Last thoughts & Last hello's... leading to Last goodbye's

Days Spent Abroad: 116

Hours Spent on Planes: 39
Hours Spent in Airports: 56
Hours Spent on Trains: 10
Hours Spent on Buses: 59
Countries Visited:9
Cities Visited: 12
**Thanks C. for the idea**

Life in the Czech Republic.

Only in the beginning of my blogging quests did I mention my life within Prague. I have gotten caught up in my European adventures that I haven't had time to really write what it has been like living in a city where the language is so foreign that it doesn't even matter how much you know, you will never fully understand what is really going on.

Living in a city where the people could possibly be the most unfriendly people you may ever encounter.

A city that never sleeps and drinking at 5:30am on the metro is considered socially acceptable. (Thanks Alex for starting that tradition)

A city that has a cafe' on every block, where friends meet for coffee and cake on the regular, no matter what age.

A city where pivo (beer) or even vino (wine) is cheaper than water.

A city where there are no smoking limitations and people chain smoke like it's their job.

A city full of obedient dogs that are treated like children.

A city where baby strollers can be left outside, unattended, and parents won't be seen as absolutely insane and won't go to jail for child abuse.

This cold, dreary and unfriendly city could simply be my favorite place in the entire world.



Ranking of my European Adventures:

1. Prague (No explanation needed)

2. Vienna (Gorgeous city, great friends, the entire program and The Centimeter)
3. Greece/Athens (Took a risk and went alone, absolutely beautiful, the beaches and got a tan)
4. Budapest (Beautiful city, first trip with Celia, ate duck and was adventurous)
5. Nice (Warm, Beautiful, first beach trip and got to experience southern France)
6. Munich (Was only there for 1 night at the very beginning of the program, but I met my amazing friends here.)
7. Berlin (Becca's B-day and last trip with all my friends!)
8. Moravia (First weekend, the caves, the winery and the drunken bus trip which was the funniest thing I have witnessed/been a part of...)
9. Amsterdam (Girls weekend, pretty city, reminded me of home and the American Food store)
10. Krakow (The water park, appreciating life and getting to see Auschwitz.)
11. London (First Broadway play: Wicked and rooming with Celia where we would become Besties!!)

My Nightlife in Praha:
I am going to miss...

Monday night family dinners with Celia, Becca, Sara, Sarah and Kacy... and Alex who tends to be our special guest.

Tuesday nights at Chapeau Rouge are always interesting.

Wednesday nights which are usually Erasmus events at one of the popular nightclubs.

Thursday nights at Radost... where Rihanna shot her music video to "Please don't stop this music..."

Friday nights at Lucerna are my absolute FAVORITE!

Saturday nights at Karlovy Lazne (5 story club and largest club in Central Europe) or to one of our favorite spots.

Sunday nights... procrastinating on homework & catching up on MUCH needed sleep.

Other Favorite places:
Sasazu
Roxy (on my birthday)
U Sudu
Duplex
Nebe (wish I went here more...)



Things that I will miss:
Lunch dates with the girls.

Cafe dates to do "homework".

Living in the Kolej with all my friends and knowing that they are just down the hall.

Pre-gaming in the Sara(h)s room or in Alex's room.

Dinner dates with Celia.

Walking everywhere and taking the metro.

The 51 night Tram home... even though it sometimes sucked!

McDonalds after a night of clubbing... and convincing everyone to get some, too.

Getting lost in the city and then eventually finding my way.

Speaking terrible Czech.

Hearing English and thinking it is weird...

Being surrounded by the Czech language and not knowing what is being said... love it.
(Sometimes I tried to guess what they were talking about... I'm sure I was never right.)
Not having the TV/Radio to distract me or waste my time.

Only having my computer to keep in touch with the outside world.

Drinking Pivo with Alex.

Day-drinking, taking a nap and then going out at night.

Sending text messages to the states (sissy) and knowing that they cannot respond.

Receiving mail and packages, almost weekly.

Sending postcards to the US.

Eating only rice, chicken and pasta for weeks.

Being forced to re-wear clothes.

My Vodaphone.

Having the same study habits as Becca- we like to pull allnighters!

Crashing in all of my friends room weekly.

Waking up early and going to bed late.

Drinking 3 cups of coffee by 11am.

My last week in Prague was spent studying my butt off for finals and writing papers galore but as soon as my last final was over- Wednesday at 4:30pm... it was time to enjoy the last few days in Prague.

