Praha, Česká republika

After Vienna, we hopped on another bus to take us to Prague (or Praha, as it is known in Czech). It was about a 4 hour drive through some really beautiful countryside of rolling hills and little Czech villages.

Once we got into the city, we found our hostel - Old Prague Hostel - located in Staré Město (the old town). We got settled in and had our first delicious Czech beers! I learned on the trip that Czechs are the number one consumers of beer in the world. I forget the amount that the average Czech consumes per year, but it was a pretty large quantity.

Old Town Square

The next day, we got up and headed to the Old Town Square, which was also an Easter market with great food, and even some sheep to pet. We met the Sandeman's New Prague free walking tour here and then went with that tour for the next three hours or so. The tour was awesome and really showed us a lot of the city and taught us a lot about its history. We started in the square and learned about the famous Astronomical Clock.

Treats from the Easter market

Part of the Astronomical Clock

Later, we went to Wenceslas Square, the Jewish Quarter, a few churches, and some different statues and monuments. Unlike many cities in that part of Europe, Prague only lost a few buildings during WWII, so much of the Old Town consists of the original buildings from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Interestingly, we learned that one of the reasons Prague was not damaged much during the war is because Hitler really liked the city and tried to steer fighting away from it to protect it.

View of Prague Castle from Old Town

Our guide from the free tour was doing another tour in the afternoon of Prague Castle and Malá Strana (the district of the city on the other side of the Vltava River where the castle is located). So we just kept on going with the touring. The castle isn't like a castle in the sense you picture it, it's more of a large complex with a bunch of different types of buildings. We also saw the Basilica, to old secret police headquarters from the communist era, and some really incredible views of the city. After the tour finished, we went to a local monastery/brewery and sampled some of their merchandise!

View of Mala Strana from Monastery

That night we did one of the many pub crawls they have to offer in Prague, and it was a great time. That's all I have to say about that ;)

On Friday morning (our last full day in Prague) we started at our favorite restaurant of the city, Bohemia Bagel (I didn't realize how much I missed bagels until we went there). Then we went to the Jewish Quarter. We went into the Jewish Museum. One of the main parts of the museum is an old synagogue where the walls are covered in the names of Jews from Prague and the surrounding areas that suffered during WWII. It was really interesting even just to see the sheer number of names. I saw some Schneider's on the wall, and some of my friends also saw last names of family members.

Names of Czech Jews who died in the Holocaust

Another room of the museum holds drawings that were made by the children who were in Terazín, a concentration camp outside of Prague where many of the more prominent Jews were sent. A woman who was an artist gave the children there drawing lessons and did art therapy with them. She hid the drawings before she was killed, and now they are on display in the museum.

Charles Bridge

After the Jewish Museum, we crossed the Charles Bridge (which was so crowded it took about 25 minutes to cross) and went to the John Lennon wall. There was some really cool graffiti on it, and some really stupid graffiti. Some people put things on there that don't at all represent the spirit of what the wall is supposed to represent.

Lennon Wall

All in all I really loved Prague. It looks different than other European cities I have visited because it sort of has elements of all of them thrown into one. The architecture of the Old Town was really beautiful, and sometimes it felt like you should be walking around in the Middle Ages because of the small cobbled streets and the look of the buildings. It was definitely my favorite city of this trip, and one of my favorite cities, period. I would definitely like to go back again and explore more of it than what I was able to see this time!

Parting shot of Prague

Friday morning I'm off to Morocco until Sunday night and then Tuesday morning I leave for Malta, so look for those posts coming up soon! As well as about Semana Santa and Feria in Sevilla! Lots to do!

To Wien!

After our few days in Budapest, we caught a bus to Vienna (or Wien, as it is said in German). The bus was only about 3 hours through a countryside that looked strikingly similar to Central Pennsylvania!

In Vienna we stayed at the newly-opened Wombat's Hostel at Naschmarkt. We couldn't have asked for a better location. Right across the street was the Naschmarkt - an open air market with fresh food, to-go food and restaurants. We pretty much started an ended each day with pitas, curry and chili hummus and olives. Although that's not very Austrian, it was incredible. And we also had Austrian food too:

On our first afternoon we walked through the center up Kartner Strasse to Stephansplatz and Stephansdom Cathedral, and MuseumsQuartier than found our way over to our first Easter Market of the trip off of the Graben. We came to love these markets in Vienna and Prague for their cheap sausages, beers, and delicious sweets!

On Tuesday morning, we headed straight to the Schloss Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs' summer palace just outside Vienna. Being on a budget, we decided not to pay to enter and instead roamed around the gardens and the Easter Market. We climbed up the hill behind the palace to get some great views of the city.

