Nicole and I got back to Prague earlier today, and it's really weird thinking that this is my last day here.
So this is the end of my blog :) It's kind of bittersweet. I'm so sad to be leaving Prague, but I cannot wait to see my family. I'll be home tomorrow!
Nashledanou, Praha. I will miss you, but I will be back!!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Travel update
Rome was amazing, but we had a very busy day there! Still, we managed to get everything done, and we are very proud of ourselves for doing so :)
We started off by taking the metro from our hostel to the Colosseum. We took some good pictures outside, and then headed over to Palatine Hill and the Forum, where we bought a combination ticket for seeing those two and the inside of the Colosseum. Luckily, because we started our day off early, there wasn't even a line to get in. So we roamed around Palatine Hill and the Forum for a little while, and then made our way over to the Colosseum. Since we bought our tickets at the Forum, we actually got to just walk right in and skip the 2 hour waiting line for tickets to get in- score!! After that, we walked over to the Pantheon, saw the Trevi Fountain (and of course tossed a coin in over our shoulder), and then stopped from some delicious gelato. From there, we walked over to the Vatican, and toured the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. That was definitely my favorite part of the day- I could have sat in the Sistine Chapel marveling at Michelangelo's paintings covering the interior all day long. And that was our day in Rome!
We caught a night train to Florence, and arrived there around 10pm. We walked to our hostel from the train station, and it was such a great way to get introduced to the city- there was hardly anyone out, so it was very quiet, and all the buildings were lit up beautifully! The next morning, we woke up and mainly just wandered around the city, looking at the Duomo, stopping and getting some tasty pasta and Italian red wine (only 1 euro for a giant glass!), and then we checked out the Academia and Uffizi galleries. Luckily, we thought ahead and reserved tickets to get in earlier that day for the two galleries, which did cost us a little extra, but we managed to secure a spot to get in on a very busy weekend. So we were really happy that we got to see two of the biggest sights in Florence! We saw Michelangelo's "David" at the Academia, and Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" at the Uffizi, along with TONS of amazing Renaissance art.
Our next day in Florence, we chose to take a day trip to Cinque Terre, which is a location on the coast of Italy made up of 5 very small towns that are all connected by hiking trails. It was a gorgeous day, and I'm so happy that we decided to take that trip because it ended up being my favorite place we visited while in Italy. Unfortunately, what should have taken us two hours at the most to get there, took us 5 hours because of a train strike with the national railway system. We didn't know about the strike until we had already arrived in Cinque Terre, which caused us some issues with transportations around the villages. We ended up having to spend a lot of money on taking ferries around some of the towns instead of using the free train system, which had been temporarily shut-down because of the strike. But, we didn't let it ruin our day. We hiked one of the toughest trails between the last two villages, got some great pictures of the views from the trail, and then ended it all by jumping into the Mediterranean in all of our clothes at a rock quarry at the end of the trail. What a great day!
We arrived to Venice on Monday evening, and basically just spent our time in the city getting lost- that really is the whole experience of Venice. It was really refreshing and eye-opening to be in a fairly popular city that has absolutely no car traffic. I knew that it was a canal city, but I never realized that that meant the all of their traffic was on boat! It was really cool to see that there were mail boats, "metro" boats, and even garbage boats. Venice was great, and the hostel we stayed in was really nice. They cooked 3-course dinners for us for only 5 euros, and then took everyone out for a few beers afterwards. We met some really great people and got to swap a lot of travel stories, so it was a lot of fun!
And now Nicole and I are in Split, Croatia! We have instantly fallen in love with this place. We came in on an overnight ferry and got here at 8am this morning. It's the off season for tourism here right now, so it's pretty empty all around the city. And our hostel is very empty, but it's so small so it worked our perfectly! There is only one other girl staying here right now, and we are going to go out to dinner with her tonight, so I'm really looking forward to that. It's so nice to be here for so many reasons- (a) we are on the Adriatic Sea and are seeing some of the beautiful coastline I have ever seen, (b) we just get to relax and lounge on the beach all day, everyday that we are here, and (c) we are no longer on the euro!! It's so great to be back on an exchange rate that doesn't completely drain our bank accounts, and we can actually afford things :)
We head out from Split on Sunday afternoon, and then go to Zagreb for one night, then Vienna for a night, and then back to Prague on Tuesday for one more day. I'm so sad that this trip is coming to an end, I really can't believe that I'm finally going to be coming home in less than a week! As sad as I am to be leaving Europe, I am getting so antsy to see everyone. I fly out next Wednesday!
