I’ve been home for three days and I already want to go back to Prague. Don’t get me wrong, being home is great and my mom’s home cooked meals never get old, but I miss Prague already. The trip home was long and tiring, but I got into Boston just before the huge snowstorm. I was lucky not to get stranded anywhere in Europe or the US, like many of my friends unfortunately did.

As I sit at home, catching up with all of my friends and reflecting on my trip, I can’t believe its over. All I have left of Europe are too many pictures, a whole lot of souvenirs and some awesome memories. Since being home, everyone I see asks me about my trip. I usually respond with a  huge smile, and tell them it was awesome. I say how it was the fastest three months ever, and I want to go back.

So, if you’re thinking about studying abroad here is my advice…. DO IT!!! No matter how  nervous you are, or how much you think you’ll miss your family, friends and school, it’s worth it. I was in tears the night before I left the US because I was so apprehensive about going alone and because I wanted to go back to SMC so badly. As soon as I got to London and met some kids in my program, my nerves were eased. I still missed everyone from time to time, but that’s why they invented Skype.

So, some reasons to study abroad? I guess it’s different for everyone. If you choose a homestay in Ecuador, or decide to hang out on a beach in Costa Rica, your experience is going to be a lot different from mine. Everything I’ve read says things like you mature, gain greater perspective on the world and have a new appreciation for other cultures, which I feel are all true for me to some degree. However, in my opinion, the main reason to study abroad is because it’s fun. It’s unbelievably fun. I had classes three days a week, and then had four days to do whatever I wanted. We explored Prague, went to the bars and clubs, attempted to speak the language (without a whole lot of  success), traveled to other countries, ate delicious foods, met awesome people, and the list goes on…

If you’re looking for a program to use find one that best suits your interests and needs. I was lucky because AIFS provided me with everything I wanted and more. I really can’t say enough good things about the company. They took care of our flights and housing, gave us a pre-paid debit card for meals, and took us to 4 other countries. The staff in Prague was there for us 24 hours a day, and was willing to help us with anything. The cultural activities, from the tours to the weekend trips to the ballets, operas, soccer games, hockey games, etc. were all great. They gave us maps, showed us the good restaurants, where to do our laundry, how to buy cell phones, where to take our visitors and so on. The student center was open 5 days a week, and we could use the computers, print for free and just hang out. It was all really convenient.

My experience in Prague was easily the best three months of my life. I’m sure I probably changed in ways I don’t realize yet, and there are definitely going to be things I miss about the city and Czech culture in general. If I had to the opportunity to go back, or study abroad again, I would without a doubt. So, if you have the chance, study abroad!! I guarantee it will be a positive experience.

Classes are over.

Finals are done.

Papers are handed in.

My suitcase is half packed.

Some of my friends already left.

I’m spending the last day walking around the city.

HOME TOMORROW!

We finally got snow. Well, a dusting at least…

some snow at the Christmas market

The past week has been full of doing schoolwork and going to all of my favorite places for the last time. I’ve been spending a lot of time in cafes, getting my work done because we don’t have access to a library, and I’m incapable of doing work in the dorm. I’ve found a few cool cafes lately that have wirless internet and have been full of Czech speaking people. I’m able to actually get work done when I have no idea what anyone around me is saying.

Drinking some pivo at a pub

It didn’t really hit me that we’re leaving so soon until I walked into Tom’s room yesterday and he was packing his huge suitcase. That was weird.

Thursday night I witnessed firsthand why our program directors warned us not to talk to politics with anyone in Prague. It almost ended in a fist fight when one of my friends got into a political debate with a Czech man.

I am defnintely not going to miss the night trams. Once the metro stops running at midnight, we have to take trams that run twice an hour. Only one tram goes to our dorm, so sometimes it can take up to an hour and a half to get home at night.

I wish I had packed lighter. The extra baggage fee for Lufthansa is $200. I really hope Santa pays for that one.

December brought winter temperatures but no snow. I want it to snow before I leave so I can take just one picture of a wintery wonderland.

Finals week is significantly less stressful when you’re in a foreign country.

