by Lucy Hamann Our final day of the 2025 Tour to Poland and the Czech Republic was devoted entirely to travel. As part of the earlier flight group, I faced a long, sleepless journey ahead. First we flew into Switzerland for a short layover before boarding our long flight back to O’Hare. But as I
by Lauren Gooden You know at the end of the high school movies when suddenly the place and the people that you’ve been around for the major parts of your life suddenly look a little different? That’s how the end of this experience felt. Amazing, bitter, sweet, beautiful, and scary all at the same time.
by Giovanna Hughes On July 19th we went to Cesky Krumlov, a town about three hours from Prague. After we arrived, we had a few hours of free time before having a guided tour of the Cesky Krumlov castle. The first thing I noticed about Cesky Krumlov was how bright it was. Amongst the bright
by Vera LeFort After seeing the beautiful architecture of Prague from afar for two days, we finally got to experience the inside of Prague’s Municipal House. After taking a tour of the city’s Jewish Quarter and admiring the endless architecture there as well, we ended the evening back at the Municipal House for a striking
by Vera Lefort After five days and two of our three performances under our belts, we said goodbye to the beautiful country of Poland and traveled to Czechia. Our ride was about six hours long, and we entered Czechia soon after departing from our hotel in Katowice. About halfway through our drive, we made a
by Giovanna Hughes Today (July 17) we went to Wroclaw, the location of our second performance! It was a two hour bus ride, and when we got there, we had a workshop led by a band that performs traditional Polish music. They first performed for us, then they worked with us in sectionals, and then
by Vera LeFort On Wednesday we spent the day in Kraków’s Old Town exploring its culture, and ended the evening with our first concert in Poland. Upon arriving in the city, I was immediately taken by the Wawel (Va-vel) castle overlooking the Wiswa, the longest river in Poland. I was reminded of the extensive
by Lucy Hamann After I stepped into Auschwitz, it felt as though this era of history had been paused, not erased, and not forgotten, but suspended. Frozen in time while the rest of the world moves forward. Driving into the camp, I noticed life continuing outside its gates. People were gardening in their yards, dogs
by Lucy Hamann On our departure day, we started off our day showing up at MYAC bright and early at 9:15 a.m. With us, we had to have all of our luggage, less than 50 pounds. My luggage miraculously made it, weighing in at 45 pounds with room to spare. After loading the buses and
