CZECH TREK

The final countdown

So this was my last full week in Prague. 

School is over. All of my projects are finished. I tried to make it to all of my fave restaurants that I’ll never get to eat at again. We had our going away party…and now the worst part…my sweet best friend, Jane left me this morning. 

I already miss her and don’t know what to do. We have literally been attached at the hip since we got here. There were many nights recently that everyone was going out and partying, that Jane and I would veto because we seriously have that much fun just us two hanging out in our room. August can’t come soon enough for us to be attached the hip once again. 

Thank god I have Allie, who has easily fit right in with the craziness that is Jane and I’s friendship. We’ve been like the three muskateers going on our dinner dates and creating adventures during the day leading up to today when Jane left. We had another twin bed sleepover with Friends last night and we said goodbye to Jane this morning. 

Okay, the depressing stuff is over…Allie and I are going to Split on Tuesday!!!!! I’m so excited to relax/explore for 5 days before I head home to the great state of North Carolina! In the meantime…here’s my favorite vine of Jane and I’s usual hangout time, sitting in our window, before bed in Prague. Na shledanou!

https://vine.co/v/bPTd3I0WEba

A bed with a room: BARCELONA!!!

So last weekend Allie and I set off on another weekend adventure, this time to Barcelona, Spain. I was especially excited for this trip because 1. My sister studied in Barcelona and loved it 2. A lot of my friends studied in Barcelona this semester 3. They have amazing weather. Our flight from Prague left around 11 and we landed in Barcelona at 2:30ish. We tried to change up our living situation for the weekend from hostels and b&b’s so we booked through AirBnB. AirBnB is a really cool company where people can list extra rooms, full apartments, houses, guest houses for travelers to stay. There can be extremely nice beach mansions to really cheap little apartments on the site. When I booked our room, I THOUGHT I was booking a whole apartment with a kitchen, living room, yadi yada but in reality, I actually just booked a single ROOM in this Spanish man, Leonardo, and his partner’s apartment. The realization of this upon arrival to the apartment was kind of awkward but kind of hilarious. Allie and I were just sharing this teeny tiny room that literally could only fit a queen size bed, and our suitcases in the apartment of this gay Spanish couple. It turned out to be absolutely lovely, we did our own thing, they gave us muffins in the morning, they did their own thing, all in all the stay was great but it does make for a good story. One morning when they were gone we did a little snooping at all of their pics on the wall/mantle (you know you would do it too), and we definitely found some interesting glamour shots of our sweet host, Leonardo….

Anyways we got there and hadn’t eaten anything and it was like 4 at this point so we ventured out into our neighborhood to find some food. One thing I didn’t realize, siesta is a real thing…I always kind of thought that it wasn’t real or this only happened in smaller Spanish cities but everything was closed. We went to one of the few places we could find that was open. Long story short, we were starving and saw that they had pizza so just ordered it. Turns out it was just a kind of stale frozen pizza that we could tell had been in the freezer for a while. Since Allie and I are foodies, we were extremely upset that we wasted a meal in Barcelona on that thing, but we ate it anyways because that’s how hungry we were. 

We headed to Las Ramblas, one of the main streets/tourist attractions in Barcelona and automatically fell in love. Barcelona is so green and sunny and open that you kind of feel like you’re in a Spanish paradise. We went to La Boqueria, this huge open air market, and we were amazed. There was sooooo much fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, EVERYTHING…we have nothing like that in Prague. The Czech Republic is a land locked country so most of their fruits and vegetable are imported, which explains why the basis of Czech food is meat and potatoes. 

After that we kind of ventured around that area and along the water front. We ate dinner at a place that our friend, Bailey, suggested, La Rosa Negra, a little cool Mexican restaurant and it was delicious. After dinner we were exhausted and it was late (people eat dinner really late in Spain) so we just went back to good ole Leonardo’s and went to sleep. One thing  I will mention though, we got pretty acquainted with Barcelona’s metro system, and they know how to do it. In Prague, everyone seems annoyed/in a hurry. No one speaks on the metro and everyone just sits or stands and tries to avoid eye contact with anyone around them. In Barcelona, there is music EVERYWHERE. Everyone seems so happy in the metros and everyone is talking and dancinggggg I loved it. Metro musicians bring there own amps so their tunes are amplified throughout the whole station…this NEVER happens in Prague. AND there was the best sunset that night!

Another cool thing about Barcelona is that most of their TV is American tv that they dub over in Spanish soooo it was very easy to just turn the dubbing off and watch good ole American tv in English! I got really caught up on the new MTV shows of today and was reminded of why I don’t watch MTV in America but either way, it was in English and it was entertaining. 

The next day we woke up and went back to Las Ramblas to get some fresh fruit for breakfast on the go and start our tour of Barcelona. Allie got this weird fruit that looked interesting but really didn’t taste like anything…we still have no idea what it’s called so if you know, let me know. I also snapped a lot more pics with my big camera…

From there we walked down the waterfront and decided we wanted to go to the aquarium…not a typical thing to do in Barcelona but it seemed cool. I don’t regret this decision but also if you’re in Barcelona…I don’t suggest going to the Aquarium. We had read that it was the largest aquarium in Europe but I dont that’s true…the NC aquarium was 1000x better. But it was fun to see all the fishies. 

Allie had to tie my shoes for me a few times…..

