Bitter Sweet

I love church!! That is just how it is! I didn’t check the time and thought it was at 9am. Imagine my surprise as I walked into the building and NO ONE was there. I sat and read from the Book of Mormon, figuring that at very least I could be uplifted if it was Stake Conf or something. And if not, maybe they would show up. About 10 minutes later people started filing in for a 9:30am start. I met a couple from Pennsylvania who are traveling Central Europe. He had served his mission in Prague so they would end their travels there. How cool is that!!! I also saw Jessica S come in. I love that I met people the first weekend and now I know them and can interact with friends at church rather than just going.

In Relief Society, again I sat by Stephanie. I should know her last name, but I have forgotten. After the meeting we talked for a long time, getting to know one another better. She got my email and promised to stay in touch since I will be returning next May and her family will still be there. Her husband works at the Embassy in Bratislava.

It was a good day at church!!!

After going home and resting for a bit, packing a little, and even taking a nap, I met Natalie at 3pm to walk around the city a bit before we met the girls for a final dinner together at Vapiano’s and our Pow Wow in the Park (which was actually around the table at dinner since it had been raining MOST of the day).

It was raining a bit, but that didn’t stop us. I showed her the canal and then we wandered back into town. I sauntered down streets I had never been on, seeing things I have never seen. How fun is THAT! In fact….Natalie hadn’t tried Apfelstrudel yet, so we stopped at a cool old candy sweets confectionary. They served it warm with a warm vanilla sauce - much like a more liquid form of vanilla pudding. It was good.

This time around the discussion sharing was different than usual. Not sure if it was the students, the size of the group, or it being at the restaurant instead of the ambiance of the park. But it was a good time. We headed to Zanoni & Zanoni for a final gelato together too....Anna’s classic blueberry that makes even her teeth blue :) This has been a good trip. Hard to believe it is over. But it is!

The van picks me up at 3:30 am tomorrow …. quick shower and finish packing and getting EVERTHING cleaned up and all in order to go. All I have to do is get up, put my PJs in my suitcase and my chocolate too. So long Vienna! It has been nice. So long Christine, Jessica, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Esther, Hermann, Gretl, and Verena! Until next time….until May 2020!

Always Good to Try Something New

In all the times I have been to Vienna, I have never gone INTO the Belvedere museum. It is here at the Belvedere that the famous painting by Gustav Klimt is displayed … The Kiss. It was pretty neat. I’m happy that we got pics of the outside yesterday since today is was raining.

The rain didn’t stay, yippee, so we just wandered … via tram :) From the Belvedere we saw the Rathaus and the Burg Theater. Volksgarten was spectacular even after the rain….all those roses. I took her to Bier und Bierli for an authentic Viennese Goulash lunch. We did some shopping, gelato, and back to rest before hitting Schönbrunn this evening.

It had cooled down, which was glorious. Therefore, Shonbrunn was enchanting for Natalie. I had talked to Kelsey on our way there and told Natalie that this was her favorite place. Natalie absolutely loved it...we walked through some of (there are too many to see them ALL) the gardens and just sauntered. Seeing the enchantment in other’s eyes as they view things I show them brings me joy! I am happy Natalie loved it so much.

The winds came up and it looked like rain. We were on our way out anyway. It barely started sprinkling as I walked into my flat. An early evening….which is EXACTLY what I wanted. Time to relax, pack a little, finish my laundry, and just be! This time around I have enjoyed just BEING!

Sauntering Through Vienna

As much as I would have enjoyed sleeping in a bit longer, today was de register day. I am always interested in how the students feel on this day. Compared to the first day, fresh yet tired and ready for a new adventure to now when they feel like they know the city and their way around. The host homes are no longer their residences. I like that they feel like Vienna is their home away from home, even if this group didn’t stay IN Vienna as much as elsewhere. It is an odd feeling to de register compared to the day you register … I remember my first experience. It marked the completion of my time in Vienna. So much had happened….experiences and adventures. And now I am showing students this same thing in hopes that their worlds will expand beyond the bubble of selfishness and “me” type living. It is nice to see at the end all that they have learned. Reading their blogs, I was pleased that this was the case again this year.