Wednesday night we went out to Nebe for drinks. Thursday I went exploring, drank a bottle of wine while packing and then went out to Radost with all my friends. Friday I finished packing, went downtown and just wandered the streets by myself, then went to Gloria Jeans (cafe), where I just relaxed. I later met up with Alex, Celia, Sara and Sarah at Choco Cafe, the very first cafe we went to in Prague. It was bittersweet. All of us went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Prague and then we ended the last night by all of AIFS going to a park, drinking and hanging out with everyone. It was a great way to end the best 4 months of my life.

I am going to miss SO many people here in Prague; all of AIFS but especially my amazing friends, Celia, Sara, Sarah, Becca, Alex, Tom, and Kacy.

I'm sure when I get home tomorrow I am going to be really mopey and a mess... please don't take offense to my actions... it will just be tough to say goodbye to Praha and to everyone.

By the time you have finished reading this, I will probably be back in HOT Maryland. I am not at all excited to return home, but seeing as it is happening regardless, I am more willing to except that my study abroad experience is officially over.


Prague, AIFS and friends, I love you all and I will miss you all so much. Until we meet again...♥


Until next time...

☮

It's The Final Countdown...

2am, Thursday morning.

As I sit in the quiet study room, surrounded by nothing but school books, I cannot help but lose focus. Has this semester really happened? If so, why has it gone so quickly? Will I ever be this happy again?

The answers are simple. Yes, this semester really happened. Time flies when you are having fun. And, even though I am leaving a happy place, it does not mean that I will not be happy again, it only means it will be a different kind of happiness.

Lately my blogs have been all about my adventures and how happy I am. I am sure it is getting old, but there are reasons to my writing. I don't know if I can say it enough, but this semester has been the best semester of my life. In 10 days... wait 9 now (ah)... I will be going home. My return scares me more than my departure from home back in January. Why? I should be excited to return home, I get to see my family and friends, I will be in my home country where they speak English. I am returning to my comfortable life, but why am I so scared that I have butterflies in my hollow stomach?

Most might not know this... but I was miserable back at Salisbury. I absolutely hated the place. Everything about Salisbury made me cringe. I seemed happy, but only a select few knew I was sad, not my normal self. I was unhappy for so long that I didn't even know who I was anymore. I tried making myself happy, but I was so overwhelmed with getting good grades, being an active member in my sorority, holding leadership roles in my sorority, and working a part-time job that I didn't really have time to figure out the reasons for my misery and how to fix it. After 2 years of constantly being busy can really ware someone out. I was slowly cracking at the seams.

3am

(Article from The Flyer, Salisbury Universities newspaper... hahaha)

While being here I have had ample amount of time to re-evaluate my life, I'm young so it didn't take long to figure things out. The things that I realized I was doing wrong:

• I was being too serious.
• I was too stressed.
• I didn't have enough "me" time.
• I didn't laugh enough.
• I didn't joke enough.
• I didn't stand-up for myself.
• I was a push-over.
• I was too nice.
• I was too OCD.
• I didn't share enough.
• I worked too hard, with no fun.
• I wasn't outside enough.
• I didn't really have a hobby.
• I compared myself with other people too frequently.
• I didn't live my own life.
• I cared too much what other people thought about me.
• I didn't dance enough.
• I didn't hangout with other people enough.
• I put others before me.
• I didn't realize all of these things sooner...

That is a serious list. How could one person be doing all of those things wrong?! I don't know, but somehow I managed to hit everything on that list at least once. While being abroad I have "worked" really hard on trying to change the way I had been previously living my life. I have not changed everything on that list completely, but some do not even apply to me anymore. I can now say that these are things that I have been doing right:

• Laughing way too much.
• Joking with everyone & graciously excepting jokes in return.
• Living life to its fullest.
• Not taking life too seriously.
• Taking the long way to class, just to walk around the city.
  
• Constantly surrounding myself with great friends.
• Saying "Yes." to every new adventure.
• Dancing like no one is watching.
• Standing up for myself with a little Sassyness.
• Embracing the slytherin within.
• Sharing everything without hesitation.
• Being more messy and less OCD.
• Having fun, but also working hard.
• Living my own life, without comparisons.
• Being grateful for what I have got.
• Appreciating life, family, friends and the opportunities that I have been given.
  
• Being thankful everyday for finally finding myself.

You cannot really "work" at doing these things, you just need to change your thinking, attitudes and outlook.

The butterflies in my stomach are not because I am nervous of flying, which I am not, or of seeing everyone again. They are constantly fluttering around because I am worried that everything that I have learned while being abroad will disappear as soon as I get settled back at home. I do not want to go back to how I was living my life before. How will I realize if I am going backwards, instead of going forwards? Who will be there to guide me? I do know, that I will stop blaming Salisbury for my sadness in the past, I take full blame. Next year, if it kills me... I will have the best senior year that any senior has ever had. This is one goal that I will accomplish. It is going to be an epic year.