From there we walked around the Gothic Quarter which I loved. There were so many cool shops and things throughout this narrow streets. It was one of the times in Europe that I truly felt like this was very European and it couldn’t have been in America. We window shopped around for a bit and then ate at this place that Bailey suggested (again) for lunch called Bo De B. It was like a little sandwich stand but I think it was the best sandwich I’ve ever had. We waited outside until it opened at 1 and the line was really starting to build up by the time they actually opened the line was around the corner…thankfully we got there early and got to sit inside. This sandwich had EVERYTHING on it. Avocado, capers, mustard, lettuce, tomato, salsa, cheese, chicken etc…it was amazing. 

After Bo De B, we headed down the beach. This was a much needed afternoon. I haven’t been to a beach in so long and I really have been missing the ocean/waterfront lifestyle. We spend the afternoon sunbathing and I even got a foot massage! Allie made fun of me for doing this but if I can pay for it in coins…there’s a big chance I’ll probably do it. https://vine.co/v/bUIHviL9z2D

https://vine.co/v/bUIH60FtQvr

We sunbathed for about 2 hours and then we headed back to the apartment and got ready for dinner/the night. That night we met up with Bailey and 2 of her friends from Clemson, that also study in Barcelona. We went out with them that night and had a ton of fun. The beach bars in Barcelona are super cool. They look like little stands from the street but then when you enter them you go down some steps and then the whole club is underground. It was really cool and we had a great time…

The next day, Sunday, we got off to a late start…probably because of the late night…but we went to a tapas place for lunch that my sister suggested. It was in the Gracia neighborhood which we realized was actually really close to our apartment! This was a really nice part of Barcelona, they had a lot of name brand stores and great restaurants. Unfortunately (kind of fortunately), since it was Sunday all of the stores were closed so we could only window shop. The tapas place we went to was called Cerveceria Catalana. We couldn’t get a seat at the bar so we sat at a table and really had no idea what to order since we couldn’t see any of the options, so we just told our waitress what kind of stuff we liked and she pretty much chose for us. This was great since Allie and I are probably the two most indecisive people on the planet…which sometimes becomes and issue when you travel together. This was probably the best breakfast/lunch/brunch of my life and it didn’t even cost that much!!

After that we explored around Paseig de Gracia and saw 2 of Gaudi’s buildings…very cool, and very weird. We went to a park designed by Gaudi that afternoon, Parc Guell. We didn’t realize before we went that it was wayyyyy up a mountain (okay, not really a mountain..huge hill) but it was kind of a hike up there. Parc Guell was a really great place to spend the afternoon. It had all of these weird structures and then classic Gaudi mosaics, beautiful gardens, plus a great view of the entire city. We went up on the highest point (the thing with the cross) but that was just an anxiety attack waiting to happen. You climb up these narrow steps, with no railing, and then you’re standing on this platform thing and everyone is trying to take a pic and everyone is bumping into each other…I don’t know, my fear of heights kind of started to kick in, plus no guard rail…we didn’t stay up there for long. 

Anyways, Allie and I FINALLY got a good picture together sitting on the mosaic benches in front of the Gaudi museum. When you travel with only two people, it’s hard to get a good picture together because you have to awkwardly ask people (who usually don’t speak English) to take your picture…and then my camera is also kind of complicated so trying to explain that with a language barrier really just isn’t worth it a lot of the time. When you hear people speaking English, and you’ve got you picture pose in mind, you gotta pounce before it becomes to awkward to ask. 

There was this one tunnel with holes in the wall…so I made Allie go climb in it. Doesn’t she look like a mole? hehe

Anyways, so Park Guell was really great/pretty and then we headed to the church designed by Gaudi, Sagrada Familia. This place was A LOT bigger than I thought it would be. Like it really is huge….unfortunately we didn’t get to go inside because it was Sunday and it was closed but we were okay with it. 

That night we went to another delicious tapas dinner at this place called Citrus that Alison suggested also on Paseig de Gracia. It was on the second floor of a building and had a great view of the area. It was delicious once again. 

We left Monday morning and headed back to Prague…only had one issue with line cutters at the airport but we survived and the flight left on time. I didn’t want to leave Barcelona…they seemed like that had literally everything you could want in a European city. The beach, old areas, new areas, good food, good shopping, great parks. Basically it was amazing. 

hashtag hungry in hungary

So as the time goes on, the weather gets better, and there’s so many things I want to do in Prague while the weather is nice so I kind of put off blogging for longer than I should, sooooo sorry bout that. Two weekends ago, I went to Budapest, Hungary with Allie. I realized my big camera was dead once I got there so this entire trip was documented via instagram. I think this is kind of funny because, everyone’s so obsessed with social media (including myself) that anyone and everyone who follows my instagram probably thinks that Budapest was probably the BEST TRIP I EVER TOOK because I posted so many pics to instagram but in reality my camera was just dead and God forbid, I have like 2 days where I don’t document my life abroad on some kind of social media network. 

Allie and I took the bus to Budapest and this was quite the experience. Traveling by bus is a very cheap and kind of convenient way to travel. No security, no baggage claim, you can use electronics AND the bus sometimes had wifi! But it definitely has its downfalls. Takes a longgggggggg time, Czechs smell, there was little to no air conditioning. The way there wasn’t as bad as the way back but I’ll get to that later. 