We started off by taking the metro from our hostel to the Colosseum. We took some good pictures outside, and then headed over to Palatine Hill and the Forum, where we bought a combination ticket for seeing those two and the inside of the Colosseum. Luckily, because we started our day off early, there wasn't even a line to get in. So we roamed around Palatine Hill and the Forum for a little while, and then made our way over to the Colosseum. Since we bought our tickets at the Forum, we actually got to just walk right in and skip the 2 hour waiting line for tickets to get in- score!! After that, we walked over to the Pantheon, saw the Trevi Fountain (and of course tossed a coin in over our shoulder), and then stopped from some delicious gelato. From there, we walked over to the Vatican, and toured the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. That was definitely my favorite part of the day- I could have sat in the Sistine Chapel marveling at Michelangelo's paintings covering the interior all day long. And that was our day in Rome!
We caught a night train to Florence, and arrived there around 10pm. We walked to our hostel from the train station, and it was such a great way to get introduced to the city- there was hardly anyone out, so it was very quiet, and all the buildings were lit up beautifully! The next morning, we woke up and mainly just wandered around the city, looking at the Duomo, stopping and getting some tasty pasta and Italian red wine (only 1 euro for a giant glass!), and then we checked out the Academia and Uffizi galleries. Luckily, we thought ahead and reserved tickets to get in earlier that day for the two galleries, which did cost us a little extra, but we managed to secure a spot to get in on a very busy weekend. So we were really happy that we got to see two of the biggest sights in Florence! We saw Michelangelo's "David" at the Academia, and Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" at the Uffizi, along with TONS of amazing Renaissance art.
Our next day in Florence, we chose to take a day trip to Cinque Terre, which is a location on the coast of Italy made up of 5 very small towns that are all connected by hiking trails. It was a gorgeous day, and I'm so happy that we decided to take that trip because it ended up being my favorite place we visited while in Italy. Unfortunately, what should have taken us two hours at the most to get there, took us 5 hours because of a train strike with the national railway system. We didn't know about the strike until we had already arrived in Cinque Terre, which caused us some issues with transportations around the villages. We ended up having to spend a lot of money on taking ferries around some of the towns instead of using the free train system, which had been temporarily shut-down because of the strike. But, we didn't let it ruin our day. We hiked one of the toughest trails between the last two villages, got some great pictures of the views from the trail, and then ended it all by jumping into the Mediterranean in all of our clothes at a rock quarry at the end of the trail. What a great day!
We arrived to Venice on Monday evening, and basically just spent our time in the city getting lost- that really is the whole experience of Venice. It was really refreshing and eye-opening to be in a fairly popular city that has absolutely no car traffic. I knew that it was a canal city, but I never realized that that meant the all of their traffic was on boat! It was really cool to see that there were mail boats, "metro" boats, and even garbage boats. Venice was great, and the hostel we stayed in was really nice. They cooked 3-course dinners for us for only 5 euros, and then took everyone out for a few beers afterwards. We met some really great people and got to swap a lot of travel stories, so it was a lot of fun!
And now Nicole and I are in Split, Croatia! We have instantly fallen in love with this place. We came in on an overnight ferry and got here at 8am this morning. It's the off season for tourism here right now, so it's pretty empty all around the city. And our hostel is very empty, but it's so small so it worked our perfectly! There is only one other girl staying here right now, and we are going to go out to dinner with her tonight, so I'm really looking forward to that. It's so nice to be here for so many reasons- (a) we are on the Adriatic Sea and are seeing some of the beautiful coastline I have ever seen, (b) we just get to relax and lounge on the beach all day, everyday that we are here, and (c) we are no longer on the euro!! It's so great to be back on an exchange rate that doesn't completely drain our bank accounts, and we can actually afford things :)
We head out from Split on Sunday afternoon, and then go to Zagreb for one night, then Vienna for a night, and then back to Prague on Tuesday for one more day. I'm so sad that this trip is coming to an end, I really can't believe that I'm finally going to be coming home in less than a week! As sad as I am to be leaving Europe, I am getting so antsy to see everyone. I fly out next Wednesday!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Traveling really does give you some interesting adventures!
Our overnight ferry from Barcelona to Rome definitely was interesting... Not all bad though!
We decided not to book a cabin because it would be too expensive. So, instead, we opted for the "pullman chair" option (basically just a recliner). Everything was just fine, 'til we were joined by 4 men who snored VERY loudly. And the seats didn't quite recline all the way. I ended up only getting about 2 hours of sleep total last night, but it was worth it to wake up this morning and see the beautiful blue Mediterranean outside our window!