I love Paris

I had to write a final paper for my Art and Architecture class about a Czech artist. Z took me to an are exhibition at the castle, told me everything I needed to know, and I was able to write the paper in an hour.  I’m going to miss Z and his endless knowledge.

I’m excited to go home and sleep for a week. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my life as I am right now.

The housekeepers that vaccuum our dorm room, empty our trash and clean our kitchen weekly are the best part of living in our dorm. The worst part is the awful duvet covers on our blankets. They always fall off.

2 finals, 1 paper and 5 days to go…

I can’t believe I only have a little over a week left here. In between writing my three papers, I’ve started cleaning out my desk and packing. It’s seriously depressing. I’m wicked excited to go home, and see my family and friends, but who knows be back to Europe. After next week, this semester will just become that time I barely studied in Prague.

This week my friends and I have been trying to do as much as possible to make the most of our time. On Monday, I walked around the Christmas markets in Old Town Square looking for a present for my dad. I was ultimately unsuccessful, but I did get enjoy the Czech Christmas carols, the huge Christmas tree all lit up, and I even stopped by the petting zoo for a few. After classes, we hung out in the pub in the basement of our dorm where the bartender has become our good friend. Tuesday night Alex and I went to Orange Bar off Old Town Square. The couple at the table next to us brought their dog in with them. I love how its totally socially acceptable to bring your dog into bars in Prague. 

Last night, before going to the premiere of the Faust ballet at the Estates theater, Andy, Alex and I went to Bar and Books for a classy drink. We each got one drink and the bill came to 515 crowns (about $30)!! Outrageous. I don’t think I’ve paid $30 for a  whole dinner since I’ve been in Prague. It was worth it, though. After the ballet, a big group of us all went to Cross Club for probably our last time. Cross Club is free on Wednesdays and it’s become one of our favorite places to go since being here. They have great live music, cheap beer, and its close to the metro so it’s easy to find.

Now, I’m sitting in a cafe procrastinating my writing my papers. To waste more time, I’m  going to make a list of some of the things I’m going to miss about Prague…

the architecture (which, thanks to Art and Architecture class, I can now distinguish between the different styles)… the fact that beer is literally cheaper than water… the $1 ice cream scoops… Usudu… the cobblestone streets and sidewalks (except when it rains)… the efficiency of the metro… 3 day school weeks… dreadlock mullets… people drinking beers in public at 10am on a Tuesday like its no big deal… 24 hour corner stores… unleashed, well-behaved dogs… Cross Club… the fact that I paid a total of $10 for textbooks this semester…the fantastic exchange rate… Christmas markets… walking out of school and seeing Prague Castle in front of me… goulash bread bowls… living in a city…

I’m glad my last weekend trip of the semester was to Paris. If I had gone earlier in the semester, I would have compared every city to it. I haven’t visited a city yet that I loved as much as Prague, until I went there. I don’t think I could have ever studied there because it’s so expensive and so big, but its the first city I’m coming back to on my next trip to Europe (which is hopefully VERY soon). 

In front of Quasimoto's home

I went to Paris with five of my friends in my program and we made the most out of our three days there. We stayed in a great hostel (St. Christopher’s) which was really clean and had a bar, a club and free breakfast. We took a free tour with the same awesome company that I took a tour with in Amsterdam, went to a fashion show a the Galeries Lafayette (essentially the Harrod’s of Paris), went to the Louvre, went to Notre Dame, climbed the Eiffel Tower, ate unhealthy amounts of pastries, baguettes, and crepes, visited d’orsay, walked around Montmartre, went to Sacre Coeur, drank lots of French wine, walked to Moulin Rouge, walked the Champs Elysees, took a boat tour, and shopped in the Parisian Christmas markets. I don’t think I’ve walked so much in one weekend in my life.

The weather was actually a lot nicer than it was supposed to be, and besides enduring a short torrential downpour as we stood in line go into Notre Dame, it was warm and sunny. Although its a really expensive city, we were able to find some really good deals…the Louvre is free on Fridays after 6pm for anyone under 26, all museums are free on the first Sunday of every month so we went to d’orsay first thing that morning, and we bought metro passes in bulk at a discount price and split them between all of us.

