Budapest

Budapest:

Day 1:

After arriving in Budapest and checking into the hostel I decided to go on a walk alone around Pest while the people I was with (Ashley, Julia, Wellesley, and Tess) took a nap for a few hours after their sleepless night train from Berlin the night before.  I didn't really know what was around but knew there was a nice church near by so I headed towards that.  I ended up walking to St. Stephen's Basilica, the largest church in Budapest and the highest building, tied with Parliament.  It was very beautiful!!! Then I walked through the square in front of the church all the way towards the water.  I walked along the Danube past the Chain Bridge and a memorial.  The memorial was a long row of shoes, commemorating the Jews who were shot and killed along the Danube at the end of World War II.  The shoes were modeled to look like shoes of the time, and had stones, flowers, and Yartzite candles around them left by mourners and respecful passers-by.  I then continued on towards the Hungarian Parliament building, which is a big gothic style building similar to the one in London though not quite as big, and has a giant central dome.  Across the river you could see the Buda side of town, with Castle Hill's palace and the Fisherman's Bastion with the Matthias Church.  From Parliament I walked back towards St. Stephens and then through a couple parks with names that I don't know (one of which had a statue of Ronald Reagan... random?) and then back by the Hungarian State Opera House.  At this point I was only about 10 minutes form the hostel but it was still about an hour until I was supposed to meet my friends, so I decided to pop into a cafe for a cappuccino and treat. The weather was so nice that I was happy to sit outside in the warmth for a bit as well.  Once we reunited we decided to get some dinner at a place called Cantine, which offered 3-course hungarian meals for about 11 dollars.  Yum!  After dinner we went back to the hostel to join in on their pub crawl, which wasn't all that organized but still pretty fun.  The first bar was right across from the hostel and was kind of boring except when the bartender started jugging fire and then became a human blow torch for a second.  The second bar was like a club but it was mostly empty besides people from the hostel, but we started talking to this cool guy from Florida who is teaching English in Spain while delaying his quest to find a real-person job.  The third club/bar thing had a beautiful roof patio where we sat and talked to this guy and his other friend for a while about New York and comics (thanks Rob for giving me insider info so I felt smart <3).  We headed home relatively early so that we could get up early the next day!

Day 2:

On Saturday we got up and ready to go on the hostel's free walking tour at 10:30.  Little did we know that this walking tour did not actually leave from the hostel, so at 10:28 when we asked where it met, we realized we were a bit late to get to the meeting place that was 10 minutes away. So we had to change our plans and instead decided to check out Heroe's Square and the famous Hungarian Baths. Heroe's Square is a square between two museums and a park that has a huge beautiful monument to I have no idea what because the descriptions were all in Hungarian... We walked around the park for a bit, which was holding a big Easter market with food stands and souvenirs.  Then we went to the Szechenyi Baths, which is Budapest's largest bath complex.  The pools go from moderately warm to moderately cold, and get warmer and colder one after the other until you get to ones that are extremely hot and ice cold.  It makes your skin feel tingly and kind of hurt but it also feels nice... I don't know, it was weird but a good experience!  For lunch after the baths we went back to the Easter Market and got sausages, gyros, and strudel... very healthy I know.  We then decided to walk to the Central Market, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful market places in Europe, but when we got there it was already closed for Easter weekend :(.  A bit frustrated, we decided to relax at none other than a cat cafe near our hostel.  A "cat cafe," is, as it sounds, a cafe with cats wandering around it that are happy to come by and be pet /slash/ drink your water.  Back at the hostel we took a little nap, and then got some wine and walked to the Danube River to enjoy the view.  When we got hungry we had dinner at a restaurant called Castro Bistro, which was delish!

Day 3:

