CzechInn the lyfe: Castles, Lennon and Starbucks

Old Town Square

Right now I'm sitting on a coach bus on my way to Prague, I'm only two
hours deep into the trip, and the ride is 12+ hours....This is a bittersweet trip for me, it's my last one while here in Europe. I leave in about 2 and half weeks. I can't believe it. Recently I've been dying to go home. Being abroad makes you realize how much you value the relationships and friends you have at home. Honestly if someone doesn't wanna go home anytime soon then they don't have the kinds of people like I do in my life. Don't get me wrong I've made amazing friends over here but it gets to a point where all you want are the people you love. I've meet great people and have made memories I'll always have. I've seen places I never thought I would and have had the time of my life the past 3 months. But I miss SMC so much and the community there. To anyone who doesn't go to SMC and is reading this and considering, come. Choosing SMC was one of the best decisions in my life and I would do it over and over again. Vermont is a place like no other, people are so laid back and open, coming from Massachusetts it's a nice change.

Looking out into the Old Jewish Cemmetary

View of the Prague Castle

Where to start with this weekend, it's been one hell of a trip that's for sure. For starters I came on this trip alone and ended up meeting up with 3 other girls here in Prague that I go to school with. My bus arrived to my hostel the CzechInn around 9:15 am on Friday morning which wasn't bad timing. After getting some food I headed out to meet up with Liv in the Old Town Square to do some adventuring and grab some Starbucks. Prague was a lot colder than I thought it was going to be but it was nice considering this is like the weather at home which I miss. So on Friday we went to the Jewish quarter of Prague and saw the cemetery where over 12,000 tombstones are but over 100,000 people arr buried. Apparently the graves go about 10 people deep because they ran out of space. It's crazy to think about. We also visited one of the oldest synagogues in the world which was cool but we didn't make it in too far. After that we headed to a huge mall so I could look for an iPhone charger because mine broke a few hours before I was to leave. After spending 900 Czech about 47 American dollars on a new charger I was back in business. We then went and got lunch at an amazing bar. I got a steak and it was mouthwatering, I haven't had a steak since I left the states. Yeah, that's a veryyy long time. After lunch we continued to walk around and headed to the Charles bridge and made our way to the Lennon wall. I wish I had brought some markers with me to leave my own touch. We then went our separate ways to get ready to go out. I faced a little issue when I went to go meet up with Liv that night, I found out that my Italian phone didn't actually have international minutes, yeah that created some chaos for me. I was at the right building but on the other side, I ended up going into a restaurant getting a coke and using the wifi to find Liv. That night we met up with Abby and Allycia and their friend who is studying in Prague to go out. Prague nightlife is apparently crazy, we went to a 5 story club where they played 80's and 90's music, it was awesome. I had a great time minus losing the girls I was with at one point and had to find my way back. Oh and I think I sprained or dislocated my thumb, super awesome….

Just a nice view….

Lennon Wall

Support all the way in Prague #BOSTONSTRONG

On Saturday I didn't wake up till late and wasn't feeling it. To say the least Saturday was a struggle. I met up with Liv around 1:45 and we headed over to see the Prague castle which holds the best view of the city. We got to see a beautiful sunset and take our typical tourist pictures. After we went out to lunch/dinner at a cute Czech place. I got this sautéed chicken in some type of sauce with potatoe pancakes, it was soo good but I struggled to get the food down which sucked. After getting food I headed back to the hostel for the night, yea grandma didn't go out last night. I wouldn't have made it and plus I have a 12 hour bus ride ahead of me. There was no way I was going out. I got back to the hostel showered and got into bed and later on that night I went down to the bar to grab some food, I was finally hungry. After dinner I went to bed and woke up with morning feeling refreshed and ready to go back to Firenze.

Prague Castle

Prague Castle

View from the top

Hands down the greatest pretzel of my life

Prague was an amazing visit, had some down times but it was a trip well worth all the bullshit. Oh and I forgot to mention my 800 Czech fine I got for losing my train ticket on Saturday with liv. The officers was an asshole and super rude.

I'm in the middle of Austria right now and we passing a ski mountain, all I wanna do is go boarding. I'm jealous of you kids back in the states specially all my friends who send me pictures/videos of them boarding but then I just remember that I spent 3 months in Europe traveling causally...ohhh yeah that's right

Goodnight Prague

Chillan with Papa Francis

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon at night with some random lady!

