Harvey Scholar Travels - Chris in Austria

Österreich: The Eastern Kingdom. I had the opportunity to spend an incredible five months living and learning in Austria, one of the world’s most beautiful nations. During my time overseas I had the opportunity to visit a total of 11 different countries, meet countless new and interesting people, and try some truly unique foods.

When I was invited to join some friends on their study abroad trip, I was nervous. At that point, I had never left the United States. They told me they were going to Austria, a country where the official language is German. I was going to be 5,000 miles from home with people I barely knew, in a country where I did not speak a word of the native language. And strangely, I was looking forward to it. I found myself excited at the prospect of getting lost in some of the world’s most historically significant cities.

I agreed and began the process of getting my passport and filling out more paperwork than I care to recall. Nine months later, I was leaving on a plane bound for Munich, and a semester of new experiences and realized opportunities. I made as much of my trip abroad as I could, spending many of my weekends traveling to new cities. I got to see the canals of Amsterdam, the Olympic Park from the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, and a castle dating back to 1050.

More interesting than the places, though, were the people. Perhaps one my favorite experiences was meeting a schoolteacher that shared our room in a hostel in Nuremberg. We quickly found out that he was a beer aficionado. The man, Markus, had consumed 3,000 different German beers in his life, and he offered us the opportunity to join him in tasting some of his latest purchases. We, of course, agreed to join him that evening, and we talked about the various things he liked to collect, his life growing up in Dusseldorf, and even American politics. Though Markus was more interesting a character than many of the people I interacted with, the kindness and openness with which he treated us was very typical of the people we met. I learned during my time abroad to see the best in people. I became acutely aware of the fact that everyone has a story to tell, and since my trip I have started talking less and listening more.

None of my experiences would have been possible without the generosity of the Harvey family. I was able to tour Europe at a critical time in my development and I will forever be grateful for that opportunity. Especially in an increasingly confusing political climate, having diverse cultural experiences in critical to understanding the forces that drive people to action. With this post I have included a number of pictures. I took too many to count, but here are a few of my favorites.

In Budapest, we visited a castle and explored much of the city, both on the Buda and Pest sides of the river. The above picture was taken from the dome of St. Stephen’s Basilica, the city’s most famous cathedral. We also spent the night at some of Budapest’s famous “Ruin Bars”. The bars are mostly found in the city’s District VII, formerly the Jewish Quarter, and are by far the most unique night life I came across in Europe. They’re built in abandoned buildings, warehouses, and lots dating back decades, often to World War II or earlier.

This and the above picture are both from Dubrovnik, Croatia. The city is perhaps best known as the site of Kings Landing from Game of Thrones. While our group was there, it just so happened that filming for Star Wars: Rogue One was going on. Here are a couple of pictures of the props and the large green screen used. Our best guess is that the scene was a speeder chase, based on what appeared to be a crashed speeder (from the perspective of the first image, the crashed speeder was behind the camera). The tent in the top image was hiding a short rail system.

An overhead view of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The inspiration for King’s Landing (Game of Thrones) is a lot more apparent from this perspective. It was a little overcast and rainy on the day when we went to the top of the hill, but the weather was mostly superb during our time in Croatia.

This is Miramare Castle, in Trieste, Italy. It was built in the 1850s for the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximillian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium. During the First World War, all the furniture and art in the castle were moved to Vienna for safekeeping, and following the war the castle became Italian property. After the war, Austria returned the furnishings. Following World War II, the castle became the headquarters for American troops in Italy, and maintained that role until 1954. Today, the castle and its extensive gardens are open to the public, free of charge.

This is a picture from the Dachau Concentration Camp, on the outskirts of Munich. It was the only camp that operated continuously during the entire Third Reich. Although it wasn’t a killing camp, over 300,000 people died here. The victims were largely Jewish, but also included political prisoners, homosexuals, and other minority groups. The camp was used as a testing ground for practices that would become commonplace in other camps. Visiting was among the most impactful experiences of my time abroad.

From an architectural standpoint, Amsterdam is one of the most unique cities I had the pleasure of visiting. Much of the city is built on what amounts to a swamp, which means canals are an absolute necessity. The soil is also quite wet and is constantly shifting, so many of the buildings lean on each other in some form or another. Street art is also quite popular in the city, and it seems that every residential building is a different color of the rainbow.

These are the men I traveled with during much of my time in Europe. Here, we are standing in front of some props from Star Wars: Rogue One in Dubrovnik, Croatia.