My adventures in Europe are sadly over, but I still have the constant adventure of life which I can gladly say that I have never been so excited and nervous for.

4am

Time to be productive. Wish me luck!

Until next time...

☮

Happiness is Measured in Laughter & Smiles...

As I avoid the immense amount of school work that has slowly been piling up, I cannot even begin to explain to you how much I am going to miss this place called Prague that I now call home.

(Praha Love)
Photo Credit: Celia Fox

Last night was our farewell party. It was pouring out and freezing... I am still wearing my winter jacket. It is May. This is a problem but I love it. The group of people that chose to study abroad AIFS Prague are all so different, so much fun and are what made this the best semester of my life. After last night I probably won't see half of them ever again, but we all share this unique experience. At the beginning of the semester, I remember a tour guide in London asking us where we were studying. She could practically guess where we were going and wasn't surprised at all that we were all traveling to Prague. Later, Celia and I asked her how she knew and what made us look so different from all the other students studying abroad throughout Europe? She simply told us that the students who choose to study abroad in Prague are, "practical, intelligent and down to earth..." Not high maintenance, like the people going to Florence. People who study in Prague are simply looking to have a great time. After she told Celia and I this, I knew right then and there... that it was going to be a great semester. And for once in my life, I was right.

Yes, it was a difficult adjustment at first. Prague can be unfriendly at times, but that is why I love it so much. I honestly couldn't tell you when the last time I was this happy. Not happy because someone else is making me happy, but happy because I have learned so much about who I am and how I can make myself happy. I have changed so much, I'm still Jenny, but this experience changes people for the better. You grow and mature in ways that are hard to describe. Sometimes people are just lucky and already know who they are and what they want out of life, but then there are people like me, where like all fine wines, it takes time.

My time in Prague is slowly but surely coming to an end. It is such a bittersweet thing. I never thought that I would say... "I miss Salisbury," but surprisingly I do. I am missing my best friend, Mckenzie, who is graduating the day before I get home... I cannot believe I am missing that. I miss Taney Ave and the gang that resides there. I miss my sorority sisters, who always have my back even when I am thousands of miles away. I miss working at the IT desk, making money. I miss home- my bed, which doesn't smell and doesn't make my eyes infected. I miss my parents, my family, my twin, my best friends. I am looking forward to going back, but I wish it was only a mini vacation in which I would be returning back to Prague.

Even though there are so many things that I miss at home... I feel like I could actually live here in Prague. Most don't speak English, I don't speak Czech. I LOVE that. Hearing Czech is like a breath of fresh air after being in a stuffy room for hours on end. Walking the streets of Prague alone is the most peaceful thing. I always listen to my ipod when walking the streets. People don't stare at you, they have their own lives to worry about. It is just you, the cobblestones and your own thoughts.

My friends here are one in a million. Out of everything, I am going to miss them the most. They are what made this whole experience. Whether they know it or not, they are what helped me figure out who I am. I am so lucky to have them in my life. It will be so weird not seeing them everyday. We all grew and changed together. We all go to different schools, live in different states, have our own lives back at home, but I know that our friendships will last past Prague.

Soon all of this will be a memory, a part of my past. If it were possible, I would forever keep this part of my present reality, but that is impossible. I have been so fortunate and lucky to have had an opportunity like this one. It might have killed my bank account, put me in debt and taken me away from home/friends/family for an entire semester, but this was such a wonderful life-changing experience that I will always remember.

Prague, once I leave you in 2 weeks I don't know if I will ever see you again. If I do, I know it will be very different but I do hope I see you sometime soon. You saved me, made me happy, taught me about myself, forever changed me. For all of those reasons, thank you.

To all my friends and family members, I am coming home... you should probably start preparing now. Who is buying me a Jager shot?? I survived. Let's celebrate!

Until next time...

☮

Catching up on the Lone Traveler...

I know I am a little behind on my blog... so I am going to summarize Krakow and Nice so that I can tell my stories of Santorini.

KRAKOW, POLAND-

A few weekends ago, April 16th- 18th, half of my program took the 10hr bus ride to Krakow, Poland. That weekend was the very same weekend of the President's funeral. Everything was quiet and the country was in mourning. We didn't want to be disrespectful so we laid low and tried to blend in. I wore black most of that weekend. On Saturday, after we did two sightseeing tours, we went to this AMAZING indoor water park. It was so much fun. The slides killed my back and I was sore for three days. We had really good food; one night we ate at a Ukrainian restaurant where I got perogies which were filled with potatoes and cheese and then fried in butter. SO good.

