Sunday, April 11, 2010
Quick sum up, my Easter Weekend in Corfu, Greece = UNBELIEVABLE, MEMORABLE, ABSOLUTELY INSANE!!!!!
Let me just apologize now.....due to the lateness of this blog post, I will post pictures in my next blog. This will only be the description.
It all started last Thursday at around 8:30am. Yes, I missed my favorite class, but it was soooo worth it! We board our amazing double decker bus for a 4 hour bus ride to Ancona, Greece where we had to board a ferry. This ferry was 14 hours long. Everyone on the trip had the option to book a cabin for extra money or just sit in the extra airplane style seating. Tip: Pay the extra money for the cabin!!! This boat, you could say was like a crappy cruise ship. They had places for dinner, dancing, drinking, and more but nothing too extravagant. It was just a way of transportation to get you from Point A to Point B. I got onto the boat and about 3 or 4 hours later, at around 9pm, I fall asleep with all of my roommates around 9:30 and continued to sleep until the next morning when they banged on our door to our cabin and told us to wake up and put on the lights because the boat was docking soon and they needed us out so they could clean our cabins for the next trip.
When we arrived, we had to grab out luggage and carry it down about one mile to a ferry...yes! another mode of transportation, if a cruise and bus ride weren't enough. So we hop on the ferry and the sea and skies were beautiful. The weather was so nice: Warm and 68 degrees. The views on the way over to Corfu were amazing. Everything surrounding me looked fake and I loved it. Finally, almost two hours later, we arrive on Corfu, Greece! The water was crystal clear blue and it was like a dream. There were buses waiting outside of the ferry to pick up all 500+ students that were going to the famous Pink Palace for Easter Weekend. After we sit on a bus ride for 20 or so minutes, we arrive at the infamous, beautiful, most memorable place in the world....PINK PALACE!
Now it's time for me to explain to you the Pink Palace, because I just don't think you understand. The Pink Palace, is the most wonderful place on the planet. You show up and everything is pink. and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING!!! Every pool, room, car, pink! The Ouzo shots?? PINK! I'm telling you, when they say Pink Palace...they mean it. Everything at the Pink Palace is out of this world. The shots are 1 Euro, the drinks and beer are 2 euro. They include breakfast, dinner, and lunch is served on the beach. The dinners have three different plates of food for each person. The night club is open every night. There are toga parties, booze cruises, ATVing, kayaking, swimming, private beaches. It's a child's dream resort. And I got to stay there.
So when we first arrive, we got to our room and it was incredible with the most AMAZING views in the world. Then immediately after placing our stuff in our room, of course...we head to the beach! I'm not saying the bathing suit looked good but with the amazing weather and beautiful beaches, I really didn't have a care in the world. So me and my friend decided, "Oh, well we want to get very very very tan, so lets just not put on any suntan lotion" WORST. IDEA. EVER. My chest? burned. My back? burned. My arms? Burned. My legs? Burned. My face? Surprisingly not burned...thank you makeup :) . But still, it was painful. However while laying on the beach, one of the leaders of the group let us know that our toga party was changed to that night. At that point we all started freaking out because we didn't know what to do and ran up to the reception to buy our pink, shiny togas. (and yes, boys wore pink, shiny togas too...it was very very amusing...believe me) That night, after spending 2 hours to try and get my toga to stay up without even using a safety pin, taking Ouzo shots, and going through #1 of our amazing meals...our toga party started and there was a lot of drinks, a lot of people, and a lot of music. So that pretty much means it was amazing. Later on in the night, my toga kept falling down so I decided to just leave but unfortunately I missed out on some very epic showings. I was told that there was greek dancing and plate smashing over your heads. So if you do go to Greece, stay the WHOLE time of the Toga Party. That was one mistake I made.
The next morning, me, my roommate, and one of our friends got up at 6:45am (yes, really) to go and sign up for activities because apparently it's gets very crowded and it's first come first serve. So we get there and luckily got a spot on the ATV Safari. If you have the chance to do that, you DO IT! It was the most incredible experience of my life. i know I will be talking about this for so many years to come. There were 25 of us and the leader lead us up these mountains, off-roading, through water, to all of these different locations with immaculate views. It was a six hour tour and had the most unbelievable time of my life and I wish I owned an ATV because driving it myself was insane and I loved it times infinity. When it was over, they gave us all a free Ouzo shot and then it was time to get ready for dinner. Me and my friends decided to drink before dinner and then go to dinner which, let me tell you, made dinner a millions times more tastier. After that, there was another dance, (no togas), and it was sooo much fun. I met a lot people and had a great last night.
Sunday was our last day and it was very relaxing because I just laid out in the sun and finished up my tan/burn. Whatever it was. Around 5pm we left the Pink Palace. Seriously, one of the saddest moments of my life. We arrived at the ferry and took that chilly ride over to the port where the cruise was and had to wait in the port for about an hour waiting for the cruise to arrive. Then, we got onto the cruise and I hung out with these cool people that are studying in Barcelona. The whole night we just drank and had a good time while everyone was sleeping. That was probably one of the highlights of my trip. I didn't really sleep that night but oh well. You only live once. So when we arrived at the port, we sat in the water next to the dock for 2 hours because the weather was ridiculous!! And we couldn't dock. Eventually we docked and took a lovely 7 hour instead of 4 hour bus ride because of course, it was Easter sunday. Eventually we arrived in Florence and I slept. Of course.
