Hiya!
After a few action packed weeks of my birthday celebrations and good bye parties I am back in the school library (school is over my computer is just broken :( ) Trying to plan my 20 day adventure, then a 15 day adventure with my mom after that. It is a bit overwhelming and with further flight cancellations and delays with the volcano Ash i am apprehensive to book anything but trying to get all the research done so I have options! Also trying to psych myself up for my solo travel experience. I know it will be great but after travelling for 4 months with amazing people I can see myself getting lonely and being indecisive!
People from my program are leaving daily and it is very sad because some of them I am sure I will not see again. But these memories have been the best and they are not over yet!
This weekend I was able to visit the hometown of Zdar with my friend Hana. It is about 3 hours away from Prague by train. The second largest fun fair festival in the Czech Republic was being held there this weekend. We arrived at the airport and I met her mother.Hana proceeded to be the translator the whole time because her family does not speak English, some of her friends did but it was a small town and i did get started at quite often when i was talking. (Kinda felt like a celebrity!) On the way to her house she said that her dad had dressed up to meet me, and when we walked in she said he was drunk because he was nervous. it felt very odd to make people nervous but they had never had a guest from America before. They were so hospitable the whole time getting me anything I needed. It was honestly so refreshing to be in a house and have a meal at a table and dinner conversation and everything. The fair was very fun, I rode rides and bought typical Czech sweets and the weirdiest gyro I've ever had. Pita, meat, ketchup, mayonnaise, and some spicy sauce. Hana's dad and brother kept offering my shots of SLivoviche, a terrible Czech alcohol that burns all the way down. But it is customary for them to offer and impolite if I refuse :)
I met her grandparents and her grandpa talked to me about cowboys and Indians and sang the only English that he knew :) their house smelled like home baked cookies and he is a carver and gave me a box that he had carved. It really touched my heart!
I can honestly say this is the type of experience I have been looking for here and experienced it when I went to Znojmo with my roommates and one of their Moravian boyfriends. It was so great to get away from the city and see the countryside and how most Czech people live. Most of the students go home EVERY weekend to spend in their villages with their family. the train stations are mob scenes on Fridays and Mondays! I think this inspired me to do trains and ferries for my solo travel because I will be able to see so much more. i wish i had pictures to show you but my computer is broke. just expect 2000 pictures in July when i get home and can upload them :)
I leave Thursday (2 days!) for Ireland. Bought a 1 way ticket. Finding my way home from there. Sometimes in life you have to bite off more than you can chew! Wish me luck and prayers.
Love you all,
Peace
Shanan
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
A great Spring Break in Munich and Amsterdam!
hello family and friends,
it has been some time now. I had a delicious spring break full of fun, litre beers, and Holland tulips. I am back at school for an intensive course which is four days of 6 hours of class. I spent all day in class thinking about all the papers i have to write, the planning i have to do for after school travels and all the fun activities that are going on for the last two weeks of the program! The class is strategic risk management and today we learned about decision and performance quality and that "paralysis is a consequence of having too many choices" thats kind of how i feel about my travels after school,, i have so many plans and ideas and so many places to go and i am paralyzed and afraid to make certain plans in case other more interesting options arise!! oh the trials and tribulations of being in Europe :)
(there are two boys behind me in the computer lab speaking Norwegian....such an interesting, cool, language)
I feel like after traveling for 10 days and experiencing the volcano and everything i have learned a lot about traveling. I have a list of things I am learning trip by trip:
1. How to dodge the transportation police in various countries
2. How to prioritize what i want to do/see the most because there is never enough time for it all
3. How to use the toilets here...big button for #2. little button for #1
4. How to take a deep breathe and a moment to truly enjoy and appreciate where i am
5. Do not get in the way of the trams, they will not stop.
6. Expect to be kissed on teh cheek when meeting some Europeans
7. How to drink lots of (good) beer!
8. How to speak slower or use different words to be understood, the American accent is hard I guess and we speak really fast!
9. Do not expect good customer service in the Czech Republic
I'm going to have to sum up spring break in a few key points because i have a 5 page paper to write and a nation to nation party to attend later tonight. It is German and Austria party and Germany is one of my favorite countries!!!
MUNICH:
Bused to Munich and went straight to Spring Fest which is a much smaller version of Oktoberfest. The beer gardens were amazing and since it was 4 in the afternoon we just felt the vibe ofr awhile and sipped on a litre beer (ummmmmmm) while admiring the other attendees. There were families and older men sitting around chatting and laughing, the beer garden waitresses (Im sure they have a special name) were often older women who would carry at least 8 litre beers around to the tables. all the servers and lots of the people there wore the traditional leiderhosen and the women had their traditional dress which really accentuated the breastal region :).
Second day in Munich and we went to a large flea market which had great stuff. I got a cool red hat, some religious charms, and some gifts to bring home.
also spent the afternoon at the beer garden (beer garden, flea market, and fair with rides and stuff were all in the same park) we met a groups of about 8 German men that were part of a 16th century war reenactment club. and we beer gardened it up with them. There was polka music playing and giant giant pretzels and bratwurst, everything German you could imagine, it was ggreat!!!
Last day we did a walking tour and rented bikes and rode around. This is the most bike friendly city i have ever seen and even on the roads i felt completely safe because the cars give way to bikes! walkers even give way to bikes. There was a nudist meadow in this large park where we saw some sunbathers....very interesting.
Spent one day in the airport trying to figure out if the volcano would let us continue our spring break. flights were cancelled all over the place and so we were trying our train and bus options as well. I almost gave up and was thinking about going to Austria but they finally opened up the next day.
AMSTERDAM:
Arrived to a beautiful day, went to our hostel in a prime location and started wandering the canals of Amsterdam. Something we would end up doing a lot because they were so confusing and I got lost so much!! We actually had some other friends here at the same time so we found them and went to a coffee shop. Walked quickly through the red light district that night just to check it out and see what all the hub ub was about. It was weird for sure. The next day we went to the Ann Frank house and saw the whole thing, the museum is really cool and is the actual house with pictures still on the wall and everything; very moving. Found some markets, a book market and tulip/flower market along the canals and walked them. Had such beautiful weather here that the next day we went to a large park and hung out there, some friends rented bikes so we traded for about hour. Amsterdam is well known for its bike friendly streets and have separate lanes and everything. the canals were really cool and i felt close to the ocean the whole time but kind of closed in because the narrow streets and tall buildings. bought a picnic from the store and enjoyed our last full day of spring break. the next day we headed home around 5 but not before hitting up one more market. thanks mom for giving me an odd love for flea markets. :) love ya.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Prepare for Spring Break 2010
Yeah for Thursdays!
I had a productive week, went to a soccer game between the town rivals on Monday and almost got beat up on the tram ride home :O. Finished a paper for school and am in the process of booking a trip to Rome over my birthday weekend!
This morning I ate Aloe Vera yoghurt which I thought was blog worthy, I've only ever seen that as a lotion scent. It was not delicious for future reference. I am doing laundry in the sink this morning and preparing for my 10 day trip! The closest thing I've done to true backpacking since I've been here. I am leaving tomorrow morning for 4 days in Munich where Spring Fest is going on. A mini version of Octoberfest with music and the like. I have heard really good things about Munich and I'm also going to try and sneak into a sold out concert of Mumford and Sons; a European band I REALLY like!!
After Munich I fly to Amsterdam with a large number of girls and we will spend four days there, I will probably make a day trip to Belgium or Rotterdam or another place close. I still cannot figure out how I am going to fit everything in my medium sized back pack for 10 days, I'm not sure about Munich but Amsterdam is quite expensive so I will be packing salami and cheese and living of fruit and the like. It may sound funny but random picnic spots with friends are my favorite!
I met a girl studying in Amsterdam last night at Juve (the school pub :)) and she is sending me a list of things to do (and eat!!) while I am there. I love personal recommendations!
Cloudy day in Prague so the perfect weather to get stuff done!
Wish you were here!
I had a productive week, went to a soccer game between the town rivals on Monday and almost got beat up on the tram ride home :O. Finished a paper for school and am in the process of booking a trip to Rome over my birthday weekend!
This morning I ate Aloe Vera yoghurt which I thought was blog worthy, I've only ever seen that as a lotion scent. It was not delicious for future reference. I am doing laundry in the sink this morning and preparing for my 10 day trip! The closest thing I've done to true backpacking since I've been here. I am leaving tomorrow morning for 4 days in Munich where Spring Fest is going on. A mini version of Octoberfest with music and the like. I have heard really good things about Munich and I'm also going to try and sneak into a sold out concert of Mumford and Sons; a European band I REALLY like!!
After Munich I fly to Amsterdam with a large number of girls and we will spend four days there, I will probably make a day trip to Belgium or Rotterdam or another place close. I still cannot figure out how I am going to fit everything in my medium sized back pack for 10 days, I'm not sure about Munich but Amsterdam is quite expensive so I will be packing salami and cheese and living of fruit and the like. It may sound funny but random picnic spots with friends are my favorite!
I met a girl studying in Amsterdam last night at Juve (the school pub :)) and she is sending me a list of things to do (and eat!!) while I am there. I love personal recommendations!
Cloudy day in Prague so the perfect weather to get stuff done!
