This week on Thursday we traveled to Prague as a group. The first thing we did after arriving was visit the St Cyril and Methodius Church. This is where the Anthropoid mission soldiers hid out after the assassination attempt on top ranking Nazi, Reinhard Heydrich.

The assassination was not initially completed, but Heydrich died in the hospital from infection a few days after he was hit with the bomb. After hearing Jan’s story about his relatives and their involvement and watching the movie Anthropoid, it was kind of surreal being in the church where the final stand took place. It is so crazy to me that everywhere you go here you can see something that is a part of history and someone who is connected to that history somehow. It was very interesting to be able to hear the story of the rebel soldiers, hear a personal story connected to it, watch the movie adaptation, and then finally get to stand in the crypt where it all ended. After we were done there, we had the rest of the day to ourselves to explore Prague more.

 

On Friday, we traveled across the Charles bridge and learned about St. John of Nepomuk and how he was thrown off the bridge by the King for committing high treason. There is a statue of St. John on the bridge and there is also legends surrounding why he was actually thrown off the bridge. We then stopped by the John Lennon Wall which was fun to see. It was recently completely painted over by Czech artists and people are always adding new graffiti to the wall. We then visited the St. Vitus Cathedral which took nearly 600 years to completely finish. There are relics of St. Wenceslaus there and the whole cathedral was beautiful. We also toured the Prague Castle. My favorite fact about the castle was that they used to have jousting tournaments in the main ballroom, meaning they had to get horses in the building!

 

On Saturday we took a day trip to Dresden, Germany. It is CRAZY to me that we took a short, day trip to a completely different country. It’s just such a weird concept to me! While we were there we saw a really beautiful Lutheran church. The church was completely destroyed (like most of the city) from bombing during World War 2, but was later rebuilt completely from pictures and looks basically the exact same today as it used to. We then went to a museum in the Royal Palace. They had so many jewels and armory there to see. Some of the detail on even simple things like the drinking glasses was insane. So much intricacy on such small items in some cases.

 

The last day we spent in Prague was on Sunday. We woke up and went to a Jewish Synagogue turned museum. On the walls there were the names of all the people from the Czech lands that were killed during World War 2. It was moving to see the sheer number of names covering all of the walls, and to think that it was only people from one country involved. We also got to go inside the oldest, functioning synagogue in Europe! I thought that was really neat. Overall, I had such a great time and felt like I learned so much. It is so interesting and fulfilling to learn about things in class and then actually go visit these places and learn even more about them. Very humbling and thought provoking to say the least!

The first free weekend we had while in Europe, a group of us decided to go to Budapest, Hungary. After finally finding our way there amid some struggles, we had a really great time! The first day we had there a few of us got some really good Hungarian food. It was probably one of the best meals I’ve had while in Europe- and trust me I’ve had a lot of good meals here. After that we headed to the famous Szechenyi Spas. It was kind of chilly out, which made it a perfect day to go there! It was very relaxing. We also went on a boat tour on the Danube river that night. We got to see so many cool things including the Buda Castle and the Hungarian Parliament building which were both very beautiful lit up at night. We then went to the Szimpla Kert ruins bar which was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The concept of ruins bars is basically turning old pre-war buildings into an eclectic assortment of furniture and styles. It was huge and really fun to go to!

On Sunday we woke up and went on a walking tour of Budapest. It was two and a half hours long but the time went by quickly! We started at St Stephens Basilica and then saw some really amazing views on our trek up to Castle Hill. We walked across the Szechenyi Chain Bridge which has some really crazy legends surrounding the lions that guard it at each end. We really learned a lot on the tour and our tour guide was so helpful! We definitely got our steps in that day. Budapest was a really amazing city and I honestly hope I can go back there some day!

Hey guys! My name is Erica Little and I am a junior at UNK this year.

I am majoring in social work at UNK. People always ask me what I want to do with my degree after I graduate and the answer is: I have no idea. Social work is such a broad field and there are so many areas I could potentially go into that I just haven’t quite narrowed it down. I do love my major though and love helping people. I am excited to graduate and get out into the field (whichever one I end up choosing) to start helping people. At UNK I am a part of the Honor’s Program, even serving as an honor’s mentor for incoming freshman the past two years. I also am involved in band here because I love music!

I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. My graduating class in high school was around 500 people which always seems to shock a lot of people in Kearney when it comes up. I have one older sister, Elace. She is married and has a daughter named Cecilia which makes me an aunt! I also have a dog named Travis who lives in Kearney with me. He is a puggle (pug and beagle mix) and loves everyone he meets. He is the best dog ever and I am going to miss him a lot while I am in the Czech Republic. 

I love to travel, even though I haven’t gotten to do a ton of it so far. My happy place is definitely the beach and I spent every summer growing up at Lake McConaughy here in Nebraska. The only other time I’ve been out of the country was when my grandma and I went to the Dominican Republic where we spent most of our time on the beach. I am hoping to find some new beaches to love along the way while in Europe. 

I am very excited to explore the Czech Republic and Europe for the next few months! I am ready to learn a lot and get to know lots of new people! I can’t wait until I can start posting pictures and telling stories about my study abroad experience!