Most amazing trip of my life and Pink Palace will always be in my heart <3
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Northern Loop: 2 of 2
So this bus ride. From Berlin to Amsterdam = terrible. In Berlin, I was supposed to go to the doctor's but I accidentally fell asleep and woke up too late to go to the doctor's office so I had to miss it. That means that I was just as sick on the bus all the way to Amsterdam, and this was an 8 hour drive! So after tossing and turning for about, oh, I don't know, around 7 hours and 59 minutes, we arrived in Amsterdam at the Flying Pig Inn Uptown. Apparently, this is the hostel where everyone stays when coming to Amsterdam. The staircases?? Soooo small!!! My luggage almost didn't fit going up the staircase and of course I was about 3 flights up so that made it a whole lot worse....I shared a room with 9 other people and the room wasnt' bad. Carpeting, a sink in the room, comfy beds, so not bad. Everyone from our group was getting ready to go out because you know, it's Amsterdam. And you know what people do in Amsterdam. I, on the other hand was having trouble breathing so lucky me had to make the decision to go to a doctor or go out. Unfortunately, I made the right decision, and missed going out and went to the hospital. After sitting in the hospital waiting room and waiting for the doctor for 5-6 hours, I found out nothing. They told me they had no idea what I had but that my throat was swollen. (Thank you doctors!! I see that education of yours is coming in handy) They gave me some sort of pill and luckily later on, my throat became better and I could actually have a decent day. So after getting back around 1:30, my room smelled of weed (wonder why) and I was so tired so I just went to bed.
The next morning we got up to take another NewAmsterdam tour. I loved our tour guide; he was so funny and really nice. He took us all over Amsterdam. We went to see Anne Franks house from the outside, all of the canals, the Red Light District (I'll go back to that one), churches, clocktowers, the I AMSTERDAM sign (the fake one, yes, there's 2), the flower market, and so much more.
So, the Red Light District. What to say about the Red Light District. It was interesting. We walked down this street and I look to my right and what's there? A woman. In very little lingere. Trying to get people to come inside her window. So this is how it works apparently: You walk up to the windows and look at the girls (like window shopping) and if you want to do something with that sed person you go up to the door and if the girl or boy likes you enough, they will let you inside the door. Then, once you get inside, you tell them what you want and they give you a price. Anything extra that you want such as: Them to scream, to pretend they're enjoying themselves, to take off clothes...costs extra money. I guess if you're a pretty girl that you make a lot of money. After the tourguide explained that, he showed us a boob. Yes, I said boob. No, not a real one (don't worry guys) It was in the ground to signify that this was the Red Light District and what it represented. And if you're wondering, all of this is legal and done in not a horrific way at all. The Red Light district is actually really beautiful and has a lot of nice stores and restaurants and is located almost on a canal. When the tour finished, we stopped in front of the Anne Frank house which I was dying to go into before I left Amsterdam. But that day I was meeting my friend Sjors (George), who I met in Rome in my hostel and he lives in Holland so perfect time to meet him right? So when I was on line for the Anne Frank house he told me he arrived so I got out of line and decided to meet him at this famous pancake house. It was so good to see him because I knew that after Rome, I probably would never see him again because we're across the world from each other. We sat down in the restaurant and I ordered a chocolate chip pancake thinking it would come out like the ones in the states. But we're in Amsterdam, so of course that doesn't happen. A couple of minutes later, this woman comes out with this massive pancake, like a crepe with chocolate filled all in it and it was delicious. The whole time we just continued to talk and talk and talk and it was so much fun to catch up with him.
After I finished my pancake, we left and he asked me where I wanted to go and I told him to take me everywhere, and that's what he did. We walked all over Amsterdam and he showed me all of these cool spots, including a free ferry ride, a great dessert, the REAL I AMSTERDAM sign and so much more:
After walking around for about 7 hours, we decided to get dinner and he said that the Chinese was really good in Amsterdam, and as weird as I found that, I agreed for Chinese food ( but i was secretly craving it, so i didn't mind at all) And let me say, it was really good! Kind of expensive, but definitely worth it since my appetite was through the roof! When we finished dinner he decided to take me to a bar called The Three Sisters, where there is a bunch of outdoor seating and it's a beautiful area with a bunch of people and restaurants surrounding. We sat down and he bought me a beer and we continued to talk. But as the time grew faster, we had to finish up and head back to my hostel so that he could make his last train. We got really lost going back to my hostel and he was so close to missing his train but thankfully he did not. 
So our final day of Spring Break arrived. Everybody went to Versailles because they heard it was beautiful and amazing adn I'm sure that's completely true, but like I said earlier, there were still things I wanted to see and I wasn't sure if I'd have time if I went to Versailles. So I took the metro back to the Louvre and went wandering for a lot longer seeing how much I could get done, and trust me, I got sooo lost, I probably didn't go anywhere in that museum. After being in there for about three hours, I left and headed over to the Musee D'Orsay which is the museum with the Reniors, Monets, Manets, and more. It was the museum that was full of impressionism. By far my favorite museum I've been into. I could've stared at Monets and Reniors paintings for hours. If you have a chance to ever go there, don't miss out! It's completely worth it! And thanks to my visa? FREE!!! A students favorite word. Then before I headed back to the hostel to leave, I grabbed a crepe, bought souveniers, and headed to a Starbucks because there are none in Florence and I missed them.
