ADVENTURE IN KRAKOW

We wanted to take advantage of being in the heart of Europe and we decided to visit Poland for three days. The nearest and most interesting place to go there for us was clear: Krakow. One of the main reason was that wanted to visit Auschwitz concentration camp. So we booked a tour and a hostel by Internet and we started our adventure. 

Auschwitz was amazing, I don´t have words to explain it. It is a place that it is worth to go one in lifetime. Listening to all the details and history at the same time you are seeing exactly where happened, almost made me cry. Moreover, the day we choose to go was rainy and cold, which created a gloomy atmosphere. We learnt a lot that day.

*If you want to go to Auschwitz:

In Auschwitz you have the chance to go with a tour or by your own by bus. Personally, I recommend you to book a tour, as they will tell you stories that maybe you did not learn in the school or even in books.  

We booked the tour with SeeKrakow and we were very satisfied. 

The rest of the time in Krakow was much more cheerful: we visited the beautiful Old City and the Jewish Quarter, we met other volunteers and we tried polish beer (which is one of the best I´ve ever drunk, with the czech beer).

In Poland and other counties there are free tours in different languages organized by local people. This is a great opportunity to know the history, customes and traditions of the city and spend a good time. They showed us a Sinagoga, the Gueto, the bridge and other important monuments around Krakow.

Another thing about this country is that they use zlotis, the polish money. More, or less, 4 zlotis are 1 Euro. We changed our czech money in Kantors and the change did not cost anything. Everything there it was really cheap. 

To sum up, it was a very nice trip and I enjoyed a lot every moment. It was a mix of feelings: shocked during the tour, so happy in the city with the other volunteers. I felt so lucky to have had the change of being in Krakow.

By Elena from Spain

ADVENTURE IN PRAGUE

In this entry I would like to share with you my first trip to in Prague. I can say it was one of my best and exciting experiences in my lifetime.

Marion and I woke up on Saturday very early because Prague is about 3 hours from Prostejov and we wanted to take advantage of the weekend.

We took the bus in front of out our flat to the train station, after we took the train to Olomouc and finally there we changed the train to Prague.

We booked a cheap hostel  near the centre (here is the link if you are interested) so the first thing we had to do was to leave our bags there. At first we were a bit lost but with the help of people and maps we arrived very soon.

Once ready to visit Prague, we went out to the street and started walking.

The first monument we found was a medieval castle in the zone of Josefov. It was really small and beautiful, and it reminded me when I was a child and I played to be a princess living in a place like that.
We kept walking and in every corner we found more and more amazing monuments and buildings (staronová Synagoga, Staroměstské Náměstí, etc).

After, almost without knowing where we were going, we saw the famous Charles Bridge in the distance. We were so impressed, with our open mouth, because of the beauty of everything. The bridge, the colours, the landscapes…everything was so beautiful. Moreover, the day we chose to visit Prague was great as it was sunny after days of very cold. We could not complain about anything at that moment.

                                   
As we approached to the bridge, we started seeing more and more tourist. But I understood the reason; everybody wants to go to that fantastic place. Then I realised that, although Prague is very beautiful, it doesn’t have the Czech essence totally (at least, the city Centre). Because almost everybody is foreign and doesn’t speak Czech, so you don’t find the real Czech culture there.  

We agreed that we were lucky to live in Prostejov this year, as it is in a place like this where we are living the real Czech life.

Although I also have to say that is was a relief for us to scape a bit from Czech language cause it is very difficult, haha! In Prague everybody speaks English, and lot of people French, Spanish or other languages. In shops and streets you can find almost everything translated into English.

We continued our walk and after crossing the bridge we found lot of stairs to go to the big castle of Prague. When we were up, we saw an amazing view of Praga, we took lot of pictures and sat down for a bit to enjoy the landscape. After, we arrived to the castle. We were so happy!
When we finished the visit to the castle and crossed again the bridge to return, we stopped to have a coffee and a beer. We stayed in the terrace because it was not so cold and the atmosphere was nice and relaxing. 

There we saw how expensive it is Prague in comparison with the rest of the places of Czech Republic. The coffee, for example, costed me about 38 CZK, which is almost the double if I asked it in Prostejov.

After, we went for dinner to McDonnal. We had been so healthy with the food during the week and we really wanted bad food. 

When we finished we walked and we saw Prague in the night. That was awesome. Illuminated castles and monuments, the colourful Charles Bridge, people in the street and open shops.

Later, we decided to find a pub or somewhere to dance and enjoy the night in Prague. We started walking but did not find somewhere that convinced us…until we saw near the Charles Bridge: Biggest Music Club in Central Europe. Yes, It was our place! There were 4 floors and lot of rooms, the environment was very multicultural and the music was good.

We enjoyed a lot that night. We meet people from different countries and we talked and danced.

In the morning, we had breakfast in the hostel, took our staff and returned home.

Prague has lot of things to see and that weekend we only had time to see a part of the centre, so we have to return to discover more things there. But we will never forget that weekend. It was a great adventure.

By Elena from Spain