The Beach Side of Fiji

Today was beach day, also known as day I spent squinting and watching and thinking. I’m just not a huge fan of beaches. I don’t like saltwater. Sand makes me itchy. And the sun tends to fry my skin. Fiji only added to my dislike by introducing coral to the beach and invisible bugs that like to bite me. I’m so itchy. I’ve tried everything but the bites keep appearing. They’re in weird places too, like all over my stomach (and those appeared before the beach). I also didn’t have a towel.

Possibly Castaway Island

The tiny boat we took to Beachcomber Island from the ship

So basically, I spent today on a resort island the size of city block (Beachcomber Island). I watched people in my group snorkel. I had an overpriced “sex on the beach illusion” that tasted like an Icee with the smallest splash of alcohol. I sat in the shade on a picnic table in the only part of the island without sand and read my book. I couldn’t even go shopping because the island gift shop was closed.

Chilling on the boat while everyone snorkels

 The sand is really weird here though. It's like clumpy and mixed with the coral, so even when you're just stepping on dry sand, it kind of hurts. I wanted to wear my flip flops to walk around but that was difficult because everything was uneven and I hate the feeling of sand in my flip flops.

The water is so clear and blue

 Our boat was late to pick us up from the island and take us back to Viti Levu (the main island we’re staying on) so I also got to freeze in my tank top as the sun went down while we waited and for the duration of the 45-minute, windy ride back where we passed the island that Castaway was filmed on. At least is wasn’t as sunny as the ride there though.

 But at least, since it’s Fiji (paradise as others call it, for some unknown reason), the view was good.

Sunset on the Pacific

Our European Adventure, Day 10

The train ride last night was much too short. We didn’t get to catch up on enough sleep before waking up in Prague, but it was also nice not to have to sit on a train all day, even if the bunks were kind of hard and the cabin next door was kind of loud.

After rolling off the train, we immediately noticed the cultural differences in Prague. Instead of selling public transportation tickets in a conventional spot such as the tourist information office, they sold them in a convenience store-type setting. It was really peculiar and I think we might have been uncharged for the tickets that they sold us, but hey, I’m not complaining.

We exited the train station and managed to locate first the metro and then the bus that we were supposed to take to get to our hostel. We arrived just before eight o’clock and, since it was too early to check-in, we stored our luggage and helped ourselves to the free breakfast before getting directions to Wenceslas Square where we were supposed to meet our tour group to Terezin.

We ended up arriving just on time after getting turned around on the metro, but it was okay because our bus got stuck in traffic and ended up showing up about twenty minutes late. We piled on with our tour guide and a large group of Spanish-speaking tourists and elderly Americans for the forty-minute bus ride and promptly fell asleep, much to the dismay of our guide.

On our way to Terezin

Once reaching the city of Terezin (Theresienstadt), our driver dropped us off at the fortresses inside the ghetto. Prior to World War II, these buildings were used as protection against the Prussians, so they were actually much nicer conditions than we saw at Auschwitz yesterday. There were actual toilets, albeit not nearly enough, in the rooms and the bunks weren’t as crowded together. The dorm-style rooms even had tables and coat racks in them, although I’m not quite sure why with as little as the prisoners were fed.

While walking through the former camp, our guide explained to us that many of the prisoners at the camp had been convinced Terezin was somewhat of a Jewish spa. The Nazis had succeeded in filming a great deal of propaganda for the Red Cross, German citizens, and Jewish people before the camp fully expanded. This meant that some wealthy Jews actually paid to get to Terezin because they were expecting it to be a spa-like place where Jews could live together without problems, similar to Israel.

Inside the small fortress

 In addition to be the center of the propaganda concentration camp movement, Terezin was used as a transit camp and a holding camp for the elderly. While many of the prisoners over 65 died within Terezin, others were simply shipped to another camp to be used as laborers and died in transit. Very few would survive the long, cramped journey to another camp that could take anywhere from two days to two weeks without food or water. To sum up our visit within the fortresses, we were able to watch a video that contained some of the propaganda used to lure people to the camp and convince others that Terezin was a good thing.

