Where in the World is Lindsay
Find out what I have been up to while I have been abroad!
4/23/2019 0 Comments Spring Break all around Italy4.14.19 Sunday Good night of sleep, over 8 hours of it!! We got ready, packed, and checked out of our Hostel. We had to get back to Venice from the mainland so we took the train(on one got off because Rachel didn’t think it was the right one- it was so then we had to find another train going to the same place and get to its platform before it left- it all worked out and better safe than sorry!) to the train station in Venice where our other train was departing for Florence! We waited for a while in the cold until our platform number came up. Boarded the train. It was a little delayed but it was fine because we didn’t have a connection afterwards. On the train we had some good conversations, I blogged, and spent time with God. We got off the train and made our way to the hostel. It smells soooo bad!!! We waited for a long time- like 20 to 30 minutes. We finally were able to go to our room and Kirstin and Lauren got ready to go out on the town. We were having trouble finding a place to eat because everything was closing at 3 and it was 2:15. We finally found a place that was open and I got a yummy simple cheese pasta that kind of tasted like Mac and cheese!! I also got a strawberry cheesecake that was also yummy. Then we headed back to the hostel to grab some stuff. When we headed out, it was raining and Seth got about 5 steps out before turning around. So it was just us Girls. We headed to the Academia Gallery to see Michelangelo's David. It was breathtaking!! By the time that we left the museum, it had stopped raining so we walked around and shopped for a while. While we were out and about, we stumbled upon a sculpture garden that had fake David. Next to the sculpture garden there was a fountain that had a sculpture of Poseidon which was really cool! After we were done, we decided to look around for somewhere to eat and there were a few restaurants with out door seating areas so we looked at the all of our options and went to the cheapest one! I ordered beans and pasta which is a traditional Florentine dish and we had a bottle of red wine for the table. After supper, we walked back and got ready for bed. 4.15.19 Monday Woke up and got ready. Lauren’s alarm is really obnoxious and woke up our foreign roommates. We thought they would hate us but they were totally chill about it! They said that it was probably better that they got up and left at 8. We walked to a huge sculpture garden. There was so much green lush ivy! The sculptures were also really beautiful! There was a spot at the top that had an amazing view of Florence! Us girls needed to head out to make sure that we got a good lunch and were able to make it to our meeting point for our wine tour. Seth wanted to spend some more time in the garden and since he wasn’t going on the wine tour he just stayed and we split off! We walked in the direction of our meeting point and just kept an eye out for a decently priced restaurant! We found a little place that looked pretty good so we stopped in to eat! I got a lemon tea in ice and oh my goodness I did not realize how much I missed iced drinks!!! I ordered a pizza with prosciutto, mushrooms, mozzarella, olives, and peppers. It was pretty good but the mushrooms tasted like fish for some reason- supper weird. So I had to pick all of them off and thankfully it got rid of the fish taste for the most part! From there we walked around the city to get to our meeting point. We noticed that a ton of businesses were closed which was interesting being that it’s Monday!! We finally found the busses for the wine tours. We talked to a lady and signed in to our 7 hour wine tour! We got some seats by each other on the bus. Kirstin has to sit by herself but made a friend with an older man named Sean! He was very kind and he was here with his mom because this is something she had always wanted to do! I was sat by Lauren and we both fell asleep for the 45 minute bus ride to the first winery! The guide said that they are a smaller winery that only produces about 20,000 bottles a year. We went in and sat down in the tasting room. They had a cat that kept coming in and it was such a sweetheart we were all so bummed when they took the cat out and away!! We tried 4 red wines and a few pieces of meats, cheese with vinegar, and bread pieces with oil. I really liked the oil on the bread pieces but the other girls liked the vinegar and ended up each buying a small bottle of it! The landscape was breathtaking!! It was honestly like a postcard. We got back in the bus and on our way to the next winery we stopped in a little town for a bit! We went to a little gelato shop and oh my goodness! It was sooooo good!!! I got lemon, dark chocolate, and cherry cheesecake flavor! YUMMY! We were also really craving water so I got two bottles of water and Lauren bought three! We got back on the bus and then they made an announcement that you cannot eat on the bus so if you have food (which Lauren and I did) you have to get off and finish it outside. That was a lot harder to do than it sounds because people were trying to get on the bus and we were trying to get off at the same time so it was just kind of a