins before and the sheer size and magnitude alone was unbelievable. It is kind of unreal to think of how long the city has been here... the castle and church and so many other things in Slovakia were older than our country. It's crazy when you think about it like that.

After the epic castle ruins we had the rest of the night free. Some Slovak students took us out to a few bars and clubs (I say the term club loosely... more like a bar with a dance floor haha). But it was a great time - they were so nice and friendly to us for being complete strangers. My head was spinning and so language confused by the end of the night though haha, one of the girls in the program is Costa Rican and met this other Slovak student who is also from Costa Rica - so they were going at it in Spanish (I tried my best to understand and participate), I kept hearing and somewhat understanding Slovak because of Polish, and my default mode is currently German. So yeah, that mixed with a few Slovak beers made for a huge mess of EngGerPolSpanish lol.

We got back to the hotel around 5, woke up at 8 for the bus to Vienna. Vienna was amazing and beautiful and I really wish we had had more time there. Seriously, I felt like EVERYTHING in Vienna was pretty haha. Even little buildings that were just apartments were gilded with gold and marble.. it was kind of ridiculous. We had a walking and bus tour, hit up a McDonald's for lunch (I know, I know I'm in Austria and I go to McDonald's .. what's wrong with me.. but we only had like 20 min to get food), and then headed back to Berlin. Thankkkk goodness the volcanic ash cloud had mostly passed and we were able to get home in one hour by plane. Amazing, amazing trip.

I have the Internship trip to Essen coming up this weekend and then a few people and I are going to rent a car to Munich. So beyond excited : )

Love u alL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have the best family and friends in the world and you have no idea how much I miss you when I'm gone : )

Loveeee,

Courtney