Next, we headed back to the center and climbed up the South Tower of Stephansdom for some more great views of the city. The climb was rather uncomfortable, but I felt that the views were worth it.

To finish off the day we went to Haus der Musik - an interactive music museum. This was a really cool place and unlike other museums I've seen. There was of course a good deal of history about some of the famous Austrian composers, but it was presented in an interesting way. The majority of the museum was interactive exhibits about how music is made and how the brain processes it, etc. It's half price on Tuesday nights, so I would definitely recommend it!


Our last sight Wednesday morning before leaving for Prague was Prater Island, an "island" in between the Danube and Danube canals that has lots of parks and trails as well as the world's oldest amusement park. At the amusement park we all went on one ride together. It is like regular fair or amusement park swings but they are around a pole that raises you up a few hundred meters in the air for a great view of Vienna.

All in all, I really enjoyed Vienna. It was so different from Budapest. It reminded me a lot of my trip to Salzburg in high school, which I also really enjoyed. Vienna seems like a really cool city to spend a lot of time in, because it has a lot of history and culture, but also a lot of young people and a big nightlife scene. It was also probably home to the best food of the trip! (Not that any of the other food was bad, but the Naschmarkt really was incredible!)

Next up, my favorite city of the trip (and right up there with Paris as my favorite cities I've seen all semester) is PRAGUE!!

Adventures in Budapest

Last week, I went on my big Easter break vacation to Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; and Prague, Czech Republic. I went with 7 friends from my program in Sevilla and we had an incredible time! There is a lot of info to share so I'll start with a post on the first city we visited (Budapest) and try to put up the others throughout the week before I head to Morocco on Friday!



BUDAPEST

We got to Budapest last Friday around noon and checked into the 11th Hour Hostel, which is located in Pest, near the Jewish Quarter (FYI - Budapest used to be two distinct cities - Buda and Pest - separated by the Danube River).

View of the Danube with Buda to the left

We spent our first afternoon just wandering around the area near our hostel, and we went to the Grand Market Hall, where you can get all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meat and baked goods.

Fruit & veg stand in Grand Market Hall

That night we went to Szimpla, an underground ruin pub and had a lot of fun.

Saturday morning we were ready to do some sightseeing so we went on the free walking tour of the city with All Free Walks Budapest. We saw a lot of the major sights in both Buda (like Castle Hill) and Pest (like the Cathedral and many of the main squares). We also learned a lot of the history of the city and some tips for the rest of our stay.

St. Stephen's Basilica


Later that afternoon, we sampled some Hungarian food (lots of meat & potatoes) and then did a little more sightseeing of the area. That night we went to Instant, another ruin pub that was a lot of fun, and Godor, a music club.

The next morning we ventured to Szechenyi Baths - a Hungarian mineral bath complex. They have a ton of pools - both indoor and outdoor - at all different temperatures and with different features. I'm sure there is some method for how you are supposed to do it, but we just kind of explored. Our favorite was the circular whirlpool that had a very strong current and whipped you all around in circles. Not sure what it's therapeutic purpose is supposed to be, but it sure was fun.


Next we walked through the park where Szechenyi is located up to Heroes Square and then down Adranssy Utca, a street with a lot of shopping, eating, etc.

Heroes Square


Budapest is a really beautiful city with a lot of different things to offer and we definitely had a lot of fun while we were there!

View of Danube and Parliament building in Pest




Next post will be about Vienna!

A weekend in Lagos

This weekend I joined a few hundred other Americans and drove over the Portuguese border to Lagos. We spent the weekend at different beaches around the Lagos area and went out in the town of Lagos. The area was absolutely gorgeous and we had a lot of fun there.

The first beach we went to was called Praia Dona Ana in the town of Lagos. It is a really pretty beach with cliffs and caves, and the huge group of us kind of took it over.

Later that night, we went to Cabo San Vicente. At the tip of Portugal it is the south-western-most point in Europe. When people thought the world was flat, they thought this was the end of the world.

The next day we did a Sangria Sailboat cruise that took us around Lagos and then we got into a smaller boat to go in and out of the cave areas that are around the coast. Later that day we also went to another beach in Lagos Meia Praia that was a much wider, sandy beach without any rocks.

On Sunday we went to a beach on Portugal's west coast that is popular for surfing. The beach was completely isolated and surrounded by green hills and cliffsides. It was a really wide beach with some cool cliffs and rocky areas to explore.

Overall I had a great time in Lagos and it was beautiful! Definitely a great weekend!

Gran Canaria: a German retirement community

This past weekend, my friends and I went to Gran Canaria, part of the Canary Islands, off the northwest coast of Africa. The island and the beaches were beautiful, but you had to look past the extreme touristy-ness of it all first. In our whole time there, I did not see one building, store, or restaurant that wasn't created purely for foreigners. It's a very strange place but it was a good time.