On our third day in Budapest we decided to do a free walking tour, but before starting the tour we decided to climb up the dome of St. Stephen's Basilica to get a 360 view of Budapest from above.  I was nervous that the dome would be closed, as today was Easter Sunday, but luckily it was open and we made our way to the top to a spectacular city view - well worth the climb!  Then we made our way back down with perfect timing to meet the group for the free walking tour.  On the tour we walked a bit around the Pest side of town, hearing some of the city's history and folk tales, and made our way to the Buda side of the river up to Buda Castle and finishing the tour at the Matthias Church. The church had a beautiful mosaic roof like the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna (not to be confused with the St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest).  Both the castle and church had been destroyed and rebuilt a myriad of times as Hungary has been invaded a bunch of times throughout history.  The city is "guarded" by a large bird statue overlooking the city, about which our tour guide said, "He hasn't done a great job, but he's just a bird."  It was very interesting hearing about the Hungarian history after learning about the Viennese history just a few days before - as they share very similar rulers but their points of view are extremely different.  In Vienna, the view of the Habsburgs (the imperial monarchy) was mostly positive, whereas in Budapest the Habsburgs were described as an "oppressive regime."  The exception to this, however, was the view of Queen Elizabeth (not the British one!!), whom they called Sisi as a term of endearment and was much loved by both the Austrians and Hungarians - there's a ton of things named after her in both places!  After the tour we got ice cream and then returned to the Pest side of town for lunch because Buda was more expensive!  Then we returned to the hostel for a nap before having delicious tapas for dinner (even though it was much pricier than yelp's one-$-sign would suggest!).  After dinner we went to one of Budapest's most famous ruins bars called Szimpla.  A ruin bar is basically a bar/club in an old shabby building where the lack of upkeep in the building is turned into the rustic character of the bar.  Szimpla was decorated with junk-yard and yard-sale "junk" that put together made for a fun and magical atmosphere.  It had two floors and and outdoor patio, all of which was decorated with mismatching colors and random signs and furniture.  We spent the majority of the time sitting in an old car that had been converted into a couch.  It was a very cool experience.  Then I fell fast asleep back at the hostel!

Day 4:

Easter Monday is a thing in Europe, so we had to plan the day around things that would still be closed.  We triad to go to a place called Alexandra Cafe near our hostel that is supposed to have the best hot chocolate, but unfortunately it was closed for the holiday.  So instead we went to a cute cafe down the street where I got a sandwich with cream cheese, lox, tomato, and capers.  It was surprisingly delish and a nice little reminder of New York. After breakfast we went to an island called Margaret Island where we sat in the grass by a mesmerizing fountain that but on a little water show every hour to music like the Bellagio.  We sat here for a couple hours just playing cards and enjoying the decent weather for a change (it had been a bit rainy the past couple days).  There we ate langos, which was fried dough with sour cream and cheese on it - basically heaven.  Because we had tickets to an opera (Parsifal again - go figure!) we had to leave the park and decided to take a scenic route to the opera house past Parliament and the Shoe Memorial again along the water.  In Vienna, where they speak German, the German opera had English subtitles.  In Hungary, however, where they speak Hungarian, the German opera had Hungarian Subtitles, so we had no idea what was going on (I kind of did because I had already seen it - but let's be honest I wasn't paying much attention).  This rendition of the opera had much better singing and stage direction than it did in Vienna, yet the lack of English made it still feel pretty long and boring, so again I left after the (1 hour and 45 minute) first act (of 3).  It's ok though, it was worth it just to see the inside of the beautiful opera house!  After we left we went back to the hostel and then got bread, wine, salami, and cheese to have a picnic dinner atop Gellert Hill by the Liberty Monument.  While the climb was tiring, it was easier than I anticipated and well-worth the effort regardless because atop this hill we had the most beautiful views of the Pest side of town from above.  It was night time now and the bridges and buildings were all lit up and shimmering on the water.  Above us was a sky full of stars (who knew there were cities where you could see stars?!) and clear as day was the little dipper!  It was truly a magical moment.  We ate our sandwiches and listened and danced to music atop the hill and took lots of pictures.  It was the perfect way to spend our last night in Budapest.

Day 5:

Long story short, all of the timetables online said that trains from Budapest to Zagreb left at 9:30 am from Kaleti station.  However, once we got there, we were told that due to construction, our train was not leaving until 2:50pm, from a different station.  So we went to the other station, and sat in a McDonalds for about 4 hours playing cards and eating breakfast AND lunch while waiting for our train.  Eventually it was time to get our train and everything went swimmingly after that.


Photos to come

Spring Break: Vienna!

Vienna:

Tuesday:

On Tuesday afternoon I arrived in Vienna and it was cold and rainy.  I checked in to my hostel and it was lovely!!!  My room is huge and has a small table with stools and a private bathroom.  It was a 6-person room, but I was the first in the room to arrive.  I decided to walk around the area a bit while the weather was a bit more mellow.  Nearby the hostel is whats called the Naschmarkt, Vienna's largest food market, so I walked through that for a bit and smelled all of the wonderful nuts, spices, and desserts being sold.  Then I walked by two famously decorated houses called the Majolika Haus, with colorful flowered tiles, and the Wagner Haus, with beautful gold stucco decorations.  Down the block I found a cafe called the Cafe Dreschler, where I sat and got a late lunch/early dinner of tea, juice, ham, cheese, bread, jam, and a soft-boiled egg.  For some reason, I did not realize how much food this was when I ordered it.  But the place was really nice and cute and had free wifi so I was in no rush.  Then It started raining again so I went back to the hostel to relax for a bit.  Soon after getting back to my hostel my roommates arrived!  They were wonderful!  5 girls from the US studying in Barcelona for the semester.  One goes to Barnard, and two are in Boston-area schools.  We hit it off really quickly, and they invited me to go out to dinner with them.  While I had already eaten I did not want to sit alone in the room so I went.  They did not know where to go so we ended up back at Cafe Dreschler.  This time I got hot chocolate for "dinner" and Vienna's famous apple strudel for dessert.