Nicole and I arrived to Civitavicchia (a little port town about an hour outside of Rome) at about 7pm, and then caught a train into Roma Termini. It was a beautiful train ride, and I loved coming into the city at night when all of the old buildings were lit up :)
Unfortunately, we only knew how to get to our hostel by the metro, which we didn't know closed at 9pm. We got to the metro at 9:15. So, then we had to scramble around trying to find a bus that went to our stop- there are about 30 buses that stop at the train station. When we finally got onto our correct bus line, we went down a few stops and then discovered that we had been going the wrong direction. Oopsies! Luckily, a really nice local man helped us find the right stop going the right direction. After going about an hour out of our way, we finally arrived to our hostel, which is beautiful. It's in a really old apartment building and the people that work here are incredible. They recommended this delicious pizzeria to us right around the corner, where we got two large pizzas to fill our empty stomachs (we had only eaten a PB and banana sandwich before then at noon).
Sadly, we only have tomorrow to go exploring all of Rome. We are catching a train to Florence at 7:15, so it'll definitely be a busy day! I can't wait to see the city :)
We decided not to book a cabin because it would be too expensive. So, instead, we opted for the "pullman chair" option (basically just a recliner). Everything was just fine, 'til we were joined by 4 men who snored VERY loudly. And the seats didn't quite recline all the way. I ended up only getting about 2 hours of sleep total last night, but it was worth it to wake up this morning and see the beautiful blue Mediterranean outside our window!
Nicole and I arrived to Civitavicchia (a little port town about an hour outside of Rome) at about 7pm, and then caught a train into Roma Termini. It was a beautiful train ride, and I loved coming into the city at night when all of the old buildings were lit up :)
Unfortunately, we only knew how to get to our hostel by the metro, which we didn't know closed at 9pm. We got to the metro at 9:15. So, then we had to scramble around trying to find a bus that went to our stop- there are about 30 buses that stop at the train station. When we finally got onto our correct bus line, we went down a few stops and then discovered that we had been going the wrong direction. Oopsies! Luckily, a really nice local man helped us find the right stop going the right direction. After going about an hour out of our way, we finally arrived to our hostel, which is beautiful. It's in a really old apartment building and the people that work here are incredible. They recommended this delicious pizzeria to us right around the corner, where we got two large pizzas to fill our empty stomachs (we had only eaten a PB and banana sandwich before then at noon).
Sadly, we only have tomorrow to go exploring all of Rome. We are catching a train to Florence at 7:15, so it'll definitely be a busy day! I can't wait to see the city :)
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Gaudi, beach, and more sangria!
Barcelona has been so amazing! We've lucked out with some really great weather and have even gotten some good beach time in.
Our frist night here, we watched a local band play at the port on the beach and lots of dancing was done. We then went and ate some delicious seafood: lots of calamari and octopus, YUM. After that, we had some sangria on the beach, and enjoyed a nice late night stroll on the beach and through the city.
Yesterday, we walked around the gothic quarter of the city, where our hostel is located and discovered some really cute stores and restaurants. We also checked out La Boqueria, which is the main food market in dowtown Barcelona- they had everything from kiwi-coconut smoothies to fresh seafood. And then the rest of the day was mainly spent at the beach, which I didn't mind at all :)
Today, we spent all day checking out the Gaudi architecture around the city. Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia, which was started in the 1890s, and is still being constructed today! But it was really incredible, and the architecture was mind-blowing. We followed that up with two more Gadui builidings, and then headed off to Parc Guell, where Gaudi's home is located. He also took a big part in creating this park, so of course there were some really great sights to see in there. There was lots of live music throughout the park, too, which gave it and even more fun vibe to it!
Overall, I've had a busy but very relaxing and fun three days here. I have the day tomorrow, and then Nicole and I are taking our overnight ferry to Rome! I can't wait to start eating some gelato in Italy!!
Our frist night here, we watched a local band play at the port on the beach and lots of dancing was done. We then went and ate some delicious seafood: lots of calamari and octopus, YUM. After that, we had some sangria on the beach, and enjoyed a nice late night stroll on the beach and through the city.
Yesterday, we walked around the gothic quarter of the city, where our hostel is located and discovered some really cute stores and restaurants. We also checked out La Boqueria, which is the main food market in dowtown Barcelona- they had everything from kiwi-coconut smoothies to fresh seafood. And then the rest of the day was mainly spent at the beach, which I didn't mind at all :)
Today, we spent all day checking out the Gaudi architecture around the city. Our first stop was La Sagrada Familia, which was started in the 1890s, and is still being constructed today! But it was really incredible, and the architecture was mind-blowing. We followed that up with two more Gadui builidings, and then headed off to Parc Guell, where Gaudi's home is located. He also took a big part in creating this park, so of course there were some really great sights to see in there. There was lots of live music throughout the park, too, which gave it and even more fun vibe to it!
