Sunday May 5 – Prague

The last day of travel has a bittersweet feeling to it. We all love Europe and want to keep traveling but we also all miss home. We started our trek to the Prague City Tours at 9:30 am. One thing we did not plan for was Prague’s city marathon. It’s estimated that there was anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 runners! The closer we got to the Tour Building the more and more crowded it got. There was live music and crowds cheering. It was a wonderful surprise for our last day out on the town.

After our nice surprise we met with our tour guide named Erika. She guided us to the castle and gave us a bit of history. Prague Castle was built in the 9th century.

Every new king had different ideas to bring to Prague Castle. Each king would build different buildings with different styles, thus expanding the castle for centuries. Since each ruler would build in different styles, the castle campus was very all over the place. So during the 18th century empress Maria Theresa attempted to uniform the complex by remodeling the building faces. Today, Prague Castle has over 60 buildings and is the biggest complex of royal buildings of Europe.

After our tour of the Prague Castle, it was time for our student led activity. My group chose to eat at a restaurant called U Glabicu, which was a restaurant and brewery and had a cellar from the 14th century. On the inside it was almost set up like a museum with plaques on the walls that shared a bit of the history of the building.  Erika our tour guide was so kind to walk us there. But once we got inside we were told it was too full. It was time for plan B… which didn’t exist. We ended up doing a spur of the moment walk across Charles Bridge, a bridge built in the 14th century. We then found a restaurant that the instructors ate at the previous year called Cafe Louvre. Founded in 1902, Cafe Louvre’s tagline is ‘The unique place with rich history’. Karel Čapek, Albert Einstein, and Franz Kafka are just a few famous historians that were known to be frequent customers here.

After lunch at Cafe Louvre, we went on a quick brewery tour of the oldest brewery in Prague. It was founded in 1499. We learned about the ancient technique they used to create their beer and how they still make it the same way today. After the tour we all went back to the hotel and had a quiet evening packing and getting some sleep for the long journey ahead.

Arabella Johnson

 

May 4, 2019 – Saturday

We started out our somber, rainy day at our hotel where we met with our tour guide. We all piled in our bus and drove off to Terezin Concentration Camp (which is now a very low population town of 3,000) located approximately 1 hour outside of the Prague. We toured the museum first where we learned about the daily lives of the Jews that were forced to live there from 1941 to 1945. This camp was set up mainly as a “dummy camp” to show the world how well the Germans were treating the Jews and as a transit camp to ship others to Auschwitz in Poland where they were almost all executed. They made movies of how happy the “residents” were, and actually staged the town when the Red Cross was scheduled to inspect them. Here are some of the pictures that were recovered from the children that were living in Terezin Ghetto.

 

One of the most memorable points was the Jewish cemetery, where they have numbered gravestones because they do not have the names of the executed.

After our tour of Terezin, we had a few hours back in Prague to gather our thoughts and feelings of what we experienced today.

That night we switched modes and took a boat tour on the Vltava River which runs directly through Prague.  The “3 hour cruise” was filled with great food, live music, and memorable scenery.

This experience made me grateful for where I was born and raised while also making me sensitive to other countries historical tragedies and how the live and celebrate their past. I am grateful to Gateway for giving me this experience and broadening my horizons by exposing me to this beautiful culture.

Nancy G.

May 3, 2019 – Friday

This morning we traveled across town to visit the Czech Technical University of Prague (CTU).  When we arrived, we were greeted by both Volfgang Melecky, Ph.D and Erika Lahka, International Project Director. Erika gave us a short presentation on the history and facts surrounding the University. It was founded on January 8, 1707 by Emperor Josef I and has been in existence for 310 years! CTU offers eight “faculities” including Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering, Architecture, Transportation Services, Biomedical Engineering and Information Technology to approximately 22,000 students. Of the 22,000 students, approximately 20% are international students from across the globe. They offer 160 programs in 480 fields of study with 131 being internationally recognized.

One of the most unique parts of our visit was seeing and trying out the Paternoster lift elevator in the Faculty of Technical Engineering building. A Paternoster lift consists of open compartments that run in a continuous loop. Passengers step in and out of the open compartments to get on and off any floor they wish. Although mostly common in Europe, production of new Paternoster lifts ended in the 1970’s due to safety reasons. Check out the Pasternoster video here:

We also visited the CTU’s  Business School. They enroll about 1,500 students, 200 of them being international. They offer a three or four-year Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management along with a two year Master’s degree in Innovative Project Management. The Bachelor’s degree focuses on marketing and international trade while the Master’s degree concentrate  in corporate financial management, standards of project management and lean manufacturing. When you go to the University, one would earn both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree together.  In other words, you would never get a Bachelor’s degree without the Master’s degree.The accommodations and extracurricular options for the students are amazing.  For example, there are  eight dorms, twelve cafés’, sixty plus sporting clubs, twenty-five leisure dorm clubs and an entire staff dedicated to the acclimation of the incoming students.

