Macklin Comes to Prague!!

This past week has probably been one of the best weeks of my life. It probably has something to do with the fact that someone I love so much came all the way to Europe to visit me in the beautiful city I now call home. After two very long months apart, Mack finally made it here to share some of the experiences that I have been fortunate enough have here in Prague.

In Front of St. Vitus Cathedral

On his first night here, the two of us went to dinner at a restaurant with one of the most beautiful views that I know. We ate on a boat right on the water, with big glass windows that capture the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. On Wednesday I had class in the morning and late afternoon, however Mack was lucky enough to be able to come to my morning class, Art and Architecture. It just so happened that for Wednesday’s class we had a planned trip to visit the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, so I basically got to turn my class into a date, it was perfect. After walking the castle grounds, a group of us went to lunch right on the Vltava River. It was absolutely gorgeous out. Later that night, we all went out and Mack got to experience his first Prague club, where there is a lot of fist pumping and a lot of lights.

Cruising down the Vltava River

Thursday had to have been my favorite day during Mack’s visit. Because I had no class, we spent the entire day basking in the beautiful weather. We enjoyed the jazz music while walking across the Charles Bridge, visited the Lennon Wall, and made a stop at the fence covered in love locks. This fence has locks the couples have put on from years ago. We decided we wanted to be a part of this romantic tradition, so we eagerly purchased a lock and added it to the collection ourselves. Later that afternoon we began the 21^st birthday festivities for our friend Phil. Although his birthday wasn’t until that Saturday, we somehow managed to celebrate is birthday for about three days in a row. The first of the celebrations started with a boat cruise up and down the Vltava River. The experience was so much fun, and we couldn’t have been in a more gorgeous location. It honestly seemed as though life couldn’t get more perfect as we rode back and forth under the Charles Bridge during sunset. We all had such a blast and it is something I will never forget.

Having lunch in front of the Charles Bridge

The following day Mack and I decided to hit up the Prague Zoo, which happens to be ranked as one of the top zoos in Europe. We basically spent the entire day there because there was so much to see. One of the most… interesting experiences we had while we were there was when we decided to visit inside the nightlife exhibit. Everything in the room was dark (obviously) and as we were walking though the exhibit we noticed a dark figure pass behind us. Neither of us really knew what it was and we both figured it was just something added for effect, so we continued walking. Next thing we knew, live bats were flying around us, WAY too close for comfort. I screamed as one came out of no where and flew right in front of my face and we both booked it out of there as quickly as possible.  Each exhibit after that, we were cautious to make sure there were no while animals on the loose.

In front of the Lennon wall

On Sunday night, Dani’s mom Lisa, who was visiting for the week, took Mack, my roommates, and me out to a nice Czech restaurant. We all shared delicious food and enjoyed each other’s company until the night was over. The following day was Mack’s last day and in the morning, he, Lisa, Dani, and I took a private tour of Terazin, a concentration camp that was mainly used as propaganda during WWII. While Terazin was not specifically a death camp, it was eerie to walk the same grounds as thousands of tortured prisoners, where many thousands died solely from being over worked, malnutrition, and often shootings. The most chilling experience for me was being able to walk inside the crematorium and the prison cells where people were held for ransom and torture. While the tour was a very heavy and depressing one, there are endless stories and knowledge about the Holocaust to be shared. I took so much away from this experience and I so appreciative I was able to go.

The lock we added to the fence!

That night Mack and I went out for his final dinner in Prague. As sad as I was, I don’t think we could have had a better night. We ate outside at a beautiful Italian restaurant that had a perfect view of Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock. Not only was the dinner and atmosphere amazing, but I could not have asked for someone better to share it with. Monday night was the perfect closing to an amazing week. 

Istanbul: Carpets, Baklava, and... Cats?