So pumped to be on the Eiffel Tower

The highlights of the trip for me included d’orsay and the Eiffel Tower. I know the Louvre is the more famous of the two museums, and the Mona Lisa was really cool, but the museum is so big that its overwhelming. There is something like 7 miles of museum and the architecture and wall ornaments are amazing. There is so much to look at that I forgot about the art. D’orsay on the other hand is an old train station so the building is really cool, but there’s a lot less going on inside. Also, all the artists I know and like are in d’orsay, (including Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Sisley, Renoir, etc.) so it was great to see all of their work. While we waited in line for TWO HOURS to climb the Eiffel Tower, it was totally worth it. It ended up being dark by the time we got up there, so I got to see the whole city lit up, and it was gorgeous. Besides that, the crepes were delicious, the pastries were addicting, and the wine was a lot better than the cheap boxed wine I’ve drank in the past. I wasn’t as impressed with Notre Dame as I was with Sacre Coeur, but both were beautiful. I thought Montmartre was a really cute area that reminded me of Prague, but I loved the big city feel of the downtown part of Paris.

Arc de Triomphe

The only bad thing I can say about Paris is that there are a lot of gypsies and people trying to scam you out of money. When we walked out of Notre Dame, gypsies approached us begging for money and asking us to have sympathy for their poor families and starving children. I had zero sympathy. Also, we had been warned that in Montmartre there are a lot of men who try to make bracelets by tying string to your finger and then forcing you to pay for it, so we kept our hands in our pockets. However, we saw one girl fall for the trick and as my friend Blair walked by, she warned the girl to walk away. When the girl took her advice, the man ran up to Blair, kicked her and told her he was going to kill her. It was a little unsettling, but we walked away quickly and he left us alone.

I can’t say enough about Paris. When I got back to Prague, I emailed my mom and told her I wouldn’t be home for Christmas as I was spending it in Paris. Sadly, she crushed my dreams. I guess I’ll be on American soil in 12 days…

On our way into the Louvre

The Christmas markets went up in Prague last week. There are a bunch of them scattered all over the city, and they’re great. They’re filled with tons of souvenirs to buy and lots of delicious foods. There is a giant Christmas tree in the middle of Old Town Square, and there are decorations up all over downtown. I walked around the markets yesterday in between classes and got so distracted by the Christmas spirit that I ended up missing my history class. I decided that probably wasn’t a very valid excuse for missing class, so I didn’t even email my professor to tell him why I wasn’t there.

Sparta hockey game superfan section

This is the first week all semester that I actually have a lot of work to do. And by a lot, I mean I have three papers due over the course of the next two weeks. Pretty stressful. I did some research for one of my papers but found that my sources were very limited because since I’m not technically enrolled as a full- time Charles University student, I couldn’t use the schools online databases. Also, I can’t use the universitys library, so I can’t use books to do research. I was pretty frustrated until I decided to email one of the research librarians at St. Mike’s to help me use the SMC databases. He responded within a few hours and had a bunch of sources for me. I was very grateful that even though I’m so far away, I can still use the resources available on campus.

Since I’ve had schoolwork to do this week, I haven’t had much free time, but on Tuesday night I went to the Sparta hockey game with a bunch of friends. AIFS had gotten us tickets and we had great seats. The game was fun, and the fans were really rowdy. We wanted to take part in the cheers but since most of them were in Czech, it was pretty tough. It was an exciting game that ended in Sparta losing in a shoot out.

At the Brewery

Last night, I went to the Strahov Monastery brewery with some friends. I thought it was a little weird that monastery had a brewery, but it was a cool place. They had great food, and the beer was delicious. The grounds of the monastery were really beautiful, too. I want to go back during the day and walk around some more.