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning I had breakfast at the hostel with my new friends before meeting a group of other kids for the hostel's free walking tour.  The tour left the hostel at 10:30 and we walked through the Naschmarkt, by an artist building called the Succession Building (nicknamed the "Golden Cabbage"... not a term of endearment), through the State Opera House (The Staatsoper), the Albertina Museum, Hofburg Palace (including by the National Library and the Heroes Square where Hitler addressed the people of Vienna in 1938(???)), and eventually to St. Stephen's Cathedral.  The tour was like two and a half hours... but very cool and informative!  After the tour ended I decided to break off from my new friends and spend the afternoon doing my own thing.  I wanted to explore St. Stephen's in more depth so I got a ticket that allowed me all over the church.  I walked up the 350 stairs of the south tower for an excellent workout and even better views of Vienna beneath.  I then went on a tour of the crypts beneath the church where there were (parts of) the bodies of the Habsburg family (Vienna's long-standing royal family) and mass graves for victims of the Black Plague.  When this tour first started, it was in German and I worried I had accidentally snuck on to some private group's tour, but then he also spoke in English and I realized I was probably ok.  Then after the cypts I went to the north tower, which is much lower than the south tower as it was never fully completed, and also had an elevator!  The views from this side were stunning as well, of course!  After the church I decided to walk back by the palace and its gardens.  On the way I stopped at one of Vienna's famous sausage stands for lunch... They're not famous for nothing!  Delish!  However, unfortunately around this time it was beginning to rain, but I managed to find one of the tour busses I had signed up for incase I didn't feel comfortable walking around alone.  While I felt plenty fine alone in Vienna, the bus proved useful as a tour in the rain and time to sit.  Once the rain let up again I got off the bus where I had picked it up: Heroes Square by the Hofburg Palace.  Then I walked around the Palace Gardens including the Volksgarden with its beautiful fountains. Then I walked to the Austrian National Library, which was absolutely stunning.  I then walked back by the Albertina Museum and sat at a cafe for some coffee and yet another apple strudel.  This place, the Cafe Tirolerhof, is actually famous for their apple strudel, but I'm not sure which I actually prefered between this and the night before!  Both amazing. After my "snack" I decided to walk back to my hostel. When I got there my roommates were getting ready to go to dinner and invited me along.  Again, while I was not hungry, I decided it was better to go out than to stay in my room, so I went and just got a side salad and some tea.  After dinner we went back to the same cafe I had gone to TWICE the day before for some dessert.  I just had hot chocolate again and abstained from a second strudel of the day.

  

Thursday:

Some of the girls from my room and I got up early to get a head start on the day and went to Schonbrunn Palace, which is essentially the Versailles of Vienna.  It is an absolutely gorgeous mansion that has housed the royal family including Maria Theresa (and her daughter Marie Antionette) and the famous Princess Elizabath whom the Austrians call Sisi endearingly.  The interior is matched only by its spectacular gardens, which includes fountains, classical statues, and even a labyrinth.  I think Schonbrunn was by far my favorite thing in Vienna.  After this palace we went to Belvedere Palace, which is more of a mansion-turned-museum.  In the museum are many famous paintings, the most famous of which is Klimt's "The Kiss."  Unlike the underwhelming Mona Lisa in the Louvre, The Kiss was big and beautiful! Outside of the museum was another vast and beautiful garden.  After Belvedere Palace, I went with one of my new friends to the Freud Museum, which is his old house and office converted into a museum about his life, work, and escape from Nazi-occupied Austria (cue Sound of Music).  Then we went to meet the rest of the group at the Opera House to stand in line for standing-room tickets to an Opera called Parsifal by Wagner.  We only made it through the first act before calling it quits but just being inside the stunning Staatsoper was a treat!  After the opera we returned to the hostel before going out to dinner to another cafe (a different one this time!).  After a yummy dinner of goulash soup and bread I returned to the hostel to back up for tomorrow's next adventure!

Can't believe the last few days went by so fast!  Tomorrow I'm off to Budapest! Check back for a new post in a few days!

I'll post some pictures soon!!!!!

Rob's Visit :)

Barcelona and London

A few weeks ago Rob came to visit London which was much needed!