The next morning we got up to take another NewAmsterdam tour. I loved our tour guide; he was so funny and really nice. He took us all over Amsterdam. We went to see Anne Franks house from the outside, all of the canals, the Red Light District (I'll go back to that one), churches, clocktowers, the I AMSTERDAM sign (the fake one, yes, there's 2), the flower market, and so much more.
So, the Red Light District. What to say about the Red Light District. It was interesting. We walked down this street and I look to my right and what's there? A woman. In very little lingere. Trying to get people to come inside her window. So this is how it works apparently: You walk up to the windows and look at the girls (like window shopping) and if you want to do something with that sed person you go up to the door and if the girl or boy likes you enough, they will let you inside the door. Then, once you get inside, you tell them what you want and they give you a price. Anything extra that you want such as: Them to scream, to pretend they're enjoying themselves, to take off clothes...costs extra money. I guess if you're a pretty girl that you make a lot of money. After the tourguide explained that, he showed us a boob. Yes, I said boob. No, not a real one (don't worry guys) It was in the ground to signify that this was the Red Light District and what it represented. And if you're wondering, all of this is legal and done in not a horrific way at all. The Red Light district is actually really beautiful and has a lot of nice stores and restaurants and is located almost on a canal. When the tour finished, we stopped in front of the Anne Frank house which I was dying to go into before I left Amsterdam. But that day I was meeting my friend Sjors (George), who I met in Rome in my hostel and he lives in Holland so perfect time to meet him right? So when I was on line for the Anne Frank house he told me he arrived so I got out of line and decided to meet him at this famous pancake house. It was so good to see him because I knew that after Rome, I probably would never see him again because we're across the world from each other. We sat down in the restaurant and I ordered a chocolate chip pancake thinking it would come out like the ones in the states. But we're in Amsterdam, so of course that doesn't happen. A couple of minutes later, this woman comes out with this massive pancake, like a crepe with chocolate filled all in it and it was delicious. The whole time we just continued to talk and talk and talk and it was so much fun to catch up with him.
After I finished my pancake, we left and he asked me where I wanted to go and I told him to take me everywhere, and that's what he did. We walked all over Amsterdam and he showed me all of these cool spots, including a free ferry ride, a great dessert, the REAL I AMSTERDAM sign and so much more:
After walking around for about 7 hours, we decided to get dinner and he said that the Chinese was really good in Amsterdam, and as weird as I found that, I agreed for Chinese food ( but i was secretly craving it, so i didn't mind at all) And let me say, it was really good! Kind of expensive, but definitely worth it since my appetite was through the roof! When we finished dinner he decided to take me to a bar called The Three Sisters, where there is a bunch of outdoor seating and it's a beautiful area with a bunch of people and restaurants surrounding. We sat down and he bought me a beer and we continued to talk. But as the time grew faster, we had to finish up and head back to my hostel so that he could make his last train. We got really lost going back to my hostel and he was so close to missing his train but thankfully he did not. The next day: Goodbye Amsterdam! Can you guess what comes next? Nooo, not Paris (well yes...but that's not what I mean) but 6-8 hour bus ride! Yay!!! NOT! Once again, barely sleep and tossing and turning but I was soo happy that day because we were going ot Paris. My dream since I've been a girl has been to go to Paris because I took eight years of french and it's a beautiful place full of sites and amazing people. By the time we got to Paris, it was around 1:30pm which is new for us because we usually get to a city really late so that meant that we had time to do something that day on our own. I didn't care what anyone did, I knew exactly what I wanted to do so I figured out the metro on my own and made my way to the Eiffle Tower and Champs De Lysees. It was amazing. I knew that I was going to like Paris from the first steps I took outside. On my way back to the hostel after wandering the city I decided to stop by the pub crawl meet spot to see if anything was going on. There were some people there but I decided not to pay to go on it, follow them and see if paying was even worth it, and trust me, it was not at all. I was so happy that I didn't waste my money. I wasn't to fascinated by Paris' nightlife. Maybe it was just a bad night....but the day was definitely a good one with all the sites. :)
The next day we had another tour with NewParis this time. That was a really fun tour because we got to see everything: The Champs De Lysees, Notre Dame, Arc du Triomphe, Eiffle Tower, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the park, churches, the Love Bridge, and the list continues. But the weather was beautiful and he told us places that we should go afterwards. So me and two girls decided to walk down the Champs De Lysees and go see the Eiffle Tower again because they hadn't seen it yet. Then we picked up crepes!!! If you are in France, you need to get crepes, especially with Nutella in them. I hate Nutella with a passion but I had to do it for the experience and it was good. The crepe itself was amazing! Afterwards we headed towards the Arc du Triomphe and it was beautiful but we couldn't go in it because some celebration was going on. After we headed back to the hostel just for a couple of minutes and then went back out to go to the Louvre because on fridays it's open until 10pm. So we went there, got in for free!! (Thanks to our student visas!!) The Louvre is HUGE! we didn't even see 1/50 of it. But we did see the Mona Lisa. If you go, it's a typical tourist move to go and see the Mona Lisa, so that's what we did.