Anyways we arrived to Budapest around 4:30 PM. We got to our hostel and realized it was nicer than both of our living situations in Prague. It was a big apartment room with a lot of space and a big bed. This is random…but I think it’s noteworthy. People keep asking me what I thought of Budapest and I really liked it but I think Allie and I did a lot of nothing. It was one of those trips where we were both exhausted from traveling so we kind of aimlessly wandered around the city, and personally I don’t see anything wrong with that. We saw a lot of stuff and got a good feel for the city but I didn’t feel like I needed to see absolutely everything on TripAdvisor’s 200 things to do in Budapest list. 

I can tell you this though…Budapest is a beautiful city with a very cool and changing vibe to it. Everyone seemed so active and they had a lot more green spaces than Prague does. They have their touristy areas but they definitely have a bigger identity outside of the touristy parts. One thing interesting that we did was go to what is apparently “the third best bar in the world.” I’m not sure who’s the judge of that but it was pretty freaking cool. Budapest has all of these pubs called “ruin pubs” which the only way I can describe that is, they bought out a flea market and then decorated their entire bar with their purchases. AKA there is random stuff hanging from every inch of the wall/ceiling. This bar was kind of a maze, there were 3 floors I think and there were a ton of different rooms that all had a different theme. We only stayed an hour and drank a beer each because we both were super tired and not feeling too great. It was too dark to take good pictures inside the bar, so I stalked the the bar’s (Szimpla Kert) facebook page…

We left early Sunday morning, and took the bus all the way back to Prague. We were sitting in the very back row and it was hot as hail. All that really needs to be said about that bus ride was that we started to lose our minds a bit….and there was no air conditioning. Allie was making fun of me because I was acting like a black lady in church on a hot summer sunday, flashin’ butttt gotta do whatcha gotta do. 

Budapest was great but I was happy to get back to Prague where I was greeted with warm spring weather. Enjoy the pics!

Segway tours on the Chain Bridge…if only Allie and I had been that cool…

The view from Pest to Buda…fun fact, Budapest is divided into two sections, one is Buda and the other is Pest. Pest is more hip and young and Buda is more businessy and historical

Hungarian scrambled eggs! soooo yummy

Since the weather was so nice Allie and I had a lot of outdoor adventures during the week. We went to this sushi place that we’ve been wanting to go to forever and realized that we were so dumb for not going longggg before. We frolicked in Old Town Square and went up in the Astronomical Clock Tower and looked out over all of Prague. 

Another new and exciting thing is that I became a member of ANOTHER social media fad..vine. Vine is an app where you can clip together pieces of videos to make one video…very entertaining. This is slightly embarrassing but hopefully the link won’t work for you anyways so ha! But if it does work, you’ll get to hear all of the sound effects that I unconsciously make to describe my entire life which has been made extremely apparent by this app….

https://vine.co/v/bFrXIJBTmpV

https://vine.co/v/bFrHm3iHqLq

https://vine.co/v/bFrHnTFjhad

We also went up to Petrin Hill one pretty afternoon and we found a mirror maze. So, of course, we went inside. The end. Bye. 

WEATHER REPORT!!!!

Because I think this is a topic that is important enough to blog about:

IT IS WARMING UP IN PRAGUE. Seriously it really is. This time it is not a joke. It’s gradually making it’s way and will hopefully get to 60 by next week!!! Last night we had the weirdest experience. It rained. It’s so soothing to listen to the rain when you go to bed. We had forgotten that we hadn’t heard that sound since we got here. The only time it’s precipitated it’s been white and freezes to the ground rather than patter against it. Trust me, if you’d been freezing for just about 2 and half months straight and had only seen snow and hadn’t heard or seen rain you’d be really fascinated too. Prague really is a different city when the sun comes out. It actually feels like spring. FINALLY. The last time it was warm we could tell it was a nice day but it still was wintery outside. Now it’s a totally different feeling. Things are blooming, the sun shines continuously, AND IT RAINS!!! I was so happy today about the approaching spring time that I bought fresh flowers…tulips, my favorite.

Side story though: I thought I could fit them all in a wine bottle but then they got stuck in there and they weren’t reaching the water soooo to save them from a suffocating death I had to break all of the stems and put them in something wider. So now there are tulip stems stuck in a wine bottle and really short tulips in a coffee mug. I hope I didn’t kill them by trying to save them! What can I say…I have a florists touch….maybe a more like a florists fist, whoopsie

And on another note: Enya is playing in the lobby of the Pension while I’m writing this and that makes me even more happy. 

Budapest this weekend with Allie! Na shledanou!

Texas Jesus: Rome part 2

Alrighty, so the next day in Rome was Easter. I haven’t really been an avid Easter celebrator during my life time. I used to spend Spring Break with Annie in AB every spring and Mrs. Margaret always got me an Easter basket full of candy and that plastic grass stuff and I always loved it but what I did this Easter kind of kicks plastic grass’s butt. 