Friday:

I went to London Heathrow Airport on Friday morning to meet Rob as he arrived, from which we took a shuttle to Stansted Airport to catch out flight to.... Barcelona!!  It was a very long day, especially for Rob who had of course been on a red-eye from New York the night before, but finally we arrived in Barcelona around 11pm and got to our hostel which was beautiful!  There was an outdoor patio area with brightly colored chairs and a hammock.  When we got to our room we fell fast asleep!!

Saturday:

As we only really had one day in Barcelona we had to make the most of it so we got up early and headed to the center of town to have breakfast at a place my friend recommended called Milk.  It was delicious but rather American... not that I'm complaining: I love pancakes!  Then we walked around through old narrow streets filled with graffiti murals and Catalonian and Spanish flags until we reached the Barcelona Cathedral.  It is a beautiful, high-reaching gothic cathedral with tall spires and scary gargoyles.  We then caught a bus for the hop-on-hop-off tour, which we figured would be the perfect way to see as much of the city as we could in such a short period of time.  We rode by tons of street art and statues, by Barcelona's beautiful beaches, and the infamous Sagrada Familia.  One of my biggest regrets of the trip is not getting off to go inside the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi's unfinished cathedral.  But, alas, the lines were insane and we were on a time crunch.  We "hopped-off" at the foot of a mountain, atop of which was a sort of mini-amusement park.  We took a tram about halfway up the hill to admire the views of the city, but did not make it all the way up to the top.  We hopped back onto the bus and rode until the Casa Batllo, a museum of a house designed by Gaudi that looks like it belongs in Whoville.  From here we got lunch at a restaurant called Tappa Tappa, which served delicious   tappas.  The croquets were my favorite, as usual.  Then we walked to the Placa Catalunya, a large plaza full of fountains and classical statues.  There we hopped back on the bus and rode it to Montjuic Castle, which was used as a bunker in various wars.  We took a gondola lift to the top of the high mountain where the castle is, and walked around the grounds, admiring the beautiful views.  Then we got back on the bus and rode past various soccer (futbol) and olympic arenas until we completed the circle back to Placa Catalunya.  For dinner we headed back to the beach, to a restaurant called Restaurant Salamanca, where we had the most delicious paella known to man.  Rob and I shared seafood paella, and I thought him how to eat the clambs and de-shell the shrimp.  It was quite messy and amusing.  After dinner we walked along the beach and sat in the sand for at least an hour just watching the waves.  Then we headed back to the hostel and fell fast asleep.

Sunday: 

We woke up early to catch our flight back to London.  Once arriving in London (after waiting in an awfully long line for passport control!) we checked into out hotel and took a much needed nap!  For dinner we went to a pub and got steak and ale and chicken and mushroom pies.  Yum!

Monday:

Monday Morning Rob and I went to Yumchaa - my favorite cafe - to have some tea and do work before my class that afternoon.  After Yumchaa we had lunch by the park near the academic center and I went to class.  After class we walked down to the London Eye, which we rode right as the sun was setting.  The views of London from the eye are truly spectacular.  After the giant ferris wheel's half hour roatation, Rob and I had dinner by the Thames at Giraffe, then walked over the Hungerford Bridge (which looks like it has sails on it) to Trafalgar Square to catch a bus up to a bar called Be At One, where we were meeting friends for my roommate Kate's birthday.  We stayed there for a while, it was very fun and the bartenders were extremely nice and the happy hour deal was great. In honor of St. Patricks Day, most of us got drinks with Baileys.. :)

Tuesday:

Because I don't have class on Tuesdays we needed to take advantage of having the whole day free.  We got up early and headed to Kensington Palaee.  The palace-turned-museum was definitely worth the trip!  We learned all about Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Queen Anne, and Princess Dianna.  I especially enjoyed the fashion display :).  Then we walked around Kensington Gardens and through Hyde Park, past the Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial (you could really tell we were in the "Victoria" part of town) to the Wellington Arch and to Buckingham Palace.  From Buckingham we walked through St. Jame's Park, which was BEAUTIFUL, with flowered trees and a lake with the Eye in the background.  Then we continued walking to Trafalgar Square from which we took the bus back to our hotel.  For dinner we went to my dorm and had home made chicken nuggets by my friends Ashley and Julia which were delish!!

Wednesday:

For breakfast on Wednesday Rob and I went to Speedy's cafe, which is featured in BBC's Sherlock and is also just a very yummy and affordable diner.  Then we walked over to Baker Street, where Holmes lives in the books, and where there is a Sherlock Holmes Museum!  We did not do the tour of the museum but played in the gift shop for a while before walking towards classes.  After class we had Indian food for dinner...again, delish

 

Thursday:

Class all day :/. But after class Rob and I had a date night in and I made pasta with sausage and sauted spinach.  Then after dinner we went with friends to the Cider Tap: a pub with all cider, and then O'Neil's pub.