The Blue Mosque

Last weekend I experienced a country that was completely different than anything I had ever seen before. Istanbul, Turkey is a city that is filled with so much energy, culture, stray CATS and above all, tradition. After sharing the city of Prague for two months now, with locals who are so reserved to the point that they barely pay you any mind, I was in shock at how open and friendly everyone in Istanbul was. On the bus ride over, our tour guide Ava warned us about how hectic things can get there; Us girls should expect to be hollered at and everyone with be heckled. She also gave us a heads up about the bargaining there. I believe her words were, "If you think it's rude, get over it. Bargaining is fun for them." So that’s exactly what I had to do, get over it. I figured I would lower my prices more and more each day as I got more confident with the routine (bargaining isn’t really my thing).  The first thing we did when we got to Turkey was check into our hotel. The rooms were small, but cozy, and the building we were in was an old Turkish hotel made from wood. We were right in the heart of the city. One of the first things I noticed as soon as we stepped off the bus, was that we were surround by cats. Dani was having a bit of a panic attack considering she isn’t a big fan of them, and their numbers seemed to be growing by the minute. I was easily won over by their charm however, and I thought it was adorable to see them roaming the streets. 

I was surprised to see how much religion and tradition still existed in this city. The majority of women were still wearing head coverings and every few hours the chilling sound of prayers would be played over the loud speaker, ringing throughout the entire city. As the calls for prayer were played, people would stop what they were doing and head toward a mosque to pray 5 times a day. Some people even stopped what they were doing, got down where they were, and prayed facing in the proper direction. Their dedication was pretty unbelievable. As religious and traditional as some of the people may have been there, I have never met a friendlier group of people. Everyone wanted to be your friend and joke around with you. I was surprised at how amazed and excited locals would get when we would tell them we’re from America. They would always try to relate to us by telling us how it is their dream to go to California, or how they have a cousin (probably 3 times removed at least) living in Chicago. Regardless, we were constantly making friends with the people surrounding us, and I’ve never had so much fun meeting and conversing with new people.

Dani and I in front of the Blue Mosque

Learning the traditional dance

The first tour that we had in Turkey was visiting the Blue Mosque. This was such an interesting and unique experience because it was the one mosque we went into where women were not allowed to show their hair. For this reason, all of us girls were required to wear some sort of headscarf. Even the girls whose pants were considered to be too tight were told to wrap skirts around their bodies. As soon as I walked in, I could feel the sacredness of my surroundings. Men were up toward the front, praying in the direction of Mecca, what is regarded to be the holiest city in Islam. The lights were low and the mosaics were intricately done. It was so great getting to visit this mosque, especially while people were actively praying inside of it. Later that night a few of us wandered the streets to experience what Istanbul is all about. Of course, our first destination of the night revolved around food. Our tour guide had recommended the best Baklava store in the city, which is saying a lot considering almost every other store sells Baklava. Needless to say, I discovered a new favorite dessert. Each piece is rich and moist with honey and every bite melts in your mouth. After weaving our way in and out of stores, we finally picked a place to eat dinner (which was pretty hard to do since apparently every restaurant in Turkey has “the best prices in town”). At dinner Dani and I decided to try a traditional Turkish cuisine. We started off with a huge pita pocket that was served to the table and followed it up with some chicken and vegetable shish kabobs. The meal was so flavorful, we absolutely loved it! After dinner a few of us wandered around, in search of a traditional Turkish hookah bar; that took all of two minutes to find. When we decided on which one to go to we were led upstairs to a room filled with colorfully detailed pillows and rugs. All of the waiters were beyond friendly, to the point where they would sit down and have drinks with us. It seemed as though everyone there was friends with one another. Eventually, the waiter had Steph and me up and out of our seats to try and teach us a traditional Turkish dance. After listening to the song on repeat and going through the moves about 10 times, we just about got the first step down. It was a nice attempt, I guess. The night continued with dancing, singing, and tons of laughter.

Trying Baklava!