The day started early. We had to leave our first B&B and go to our new one for Sunday (remember the booking issues). So I found the next place on the map and it looked like all we had to do was follow the Vatican walls to the other side and we’d be right at our next B&B. The plan was to leave our luggage and then head over to Mass…estimated time of the plan: 20 minutes or so. Wrong. We go outside carrying all of our stuff and we are greeted with the masses of people heading to the Vatican. This wasn’t really a big deal, we figured we were all going to the same place so we’d just move with the crowd. Well it’s kind of hard to move with the crowd when it’s 100,000 Catholics trying to see the new Pope and you and your two friends are the only ones with rolly suitcases. Sooo this posed a few awkward traffic jams. We veered away from the crowd and went a different way. We were following my map and I just couldn’t figure out the best way to get to the place. We were walking for what seemed like forever. It might not have been forever but 30-45 minutes lugging a rolling suitcase, in your Sunday best, when it’s hot as hail (65 degrees seems toasty when you live in Prague) is not the most fun thing. We were away from the crowd and mass was about to start and we were walking on what seemed to be a small highway?? Frustration was building. And then at the most convenient time when my frustration was at it’s breaking point, I tripped over my own feet (sometimes this happens when you have huge feet) and fell on my face, in my Sunday best, on the side of (potentially) a highway. I was so over this moment in my life. Allie and Nan were so over the moment too. So we were stuck…my city maps were telling us that we needed to turn left but a large wall and a building were so conveniently blocking any chances of us turning left. Flustered, I went into this random building and tried to get some directions from an Italian man at the front desk. Allie had come in at this point and we were both trying to talk to this Italian man…and then it happened. 

A young, attractive, guy comes into the lobby of this building and said the most beautiful words I had ever heard “Do yall need some help?” Yall. He said “yall.” Bingo. We told him our situation and our new friend, Clark, took us under his wing and showed us the way. He told us that he could take us to our B&B but we’d have to go a weird way because the thing on our map that was getting in the way of us getting to it was St. Peters Basillica….oh….well, whoops. He took us through at least two different parking garages and a bunch of other weird things. We seriously would have never found it if we hadn’t run into him. While we were walking we chatted…he was from Texas, just graduated from UT, he was studying in Rome to be a priest and his parents were in town for Easter. While we were walking and I was trying to be cool, Allie looked back at me and winked and I couldn’t help but laugh. He asked us how we knew to go to that building and we told him it was not on purpose at all, we were just super lost and it was the first place we saw. Sure enough, we had walked into the North American Seminary School…how convenient. Seriously though, how in the world did we come across the only place that was sure to have Americans, and not just Americans, this cute southern boy in Rome who was seemingly perfect and just happened to know exactly where we needed to go? If I didn’t believe in God before, I do now. 

We made it to our B&B and, unfortunately, we never saw Clark again. Our new B&B was unbelievably close to the Vatican, so we scurried over there because we were already a bit late. So apparently you were supposed to have tickets for this shindig, but we didn’t know that. We noticed the TONS of people standing outside of the Vatican but we also noticed the security guards and tons of people walking through scanners, so we followed that crowd. We went in and no one said anything to us..I guess ignorance is bliss. So there we were in the Vatican on Easter Sunday with 250,000 of our closest buds,just kidding, but that’s legitimately how people were there, and that’s not even counting the people outside of the walls.

The weather was great/cool. It was one of those days that it was overcast but the clouds were moving so quickly that the sun would make an appearance and then it would be super sunny. The entire service was in Italian so I didn’t have a clue what they were saying. I had to read about it online afterwards but that definitely didn’t hinder the experience. I know it’s hard to see but the altar and such was beautifully decorated with flowers and greenery.

After the service, the new Pope rode around in his PopeMobile and kissed babies and gave high fives, and fist pumps, and he even started the wave! Okay, he did none of these things except kiss babies but it does create a fun mental image. I tried to snap a pic of him and I wasn’t totally unsuccessful. This picture is kind of like Where’s Waldo, Pope edition.

Prayin makes ya hungry, so Allie and I ventured off to find food and left Nan to do Catholic thangs. We went to this delicious restaurant and we got there at the perfect time…about 15 minutes later the masses came and it was impossible to get a table anywhere soooo GO US! once again. We ate pizza and drank champagne and then went to our B&B and had a little siesta. We got up later and went and walked around the Vatican City. Here’s the curse part about going to the Vatican on Easter..long lines. Freakishly long lines. So unfortunately, we didn’t get to go inside St. Peters or see the Sistine Chapel but I guess this just means I’ll have to go back! We saw lots of nuns, priests, and pretty buildings. That pretty much sums up The Vatican. Oh, and we ate gelato, duh. 

That night we made a reservation for dinner at the same place we ate lunch (yes, it was that good). We had our final Italian meal together before I went back to Prague and Nan and Allie, headed for Florence on their Italian spring break. The meal was delicious of course and then we had desert. I think Allie is the only one that actually got gelato that night but we did meet some interesting people. We met this family from Philly and they were so funny. It was a husband and a wife and then their 23 year old son. The son, Max, works in Tel Aviv and they were visiting him in Rome. Max was super talkative and super outgoing and kind of a lot but he was just the happiest and most positive person. He’s trying to start this world fad in which he meets people from all over the world and gets to know them and then he gets a picture of them posing for what he calls “The Love Symbols.” His point, I guess, is to show that love is universal. He has a facebook page and he’s hoping to go viral so anyone reading this post with a facebook like Max’s page!! 

The next morning I left my traveling buddies in Italy and I headed back to Praha…Rome was an amazing experience, I’m already planning my trip back! Love to all!!

roma if you want to: rome part 1

So this past weekend after a crazy week of finishing projects and photoshoots, I hopped on a plane at 7:30 AM Friday morning and headed to Rome for the Easter weekend. I was meeting Allie and Nan there.  Before this trip even began, there were issues. Three days before we were supposed to leave the place we had planned to stay in for three nights cancelled our reservation because the card I gave them to reserve our room was “invalid.” My card has never been deemed as “invalid” before but for some reason it wouldn’t work and I had to deal with finding new places to stay at a reasonable price in Rome, ON EASTER WEEKEND…trust me, it was a hard task. Thankfully the original place had one room open but it was only for 2 nights soooo I said we would take that one and then I searched for a final resting place for Sunday night. I found a place that, on a map, looked close to our first hostel (I’ll get to that story later), and I booked it and all was well. 