Afterwards, we decided that we needed to go and get french onion soup. We went to three restaurants that either didn't sell it at the time or they were sold out. Finally I found a place because I went in and asked specifically if they were selling soup and if it was still being served. We waited for 10 minutes and then it came out in a big bowl and I was sooo happy to see it because I was starving! The soup was incredible! The cheese on top and just the flavor was out of this world. The two girls wanted to see the Eiffle tower at night but I already saw that so I went back to the hostel while they left. It was a long day anyhow....I needed my sleep...
So our final day of Spring Break arrived. Everybody went to Versailles because they heard it was beautiful and amazing adn I'm sure that's completely true, but like I said earlier, there were still things I wanted to see and I wasn't sure if I'd have time if I went to Versailles. So I took the metro back to the Louvre and went wandering for a lot longer seeing how much I could get done, and trust me, I got sooo lost, I probably didn't go anywhere in that museum. After being in there for about three hours, I left and headed over to the Musee D'Orsay which is the museum with the Reniors, Monets, Manets, and more. It was the museum that was full of impressionism. By far my favorite museum I've been into. I could've stared at Monets and Reniors paintings for hours. If you have a chance to ever go there, don't miss out! It's completely worth it! And thanks to my visa? FREE!!! A students favorite word. Then before I headed back to the hostel to leave, I grabbed a crepe, bought souveniers, and headed to a Starbucks because there are none in Florence and I missed them.
Around 8pm, our bus arrived and we all boarded for a very very long 15 hour bus ride back to Florence. I think we made only three stops the whole entire time, one being in Switzerland. So I guess I can say I went there too. :) Finally on sunday around 1pm, we make it back to Florence. Long trip but it felt good to be home. (temporary home I guess you could say).
So. Spring Break 2010 a success? I think i'm going to say YES!
What's to come? CORFU, GREECE TOMORROW!!!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Northern Loop 1 of 2
So I'm back! Back from my 10 day spring break in Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris!!! You probably think that these blogs are going to be very long because it's a lot of citiies and a lot of time away. However, the majority of my trips were touring the cities rather than the typical spring break of going out every night and getting very very drunk. (However, that did happen too) This blog, though, I'm going to just talk about Prague and Berlin so that you don't see teh size of this blog and immediately turn away. I know I would..
So Thursday evening, 10pm, me and my roommate arrive in the Santa Maria Novella train station to begin our journey to so many different places. Everyone there was holding suitcases and was so excited to be leaving. I ran into my friend who actually wasn't supposed to be on teh trip but decided to switch over, so that was a nice surprise. We checked in with our leaders adn then proceeded to go to the bus for our lovely 10 hour bus ride. This bus was sooo hot!!! Have they not heard of air conditioning? And can I just mention that the air conditioning was not turned on once during this whole entire bus ride. It was terrible. I attempted to sleep but it didn't go over very well. When we finally arrived in Prague, it took 2 hours longer than we had hoped. But I got off that bus with the worst throat ever. I just hoped that it would go away when I got some air conditioning. When we arrived at the Czech Inn in Prague, it was so nice! Everyone at the front desk was so friendly and then we got our room assignments. Me and my friend weren't expecting much because it was a hostel. So we recieved our key and went up, and let me tell you, it was NOTHING to what we were expecting. Us and 4 other girls shared an apartment! and I mean an apartment! 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, our own bathroom, an upstairs, and a patio! It was incredible!!! And there were normal rooms too that some of my friends got that had 8 people in a small room with a communal bathroom. Boy did I get lucky. See for yourself:
Later on that night we got the chance to go on the ClockTower Pub Crawl. This is one of the most famous pub crawls you can go on. So of course me and everyone else in our travel group gets ready to go out. The meeting place was at Bohemia Bagels again because at night it turns into a bar. The way the pub crawl worked was as usual, they take you to four bars and one nightclub with free admission for about 16 Euros. But the difference about this one was at Bohemia Bagels, for an hour and a half it was free beer and shots. and the beers kept coming. They gave your table a liter of beer and cups and then if your liter ran out you got another one and that just continued for an hour and a half straight. It was so much fun and I met a lot of people. Then, on the way home, I left with a few people, including a tour leader, and there was a sausage stand outside still open in the wee hours of the night so clearly I had to grab one to try Prague's food. The sausage was huge and it was the most delicious thing. Even though it didn't settle well with me in the morning, I don't regret it. I don't regret it at all. If you ever go to Prague and your a teenager with nothing to do and want to meet people; do the Clocktower Pub Crawl.
