Spring Break Part 2: Prague

NOW OFF TO PRAGUE!

Day 4: Now today definitely started off interesting. Rebecca and I had a 5:50am train to Prague, at what is thought to be one of the main train stations in Vienna. We got in the cab at 5am and told the driver where to take us. He looked confused, called someone on his cell, and then said he knew where he was going and took us to a station. He dropped us off at what we thought was the right station -- we went in, and looked for our train on the board, and saw that it was not there. There was also no one in the station except for a homeless person. This is when we started getting worried. Thankfully I had my international blackberry! (Aren't you glad I brought this Mom?) and called my Mom and had her figure out where we were actually supposed to be. We went into a nearby hotel and they called us a new cab and we made it to the correct train station. Turns out the train station changed names, but they still print the old name on the train tickets -- confusing tourists! Anyways, once we got to Prague we checked into what was my favorite hostel - the Czech Inn (get it?) This hostel was GORGEOUS. It was pretty much a hotel, and had full breakfast (with CEREAL and PINEAPPLE and ORANGE JUICE) every morning. These are all things that are hard to find in Florence. We then went to the Prague State Opera House to see a performance of Turandot. It was an incredible experience. The costumes, the singers, the atmosphere, it was all amazing. After the opera we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. This again, is something they do not have in Florence. I had my first chicken quesadilla in 2 MONTHS. Now, their salsa is a bit different -- instead of being cold and well -- tomato salsa-y, it was hot, thin, and tasted like tomato soup.

Day 5: We spent most of the day in the Jewish Quarter. We went to 6 different Synagogues, a Jewish Cemetery, and a Jewish Museum. About 100,000 Jews are buried in this cemetery. As you can see in the picture, the tombstones are all falling over. There are also 12,000 tombstones visible -- which is insane because this is a VERY small cemetery. My favorite synagogue was the Spanish Synagogue (I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but the inside was so pretty I had to sneak a few from behind a pole. They came out kinda bad, but I guess thats what happens when you aren't looking through the screen when taking a picture!). My computer is also being weird and not letting me rotate pictures - so this is also sideways - SORRY! Anyways, after the Jewish Quarter we went to Charles Bridge and climbed the tower. It was a gorgeous day (minus it beeing FREEZING), so we got a BEAUTIFUL view of the city.
We then ventured to Old Town Square, saw the Astronomical Clock, got dessert (yes, before dinner), at this really awesome bakery, and then got dinner at a Czech Restaurant. Note: the picture on the right was taken literally 30 minutes after the one on the left.

Day 5: We started off our last day in Prague by going to the Museum of Communism. I learned a lot, met a group of people from Australia, and well, had some debates with an Australian guy about Facism and WWII. WARNING: Those of you in America will be extremely dissapointed in ALL of our food choices of this day -- however you must remember, we are two girls who have not had any type of American food in 2 MONTHS. Therefore, I think our choices are completely justifiable. :) Anyways, after our visit at the museum of communism, we decided to go get Ben and Jerry's on our way to the train. You might be wondering, why Ben and Jerry's when you are in the country of delicious pastries. Well -- we have been strong and resisted the urge to get Ben and Jerry's in Florence because of gelato, therefore we decided that Ben and Jerry's was probably the best ice cream we'd find in Prague, so it was totally okay. HOWEVER, the person working there was on break, and even after waiting 30 minutes, they never came back. So we had to settle for a McDonald's McFlurry. (This might have been a poor judgement call, but for those of you who know me, when I get the idea of ice cream in my head, there's no getting it out.). We then went to Prague Castle, which was gorgeous. After visiting the castle we went to Petrin Tower. Keep in mind - this was all Rebecca's idea - as the idea of climbing the "eiffel tower of Prague" was not my top choice, since I'm scared of heights. What I also did not realize when agreeing to this, was that it was not an elevator, and it was not closed in. Therefore, as I was climbing, I could easily reach (or fall) off the stairs. Lets just say, I lasted about 2 minutes on the FIRST level before I turned white, started shaking, and how to run (yes, running was the best option because the sooner I got down the better), down the stairs to safe ground. (Once again, sorry - I can't rotate the pictures!!). The rest of the day was literally spent eating American food. Starbucks to warm up, chicken fingers, fries, and CRANBERRY JUICE at TGI Fridays for dinner, and Ben and Jerrys (it was open this time!) for dessert.
Overall, Prague was AMAZING. Minus the cold, the snow, and the really not nice people, I loved it. The buildings were gorgeous - in Florence you can count on the white/cream buildings with a red roof, but in Prague the buildings were all different colors: pink, purple, yellow, blue. Just absolutely stunning. The streets were small like Florence, which I liked - but ah, I don't know, I loved it! If the people were nicer, and they if they didn't use such weird currency (200 Korona = $10), I might have to move there.