We stayed in the Puerto Rico area, which, unbeknownst to us, is the vacation spot of choice for Germans, Swedes and Norwegians aged 55+. Our group stuck out a bit in that crowd, but we still had a lot of fun.

We stayed at the Aparthotel Riosol. Our rooms were really nice, but it is by far the most confusing and poorly laid out property I have ever been to. All of the hotels are plastered on the sides of these rocky cliffs, so it is somewhat difficult to walk around.

We spent most of our 4 days there on the beach, either at Playa Puerto Rico, or the next beach, Playa Amadores. The weather was perfect for the beach and very hot so we spent a lot of time in the ocean.

On our last day, Casey, Catie and I decided to go on a dolphin and whale watching cruise. It proved to not be our best idea of the trip. We didn't see a single dolphin or whale, and about 95% of the people on board were nauseous and/or sea sick the entire time. It wasn't the best end to the trip but the rest of it went a lot better!

My adventures over the last few weeks

I know it's been a while since I have posted! The last few weeks have been very busy with Mom & Dad's visit, then mid-terms, then John's visit. So I'll catch you up on the last few weeks now!

Barcelona with Mom & Dad
When my parents got into Spain, I met them in Barcelona for the weekend. We stayed at the very nice Hotel Arts on the beach in Port Olimpic. Our first afternoon we spent walking around the beach and Las Ramblas, then back through the Placa Catalunya and the center to our hotel.

On Saturday morning, we woke up to torrential rain, so we decided to use the hop-on, hop-off sightseeing bus to get around the city. Our first stops were to see some of Gaudi's residential works in L'Eixample.

Later we went to La Sagrada Familia, by far the most impressive church (and one of the most impressive buildings, period) that I have ever seen. I always knew the level of detail that it has on the outside, but I never knew how spectacular it is inside! The museum below the church was also really interesting.

Then we had lunch in the Boqueria market. The market itself is huge with loads of fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and meat. It would definitely be a good place to shop if you lived there. And the menu del dia for lunch was delicious!

On Sunday we headed to the opposite side of town to go to Parc Güell. We hiked around up there and saw some awesome views of the city out to the sea. It was a great way to end my weekend in Barcelona!

Mom & Dad's weekend in Sevilla

The next weekend my parents came to Sevilla and I showed them all of the sights - La Catedral, Real Alcazar, Plaza de España, etc. I left most of the photo-taking up to them, so I don't have many pictures to show for it.

We did do something that was new for me as well. We took a tour of the Plaza de Toros, the bullfighting arena of Sevilla. It was really interesting and we learned a lot about the history of bullfighting in Sevilla, which is one of the premier locations in the world for this. I'm hoping to see a fight once the season starts on Easter Sunday, even though I think it may be difficult to watch.

John's visit to Sevilla

This weekend, John came for a very brief but fun trip to Sevilla. Over the course of the weekend I also showed him all the major sights in Sevilla. On Friday afternoon, we took the train down to Cadiz and spent the day on the beach. There were some weird deja-vu moments from Carnival, but the city really is beautiful and I'm glad we went down there.

I had a great time having everyone in town, and I'm so glad that they were able to come and visit! It was great seeing everyone! This weekend I'm headed to the Canary Islands, so look for a post about that trip next week!

Cádiz Carnival

On Saturday I headed to Cádiz (a city on the coast about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Sevilla) for what is one of the world's largest Carnival celebrations.

My friends and I bought some wigs and face paint to be our costumes for the night. The costumes range from very well thought-out and intricate homemade ones, to typical store-bought outfits, to just face paint. Halloween isn't really celebrated much in Spain, so Carnival is their main opportunity to get all dressed up in costume.

We left for Cádiz around eight o'clock on Saturday and got back around 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, so it was a long night, but I had an awesome time! Our bus dropped us off in one of the main plazas of the city, where hundreds of buses full of people from Sevilla, Granada, Malaga and other close cities come in for the night. The whole city shuts down to host the celebration, and it really is something cool to experience.

During the day there are parades and other events, and there is a stage with performances during the day and night. At night, the whole city becomes one big botellón, which pretty much just means drinking in the streets. We wandered around the city until we reached the main plaza of the celebration, near the catedral. We also took a little trip up to the beach, which was nice. I can't wait to come back to the beach in a few weeks and enjoy it!

Our night at Carnival in Cádiz was so much fun and it was definitely a night I will always remember! And I think I look pretty good with long purple hair!

Paris by Night

I saw this video online and just loved it. As beautiful as Paris is during the day, it was even more special at night! It is made up of thousands of images to create a time-lapse video of some of the city's monuments at night. It's like taking a little mini-tour of the city at night!

(It is originally posted here.)