The following day our tour guide took us to visit the Hagia Sophia. It was absolutely stunning. The Hagia Sophia is one of the oldest mosques and is the only mosque with five pillars. The inside was huge and it was hard to keep my eyes off of its gorgeous gold mosaics. Because there was so much detail to look at inside the mosque, it took up a good majority of our day. After visiting the mosque, we went to the Sultan’s Palace, which blew my mind. The grounds were huge and every detail was gorgeous, including the crown jewels of course. Later that night, a handful of girls in our program decided to experience the traditional Turkish baths. Let me just say, we did not know what we were in for. Dani and I figured that it would be normal for women to be topless, but we were not expecting everyone to be, including the masseuses. Dani and I couldn’t hold back smiles and giggles as a husky old Turkish woman guided us into the bathing area, but not before ripping her top off herself. As we walked into the steam rooms, we were surprised to see how unorthodox everything was (for our culture at least), but it was such an amazing experience. It was definitely unlike anything I have every experienced before, and it has become such an awesome memory for all of us.

Walking through the outdoor markets

Saturday morning, we visited the Basilica Cistern, the cistern located underneath the Istanbul grounds. This cistern provided a water filtration system for the entire city. Walking across the water through the enormous columns was so dark and serene. After visiting the cistern, we all went to visit the Bazaar shops. This was an indoor marketplace with hundreds of vendors trying to sell you tons of merchandise. This is where I got to practice my bargaining the most. Even though I wasn’t great at it, I eventually got the hang of it and I had a ton of fun playing around. After getting lost in shopping for a couple of hours, Dani and I decided to take another adventure, not before stopping for a Doner Kabob obviously. 

Inside the Hagia Sophia

Since Istanbul is the only city located on two continents (Europe and Asia), Dani and I decided to take a boat ride to the side over in Asia. There was next to nothing there, however it was cool just to be able to say we have been to Asia. Later that night we went to the modern “21^st century” part of Istanbul, which seemed like a completely different world compared to where we were staying before. The nightlife was active and music was playing everywhere. It was such a fun night and so interesting to experience a completely different way of living compared to the traditional area of the city. We spent our last night here, taking in as much more of Turkey as we could. This was such an amazing country and I hope to be able to go back one day!

Belgium... Just Sensational!

Soo, embarrassingly enough I have managed to go over a month without updating my blog. To those of you who are avid followers (aka my mom and about 3 others), my apologies. I will do my best to catch you up on what has been going on in my fantasy world here in Europe, and I'll start with Belgium. About three weeks ago, my three roommates and I hopped on a plane beyond excited to be heading to Brussels. The only reason we were really traveling to Belgium in the first place was because of a huge concert called Sensation White. None of us really knew much about the country, besides that fact that we were planning on stuffing our faces with waffles and chocolates. When we first arrived, we struggled with the transportation system, seeming that it was a little different than what we are used to in Prague. But by combining the brains of four college students, we eventually managed to make our way out of the metro station and up into the open air of Brussels. 

The first thing we did when we got there was check out our hostel. Considering that this was my first hostel experience, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not as bad as some of the horror stories I had heard before. Luckily for my roommates and I, we were set up with a room consisting of only four bunks, so we were able to have more privacy with just the four of us being in one room.  The hostel was filled with friendly people from around the world, most of them being about our age. It seemed as though every person ages 18-30 had the same plans and excitement as we did to go to Sensation White. This only made us that much more excited for the concert on the following night. 

After scoping out the hostel, our roommate Steph had a mutual friend who has lived in Brussels for about 12 years now. She called him up and him and his friend drove over to pick us up from the hostel and show us around Brussels. We were so lucky to have our own personal tour guides, not to mention it makes a huge difference when they are peers. The two guys showed us all the hot spots around Brussels and gave us their personal experiences on what it was like living in a country with next to no government. We immediately headed for the city where I completely fell in love. Brussels was far succeeding my expectations with every corner we turned. The streets were filled with people, vendors, the most mouth watering waffles I have ever seen, and of course... chocolate on every corner. The entire town smelled of sweets. Needless to say, we were all in heaven. The first stop we made after walking around was to Delirium Café. Here they have the Guinness Book World Record for the most amounts of beers. With 2,004 different options (yes, I said 2,004), we each managed to try some beers that we’d fall in love with. The most popular amongst all of us seemed to be the fruit flavored beers. We tried everything from mango beer to coconut. It was way too delicious and so much fun! After Delirium we visited an old train station that was eventually turned into a bar. The atmosphere was very unique and I absolutely loved being there. Later that night, our friends from Belgium took us out to all the hot spots for the night scene. Little did I know that Belgium could be even more beautiful at night. Everything was lit up with colorful lights and the nightlife was thriving. We all had such a great time socializing and meeting new people.

