Category: Europe

Submitted by Julia Scott the 2024 Spring program in Paris, France…

Before I leave Paris, it is very important to me that I see live performances and theater while I am here, even if just once. This past weekend I was lucky enough to have friends who felt the same way, and we bought tickets and attended my first Rocky Horror Picture Show. Typically, this performance is a very strange ritual that sticks to eccentric and vulgar traditions that have been expanded upon for decades. The musical, a cult-classic film from the 70’s, is explicit and odd, the very definition of queer culture, however what I saw was different from those high-participation shows. The theater we attended was formal, with seats with tables and a professional stage rather than a makeshift lip syncing arena. The audience was surprisingly old, and everyone was sitting politely drinking glasses of white wine and showing their enthusiasm in the form of a statement piece, or slightly more mascara than they are used to applying. My friends and I showed up in heavy makeup and flirty outfits, but I don’t think we would have been scorned if we decided to take it to the next level of drama. The performance was live, and the entire show I was absolutely dazzled at the talent of the actors’ abilities. They also had very convincing American accents and I thought they must have been a foreign tour coming to Paris, but would sometimes adlib entirely in French. I think the star of the show was the actress who played Columbia, she was hilarious. All in all, an excellent performance and a lovely night out with my friends. If you come to Paris, be sure to catch some live theater performances! (Submitted on April 23,2024)

Submitted by Sydney Ballenger the 2024 Spring program in Rome, Italy…

This week marks my last full week of school! Next week, we have a short three days before a long weekend to study for finals. I can’t believe it is already the end of the semester, but I feel ready to finish strong and go home. It has been an incredible experience, often unbelievable, amazing, and exhausting at the same time. This week, in my on-site sociology class, we visited Villa Farnesina, located just off the banks of the Tiber River. The Villa was less than a five minute walk from campus and I realized as we entered, that I had walked past it many times this semester and not realized what it was. The Villa Farnesina is a renaissance era villa, located in Trastevere, built for the Pope’s banker in the early 1500s. It is beautiful, decorated with frescoes painted by artists like Raphael. The frescoes on the bottom floor display some of Raphael’s only secular works, depicting the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The frescoes are well preserved and beautiful. The Villa Farnesina also features an attempt at unity between the outdoors and indoors, with frescoes of gardens painted around the bottom floor and huge windows assimilating the indoors with the outdoors. In Rome, art and history is everywhere and the villa we visited in class is just one example of the sheer abundance of both in every corner of Rome. One semester will never be enough time to explore it all, but I look forward to my last two weeks of exploring. (Submitted on April 22,2024)

Submitted by Emma Smith the 2024 Spring program in London, England…

After being in a city for three months, I was really missing how it feels to be outside with blooming trees and flowers like what I would normally see at home. So, my friends and I decided to explore more of London’s parks and gardens to get a sense of what spring is like here in London. We went to the Kensington Gardens and Palace. The garden is a big open space where people can go for a run, walk their dogs, or just lay down for a picnic. The Palace is right next to it and the palace is now a museum but it was first the home to many queens and kings of the royal family. The palace was filled with old art works, furniture, clothing, and even their jewels like tiaras and necklaces the queens used to wear. We also walked around Greenwich park which is a big park in Greenwich, London and we got to lay in the grass and soak up the sun. We also visited Victoria and Embankment Gardens which is a walking train garden now filled with blooming tulips. This was my favorite garden because all the flowers were gorgeous and it really made it feel like spring was in the air. Being in a city can be difficult sometimes when it comes to wanting to go for a walk in a park or just see the blooming flowers, but all of these places in London were so beautiful. (Submitted on April 21,2024)

Submitted by Olivia Tadlock the 2024 Spring program in Limerick, Ireland…

One thing that I was worried about when I went abroad was making friends. I was going to a new place where I didn’t know anyone, and I wasn’t sure how easily I could make friends. However, during the first week, I met so many new people and it was really easy for me to make new friends because all of the study abroad students were trying to meet new people too! The University of Limerick also has a lot of different clubs and societies, and I joined a few of them and made a few friends through the clubs here. Now that I’m almost done with my semester in Ireland, I have met a lot of people and have made a few very close friends! While the thought of making friends was stressful at first, everything turned out alright. (Submitted on April 20,2024)

Submitted by Samantha Jennings the 2024 Spring program in Copenhagen, Denmark…

Week 13 of the DIS Copenhagen program is marked by the second long study tour–a week long field study with your core course. I am enrolled in the Holocaust and genocide history core course, so my week long tour was spent in Warsaw and Krakow, Poland. Poland was devastated by the effects of the Second World War and this is especially true of Warsaw, which was mostly destroyed and rebuilt in the era of communism following the end of the war. Krakow, on the other hand, remained relatively unscathed by the terrors of the war and still remains today the largest medieval town in Europe. While in Poland, I had the opportunity to visit the Chelmno nad Nerem extermination camp and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. Although it was an intense emotional experience, the opportunity to visit these sites was truly unexplainable and unforgettable. Now that I have experienced these places with my own eyes, I am better prepared to speak about them and discuss them with my future students. When we were not engaged in academic visits such as these, my classmates and I were able to experience Polish culture firsthand. We sampled a selection of Eastern European wines, ate traditional Jewish food in the former Jewish ghetto, and learned more about archaeology and the medieval history of Krakow. I will forever be grateful to DIS and UD for allowing me the opportunity to study and explore more than I ever could have imagined around the world. (Submitted on April 19,2024)