(Waterpark)

On Sunday we went to Auschwitz. The saddest place I have ever been. Auschwitz I was more a museum, with rooms full of human hair, eye glasses, shoes, pictures, luggage...etc. It was awful. The saddest thing I saw was pictures of babies and pictures of twins that were tested on. So terrible. Auschwitz II was what it actually was, if you have seen Schindler's List, that is Auschwitz II. The train tracks lead right in. We saw the remains of the gas chambers, the cattle carts, the buildings... that place gave me nightmares for a few days. During the weekend we were all reading a book called "Sarah's Key," which is all about Auschwitz. It is a really good book and I highly recommend it. Basically this weekend was a little depressing, but it gave me a better appreciation for life.

NICE, FRANCE-

Last weekend, April 23-26th, Celia and I went to Nice, France. It was so pretty and hot! Well like 70', but that is HOT compared to Prague. My body was definitely not prepared for the heat. The beach was so beautiful with white pebbles and the bluest water I have ever seen. Celia and I got amazing breakfast one morning: Coffee (oh, I drink LOTS of coffee now- my dentist won't be happy), Orange Juice, baguette with peach jam and a croissant. It was so yummy. We explored the old town, got gilatto, mango flavor, ate good pasta and sunbathed. There were several mistakes made that weekend:

(Beach)

1. Not buying sunblock the first day- Celia got SO burned.
2. Bringing my computer... checking Facebook... (most of you know what I am talking about).
3. Booking the WRONG trip home. Celia's flight was at 6AM and somehow I managed to miss book my trip, even though I swear I double checked, and my flight was at 6PM. It was really unfortunate that I didn't find out that I miss-booked until after we cancelled our hostel for the lastnight. I thought it would be a great way to save time and money and just sleep in the airport. So we got to the airport on Sunday night, Celia's flight left at 6:50am... and I was in the smallest airport known to man with only 3 shops... for 24hours. It was awful. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I decided that before I went absolutely insane. I needed some Retail Therapy. I purchased a chocolate brown Longchamp bag... heaven. It made up for my misery.

(Nice)

I missed all my classes on Monday but when I got back to Prague around 9pm, all my friends and I enjoyed a nice family dinner. I had never been so happy to be back in the Kolej!!! The weekend to Nice was good and I am so glad I got to visit southern France. I will definitely be going back, but in time.



ATHENS & SANTORINI, GREECE-

Before I start, just know that I was safe.

After my long weekend in Nice and then only being in Prague 2 days, I left for Greece. I traveled by myself. It was my #1 on "all places to go visit" list and I wasn't able to find people travel with because of the dates and times. So I decided to take the opportunity to be adventurous and travel to one of the most romantic places on the planet- by myself.


It was a hike to just get there. This past Thursday, April 29th, I flew from Prague to Munich and then Munich to Athens. I stayed in Athens for the afternoon, touring the Acropolis and other touristy things. For over an hour I sat on top of a mountain which overlooked all of Athens and the Acropolis, where I listened to my Ipod, wrote in my journal and thought about life. It was SO nice! It might sound dorky, but it was so relaxing and beautiful.

(Acropolis)

After I took lots of pictures and walked around I grabbed dinner. The host couldn't understand why I was by myself. He asked me where my boyfriend/friends were. I just laughed and said I was alone. I don't know if this made me look pathetic, a lonely girl eating and drinking wine by herself, but at that moment and even thinking back to it, I do not care. The meal was really good; I got Pasticcio which is almost like Lasagna but with different noodles and cheese and I also got a glass of white wine. After dinner, I went back to my hostel and called it a night. I had been up for over 20 hours and I needed to get up at 4:30am the next morning to catch the bus to the airport.

Early Friday morning I flew from Athens to Santorini. The flight was only 25mins, I had a window seat and just looked out the window over the Aegean Sea the entire time. Before I even got to Santorini I knew I was going to be in love with the place. On the plane I met some guys, who I would later befriend. They offered to split a taxi with me, but the only thing that flashed into my head was the movie Taken. I decided to just give them my Czech Vodaphone Number instead. I took the taxi into Fira, which is the main town in Santorini. It is right on the cliffs and has amazing views. As soon as I checked into my hostel I went exploring.