Neuhaus Chocolates.. so yummy!

The following day was the day we had been waiting for since we bought our tickets in December. It was finally time for SENSATION. The theme for this concert was to dress in all white so we had our outfits and accessories ready, hopped on the train and headed for Hasselt, the city where the concert took place. This night was probably one of the best times and memories I have had being in Europe so far. Thousands upon thousands of people from around the world filled the venue and the energy was beyond electrifying. The concert started at 9 pm and it didn’t stop until 6 am. We danced so much the ENTIRE night to the point where my calves were sore for the following three days. Not only was it our four roommates who went, but tons of other kids that we knew from Prague and other countries were there as well. It was so much fun getting to share this experience with so many people we love. When the concert was finally over, we made it back to our hotel to have a not so fulfilling three hours of sleep before we had to catch the train back to the airport. As soon as we made it home, we immediately crashed in an attempt to catch up on some sleep. Belgium was a complete success. I was so overjoyed with how much fun I had this weekend, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. My roommates and I spent hours laughing and looking back at all the memories we had made in those short three days. Belgium was easily one of the best weekends I have had so far!!

Sensation White!! 

It's Been Far Too Long...

St. Vitus Cathedral

Hey everyone! So I know it has been far too long since my last post, and since I'm sure you are all just sitting by your computers, waiting for me to update my blog, I will fill you in on everything that I've been up to in the last couple of weeks (if I can even remember that far back).  So on my last day of Czech class (hallelujah) our teachers took us to a theater where we were able to watch an Acadamny Award winning Czech film. Although I've seen movies with subtitles, I had never seen a foreign Czech film before, nor had I ever even considered trying to watch one. Despite my specualtions, I really enjoyed the film! If a movie can make me cry while I am focusing on subtitles at the same time, I consider it a success. That friday I got to experience my very first hockey game! Although I was a little disappointed about the fact that fighting in hockey is illegal here in the Czech Republic, it didn't seem to take away tooo much from the experience. We all had so much fun eating stadium food and attempting to chant for our team in another language. Unfortunately our team lost agains Moravia, but at least Sparta managed to hold their own. On Sunday night, a large group of us (mostly girls) went to go see the ballet Copellia in a beautiful baroque theather. The dancing and costumes were amazing and I found the ballet to be much more entertaining than the opera. Some of us have even been looking into buying tickets for Swan Lake in a couple of weeks.

Inside the Ballet Theater

After a great weekend, classes finally started. As interesting as some of my courses may be, I find it a little difficult to concentrate when my classrooms have the most amazing views of the castle. The scenery outside the windows definitely makes for some excellent daydreaming though. For one of my favorite classes, Art and Architecture, we basically spent the first day of class walking around Old Town Square and discussing the architecture as we saw it. Being able to learn outside of the classroom makes everything so much more interesting and hands on. After a "grueling" three days of class, my weekend started on Wednesday and the adventures began.

Hanging out at the Castle!

On friday, Dani and I decided to take an adventure and explore one of Prague's most beautiful sites, the Prague Castle. The weather was absolutely beautiful and only continues to get better as we come closer to spring. Before we went up to the castle, Dani and I stopped for lunch at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in Prague. It is on a boat that is docked right on the river next to the Charles Bride, with an amazing view of the castle. Once we finished lunch we hiked up to the castle just to walk around in awe of its beauty. We sipped on hot wine as we looked out onto the city, feeling like we were on top of the world. We then decided to go to the top of the St. Vitus Cathedral, because apparently where we were jsut wasn't high up enough for us. Well, after 10 minutes of panting up a spiral staircase, and 3 rest stops later, we finally made it to the very top. The view was breathtaking... literally. We could see for miles on end and it felt as though we were looking over all of Prague. It was definitely worth our burning leg muscles to make it up there.

