Prague:  I think this has been my favorite city that I’ve visited thus far in my travels while abroad.  I was just so pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness, architecture and immense detail.  I also didn’t realize the history that resides in the gothic looking city.  Wandering through the Old Town Square seeing the dark ominous historical structures were balanced with the surrounding pastel colored intricately detailed buildings.   We walked through the crowded square then followed all of the tourists between he swirvy cobblestone streets lined with shops, bakeries and restaurants until it finally opened up to the Charles Bridge.  Breathtaking.  The bridge is lined with tall dark statues and at each end there are tall archways guarded by men in costume (a bit cheesy but funny nonetheless).  Then over the right side of the bridge was my favorite view.  The glistening water enhanced the view of the Prague Castle which resides at the top of the hill, it’s dark detailed steeples surrounded by white and cream palace walls were like no other palace I’ve ever seen.  All I could think when I first saw it was, “Yep I’m going to live there someday.”

                Although the architecture and monuments are really something to remember in Prague, I absolutely loved the Lennon Wall.  It took us two days to find and multiple encounters of getting lost through the streets we finally found the graffiti wall that represents Peace and Love.  Although it was just a wall covered in graffiti the meaning behind it is what made the Lennon Wall so great.  I was told the wall represented freedom and having our own rights and celebrating our ability to be ourselves.  So after a lot of pictures of the wall Camille, Taylor and I decided to make our mark on the wall.

                “21.3.2011 A.H., C.D., T.D. If you’re too afraid to fail then you’ll never do anything original” we were trying to put something other than a peace sign with peace and love written by it.  But overall the Lennon wall was incredible such vibrant colors and beautiful graffiti.  The wall just enhanced my experience of Prague.  I loved the city and can’t wait to return to it.

Vienna:

On our second day in Vienna we ventured out to the Schonbrunn area to see the Hofburg’s summer palace.  The palace was beautiful and it was really interesting to walk through especially since we had an audio guide so we got to learn a lot about Austrian history, which I happened to love learning about. 

                But the part of Shonbrunn that was my favorite was definitely the zoo.  We had been spending days and days touring important historical buildings and seeing all the sights you are “supposed” to see in the cities we visited.  And I loved seeing them but we were at the point where we weren’t absorbing anything we were seeing and needed a break from it all.  So off we went to the Shonbrunn zoo.  And was it the perfect time of year to visit a zoo, there were a ton of baby animals everywhere!  My favorite however was the baby elephant, I named him Joey or Joe Joe.  I was so content sitting watching the baby elephant play with a tire while soaking up the sun.



Olympic Stadium



Munich:  Boy was Munich filled with stories…and incredible experiences.  The best part about Munich was being able to spend time with my cousin Elizabeth!  It was so nice being around family and sightseeing with her.  We enjoyed the open air market, German beers and buildings of Munich. 



Elizabeth sneaking in...



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Checking to see the coast is clear

 



            Unfortunately Elizabeth left before she could experience Springfest.  I headed to the German Springfest with a few girls I’m studying over here with and boy was it quite the experience. 

Springfest!

            I walked into the room and everyone was wearing the typical German gear, suede shorts with suspenders and flower patterned dresses with frilly blouses.  Groups were standing on tables singing and dancing with their friends while cradling their liter mugs of beer.  Making my way over to my friends I notice that they are intermixed with Germans enjoying the festivities.  So after about an hour I have my beer in hand and I’ve met most of the other people at our table.  Then I had to smile when I noticed one particular German enjoying Springfest. 



            He was identical to my cousin…Peter Christ.  I ended up sitting next to him and couldn’t help but feel like I was actually with Peter.  He was constantly smiling, cheers’ing everyone (or as the Germans say Prato) and of course singing along with the typical German songs being played.  I only wish that I had taken a picture with my new friend who I kept calling Peter even though it wasn’t actually his name (which I can’t remember).

            Springfest was a great ending to an incredible week of adventure. 

Italian Sun definitely beats Minnesota Snow

Its 60 degrees out today with gorgeous blue clear skies.  I’ve already been for a morning run, my roommates are still sleeping (exhausted from their trip to Paris).  Next after showering I pack a lunch of carrots, an orange, apple and some crackers.  With my t-shirt and sandals on I head toward the river.

                I make my way to make what I think is East of the Ponte Vecchio (two bridges down) to a park I pass while running.  I find a place down on a cement ledge, past the Italian sun bathers sporting their speedos and underwear.  Only in Italy will Italians strip into their underwear in public just so they can absorb and enjoy the sunshine and warmth.  I hunker down right infront of the mini waterfall the noise creates a soothing lull with the occasion burst of noise from the Italians fishing a little way down the river from me.