(Fira)

I rode the cable car down the cliffs to see the Old Port. Then I rode a donkey up the mountain. I found the entire ride entertaining and just couldn't help but laugh. I think my donkey was some-what retarded. It kept ramming me into the walk ways and could not walk straight up the cliff. I'm sure it is a hard path to walk up, but no other donkey's were being as crazy as mine. I loved it though! After I explored more of Fira I went back to my hostel and laid by the pool for about an hour. I then met up with my new guy friends and they took me on a moped tour of the island. I know, it probably wasn't safe going off with new guys that I didn't really know and then going on a moped. BUT. I traveled alone and if I was willing to take that risk, I was definitely willing to live outside the box. Deciding to take the risk was the best decision ever! I was able to see all of Santorini basically- for free!

(Cable Car)

We toured the hills, the wineries and the beaches. We stopped at a shack on the side of the road and got authentic Santorini Red and White wine and took them to the Red Beach. We then went to the Black beach and just explored. It was SO much fun. After they took me on the tour of the island, they took me back to Fira on their Mopeds.

Later that evening I met up with them for drinks, where we got to see the sunset in Fira. SO BEAUTIFUL! After the sun was down they took me out to dinner; we all got different dishes and split them. So I was able to have Red wine with Eggplant, Fried Feta, Pasticcio and then some other good food. (For Free!) After dinner we went to a bar and just all hung out. It was a lot of fun, I met some Canadian's who were really nice.

Saturday, I woke up early and took a taxi to Perissa (Black Beach) where my friends from Prague were staying. They had gotten in Friday night by ferry and it was awesome meeting up with them! We chilled on the beach all day, got fruity cocktails, had amazing lunch right on the beach . I got a really good chocolate milkshake with a shot of Kahlua, it was an excellent combo. with my chicken club sandwich. I was on the beach from 10-5pm and I get a LOT of sun. The beach was really hot because of the black sand so I swam in the Aegean Sea and tossed the football around with my friends. It was a great day.

(Perissa, Black Beach)

Later that evening we all went into Fira to watch the sunset and then grabbed some dinner. I had Red Wine, Fried saganaki and Lamb for dinner. The best meal I had all trip! We went exploring after dinner and then decided to call it a night. The sun wore us all out and I had to be up at 5am to catch my flight the next morning.

Yesterday (Sunday), I almost missed my flight from Santorini to Athens, I had the flight time wrong. (I think the sun killed some braincells this past weekend... or maybe it was all the wine) My flight was at 7:10 and I didn't get through security until 7:15am. I ran. Thankfully I made the flight or I would have been stuck in Santorini, which definitely wouldn't have been the end of the world. Once I got into Athens I had a 3 hr. layover and then flew to Frankfurt where I had another 3 hr. layover and then finally flew to Prague. In total I was traveling for more than 14hours yesterday, but my weekend was worth it all! I had such a great time. Before leaving Prague, i'll be honest, I didn't think traveling alone as a young-single-female-american-student would be too much fun... but it definitely was and I am SO glad that I took risk and went to Santorini!


---- ONLY 3 Weeks LEFT---- Where did the time go?!----

This week we have our goodbye party. I don't like this. This semester has been so amazing and it has gone SO quickly. I have tons of school work, but i'm not stressed (which is a first). I don't want my last few weeks in Europe to be filled with stress or even the drama that is going on back at home.

When I get home I am sure everything is going to be different. I have made a lot of great friends, but while being here I have also lost some great friends from home. It sucks and if it were up to me I would keep all of my friends... I guess everyone needs to find their own happiness in the world.

To my old friends: You guys are so wonderful and I cannot wait to see you!
To new friends: I am really going to miss you guys, but I know that we will keep in touch!
To my friends that I have lost: I am really going to miss you. :(

I guess that is it for now. This weekend I am going on my last big trip: BERLIN! We are celebrating Becca's 21st birthday... it is going to be outrageous!

Until next time...

☮

Weekend Traveler: Part Two

Vienna, Austria March 26th - 28th, 2010

First, I would like to apologize in advance for the length of this blog; Vienna was just SO much fun that it is hard not to include everything.

My concept of time has been completely altered. The weeks are flying by too quickly; sometimes I wish I had a pause button on my life so that I could just stay here a little longer. Unfortunately, such a thing does not exist. So before my life becomes really busy with basically traveling 4 weekends in a row, finals/papers and then somehow managing to explore Prague as much as I can before I am forced to go back home, I will catch everyone up on my life.