View from the top of the Cathedral

Yesterday (Saturday) was another amazing day as well. As the weather slowly gets warmer and warmer (and by warmer I mean 35 degrees), the tourists continue to come flooding in. Each weekend here gets more and more crowded with people from all over the world. As much as I love kind of having the city to ourselves during the weeks, I love the energy that all of the different people bring on the weekends. Old Town Square was filled with musicians, food vendors, and even jesters juggling with knives (sketchy...). The thought of being inside on such a beautiful day was an impossible one, so Dani and I, clearly attatched at the hip, decided to cross the Charles Bridge in an attempt to explore what is on the other side. There we discovered a charming little bookstore and the perfect ledge to take our books to read. The ledge is right next to the river, with a backdrop of the Charles Bridge and jazz music playing in the background. To put it simply, its perfect. I can't even begin to describe how much I love it here. Prague is such a beautiful city with so much charm and history that can be seen in both its architecture and its people. I am so fortunate that I will be able to share this experience with Mack in only three weeks!! I am counting down the days and I can't wait!

Here's to a Fabulous Weekend!

We had to do it!

View from the Charles Bridge

So this weekend marks the end to my first full week of Czech intensive class. And let me just say that when they refer to the course as being "intensive", they weren't kidding around. 5 hours a day, 5 days a week... its a whole lot of Czech. As painful as it is to be sitting in a classroom knowing that during those 5 hours you could be exploring one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the teachers ease our pain by taking us on the occasional field trip. In the first week we got to watch the astronomical clock go off at the hour, see an exibit of Czech legends at the National Museum, and visit the National Gallery. So I guess I can't complain TOO much. Unfortunately I have a test tomorrow, so it looks like I am going to have to be a real person for the first time in 2 months and actually sit down to study... yawn. Only one more week of Czech intensive though until my more than ideal class schedule starts. And by ideal I mean class just three days a week. It doesn't get more perfect than that. Oh wait, it does. My weekend these past couple of days was absolutely perfect. Starting on Thursday, I got to experience my very first opera, Mozart's Magic Flute. The opera house was stunning and so intricately decorated. While the perfomance was beautifully done, I am not sure that I will be going to another opera anytime soon. It may have to do with the fact that I was seated directly behind a pole, so actually getting to watch the performance required a little more effort than I was willing to put in. Regardless, I really enjoyed the experience and I am so happy I went. On Friday night everyone went out with a bang and we danced our heads off to classics for club Lucerna's 80s themed night. On Saturday, Dani and I went to Old Town Square to eat breakfast/lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Bohemia Bagel. Sooo yummy!

Spray painting the Lennon Wall

Inside the Opera House

After that, we met up with Kara, a sorority sister of mine who was visiting from Rome. It was so nice and comforting getting to see a familiar face from home! We all lucked out that it was a beautiful sunny day, so of course we took full advantage of it and spent the entire day outside. We walked across the Charles Bridge, explored the cobblestone streets, and we finally got to see the Lennon Wall. Because it was the weekend and the tourists were rolling deep, the town was energetic and full of culture. Jazz bands were playing out in the streets and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The Lennon Wall was definitely a highlight of that day.
The colors of the wall were so vibrant and loud (which of course makes for a great photo shoot)! We took endless pictures next to each of its unique spots, and spent time reading the thousands of layered on spray painted quotes and doodles. We even got to add to the wall ourselves which was a pretty awesome experience. Dani and I added our initials so we will forever be on the Lennon Wall in Prague, along with millions of others who have helped to make this wall what it is. I probably could have explored the city for hours on end that day, but I didn't want to cram it all in at once, I have plenty of time. So I said goodbye to Kara and headed home for the day with a huge grin on my face. This was one of the first days that we have really had to ourselves to explore Prague without having any class, meetings, or planned excursions. I felt that on Saturday I was really able to take everything in and marvel at the fact that I am living in such an amazing place. It was such a good feeling. Today was a very good day as well, just in a different way. It was cold and snowy out, weather that screams sweats, hot chocolate, and movies. Sooo, that is exactly what Dani and I did. Exhausted after a long weekend, we decided to spend the second half of the day inside for some cozy R&R and we caught up on all of our TV shows. It was exactly what I needed. All in all, I'd say this weekend was a pretty successul one. I can't wait for more to come!