Wish you were here!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Kutna Hora - Church of Bones
Went to Kutna Hora yesterday, a small town about an hour outside of Prague that has a church made out of bones. Figured out the train and got on, met a couple from Panama that asked directions (We must have looked like I knew what we were doing). We had to transfer one train but our first was delayed so we waited at the middle bus station for awhile. Made it to Kutna Hora and first impressions of the town were not so good. Found the church but it was creepy so took the appropriate amount of pictures, felt odd taking pictures of skeletons and it was so cold in there you could see your breathe, Creepy! made the rounds of another supposedly famous church nearby but it had been redone and had no character. We bought a beer that we thought was local but found out that Heineken had bought out the brewery. We heard about another fancy church and got a ride into the city center. It was sunny and nice and the church was beautiful on the outside but the thought of going in was less than enthusiastic so we enjoyed the sun, found a pub, drank some Budvars while overlooking a green valley and hearing the church bells ring. Sat next to what looked like some Czech hippies, found an awesome rusty bike. Made it back to the train station after meeting an odd American family in the bus. We watched our train pull away and asked some men what time the next one left, without speaking or understanding one single word we managed to communicate with them. Found a word in common and asked them where the nearest pivo was. Went to a restaurant where some hockey was on, the odd American family dumped their 18 year old son on us. (weird) but after another round we were at the train station again only to find out train had been delayed an hour to 'techinal difficulties'. while waiting we met some boys from Denmark and talked politics and life stories with them :) Got back to Prague late but in time for some dinner and to get ready for the nation to nation which was Latino themed. Meeting the Danish boys for coffee at my favorite hole in the wall shop.
Lovin life, this last week has been full of fun and unanticipated adventures.
Lovin life, this last week has been full of fun and unanticipated adventures.
The Most Perfect Day - Happy Easter
Mikoluv Moravia,
April 4th 2010
The most perfect-us day
This day was amazing, I of course am writing it after the fact because I only ever have time to make bullet points and try to remember all the amazing things that happen to me on adventures. but this one goes down in history :)
I was in Mikoluv Moravia (which is a part of the CR but kind of thought of as its own country) with a school trip that the day before had taken us to a glass blowing factory full of men in funny outfits blowing glass for rich people. As an Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene graduate this factory would not have passed any health guidelines and standards (and the porn calendars on the walls would have gotten a thumbs down in the US as well) The bus took us about three hours from Prague southerly, once we left Prague the countryside is breathtaking and amazing and reminds me of Kansas and the land of Oz mixed together. I thought long and hard about buying the fam some glass at the store but decided it would be a travel nightmare so I just took pictures of what I would have bought you :) We did a wine tasting which was pretty in depth and we all left the cellar feeling good :) HISTORY TIDBIT: Moravia is wine country and has a high unemployment rate since they joined the EU, this is because limits were put on the agriculture once they joined. We then made it to the small town of mikoluv which is near the Austrian border, and in wine country. We stayed in a nice hotel (not a hostel for once!) which even had a ba-day (not sure how to spell that). On Saturday we were up early for some good FREE! breakfast which I'm not sure if I;ve written about yet but is very different then our typical breakfast food. Here in the Czech republic its always salami, ham, cheese, bread rolls, some yogurt and cereal and sausages. My French roommates always have chocolate and sweet thingsfor breakfast which is different but awesome! then we went to Vienna Austria. we only had 5 hours there and after experiencing some large travel group stress we broke up into smaller groups and went to a produce/flea market and had some Vienna coffee and high on caffeine and life wandered the town finding many important buildings and monuments. We saw the summer palaces of the Hapsburg family which I am learning alot about in Cultural history class beautiful fruit and sweet stands at the market, saw some amazing break dancers (I love the random things that we run into). They prayed before they dance and said "we've got to pray to make it through the day" .
Tried the so-called famous Sacher cake which was very disappointing and then we hung out in a park and played Frisbee for a bit and stumbled upon some cool graffiti. The bus took us back to Mikoluv for a fancy dinner. The week was shaping up to make me feel very dignified and mature.
But alas as cool as all of this is none of it was part of the most perfect-us day. After drinking wine for a good portion of the night with my colleagues (this is what the czech students call their class mates) I got up early to climb this little hill with a chapel on it and watch the sun rise. I made it to the chateau and took pictures of the beautiful scenery and the gardens. As a friend and i were walking back to the hotel to change for Easter mass we stopped in an antique store in a small alley way....as we were looking the older man at his desk started talking to us in czech. I responded my usual response "ne mluvime czesky" ( I don't speak Czech) and he breaks out in English with a great British sounding accent. It turns out he lived in Chicago, California and australia, so we had a good long conversation and it was great :) it made my heart smile that I could have somethings in common and things to talk about with a man in a store in a small alley way in a small town in Moravia. Made it to Ester mass which was said in Czech, an set in an amazingly beautiful church. (this is a common theme I am finding) each church i go into is so elaborately decorated with elegant paintings and statues. A little girl got baptized and I realized that the songs the sing have the same melody, which means they are the same songs and responses we have.
We left mass at 11:25, some friends and i decided to break off from the school group and figure out a way to explore Vienna for another day. It just so happens that one of my flat mates is kind of dating a boy from Moravia and he invited her to his hometown which was close to Mikoluv, my roomie and i tagged along (after asking him first of course). The train to his town left at 12:05. We literally ran up this hill and stopped in the antique store to get a quick souvenir which our new friend gave us for cheap cause he is so cool. We booked it to where we thought the train station might be wandered into a building by the tracks and the adventure begins!! In smaller town Moravia not many people speak English so we tried to communicate with the lady we wanted to go to Znojmo, we wrote it down for her and she frantically pointed outside. So we ran out and jumped on the train. With no idea whether it was the right one fr not or if we would get thrown off for not having tickets we stayed on. It was an adrenaline rush and turned out we had made it to the right one. Once in Znojmo we met Lucas's family and his mom made us a bomb-dig home made lunch, he drove us (after not riding in a car for a few moths it was cool) to a castle near his house that we toured, saw some beautiful countryside, went for a little nature hike around the castle, and to top it off he took us to his wine cellar and vineyard. That's right I am now on the prowl for a Moravian boy that has a family vineyard! His dad met us there and we tested the wine and heard the history of the cellar belonging to Germans during the occupation and how to make wine and such and such. It was like our own private tour and I loved loved loved meeting the locals and seeing a family and eating home cooked meals. These are the kind f adventures that I live for! I hate to say it but monuments and churches and castles all start to look the same after awhile. I think i smiled all day long and it kept getting bigger and bigger because of all the cool things that happened.
The monday after easter they have a tradition there that the men and boys go to girls houses and hit them with a stick that has ribbons on the end, this is to keep them young and pretty and healthy. The girls then have to give them alcohol or food. We walked around small Znojmo on monday and it was funny seeing small boys and grown men rushing around with their sticks. It was a cloudy day but we saw the rest of the city and got on a bus back to Prague. The bus was full but there were people that had no problem standing for the 3 hour bus ride in the alley. It was also cool to see the samll town buses and how at every station there were small groups of people saying hello and good bye to their loved ones. Most Czech students go home almost every weekend.
I am uploading the pictures on to picasa which I got running, let me know if you need the link!
April 4th 2010
The most perfect-us day
This day was amazing, I of course am writing it after the fact because I only ever have time to make bullet points and try to remember all the amazing things that happen to me on adventures. but this one goes down in history :)
I was in Mikoluv Moravia (which is a part of the CR but kind of thought of as its own country) with a school trip that the day before had taken us to a glass blowing factory full of men in funny outfits blowing glass for rich people. As an Environmental Health and Industrial Hygiene graduate this factory would not have passed any health guidelines and standards (and the porn calendars on the walls would have gotten a thumbs down in the US as well) The bus took us about three hours from Prague southerly, once we left Prague the countryside is breathtaking and amazing and reminds me of Kansas and the land of Oz mixed together. I thought long and hard about buying the fam some glass at the store but decided it would be a travel nightmare so I just took pictures of what I would have bought you :) We did a wine tasting which was pretty in depth and we all left the cellar feeling good :) HISTORY TIDBIT: Moravia is wine country and has a high unemployment rate since they joined the EU, this is because limits were put on the agriculture once they joined. We then made it to the small town of mikoluv which is near the Austrian border, and in wine country. We stayed in a nice hotel (not a hostel for once!) which even had a ba-day (not sure how to spell that). On Saturday we were up early for some good FREE! breakfast which I'm not sure if I;ve written about yet but is very different then our typical breakfast food. Here in the Czech republic its always salami, ham, cheese, bread rolls, some yogurt and cereal and sausages. My French roommates always have chocolate and sweet thingsfor breakfast which is different but awesome! then we went to Vienna Austria. we only had 5 hours there and after experiencing some large travel group stress we broke up into smaller groups and went to a produce/flea market and had some Vienna coffee and high on caffeine and life wandered the town finding many important buildings and monuments. We saw the summer palaces of the Hapsburg family which I am learning alot about in Cultural history class beautiful fruit and sweet stands at the market, saw some amazing break dancers (I love the random things that we run into). They prayed before they dance and said "we've got to pray to make it through the day" .