CHEESE PLATE :)

So Thursday morning we left for Rome at 8:30 in the morning a faced about a 4 and a hour a little longer bus ride. Effing miserable, I'm so over buses and traveling at this point. But when we arrived in Rome we checked in got food and headed off to see some sights. We saw the Spanish steps which were cool, but really am not sure why they're are so significant. Maybe because the road in front of them is the most expensive road in Rome, it's like the 5th ave of New York. But along with the Spanish steps we saw the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. All of the sights were really pretty. We saw the Pantheon at night so it was all lit up. After we finished doing the tour about 4 hours later some of the girls and me got apertivo in front of the Pantheon before heading to dinner. It was amazingggg, we got champagne when we arrived there and I got some tasty white wine to accompany a cheese plate followed by a pasta with red sauce and bacon. It was so flavorful and delicious. After dinner we took a taxi back to the hotel because we stayed no where near the center on Rome. I went to bed super early ready for 6+ hours of tours and field trips the next day.

The outside of Saint Peter's Basilica 

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Because a selfie thats totally illegal is of course what I wanted to do 

Friday we woke up at 7:30 to leave for 8:30 to head to see the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basicilla. It was all amazing, every time I enter  churches and buildings so old my mind is blown. The Sistine chapel was beautiful and of course I didn't follow the no picture rule and was snapping away. I even got a selfie with Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling and specifically the part of the painting when God is giving man "will" aka the fingers touching, no big deal. And I'm not sorry for taking all those pictures. After that we had a field trip that lasted "only" three hours according to my fashion teacher, it was miserable and all the girls in the class wanted to kill themselves. It was at Annamoda which is a costume house that provides the costumes(dresses) for all the movies. It was neat to see some dress from Marie Antoinette and many other movies. We met with a famous costume designer there as well. And if I understood correctly, Annamoda is one of the leading costumes houses there is. After we finally got back to the hotel at 6, we went out to dinner and came back. I didn't go out because I didn't want to and there was no way I would be function the next morning.
Saturday we got up and went to the Colosseum, state house, and a church that held Michelangelo's Moses. The Colosseum was unbelievable, I wish I got to watch the gladiators fight back then. Now that would be sick. After seeing those sights I decided not to do the second part of the day seeing more churches but we ended up walking around Rome and eventually came back to the hotel and I took a solid 2 hour nap, followed by dinner and wine and bed.
Sunday I was able to "sleep in" till 9 and we left to go see the Pope talk. Not gonna lie, it was a blessing experience, and amazing to be able to see the Pope talk especially since I'm Catholic. There were so many people freaking out and crying though, it was great for my photo project I'm working on. Whoopsss. After that we headed back to our hotel area and ate at a Japanese place which was bomb. It was so nice to eat food other than Italian, it's getting so old. Now here I am on the bus back to Florence. Where I have to get my butt into gear working on a paper due on Wednesday and I leave for Prague on Thursday night. I have so much that needs to be done. 

The "State house"

Roman Forum with the cutest man ever, Peter <3

Saint Peter's Basilica one of the largest churches in the world

PAPA FRANCIS

Coliseum at night

The Red Light District: A learning experience

I had written a better beginning blog while I was sitting in the lounge the other night but I accidentally deleted it while adding on. Whoops..but to begin to describe Amsterdam I honestly don’t think I can do it justice. Some of this blog was written while in Amsterdam and some when I got back, so it jumps around.

But first off, I went on this trip with 3 of my guy friends Zach, Brett and Nolan, all who are in the same program with me here in Florence.

On Thursday when we arrived in Amsterdam we hit a little bump, Nolan lost his passport. So there was that but most importantly I had an amazing Starbucks when we got off the plane, it was so good, and I’ve missed big coffee over here. But after that ordeal we headed to Amsterdam by train and continued to our hostel by foot. Being in Amsterdam is just so different; the people are super nice and just doing them. When we finally checked into our hostel, which is a street over from the red light district. It was a good and central location and if I ever got lost all I had to say way “red light district?” and everyone could point me in the right direction.

Something I noticed in Holland were how the men acted. They were nothing like the Italian men and really not like American. They're super courteous, pleasant and friendly. I had no problem making friends when I was out and they didn’t creep like the Italians do.

Heineken Brewery

Friday morning we woke up on the later side and I had this Dutch pancake for breakfast in the lounge, it was with cheese and bacon and it was amazing, like nothing I had ever had before. After that we walked to the Heineken brewery to take a tour and it was actually really cool to see how it's made. I even stomached drinking a beer and it was pretty nice not gonna lie. But I passed on my other one. After the tour we went to an Irish pub for dinner and it was once again really good. But after that we headed around town to see some other places around us. I called it quits semi early last night to get a good nights sleep. Our other roommates didn't allow that to happy too well though.