Friday:

We started out the day in Greenwich, walking around the grounds and admiring the beautiful Painted Hall of The Royal Naval Academy.  It was fun to see where they had filmed Thor: The Dark World's battle scene too :).  Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and climbed the many stairs up to the Whispering Gallery (the inside of the dome), and the next two levels up to viewpoints on the outside of the dome.  While this was tiring and the admissions price was kind of steep, the view made it all worth it.  If I wasn't already completely out of breath from the climb, the view would have taken my breath away.  After St. Paul's, Rob and I went to a place called Bea's of Bloomsbury for afternoon tea.  We had an assortment of brownies, homemade marshmellows, cupcakes, small sandwiches, and of course, scones.  It was all so miniature and scruptious!  After tea we walked towards London Bridge, crossed the bridge, and walked east towards Tower Bridge for some photo-ops.  Then we backtracked and went west again to Borough Market (one of my favorite places in London!), through some small alleys, and past Shakespeare's Globe and the Tate Modern to Millenium Bridge.  We crossed Millenium Bridge back to St. Paul's Cathedral (it's so beautiful, it never gets old!) and went to an adjacent mall with a rooftop-patio that has a wonderful (free) view of the church's dome and the surrounding skyline.  After that it started to drizzle, but we realized that Rob never got to see Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster (Parlaiment) up close, so we took a bus there briefly before heading home.  For dinner we went to an Ethiopian restaurant which had slow service but amazing food. For dessert we had fondu back at the dorm.

Saturday:

For Rob's last half-day in London we had a fancy lunch at Sushi Samba which is in a tall glass building with wonderful views of the London cityscape. The food was superb but the portions were small and the prices were... not so small.  So we just got a couple small plates to share.  We then headed to the airport to bid our sad adieus... :(

Some Pics:

The Barcelona Cathedral

In St. Jame's Park

Royal Naval Academy in Greenwich

Souvenir shot of us on the Eye 

Spring Break: Prague!

Prague (Praha)

To start off spring break, I went with some friends to Prague!  When I got here on Friday evening I was so tired, so we pretty much just hung out near the hostel and had a lovely Italian dinner (go figure).

Saturday morning we got an early(ish) start to the day and set out to explore the Old Town and Prague Castle.  In the Old Town is the Astronomical Clock, which puts on a little show every hour in which the windows of the clock tower open and little saint puppet statue things peep through to music.  I can't think of a better way to explain it... :).  We then climbed to the top of said clock tower and saw beautiful views of the Old Town, Vltava River, and all around Prague.  Then we had lunch and crossed the river towards Prague Castle.  On the west side of the river we walked around the beautiful winding streets with pastel colored buildings to the Lennon Wall: a huge wall covered in graffiti and dedicated to the late John Lennon.  While we were there, a large group of kids who looked like they were on a school trip started to spray paint the wall.  There was also already paint that read "NYU 2016" from a fellow NYUer who had visited the wall before us!  Then we passed a fountain called "Piss."  It is well-named, as this fountain features two metal men peeing.  From there we continued on to the Castle. Prague Castle offered more beautiful views of this red-roofed city and the huge gothic St. Vitus Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous.  Also around the castle we walked through Golden Lane, which has rows of small old houses turned into shops. display windows, and an armory museum with a room on medieval torture (ick! didn't spend much time there it was scary).  We then headed towards Letna Beer Garden, atop another hill (my legs are getting sore thinking about all the walking/climbing we did that day!) where we had some drinks and dinner while we watched the sun set over Prague.  After dinner we headed back to the hostel to rest for a bit before heading back out to a bar and then a club.  It was a very long yet fun and exciting day.

Sunday we were very tired from the day before and did not leave the hostel until after noon!  Once we left we headed to the Jewish Quarter (formally a Jewish Ghetto) where we had a traditional Czech lunch (I had goulash - which many countries in this area claim is traditionally theirs, according to my guidebooks) and explored old temples and a holocaust memorial.  The Spanish Synagogue was one of the most beautiful temples I have ever seen, which its interior entirely painted, large stained glass windows, and stars of David incorporated in every way possible including the central light fixture. From there we took a tram to Petrin Hill, which features the Petrin Lookout Tower (commonly known as the mini Eiffel Tower). While it is much much smaller than the Eiffel Tower, locals like to claim that because of the hill it is on, it actually reaches higher than the one in France.  We climbed (well, they climbed, I took the lift because my feet were killing me from climbing up the hill to the tower) to the top for more beautiful views of the city.  Then we went to the Petrin Mirror Maze, which was insanely fun and we spent lots of time in there even after completing the maze just to take pictures.  The maze also featured a room with distorted mirrors like those in fun houses.  We were enjoying ourselves much more than the little kids whom were probably the attractions attended audience.  Before heading home we walked across the Charles Bridge which is a famous bridge lined with statues of Saints and people that I don't know, but it was beautiful!  Sunday night I stayed in because I was exhausted.