Submitted by Samantha Jennings the 2024 Spring program in Copenhagen, Denmark…

Happy Spring Break! This week was characterized by a lot of travel and new experiences. I visited one of my friends, Olivia, in Dublin, Ireland. I met Olivia during our freshman World Scholars semester in Rome, Italy. She is currently studying in Limerick, Ireland for her second study abroad experience and we thought that it would be fun to meet in the middle and explore more of the world together! We spent a few days in Dublin, Ireland learning about the Viking history that founded the town and the Protestant Reformation that helped to shape the culture of Dublin today. Then we spent a day in Belfast, Ireland. Our tour took us out to the cliffs of Northern Ireland and the basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway. From a black taxi ride we learned about the personal experiences of individuals who lived in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. We also went to the Titanic Museum, the site of the former construction/launching site of the White Star Line Vessel. This trip was extremely important for me, not only because I was able to see Olivia, but also because my family is ethnically Irish and I am fascinated by Irish history and culture. I am so glad that I got to spend my spring break exploring this country! (Submitted on April 19,2024)

Submitted by Megan Zalinkanskas the 2024 Spring program in London, England…

Last weekend, I spent some time with local British girls at a karaoke bar. It was so awesome to hear local British accents, which I don’t hear often considering all of my classmates are from American universities. I met one of the girls on a date, and she introduced me to some of her friends. It was a great time and they introduced me to British music I hadn’t heard before. Surprisingly, we got a private room to sing our hearts out instead of one big room with everyone as I was expecting. While we were all close in age, I was the only student among them. It was very interesting to hear what professional life is like in London for people my age. It is much more common for people to skip university in the UK than in the US. There is more professional, specialized training that students can do to prepare them for careers without a university education. This college-level training allows students to start their professional lives sooner. That, coupled with the lower drinking age in Europe, creates a space where 20-year-olds are actual adults with 9-5 jobs and bills to pay. I know technically I’m an adult everywhere in the world, but I am still very much a sheltered college student. It’s a little intimidating to be around such accomplished women, but also inspiring and exciting to see what my life might be like when I graduate and can start a professional career. (Submitted on April 18,2024)

Submitted by Julia Scott the 2024 Spring program in Paris, France…

Springtime in Paris is here, and as the trees fill out and the flowers bloom I must urge you to visit Montmartre. Historically an artist colony and redlight district, it is home to the Moulin Rouge, Musee de Montmartre, Sacre-coeur, and endless charming artist stands and shops to explore. I loved Musee de Montmartre the most, and for those with a love of post-impressionism it is a must-see this time of year, with the inspiring and beautiful garden in the back of the repurposed home. My friend and I visited on a beautifully sunny day and enjoyed some refreshing drinks and cakes in the garden. Since Montmartre is on a high point of Paris, you can enjoy the views of the city from the garden as well. I felt very taken by the beauty of the world in that moment, and I really appreciated how much the environment you’re in can affect inspiration. As an artist, I find that where you are can completely change the type of work you produce and seeing parts of Paris that inspired some of the greatest painters of all time made me really appreciate that. Aside from the must-do museum, I highly recommend the artist’s square on a weekend where people are selling their works. I bought a small watercolor painting for $15 and I will appreciate it forever! (Submitted on April 16,2024)

Submitted by Martina Esparza the 2024 Spring program in Czech Republic…

In the Czech Republic, especially in Prague, I’m still adjusting to local customs even after eight weeks. Firstly, people here are notably less outwardly friendly to strangers. In the States, I’m accustomed to exchanging smiles with my local barista or the checkout person at Trader Joe’s. However, here, such interactions are considered abnormal. When ordering at a restaurant or paying at Zara, there are no emotions exchanged. Czechs are stereotypically known as serious people who seldom smile at strangers. They lead their lives with stern facial expressions, a habit which I’ve gradually adopted myself.

Additionally, Prague residents tend to be very quiet, and as a loud American surrounded by even louder Americans, breaking this habit has been challenging. On most public transportation here, people often sit in silence, either gazing out the window, engrossed in their phones, or reading a book. It’s quite conspicuous when exchange students board, as they often engage in loud discussions, contrasting sharply with the subdued atmosphere. While our exchange group sincerely tries to adapt, it’s still perplexing to comprehend why everyone else is so quiet.

The abundance of whispering and lack of conversation make Prague feel less like a bustling city compared to New York or Boston. Apart from the main tourist areas, much of the city exudes a suburban ambiance.

Despite these differences and others, Prague has been a fantastic city to temporarily reside in. (Submitted on April 15,2024)

Submitted by Martina Esparza the 2024 Spring program in Czech Republic…

Over the past weekend, I traveled three hours south of Prague to Cesky Krumlov. Besides Prague, this charming little town offered me a glimpse into the Czech lifestyle. After a short bus trip, we arrived and were eager to explore. Our school program abroad, CEA CAPPA, guided us through a mini city tour, where I quickly realized that walking from one end of the town to the other only took about 20 minutes, revealing its small size. With a population of 2,300 residents, life there felt quaint and quiet. Cobblestone streets led us to many locally owned restaurants and boutiques. We struggled to find a place to eat that accepted cards, as most restaurants were cash only and ATMs were nowhere in sight.

The two days there differed greatly from Prague’s bustling streets. Instead of trams, buses, cars, and pedestrians, Cesky Krumlov’s streets were filled with only people and bikes. Chain restaurants and grocery stores were nonexistent; instead, small, independent businesses flourished, and corner stores provided essentials. Despite its size, the culinary scene was surprisingly diverse. My favorite find was an Italian restaurant owned by an elderly couple, where we enjoyed the best pizza I’ve had yet in the Czech Republic. (Submitted on April 15,2024)