On our way back to the bus, we walked through a small Jewish and Catholic cemetery – the sections separated by a cement walkway – and saw the graves of the first people to die at Terezin. Not long after the camp opened though, the Nazis realized that burying the dead was inefficient and might spread disease due to the large amounts of groundwater in the soil. To prevent this spread, a crematorium was built to cremate (a highly offensive act to the Jews) the dead. We were able to walk through the remains of this building that also contained operating tables to perform autopsies and fictionalize the results so that no one outside the camp would realize the Jews weren’t dying from natural causes. While the crematorium was being built though, the Nazis continued to bury the dead next to the building and that is why there is a Jewish cemetery sitting next to it.

The small cemetary outside the fortresses

The crematorium

Our last stop on the tour of Terezin was in the center of town, which was the center of the former ghetto. Our guide informed us that most of the buildings we saw were also in existence during World War II. From the looks of it, the ghetto conditions had to have been much better than we've seen within the camps. We were told that the ghetto prisoners lived in dorm-style housing where they were separated by first age and then nationality. Today, the town is populated by Czechs who run businesses in the place where thousands of Jews suffered for years during the war. A Jewish Historical museum commemorates this suffering and we were able to pay the exhibit a visit. Unfortunately, due to our tired nature, we didn't absorb much, but after wandering through the exhibits Madeline did get in trouble for napping in the reception area.

The streets of Terezin

Our bus brought us back to Wenceslas Square in Prague and we were able to do some souvenir shopping before stopping for lunch in a Mediterranean eatery called Akropolis. Since the Czech koruna is about 17 korunas to $1, we had the opportunity to eat a nearly 700 koruna meal. Seeing that number on the bill is definitely a shock. It’s amazing to think it barely equals $40. It’s hard to remember to translate the number every time you look at a price tag.


I stopped at a Bankomat ATM while we were walking around and was able to withdrawal some cash because it seems like a lot of the places in Prague, restaurants included, don't take credit cards. However, when I went to take my card back from the machine, it wouldn't let me. I had to go into the attached bank and ask for my card back. The man working proceeded to call my bank and tell me that I was "lucky" he didn't have a specific reason to hold onto my card. He proceeded to photocopy the card and make me sign a paper saying I got it back. The whole experience was a ridiculous waste of time and made me rather angry. I found myself offended that he would suggest I was doing something wrong when merely trying to withdrawal cash. I'll certainly never be using a bankomat machine again. Worst atm experience ever

We located the Old-New Synagogue within the Jewish quarter after lunch and looked at the exhibits that pretty much covered the information we’ve seen in every other Jewish museum on this tour. I’m starting to think all of the Jewish museums need to get together so they can try and come up with some original information, or at least present it in a new way. Czech Jews aren’t that much different from Polish Jews or German Jews or Dutch Jews from the sounds of it.

Exhausted, we stumbled back to the hostel and were able to check in to our nice room. Hostel Elf has a definite community feel that none of the places we’ve stayed in so far has had. It’s a nice change. However, we do miss our private bathroom. We took naps before going out to a nicer restaurant/bar up the street for a shared pizza and drinks. Madeline, Matt, and Ben were able to try locally-brewed Czech beers and Matt and I tried 140 proof absinthe before heading back to the hostel.

Matt's fruit salad chaser

Our huge room in the hostel

The hallway outside our room

We made friends with the other guests while watching a game of jenga and Matt, Ben, and Madeline played cards with a group who understood English and knew how to play the same game as them.

Italia: Day Two

After taking a nap yesterday, we meet Loredana who is a master’s student that goes to school in the area. I’m not sure how we came in contact with her, but she had arranged a tour for us. We ended up walking to a cobblestone park area with many fountains to meet some other high school students from Lanzo, a town we will be visiting soon. The fountain park area seemed to be the center of the city with many street salesmen targeting the small tourist population.