Monday morning my friends departed for Berlin and I was left to fend for myself!  When I woke up I was a bit nervous about what I should do and where I should go, which was only furthered when I looked out the window and witnessed a tremendous downpoor.  I sat in my bed frustrated and finally talked myself into going out to take advantage of my last day in Prague despite the weather.  So, I got ready and headed out, only to find it had stopped raining!  I decided to walk around the area that my hostel is in for a bit and found a couple nice parks to stroll through on my way to the tram.  Then I took the tram to Vysehrad castle, which my guide book claimed was "worth a look."  It was worth a look alright!  The beautiful old castle grounds dated back to the 10th century, though much of it was destroyed in various wars and had to be rebuilt.  When I got to the top of yet another hill, though, it started raining again! Not knowing my way around, I decided to just tuck into a nearby church.  Little then did I know that this Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul would be one of the most beautiful churches I'd ever seen.  It was completely painted, with gold alters and giant stained glass windows for the mere price of 10 crowns (about 50 cents).  Then I decided to walk around the adjacent cemetery which was filled with marble tombstones and covered in flowers.  Not one person looked forgotten.  I then walked around the old castle walls high above the river, and again had another wonderful view of the distant Prague Castle and the city's rivers and red roofs.  Next I wandered through the area and found an entrance to part of the original old fortress that was repaired in the 1800's to use as bunkers against Napoleon's army if the French were to attack.  Through these old dark halls built into the hills was a room that held some of the original statues from the Charles Bridge.  I didn't even know that some of the statues on the bridge were replicas!  Apparently the sandstone that made up many of the originals was proving too soft to withstand the wear and tear of bridge life, so they moved them to this old hall for safe keeping.  After a few hours I decided to leave the castle so I walked back towards and along the river until I reached the tram that goes right to my hotel.  After getting on the tram, though, I decided to get off a couple stops early at the Namesti Miru, which is a small park and market in front of yet another church, where I got some icecream.  Then I finally headed back to the hostel.  Once back here I packed up/organized my stuff for tomorrow, and decided to catch up on some long overdue blog posts. So here I am.

Tomorrow I am off to Vienna!  Expect more soon!

Some pics from Prague:

View of Prague Castle from Vysehrad Castle

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

From the Charles Bridge, with Prague Castle in the background

Paris! (about a month late)

Paris:

In early March I went to Paris to visit my friend Mary, so I'll tell you about it here!! Hopefully I can remember it all!

So to get to Paris I took the Eurostar (aka, "the chunnel") train that goes under water from England to France.  When I got there on Friday, March 7th (Yes, I'm very late on blogging this), Mary and I spent the day walking around the city.  We walked from her apartment near Notre Dame to and around Sacre Coeur, which is the most beautiful church ever, atop a high hill that overlooks the entire city.  We sat on the stairs outside of the church for at least an hour, just watching the people and street performers with the skyline of Paris as their backdrop.  Then for dinner we went to a fondu restaurant that serves wine in baby bottles.  Then, back at Mary's we planned to watch Midnight in Paris (how appropriate right?!), but ended up just falling fast asleep right away!

On Saturday we walked a lot again! We went from her apartment, along the Seine River to the Pont de l'Archeveche (aka the "love lock bridge"), which glistens gold with all of the locks attached to it. It has become a custom on for couples to write their initials on locks, stick them onto this bridge (or any other around the world, as this trend seems to be catching on), and throw away the key so that the couple's love will stay fastened like the lock.  What these couples may not know is that these locks are routinely cut off because their weight is too much for the bridge to handle, and to make room for new locks.  Then we walked by the Louvre and through the Tuileries Gardens, along the Champs-Elysees (one of Paris' main/most beautiful streets) all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.  Along the way we stopped at the infamous Laduree for their world-renown macarons.  From the Arc we walked along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, stopping to sit and read along the way at the Palai de Tokyo where people were taking a swing dancing class, and from there we finally called it a day and headed back to her apartment.

Some pics from Paris:

 Sacre-Coure

Me in front of the Eiffel Tower

Great Britain!

Some people wonder what the difference between the UK and Great Britain are.  Incase you're one of these people, I will tell you.  Great Britain is the union of Scotland, England, and Wales, which make up the larger island.  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norther Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or UK, is just as its full title suggests: it's the combination of the countries that make up Great Britain along with the country of Northern Ireland.

