Ciao a tutti, I haven't written in so long! My life has been a bit hectic pretty much the entire month of October. Andy arrived, I had to give my students a mid-term, I was booked up every day for tutoring, and trying to think of better ways to explain English to 40 year old bankers.
After a very busy few weeks did I have a relaxing fall break? No! Instead Andy and I went on a ten day bus tour around Europe, hitting Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris. Why did I sign us up for this trip? Well, I figured I have only one real break during the semester and instead of flying somewhere new every weekend I would try to hit as many cities that were on my list of places to go as I could in one swoop. So imagine a 10 day trip with 90 other people, mainly American students aged 19-22, and over 50 hours on a bus. Though I had a ton of fun and met some great new friends, I don't think I will ever travel by bus again!
So our first stop on our European extravaganza was Prague. Everyone, I mean everyone, should go to Prague! It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Such a contrast to the ugly war-ridden history of the Czech Republic. Also, the country is way cheaper than the rest of Europe because they haven't switched over to the euro yet. 1 euro is worth 25 czech crowns right now, so our money went a long way!
We arrived in Prague on a Friday morning after a 12 hour bus ride and pulled up to the best hostel I have ever stayed in called The Mosaic House. Each room had it's own bathroom with heated floors and a legit shower, the beds were super comfortable, they had the best breakfast spread, and they had a bar with a big screen TV that constantly played ESPN America (for my football loving boyfriend). Our first activity was a three hour walking tour of the city with our lovely Welsh guide Sarah. We saw all the great sites of Prague, the Astronomical clock, the old town, the new town, where Tom Cruise is staying while filming Mission Impossible 4, etc. After learning everything there is to know about Prague's history (most of which had to do with kicking other people out of the city), Andy and I met up with my friend Salva. I hadn't seen Salva in a year since he had left UNC and I was so excited to be reunited with one of my favorite Spaniards. Salva did a great job of showing us places in Prague that we didn't see on our tour and we got to enjoy a few delicious Pilsners and pretzels. I think reuniting with Salva was my favorite part of Prague. After parting ways, Andy and I joined our group for a Pub Crawl through Prague. Normally I do not enjoy pub crawls because I feel they are just another way to look like an ignorant American tourist, but we wanted to hang out with the group and not be creepy loners, so we joined in. This was by far the sketchiest night of the trip. Our first locale was a basement in an abandoned church where we had an open bar of beer in plastic bottles and some moonshine sangria, mixed in with free shots of absinthe. The basement was decorated like a hippie den with tapestries and hookahs scattered about, as well as a giant statue of Stalin's head. We then moved to the actual church, which is now a disco, where I met a frenchman who spoke Italian and chatted with him for like an hour, then tried to dance salsa with Andy, but he wanted to create his own steps instead of actually salsa dancing. At this point Andy and two of our roommates, Andrew and Kevin, went on a search for munchie food and found a sausage stand that sold the biggest hotdogs you have ever seen for the equivalent of 2 euro. We then headed hom instead of continuing to the next two discos.
The next day we woke up bright and early and climbed a giant hill that had the best views of Prague. We then trekked over to Prague castle, which is the biggest castle in Europe, and explored the area, including the giant cathedral inside the castle. Afterwards we went for an authentic czech meal, where Andy and I tried goulash, then Andy and I broke away from the group and went on a mini-date at a café in a cubist building where we ate some awesome deserts and drank our favorite coffee beverage: caffè macchiato. After buying Andy a pair of tennis shoes since his one pair of shoes he brough now have holes in the soles, we spent an evening at the hostel bar watching the Auburn Tigers crush LSU!!!
Prague was an amazing city, and in my next post I'll let y'all know all about the city with the coolest vibe: Berlin!
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