On campus you will also find the acclaimed Central Library. Opening in 2009, the new library building was designed to be an energy saving, intelligent building. Some “intelligent”  features included an external exhaust system and color mapping of the load bearing on the floor.  Even the direction of the interior lights focuses on giving the students and staff direction within the building. It houses 1.2 million volumes of books and has numerous private study rooms and quiet study areas.  Also, in the event of a fire, huge fire doors will block off rooms while the suppression system utilizes steam instead of water to help maintain the integrity of the books and materials. I can now see why this University is one of the top Universities in Central Europe. It is quite amazing!!

CTU was our third and final University visit. It was interesting to visit the different schools in three different countries and learn about the similarities and differences in school systems.

 

Patrick L.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 2, 2019 – Wednesday

Today was day 6 on our European adventure. We left Vienna behind in the early morning and hopped a train to Prague. Though our time in Vienna was short, the rich culture captivated me, and I can honestly say I will one day return.

  The train ride was about 4 hours long and it gave us all a chance to relax for a bit before another full day. We arrived at Hotel Pav and got settled in, looking forward to our 5 day stay in this beautiful city.

Our afternoon began and we walked to the square in city center to meet up with our city tour guide. She was a lovely young woman named Annalise who was from California. She had moved to Prague a few years ago after graduating college. She gave us some wonderful information about the history of Prague and escorted us to several beautiful structures.

One of the most beautiful landmarks we saw was the Astronomical Clock.The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating. The clock mechanism itself has three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; “The Walk of the Apostles”, a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures—notably a figure of Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.

 

This city’s rich culture and gorgeous architecture has made it my favorite city on this trip. Learning so much about Central European history from this side of the pond has really opened my eyes to how much I have yet to learn, as well as, how much travel means to me.

 

Later that afternoon we went to Czech Technical University (CTU). We met up with some students from the international club to participate in a cooking class. We split into two teams and went to small dormitory kitchens and prepared two different dishes. Team one went with a student from Turkey and prepared a curry pasta and the second team went with a student from India to prepare a spicy chicken and curry dish. While we were cooking, we were offered a traditional Czech dish made with sausage, onions and vinegar. The name of the dish is utopenci which loosely translates to “drowned men.” Once the preparation was complete, we all sat together and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Some of the students also had the opportunity to interview a German student name Jakab. Jakab was a wonderful host and we all really enjoyed getting to know him better.

   

Our first day in Prague was jam packed with history, culture and education. We have learned so much and loved spending time with fellow students from around the world.  I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am to be here and though there have been overwhelming moments, I have pushed passed my own personal limitations – I would never change a thing. Travel has expanded my world, enriched my mind, and filled my soul with so much joy. Thank you GTC!

 

Yesenia Martinez-Hall

May 1, 2019 – Wednesday

Having an amazing time so far here in Europe. Gateway, thank you so much for this opportunity.

Labor Day is May 1 st in Vienna and the locals enjoy celebrating their national holiday. Our group started the day by heading towards the majestic St. Stevens Cathedral. On the way, we ran into a festive parade with several marching bands celebrating Labor Day in Austria. It was cool to find out the Austrians celebrate the same holiday as we do! St. Stevens Cathedral was incredible. I was awestruck at the beautiful architecture inside. We ended up taking a tour of the underground Catacombs. We went down beneath the church and parts of the city and saw many caskets. The Duke, Rodolphus IV who is part of the royal family and his wife Catherinn were both in caskets. We also saw gargoyles statues, as well as, skeletons and bones which were stacked up. Also included were some organs in jars from 400 years ago. Viennese prisoners cleaned many of the bones and stacked them in the bone room which is also known and called Austreorium. It’s amazing to think that there is so much history in a cathedral as well as what’s underneath it!!

After the Catacomb tour we walked to the Opera House. At the Opera House we were fortunate to take a guided tour in English. We learned that the Opera House was severely damaged in 1945 from bombs and that they completely restored the damaged building by 1955. We were able to rest our feet in the best seats of the Opera House which cost around 290 Euros per seat. We learned the Opera House seats about 1,700 people and also provides “standing room only” for approximately 500.