The reason I am starting this very belated blog post with that short "lesson" is because I have officially been to every country in Great Britain! :)

Wales:
Over the weekend of February 7th - 9th some friends and I went to Wales.  We had decided to go because it was cheap, but didn't know anything about what there was to do or see, and I have to say, Wales surpassed my expectations.  Cardiff was a small, beautiful city on the water with great architecture, tons of pubs, and delicious food.  Oh, and one kick ass castle.  The first day we were there we went on a long walk through town and by the water, ate tapas with the most amazing sangria I've ever had, and hung out in our hostel.  The hostel was surprisingly extremely nice!  They served a great complementary breakfast, free tea and coffee all day, a cider and pizza dinner for just a pound, and the people working were just all around friendly.  On Saturday, our second day there, we got to storm the castle!  It was so beautiful and really fun to see the different rooms and towers, even though the steps to get up to the towers tended to be steep and a bit scary!  We walked around it for a while and then I saw a little door in the side of a hill that resembled a hobbit hole.  I thought we had to go in there, but upon entering it just looked like a broom closet.  But we went in, and good thing we did because it turned out to be an old World War II bunker.  Right under the castle wall!  It was really scary though, with no lights, and old speeches and the sound of bombings coming from speakers along the walls.  The walls were decorated in old WWII propaganda, which were extremely sexist by today's standards but quite funny.  There were some tables and beds set up to example what they would have been like back then. All in all it was a very cool experience.  Then we went to a museum and it was, well, a museum.  Another fun part of the day, though, was going to a pub to watch rugby!  The 6 Nations tournament is a series of rugby games between England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, and Italy, and that weekend there was a game between Ireland and Wales, so naturally everyone there was very into it!  On Sunday we took a little trip to another costal town called Penarth where we walked along a rocky beach, through a cute little town, and into a yummy restaurant for lunch!  When we got back to Cardiff, we went to a tea shop and had tea and scones.  FYI: scones here are not like scones at home, they're amazing. All in all it was a great weekend.

Photo From Wales:

Welsh Parliament

Words Learned in Wales:

"Dummy" = Pacifier

"Op Shop" = Thrift Shop (in Australia, not UK - learned from a girl in our hostel

Scotland:

This past weekend I went to Scotland to visit my friend Amy who lives in Glasgow.  I took a night bus on Thursday night, arriving in Glasgow bright and early on Friday morning.  Then we went back to her flat and slept the rest of the morning!  In the afternoon I went to class with her and then we walked all around Glasgow.  It was very pretty, but my head was down most of the time due to the rain, so that was a shame.  

On Saturday we went to Edinburgh and it was probably one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen.  We started out walking to their Parliament building, which was actually very ugly oddly enough.  Then we walked through some main streets and all around the city.  We walked by University of Edinburgh and had a pint at their student union.  Then we walked through an area called Grassmarket, which is now full of "posh shops" (a.k.a. pretty clothes I can't afford) but was once where all of the hangings took place - lovely fun fact I know.  Then we looked up and saw the castle (another castle - so exciting!)  It stands on top of a hill (kind of more like a cliff really) and overlooks the whole city.  I knew we wouldn't get a chance to go in because it was already closed for the day and cost too much anyway unfortunately, but I really wanted to go up and get close to it at least!  So from Grassmarket we found a nice and steep staircase that lead right up to the castle.  Well if the 6 miles we had walked already that day weren't enough exercise for the day, those stairs sure did the trick!  But once we got to the top it was all worth it because the view of the city was so beautiful.  It was right around sunset and the sky was so pink it looked photoshopped.  And the castle was huge!  Much bigger than the one in Cardiff.  If I ever go back, I'll go inside!!  Finally, to finish off the day in Edinburgh (the UK's most haunted city), we went on a ghost tour!  This was a bus tour all through the city, where like any bus tour, they told us the names of the buildings and some history.  The twist, however, is that each building came with a ghost story of some witch, murder, and/or serial killer.  It was very cool.  Edinburgh also has an underground city, which many of the walking ghost tours go through, but as it was a very cold night I was happy being on the bus tour.  When we later got back to Amy's flat in Glasgow some of her friends came over, so it was really nice meeting other Scottish people!

On Sunday we went back into the center of Glasgow because it was a beautiful day!  The center was very pretty and this time I could appreciate it!  We went to a big square where a carnival with a ferris wheel was set up for valentines day.  We then had dinner in town before I had to grab my overnight bus back to London.

Photo from Scotland:

The Scott Monument

for Author Sir Walter Scott

Word learned in Scotland:

"Waistcoat" = Vest

"Vest" = A tanktop or undershirt 

Oh yeah, and school's going well too! :)

The first full week.