Most everyone was heading somewhere so Natalie and I hit some places within the city to show her around. I LOVE showing people the beautiful city of Vienna. Each year I love it more, learn more about its history, and thoroughly enjoy showing it to others. I have been talking to Natalie about coming for years. I’m so happy she was able to come today. I showed her the Naschmarkt (we got some falafel and hummus and she got some candy). She is a huge Gustav Klimt fan, so we went to Secession (the golden cabbage place) to see his permanent exhibit there. Evidently, he was a part of an artist group in Vienna. He wanted to be more of an expressionist style artist, so he and some others seceded … and thus created Secession. We walked over to my favorite church, Karlskirche … it was there we just sat and ate our lunch in the shade and waited for Verena. She was coming so I could tell her good-bye. She became a good friend this time around. I hope she stays with the Institute for a long time.

After heading back to our places for an afternoon rest, boy it is nice to rest after going going going for 2 ½ weeks straight, we hit it a market much like Naschmarket - only one for the locals. It was smellier as it had a LOT of meat. But it was where the locals shop and that was cool. Elizabeth had told us about it last night at dinner. Going where the tourists are not is always a welcome moment for me :)

Local Viennese :)

Our last moments in Ostrava were pretty nice. The weather was perfect...at least for me. Richard took us on an impromptu city tour which I really enjoyed. I think my most favorite part was finding the little brass  plaques on the road, representing Jews that were taken from their homes. After Auschwitz, this was a fitting end. It is so difficult to comprehend the atrocity of it all. Yet, they are memorialized with the plaques. This I really really enjoyed …. from my insides, not just the beauty of the area.

He also too us to the top of this tower to overlook the city. The breeze was nice and I always enjoy seeing so much more from above.

I was happy to be back in Vienna. Because Natalie had never been there, I was tour guide for the remainder of the time. She opted for some rest, which I gladly accepted. By the time we got into the city (we were having dinner with Elizabeth at 7pm so decided to go in early to see things) it was POURING down rain. We went into Stephansdom….partly because of the rain. I snagged an expensive umbrella and we were going to wait out the rain. Instead we found an Italian place and got appetizers to wait out the rain. They were good!

It took a LONG time to get the check then we met Elizabeth. She took us to Cafe Korb … not a touristy spot at all! We wondered Viennese style and had a great time. I love her, she is knowledgeable, kind, open minded, and can talk about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! I was happy to order in German and the waiter helped me out there too. This was such a local place that one of the most famous Roma/Gypsy musicians was there eating. His name is Harry Stojka. After dinner she took us to a local gelato place….only in cups and super local and elegant. I really enjoyed being with her and being a local for the night.

Even though it was late, and I was tired, it was nice to be able to show Natalie the city at night! I think this is one of my favorite times….although they are the same buildings, the take on a different glow in the evening, and another look in the pitch black all lit up. I love Vienna at night …. and it is so safe, it makes it that much easier to love.

Truth be told...I was happy to shower and get to bed. De registration in the morning!

Auschwitz - Live and Let Live

Our breakfast was awesome but was rushed and we felt bad. We were supposed to meet Richard at 8:30 for the bus and we would be on a tight schedule since it took 90 minutes to get there and the tour began at 10:30. We went to the same place we went for lunch the first day (which was slow for lunch), Black Kale. We figured since we got there WHEN they opened it would be quicker. Not so….we finally got our chocolate peanut butter smoothie bowl at 8:25 and had to eat quickly. I had JUST asked about getting it to go and that didn’t go over very well. And we felt bad. But it was delicious. I got a ginger shot to start off … it was strong and burned my throat a little, as straight ginger does, but actually was pretty good at cleansing my mouth. It is supposed to be good for the throat, etc

The trip to Auschwitz was nice. I didn’t know what to expect more than what I knew from visiting Mauthausen the last couple years. But I did have a nice conversation with Richard about EVERYTHING. He is a neat guy.

But how do I adequately write about Auschwitz? It was HUGE, to say the very least. We had a personal guide, Lucas, that was very passionate and helpful. It looked MUCH different than Mauthausen — brick buildings and just a lot more area. I learned there were more than a million Jews that went through Auschwitz. As I re read the book by Frankl, I learned that Auschwitz was associated with being HORRIBLE — gas chambers, crematoriums, and massacres. All of those were also at Mauthausen. However, the video I came across where two survivors of Auschwitz said that Auschwitz was heaven compared to Mauthausen. I had no idea how to feel or how to relate, or compare, the two. So on I walked, often staying back and taking pics of my own. I did like that we had head sets so we didn’t HAVE TO be close to the guide to still hear all he was saying. That was nice.

To put into words Auschwitz would be difficult at least, an incomplete representation at most. And so I hesitate to even try, but I will lay out the tour and some of my feelings, knowing it will be lacking the depth of reality.