Le Flâneur (music by The XX) from Luke Shepard on Vimeo.

Paris, J'taime!

This past weekend a few friends and I jetted off to Paris for 4 days of sightseeing, baguettes, pastries, and French boys. As we flew over the city Thursday night and got our first glimpse of the sparkling Eiffel Tower and the Seine, I knew I was going to love the city! It is easier to understand why people talk about Paris so much and romanticize it. There is just something very special about it that is unlike any other city I've visited.

The French
Of course I went to French knowing the stereotypes that French people hate Americans and won't speak English to you. Thankfully, I found both of these to be entirely false. I found the Parisians to be incredibly friendly and helpful. And with a little "Excusez-moi. Je ne parle pas français. Parlez-vous anglais?" people were more than willing to speak English with us and try to help us out.


Sightseeing
We packed a whole lot of activity into our long weekend, so I will warn you that this will be a long post! You can click the pictures to see a larger version!

The Chocolate Tour
We kicked off the weekend with a chocolate tour run by Paris Walks. They took us to four specialty chocolate and pastry shops, mostly on Rue St. Honore. By the end we had more than enough chocolate. It was a great tour and I would highly recommend it!

Ile-de-Cite & Quartier Latin
Later that afternoon, we walked across the bridge to Notre Dame, and then through the Quartier Latin to Jardins du Luxembourg. I really enjoyed Quartier Latin. It seems like a really cool neighborhood and I wish we had time to explore it more!

Le Tour Eiffel
Our next stop was the Eiffel Tower. We took dozens of pictures from the ground and then climbed up the stairs to the second level. The views were beautiful! And who knew there was an ice skating rink up there?

Arc De Triomphe & Shopping
We started Saturday morning at the Arc de Triomphe and then spent the rest of the morning shopping along the Champs Elysees, Rue Faubourg and Rue St. Honore. We window shopped at Hermes and Cartier, and tried to keep ourselves from spending too much money!

Cemeterie Montmartre
In the afternoon we walked through the neighborhood of Montmartre (where we stayed throughout the weekend at Le Village Hostel - highly recommend it!). We visited the Cemeterie Montmartre, which was actually very interesting to see. The cemetery had a couple of really sad but beautiful statues that you can see below. This cemetery is home of the grave of Alexandre Dumas, among others.

Musee du Louvre
Sunday morning we went straight to the Louvre after breakfast. The museum itself is housed in what was formerly the French royal palace, before the king moved the palace to Versailles. It is absolutely gigantic, and it would be easy to spend hours and hours in there if you wanted to see everything. We mostly just went for the more famous works since we were short on time. My favorite part of the museum was the atriums filled with sculptures on the first floor. I have always been amazed by the level of detail and realism that sculptors are able to put forth in their pieces. What about the Mona Lisa? Well, I think it's a nice painting, but that's about it. It does not intrigue me nearly so much as it seems to for many people. There are also some rooms in the Louvre that are still decorated as Napoleon III's palace. I also really enjoyed this part of the museum and the incredibly lavish and ornate furnishings in the apartments. After a few hours in the Louvre, we were hungry and ready to get back outside.

A Word on Parisian Macarons
Before coming to Paris, I had heard of macarons, but didn't understand what they were. I knew I loved coconut macaroons, and, for some reason, thought the two were related in some way. They aren't. But man oh man are French macarons delicious. According to Wikipedia, a macaron is "a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies."

I sampled the macarons at Gosselin and Michel Cluizel and both were incredible. I have to give Gosselin the win though, for having fresh raspberries around the outside!

Cemeterie Pere Lachaise
On our way back to Montmartre, we stopped at another cemetery, Pere Lachaise, to see the famous graves of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. I found Oscar Wilde's particularly cool, because people had written some of his famous quotes on it in all different languages. It was interesting to see the worldwide scope of his fans who have been touched by his writings, not just among English speakers.

Basilique Sacre Coeur
Back in Montmartre, we climbed the hill just behind our hostel to go up to the beautiful Sacre Coeur basilica, which is located on the highest point in Paris. You can see the whole city from up there and it is a beautiful view.

Refuge des Fondues
For dinner, we went to Refuge des Fondues, on Rue Trois Freres in Montmartre. Their fixed priced menu includes a charcuterie and cheese plate, baby bottles of wine (yes - served in baby bottles), your choice of cheese or meat fondue, and a dessert. The fondue was yummy and the whole atmosphere of the place was a lot of fun.

Eiffel Tower at Night
Our last activity of the trip was to go see the Eiffel Tower lit up on Sunday night. For as pretty as it looks during the day, it is so much more special at night time. Every hour on the hour, the lights on the tower sparkle and it is a beautiful sight. It is interesting to think what Paris would be like without its most recognizable symbol!