The Habsburg Palace was the last place we stopped and we took an audio tour. The Silver Collection Room consisted of many, many rooms of fancy royal kitchen plates, utensils, and dishes. We learned that in the 1800’s, the royal family used the gold dish sets to make coins. The next part of the tour included the life story of Empress Elizabeth also known as SiSi. She was very young when the Emperor Franz Joseph I married her. Later in her life, Empress Elizabeth went into isolation and then was tragically assassinated. Hearing her story really touched me, as well as, many others in our group. Finally, we toured the Royal Apartments and saw where Franz Joseph and SiSi actually lived. There were so many rooms I lost count!

Today has been an amazing experience and we all enjoyed this journey through time by visiting the 3 historical sites today. I cannot wait to travel to Prague in the morning and see what the next city has in store for us!

Jennifer Greeley

April 30, 2019 – Tuesday

It was 5:20 am in Budapest, Hungary when I woke up this Tuesday morning. Our crew and I had to be out the door by 6:30 am to make it to the Keleti train station to head over to Vienna, Austria.

The train ride itself was smooth and almost put me to sleep. It was interesting to see what the country side looked like since we have spent all of our time in the city of Budapest. Surprisingly, the country side looked similar to Wisconsin – mostly flat fields with corn already starting to sprout up!

When we arrived Vienna, it was raining so we all had our umbrella or raincoats out for the mild drizzle. We were then escorted to a three star hotel called Hotel Zipser, arriving just after 11 am.

Next, we traveled to the University of Applied Arts for our guided tour of the campus. The University of Applied Arts is a college dedicated to free artistic and academic expression with the goal of unlocking the potentials of individuals everywhere! The University accepts and offers different opportunities to students from all around the world! The concept of the College is to be as a place of critical reflection upon one’s personal thoughts. A place where ideas are put into action and where questions are more important than the patent solutions!

While visiting the University of Applied Arts we learned that is a public school and in high demand. They only accept a certain amount of students that can meet their criteria of expectations. The University has a very wide range of artistic and creative classes that they provide their students. Classes range from fashion, knitting, silk, leather, metal, welding, woodwork shops, transmediale art, painting,
graphic design, and even a sound room to record your own songs!

The class sizes are smaller than most class sizes in our country. For example, there are approximately 50 students in the entire paint department per semester.

The campus is open 24/7 for its students with kitchen and shower facilities available. Students can rent out private study rooms for an entire semester and leave belongings in their room. One thing that was quite surprising is that instructors can bring their dogs to work so we had a furry friend following us for part of our tour! 

After visiting the University of Applied Arts, I have learned that there are so many different options and opportunities in the creative field then I originally thought. I am in the graphics field of design and trying to make photography my minor. As a creative person myself, it is so exciting to know that there are so many opportunities waiting for me to discover!!

I think this experience has made my passion to create even stronger – I can not wait to see what the future holds for me!

Kaitlyn Yudis

Budapest – Monday April 29, 2019

Today marks our last full day in Budapest, and our first visit to a European college. Also, one of our study abroad/global enrichment members, Nancy, turned 40 today, which makes it that much more special!

Our day began with breakfast in Hotel President. The food has been satisfying through each of the meals we’ve enjoyed and the service is excellent! Hungarian’s seem to take pride in how they handle food service because every restaurant we’ve visited has been elegant.

We met in the lobby at 9:45 am in order to meet our driver, Joseph, on time. Our attire for the International Business School (IBS) and Graphisoft Business Park was business casual. We all looked sophisticated and represented our school nicely! Our initial welcome and presentation was given by Ms. Orsolya Hentes. She told us general information about the college, then answered questions we had.

IBS is a great place for students wanting to get a degree without a hectic lifestyle, similar to Gateway. We started at IBS and sat in on a well composed student PowerPoint presentation followed by a discussion lead by their professor. The class included students that came from different countries, but who were fluent in speaking English which is impressive. The presentation topic was on “Church and State” and whether they are compatible together or not. Many of us had interesting viewpoints in the discussion, it’s as if the students from Gateway had been enrolled in this class all semester. The class members were very welcoming and respectful to us as their guests. Again, the presentation was very well put together and it brought about an interesting discussion in which all of the students (including Gateway’s) were involved in.

Afterwards, our group walked to Aquinicum Institute of Technology (AIT) for our second presentation on Graphisoft Park by CEO Jànos Kocsàny. Graphisoft is Hungary’s largest exporter of software. It’s most famous product is ArchiCAD – a world popular architectural software package.  Graphisoft Park was developed by Graphisoft in an effort to develop a place for R&D companies to attract the most talented employees. Mr. Kocsàny’s presentation was brief, and was followed by a presentation given by his son Àkos.  Àkos is the Student Coordinator at AIT.