Tried the so-called famous Sacher cake which was very disappointing and then we hung out in a park and played Frisbee for a bit and stumbled upon some cool graffiti. The bus took us back to Mikoluv for a fancy dinner. The week was shaping up to make me feel very dignified and mature.
But alas as cool as all of this is none of it was part of the most perfect-us day. After drinking wine for a good portion of the night with my colleagues (this is what the czech students call their class mates) I got up early to climb this little hill with a chapel on it and watch the sun rise. I made it to the chateau and took pictures of the beautiful scenery and the gardens. As a friend and i were walking back to the hotel to change for Easter mass we stopped in an antique store in a small alley way....as we were looking the older man at his desk started talking to us in czech. I responded my usual response "ne mluvime czesky" ( I don't speak Czech) and he breaks out in English with a great British sounding accent. It turns out he lived in Chicago, California and australia, so we had a good long conversation and it was great :) it made my heart smile that I could have somethings in common and things to talk about with a man in a store in a small alley way in a small town in Moravia. Made it to Ester mass which was said in Czech, an set in an amazingly beautiful church. (this is a common theme I am finding) each church i go into is so elaborately decorated with elegant paintings and statues. A little girl got baptized and I realized that the songs the sing have the same melody, which means they are the same songs and responses we have.
We left mass at 11:25, some friends and i decided to break off from the school group and figure out a way to explore Vienna for another day. It just so happens that one of my flat mates is kind of dating a boy from Moravia and he invited her to his hometown which was close to Mikoluv, my roomie and i tagged along (after asking him first of course). The train to his town left at 12:05. We literally ran up this hill and stopped in the antique store to get a quick souvenir which our new friend gave us for cheap cause he is so cool. We booked it to where we thought the train station might be wandered into a building by the tracks and the adventure begins!! In smaller town Moravia not many people speak English so we tried to communicate with the lady we wanted to go to Znojmo, we wrote it down for her and she frantically pointed outside. So we ran out and jumped on the train. With no idea whether it was the right one fr not or if we would get thrown off for not having tickets we stayed on. It was an adrenaline rush and turned out we had made it to the right one. Once in Znojmo we met Lucas's family and his mom made us a bomb-dig home made lunch, he drove us (after not riding in a car for a few moths it was cool) to a castle near his house that we toured, saw some beautiful countryside, went for a little nature hike around the castle, and to top it off he took us to his wine cellar and vineyard. That's right I am now on the prowl for a Moravian boy that has a family vineyard! His dad met us there and we tested the wine and heard the history of the cellar belonging to Germans during the occupation and how to make wine and such and such. It was like our own private tour and I loved loved loved meeting the locals and seeing a family and eating home cooked meals. These are the kind f adventures that I live for! I hate to say it but monuments and churches and castles all start to look the same after awhile. I think i smiled all day long and it kept getting bigger and bigger because of all the cool things that happened.
The monday after easter they have a tradition there that the men and boys go to girls houses and hit them with a stick that has ribbons on the end, this is to keep them young and pretty and healthy. The girls then have to give them alcohol or food. We walked around small Znojmo on monday and it was funny seeing small boys and grown men rushing around with their sticks. It was a cloudy day but we saw the rest of the city and got on a bus back to Prague. The bus was full but there were people that had no problem standing for the 3 hour bus ride in the alley. It was also cool to see the samll town buses and how at every station there were small groups of people saying hello and good bye to their loved ones. Most Czech students go home almost every weekend.
I am uploading the pictures on to picasa which I got running, let me know if you need the link!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Cyber Laundromat- sounds like an out of body experience, but it's not.
I'm on a blogging rampage this week!
At the laundromat now (Prague CYBER Laundromat to be exact) which is always a fun experience. Yesterday was cloudy and cold but we've got another nice one today, very sunny. I went out for a friends birthday at a nice thai restaurant last night. It was pretty fancy and the most I've spent on a meal here yet. 200 Kc which is about 10 dollars. But it was nice to have something a little different with some spice to it. I may have mentioned but the food here is not very flavorful and they don't provide sauces at all. You have to pay for Ketchup!!!! (ahhhhhh) One thing that does have flavor here is a dessert called Medovnik. It is a Czech dessert i guess and i finally tried it yesterday. YUMMM It's a honey cake with lot's of layers of cake and frosting-ish stuff and then this crushed cookie on top...delish! Another point for the Czech Republic.
Tonight I'm going to a music and film festival after class then will probably hang out with some freinds over a beer. I'm going on a school trip to Southern Moravia and Vienna this weekend. A lot of Czeh and Slovak students are going home for Easter weekend. We don't have school on Monday, my Czech friend Hana invited me back to her home town on Monday for Easter celebrations. A tradition here is on Easter Monday the boys knock on teh doors and have these special Easter sticks that they hit the girls with. It's supposed to keep the girls looking nice and young for the coming year (hmmmm unusual way to go about it :)) Then the girls give them candy or alcohol. I'm kind of oddly excited about seeing this play out. They are selling the sticks all over in the stores, they are just woven branches with ribbons on the end. I'm trying to figure out a bus from Vienna to her smaller town in teh Czech Republic. If that doesn't pan out I think I'm gonna leave the school group on Sunday and find a hiking place and do that on monday. Yay for spring~!
Czech words I know:
Smirzlina: Ice Cream
Dobre Den: good day
Ajoy: hi
Dekuji: Thank you
Prosime: please
Prominte: excuse me
Ne Mluvime Czesky: i don't speak czech
Sem Americanka: I am American
Potriviny: store/shop
Tabak: tobacco store where you can by tram tickets and snacks
Zen: here
Pivo: beer
Jedno Pivo Prosime: another beer please :)
At the laundromat now (Prague CYBER Laundromat to be exact) which is always a fun experience. Yesterday was cloudy and cold but we've got another nice one today, very sunny. I went out for a friends birthday at a nice thai restaurant last night. It was pretty fancy and the most I've spent on a meal here yet. 200 Kc which is about 10 dollars. But it was nice to have something a little different with some spice to it. I may have mentioned but the food here is not very flavorful and they don't provide sauces at all. You have to pay for Ketchup!!!! (ahhhhhh) One thing that does have flavor here is a dessert called Medovnik. It is a Czech dessert i guess and i finally tried it yesterday. YUMMM It's a honey cake with lot's of layers of cake and frosting-ish stuff and then this crushed cookie on top...delish! Another point for the Czech Republic.
Tonight I'm going to a music and film festival after class then will probably hang out with some freinds over a beer. I'm going on a school trip to Southern Moravia and Vienna this weekend. A lot of Czeh and Slovak students are going home for Easter weekend. We don't have school on Monday, my Czech friend Hana invited me back to her home town on Monday for Easter celebrations. A tradition here is on Easter Monday the boys knock on teh doors and have these special Easter sticks that they hit the girls with. It's supposed to keep the girls looking nice and young for the coming year (hmmmm unusual way to go about it :)) Then the girls give them candy or alcohol. I'm kind of oddly excited about seeing this play out. They are selling the sticks all over in the stores, they are just woven branches with ribbons on the end. I'm trying to figure out a bus from Vienna to her smaller town in teh Czech Republic. If that doesn't pan out I think I'm gonna leave the school group on Sunday and find a hiking place and do that on monday. Yay for spring~!
Czech words I know:
Smirzlina: Ice Cream
Dobre Den: good day
Ajoy: hi
Dekuji: Thank you
Prosime: please
Prominte: excuse me
Ne Mluvime Czesky: i don't speak czech
Sem Americanka: I am American
Potriviny: store/shop
Tabak: tobacco store where you can by tram tickets and snacks
Zen: here
Pivo: beer
Jedno Pivo Prosime: another beer please :)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Up with the sun - March 31st
I'm up with the sun this morning and studying for my European Integration midterm. I did make an appearance at the Canadian nation to nation last night but pulled myself away to make tram 58 home.
I went running yesterday morning in the park with the man on the horse statue and it reminded me of a night last week that I didn't blog about. It was a pretty normal night but really had an impact on me for some reason. After my class a few friends and I decided to walk up through this park to a place that has a great view of Prague and watch the sun set. As we were walking up there we ran into a street dance band practicing a dance. It was so inner city but so cool, we found a column to sit on and watched some runners and strollers and the beautiful city of Prague. A little boy and his dad were sitting across from us and when they left he did a big jump to dismount, it was cute and we all clapped and the dad told his son to take a bow. In that moment I thought how amazing the little things are. If I didn't see another historical church or monument while I am here and could just watch the people here go through everyday life I think I would be satisfied. I feel like I keep repeating and writing about the little differences that I notice everyday but the similarities are what amaze me at the same time.
Ok so watching other ppl live their pretty normal lives would probably get boring but I guess I'm realizing that I learn so much here everyday and a ride to school on the tram or a walk around town seeing all the tourists in one neighborhood and then being in a normal neighborhood one block over is just as educational sometimes as a guided walking tour of historical places.
I love this place. I love all new places and realize everyday how all my experiences added up have allowed me to acknowledge and appreciate new places and new cultures. I find myself meeting new people, relating to them, and finding things in common by talking about my time in Austin or Chicago or Honduras and Ecuador. I'm so grateful that Jim Dad and Julie Mom and my mom and dad have fostered in me an interest in the unknown and have supported me in all that I do..........just a heads up, I may keep doing it for a bit :)
Miss ya.
mir (peace)
Grafitti in Berlin
Couples Walking in the Lustgarten in Berlin
Feeling a presence on the Charles Bridge
Playing chess in the Hungarian baths.....I want this to be me someday, hat included.
