Traveling traveling.. oh my oh my..

So, as I am sure most of you know, I began traveling after school ended. So I have been on the road since May 3rd. Annie nelson is my traveling partner and it has been such fun with her.

First, we started off in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where we completely relaxed. There were a few other Americans from the Study Abroad program there as well and we were able to have a longer goodbye with them, which was very nice. We literally did almost nothing in Vilnius. It was all about walking around to find a place to sit down where we would get up and do the same thing again. Very nice.. :)

Then, Annie and I took a train to Krakow. It was a 10 hour train ride to Warsaw. But then, we got stuck in Warsaw because we missed the last train to Krakow that night. And because it was late at night we didn't want to walk around in order to find a hostel, so we ended up staying at a very pricey hotel instead.. nice nice beds.. :)

The next day we caught our train to Krakow, which took another 3 hours. Then, we got off the train, found our hostel, and began to explore the city. It was rainy, which definitely hurt our plans for exploring. But it was still fun to see plenty of gorgeous buildings, even in the rain. Then, we went back to our hostel and made dinner and stayed inside for the evening.
The next day was all about exploring the Jewish part of town called Kazimierz. We went to an Old Synagogue, explored Yiddish bookshops, and even saw a little of the old ghetto across the river. Then, we ended our evening in the main square people watching...
The next day we went to Auschwitz 1 and Birkenau. It was a very full day of depressing, interesting facts about horrible torture and inhumane treatment of many people groups. Not the happiest day, but I had to see it. Birkenau is huge. So much bigger than I imagined. And all of that gorgeous land was used just to torture people. That's the only purpose of that land. (425 acres) Then, we met some friends that we met at the hostel for dinner. That was a nice ending to our depressing day.
The next day we had to pack up, but we left our luggage at the hostel and were able to still see more of the city. We hung out in the market square where there were many events, such as music, dancing, singing, etc. Then, we walked around the park and caught a few rays of sun. Such a relaxing day.

Our train left for Budapest at 10:15 PM. We arrived at 8:30 AM. After checking into our hostel, we were able to start exploring this new city. We decided to start off by the river and there was a boat there giving tours, so Annie and I decided that that was how we were going to start our adventures. So we went on an hour long boat ride down the Danube to get a general idea of the city, it was such a wonderful start. Then, we walked around the town and took plenty of pictures.. There are so many gorgeous buildings, it's incredible.. Ever since then we have been exploring the city. And last night we even went to an outdoor music festival that was so fun. On a monday night, there were so many young people there to party and listen to some music and dance as well.. The people here are so full of life and creativity and they are very friendly..

Tomorrow, we go to Prague on another 8 hour train ride. That is very exciting.. :)

Also, I would like to end with a little excitement.. I offiicially have gotten my first sunburn of the year! Be jealous! :) I will post pictures a little later..