Overall, I've had a busy but very relaxing and fun three days here. I have the day tomorrow, and then Nicole and I are taking our overnight ferry to Rome! I can't wait to start eating some gelato in Italy!!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Mi corazon esta en Espana.
HOLA!
I cannot begin to describe my love for Spain, and I've only been here for three days!
Nicole and I arrived to Madrid with our friend Elly this past Thursday (the 12th) at about 3pm. We spent most of the first day just walking around the city aimlessly and gawking at all of the beautiful parks and buildings. I don't really know exactly what I was expecting from it, but Madrid was much more than I thought it would be! We also got our first taste of real, Spanish sangria- deliciosa! It might be one of my new favorite drinks... We also had some great tapas to go with it: stuffed red peppers with meat, gazpacho, green asparagus salad with almonds, cured ham with melted brie, and provoletta (melted provolone with oregano served with bread). Great first meal in Spain.
The next day, we took a free walking tour around the city, which started in the Plaza Mayor. It was a lot of fun, and we had the perfect weather for it- sunny and 75 degrees. We ate lunch at the Museo de Jamon for 2 euros, complete with a jamon y queso sandwich, cerveza, and a piece of fruit. When in Spain, eat a lot of ham because it is too good to pass up. For dinner, we had a calamari sandwich and cerveza at a restaurant in the Plaza Mayor that was good! And then, of course, we ended the night with some more sangria :)
Yesterday was our last full day in Madrid, so Nicole and I decided to end it with the two famous art museums there: Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia. We had done about 10 or 11 hours of walking the day before, so we figured it was good timing to just stroll through some air conditioned buildings. At Museo del Prado, we saw some great Goya and Velazquez paintings, including "Las Meninas." It was really cool to see these paintings that I discussed in my AP Spanish class back in high school in real life. At the Reina Sofia, we saw some Dali and Picasso paintings, incuding "Guernica"- I never realized how huge that painting was! We also saw an exhibition by an artist form the 60s, Yayoi Kusama. Her art was so crazy, but really fun and diverse! If you get the chance, I highly recommend Googling her and checking out some of her stuff. After that, we went to the famous Chocolateria de Gines and at some tasty churros and melted chocolate. And then (surprise, surprise) followed it up with some sangria.
We just arrived to Barcelona about 2 hours ago and are going to do a little exploring, but have a lot planned for tomorrow. So, I definitely plan on getting a lot of rest later tonight. Hasta luego!
I cannot begin to describe my love for Spain, and I've only been here for three days!
Nicole and I arrived to Madrid with our friend Elly this past Thursday (the 12th) at about 3pm. We spent most of the first day just walking around the city aimlessly and gawking at all of the beautiful parks and buildings. I don't really know exactly what I was expecting from it, but Madrid was much more than I thought it would be! We also got our first taste of real, Spanish sangria- deliciosa! It might be one of my new favorite drinks... We also had some great tapas to go with it: stuffed red peppers with meat, gazpacho, green asparagus salad with almonds, cured ham with melted brie, and provoletta (melted provolone with oregano served with bread). Great first meal in Spain.
The next day, we took a free walking tour around the city, which started in the Plaza Mayor. It was a lot of fun, and we had the perfect weather for it- sunny and 75 degrees. We ate lunch at the Museo de Jamon for 2 euros, complete with a jamon y queso sandwich, cerveza, and a piece of fruit. When in Spain, eat a lot of ham because it is too good to pass up. For dinner, we had a calamari sandwich and cerveza at a restaurant in the Plaza Mayor that was good! And then, of course, we ended the night with some more sangria :)
Yesterday was our last full day in Madrid, so Nicole and I decided to end it with the two famous art museums there: Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia. We had done about 10 or 11 hours of walking the day before, so we figured it was good timing to just stroll through some air conditioned buildings. At Museo del Prado, we saw some great Goya and Velazquez paintings, including "Las Meninas." It was really cool to see these paintings that I discussed in my AP Spanish class back in high school in real life. At the Reina Sofia, we saw some Dali and Picasso paintings, incuding "Guernica"- I never realized how huge that painting was! We also saw an exhibition by an artist form the 60s, Yayoi Kusama. Her art was so crazy, but really fun and diverse! If you get the chance, I highly recommend Googling her and checking out some of her stuff. After that, we went to the famous Chocolateria de Gines and at some tasty churros and melted chocolate. And then (surprise, surprise) followed it up with some sangria.
We just arrived to Barcelona about 2 hours ago and are going to do a little exploring, but have a lot planned for tomorrow. So, I definitely plan on getting a lot of rest later tonight. Hasta luego!
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