The next morning we all got up early to go and walk up this massive hill to see a viewpoint that looks like a fake eiffle tower. I did not go up because I didn't have my passport. TIP!!! bring your student visa everywhere!!! It gets you major discounts on museums and most of the time free!!! So me and my friend waited for everyone to come down and then we continued on to go and see this huge castle and church that, on that specific day, Prince William was coming there to have some sort of meeting. I didnt' see him but I did think the idea of him being there was cool. After that was done, my and my friend did our own thing and headed towards the Lennon Wall which was awesome!!! and then went over the Charles Bridge which is like a copy of the Ponte Vecchio. Then on our way back, we picked up our souveniers and a gyro which was sooo good!!! Then 16 miles later headed back to the hostel and decided not to go out again that night because we were still so tired from the night before. However, we DID decide to go out to dinner because we head that the beef goulash and bread dumpling are a delecacy in Prague so we headed out to a restaurant called U Bulina and ordered just that. The serving size was massive and it was DELICIOUS! That made me fall in love with Prague just a little bit more <3
9AM Sunday - We head out. Goodbye Prague. 5 hour bus ride to Berlin, Germany!! Once again, we arrive about 2 or 3 hours late meaning that our free tiem there just got cut down a lot. So when we get there, me and my roommates drop our bags and head straight out to see the Jewish Museum. After walking for about forty minutes and getting kind of lost, we arrived at the museum. I love reading about the Holocaust and that's what half of the museum was so tat really fascinated me. The other half was more on the history of the jews and just facts so it kind of bored me. After that, it was starting to get dark but we were all starving and the hostel there was awful. They couldn't tell us anything. So a bunch of us started walking and found this restaurant called Maximilians. It was pure German food and I got german meatballs with carrots and mashed potatoes. The serving was massive!! and the whole thing was incredible especially the dessert which was warm apple strudel with homemade ice cream and whipped cream.
So Thursday evening, 10pm, me and my roommate arrive in the Santa Maria Novella train station to begin our journey to so many different places. Everyone there was holding suitcases and was so excited to be leaving. I ran into my friend who actually wasn't supposed to be on teh trip but decided to switch over, so that was a nice surprise. We checked in with our leaders adn then proceeded to go to the bus for our lovely 10 hour bus ride. This bus was sooo hot!!! Have they not heard of air conditioning? And can I just mention that the air conditioning was not turned on once during this whole entire bus ride. It was terrible. I attempted to sleep but it didn't go over very well. When we finally arrived in Prague, it took 2 hours longer than we had hoped. But I got off that bus with the worst throat ever. I just hoped that it would go away when I got some air conditioning. When we arrived at the Czech Inn in Prague, it was so nice! Everyone at the front desk was so friendly and then we got our room assignments. Me and my friend weren't expecting much because it was a hostel. So we recieved our key and went up, and let me tell you, it was NOTHING to what we were expecting. Us and 4 other girls shared an apartment! and I mean an apartment! 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, our own bathroom, an upstairs, and a patio! It was incredible!!! And there were normal rooms too that some of my friends got that had 8 people in a small room with a communal bathroom. Boy did I get lucky. See for yourself:
After we all check in, we meet downstairs for brunch, which was INCREDIBLE!!! and then we proceeded to go on a tour with a guide from a company called NewEurope. They are really fun and really energetic. Our tour guide was from the US and just moved to Prague to do this job and he says he loooves it. I don't blame him though. So for the next couple of hours he shows us all around Prague. We see the infamous clocktower. This clocktower has about 12 different clocks and people gather around this clock on the hour such so they can see the peopls on the clock move and a fake bird to make a sound that sounds like he's dying. Sounds awesome right? Then we continued on and he stopped and told us all about the history of Prague and how the famous death penalty there was throwing people out of windows and if that wasn't painful enough, they would have two guys at the bottom of the building holding what were like pitchforks, you know, just to finish the guy off. After we saw a beautiful church and he talked about cubism, which was a little weird but he made it funny. After we went to Bohemia Bagels which is a famous bagel shop in Prague and we all got food and it was delicious! then we continued walking and saw what used to be the jewish ghetto. For many people, they found it so interesting, and it really was. I got really sad when I saw it because they started talking about the Holocaust and showed us a museum which we didn't go into and was closed the next day so I never went. After we saw a building where Mozart performed and I found that very cool and then finally the tour ended at the Charles Bridge. Here are some of the sights I saw :D
Later on that night we got the chance to go on the ClockTower Pub Crawl. This is one of the most famous pub crawls you can go on. So of course me and everyone else in our travel group gets ready to go out. The meeting place was at Bohemia Bagels again because at night it turns into a bar. The way the pub crawl worked was as usual, they take you to four bars and one nightclub with free admission for about 16 Euros. But the difference about this one was at Bohemia Bagels, for an hour and a half it was free beer and shots. and the beers kept coming. They gave your table a liter of beer and cups and then if your liter ran out you got another one and that just continued for an hour and a half straight. It was so much fun and I met a lot of people. Then, on the way home, I left with a few people, including a tour leader, and there was a sausage stand outside still open in the wee hours of the night so clearly I had to grab one to try Prague's food. The sausage was huge and it was the most delicious thing. Even though it didn't settle well with me in the morning, I don't regret it. I don't regret it at all. If you ever go to Prague and your a teenager with nothing to do and want to meet people; do the Clocktower Pub Crawl.