Secret Canal - Prague
I went running yesterday morning in the park with the man on the horse statue and it reminded me of a night last week that I didn't blog about. It was a pretty normal night but really had an impact on me for some reason. After my class a few friends and I decided to walk up through this park to a place that has a great view of Prague and watch the sun set. As we were walking up there we ran into a street dance band practicing a dance. It was so inner city but so cool, we found a column to sit on and watched some runners and strollers and the beautiful city of Prague. A little boy and his dad were sitting across from us and when they left he did a big jump to dismount, it was cute and we all clapped and the dad told his son to take a bow. In that moment I thought how amazing the little things are. If I didn't see another historical church or monument while I am here and could just watch the people here go through everyday life I think I would be satisfied. I feel like I keep repeating and writing about the little differences that I notice everyday but the similarities are what amaze me at the same time.
Ok so watching other ppl live their pretty normal lives would probably get boring but I guess I'm realizing that I learn so much here everyday and a ride to school on the tram or a walk around town seeing all the tourists in one neighborhood and then being in a normal neighborhood one block over is just as educational sometimes as a guided walking tour of historical places.
I love this place. I love all new places and realize everyday how all my experiences added up have allowed me to acknowledge and appreciate new places and new cultures. I find myself meeting new people, relating to them, and finding things in common by talking about my time in Austin or Chicago or Honduras and Ecuador. I'm so grateful that Jim Dad and Julie Mom and my mom and dad have fostered in me an interest in the unknown and have supported me in all that I do..........just a heads up, I may keep doing it for a bit :)
Miss ya.
mir (peace)
Grafitti in Berlin
Couples Walking in the Lustgarten in Berlin
Feeling a presence on the Charles Bridge
Playing chess in the Hungarian baths.....I want this to be me someday, hat included.
Secret Canal - Prague
Monday, March 29, 2010
Dresden Germany and cute coffee shops
I went to Dresden Germany this weekend, it was an ok trip. I think the best part was the train ride there and back that went next to a river most of the way and getting to see the beautiful German countryside.
Dresden is the city full of very gold statues, dread-locks, currywurst (yum), and lot's of buildings that are being rebuilt because they were bombed so badly in WW2.
It was a pretty sleepy weekend with a small downtown full of historical buildings and a town big enough to walk across multiple times per day :)
I went with a new group of people and they were fun but I noticed the different travel styles and the things I missed from my normal travel buddies. We spent a lot of time looking for places to eat and sitting down to do it. I like that every once in awhile but I really like bringing snacks and food and seeing as many cool things as possible. It is hard to be in Europe and not see cool things though. The train got in around 12 and we went to a nice breakfast then walked around the historical part, we wanted to see a few things one being a famous statue, another the view of the city from the bridge, and we thought we found a diamond in the rough not often seen landmark in the Mountain of Fragments. We thought it was a WW2 memorial and walked kinda far from the main part to see it. After asking a few locals who pointed us in a general direction we found it. It was a small grass covered mound in the factory district. It was cool because it was high enough to have a good view of the city but we hung out for a bit (wishing we had a frisbee) did some sound of music reenactments and then trekked back to town. We had a nap and then had a fun dinner where we found MARGARITAS!! I was so excited I miss the RIO and my dad's margaritas! Then went to a jazz club called Blue Note, we actually played cards ofr a bit and had some great beer and a blast! Sunday we went to an art museum that had works by Rembrandt and the famous little cherubs (it took me forever to find them because I didn't know they were part of a larger painting). Also one by Jan Vermeer, I saw one of his in the Louvre and like seeing them because I really liked the book 'The girl with the Pearl Earring' which is about him. We had some delicious Currywurst (sounds weird tastes delish!) I had mine with peanut sauce. We then walked around and caught our 5:00pm train home. The view from the train was incredibly beautiful. It went right down a canal that had colorful houses lining it. The pictures do it no justice. This train ride would be an amazing bike ride as well, I saw about 3 castles on hilltops along the way (not an uncommon site most places I've been). Lot's of hills and cliffs it was truly amazing and motivated me even more to get my camping trip set up.
I'm hangin at a coffee shop now sitting in Wenseclas Square with a view of the Famous national Museum outside. I love waking up here everyday and all the possibilities that lay ahead of me. I was walking around old town today and was meeting my friend at a cute coffee shop we 'discovered'. I found a whole new neighborhood that I have never been too that had cool statues and cool shops. I know there is so many more of these undiscovered streets in Prague.....love it!!
I think I am getting Picasa Photo Sharing to work .I am trying to figure out how to invite people to see it. I'll try to finish it soon and send those but I may just have to send the link in an email. I'll keep you posted!
Thanks Adela for the political update, it was very helpful! I think of you when I see really cute high heels and last weekend when I finally had a margaritas and saw chimichanga on the menu! ;)
Dresden is the city full of very gold statues, dread-locks, currywurst (yum), and lot's of buildings that are being rebuilt because they were bombed so badly in WW2.
It was a pretty sleepy weekend with a small downtown full of historical buildings and a town big enough to walk across multiple times per day :)
I went with a new group of people and they were fun but I noticed the different travel styles and the things I missed from my normal travel buddies. We spent a lot of time looking for places to eat and sitting down to do it. I like that every once in awhile but I really like bringing snacks and food and seeing as many cool things as possible. It is hard to be in Europe and not see cool things though. The train got in around 12 and we went to a nice breakfast then walked around the historical part, we wanted to see a few things one being a famous statue, another the view of the city from the bridge, and we thought we found a diamond in the rough not often seen landmark in the Mountain of Fragments. We thought it was a WW2 memorial and walked kinda far from the main part to see it. After asking a few locals who pointed us in a general direction we found it. It was a small grass covered mound in the factory district. It was cool because it was high enough to have a good view of the city but we hung out for a bit (wishing we had a frisbee) did some sound of music reenactments and then trekked back to town. We had a nap and then had a fun dinner where we found MARGARITAS!! I was so excited I miss the RIO and my dad's margaritas! Then went to a jazz club called Blue Note, we actually played cards ofr a bit and had some great beer and a blast! Sunday we went to an art museum that had works by Rembrandt and the famous little cherubs (it took me forever to find them because I didn't know they were part of a larger painting). Also one by Jan Vermeer, I saw one of his in the Louvre and like seeing them because I really liked the book 'The girl with the Pearl Earring' which is about him. We had some delicious Currywurst (sounds weird tastes delish!) I had mine with peanut sauce. We then walked around and caught our 5:00pm train home. The view from the train was incredibly beautiful. It went right down a canal that had colorful houses lining it. The pictures do it no justice. This train ride would be an amazing bike ride as well, I saw about 3 castles on hilltops along the way (not an uncommon site most places I've been). Lot's of hills and cliffs it was truly amazing and motivated me even more to get my camping trip set up.
I'm hangin at a coffee shop now sitting in Wenseclas Square with a view of the Famous national Museum outside. I love waking up here everyday and all the possibilities that lay ahead of me. I was walking around old town today and was meeting my friend at a cute coffee shop we 'discovered'. I found a whole new neighborhood that I have never been too that had cool statues and cool shops. I know there is so many more of these undiscovered streets in Prague.....love it!!
I think I am getting Picasa Photo Sharing to work .I am trying to figure out how to invite people to see it. I'll try to finish it soon and send those but I may just have to send the link in an email. I'll keep you posted!
Thanks Adela for the political update, it was very helpful! I think of you when I see really cute high heels and last weekend when I finally had a margaritas and saw chimichanga on the menu! ;)
Friday, March 26, 2010
Visit to Cezky Krumlov and Budvar Brewery
I saw the mountains today in Cesky Krumlov and it looked like Colorado. I liked it. Cesky Krumlov is the 2nd largest tourist destination in the Czech Republic after Prague. It is a tiny town (maybe the size of Wellington) that has the 2nd largest castle after Prague Castle. It was a very colorful castle, I learned about it in my Czech history class, how they found all this color and decorations under layers and layers of whitewash. It is cool to see in person the things I am learning about in class.
It was a beautiful day and As I said it was loverly to spend it driving through the country side and watching the sun set over the hills. Our first stop was the Budweiser Budvar Brewery, supposedly the one that Bud in the US stole the name from (they have been in legal battles for over 100 years). The brewery in Ceske Bodejvice brews all the beer that is sold all over the world. It looked as big as New Belgium Brewery! Last summer I worked in the Coors plant in Golden quite often and the security in that place is secure, here it is nothing! They had a fence with some barbed wire over it but everyone was on the lunch break while we were touring, no checks or gates or anything. And the workers there were straight out of a 1940's black and white film! It was classic! We got one free sample and went on our way to enjoy some Czech food in the usual 'cave' as I like to call them or the one of many restaurants/bars that is underground. It was too bad because the weather awas sooo nice outside! We had a few hours to explore the city and the castle. We could just walk around the castle because it is closed until tourist season.
BEST PART OF CASTLE: The three bears just chillin in moat like areas surrounding the castle. It was surreal...but I'm contacting Animal Rights tomorrow because the living conditions of these bears was not suitable!!