                I open my new book with my ray bans protecting my eyes from the bright sun that is hopefully giving me a tan.  Four hours pass in the blink of an eyes, I get up and walk the ten minutes back to my apartment.  I'm so glad I don't have to endure the 20 plus inches of snow back in Minnesota with the less than pleasant temperatures.  I love this weather.

Italian Motivation

               Now there are no gyms here, so now I’m really confused as to how these Italians are so dam skinny.  But I’ve been trying to start getting into the habit of running.

                I haven’t taken it up in the past because I am really bad at motivating myself to keep running when I get tired.  But it was a beautiful day here in Florence, 50 and sunny.  So I got ready, pulled out my running shoes, grabbed my iPod and headed toward the river. 

                I start at a nice slow jog, dodging the hoards of Asian tour groups and other visitors to Florence for the day.  I head toward the other side of the river (it’s usually less busy, it’s the more residential side).  Viva la Vida is on my iPod and this run is going great.  I find myself smiling as I glance over the river to see beautiful yellow and cream ancient buildings glistening from the reflection of the river.  Rowers cover the river trying to absorb the nice weather.  I can’t believe I’m actually here right now.

                But then I start getting tired, so I focus on my run more now.  But as I turn to look straight forward again I notice a gooood looking Italian running toward me, so obviously I keep up the pace I’m at.  “Just keep up this pace at least until you pass him,” I tell myself.  But after I pass him I notice another, and another and another…this routine of good looking Italians runners continues until I find myself out of breath finally stopping in front of my apartment a good 45 minutes later.

                Italy is the BEST place to work-out.  I’ve never been so motivated.

Fun in Tuscany

This morning we woke up and headed to the train station where we were to meet our tour guides for the day.  My roommates and I along with a few of our friends signed up to go horseback riding in the Tuscan countryside.

In true Italian fashion our guides show up for our 9 o’clock meeting half past nine.  We sauntered toward the van that was taking us into the countryside but of course not before we stopped at a café for complimentary cappuccino and pastries.  We finally made it to the van with Nico, our wonderfully bald Italian tour guide.  40 minutes, one extremely bumpy and speedy ride later, we pull up to the town of Monteriggioni. 

We toured the small town that was nestled on top of a hill and surrounded by castle walls.  Here we took great pictures of the scenery and made our way into a small winery where we had a wine tasting.  Not only did we get to taste locally made wine but we also tasted their home-made honeys and olive oil, yum.  Next we made our way to the ranch where we would start our horseback ride.

Pulling up I notice a ton of dogs scattered everywhere and many Italian workers talking quickly and loudly between each other.  Now I don’t know how my guide got this notion into his head, but for some reason he thought that I was a good rider.  So they gave me a “energetic” horse is how I believe they put it.

Arcadia came to me neighing, bucking her head and stomping her feet.  My nerves built up just a bit at that point.  After a bit of struggling on learning how to get onto my horse (the ranch owner grabbed one of my feet and knees and basically threw me on top of the chestnut colored horse.  I sat there nervous, but just kept petting Arcadia and talking to her hoping that I’d create a “relationship” with her before we set out.

Next thing I know we are trekking up the first hill, once we reach the top all I can see is miles and miles of hills covered with villas, vineyards and rich burnt colors.  The two hour ride was wonderful and I didn’t run into any difficulties with my energetic horse Arcadia other than a few instances where she began to gallop (that was interesting). 

Once we returned to the ranch I pet my Arcadia good-bye and off we went have our five course lunch at a vineyard/olive grove/restaurant.  Our long table overlooked a small lake (which reminded me of home) at the bottom of hills covered in either olive trees or vineyards.  Our first course was bruschetta that was bursting with flavor, accompanied by their own white wine.  Then came what the chef called ‘pizza’ (fried dough) with prosciutto.  I think that one was my favorite, the warm doughy bread mixed with the salty delicate prosciutto was incredible.  Then we were served an array of deep fried vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower and a mystery vegetable (we couldn’t figure out what it was).  Switching to their red wine just in time for the true Tuscan soup.  I didn’t particularly like this so called soup, it had soaked bread in it so the texture was very mushy.  But the flavor was incredible, I’ll give it that.  Then we had this rich creamy risotto.  The freshly grated cheese and zesty onions made the dish.  Finally we ended with a pane cota, interesting.  It looked like jello as it wiggled while being set in front of me, but I was brave and took a bite.  It tasted like ice cream flavored jello.  It was good but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because the jiggle of the dessert caught me off guard.

Stuffed and a bit tipsy we set out for Florence.  You would think that our tour guide has some cheesy Italian music to play, but no.  What comes on the stereo but Thriller by Michael Jackson.  We all burst out laughing and spent the next few minutes dancing and singing the song while swerving through the breathtaking Tuscan hills.

It was an amazing day and I found myself having to remind myself that I wasn’t dreaming.  I actually am in Tuscany.