I’m headed to Paris tomorrow for the weekend. I’m wicked excited to see the city and go to the Eiffel Tower. It’s my last weekend trip of the semester so I’m a little sad about that. I can’t believe I’ll be home in a little over two weeks. This semester flew by so fast. I’m getting excited to go home and see everyone, but I really don’t want to leave Prague.

My weekend in Dublin was really fun. I loved the city and definitely want to go back to Ireland some day to see the rest of the country. I’m exhausted because I had to be up really early for my flight and didn’t get much sleep. But here are my thoughts about Dublin…

1. The people are super friendly. All of the people who work in retail stores, and all of the bartenders love to chat. The man who worked at the Jameson factory had family who had moved to Southie so we talked about Boston for a while.  Then yesterday, I was buying bread at the grocery store, and I picked up a loaf and walked away. An Irish man came running up to me, and told me to go back and take a loaf from the back of the shelf because they are fresher. That would never happen in Prague.
2. The city is really small, and the buildings are really short. It was convenient to be able to walk everywhere really easily, especially because it was really cold on Saturday.
3. I really like the live music they play in pubs. It’s better than the 90’s American hip hop music that they play in Prague. I also really like how a lot of the bars are in one area so there are tons of people around. The people in Dublin definitely know how to have a good time.
4. The public transportation system seems a lot less efficient than other cities I’ve been to. I didn’t use public transportation once, except to get to and from the airport. I guess that’s because the city is so small.
5. Dublin has a lot of pretty parks. I liked walking through them, and I’m sure they’re a lot prettier in the summer when there are flowers and leaves on the trees.
6. Trinity College is beautiful. I saw the campus, and the buildings are really old and pretty.
7. Dublin Castle was kind of disappointing. I didn’t take a tour of the inside, but the outside wasn’t very impressive. It didn’t really compare to Prague Castle.
8. After staying at my friend’s apartment, I can’t wait to be back home where I have a full kitchen, a couch and a tv.

I’ll post some of the pics that I took when I can find my camera cord….

I’m currently in Dublin visiting my friend from high school, Emily, who is studying here for the semester. She lives in an apartment in the middle of the city, and I’m very jealous of it. My dorm isn’t so bad, but I’m envious of her full kitchen and living room.
Dublin is surprisingly small but there is lots to do. Last night Emily’s roommates made a Thanksgiving dinner and it was delicious. They made turkey, mashed potatoes, asparagus, mac n cheese, and apple crisp, and we had a big family-style dinner. It was delicious and felt kind of like I was back home. After dinner, we went out to the pubs. Dublin’s nightlife was really fun but really different from Prague. The bars are all in one area, so there were tons of people around and in the streets. The pub we went to had live music and it was fun to sing along. The beers were so much more expensive here than in Prague, though. I usually can get probably 5 beers in Prague for the price I got one here.
Today we walked around the city. We took a tour of the Old Jameson distillery and it was really cool. Our tour guide was very entertaining and the tour itself was really interesting. We got a free Jameson and ginger ale at the end of the tour, and then I bought some souvenirs in the gift shop. After the Jameson factory, we walked to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and to Dublin Castle. They were both really pretty and conveniently not too far away from each other.

Today is Thanksgiving, and all day I’ve been pretty bummed that I’m not home for it. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving because it’s obviously not celebrated in Prague. It’s kinda sad, and I miss all the food preparation, the Macy’s parade, and football. I guess AIFS knew we’d all be homesick on Thanksgiving so they had a big traditional dinner for us. We all went to the Marriot hotel downtown for a buffet turkey dinner. It was a really nice hotel, and the food was sooo good. They had all the typical Thanksgiving foods, and tons of delicious desserts. I was a little disappointed they didn’t have mashed potatoes. They’re my favorite part of the meal. Despite the absence of mashed potatoes, we all ate so much that we thought we were gonna be sick. It was so worth it, though.

Eating Dinner

 This is the first day I’ve been really homesick in a while. I miss my family and friends a lot, but I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had much time to want to go home. My busy schedule continues this weekend as I’m going to Dublin to see my friend who’s studying there for the semester. I am super excited to see Dublin cuz I’m Irish and I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. I’m looking forward to having a big Irish breakfast and drink some Guinness.