Yay! I ate ice cream today for the first time in 2 months....it was amazing!
So great day all in all. Its supposed to be rainy this weekend. I'm going to Dresden Germany with a whole new group of travel buddies (hopefully we will all become buddies)on a spontaneous trip. I've heard it's a cool place but only takes a day or two to see and has great Curry wurst ????!!?? I'll fill you in on all the deets when I get back!
Fun Facts:
- Bears, Beets, Battelstar Galactic.
- The paintings on the castle have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years but were still so colorful!
- Lot's of Asian tourists visit little cities in the Czech Republic
- They don't have sauces for food, you have to buy ketchup and mustard separately. I've been craving Cholula like I never thought I would crave a bottle of red sauce before.
- There's little shops and pubs on every corner. Kind of like the corner stores and fish and chip shops in New Zealand. I wonder sometimes how they all stay in business.
It was a beautiful day and As I said it was loverly to spend it driving through the country side and watching the sun set over the hills. Our first stop was the Budweiser Budvar Brewery, supposedly the one that Bud in the US stole the name from (they have been in legal battles for over 100 years). The brewery in Ceske Bodejvice brews all the beer that is sold all over the world. It looked as big as New Belgium Brewery! Last summer I worked in the Coors plant in Golden quite often and the security in that place is secure, here it is nothing! They had a fence with some barbed wire over it but everyone was on the lunch break while we were touring, no checks or gates or anything. And the workers there were straight out of a 1940's black and white film! It was classic! We got one free sample and went on our way to enjoy some Czech food in the usual 'cave' as I like to call them or the one of many restaurants/bars that is underground. It was too bad because the weather awas sooo nice outside! We had a few hours to explore the city and the castle. We could just walk around the castle because it is closed until tourist season.
BEST PART OF CASTLE: The three bears just chillin in moat like areas surrounding the castle. It was surreal...but I'm contacting Animal Rights tomorrow because the living conditions of these bears was not suitable!!
Yay! I ate ice cream today for the first time in 2 months....it was amazing!
So great day all in all. Its supposed to be rainy this weekend. I'm going to Dresden Germany with a whole new group of travel buddies (hopefully we will all become buddies)on a spontaneous trip. I've heard it's a cool place but only takes a day or two to see and has great Curry wurst ????!!?? I'll fill you in on all the deets when I get back!
Fun Facts:
- Bears, Beets, Battelstar Galactic.
- The paintings on the castle have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years but were still so colorful!
- Lot's of Asian tourists visit little cities in the Czech Republic
- They don't have sauces for food, you have to buy ketchup and mustard separately. I've been craving Cholula like I never thought I would crave a bottle of red sauce before.
- There's little shops and pubs on every corner. Kind of like the corner stores and fish and chip shops in New Zealand. I wonder sometimes how they all stay in business.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Post Berlin - March 24rd
Prague is erupting with people! I guess people live here! With the sun I swear thousands more people live here. They are setting up the Easter markets in the square now, it is very pretty. I went after school with a friend and we happenned upon a church and went in, they were having a service and it was again comforting to see them going through the same motions as back home. Then we sat on the church stairs overlooking the squeare full of people and watched the sun set.
I went to a friends wine and cheese party, they are roommates with lots of Czech people so it was nice to hang with a new group and meet some more locals. It is funny the questions that they ask us Americans, talked a little bit of politics which was interesting. I guess I havent been keeping up on my US politics and there is new news with the health care bill.......... anyone want to give me an update in 100 words or less :)
Tonight is my roomies (katie) birthday party, we are throwing a rager in our room then probably moving to the dorm bar. It should be fun we invited a lot of ppl but will see how many come.
Berlin was incredible. It may seem redundant because it was last weekend that I went but this is kind of a journal for me so I will probably be writing about each day to come. I learned about a Google function that will let me upload all my pictures at once. i will work on this because I would love for you guys to see them all and give you an update!
Party on People!!
PReview of the Graffitti in Berlin, an amazing city...... I want to live there!
I went to a friends wine and cheese party, they are roommates with lots of Czech people so it was nice to hang with a new group and meet some more locals. It is funny the questions that they ask us Americans, talked a little bit of politics which was interesting. I guess I havent been keeping up on my US politics and there is new news with the health care bill.......... anyone want to give me an update in 100 words or less :)
Tonight is my roomies (katie) birthday party, we are throwing a rager in our room then probably moving to the dorm bar. It should be fun we invited a lot of ppl but will see how many come.
Berlin was incredible. It may seem redundant because it was last weekend that I went but this is kind of a journal for me so I will probably be writing about each day to come. I learned about a Google function that will let me upload all my pictures at once. i will work on this because I would love for you guys to see them all and give you an update!
Party on People!!
PReview of the Graffitti in Berlin, an amazing city...... I want to live there!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Sunny-ness in Prague
Beautiful, sunny, mildly warm day in Prague. I went for a glorious run in the park I found behind the houses across from school. It is really long and if you run/walk :) long enough you reach a hill that overlooks the city. I watched the sun set and thoroughly enjoyed being among parents with their kids, people walking dogs, and couples strolling. My neighbor across the hall said that the weather should be like this from now on which would be wonderful!
I am going to go pack right now (I love packing for adventures) and then my French friend is coming to help make a dinner before we head out to Berlin. WE are taking Orange ways again which is the bus company that screwed us over in Budapest but it is the cheapest one.
Did research today for my spring break trip, Conflicted whether to go to Munich, then Barcelona, then Amsterdam. Or just to Munich and Amsterdam, or to Ukraine, and Munich. Such tough decisions but advice welcome. I would love to go to Turkey but tickets seem to be very expensive and there's some sort of political unrest.
Off to pack and night bus it to Berlin, with a chock full schedule of sight seeing, night life, and fun-ness!
Off to pack and night bus it to Berlin, with a chock full schedule of sight seeing, night life, and fun-ness!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
No rest in Budapest!
Budapest was nice. The best part may have been the adventures had wandering the streets in the wee morning hours with all of our luggage walking from train station to train station trying to find a train home after we were not allowed on the bus.
Got back to Prague today around 1 from Budapest and am exhausted because we got little sleep the whole weekend and no sleep last night due to travel bumps along the road. I do think that being exhausted at the end of a trip is the best way but it was a whirlwind of awesome times and stress.
I'll tell you the whole story.........
Thursday:
Went to class with my drunk teacher and learned a few things :)
Boarded the midnight bus to Budapest and made it there at 7 in the morning. Our first order of business was to check in at our hostel which was sweet. It was down an alley way and called the 11th our cinema (they show videos in the group hang out room). They kept our luggage for us until we could check in to our rooms. we found the free walking tour which we discovered in Paris is amazing (they just run on tips). Navigated our way to the meeting place and met our super tour guide who had muscular legs and wore yoga pants (whoooaa). The free tours are so cool because we got a quick overview of the main sights and get to hear the history and facts and then can decide where we want to go back to later and go inside and visit. The free ones are great too because they tell you tourist traps and what may or may not be good to visit. We saw how the architecture is so different there with very old looking buildings next to communist grey sterile looking ones, we walked around the Buda castle and the downtown touristy area (where we were told not to hang out). After the tour the guides showed us a cheap Hungarian cafeterias aplace where i sampled some Galuska. Budapest is made up of Buda and Pest, the two different sides of the river. Buda is the flat part of the city where the parliament bridge and churches are. Pest is the hilly side of the road with the castle and battalion and such.
After the tour and lunch we visited St. Stephens church where we saw the real right hand of St. Stephen, they have it preserved in a glass case (gross). On the plaza in front of the church we saw people taking pictures with flat Stanley (the travelling paper boy that I had in 3rd grade) we talked ot the couple from California and Tennessee. We saw a Jewish Synagogue and a golden tree that has leaves of the Jewish killed. We then went back to our hostel and while my buddies napped I made friends with the roomies (we were all in different rooms) they were from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. We went out with them that night to a club in an old train station (which came in handy our night of terror because we recognized the club that was across the street form the real train station).
First Impressions:
- saw a women with her small son begging as soon as we got off at the tram stop
- saw more bikes and people on bikes here than I have since being in Europe
- Hungarian language is equally as hard to understand as Czech
- Freezing on day 1. Warmed up a bit.
