REFLECTIONS WEEK 2

Rome: Oh my gosh, ROME!!!!!! I think that Rome screamed history from the moment we set eyes on it.  Roman history is one of my all-time favorite time periods.  I read about it ALL the time (but maybe not as much as James ;) Even though we were only there for two days, we hit up most of the must see monuments.  I think my absolute favorite site was the Colosseum; there was just something about its amazing architecture and what went on there that sticks with you.  The fact that they were able to build something like the Colosseum so long ago astounds me.

One part of Rome I absolutely must comment about was where we chose to stay.  Rome is notorious for being “unsafe,” so the idea of staying in a hostel was not very appealing….instead we booked rooms at a convent! How crazy is that?  It was a great experience and we felt extremely safe with all of the hoops we had to jump through just to get into our rooms each time we returned.  The only hitch? We kind of flooded our room and the hallway with our faulty handicapped-accessible shower….oops!

Leipizig: Leipizig was our first European vet school experience.  I think what stuck with me the most was just how different the program was.  I especially enjoyed getting to practice performing a laminectomy in a clinical anatomy lab with second year students.  We talked about the procedure as well as about them.  I couldn’t believe how little experience in the veterinary world they had.  All of them went to vet school straight out of high school and had never worked with a veterinarian.  

Berlin: I loved, loved, loved Berlin!  It was definitely one of my favorite cities.  I think I really enjoyed experiencing the history of the city.  Even though I am definitely not a good bike rider, I thought the bike tour there was probably the best tour we got to take.  It gave you a great feel for the entire city instead of just certain areas.  I think the two sites that stick out in my mind were the Berlin wall and the Jewish holocaust memorial; the wall because of its historical significance and effect on Eastern Germany and the memorial because of what the holocaust means to me.

Prague: I thought Prague would be amazing based on all the praise it receives from other travelers, and although I thought it was beautiful, I did not love it.  It was a tourist city that was not exceedingly tourist friendly.  One thing I truly did like about Prague was its gorgeous architecture and its location on the river.   

While we were in Prague, we decided to take a bus out of town to Terezin, which was a ghetto/concentration camp.  It served as a half-way camp, a stop on the way to death camps for many people.  I have never been to any sort of concentration camp, so Terezin was definitely an eye opener.  Even though it wasn’t a death camp, death and suffering were rampant.