The next morning we all got up early to go and walk up this massive hill to see a viewpoint that looks like a fake eiffle tower. I did not go up because I didn't have my passport. TIP!!! bring your student visa everywhere!!! It gets you major discounts on museums and most of the time free!!! So me and my friend waited for everyone to come down and then we continued on to go and see this huge castle and church that, on that specific day, Prince William was coming there to have some sort of meeting. I didnt' see him but I did think the idea of him being there was cool. After that was done, my and my friend did our own thing and headed towards the Lennon Wall which was awesome!!! and then went over the Charles Bridge which is like a copy of the Ponte Vecchio. Then on our way back, we picked up our souveniers and a gyro which was sooo good!!! Then 16 miles later headed back to the hostel and decided not to go out again that night because we were still so tired from the night before. However, we DID decide to go out to dinner because we head that the beef goulash and bread dumpling are a delecacy in Prague so we headed out to a restaurant called U Bulina and ordered just that. The serving size was massive and it was DELICIOUS! That made me fall in love with Prague just a little bit more <3
9AM Sunday - We head out. Goodbye Prague. 5 hour bus ride to Berlin, Germany!! Once again, we arrive about 2 or 3 hours late meaning that our free tiem there just got cut down a lot. So when we get there, me and my roommates drop our bags and head straight out to see the Jewish Museum. After walking for about forty minutes and getting kind of lost, we arrived at the museum. I love reading about the Holocaust and that's what half of the museum was so tat really fascinated me. The other half was more on the history of the jews and just facts so it kind of bored me. After that, it was starting to get dark but we were all starving and the hostel there was awful. They couldn't tell us anything. So a bunch of us started walking and found this restaurant called Maximilians. It was pure German food and I got german meatballs with carrots and mashed potatoes. The serving was massive!! and the whole thing was incredible especially the dessert which was warm apple strudel with homemade ice cream and whipped cream.
The next morning was awful. I woke up incredibly sick. I couldn't breathe at all and I come to find out that my tonsils are triple in size and that I can't breathe or swallow out of one side of my mouth. I had no idea why this happened. I don't have allergies and I wasn't eating anything weird. But I just hoped it was because the air was dry so I continued and went on the tour that was given by, you guessed it...NewBerlin. He took us around in pretty much a huge circle. We started off looking at the most expensive hotel in all of Europe that is 15,500 Euros a night which is 21,000$ Apparently that comes with three butlers and pretty much anything you would like. For that kind of money, I wouldn't ask for anything less. He also told us that, that exact hotel was thh one with the infamous scene of Michael Jackson holding a baby out the window. That's the point when we all started taking pictures. (typical tourists right?). Then we went on to see a famous gate that opened up West and East Berlin as well as a Holocaust Memorial. It was so cool because it looked like a maze and you can get lost in it and it's supposed to be a design where people should percieve the design as something different. After, we went to where Hitler's underground rooms were and then he showed us the exact spot where he burned. It's a sewer. Not even lying. As we continued walking we headed to the Berlin Wall. Trust me....not that exciting. It actually looks like garbage. Very unhappy with it. Walking around some more, we saw a famous church that was beautiful and the river.
After the tour was over, me and two of my friends decided that we have to go and try some of their famous currywurst. It's a sausage served with ketchup and curry. So we go searching for this place but since we didn't know how to use the trians we decided to go somewhere else and eat it. It was very strange but I liked it. The curry was very overpowering but it could have been just the place because I heard from a bunch of other people that it was amazing. After we finished that I had to go home because I was not feeling good at all so I walked back to my hostel to take a nap. It was really upsetting that I was so sick. I decided to get up and go to the group dinner since it was our last night although I was sick. We go to this place and I get pork's knuckle and it was HUGE! it was like four of my fists put together. Of course I ate the majority of it with the potatoes it came with. Then they served us soft pretzels to eat with it, instead of a bread basket (best idea EVER!) For dessert I shared an apple strudel with my friend and after that I couldnt' breathe anymore because I was so full. Although I wasn't a huge fan of Berlin to begin with, the meals definitely made up for it.
After dinner was time for bed and then in the morning........Amsterdam and then Paris!!!! (mentioned in my next blog! :D)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Whoever Thought that Students Could Study While Being Abroad is Completely Delusional
So not only was my weekend full of excitement because of the arrival of my parents and sister, but my friends from school back home came for a visit as well. But not only that, but my weekend was full of complete and utter disaster. Lets begin with Saturday shall we? In the morning, me, my roommate, and my family went to the Uffizi Gallery (Finally!) It was really cool. However, I've never seen so many Jesus' in my life! It was a little crazy but I definitely had a good time in there with everyone. After, we continued to go to our favorite meal in Florence, Ganzo brunch! We got there extra early waiting for a table, got in, sat down, and stuffed our faces like usual. It was delicious again. Wasn't expecting anything less. Then my friends were supposed to arrive at my apartment at 3pm and so I went to the market with my parents and bought food so that we could cook our asparagus risotto for dinner for all of us. The nI recieved the one phone call i wished to never recieve and you guessed it, it was my friend from home. He was stuck inside of Frankfurt, Germany airport! and get this....his luggage? Nowhere to be found and it contained a camera, his mac laptop and all of his clothes and toiletries. It was horrible. Finally the other guest showed up at my apartment around 8 while the other friend showed up around 9:30.
