The
Erasmus Policy statement highlights one of the aims of the Erasmus Programme
is: “to enable them (students) to extend
their knowledge of the cultures of other European countries and to approach
their studies from a point of view of a different culture.” From being on
Erasmus for less than three months it has allowed me to experience a vast
variety of cultures within a short space of time. It has made me aware of how
small Northern Ireland and Ireland are in comparison to the rest of Europe, yet
I haven’t travelled around them! This is something I plan to do more this
summer when I am home.
This
week Poland has celebrated a number of National holidays which has resulted in
the three of us having some time off our studies, so DarÓma and I decided to
make use of our time and travel. After our visit to Krakow we set off to our
next two destinations, Vienna and Prague! In nine days we travelled a total of
thirty three hours by train, this might seem like a long time however it flies
by when you have first class beds! At this stage of our trip we can happily say
we have crammed as much culture into a week as possible, as well as fitting in
some fun activities too.
Vienna
Vienna
is the capital city of Austria, having a total population of 1.7 million
people, who speak the German language. I sometimes found it difficult to adjust
to the different languages being spoken after getting more familiar with
Polish. It made me feel guilty for my lack of knowledge on languages as it is typical
for people in Europe to be able to speak two or three languages! We started our
adventure in Vienna with a little more fun than culture visiting a Theme Park
and Madame Tussauds (Wien). Although we had fun taking pictures next to all the
famous stars, it also highlighted to us famous people who were from Vienna, I
had previously had been unaware of, such as the artist, Klimt and the composer,
Mozart. 
After
recovering from the sickening rides at the theme park we thought it was time to
explore Vienna on a more cultural level visiting the National Museum, attending
an Opera and walking around the Schönbrunn
Palace. The Schönbrunn Palace is
one of the most important cultural monuments in the country as it was once home
to the Habsburg monarchs. DarÓma and I were in awe at the grand scale of the gardens – the
Palace, fountains, a maze, and a zoo! Vienna has been one of my favourite
places to visit as there is so much to see and do. I am always surprised by the
kindness of local people who are willing to help you when you are lost or
suggest things you can do, even without asking.
Prague
Our
next stop was to one of the seven most visited cities in Europe, Prague, having
a population of 1.3 million people. I felt
there were fewer things to do in Prague in comparison to Krakow and Vienna
however, there were plenty of attractive areas to see, especially the main
Square. In the main Square there is the Clock Tower, which is the oldest astronomical clock in the world that is still
working. I would advise anyone to go and see the Clock at night as the whole
Square looks more beautiful. We had both fooled ourselves into believing that
Prague would be cheap, however after being used to polish currency, it was
close to the prices at home! Looking back on all we experienced this week it is
hard to believe that more university students don’t take the opportunity to do
Erasmus!
Reference
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