It's been a while since I have posted because I've had a very busy week with classes and such.  Over all, the week went very well.  On Tuesday, however, I had a class called the Psychology of Prejudice and really didn't like the teacher or how the class was structured, so I dropped that class.  It's a shame because the topic is so interesting, but it just wasn't the class for me.  So the trouble became what would I take in its stead?  Just as I was pondering this, I received an email asking kids to join one of the classes I had originally been interested in but ended up not taking called Global Perspectives on Child and Adolescent Mental Health... a mouthful.  We call it CAMS.  So I signed up for that one.  Then Wednesday I had one class called Cultures and Contexts: Multinational British Identity.  It was a pretty good class, nothing special but a requirement that will surely be interesting.  Then Thursday came and I got to try the new CAMS class and see if it was worth switching in to.  It's great!  The teacher is really nice, we watch a lot of movies, and there are no pricy textbooks to buy!  We watched a documentary called 7up, which is the first installment of a longitudinal study on a bunch of English kids from varying social classes.  The kids were so cute!  The rich ones were very posh and snooty, and the poor ones were so sweet and accepting.  It was the 60s, so they all wanted to be astronauts.  Looking forward to the next episode, called "14up" later on in the class.  Then after that class I had my last class of the week: social psych.  It was great.  The teacher is an old British lady who is very funny and spaces out a lot.  Should be a good class!

Once classes were done for the day I headed home to rest and get ready for the night's big "start of term party" thrown by NYU at a club called Madame Jojo's which is apparently a drag and burlesque club on most nights... no shows for us unfortunately.  So I got home, was excited to relax for a little, when my roommate invites me out to a pub to meet her British friend.  Well, since I haven't actually met any British people yet really, I said sure.  So that was fun, and then I went home to get ready for the party.  It started at 10, so of course we had to be fashionably late.  We got there around 11.  Now, clubs aren't usually my thing.  I get tired and hot and what not, but since it cost 5 pounds my goal was to stay at least an hour.  BUT it was so fun!  I saw lots of friends I had made in my classes and met tons of new people.  I managed to stay until 1.  Not the craziest night seeing as though the party went until 3, but good for me.  Then we walked the long way home with sore feet, and fell right to sleep!

On Friday I was so tired I slept until 12:30 in the afternoon.  And then I pretty much stayed in bed all day.  One very exciting highlight of the day, however, is that I booked a trip to Wales for next weekend with some friends, and got tickets to go to Paris to visit another friend in March!  Yay travel.

So finally I come to today, Saturday.  Today was the opposite of yesterday in which I did almost nothing because today I feel like we talked all over... or at least that's what my feet are telling me.  So this morning I went to a place called Borough Market on the south side of the river.  It's a huge food market with tons of vendors selling produce, meats, and spices for groceries, as well as tons of fresh food for lunch.  There were samples galore and it was all delish!  I think my favorite thing I tried was truffle honey.  I'd tried it before but not like this!  It was so fresh and strong but just when it tasted a bit overwhelming, it was smoothed and sweetened by the taste of honey.  I would have bought like 10 jars right then and there... but they were 9 pounds each, so I'll wait til the rentals come to visit ;).  For lunch I had freshly made pumpkin tortellini.  The noodles were hugh and stuffed so much it was coming out at the seams.  Probably one of the best pastas I've ever had.  After lunch we headed back to the dorm.  Then, because today was one of like 2 sunny days we've had since we got here, my friends and I decided to go back out on a walk.  To where?  We weren't quite sure.  We decided to walk back towards the river.  It was a long walk, about 30 minutes or so (longer because we kept stopping to take pictures and passing adorable shops).  We passed the Twinnings Tea Shoppe with portraits of all the old Twinnings family members on the walls (as well as more free samples!).  Then we found the water and the beautiful skylines that make the older and newer parts of london.  To the right was Parliament, Big Ben, and the Eye (which is obviously new, but part of the more traditional half of London (or at least, the more traditionally photographed).  To the left was the more financial and modern side of London, with tall glass buildings including The Shard, the tallest building in Europe.  We decided to walk over a bridge to south side of London again, taking tons of pictures of the skyline on the Thames. When we got cold we decided to walk back.  We stumbled upon Trafalgar's Square and decided to sit there in front of the National Gallery for a bit before heading back to the dorm.  When we finally got back our feet were sore and cameras full of pictures - the true signs of a good day.

Tonight after dinner I'm off to a place called the Cider Tap, which is a pub full of ciders instead of beers.  Much tastier in my opinion.  So that's all to report for now.

Picture of the day:

London Eye, the River Thames, and Big Ben 

in the far distance on the right

Words of the day:

"Aubergines" = eggplants

"Zebra Crossing" = crosswalk