mess. Lauren ended up being able to get out but I just sat down in a random seat and decided to just make my way back to my seat because I wasn’t able to make my way through the wall of people coming in. We drove to the next winery and the bus had to turn around to be able to get into the gates of the winery so he was backing up and reversing it and there were cars getting backed up behind us in our lane and also in the other lane. Goodness it was crazy! There was also a curve and we were afraid that someone would just book it around the corner and hit the line of cars! Many prayers later we were fine and in the gates of the next winery! This was a bigger winery for sure! There we were given a plocenko wine and 3 reds. We were also given a slice of bread as a pallet cleanser, 3 slices of a salami type meat, and cheese! In addition to that they gave us cheese with a 12 year old and 20 year old balsamic vinaigrette and bread pieces with a garlic oil and regular olive oil coating. They were very tasty! We were able to ship bottles back to the US but the orders needed to have 6 bottles in them so we each bought a bottle of red and Lauren bought 2 and we were at 6! I’m excited to share some Italian wine with people when I get back! It was super convenient that Sarah lives in Omaha and we all will be flying into the Omaha Airport when we come back so we will just get them from her when we return! We started heading back but stopped in another little town. It was nice because we ending up chatting with a file from Canada who was studying abroad in Denmark! She was really cool and gave us some great recommendations for things we should do around the country! Then when we got back on the bus Kirstin talked to a girl who was sitting close to her who had just finished her study abroad experience in Barcelona so she got us some recommendations of what to do there! We finally got back and decided to look for a place to eat supper. We found a cute little place and decided to just go there! Our waiter was an old Italian man and he had a big attitude. He did not give good service but the food was good so it made up for it!! We ended up splitting a bottle of Pino Greshio wine and I got lasagna! It didn’t look super appetizing but it tasted sooooo good! The talk of the table was Notre-Dame burning down. We were all so sad about it and were in shock that it was happening! We also talked about some our past relationships and breakups and then the girls shared their crazy drinking stories! We walked home still telling stories and laughing at how crazy they were! We got back and got ready for bed! 4.16.19 Tuesday We had our alarms set for 9 so we got to sleep in a lot!!! It was so nice to be able to wake up naturally and then go back to sleep for a while before our alarm! We got ready, checked out of our hostel, and made our way to the bus station. We didn’t use a map or gps because we thought we knew the way… WE DID! My brain remembered which way to take us and we made it to the train station which I thought was pretty cool and I didn’t realize my brain could do that! When we got there, Kirstin, Lauren, and I were pretty hungry so we went to a Little shop in the train station. I got a Nutella croissant which was really good, it didn’t hold me over for long but thats okay, it held me over while we were waiting. We waited for a long while to get our platform number but it finally popped up and we headed to the train. We rode the train for about and hour and a half and got off in our next destination: ROME! We had McDonalds for lunch which was a bit of a deal. There was one McD’s in the train station and one just outside of it. The on inside the station did not look that big so we went to check out the other. Seth volunteered to be the one to walk over so we wouldn’t have to bring our suitcases over and possibly back with us if it didn’t work out. Apparently that one was smaller and more packed than the one in the train station so we walked back to the other, order, and find out there is seating upstairs. We got an uber to our Air BnB but when we got there, the cleaning people were still there. Because of that, we weren’t able to freshen up at all. We just left our bags in the room and left to go to the Vatican City. When we got outside of it, we got stopped by a really pushy tour selling person. He informed us that St. Peter’s Basilica wouldn’t be open tomorrow so we would have to go today if we wanted to see it. We took a step back from him to discuss as a group what we wanted to do but he continued to cling to us. Seth and Kirsten were getting really annoyed with him. Our group split Lauren, Sarah, and I thought that Seth, Kirstin, and Rachel weren’t going to even go so we went with the guy because we wanted to make sure we could go. They other three did go in and where as we spent $35 they spent $10. I was really annoyed by this because we would have gone with them if we would have known that they were actually going to go but that wasn’t made clear. It also didn’t help that I had just had a conversation about money with my mom about financial issues/ obligations so I was a little irritated. The three of us also felt uneasy until we got into the Vatican. I had an awful attitude, II wanted to go at my own pace, I only got 15 