I got to the airport in Rome and took a shuttle to our B&B right outside the Vatican City walls. The man who drove me there was sooo nice. He spoke very little English but I could kind of figure out the things he was trying to say with the help of my 4 years of Spanish in high school…I’m sure if someone who spoke both Italian and English witnessed our conversation they would have thought it was very funny. He asked where I was from and I told him America and he lit up. I love being abroad and telling people I’m from America. The more I’m here the more I love being from America. Granted, I LOVE being in Europe and traveling but I’m starting to see why so many people light up like they do when you say you’re from America…like it’s some kind of magical place, because it kind of is. 

Anyways…made it to the first B&B, and when I say B&B, don’t get confused they aren’t at all fancy….more quaint than a hostel for basically the same price. So I got there and their cute little Asian/Italian housekeeper told me that the room wasn’t ready, so I went and explored around the area and I ate a panini and read my book. Came back an hour later, the room was ready, all was well…for the time being. I figured I’d just wait for Allie and Nan to get there before I did much more exploring sooo I unpacked my bag, hung up all of my clothes and waited for them to arrive. Then someone knocked on the door. It was the two owners of the B&B and they told me that this wasn’t actually the room we were staying in and we were actually staying in a different building that they also owned. I was annoyed but whatever….then they kept talking to each other in Italian and they kept saying “bebino.’ They asked if I was alone, I said yesssss but my two friends were arriving soon and they were confused. Then they dropped the bomb…”sooooo where is your baby?” Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…my baby? Why do you think I have a baby? They said that the reservation had requested a double bed for 2 people and a baby bed. Well turns out when I switched the reservation from the first room to the second room for some reason booking.com put the extra bed I had requested as a baby bed…and me being naive had seen that on the confirmation email but I just thought “baby bed” was some weird Italian translation for a cot. 

So since they had to move the crib out of our room and replace it for a regular sized human’s bed I was put out on the street for another hour and a half. I was pretty frustrated and at this point really afraid they were going to move all of the stuff and then tell me that we couldn’t stay there or it was going to cost 20x more than the original price…so I went somewhere where I could find comfort (and maybe wifi), good ole Mickey D’s. I was walking aimlessly around Rome and then I saw the Golden Arches. I made my way to McDonalds. When I got there I was stuck in line with about 30 Italians and it was maybe 100 degrees inside…it was a miniature version of hell. Think Chickfila at the lunch rush but they were not doing nearly as great a job at making sure everyone was accounted for. Made it to the register and realized the greatest thing ever…they had real milkshakes, not milk (pause) shaked but a honest to god, made from ice cream, add chocolate syrup, then stir, milkshake. Anyone that has read this blog ever knows I really like food, and I really like eating food but there is nothing I like eating more than my feelings…..soooo I ordered a chocolate milkshake and fries and I found the most uncrowded corner in the place and I thought about crying. I realized crying wouldn’t help and calling someone wouldn’t help (they didn’t have wifi anyway) sooo I figured I’d just enjoy the moment and everything would work out.

Of course, everything did work out and all was well. I made it to the RIGHT place and then waited for Allie and Nan. While I waited, I watched The OC in Italian. I’ve seen every episode like 4 times sooo the language barrier wasn’t a problem at all. 

Allie and Nan made it later than expected. We ended up just going to dinner in our neighborhood and then going to bed, which was fine with me. 

The next day began our Roman adventure. Never have I ever been so thankful for my iPhone and City Maps 2 Go app. We were able to pin every sight we wanted to see and figure out our walking route. I got to play tour guide which was kind of fun. I realized a little too late though that for free, you can download the “wiki guide” to go with your City Maps app. With every tourist sight you can see the wikipedia page that gives you the full history and facts on that location…you can be your own tour guide!!! 

We started at the Colloseum. We got there just in time because once we were done touring it we came out and the line was wrapped around it. This was such a cool thing to see. You could actually go in and their audio guide was super informative and helpful. I actually felt like I was in the movie Gladiator. 

This part that looks like a maze is the part that was under the arena…so back in the ancient times you wouldn’t have been able to see it like this. It would have all been like that part at the back of the picture. Under the arena is where they kept all of the animals like lions, tigers and hippos for the games. They also kept stage props and weapons. This was the major sport in ancient times. Just a casual Sunday afternoon…like “yeah, lets all go watch some poor guy try to defeat a hungry tiger in return for his life.” Thank God, we moved on to football. 

Then we moved on to the Piazza Venezia which is the palace in central Rome. Nan and I in front of the Piazza.

It really was in the center of everything…it was a really great view of Rome. Isn’t she just precious??

Another thing to add. I’d been so busy with school that before I went to Rome I didn’t really have to chance to research and look up stuff about Rome like I usually would so my only real reference was the Lizzie McGuire Movie that I saw when I was maybe in 6th grade. Soooo I would see so many things and not think “oh this is so cool because it’s so historical and what not,” instead I would see things and think “Oh my gosh!! Lizzie McGuire was here!”

This was one spot on the way to Pantheon that I have no clue what it was but I distinctly remembered a scene from the movie where they were hanging out in front of this building…

We stopped for a lunch break and ate some delicious pizza with a coca cola and then kept on trucking. We made it to the Pantheon and crossed that off the list. 