A few weekends past, almost my entire program *cough, Alex Horn* traveled by bus to Vienna. The bus ride was around 6 hours, which by now is a piece of cake. But for some odd reason I decided on taking a Tylenol PM to fall asleep on the bus, which wasn't such a good idea because at one of the rest stops we made we stopped at the most bizarre places I have ever been to. EXCALIDUR. From being woken up from my Tylenol PM coma, I was utterly confused as to where on Earth we were. It was some kind of amusement park with a "convenient" store that had an entire two rooms filled with liquors and beers, another room filled with giant bags of candy and then another room with kids toys, where they sold pregnant barbies... SO please try to picture me, dead tired in my coma state in this ridiculous place... after much debate, I still don't know if we were in the Czech Republic or if we were in Austria. You would think I would be able to tell based on the currency used, right? Nope, you could either use Koruna's (Czech "crowns") or the Euro. Oh, Europe. Anyways, I ended up leaving the store within 5 minutes and decided to sunbath/nap by myself on this man made bridge in the parking lot instead... which I'm sure I ended up looking like the weird one in this bizarre adventure amusement park/rest stop.

So onto Vienna.

We arrived in the late afternoon on Friday. Checked into our hotel, I "shared" a room with Celia and our rooms had TVs in them. Heaven on Earth. We listened to the radio in German and then went around the corner to the Centimeter, a local pub, and got Iced Coffee to wake us up before our early evening tour. Their concept of an iced coffee is hot coffee with a extra glass with only ice. It was real interesting, but I needed the energy and didn't want to waste my euros so I drank it all.

On our evening tour we were able to see the Town Hall, the Stephansdom (famous church), the Imperial Parliament and the Hofburg (the historical seat of Habsburg emperors & imperial apartments). After our guided tour we were free to wander around the city ourselves. We walked for a few hours around the city center and then slowly made our way back to find this highly recommended restaurant. After searching for an hour we found the Augustine Wine Cellar where I got the BEST veal wiener schnitzel I will probably ever consume. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water a little. Yum!

(Imperial Parliament)

(The Hofburg)

(Stephansdom)

Instead of journeying 45mins back to the hotel after dinner, we decided to kill time while we waited for everyone else to come back into the city center. There is no better way to kill time than to sit in a chic European bar, right? I slowly drank 2 Heineken's, which were 10x more expensive in Austria than in the Czech Republic... Oh how I love the CZ! Once everyone traveled back into town we met up with them and tried to find the "Bermuda Triangle", which we were informed to NOT go there because when tourists tend to go in, they tend to never come back out. Well of course we had to find this place... We found the Bermuda bar, which was pretty cool. Later we found out that we weren't at the true Bermuda Triangle, I guess which was lucky for us.

(Queen Elisabeth's Garden)

On Saturday, we did a lot of sight seeing and to be completely honest I cannot remember the names of the places, but I can remember exactly what everything looked like. The city is very heavily stylized in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, which reminds me a lot of Rome. Every building in Vienna is unique, even the more modern buildings. During our guided tour in the morning we found a German Easter market. The market looked a lot like the ones in Prague during Easter time, but it had its own charm to it along with Austrian souvenirs.

During our free time we wandered the city more, but once our feet were too blistered to move, we stopped for lunch at a Chinese Restaurant. I know, awful, who goes to Vienna to get Chinese? Simple answer: Starving students. In the afternoon we went on another tour, but this time to the Belvedere Palace (Schloss Belvedere) it is the former residence of the Prince of Savoy. It was breathtaking...

(Belvedere Palace)

Saturday night we went to the pub right by our hotel, The Centimeter. It is by far my FAVORITE place that I have eaten in all of Europe. Three Reasons: 1. If you go with a big group you can order a variety of food... that is served on a SWORD! (that should be reason enough, but...) 2. If you are feeling adventurous you can order 5 Liters of Beer that comes out in this huge test tube looking beer tap, which you pour your drinks yourself. 3. Good company, Good Food and Good Drinks, but in a VERY unique way. After dinner and a few drinks later we went around the corner to a Mexican Restaurant and got Mango Margaritas, a little weird after the heavy meal and beer, but it was still great fun!

(Reason 1)

(Reason 2)

(Reason 1. 2. & 3.)

Sunday came too soon. We had to be checked out of the hotel and on the bus by 10:30am... too bad at 2am that morning it was daylights savings and NO ones phone (because we all have the same cheap Vodaphone) automatically changed. That 10:30am departure time became a joke just waiting to happen. After we got going though we stopped at the Hundertwasser House, which is an apartment house designed by Austrian artist Friedenreich Hunderwasser. The house is very original and is one of the most visited buildings.

(Hundertwasser House)

On our way back to Prague we stopped one more time, but this time at the Schonbrunn, the Imperial summer residence of the Habsburg Dynasty. We were able to choose from a variety of things to do, but we only had time for one thing. So we picked touring the inside of the palace instead of going on the Hedge Maze (if I had more time that was going to be my #2 pick). The inside was so beautiful and we were actually able to see the furniture and how the rooms were laid out, which is so rare because most palaces don't hold true to their history.