The Hidden Pearls of Moravia

I know I haven't updated this blog in quite a few days, so bare with me and I'll catch you up on the last few days of my life. On Friday morning, a group of about 20 of us went to Moravia, which is about 3 hours east of Prague. After visiting a couple of beautiful churches along the way, we finally got to our hotel, which in comparison to our hotel in Munich, was pure luxury. Not only was there plenty of space to function and walk around in each room, but the hotel came equipped with a bowling alley, spa, and a menu that was to die for! (aka I was finally able to get a piece of salmon haha) Anyway, the first night we were there we took a 40 minute bus ride to a family owned wine cellar to have dinner and go wine tasting. The room we were set up in was absolutely beautiful and charming! We were all encased in a brick tunnel with good food, good company, and bottomless pitchers of both red and white wine. After we polished off our meals (and more wine than one needs at dinner), we went down into the cellars for even more wine! Here we tasted different kinds of Czech wines, both red and white, along with some good cheese. Once we were done tasting all of the wine, we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. The following day we took a tour of the city center, visited St. Paul and St. Peter's Cathedral (stunning), and even got to walk on the bloodsoaked battlefield where Napoleon led the French against the Austrians and Russians. Being on the actual battlefield where the war took place was a pretty awesome experience. When we finished our tour of the city center, we called it quits for the day and went back to our hotel for a relaxing dinner. Sunday, our last day in Moravia, has probably been one of the highlights of my trip so far. We started off the morning by getting to see one of the most beautiful baroque churches in Europe, a church that was nicknamed "The pearl of Moravia" for a reason. Because it was a Sunday morning, we walked in in the middle of a communion. The combination of the architecture, pipe organ, and chanting sent chills down my spine- an eerie, yet beautiful combination.

Once we left the church, we headed to the Moravian Karst, a system of underground caves known to be ranked among the most beautiful areas in Central Europe. Getting to walk through these caves was probably one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. After we toured the caves by foot, we got into little boats and took them through the underground water areas. It was like a mixture of the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean all in one, only cooler! (hard to believe, I know.) After the caves, we had a quick lunch and then drove back on the bus to Prague.

By the time we got home, we all got ready to go to an American bar and watch the Superbowl! Keep in mind that kick off Prague time wasn't even until 12:30 am so needless to say it was a late night. Then after only a few hours of sleep, Dani and I woke up bright and early for our very first Czech class! The 4 hours and 45 minutes seemed to go by pretty quickly considering I spent basically the entire class laughing at the sound of everyone attempting to speak Czech. It is a pretty hard language to learn. Once class was over, Dani and I went straight for the gym, our first official day of being members of World Fitness! It felt so good to finally have some routine in the day again. Anyway, tomorrow will probably consist of the same routine :) Hope all is well!!

The Little Town of Pilsen

Hey everyone! Today was a really good day, very educational, very interesting, and very, very cold. Starting bright and early at 8:30 in the morning, a group of us took an hour drive to tour the small town of Pilsen. We started off by getting to experience and walk through the third largest synagogue in the world! Something that really caught my attention was that this gorgeous synagogue is no longer being used, due to the fact that there are almost no Jews left in Pilsen because they were one of the first communities to be wiped out by the Nazis. After we toured the synagogue, we went to the main square for a traditional Czech meal. Yep you guessed it, goulash AGAIN!! Just as we had finally defrosted ourselves, we came back outside to treck to the famous Pilsner Brewery (the same one we stopped at on the way to Prague.) This time however, we got to tour the actual factory which was pretty damn cool. It was like the Willy Wonka factory for beer! We got to learn about the process of making the "perfect beer"and what to look for in its taste and color. We even got to go deep down into the cold cellars and taste fresh beer from the barrels. It was cold, crisp and delcious! After a long, yet fulfulling day, we were all eager to get back on the heated bus and head back home. Tomorrow will be another tour, but this time we will be going to a bone church, which should be pretty awesome. I will update you all on that next! Can't wait.