minutes in the Sistine Chapel, I couldn’t really understand the guide. I was trying to pray through my attitude but I was sooo frustrated with the whole situation and I wanted more time in the Sistine Chapel. The Basilica was cool and there was a choir singing in it- the acoustics are amazing. It was the most cool/impactful for Sarah and Lauren who are Catholics! We finally left and I was tried to simmer down. We walked to a place for supper and I did finally cool down a bit. I got pizza and the table split a bottle of Chardonnay, yumm! We got back to the Air BnB and chatted with Alyssa! It was great!! Then to bed. 4.17.19 Wednesday Slept in and woke up Naturally! Yay!!! Got up and ready at 8:30. We tried to figure out the washing machine but couldn’t figure it out and it was frustrating so we gave up. Kirstin, Rachel and I were the only ones still in the Air Bnb because the others had left early to go see the Pope speak. We left at 9:45 to get breakfast, I had a cannoli and a sugar donut! They were okay, definitely not my favorite though. We waited for the other three outside of the Vadican City since we were in the area anyway. It was like we were playing a real life game of Where’s Waldo trying to seek them in the huge mass of people who had also gone to hear the Pope speak. We finally found each other and decided to go back to the Air BnB so they could change and then we headed out for the day. We walked through Piazza Navona which just had three fountains, I am not sure what the historical significance of the fountains was but they were beautiful nonetheless. Then to the Pantheon the design was really cool, we also downloaded a free audio guide (Rick Stevens audio guide) onto our phones so that we could get some facts about the places we were going without having to buy audio guides. On our way past what we think was a parliament building or something, I saw three bags: one red, one white, and one green and it looked like the Italian flag. We walked past some of the ancient ruins which were cool I guess. Then to the colosseum. There was construction around the blocks leading up to the Colossem and blehk it made it ugly. We about got ripped off again by a seller guy but we told him that we like to wait in line and he left us alone after giving us a weird look. Some cool facts from Rick: 50,000 people could fit in the colosseum, tickets were broken pieces of pottery with seat and section number on them, they had concession stands and souvenir stands, all 50,000 could clear out in 15 minutes which is where we got the word vomit from because the term used to describe that process was- well I can’t remember but it had vomit in it in some shape or form. Then to the Trevi Fountain! I threw 5 euro cents in but I threw it over the wrong shoulder I guess… oops. I don’t know if that will affect me coming back to Rome or not, I guess time will tell. We had gelato again, so good!!! Chocolate and Banana is THE BEST COMBO! WE headed to and saw the Spanish steps, then headed back to the Air BnB. We finally got the laundry to work so we got to wash our clothes. The girls found a grocery store and left to go get pasta and wine. I made supper and we had some wine, watched Mamma Mia and the Parent Trap, and just hung out and talked and drank! It was really fun, it was getting late but the girls were still all talking and I didn’t want to miss out so I ended up falling asleep on the couch next to Lauren but when I woke up at 3:30 am I was by myself and so I went to go to sleep in my bed. 4.18.19 Thursday Kirstin’s 21st birthday Woke up at 5:30 am to get ready and leave by 6:30. At this point, our Clothes were still wet. I Packed everything up anyway and the. Just laid back down until it was time to leave. We took an Uber back to the train station. We and got McDonalds for a little bit of breakfast at the same spot we ate lunch the other day then we got onto our first train. I just slept on the train ride, once we got off we had to get on a different one to take us near Sorrento. We tried to find our train once the platform number came up. We were at the train that was 22T as the platform number but it looked pretty old and out of order and very Sketchy... We were super confused! We just waited there hoping that some other train would come along. Thankfully this Angel of a lady told us we were at the wrong spot and we needed to head to the tram that was behind the train which makes sense why it said T after the platform number!! We weren’t the only ones who were confused because we were walking in a herd of many others heading to the tram! We got on and took the tram and ended outside of Sorrento and had to figure out how to get ourselves into Sorrento! It took a hot second but we found where we were supposed to go. We had to get tickets for a shuttle bus that would take us to a tram station. Seth and Sarah left to go to Pompeii so we had to take their luggage eeeeek. We actually passed them walking when we were in the shuttle! When we got to the shuttle stop we had to walk up an incline- with all the baggage mind you- to got to the tram station. We got to the top and bought our tram tickets. The tram looked supper sketchy and was packed to the brim! We were squished in there like a little can of sardines! On the tram, we