Just notice the amount of people…this was the “curse” part of the blessing and the curse of traveling to Rome over Easter. After the Pantheon, we went to the Trevi Fountain. Now this is where one of the most pivotal scenes in the Lizzie McGuire movie occurs. Lizzie throws her penny into the Trevi Fountain and wishes for something (probably an Italian man) and low and behold she gets to trade lives with an Italian popstar and hang out with her hunky duet partner, Paolo. We sat by the fountain and got out our pennies and attempted to make our own wish. This was a prime tourist picture spot so Nan was assigned to do the documenting. Okay so athleticism has never been my strong suit but I didn’t think I could mess this one up…sure enough I did. I guess I didn’t throw my coin with enough force and it just went up in the air spinned around, I guess, and then it hit Allie. An awkward moment for sure but it did make for great candids. Don’t worry, I got a second chance at my wish and this time I threw with a bit more force.

By the look on my face, I really was determined…whoopsies….

Then we went down this street that had a lot of shops and some nicer stores and did some window shopping. And then we ate gelato. My first real gelato. It was great. 

We enjoyed our gelato while we sat on the Spanish Steps. It started to drizzle so we took shelter in the church at the top of the Spanish Steps. When we came out it was pouring. This really was perfect timing because we had seen everything we wanted to see in that area of Rome and we were going to head back to our neighborhood anyways…now we had time for a siesta!! We got back and napped and watched some more American shows dubbed over in Italian. We went to dinner that night and ate pasta galore with lots of wine…a great ending to a great day. 

birthday, birthday, celebrate

Okay, so last week in school was super busy, and then I went to Rome, and then I crashed and did nothing all this week…so that’s why the blog is lagging a bit, sorry. Finally, I have found time to get a few necessary things done such as laundry (you don’t even want to know how long it’s been), and catching up in a few classes. All in all it’s been a great break from my busy traveling schedule. Butttttt no one cares about my boring week so I’m going to tell you about my crazy week…

Last Monday was my 21st birthday, which no one really cares about in Europe, soooo you kind of have to make it a big deal. It was a Monday and we had just gotten back from a long weekend in Paris so everyone was kind of exhausted, including myself. All I really wanted for my birthday was sushi and to get a little drunk (I mean it was my 21st). Then I found out that the last home hockey game for Prague’s team was that night and they were apparently in the playoffs. Soooo we rounded up a whole crew and went to the hockey game. I don’t really understand hockey in America so going in Prague where everyone is 20x more obsessed with it was really entertaining. One thing that confused me is Prague’s team is “Slavia.” I don’t know if the Czechs remember that time that they broke up with half of their country and one became Slovakia and the other became the Czech Republic…I’m sure there’s more to the story but I just found it odd. Allie was the only one that had been to a hockey game in Prague before and the first time she went she sat in the fan section which I’m sure was an overwhelming experience. They did all these weird chants all in Czech and it was just entertaining for those who had no clue what they were saying. The hockey arena was really cool, it reminded me of the PNC Arena in Raleigh with all of the concession stands and what not. We drank a lot of beer and cheered when everyone else cheered because it seemed appropriate. 

Then the hockey game ended and we went and got sushi. Sushi in Prague can sometimes be sketchy so I did a lot of research before making a reservation. Allie and I split three rolls and they were all really good!! Unfortunately there aren’t really any pictures from my birthday. Jane brought her camera out and was supposed to be the documenter of events since I did that for her and Allie on their bday but no photos were snapped…I’m a little bitter, if you can’t tell. My birthday was fun but no one carded me and it’s not like buying alcohol is a big deal either soooo I’ve decided that when I get back to America I’m having another party. 

Last week was also the week that we had to finish our costumes. Our photoshoot was on Thursday so everyone was racing to the finish line to get those things done. My top had all these spots that I had to sew on it and of course, like I do with every project, I underestimated how long those things actually take and I was up pretty late the night before the shoot trying to get it done. It eventually got finished and the next day was our photoshoot day!

We were supposed to have the photo shoot outside but since it’s so cold it didn’t happen. A few posts ago, I went on and on about how happy I was and the sun was shining and spring was in the air, blah blah blah. Well, yeah, that didn’t last long. I’m still happy, but I’m cold too. Apparently this March in Prague was the coldest March in 200 years. I’m not making this up, Lucie heard it on the news. The coldness issue is starting to get to me…it snowed on Easter. IT SNOWED ON EASTER. Mother Nature is an evil skank. I’ve been checking the weather though, I think we’re about to turn a corner here. In the next week, the temperature is slowly rising from 30s to HOPEFULLY 50s by next weekend. If you are reading this, I have one request, please send some good vibes into the universe for me in hopes that the weather man inside of my iPhone isn’t wrong. 

Anyways so since we couldn’t shoot outside, they rented out this big ballroom space for us and it was really cool. We all got our makeup professionally done. Jane did my hair…it was very giraffey, I loved it. 

The photo shoot was extremely fun, like too fun. If I could just lose some poundage and get my picture taken for the rest of my life, that would be ideal, butttt I’m too much of a foodie for that. I’ve been waiting for the photos to be edited to do this post but the photography students don’t have to have them edited until Monday sooo you and I both are just going to have to wait until then to see them. I do have a few pics from it though…just some that I took with my own camera, but here’s your sneak peek!