Friday: We woke up and the girls walked a long the main roads close to our hostel to try and find a market I had looked up, we found some cool antique stores and a store with tons of leather jackets. i found a really cool old chocolate box. We met the boys and went to the Great Market which on the bottom floor has meat stands, cheese, paprika and food. On the top is a touristy area. I bought a t-shirt and some paprika, oh and a Hungarian dessert. (thanks to Julie Kenney I stopped in every Pek I saw, bakeries with cheap desserts) We walked across the bridge (there are four main ones) and up to the citadel which is a huge statue on top of a huge hill, it's a communist statue that was covered up for days after the end of communism but they kept it because it was pretty (info learned on the free walking tour) we had a picnic of bread, cheese, and delicious Hungarian pastries. Also saw a church that is carved into a mountain. Learned on the tour that a lot of the stuff in Hungary may look old but some of it is pretty new and kind of there for tourists. The fisherman's Bastille is one of those (pictures included). We trekked to the other end of town but walked along the river and saw the parliament buildings. Tiredness hit and things were closing down so we went back to the hostels for dinner. I went to meet a friend of Julie Kenneys that lives in Budapest, she was very nice and met me at the metro station and took me to the castle district where we rode the Funicular up the mountain and walked around a bit, we went to a cafe and had the 2nd best hot chocolate I have had in my life and another delicious Hungarian dessert (I discovered I kind of judge how cool a country is by there beer/wine and desserts.....is that bad?) She drove me to the top of the citadel to see the lights at night which was amazing and am glad she did because my friends weren't too interested in seeing them and that is one thing i was told i should do.
back at the ranch....or hostel.... we got ready to go out to listen to some live jazz and turned up at the place around 10 and it was over already. weird. So we had made friends with one of the tour guides that did not wear tight yoga pants and they told us about a club to go to went there and did not want to p[pay cover but decided :when in Budapest" got in and it turned out to be a great idea. there were four bands playing, all Hungarian, and they were all awesome. we partied and danced efficiently.
Sunday:
Awoke with bags under our eyes but ready to explore the city. Walked around our neighborhood to a corner store for bread buns for brekkie (which they eat a lot here) then to the Szechenyi Baths. These were incredible. It's a large hotel but has about 10-15 baths, most of them thermal. They range in temperature and size. After about the first hour in a ginourmous hot tub outside surrounded by beautiful architecture i wondered how long we could hang out there but about 5 hours later I didn't want to leave. All the while we were with our friend we met in the hostel Luciana form Argentia, on our way back to the hostel we were looking for somewhere to eat, she overheard ppl speaking Spanish and asked them and we found a gem of a place that was very artsy and delicious with traditional Hungarian food. My view of budapest is that it has a definite underground art scene which inspires me. The concert and all the posters and just the people I saw reminded me a lot of Austin. Our tour guide did say that although Hungary was under communism rule they did experience about 2 decades of under peaceful communism rule. I think you can tell in the way the people act and the freedoms they seem to express more so than in Prague. But I'm still searching for the underground scene here!
Sunday night:
Craziness that involved arguing with the bus man, being stranded at midnight in Budapest, going back to hostel where they were so nice and let us hang out in common room, leaving comfortable common room at 3 in the morning to wander the streets, finding one train station, train station closed- no tickets, wandering to another train station across town, don't worry no muggings, seeing light of train station #2, buying tickets, boarding with 5 minutes left, seeing sunrise in dining car, paying way too much for breakfast, getting to see beautiful Hungarian countryside, even seeing random castles built on top of hills!!!, not sleeping, getting home at 1pm, crashing. As this adventrue was occurring it was exciting, the train ride home turned out to be beautiful. but I can't even imagine backpacking for weeks on end. i am exhausted after a few days. Maybe I'll learn the tricks because we met Luciana who was supposed to be on vacation for two weeks but has now been travelling Europe for a year, and others we met in the hostels are awesome inspiring ppl. I pretty much want to be like them.
Good trip- planning Berlin as we speak.
Does anyone know anyone in Europe, I really enjoyed meeting with a local for coffee and am hoping to couch surf in Berlin this weekend!
Ciao
Pictures to come later....my computer is slowly dying.
Got back to Prague today around 1 from Budapest and am exhausted because we got little sleep the whole weekend and no sleep last night due to travel bumps along the road. I do think that being exhausted at the end of a trip is the best way but it was a whirlwind of awesome times and stress.
I'll tell you the whole story.........
Thursday:
Went to class with my drunk teacher and learned a few things :)
Boarded the midnight bus to Budapest and made it there at 7 in the morning. Our first order of business was to check in at our hostel which was sweet. It was down an alley way and called the 11th our cinema (they show videos in the group hang out room). They kept our luggage for us until we could check in to our rooms. we found the free walking tour which we discovered in Paris is amazing (they just run on tips). Navigated our way to the meeting place and met our super tour guide who had muscular legs and wore yoga pants (whoooaa). The free tours are so cool because we got a quick overview of the main sights and get to hear the history and facts and then can decide where we want to go back to later and go inside and visit. The free ones are great too because they tell you tourist traps and what may or may not be good to visit. We saw how the architecture is so different there with very old looking buildings next to communist grey sterile looking ones, we walked around the Buda castle and the downtown touristy area (where we were told not to hang out). After the tour the guides showed us a cheap Hungarian cafeterias aplace where i sampled some Galuska. Budapest is made up of Buda and Pest, the two different sides of the river. Buda is the flat part of the city where the parliament bridge and churches are. Pest is the hilly side of the road with the castle and battalion and such.
After the tour and lunch we visited St. Stephens church where we saw the real right hand of St. Stephen, they have it preserved in a glass case (gross). On the plaza in front of the church we saw people taking pictures with flat Stanley (the travelling paper boy that I had in 3rd grade) we talked ot the couple from California and Tennessee. We saw a Jewish Synagogue and a golden tree that has leaves of the Jewish killed. We then went back to our hostel and while my buddies napped I made friends with the roomies (we were all in different rooms) they were from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. We went out with them that night to a club in an old train station (which came in handy our night of terror because we recognized the club that was across the street form the real train station).
First Impressions:
- saw a women with her small son begging as soon as we got off at the tram stop
- saw more bikes and people on bikes here than I have since being in Europe
- Hungarian language is equally as hard to understand as Czech
- Freezing on day 1. Warmed up a bit.
Friday: We woke up and the girls walked a long the main roads close to our hostel to try and find a market I had looked up, we found some cool antique stores and a store with tons of leather jackets. i found a really cool old chocolate box. We met the boys and went to the Great Market which on the bottom floor has meat stands, cheese, paprika and food. On the top is a touristy area. I bought a t-shirt and some paprika, oh and a Hungarian dessert. (thanks to Julie Kenney I stopped in every Pek I saw, bakeries with cheap desserts) We walked across the bridge (there are four main ones) and up to the citadel which is a huge statue on top of a huge hill, it's a communist statue that was covered up for days after the end of communism but they kept it because it was pretty (info learned on the free walking tour) we had a picnic of bread, cheese, and delicious Hungarian pastries. Also saw a church that is carved into a mountain. Learned on the tour that a lot of the stuff in Hungary may look old but some of it is pretty new and kind of there for tourists. The fisherman's Bastille is one of those (pictures included). We trekked to the other end of town but walked along the river and saw the parliament buildings. Tiredness hit and things were closing down so we went back to the hostels for dinner. I went to meet a friend of Julie Kenneys that lives in Budapest, she was very nice and met me at the metro station and took me to the castle district where we rode the Funicular up the mountain and walked around a bit, we went to a cafe and had the 2nd best hot chocolate I have had in my life and another delicious Hungarian dessert (I discovered I kind of judge how cool a country is by there beer/wine and desserts.....is that bad?) She drove me to the top of the citadel to see the lights at night which was amazing and am glad she did because my friends weren't too interested in seeing them and that is one thing i was told i should do.
back at the ranch....or hostel.... we got ready to go out to listen to some live jazz and turned up at the place around 10 and it was over already. weird. So we had made friends with one of the tour guides that did not wear tight yoga pants and they told us about a club to go to went there and did not want to p[pay cover but decided :when in Budapest" got in and it turned out to be a great idea. there were four bands playing, all Hungarian, and they were all awesome. we partied and danced efficiently.
Sunday:
Awoke with bags under our eyes but ready to explore the city. Walked around our neighborhood to a corner store for bread buns for brekkie (which they eat a lot here) then to the Szechenyi Baths. These were incredible. It's a large hotel but has about 10-15 baths, most of them thermal. They range in temperature and size. After about the first hour in a ginourmous hot tub outside surrounded by beautiful architecture i wondered how long we could hang out there but about 5 hours later I didn't want to leave. All the while we were with our friend we met in the hostel Luciana form Argentia, on our way back to the hostel we were looking for somewhere to eat, she overheard ppl speaking Spanish and asked them and we found a gem of a place that was very artsy and delicious with traditional Hungarian food. My view of budapest is that it has a definite underground art scene which inspires me. The concert and all the posters and just the people I saw reminded me a lot of Austin. Our tour guide did say that although Hungary was under communism rule they did experience about 2 decades of under peaceful communism rule. I think you can tell in the way the people act and the freedoms they seem to express more so than in Prague. But I'm still searching for the underground scene here!
Sunday night:
Craziness that involved arguing with the bus man, being stranded at midnight in Budapest, going back to hostel where they were so nice and let us hang out in common room, leaving comfortable common room at 3 in the morning to wander the streets, finding one train station, train station closed- no tickets, wandering to another train station across town, don't worry no muggings, seeing light of train station #2, buying tickets, boarding with 5 minutes left, seeing sunrise in dining car, paying way too much for breakfast, getting to see beautiful Hungarian countryside, even seeing random castles built on top of hills!!!, not sleeping, getting home at 1pm, crashing. As this adventrue was occurring it was exciting, the train ride home turned out to be beautiful. but I can't even imagine backpacking for weeks on end. i am exhausted after a few days. Maybe I'll learn the tricks because we met Luciana who was supposed to be on vacation for two weeks but has now been travelling Europe for a year, and others we met in the hostels are awesome inspiring ppl. I pretty much want to be like them.