Our plan for the night was to go out but they couldn't because they were exhausted so we decided to just go out by ourselves, me and my roommate. We of course hit up Amadeus to begin our night and see our friend Harry play the cello in this very funky band. The music was weird but we ended up having the best time dancing and singing. Then later on, we wanted to dance and go somewhere new so we decided to go to TwentyOne which we rarely go to because it costs money to check your coat and it's crowded a lot. But Saturday it wasn't. We got to check our coats for free because we knew the guy doing it and it wasn't crowded at all. While standing around the bar, I met the nicest bartender named Maurizio. I wouldn't leave the bar because I wanted to talk to him so I continuously bought drinks just to talk. And yes I did realize I couldn't just stood there and talked but it was more fun ordering drinks while talking to him. Later in the night we ran into some friends from school and we decided to stay the night in their apartment so that we could give our guests comfortable sleeping quarters after their dreadful travels.
Sunday, I decided to go to Boboli Gardens again with my parents and it was even more beautiful. We walked around for hours with the sun shining in our faces. I've decided to get a pass where I can go anytime I want so that when it's sunny out, I'm going to go there with a blanket and a book and just lay in the sun. I think it's a pretty brilliant plan. Basking in the sun while reading a good book? Can't really get much better than that. After that I went home to attempt to start studying for midterms. I can't really remember what I did the remainder of the day, but I'm pretty sure I didn't actually study on account that I didnt' do very well on that midterm.
But now we're getting back to tonight and it is my last night of studying for my dreadful midterm. Everyone thinks that I'm so lucky becuase I get no homework and I'm always traveling etc etc, and yes that is a high point in my travel abroad adventures. However, the only two major aspects of your class are your final and midterm, maybe a paper depending on the class. But these midterms, are HORRIBLE! My first midterm was on Cakes and Tarts and I've never had to think so hard about almonds in my entire life. Almonds, if you're listening.....i hate you. But I have to blame that failure partially on myself because I thought it would be easy and I definitely underestimated the difficulty that test could be.
For the remainder of the night I decided to just sit down and study for my tuesday exam because I became very frightened after that first test. Luckily, tuesday, I did a lot better on my exam that I was expected which definitely got my hopes up. After, I went to Ganzo for lunch with my roommate and got a pork terrine and then a salmon salad which were both amazing as usual. After we decided to meet up with our friends from school and the first place we went was to get our refund for one of our trips. Thankfully we got it and at the same time more good news...my friends bags? Was located!!! With all of his stuff included inside. Where was his luggage this whole time? Africa! His baggage has been more international than the kid himself. We found it quite amusing. Then we decided to walk around San Lorenzo Market for a while and look for stuff/souveniers, etc. Then we went to Grom, one of the most delicious gelato places in Florence. This is a must go to shop. It's right off the street from the Duomo on a road called Via D'Oche. It's soooo good!!! Best flavor? Crema de Grom. I don't know what's in it, but there is some sort of cookie in there somwewhere.
Later in the night, my cousin was in Florence with a bunch of her friends so she asked that I take them around the city to all the bars and clubs so that they could get a feel of the nightlife. Of course I agreed so I took them, me, my roommate, and my friends from school out. Of course starting from Amadeus, we recieved free drinks, then headed to Blob, Twice, Red Garter, then back to Twice. It was soooo much fun. We even made it to the secret bakery again! We are just that good I was even getting asked by a bunch of strangers where it was because they knew I knew where it was located. I felt special. Probably because for about 5 minutes I acutally was special. :D
Then today of course I didn't go to bed until around 3 am so I woke up around 11:15 and met my parents at 12:15 so that I could finally introduce them to Tripe!!!!! They liked it but couldnt' get over the fact that it was cow's stomach but by the end of it I know that they truly loved it as much as I do. After that we continued to walk around a little bit but I had a midterm later around 6pm so I knew I had to go back and study which is what I did around 3pm. That midterm was Italian and it actually wasn't that bad considering it was 100 questions and it took me 35-40 minutes only to complete it. After that exam, I met my family and roommate and went out to dinner at a restaurant my cousins recommended called Frencesco Vini and it was DELICIOUS! Everything from the antipasti to the primi to the amazing chocoalte mousse and tiramisu dessert was extroadinary. It was definitely a good ending to the visit from my family. Walking back to my apartment I said my final goodbyes to my family which was very sad and went on my way, back to my apartment to study for my two biggest exams, chocolate and culture. I've decided o stay up late and get up early to get in some last minute cramming (You can see how well that's going considering I'm writing in this blog right now) It is Saint Patrick's Day, I know, and I should be going out getting a green beer like everyone else in Florence but I sadly missed out on that. So unfortunatlely no pictures of a green beer and/or shot. You will just have to use your imagination. I better get A's on these midterms if I missed out on such huge parties tonight at every single club and pub in this city.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the best week ever: SPRING BREAK 2010!!!!! Tomorrow at 10pm Florence time, I leave on a 10 hour bus ride to Prague which is where our adventures will start. Then from Prague to Berlin to Amsterdam and lastly Paris before heading back to Florence. I can tell that this is going to be the single BEST spring break ever! and I can't wait! I can't wait to come back and tell you all about it! It's definitely going to be the most unbelievalbe experience of my life and I just want it to start. Only 20 hours to go! Let the countdown begin!