There was legitimate lighting, fans (for windblown hair), and hugeee cameras…such a fun experience…

Jane, Miranda (our great photographer) and I snuck out onto the rooftop to take some outdoor pics. I’m really excited to see how those turn out but for now here’s a pic that Jane instagrammed. 

Some peeps saw us doing this and then tried to go out there and take some pics after us but they got in trouble…hehe, ya snooze, ya lose. 

And no dress up day would be complete without some roomie selfies…

After the shoot, a group of like 6 of us went to lunch. Now we were in our street clothes but the hair and makeup from the shoot was still intact. Granted, we looked ridiculous. People were SO confused. We went to this place called The Globe that serves American brunch/lunch and it was soooooo good. I got a buffalo chicken sandwich and accidentally ate the whole thing…I accidentally eat a lot of things here. Then we went back to the pension and took a longgggggg nap. It was just Jane and I on the way back and people were really staring now…I just sat on the metro with my little giraffe antlers and weird makeup, sporting my yoga pants and Nike’s and made a lot of Czech people feel uncomfortable. It was great. 

That’s all for now…Na shledanou!!!

french brats

Hello again! Sorry I haven’t updated in so long I’ve been soooo busy with school and traveling that I really haven’t had a moment to breathe and blog. 

Two weekends ago my whole studio went on a school trip to Paris. Lucie (our sweet adopted Czech grandmother/studio professor), Andrea, our fashion illustration professor, and Anael, the assistant director of our school were our “chaperones.” We started the trip on Thursday morning at 5:00 AM and got to Paris around 12ish. This trip was kind of funny because we had chaperones…all of which are mothers or grandmothers. I don’t think they realized that we are all 21 years old or higher and have done a bit of traveling on our own. We got more instruction on how to get around Paris on the metro/other public transportation than we did when we first got to Prague. Everywhere we went they were constantly doing head counts and we had to keep our “buddy” with us at all times. The supervision was just short of being one of those kids in the Wilson Mall with a leash. It was kind of nice though because every move we made was planned and we didn’t have to think about it or do any of the organizing. 

This trip was Paris on crack. We did/saw everything you could in Paris in a really short amount of time, so that meant there was very little free time. This is a traveling style that isn’t really my style. I felt like we saw EVERYTHING but didn’t have time to actually SEE anything. When I travel on my own terms I see the things I want to see and if I want to explore and learn more about something I’ll spend more time at the things I find interesting. For example, since it is a Fashion studio, Lucie found it necessary to walk down the entirety of Avenue Montaigne and stop at every single store front and look at every single display and talk about it in her slowwwww czech-english, chenglish and then we’d move verrrryyyy slow to the next store 10 ft away. Here are some of the displays I liked…

The best part was when she made us all gather around and take pics in front of some of the stores. We went to Chanel and stood outside, all 20 of us, and we just looked in the windows for a good ten minutes while all of the security guards and fabulous people inside looked at us like we were super bourgeoisie. Lucie then proceeded to make us stand in front of the Chanel sign and take a class photo…this was almost as bad as when my Dad would come to GFS awards ceremonies and make me take a picture holding all of my Honor Roll certificates or whatever they were when I was way too old to be taking that picture. 

That first day after Avenue Montaigne, we walked down the Champs-Elysees and saw the Arc de Triomphe. We then went under the Arc which was pretty cool. 

Oh, I forgot to mention one crucial factor and the reason for the this post’s title. Paris was incredibly cold. The weather forecast said that Paris that weekend was supposed to be 60s and partly cloudy. Since I am used to 30 degrees and snowing all the time I thought that 60 degrees and cloudy sounded amazing. We got there and realized it was cloudy but not anywhere close to 60 degrees. Since I was so excited for “warm weather” I didn’t pack any type of jacket. All I had to provide me with warmth was that blue sweater, a cardigan and my denim shirt. Friday and Saturday, were not as bad but Thursday and Sunday we were miserably cold. It was probably the only time that I ever wished that I could wear my huge shelter black coat. 

Then we went to this really cool art space that housed a ton of cool installation art and had a bunch of Parisian hipsters hanging out. They had a photo booth that printed out old fashioned black and white strips of pictures soooo Jane and I had to do it. I’ll post those pics later because they’re quite cute if I do say so myself. 

Then we went to see the Eiffel Tower which was a lot bigger than I had imagined. That night we had free time for dinner. We went to fondue restaurant which was the most disgustingly delicious experience. We all filled up on different types of cheese covered bread and potatoes, and wine…a well balanced meal if you will. 

The next day we toured around more fashion houses…and when I say tour I mean stand on the sidewalk and look inside, awkwardly. Then we went to the most magical place on Earth, the Galeries Lafayette. It is a huge department store that has every designer imaginable. All I got was a pair of tights but still it was an amazing place. An added plus was the awesome food court on the top floor. They had a cafeteria Parisian style…soooo it was an amazing gourmet buffet.  

This is Jane and I on the roof top deck of Lafayette. 

After that we began our museum stints. We went first to the Museum of Decorative Arts and saw an exhibit called “Fashioning Fashion” about fashions from the early 16th to 19th centuries. It was pretty cool. All of the mannequins hair styles were super intricate and they were made from tissue paper. Obviously I really paid close attention to the “fashion” part. Just kidding, I really did enjoy it but my ADD really kicked in when it came to that crazy hair. After that exhibit we had free time. The Louvre on Fridays is free for anyone under 26 so we took advantage of that. Honestly, we were exhausted from all the walking and planned activity and the Louvre is HUGE sooooo we hit the big sights and then went back to our hostel and passed out. 