Good trip- planning Berlin as we speak.
Does anyone know anyone in Europe, I really enjoyed meeting with a local for coffee and am hoping to couch surf in Berlin this weekend!
Ciao
Pictures to come later....my computer is slowly dying.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
March 11th- Off to Budapest
The sun is so decieveing in Prague. it looks nice out but then I go out to see the city and can only stay out a bit because its so cold! I walked around the castle again today and thought about how chill it is here. We walked around this historical grand sight that was built in the 9th century where the leader of the country lives now. and the only security I saw was the guards that stand outside the doors and cant move. no security, no entrance fee, no booths selling souvineers. I couldnt help but think that if this was in the US it would be taken advantage of. It was pretty amazing to just see people walking through on their afternoon strolls.
In our travels we found a cafe that had burritoes! They tasted very different than any burrito I've ever tasted but ohh the comforts of home!
The other day I walked around the residential neighborhood behind my school and found a cool park, a great cheap antique store where your gift will probably come from (peter, alex and patrick :) and mom) and saw the tv tower with babies on it that is quite an eyesore but pretty well known. It was nice walking around alone for a few hours, I saw dad's walking around with their little daughters, lot's of people walking their dogs, and two cute older ladies talking outside their windows to each other.
Last week I went to the opera in teh famous National Theatre. Got a screamin deal on a ticket and then went across the street for coffe (I feel like I may have told you this before...) anyway we all tried absinthe and got a great succesion of photos depicting the expereince. It was nasty, and everyone felt pretty drunk about 5 minutes after shooting it. Great times :)
Off to Budapest on the 11:30 night train, we'll get in around 6:00 for a jam packed day of walking and touristing. We are going to some turkish baths and to see some castles and museums and of course eat local foods (thanks Julie and the Kenneys for all the suggestions!) We're going to try and meet up with a local or two by having lunch with some people we find through couch surfing.
In front of the castle!
The absinthe progression, the picture in the background is of the green demon (absinthe) approaching a man.
Preparing the fated shot
Ummm excited--it's colorful and green!
Mixin, mixin, mixin ..... it up.
Down it goes.....
And almost comes right back up! Feelin the burn all the way down!
And then...like most of my stories go.... I ate some cake :)
Prague castle from afar
Pretty tree where they used to defend the castle and shoot arrows at people.
Some old statue baby buns.....with Prague in the background!
Cool antique/junk stre
Graffitti is all over the place here, unfortunately on all the old buildings and castles as well.
The TV tower.
TV tower surrounded by city
From the glasses themed dinner party we had in our room.
In our travels we found a cafe that had burritoes! They tasted very different than any burrito I've ever tasted but ohh the comforts of home!
The other day I walked around the residential neighborhood behind my school and found a cool park, a great cheap antique store where your gift will probably come from (peter, alex and patrick :) and mom) and saw the tv tower with babies on it that is quite an eyesore but pretty well known. It was nice walking around alone for a few hours, I saw dad's walking around with their little daughters, lot's of people walking their dogs, and two cute older ladies talking outside their windows to each other.
Last week I went to the opera in teh famous National Theatre. Got a screamin deal on a ticket and then went across the street for coffe (I feel like I may have told you this before...) anyway we all tried absinthe and got a great succesion of photos depicting the expereince. It was nasty, and everyone felt pretty drunk about 5 minutes after shooting it. Great times :)
Off to Budapest on the 11:30 night train, we'll get in around 6:00 for a jam packed day of walking and touristing. We are going to some turkish baths and to see some castles and museums and of course eat local foods (thanks Julie and the Kenneys for all the suggestions!) We're going to try and meet up with a local or two by having lunch with some people we find through couch surfing.
In front of the castle!
The absinthe progression, the picture in the background is of the green demon (absinthe) approaching a man.
Preparing the fated shot
Ummm excited--it's colorful and green!
Mixin, mixin, mixin ..... it up.
Down it goes.....
And almost comes right back up! Feelin the burn all the way down!
And then...like most of my stories go.... I ate some cake :)
Prague castle from afar
Pretty tree where they used to defend the castle and shoot arrows at people.
Some old statue baby buns.....with Prague in the background!
Cool antique/junk stre
Graffitti is all over the place here, unfortunately on all the old buildings and castles as well.
The TV tower.
TV tower surrounded by city
From the glasses themed dinner party we had in our room.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Paris!
journal entry on plane ride back from Paris- "I laughed a lot, slept well, got excitement tingles (I didn't know historical sights had that effect), prayed a lot, saw a beautiful place with beautiful people, learned some historical facts, was strongly struck with the desire to learn a new language, observed a respected culture, met people that inspired me to bite off more than i can chew and travel alone, ate good food, drank wine, got some fashion tips, was challenged to live on the cheap, and saw PARIS! whew were do i even begin! rode the tram back from the airport and immediately recognized the differences between Prague and Paris, in Paris people seemed very helpful, children laughed and people smiled, our hostel overlooked a canal and a large open area where I saw people playing a game people running and walking their dogs (the picture could have been straight out of the 1950's Paris) on the tram ride home in Prague in a tram full of about 50 people there was complete silence. Awkward! There is also differences in the architecture and general beauty, hard to explain but even Pragues older structures have a feeling of more medieval and dark a little bit. I loved loved loved Paris and hated the feeling of leaving today: it makes the place a 'has been' not a "here I am experiencing amazing-ness" but I'm not complaingin and I am thankful for the great time I did have.I went with Katie, Julie and Jordan and we stuffed in as much as we could in three days. Friday: Arrived in France, took an hour bus ride into the city sat next to older women who whipped out the mini wine bottles on the bus (YEAH we're in Paris!), arrived to beaming sunshine and happiness (cheesy but true). Successfully navigated our way through the underground to find our hostel. St. Christopher's hostel blew my mind and probably ruined me as far as hostels go, I will be expecting them to be like that but pretty sure none of them will be. It was more like a hotel with free continental breakfast and nice clean bathrooms and rooms. Our bunk room was for 10 girls and overlooked a canal.....really you ask..... yes! an amazing view. We dropped our stuff and went to the Eiffel tower! It was pretty incredible walking up to it, this amazing monument that I never really imagined seeing. We took enough pictures to fill a small photo book and met some other Americans there- one from Breckenridge (small world)- then we once again deftly navigated the underground to the Louvre which was free for students on Friday night. Our tour guide the next day said that if you spent 30 seconds in front of each piece of art/sculpture in the Louvre you would be there for 3 months (no sleeping or eating included) We wandered a bit but saw some of the main pieces like the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa, it was a pretty overwhelming place and as much as I like art and appreciate history I'm glad we didn't spend too long there. Plus it was sunny outside so we went back to the tower to see it at night. Stopped by a market on the way back to the hostel to grab fruit and cheese to eat (yay for cheap travelling dinners) I of course stopped in the bakery and got a philo dough nutty dessertness (my mom taught me well-eat dessert first). In the store we met a girl Sarah from Los Angeles. She studied in ISrael and has been travelling on her own for a few months and has a few more to go. We ended up hanging out with her a few times and I was happy to interrogate her about travelling alone. Pretty much she said "you just have to grab your balls and do it", I'm not sure how that translates to me but I took it in stride and listened to her other advice. 
Reflection....First view of the Eiffel Tower Julie(I'm not naming names) cried when she saw it. We learned on our tour that the French hated it when it was built and called it the 'big asparagus' 
The view from our hostel room. 
Another pretty view. The day we arrived it was sunny and beautiful but the last day was hurricane force winds. 
Guess the historical landmark...... 
Another reflection 
ooooh the Louvre. The glass triangle that was in National Treasure was a big hit. The louvre is huge and used to be home to some royal family-maybe Bonaparte. They had a competition to combine the many entrances into one and an architect from China said you wouldn't even be able to see his design. So they built the glass triangles that turned out to not be invisible- they had to reinforce them with metal because they posed a danger of falling and killing people. 
Me at the Louvre- missed you there mom! 
Cool old art that looks kinda modern 
More cool art. I took a picture of the Mona Lisa. But it's not as cool as you would imagine. 
Eiffel at night. 
We made it to Paris! Sill feelin pretty giddy here. 
Yum, the bakery that was near our hostel. 
Fruit stand that fed us the whole weekend. SATURDAY: Woke up early and got to the free breakfast (baguettes and nutella spread YUM!!) made sure to stock up for lunch. Another sunny day in Paris. Took a walking tour with a very funny Australian guide learned: -thousands of people get injured every year in Paris due to dog poop -if a statue of a person on a horse has all feet on the ground it means they died of natural causes, one foot up they were killed, both up they died in battle. -Lots of other intersting hostorical facts The tour covered a lot of main tourist attractions. Walked down the Champs de' Elysses to the Arc de Triumph, stopped into Luis Vitton so we could ogle at the ppl paying thousands of dollars for purses (not my kinda thing but Jordan (a girl) still wants to buy one??) Stopped in McDonalds to pee (there are so many of them here!) We still wanted to see a famous cemetery where Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Chopin, and apparently Jimi Hendrix are buried. Got to the place and just as we got there they were closing the cemetery :( we stopped to grab some dinner. I had Creme Brulee! Then I think we were in the suburbs a bit and found a cheap grocery store, which was amazing cause nothing is cheap in Paris, we bought about five bottles of wine and I bought some stinky cheese that turned out to also taste like stinky tennis shoes (but it was French so I had to try it). We then hustled back to the hostel and got ready and half hour nap rested for the pub crawl the hostel puts on. It was a bust as it was raining and the drinks were still expensive. But we were in the red light district and saw the outside of the Moulin Rouge. We missed out on the last club because the metro was closing and we wanted to get home. Although it was a bust we met some ppl from other countries before they were drunk and thats always interesting. Have no fear though there was a party with DJ at the hostel so we enjoyed that with our new friend Sarah. 