Our plan for the night was to go out but they couldn't because they were exhausted so we decided to just go out by ourselves, me and my roommate. We of course hit up Amadeus to begin our night and see our friend Harry play the cello in this very funky band. The music was weird but we ended up having the best time dancing and singing. Then later on, we wanted to dance and go somewhere new so we decided to go to TwentyOne which we rarely go to because it costs money to check your coat and it's crowded a lot. But Saturday it wasn't. We got to check our coats for free because we knew the guy doing it and it wasn't crowded at all. While standing around the bar, I met the nicest bartender named Maurizio. I wouldn't leave the bar because I wanted to talk to him so I continuously bought drinks just to talk. And yes I did realize I couldn't just stood there and talked but it was more fun ordering drinks while talking to him. Later in the night we ran into some friends from school and we decided to stay the night in their apartment so that we could give our guests comfortable sleeping quarters after their dreadful travels.
Sunday, I decided to go to Boboli Gardens again with my parents and it was even more beautiful. We walked around for hours with the sun shining in our faces. I've decided to get a pass where I can go anytime I want so that when it's sunny out, I'm going to go there with a blanket and a book and just lay in the sun. I think it's a pretty brilliant plan. Basking in the sun while reading a good book? Can't really get much better than that. After that I went home to attempt to start studying for midterms. I can't really remember what I did the remainder of the day, but I'm pretty sure I didn't actually study on account that I didnt' do very well on that midterm.
But now we're getting back to tonight and it is my last night of studying for my dreadful midterm. Everyone thinks that I'm so lucky becuase I get no homework and I'm always traveling etc etc, and yes that is a high point in my travel abroad adventures. However, the only two major aspects of your class are your final and midterm, maybe a paper depending on the class. But these midterms, are HORRIBLE! My first midterm was on Cakes and Tarts and I've never had to think so hard about almonds in my entire life. Almonds, if you're listening.....i hate you. But I have to blame that failure partially on myself because I thought it would be easy and I definitely underestimated the difficulty that test could be.
For the remainder of the night I decided to just sit down and study for my tuesday exam because I became very frightened after that first test. Luckily, tuesday, I did a lot better on my exam that I was expected which definitely got my hopes up. After, I went to Ganzo for lunch with my roommate and got a pork terrine and then a salmon salad which were both amazing as usual. After we decided to meet up with our friends from school and the first place we went was to get our refund for one of our trips. Thankfully we got it and at the same time more good news...my friends bags? Was located!!! With all of his stuff included inside. Where was his luggage this whole time? Africa! His baggage has been more international than the kid himself. We found it quite amusing. Then we decided to walk around San Lorenzo Market for a while and look for stuff/souveniers, etc. Then we went to Grom, one of the most delicious gelato places in Florence. This is a must go to shop. It's right off the street from the Duomo on a road called Via D'Oche. It's soooo good!!! Best flavor? Crema de Grom. I don't know what's in it, but there is some sort of cookie in there somwewhere.
Later in the night, my cousin was in Florence with a bunch of her friends so she asked that I take them around the city to all the bars and clubs so that they could get a feel of the nightlife. Of course I agreed so I took them, me, my roommate, and my friends from school out. Of course starting from Amadeus, we recieved free drinks, then headed to Blob, Twice, Red Garter, then back to Twice. It was soooo much fun. We even made it to the secret bakery again! We are just that good I was even getting asked by a bunch of strangers where it was because they knew I knew where it was located. I felt special. Probably because for about 5 minutes I acutally was special. :D
Then today of course I didn't go to bed until around 3 am so I woke up around 11:15 and met my parents at 12:15 so that I could finally introduce them to Tripe!!!!! They liked it but couldnt' get over the fact that it was cow's stomach but by the end of it I know that they truly loved it as much as I do. After that we continued to walk around a little bit but I had a midterm later around 6pm so I knew I had to go back and study which is what I did around 3pm. That midterm was Italian and it actually wasn't that bad considering it was 100 questions and it took me 35-40 minutes only to complete it. After that exam, I met my family and roommate and went out to dinner at a restaurant my cousins recommended called Frencesco Vini and it was DELICIOUS! Everything from the antipasti to the primi to the amazing chocoalte mousse and tiramisu dessert was extroadinary. It was definitely a good ending to the visit from my family. Walking back to my apartment I said my final goodbyes to my family which was very sad and went on my way, back to my apartment to study for my two biggest exams, chocolate and culture. I've decided o stay up late and get up early to get in some last minute cramming (You can see how well that's going considering I'm writing in this blog right now) It is Saint Patrick's Day, I know, and I should be going out getting a green beer like everyone else in Florence but I sadly missed out on that. So unfortunatlely no pictures of a green beer and/or shot. You will just have to use your imagination. I better get A's on these midterms if I missed out on such huge parties tonight at every single club and pub in this city.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the best week ever: SPRING BREAK 2010!!!!! Tomorrow at 10pm Florence time, I leave on a 10 hour bus ride to Prague which is where our adventures will start. Then from Prague to Berlin to Amsterdam and lastly Paris before heading back to Florence. I can tell that this is going to be the single BEST spring break ever! and I can't wait! I can't wait to come back and tell you all about it! It's definitely going to be the most unbelievalbe experience of my life and I just want it to start. Only 20 hours to go! Let the countdown begin!
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