The students took us to a cinema museum. Somehow half of the group (me included) ended up buying the wrong ticket to the museum though and while we were exchanging them, the rest of the group went up in a lift to see a panoramic view of Torino. Once we got the correct tickets, we walked around a portion of the museum that was really weird. We were just getting to the cool part when the other part of our group showed up and told us we needed to get in line for the lift if we wanted to go. It was annoying that we barely got to see any of the cool part of the museum. Lesson learned, always make sure you're buying the correct ticket when there's a language barrier.

Views from the top of the lift

We met Dr. Fink and Kimberlie back at the hotel once we were done with the museum and walked to a small pizzeria for dinner. The pizza was alright, but it was thin crust, so definitely not my favorite. Before our meal, they gave us complimentary fried dough. It was actually really good. I’m not sure how to describe what it tasted like but it was both crusty and salty. We got desert at a gelato shop called Grom afterwards. I had the giandju, a specialty of this region, which we’ve decided is like a chocolate with hazelnut. I liked it alright, but I wouldn’t get it again. I think the hazelnut made it taste kind of funky.

I was really tired, but the group wanted to keep going, so annoyingly we returned to the same fountain park area as before because a woman Dr. Fink knows really wanted us to see it. She apparently didn’t know that we had already gone. I led the group who went back to the hotel though and the minute we got back, I passed out. Jet lag sucks.

This morning, I got up early to go for a run with some of the group. The route took us alongside the river that runs through the center of the city, so the views were gorgeous, and being a Sunday morning, there weren't many people out wandering the streets. I felt as if we had a private viewing of the city. I love running in a new place early in the morning, it's like a breath of fresh air. Too bad I'm not a morning person in the slightest.

We had breakfast at the hotel and I realized their milk tastes rather weird. I was surprised to find cereal on the complimentary table because I know it's not very popular here, but I don’t think I’ll be getting it again during our time here. The flavors are very dull and you can tell the Italians haven't really branched out with their cereal selection like Americans have. It's probably a lot less sugary and somewhat better for you though. I did have these really yummy pound cake type sweets called Plum Cakes. They remind me of something I used to eat a lot as a child, but I’m not sure what.

Loredana came back to the hotel and took us on a shopping/walking tour of the city and surrounding park afterwards. We ate lunch at a sandwich shop in the park that sold ham, turkey, and vegetable sandwiches. It was alright, but not really my type of ideal place. It didn’t help that we had to eat outside and it felt really buggy. I hate when I can’t eat without shooing stuff away from my face.

Dumpters near the outdoor clubbing district along the river

Picturesque view of Torino's city park

The afternoon was full of shopping, but sadly I didn’t buy anything because it always seemed like people walked right on by the stores that I wanted to go in. I don’t get why they want to spend a fortune on chocolate and not clothes or shoes. There are more interesting and lasting things that can be purchased in Italy other than food.

The whole day seemed like kind of a waste to me because there was a lot of waiting around. Our group of sixteen plus a guide is too big to travel together with, but they insist on it so we end up constantly waiting on people, whether it’s because someone needs to go to the bathroom or someone ended up stopping in a shop that no one else was interested in. Kind of aggravating.

For dinner, our Italian guide Loridana took us to a funky bar that served appetizers and alcohol. This is apparently quite common in Italy and normally takes place before the traditional meal time of 8-10. We went around six and all ordered a drink, I got a sex on the beach, and then we indulged in the bad tasting appetizers. I had a pizza tasting thing and some bread. There were some chicken bit looking things though that tasted the best. Sadly, after my first small helping there weren’t any left. I got a little bit tipsy off the one drink because of the lack of food. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a hole in the wall gelato shop and I ordered a milk chocolate flavor. It was pretty good, but still not my favorite.