Saturday we met up with Anael’s Mom who is a tour guide in Paris and she showed us all around Montmarte. This is the area of Paris that probably comes to mind when you think of “parisian.” It has all of the little sidewalk cafes with all fo the natives starring at you as your walk by and lots of market fruit and flower shops. This is also where a lot of well known artists were living when they got their start, such as Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh, and Matisse. We toured all around and walked a lot and then we found a carousel, so we rode it. I forgot to mention, during this entire trip Jane was super sick…well she still is really sick. She has a nasty cough and cold that will not go away. Soooo after the carousel ride and lunch, Jane went back to the hostel to rest because she was feeling so crummy and since we couldn’t go anywhere with out our buddies…I went with her and got to take a much needed nap, soooo score. 

That night we met up with our friends Kate Gray and Carlee Dempsey at a really good burger and beer bar and then we went out with them that night. We frolicked around Paris and had a great time singing karaoke. The fiasco that occurred once we tried to get home is another reason for the title of this post. Public transportation in Paris stops at 12 therefore the only way to get home after 12 is 1. you wait until sunrise when transportation starts back up, 2. you take a cab, 3. you walk. I refused to do 1 and 3 so the obvious choice was take a cab. Okay. I am convinced that all cab drivers in Paris are corrupt. I literally stood on the sidewalk for about an hour trying to hail a cab in the freezing cold at a not fun hour of the night. Most cabs had their vacancy light on and they wouldn’t stop. I guess I was feeling pretty gutsy because if the cab slowed down for a traffic light I would literally chase it down and bang on the window and be super bratty/demanding about 1. why they wouldn’t give us a ride and 2. if they wouldn’t give us a ride then they had to tell me how to get a cab in this stupid city. We walked all over to different streets and corners that “supposedly” would be abundant with cab drivers willing to take us home. Then we came to terms that no one would ever stop for us and we were just going to have to walk 2 miles back to our hostel….not my shining moment. I wouldn’t speak to Jane because I was so mad she was making me walk and I legitimately threw a 4 yr old temper tantrum. This is something we both laughed about the next morning but at the moment I was not laughing. We did finally find a cab and as Jane was asking him if he would give us a ride home I just hopped in the cab and didn’t really give him a choice in the matter….it worked out in our favor.

Sunday was our departure day but we still had a few more things to see. We went to Notre Dame..which unfortunately we couldn’t go in because it was super crowded for Palm Sunday but it was an awesome sight. We also went across the bridge to the islands and saw another fashion exhibit about mannequins and modeling. After the exhibit was over and we were waiting for everyone to reconvene, Tori and I may have fallen asleep leaning against a wall and a lot of people took pictures….whoops. For lunch we broke off from the group and went to this little cafe for our last French meal. Jane and I both ordered what we thought was going to be a regular salad with some chicken on it but we were so wrong. We both got the most beautiful salad we had ever seen. It was almost too pretty to eat. Its color scheme is probably going to be the inspiration for my next studio project in the states, that’s how pretty it was. It also had things that I wouldn’t think of putting together on a salad. It had strawberries, avocado, grapefruit, cantaloupe, tomatoes, chicken salad, all on a bed of lettuce with a sweet dressing..it’s making my mouth water just thinking about it. 

That’s all for now folks…I’ll post some more pics from the Louvre and Montmartre tomorrow when my internet is working better but for now I have to tend to my nightly routine of watching Friends until I fall asleep with my roomie. 

Nashledanou!

The sun will come out…TODAY

So this week the cold has really been getting to me and I’ve been suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder…okay not really BUT I feel like Prague always just has a cloud hanging over it. BUT TODAY THE SUN CAME OUT. Today is the first day of spring, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, it was like 45 degrees, which is sunbathing weather compared to what we’re used to, AND the Easter Markets are open in Old Town Square!!!!! The Easter Markets are probably the happiest things to ever happen to Prague. Everyone stops being a grumpy, communist victim and they slap a freaking smile on. IT’S GREAT. So today I skipped through Old Town and sang…I didn’t care if people thought I was crazy because that’s how happy I am. My life is great, the sun is shining and it’s just gonna keep on shining which makes me even happier.

This week was also especially great because Allie and I legitimately sat down and planned out the rest of our travels for my remaining time. We’ve got some SUPER exciting things on the schedule AND it’s all booked! So I don’t have to worry about it anymore…but now what am I going to do in class when I’m day dreaming…..just kidding, I always pay attention…..yeah, just kidding again. Just for jealousy purposes and because I’m so elated with my life I’m going to post my travel schedule.

This weekend, I’m going to Paris with school.

The next weekend is Easter and I’m going to Rome with Allie and Nan. Staying right outside of the Vatican City walls…so cool, right???

Then the second weekend of April, Allie and I are going to Budapest.

The next weekend we’re going to Barcelona and we get to see our sweet, precious friends Bailey Booher, Jordan Team AND (hopefully) Allie Mac!!!!

Then my program ends and everyone (Jane) leaves the 28th and I’m going to stay with Allie for a night and then we’re going to Split, Croatia for 5 days!!!!! I’m hoping this trip will have lots of hiking, swimming etc adventures like the Greece trip. What a great way to end my time in Europe!

And then Monday, May 6th I’M COMING BACK TO THE GREAT US OF A!

I think I’m just the luckiest girl in the whole world.