Spring Break Part 1: Vienna (and a little update from the past 3 weeks)

Warning! This is Post #1 of 3! Since I'm so tired from all my traveling I'm going to break up the posts by city. it will also be easier to read this way! But real quick before I go on about spring break, I'll give a quick update on my life in Florence. The weekend after I went to Copenhagen I went to Rome with one of my classes. We saw all of the classics - Colloseum, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc. I even found my mom and my FAVORITE gelato place! The weekend after that my friend Lizzy came to visit with her Mom and Aunt. I have known Lizzy since 3rd grade and it was sooo good to see her and show her around Florence. It was also nice to see familiar faces. Unfortunately the week they were here was also midterms week. And well, since I'm abroad and people don't normally do work when they are abroad, I had a very rude awakening. I had 4 exams and 3 papers all on the same day! But hey, I guess I can't complain since that was the first time I opened most of my text books all semester (sorry F&M! I promise I'll be better in September!).

Now, onto SPRING BREAK.

Day 1: Thursday Night. Well, on Thursday I took 3 midterms (I was able to get one moved to Wednesday to make my life easier), turned in 3 papers, and had to pack an hour before I got on the train. But come 9pm, I was ready! My friend Rebecca and I decided to get EURAIL passes - making it a lot easier to travel between countries. We took an overnight train from Florence to Vienna. And boy, was it an experience! We were in a 6 person couchette compartment, and they definitely squeeze you in. We had the top bunks (there were 3 levels). The bunk was so close to the ceiling that even me, being only 5'2", could not sit up straight.
And as most of you know, I tend to overpack, so lets just say I had a pretty big suitcase. I had to get that up onto the luggage holder on the 3rd bunk, and get it down in the morning -- not sure which was harder. Also, as most of you know, I am afraid of heights. So all night I was afraid I was going to roll off this little bed that did not have a railing! There were two other study abroad students in our compartment, but unfortunately they weren't very friendly! The night was fairly uneventful, except for when the police knocked on the door asking for our passports at 3am.

DAY 2: Anyways, we arrived in Vienna, dropped our luggage at the hostel, and were off to explore for the day! We took the underground to the main area of the city and went to Stephansdom, which is a huge cathedral in Vienna. It is very gothic looking, much different from what I normally see in Florence. We then went to this bakery called Cafe Anita and I got Zimtschnecke (aka: a cinnamon bun type thing). All of the desserts looked amazing -- but unfortunately we never went back to try the others. Afterwards, we went to probably my favorite thing of the entire week -- we went to MOZART'S HOUSE. I stood in the room where he composed Le Nozze di Figaro, which was just SOO cool. I spent 2 hours just walking around the house and learning all about Mozart. Next, we had to take advantage (for the first of many times) of the STARBUCKS in Vienna (and all the other cities we visited for that matter). We also went to an art museum: Kunsthistorisches Museum. Then we had dinner at a Turkish restaurant. --- honestly, not my favorite, but it was decent!

DAY 3: Today I went to Schloss Schonbrunn Palace. It was GORGEOUS. Marie Antoinette's mother lived here. Funny story -- and I promise, I am still a brunette --although after this you might think otherwise: My mom mentioned to me that when she was at this palace she saw a dessert demonstration. I went here, really excited to hopefully see this. I saw a sign that said "dessert house experience." and walked 20 minutes through a garden to get there. When I walked into the house, it was very hot, and there was a cactus and some lizards, and a lot of sand. Turns out, DESSERT has 2 S's --- but DESERT only has 1. :( Lets just say I was very disappointed -- but I will always blame my mom for getting the idea into my head :) Rebecca and I then went on a tour of StaatsOper (the Vienna State Opera House) - it was absolutely incredible. I wish we could have seen a performance there, but we didn't plan far enough ahead and all of the tickets were sold out already. I then went on my own again to House of Music -- this was a really cool interactive museum. There were rooms about famous composers, but there were also interactive rooms -- the best one was where you could pick a piece and conduct the Vienna Symphony! It was funny because if you couldn't keep the beat or were messing up, the orchestra would stop and tell you that you were terrible! --Of course this didn't happen to me! :) We then had an early dinner and had Sachertorte at Hotel Sacher.

Vienna was probably my favorite city out of the 3 I went to. The architecture was incredible, the people were so friendly, and I felt very comfortable very quickly. For example, the second day (or 1st full day) we were there, Rebecca and I each did our own thing, and were able to get around the city using the undergrounds very easily. I loved it! Well -- except for the food -- I did not like the food. (Well, the pastries were obviously delicious - but I mean the real food).

Look tomorrow for a post about PRAGUE.