met Claire and chatted with and hung out with her on and after the tram. She walked with us to our hostel. Dragging the luggage suuuuucked! I had two backpacks, two carry on suitcase, a bag that was holding my blanket, and a purse on my so I looked like the biggest diva alive. My arms were killing me because the suitcases wouldn’t roll on the bricks that they use on the streets so I had to pull them. We also had to take the bags down an outdoor staircase so Claire helped a bit with that thankfully! We finally made it to our Hostel and dropped our stuff off. We relaxed for a bit and got ready for the day. We were all pretty hungry at this point so we walked around the main square. We found a cute place that seemed reasonably priced so we sat and got lunch. I got a yummy pizza and water. The other girls got drinks but they were all 9.5 euros or more and I didn’t want to spend that. When we were done we ended up going to a bar and just hanging out for a few hours. We all tried lemonchello- a Sorrento specialty and had Sorrento Sunrises! The bartender/ owner of the Horseshoe who we called “Bay-Bay” was cracking us up!! He was singing to us and chatting with us and we were just having an amazingly fun time there. We also met Shell and his wife who are from Norway. It was his birthday as well as Kirstin’s so he bought us a round of drinks to celebrate! After a while we did leave and just shopped around the Main Street for a while. We eventually made our way down to the shore. On the way down we met some girls from New Zealand and they were very judgmental and kind of rude but oh well we weren’t going to let it ruin our day at all! We played with the sea on the shore for a while and I collected sea glass on the coast. After a bit we started to get hungry and decided to eat at one of the little restaurants on the coast. We asked a local which one to go to and so we went where they told us to- it was a good choice! It was a family owned restaurant and we met Val and Tony our servers they were so kind!!! I had the swordfish which they told me was caught fresh that morning. It was a cool experience to eat it but it wasn’t my favorite so I let Lauren have the other half and she gave me the rest of her seafood pasta! We went back to the hostel and got ready to go out for Kirstin’s birthday. We actually got a noise complaint because we had the Mama Mia playlist going and how can you not belt those songs out!?? So on our way out of the building there was this angry woman and the security guard that case up to us and he didn’t seem like it was a big deal but she was chewing us out in a different language. We were on our way out anyway so we just kind of kept leaving regardless of her yelling. Val actually met up with us and went out with us! We went back to the Horseshoe and sang Karaoke which was so fun! There were a lot of older couples but they were singing with and it was just an awesome time! We then went to a club (didn’t even drink there) it was pretty dead, there were like other people in there so we danced a few songs and then left. We got gelato on the way back to the hostel. We stopped back at the Horseshoe just to talk to some of the people that were outside. One of the guys that was outside stays in our hostel as well and he had heard the whole situation with the crazy yelling lady and he thought it was funny! Outside our hostel, we met some fun people and hung out with them in the lobby just chatting. One of them was Joseph the security guard from earlier and he said the lady was just a psycho blew the whole thing out of proportion. We also were hanging out with Enriquo and Pepe and Val. Eventually by like 2:30 am we went to bed. 4.19.19 Friday We slept in. Missed the boat tour that we were going to do by just a few minutes, it picked people up at 10:15 from our Hostel and we were down there at 10:30. Unfortunately they also pick people up from a dock (that was 10 minutes away) at 10:30 as well so we weren’t going to be able to make that either. So we made our way to the docks to see what tickets we could get. To the docks bought tickets for a boat to and From Capri. Went to go eat. Tired of Italian food… so I got a big ol burger!! It was really good for the fact that I had been craving one but it was nothing compared to NE beef. Got on our boat. There was a lot of confusion. We were supposed to go to this dock # but the long line of people said no it was moved over to a different one and so we stood in that line until a staff person said no now it’s at this one so we moved again and finally found our boat. We were on it for about 30 minutes before it started going and I passed out… the rocking of the boat put me to sleep. We got to Capri and it was so beautiful!!! We decided to got to a chair lift that goes to the top of the island! But to get to the chair lift we had to hike up this stair path. A LOT MORE STAIRS THAN WE THOUGHT! Kirstin and Rachel decided to turn back ⅓ of the way through to walk around in the town and go to the beach because Kirsten has a fear of heights and Rachel didn’t want her to be alone! Lauren, Seth, Sarah, and I climbed to the top to the chair lift. We met Angus an exchange student from Australia. When we got to the top of the stairs, there was a little town that we got to walk