This was our last stop in Vienna, so we all boarded the buses and drove the 6hours back to Prague, but not before stopping at EXCALIDUR. This time around Celia and I bought a huge bag of Gummy Bears, which took us two classes of Globalization to destroy.

My weekend in Vienna was by far my favorite weekend. I love traveling with our entire program because not only do you not have to worry about anything, but you don't have to deal with the stress of planning and organizing. Unfortunately that was our final trip traveling all together, but this weekend I will be going to Krakow, Poland with 1/2 of my program.

This weekend is going to be very interesting... especially after the recent events. On Sunday in Krakow, the President's Funeral will be taking place. So I am very curious to see how everything plans out.

I guess you will have to stay tuned in to find out.

Until next time...

☮

Weekend Traveler: Part One

Budapest (March 19th-21st, 2010)

Traveling to Budapest, Hungary is quite simple. Just take an 8 hour bus traveling through Moravia and Slovakia and you will end up in the capital of Hungary.

Two weeks ago, Celia and I took the lengthy bus ride to reach our desired location. On Friday morning we had to be at the Praha bus station at 6am, which meant we had to be up and ready to go by 5am... it was an early morning, but definitely worth it. The bus ride wasn't too painful, there was an unpleasant smell of B.O. that lingered in the air, but luckily I had some scented lotion, which I applied and re-applied multiple times throughout the 8 hour journey.

(Budapest)

We arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon. The first thing that we needed to do was take out money. In Hungary they use the HUF. When we arrived in Budapest, we didn't know what $1 was equal to so at the ATM our options for money were 10000HUF -100000HUF. Celia and I decided to take out 50000HUF since it was in the middle. (Later we found out that 190HUF = $1, which means we took out $263 for two days... WAY too much money for a weekend trip!) Luckily this was the only mistake we made all weekend, which is an accomplishment.

In Hungary they speak Hungarian. I think it is even more confusing than the Czech language. Just like in the Czech Republic, there are no signs in English, but unlike the Czech Republic the Hungarian people knew more English and were more willing to help us. Thank goodness.

After Celia purchased our Metro passes, we took the ancient metro to downtown Pest. The Hungarian Metro was the first metro ever built in Europe, it is a little scary because the doors SLAM shut. If you were in between the doors when they shut, you would be badly damaged! After we rode the metro once, we decided that we would walk the rest of the weekend. And surprisingly we were able to keep to our promise, only until we had to take the metro back to the bus station. :)

Once we were downtown Pest, we made our way to our Hostel, checked in, and then headed out to explore. We walked along the Danube river on the Pest side, making our way to the largest indoor market I have ever seen. We then grabbed dinner at this amazing restaurant that Andrew, the Hostel owner, recommended. I decided to try something new and got fried duck with cabbage noddles... it was SO good and now I love duck!

(Market)

After dinner, Celia and I decided we wanted to see the best night view of Budapest. This meant that we had to hike up a hill in the dark. There was a path already paved out, so it was not bad at all... nothing like hiking in Scotland, where I was wearing Keds and Sarah was determined to kill me. The view was worth every step and is seriously the best view of Budapest that you can get. Truly Gorgeous!

(The Best View)

Saturday, we woke up early and walked to the Buda side of the city. Our hostel was situated right next to the river on the Pest side. There are many bridges that connect the two areas, but the first bridge that was built to connect Buda & Pest was the Chain Bridge. The Pest side is more of the downtown, tons of restaurants, Parliament, shopping and much more. The Buda side is more historical with the Palace and Old Town residing on that side.

(Chain Bridge)

We went on the Fisherman's Bastion to see amazing views of the Pest side. We also explored the Palace and the area of Old Town before walking back to the Pest side. We decided to go to the House of Terror. It was a museum about the communist era and how life was back then. It was more focused on Stalin's reign, but there were somethings about Hitler in it. It was unreal and very depressing. We were able to see Stalin's car, which was really weird. There was an entire room dedicated to propaganda. Unfortunately the propaganda posters and ads weren't in English so we couldn't understand them, but it was still really interesting to see.

(Fisherman's Bastion)

We ended the day with the Baths that were heated with natural springs. It was such a perfect way to end the day because we were on our feet and walking for over 8 hours and the baths relaxed every muscle in my body. The baths were SO cool because they were where the royalty would come to relax back in the day and now it is common for normal people to go and spend the afternoon in the baths. It was such a cool experience. On our walk back to our hostel we grabbed some Turkish food, which was pretty good. It was an early night for us because we had to be back at the bus station at 9am.