So Vienna exceeded my expectations. I honestly didn’t have high hopes for the city because my friend had visited a few weeks ago and didn’t have rave reviews. Also, I knew a lot of the city had been destroyed in the war, so I figured it wasn’t all that pretty. I was wrong, and I ended up I really liking it.

The town hall

Like Krakow, we all boarded a bus Friday morning with Jana and Z, and headed to Austria. Thankfully, Vienna is a lot closer than Krakow, so the bus ride only took about 5 hours. After checking into the hotel, Z took us on the short 10 minute walk to the city center. After that, we were free for the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. I spent the time walking around the downtown area with some friends, grabbed some sausages from a street vendor and then headed back towards the hotel to a Christmas market.

I loved the Christmas markets. They were decked out in lights and Christmas decorations, and were bustling with people. We all bought a mug of hot punch and walked around trying the foods and looking at all the stands filled with souvenirs and decorations for sale. There were stands of candy canes and chocolates, potato pancakes, crepes, sausages, and more. It was hard not to buy one of everything.

Christmas Market

After the Christmas market, we wanted to check out the nightlife in Vienna. On the bus to the hotel earlier that afternoon, Z had pointed out an area called the Bermuda Triangle where there was a lot of bars and clubs. He had warned us about it, and said it gets pretty wild. Naturally, we wanted to take part in the craziness. When we got there, it was kind of a disappointment because although the bars were all pretty full of people, the streets were pretty empty. We found a bar that had half price drinks, so we stayed for a while.

On Saturday, AIFS arranged a tour of the city center with a professional tour guide. She took us all around and showed us everything: the town hall, Parliament, the Supreme Court of Austria, the Chancellor’s House, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and more. The buildings were all really beautiful. On our tour, our guide pointed out the most famous bakery in Vienna, Demel and she told us about the traditional Sachertorte cake that is baked there. After the tour, a few of us went back to the bakery and tried the cake. It was very chocolatey and delicious. 

On the grounds of Schonbrunn

In the afternoon, Z took us on another tour of the city. One place he took us to was where Mozart died. There is a exhibit in the building that is now located in the place where his apartment once stood. It was really weird though, because the building is now a 6 story department store. On the top floor is a restaurant and bar, and a small exhibit dedicated to Mozart that explains how this was the location of his death. It was so strange to get on an elevator in a department store, go up to the top floor and see this small memorial basically sitting in the hallway leading to a bar. Pretty bizzarre if you ask me.

For dinner, I got the traditional weiner schnitzel, and it was really good. The portions they served were so big that I couldn’t finish my meal on my own. After dinner, we walked around the biggest Christmas market, that is set up right in front of the town hall. The windows of the town hall were made into an Advent Calendar, and it was really cool. I bought some ornaments, drank some punch, and headed to bed early, tired after a long day of being a super tourist.

Sunday morning I went to the Vienna Boy’s Choir performance. They sing at a Roman Catholic mass in a chapel right down in the center of the city. I was excited to see them, but it was pretty disappointing. The choir was on a balcony above us, so we couldn’t even see them. They sounded really good but didn’t sing all that much so it wasn’t really as impressive as I had expected it to be. I figured it probably wasn’t okay to videotape them, considering it was a mass, so here is a youtube clip I found of them singing Little Drummer Boy….

On our way back to Prague, we stopped for a few hours at Schonbrunn Palace, the imperial summer residence. It was gorgeous and had lots to do. There was another Christmas market set up in front of the palace that had huge, delicious baked potatoes. After eating and walking around the market, we walked around the gardens in back of the palace. We found some replica Roman ruins, and walked up the hill behind the palace to find a great view of the whole city.

Alex and I in front of the palace

So it was a good thing our bus didn’t get stopped by the border patrol because I still can’t find my passport, and I would have been stuck at the Austrian border. That would have really sucked. But the weekend was really fun, and really busy. I loved the Christmas markets, and all the holiday spirit. I haven’t stopped listening to Christmas music since I got back to Prague.