through with a ton of little shops! They were so cute! We got to the chair lift and rode it up to the tippy top! It was breathtaking up there! The sea seemed to go forever! We hiked around for a while before heading back down but we had a boat at 5 pm that we COULD NOT miss so we headed back down and it was so much easier coming down than going up— for me at least. I ended up going a lot faster than the other 3 so I got to the bottom and hung out on the beach until they came down and met me there. We hung out on big rocks/ boulders. I put my feet in for a bit it was so relaxing to just sit and watch the ocean and smell the fresh water and feel the breeze on my face! It made me really excited for summer and days at the lake!! We got some gelato before we had to leave and then got in line to board the ship again. Once again the rocking put me to sleep. We got back and found a cute little market place behind the main square and we walked around until we found a place to stop and eat! Seth and I split a pizza which was really good. At this point all pizza was about the same. We went back to the hostel and were going to meet up with some friends from Olomouc who were in Naples and were going to take a short ride over to hang out with us for the night. I ended up falling asleep and waking up at 11 pm and by that time we hadn’t heard if they were here or not so I just decided to go to bed. 4.20.19 Saturday Our last real day of spring break and our last hours in Sorrento! It’s so sad!!! I love Sorrento so much and fully intend on coming back, hopefully next time with Isaac- if he will come with me!! Our first order of business was to pack up and check out of our room. We headed to lunch at a little restaurant in the main square. It was so nice outside so we sat outside but we were sat in the shade so we we actually kind of cold while we were eating, it wasn’t to bad though!! I got a delicious lasagna that I was very happy with! Then we decided we should say goodbye to “Bay-bay” (the bar owner) at the Horseshoe Bar. We got there and Seth decided to head off by himself to see some gardens and other things that he didn’t get to see the past few days. So us girls went to the Horseshoe and both Shell and “Bay-Bay” were there!! I was sad saying goodbye to the bar and people that within a few short days we had so many memories with! We got a last Sorrento Sunrise (which is essentially just juice) and sat outside in the sun and talked to a Norwegian couple who was sat next to us! We said goodbye to Shell and his wife and got a picture with “Bay-Bay” and he got one on his phone to hang up in the bar! We felt pretty honored to be put on the wall!! Then we made our way down to the beach to say goodbye to Val! We sat down and he gave us complimentary glasses of Limoncello! We sat and talked with him and amongst ourselves for a while until we had to head back to the hostel to get our luggage and meet our car. Thankfully we didn’t have to drag our luggage back through the town because we had ordered a van service to drive us from our hostel in Sorrento to our one in Naples where we would be staying for the night! Again, I fell asleep in the van ride. I was really excited for my bed back in Olomouc and for some good sleep because I think my body was pretty tired from traveling for two weeks straight. We got to Naples and checked into our hostel. It was essentially a large warehouse room with individual pods that we slept in. It looked really futuristic and honestly kind of odd. The pod was the length of the bed and the width of maybe my wingspan- maybe! They were all white inside and they had a full length mirror, a small trash can, a small side time type thing, an outlet, and that was about the whole thing! Once we all got our stuff settled into our pods we went for pizza at a small pizza place about 1.5 blocks over! I got a pizza made with buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, mushrooms, and basil leaves. We went back to the space pods, I got ready for bed, talked to mom and Isaac on facetime, and to sleep I went. 4.21.19 Sunday
It did not feel like Easter for me and it had me missing my holiday traditions back home. I didn’t get to dye eggs, take the siblings on egg hunts, go to grandmas for the big egg find, get dressed up for church and soak up the atmosphere of a church body celebrating the third day, spend time with family, etc. but it’s okay! I cannot complain, I spent Easter in Europe which is pretty cool. We started our day pretty early compared to what my body has gotten used to! I woke up at 4:00 to try to catch my mom with the family but they had left already so I talked with Isaac while I got ready because it was only 9 pm at home. We left our space pods by 5 am and walked to the airport which was basically attached to our hostel. We Got through security and everything pretty smoothly, found our terminal and waited to board for about 45 minutes. When we were boarding there was a beautiful flaming orange sunrise. Yet again I fell asleep on the transportation… I don’t know what it is cars, boats, planes, etc. I fall asleep on any and all means of transportation. So I had a nice 2 and a half hour nap on the plane and we landed in Prague, Czech Republic. Even though it isn’t Olomouc we all felt a