Vacances de Printemps

Hi all!

So, as you may have noticed, I have been away from this blog for the past two weeks–it’s with good reason, I promise! These past two weeks were my spring vacation and I had two weeks of free-time to travel to some of the places I’ve been wanting to go all year. These places included Frankfurt, Berlin, Krakow, Warsaw, Athens and Santorini.

While I would tell you all about the many memories in each place, I think it’s more important to share a few key memories. When I was in Krakow, Poland, I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz and its sister camp, Birkenau. After having toured around the bombed remains of the old SS headquarters in Berlin and reading testimonies of the horrors of the Holocaust throughout the city, I thought I was prepared to see these sites. However, nothing could have prepared me for the tangibility of these atrocious events stepping foot across the gate marked “Arbeit macht frei.” Seeing the mountains of shoes and eyeglasses only added to the magnitude of this feeling of incomprehension–seeing the empty cans of deadly gas pellets made me question how human beings could treat others as if they were rats to be extinguished at all costs. However, perhaps the most powerful experience was at Birkenau, the largest concentration camp of the Third Reich. The one railroad into the gates seems to draw you into the wide alleys of makeshift huts and I realized that this was, for so many people, the last thing they ever saw. It was humbling to be standing on what is now Polish government owned and operated land, which was once inaccessible to those who were not destined to be executed.

These days, the singing birds and blooming trees that grow around the camps are examples of how life goes on and flourishes even after the most harrowing of times. Yet the ruins of gas chambers and memorial plaques in almost thirty languages persist to remind us of what human beings are capable of and how the Holocaust serves as a warning to future generations.  I believe that this was an important pilgrimage despite the difficult moments.

On a less somber note, I was also able to realize one of my travel dreams during this vacation as well–I made it to Greece! After spending less than 24 hours in Athens and trying to hit every major tourist site (an impossible feat), I once again packed my backpack full of two-week old laundry and jumped on a plane to Santorini. Although I had heard amazing things, nothing prepared me for how beautiful this place actually is. Every vista is like a postcard and the blue-domed churches looking out over expanses of deep-blue ocean are a dime a dozen! Coming off of nearly a 10 days of constant movement, I took my time in Santorini to stop and appreciate island life, swimming in the crystal waters and sunbathing of a black sand beach. No vacation has ever been more relaxing and it was really difficult seeing the white-washed houses clinging to cliff faces slowly fading away as I took a plane back towards France. The weather upon my landing didn’t help my sadness either; 48 and rainy does not compare with 80 and sunny.

That being said, I only have three weeks left in France! I remember mapping out all my vacations in September and April 23rd seemed so far away, but here we are–buried in school work to catch up on and desperately trying to enjoy my last few weeks of French life!

À la prochaine!

Thomas

Warsaw!

Causal Acropolis mornings

This boat was blasting “Waves” and it was amazing

Not a postcard or photoshopped

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 23rd, 2016 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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