Heineken beersss

Life changing Dutch pancake

One of the other things I noticed was that there were a lot of different nationalities in Amsterdam, it wasn’t like the other places I had been to. Most of the time when I travel locals and Americans have surrounded me. Here there was everything, a lot of eastern and northern Europe people. I loved meeting all the different people are seeing where they were from.

On Saturday we woke up around the same time and I went out for bagels, which were bomb. I got an everything bagel with chive cream cheese, it was so good. I hadn't had a bagel since I left America. We then went back go the hotel and headed for the zoo. Now the zoo was so cool, I haven't been to a zoo in so long. I saw so many different animals I loved it there. After the zoo we went to this burger places near the hotel and it was so good. I barely eat meat over here; I swear the Italians only eat pizza and pasta. But then we went to the hash, marijuana and hemp museum, which was after very interesting. We then came back and took some naps. I went out for a crepe and the others headed to the bar. Now I'm back in the lounge writing this and taking it all in.

Just a quick selfie with a giraffe 

BOMB

This afternoon (Sunday) I woke up and headed to the lounge for a cappuccino before I set off for an adventure across Amsterdam to meet up with two old camp friends Aymeric and Marissa. I hadn't seen them since I was 14 or 15. The walk was suppose to be about half an hour and I made it in about an hour and a half, needless to say I got super lost but just loved wandering alone with a map and a camera. Just as I got to where the I Amsterdam letters are they spotted me and if they hadn't spotted me I don't know if I would have ever found them. But regardless the Van Gogh museum was so cool. I love that type of painting. After the museum we went to find pancakes and got them and then it was time to come back to the hostel. That was a lot easier to do and I had found a Starbucks, which is like gold over here. I got back to the hotel and met the others in the lounge before doing a little shopping... Got all the gifts I needed to here in Amsterdam and then got a little extra, whoops.

KP reunites in Amsterdam 

But after shopping I made my way to Baba and just had a solid night hanging out. That's exactly what I love doing. After staying there for a while I headed back to our lounge in the hotel to hang out a little closer to my surroundings. I hung out in the lounge for a while making friends with different people, everyone is so friendly. Then I headed up to my room to put all my stuff together which is always a struggle.

This morning I woke around 7:25 to leave the hostel by 8 to make it to the airport for plenty of time. I got up got ready and waiting downstairs till everyone else was finished. There I found out that you can't take a taxi to central station because we are so close or it would cost 30€ but it was pourrring out. So we had to walk in the rain for about 15 to the train. Got to the airport, flew through security found Starbucks ate and yogurt and granola. Eating yogurt and granola made me miss home and then I realize I only have 30 days left in this amazing country. This Vermont chick is happy to be heading back to Florence. I had a 2 hour lay over in Germany though and didn’t get back go Florence till 4:30ish.

Now here I am back in my bed on a Tuesday night with no internet and I have a paper to write, pictures to upload and blogs to post….

Perugia: A chocolate lovers dream

Well here I am sitting in the Florence airport waiting for my flight to Amsterdam. Im heading there with 3 of my guy friends for our "fall break". 

Chocolate wine bottle

Da chicas

Chocolate Italy

But last weekend I went to Perugia for Eurochocolate festival which is basically a huge chocolate festival in the city center. It was unreal, there was more chocolate than I could imagine. There was a huge Italy shape chocolate sculpture. For some of the major cites there were key figures like the leaning tower of Pisa where Pisa was, coliseum for Rome and it goes on. You could buy anything chocolate, there were chocolate kebabs, bars, hot chocolate and so much more. It was heaven. 

Chocolate Kebab

Just enjoying a straight cup of chocolate with Jess

The view from the top

I've been spending the last few days finishing up papers and getting ready for my trips. Today was a struggle, last night I went to the Firenze Napoli soccer game and got home around 12:15 and I hadn't packed at that point. I didn't have any time to pack during the day because I had class and then went on a "semi date", yup somehow I landed a date in Italy. I went out for tea/coffee with this guy who works at one of the places we frequent often for lunch. Guess I can land dates over here in Italy but not in the states, oh well, I enjoyed it. 

But other than the chocolate festival and me kinda date nothing else is new over here. But after this weekend I'm sure I'll have plenty to divulge...

I have 35 days left in Italy and I leave for Amsterdam today aka Halloween. And then I leave for Rome the 7th and then Prague the 14th and then it's two weeks left. It's soooo crazy how fast time is flying. 

two messages, one ballon

wishing away...