My weekend in Budapest was very relaxing and it was great to get away for a few days. The city of Budapest reminded me a lot of Prague, which was comforting because I consider Prague my home away from home. In less than 2 months I will be returning back to the states, whether I am ready to leave or not and life will either go back to "normal" or it will be forever changed. Only time will tell.

Until next time...

☮

We just touched down in Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Amsterdam...

In the beginning of the March (which feels like months ago) I traveled to The Netherlands, more specifically Amsterdam, with my friends Celia, Sarah, Sara, Becca, and Elyssa. We embarked on our worldly adventure, Thursday evening, where we flew the lengthy two hours.

As soon as we arrived I knew I was going to love the city- the train station was below the airport- which made everything WAY more efficient and WAY less confusing... take note Czech Republic. In The Netherlands they speak Dutch, which is a lot like German. Even though I forgot my 15 language phrase book and don't know a word of Dutch, I was able to get around much easier in a weekend than I have been in 8 weeks in the Czech Republic. The majority of the people spoke English and it was more Americanized than the Czech Republic. I've gotten so use to how different things are in Prague that not until I traveled out of the CZ did I realize how different/hard it is to be studying in Prague. I've been in the CZ for over 2 months now and I am a little proud of myself for making it this far...

Okay so back to Amsterdam... after flying we arrived in the central of Amsterdam by Train. We didn't plan too ahead so we were map-less, but luckily Sara was thinking ahead and got directions from the train station to our hostel. Our hostel was situated in the heart of the red light district, yep... classy. The Witte Tulip was our home away from home. It was one of the most expensive hostels I have ever stayed in, but it was also the worst hostel I have ever stayed in. It wasn't that bad, but I guess we were paying for the location not the place. We were in a 6 person room so we didn't have any creepy randoms, but we did have a 7th roommate... a mouse. Luckily, I love the top bunk... hehe

After we had a map, we traveled around the red light district to Bird, which is a very delicious Thai restaurant. It was one of the best meals that I had had in a while, Czech food just isn't good. Once we were all full we wandered the red light district.

The following day we got up early and found a breakfast restaurant called “Sara’s Pancakes,” I got the American breakfast: dippy eggs, a pancake, bacon, hash browns, and freshly squeezed orange juice. If that doesn’t sound appetizing to you… well you should probably leave the country and then see what you think. The weather was cold, windy, and rainy, which isn’t ideal walking weather, but we made it work. We saw the Anne Frank House, which was so surreal. I remember reading “The Diary of Anne Frank” years back, but actually being in the house and seeing the original artwork on the walls is truly a once in a life-time opportunity that I will always remember.

During the day Saturday, we ended up splitting up because we couldn’t all fit in the breakfast diner. Celia, Becca, and I ended up going to The Pancake House, which was actually the most famous Dutch pancake house in all of Amsterdam; we didn’t find this out until the end of our meal when we received a free post card with the picture of the historical pancake house on it. I love stumbling upon hidden treasures. After breakfast, the three of us walked around the Jordaan District in Amsterdam, it is more residential and less touristy. We found a market, where I bought a flowered knit hat that was made out of recycled Cashmere and Wool.

We ended up making our way to the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijikismuseum. I loved the Van Gogh Museum because during my art history course it was my favorite section. I love art, it makes the world beautiful, I wish I was more creative and had the artistic abilities that my dad, older brother (Joey), and older sister (Susan) have… I guess Ceramics is good enough.

On Saturday evening we saw the movie, An Education. Going into the movie I had no idea what it was about, but I walked out loving the movie. I know, who goes to Amsterdam and see’s a movie… but it was so comforting to see a movie that was actually in English.

Sunday we woke up, had French toast for breakfast and then went on a canal ride before heading to the airport. It was such a beautiful day and it was a great way to end our adventures in Amsterdam.

The weekend was surprisingly not too wild, well not like the stereotypical Amsterdam stories that you may hear. Before leaving we managed to find an American food store. I only bought two things: 1 box of Kraft Mac & Cheese and 1 box of Gushers… the best $15 I have ever spent. Yes, $15 for those two things.

I am so glad that I was able to travel to Amsterdam; it was such a gorgeous city and it was comforting being in such an Americanized place, but I realized that I am so thankful that I chose to study abroad in Prague. Yes, it may be extremely difficult at times, and the people might not be the friendliest, but there are reasons behind everything they do and I would not have learned any of these things unless I picked this place to study. I am finally realizing that you will never truly understand who you are until you step out of your comfort zone, learn about other cultures, and re-evaluate the things you do and the way you live because other people have it way worse. Complaining is just a waste time, learn how to have fun in any situation that you are in… this is key if you want to be happy.

Until next time…

☮