After answering a few of our questions, Àkos gave us a tour of the business park and explained more about the history of the park, why this particular site was chosen, facts about some of the different buildings, statues/monuments, and how some students and employees transport to and from school. The park is situated on the Danube river and is a very quiet, relaxing atmosphere with lots of green space. It is ideal for students studying at IBS or AIT since in many cases they are able to obtain internships with Graphisoft Park tenants such as Microsoft, SAP, Canon, Graphisoft, etc.

 

A unique fact we learned from Àkos is that the Rubik’s cube was developed by a Hungarian Architect so a unique piece of art replicating the rubick’s cube stands at the front of Graphisoft Park.

The walk around the business park made our group realize that we were hungry, so the group decided to grab lunch on site. The group is definitely getting used to converting forints (Hungarian money) to US dollars and it showed. We finished and found public transportation together as a group in order to get back to the hotel. We took the crowded underground subway and safely made it back.

Ryan B.

Budapest Sunday, April 28

After a full day of travel on day one, day two we were able to enjoy a guided tour with Emily, a city local who knew all the amazing places and the history behind everything that we saw. This was also the day that we all got to enjoy our first breakfast in Hungary and with a variety of options such as cereal, cheeses and meats, eggs, sausage, bacon, pastries and lets not forget their AMAZING coffee, we all were happy campers and were ready to start our day, we boarded our shuttle at about 9:15 am.

Our first official visit of the day was the Hungarian Parliament.  This building has a Neo-Gothic architecture and is just over 100 years old. Our tour took about 45 minutes which covered the main entrance stairs and hall, the old House of Lords and the Hungarian Crown Jewels. We all had head pieces which the tour guide was able to communicate all the important aspects of each stop that we had along the way.  We were able to take pictures through the entire tour with the exception of the area where the Crown Jewels were.  The Crown Jewels was in an enclosed in a glass box along with a perimeters that was roped off, and guarded by two guards who were very serious about their duties.  No pictures were allowed in this area.

 

After Parliament we continued our tour and we saw Margaret Island and various other landmarks.  One very moving visit was a stop at the Shoes on the Danube. This is a memorial to honor the Jews that were lined up and shot into the Danube River. There are 60 pairs of shoes and along side them is a plaque that reads “To the memory of the victims shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross militiamen in 1944–45. Erected 16 April 2005.”

We finished our tour by visiting the visiting the Buda part of Budapest and saw more of a historic area were buildings have been there for years and it was definitely more of the traditional architecture.

Once we arrived at the hotel we had a break before heading out to a group dinner. We enjoyed a delicious meal from Budapest Bistro.  Our night concluded with a boat tour where we were able to enjoy the sight of the amazing landmarks and view them not only with the natural light but also as they were lit as the sunset.  It was definitely a different view of the city once the sun went down. Amazing day with an amazing group of people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Violeta T.

Budapest – Saturday, April 27

The Gateway Crew was off to yet another adventure – this time to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague! When we met up on April 26^th we knew this would be an amazing cultural experience supported by Gateway Technical College. We started off the trip eating a delicious boxed lunch at our initial meeting point and talked excitedly about the things we wanted to do once we got to Budapest. After our bellies were full we boarded a bus to the airport and were ready to begin the journey! During the plane ride the students tried to catch up on sleep before arriving in Budapest. We knew once we landed we wouldn’t get sleep for quite some time. We had one layover in Amsterdam. We enjoyed cups of coffee while shopping and liked the pairs of slippers that actually looked like clogs, wishing we could all have a pair.

Once we landed in Budapest, a bit later than we had hoped, we had our first delicious meal together in foreign country at Hotel President.

Many of the dishes were traditional Hungarian food. The Goulash was definitely the talk of the town and something we all looked forward to having again.

Although we were now full and exhausted from our travels, we ventured off to the Szechenyi Baths. The bath house has natural thermal baths that smell a bit like sulfur and contain amazing minerals that would heal and restore our weary bodies. The bath house was a local favorite with a beautiful façade, 17 pools and 3 saunas.

 

 After the rejuvenating baths the students just needed to finally sleep. It was time for all of us to rest up and let the minerals do their job. The first day of travel is never easy but our adventure was just beginning and we needed to prepare for parliament the next day. So with full bellies and happy hearts the students got ready for their first night in Budapest.

-Chelsea T.

 

 

 

 

 

On April 26, 2019 nine (9) Gateway students and 2 instructors will depart on their Global Enrichment study abroad program to Budapest – Hungary, Vienna –  Austria, and Prague -Czech Republic. Students will be visiting educational institutions in all 3 countries. Highlights of the program include visits to the International Business School, Graphisoft Park, and Aquincum Institute of Technology (AIT) in Budapest, the Vienna School of Applied Arts, and Czech Technical University.