Down in the beer cellars

Prague at Last..

After three long days of travel and having explored London and some of Munich (mostly the beer gardens), we finally made it to Prague. It was about a 5-6 hour bus ride that inquired plenty of entertainment by one of the staff members named Z. He is a wise old czeck man (the cutest) with plenty of knowledge to share about his life during the communist years. He taught us a few basic Czeck words along the way, and let me just say, the language is a bit of a struggle. But we make a sad attempt at it anyway in order to be polite. On our way into Prague we stopped at one of the largest and most famous brewerys in Prague called Pilsner, just near the border next to Germany. Their beer is known to be some of the best in the world and I can say I agree. I also decided to branch out in my food choices.. for once in my life.. and decided to try the goulash and dumplings, upon Z's request. Surprisingly, I loved it! But it was definitely what I would call a hearty meal, a meal that could put enough meat on my bones to keep me warm all winter. After we finished our three course traditional meals at Pilsner, we got back on the bus and continued our journey to Prague.

Dani and I in the middle of the Old Town

When we finally got there, I was relieved to see that the dorms were not as small or horribly communist looking as I had convinced myself they would be. And not to worry everyone, I found plenty of room to put all my clothes... PHEW. After a decent nights rest, we all woke up to finally tour the Old Town of Prague. I can honestly say that I felt as though I were walking through a set from the movies or Disneyland or something. As corny as it may sound, I had a wave of chills come over me as soon as I saw that first glimpse of the Prague Castle... and no, it wasn't because of the 20 degree weather. Everywhere you look in the Old Town, you can just sense the history, it is endless. From the narrow, cobblestone streets to the gothic style castles, the sites are breathtaking. After a long day of oohing and aweing through the ancient streets, we managed to figure out the tram system and make our way back to the dorms. We were all pretty exhausted after today, so a handful of us decided it would be a good idea to have a layed back night and just relish at a nice dinner with good food and wine. Tomorrow we have a few more meetings, but I defintely plan on checking out the Charles Bridge, one of the most beautiful and famous spots in all of Prague. I can't wait!!!

A group of us in front of the Astronomical Clock

Chip Chip Cheerio

London Bridge!!

Soo I haven't been the best with keeping up with my blog but getting internet here has been impossible. After a 9 hour flight that was surprisingly not so torturous, we finally made it to London. As soon as we got settled into our hotel, we mosied out and managed to find ourselves situated in a charming British pub as soon as possible, something that seemed to be a continous theme for the next couple of days. London was such a blast, and everything from the double decker buses to the telephone booths were just like the movies. As tired and jet lagged as we were, a handful of us managed to ralley and go out into the city to experience London's nightlife, and I have to say, it was pretty amazing. For our second day there, we went on a tour to try and experience as much of London as we possibly could in about 3 hours. We got to see Buckingham Palace (unfortunately neither William nor Harry were there) and we also got to see Westminster Abbey. Both were gorgeous and such an awesome experience. After going almost 48 hours exhausted from a lack of sleep, arms sore from fist pumping, we left London with a bang and headed to Munich, Germany. As soon as we arrived in Munich, Dani and I figured it would be smart of us to take a quick nap before our tours, considering we had gone days without sleep. Unfortunately for us, we both managed to sleep through our alarms and missed the entire tour. Oh well, guess we didn't need to see Munich that badly anyway? Luckily, by the time we woke up, everyone was ready to go back out to experience some German sausages and sourcrout. After a big hearty meal with a couple of GINORMOUS glasses of beer to wash dinner down, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our next day. We are finally heading to prague tomorrow by bus and I couldn't be more excited. I am ready to officially call Prague my home for the next four months.