Delicious breakfast provided by our hostel. 
The Pocket Pal and I on the Underground. I made .25 Euro playing the saints go marching in and then free styling over 3 stops. Harmonica free styling--------watch out for it it's gonna be big. 
The Notre Dame Cathedral in all it's glory. 
A man painting the beautiful Siene. 
Faces on a bridge. The story is that one king had a party and invited a painter to capture the parties happennings. Then the king took the drunken drawings of his friends and had them created in sculpture format and put on the bridge. I also found out that the reason side walks were invented was so that people would not have to walk through all the feces that covered the streets back in the day. 
Someone drawing on the bridge. 
This bridge had a special name...but people put locks on it to symbolize their love. some locks had names and initials and were painted pretty cool. 
Heart 
They have bicycles in France? :) 
"All the single ladies" This is the inspiration for the music video. The tour guide told us that. 
The Arc de Triomph SUNDAY: Woke up Sunday morning and went to mass. AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL! Probably the highlight of the trip for me. It was an international mass and was said in many languages but was an amazing experience. Awesome to realize how universal the Catholic mass is. Kind of wanderd our way into seeing a few more sights in the hurricane force winds : Luxembourg Gardens, the Pantheon. Made it to the Eiffel tower right before sunset and climbed it in time to see the sunset. It was beautiful. As we were walking away it was dark enough and every hour the tower sparlkes which is incredibel to say the least. I will post the video. Also as we were walking away the police must have been out or something becasue all of the people selling little souvineers all around the tower grabbed their goods and took off at dead srpints, weird. Went to the artsy Montmarte neighborhood for our last supper of FONDUE! We got there about 11 o clock and waited to be seated in the tiny establishment that we heard from friends was good. They served wine in baby bottles for some reason but sure made the fondue taste good. We took our roomie from Australia and sat and talked with people at the restaurant till about 1:30. 
Look mom and dad, I'm at church!! 
Amongst my church pictures I have strategically intermingled one taken in a bar, but it talks about being Irish and the Shannon so I figure that could be religious. 
The famous windows in Notre Dame, they have a name I can't remember it. 
This is so that Katie and Julies parents know they went to mass too! 
Cool courtyard with gargoyles 
Resting on the climb up the Eiffel Tower. 
One more of the tower at night. 
Funny sign on the hostel toilets. Here in Prague all the signs for bathrooms say WC (Wash Closet) 
Sign at the airport of more places i need to visit. I hope there are enough weekends! Monday: Had to wake up early today to take the tram then the bus then the airplane home. great trip with great people. I hope to come back here someday but I did jump in the lucky circle where all the main roads in Paris meet, legend has it if you jump in and make a wish you will return!
More tid-bits
-flew there on WIZZ air (haha)
-saw lot's of cute hats-Love PArisian style
- more diverse than Paris as far as races
- many musicians playing on the underground
- still can't get over my view of the CANAL from the hostel!!
- transportaion system was awesome and easily understandable
-People would get on the tram and play violins or accordians.
The Eiffel Tower Sparkling at night
Reflection....First view of the Eiffel Tower Julie(I'm not naming names) cried when she saw it. We learned on our tour that the French hated it when it was built and called it the 'big asparagus' 
The view from our hostel room. 
Another pretty view. The day we arrived it was sunny and beautiful but the last day was hurricane force winds. 
Guess the historical landmark...... 
Another reflection 
ooooh the Louvre. The glass triangle that was in National Treasure was a big hit. The louvre is huge and used to be home to some royal family-maybe Bonaparte. They had a competition to combine the many entrances into one and an architect from China said you wouldn't even be able to see his design. So they built the glass triangles that turned out to not be invisible- they had to reinforce them with metal because they posed a danger of falling and killing people. 
Me at the Louvre- missed you there mom! 
Cool old art that looks kinda modern 
More cool art. I took a picture of the Mona Lisa. But it's not as cool as you would imagine. 
Eiffel at night. 
We made it to Paris! Sill feelin pretty giddy here. 
Yum, the bakery that was near our hostel. 
Fruit stand that fed us the whole weekend. SATURDAY: Woke up early and got to the free breakfast (baguettes and nutella spread YUM!!) made sure to stock up for lunch. Another sunny day in Paris. Took a walking tour with a very funny Australian guide learned: -thousands of people get injured every year in Paris due to dog poop -if a statue of a person on a horse has all feet on the ground it means they died of natural causes, one foot up they were killed, both up they died in battle. -Lots of other intersting hostorical facts The tour covered a lot of main tourist attractions. Walked down the Champs de' Elysses to the Arc de Triumph, stopped into Luis Vitton so we could ogle at the ppl paying thousands of dollars for purses (not my kinda thing but Jordan (a girl) still wants to buy one??) Stopped in McDonalds to pee (there are so many of them here!) We still wanted to see a famous cemetery where Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Chopin, and apparently Jimi Hendrix are buried. Got to the place and just as we got there they were closing the cemetery :( we stopped to grab some dinner. I had Creme Brulee! Then I think we were in the suburbs a bit and found a cheap grocery store, which was amazing cause nothing is cheap in Paris, we bought about five bottles of wine and I bought some stinky cheese that turned out to also taste like stinky tennis shoes (but it was French so I had to try it). We then hustled back to the hostel and got ready and half hour nap rested for the pub crawl the hostel puts on. It was a bust as it was raining and the drinks were still expensive. But we were in the red light district and saw the outside of the Moulin Rouge. We missed out on the last club because the metro was closing and we wanted to get home. Although it was a bust we met some ppl from other countries before they were drunk and thats always interesting. Have no fear though there was a party with DJ at the hostel so we enjoyed that with our new friend Sarah. 
Delicious breakfast provided by our hostel. 
The Pocket Pal and I on the Underground. I made .25 Euro playing the saints go marching in and then free styling over 3 stops. Harmonica free styling--------watch out for it it's gonna be big. 
The Notre Dame Cathedral in all it's glory. 
A man painting the beautiful Siene. 
Faces on a bridge. The story is that one king had a party and invited a painter to capture the parties happennings. Then the king took the drunken drawings of his friends and had them created in sculpture format and put on the bridge. I also found out that the reason side walks were invented was so that people would not have to walk through all the feces that covered the streets back in the day. 
Someone drawing on the bridge. 
This bridge had a special name...but people put locks on it to symbolize their love. some locks had names and initials and were painted pretty cool. 
Heart 
They have bicycles in France? :) 
"All the single ladies" This is the inspiration for the music video. The tour guide told us that. 
The Arc de Triomph SUNDAY: Woke up Sunday morning and went to mass. AT NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL! Probably the highlight of the trip for me. It was an international mass and was said in many languages but was an amazing experience. Awesome to realize how universal the Catholic mass is. Kind of wanderd our way into seeing a few more sights in the hurricane force winds : Luxembourg Gardens, the Pantheon. Made it to the Eiffel tower right before sunset and climbed it in time to see the sunset. It was beautiful. As we were walking away it was dark enough and every hour the tower sparlkes which is incredibel to say the least. I will post the video. Also as we were walking away the police must have been out or something becasue all of the people selling little souvineers all around the tower grabbed their goods and took off at dead srpints, weird. Went to the artsy Montmarte neighborhood for our last supper of FONDUE! We got there about 11 o clock and waited to be seated in the tiny establishment that we heard from friends was good. They served wine in baby bottles for some reason but sure made the fondue taste good. We took our roomie from Australia and sat and talked with people at the restaurant till about 1:30. 
Look mom and dad, I'm at church!! 
Amongst my church pictures I have strategically intermingled one taken in a bar, but it talks about being Irish and the Shannon so I figure that could be religious. 
The famous windows in Notre Dame, they have a name I can't remember it. 
This is so that Katie and Julies parents know they went to mass too! 
Cool courtyard with gargoyles 
Resting on the climb up the Eiffel Tower. 
One more of the tower at night. 
Funny sign on the hostel toilets. Here in Prague all the signs for bathrooms say WC (Wash Closet) 
Sign at the airport of more places i need to visit. I hope there are enough weekends! Monday: Had to wake up early today to take the tram then the bus then the airplane home. great trip with great people. I hope to come back here someday but I did jump in the lucky circle where all the main roads in Paris meet, legend has it if you jump in and make a wish you will return! More tid-bits
-flew there on WIZZ air (haha)
-saw lot's of cute hats-Love PArisian style
- more diverse than Paris as far as races
- many musicians playing on the underground
- still can't get over my view of the CANAL from the hostel!!
- transportaion system was awesome and easily understandable
-People would get on the tram and play violins or accordians.
The Eiffel Tower Sparkling at night
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