Upon entering, we passed under a sign - Arbeit macho frei (work sets you free). Chilling considering so many died at Auschwitz. Having been to Mauthausen a couple times, most rooms were no big deal ... similar in nature. However, we then began to see things and places that made it all real. Rooms with TONS of pots and pans, brushes and combs, luggage, etc. It made me sad that they brought their luggage filled with their most prized possessions, thinking they would be returning...only to have them stolen by the Nazis and then killed. Their small suitcases still bore their name and address. And then there were the shoes....huge masses of many many pair of shoes. But it was the room with hair got me most. It was a part of THEM, the people. It wasn’t an object, it was a piece of their being. The sheer amount left was enough to chill my bones. So many people murdered. And yet, the hair was only a fraction of the total. The Nazis found ways to sell it to make things. It was crazy and horrific!!!

The pics of the prisoners (they did that to regulate and do everything by the book) were difficult for me….I almost couldn’t look at those that had endured such inhuman conditions. And not even for me, for anyone. But to see would make it real, more real! Yet I looked.

Birkenau - WAS HUGE .... VAST to say the very least. The guide mentioned that 200,000 prisoners were set, yet only 2 of the 4 camps were finished, and thus only 90,000 prisoners. Those 4 sections that the prisoners built (I thought of Frankl and what ditched he had actually dug, what sick bay had actually been his duty)

Only 2 were competed before the end of the war …. yet 90,000 prisoners were there, MORE than Conway plus a half!!! Most housing units had been destroyed by the Soviets who took the timber only leaving chimneys, but the ones we entered were similar, yet smaller, than in Mauthausen.

To see the crumbled HUGE gas chambers was bone chilling...to hear HOW they got that many people into them was even worse (putting children in first, then youth, then the elderly, women, and last of all the strong men who could push them in and get the most amount of people there. We stood in the place that many many people undressed thinking they were going to the showers. The Nazi’s had even gone so far as to label it a water closet and put shower heads on the wall to fool them. All that planning in such a horrific mass murder scheme….where hundreds of thousands of Jews, and others were gassed then burned. They built more so they could get rid of the bodies faster. It was sickening.

But I think the sick bay struck me most — still with three layers of slats to be used a beds for the ill to lay there and wait to die. Had Frankl been here/there. This was a chilling sombre place, to be sure. I leaned an arm on the bed of someone that had lost his/her life at the very spot. This was heavy.

Lucas (our guide) was good. A few of his comments have left me pondering - a pondering that will not be short, but will return to my consciousness time and time again. A few include

Remembering

Nobody did anything — hardest of all - I think I will ponder and process this statement most of all!

Don’t believe everything you read, propaganda

Things haven’t changed that much

War is a lucrative business - Nestle, etc ….. still having much made in China for cheap labor. Is it that different?

Consider ourselves lucky and live so that this never happens again.

We took some time to process together as a group when we got back to Ostrava. This was a good time. We invited Matthew as well and he gave interesting comments and points of view also. How is it living in the shadow of such a place? He didn’t even know about it til 5th grade when they would study about it in school. I wonder how the older folks years ago felt. Let’s say in 1950 under communist rule? Or in the early 1990s when the revolution took place? To my comment of not believing we did NOTHING many comments were made….appalled type feelings, and yet Matthew’s struck me deepest….we didn’t get involved until Pearl Harbor (when we were actually attacked). This is still difficult for me to digest. Surely we thought about it, planned something, but maybe our initial aid didn’t come til later??? While talking to Natalie she remembers that some Americans signed up to fight with another country’s military so they COULD be involved with the good guys. I don’t know. A lot to process still for me.

The girls hung out with Matthew, which was wonderful, and Natalie and I walked around the city a little then went back to the same place for dinner from last night. Our potatoe pancake was spicier than the night before and HUGE. We both didn’t finish, probably could have shared one. But it was scrumptious — too spicy for Natalie, so she gave me her left overs! (Which I will gladly take :)

When we returned there was no stand up comedy, but no airflow either ;) We opened the window and it was actually cooler than the previous night. Because we were home earlier, it was pretty quiet outside our window, but along about the time we decided to lay down, a great Tom Cruise shoot ‘em up, blow ‘em up movie began. And it was LOUD….loud enough to shake our windows and bed. I couldn’t believe it….not just LOUD, it was horrible. But we managed somehow. The ear plugs Natalie got did NOTHING to block the sound, even less than my earbuds. I was able to upload another blog — I write them on a google doc, and when I have WiFi I add pics and post them. I’ll try to add pics today while on the train too (we are actually on our way back to Vienna now … a 3 hour train, ample time to write).