bit of relief to be back in the Czech. From the airport we got an Uber to our new hostel and dropped our stuff off in the luggage room and headed out on the town because unfortunately we couldn’t check in until 2. We had about 6 hours to kill in Prague before we checked in so we started by walking around a bit. We found the Easter market (Easter is a big deal in the Czech but I think it is similar to Christmas in the US where it’s more commercialized than religious) but it wasn’t open yet. There was a large stage type thing in the middle that you could climb up into and see the booths from a higher angle so we went on that and people watched for a while. There was a woman with a bag of large cherry tomatoes and she popped them into her mouth and that was kind of disturbing to watch but it was also one of those thing you can’t not watch. I don’t know, it was strange. Seth, Sarah, Kirstin, and I all just watched her and then a few other people do some weird stuff and then we decided to leave. We were all getting hungry so we walked around to find a place with no egg breakfast options because Sarah doesn’t eat eggs. We finally found one and hung out in there for a while telling stories and talking. I got a super yummy toast with avocado spread and fried eggs on top! We just hung out and then walked around town after that. It was super refreshing not to have an agenda for once and just going at our own pace and allowing ourselves to wonder. We found a little shop called Local Artists which was a souvenir shop that had a bunch of handmade work from local artists in Prague. We all found something that we really liked! From there we walked around the Easter market since everything was open now. There were a lot of cute little shops and the food looked and smelled soooo yummy!! I didn’t get anything to eat there since we had just eaten but my nose was certainly happy! It was finally almost 1pm and so we decided to spend our last hour in the hostel lobby working on our blogs and other “to do” things. I fell asleep again… oops!! We got checked in and put our stuff away and I’m pretty sure all four of us took a nap, I know I did for sure! I slept for about 3 to 4 hours once I woke up we decided it was time to eat again. Seth and Kirstin has eaten at Fat Cat, a burger place when they were in Prague before so they suggested that we go there and Sarah and I were definitely on board for it! To fat cat we went! I got the Route 66 burger which comes with 2 chicken wings on top and is essentially a big cheese burger with a cherry beer and it was all really good! We decided that instead of going back to Olomouc the next day at 3 (which is when we had train tickets for) that we would cancel that and go as early at possible. We found some tickets for 11:45 and got those!!! After supper we had more roommates that Seth chatted with for a while. I FaceTimed mom and the family to see them and the Easter festivities. Then I got ready for bed and slept some more.
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4/23/2019 0 Comments One Month of Fun DONEMonday 4.1.19
Nothing really exciting after we made it back for class the lectures for today were meh. After class we just went back to the dorms and got our other two free weekends planned out, unpacked, and went to bed. Tuesday 4.2.19 Supper productive day, I am really happy with all that I got done! I worked on my blog posts, did laundry- including putting it away, repainted my nails, had time with God, watched a sermon with Seth, and worked on some of my homework for my Czech language class! Wow! Go me!!! A small group of us including Griffin, Mims, Lex, Tiffany, Mary, Julian, Cody, Kirstin, Lauren, Seth, Sarah, our Canadian friends Matt and Zach, and Giovanni went to Club S for a silent disco! It was an interesting experience, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it and I wasn’t going to go but Seth, Sarah, and I made a pact that we would go and check it out and if we didn’t like it we would just leave- no harm no foul! So we get there and it was kinda weird walking into a club and it being that quiet but it made sense because all the music is playing from the headphones! They give us headphones to use and on them were two channels on that were connected to the two DJs on stage, one blue and one green. You switch back and forth between the channels as you wish and just dance with it! There were lights on the headphones so that you can tell what others are listening too but mine were taped for no apparent reason so I could tell what others were listening to but no one could tell what I was listening to! The club was kind of empty and at the beginning I didn’t think the music was that great so Sarah and I went out into the main lobby area and found Zach, Cody, and Seth playing foosball! It was free so the guys let Sarah and I play. First game I was with Cody and we were playing against Sarah and Zach. Cody and I lost really badly... he thought It was me so we switched teams and I was with Zach. We won and it was amazing! We switched again and did boys against girls! Sarah and I were actually doing reaaaaaaally well, we were up by like 6 points on them but they made a comeback when we got too cocky and they won... after that we all returned to the dance floor and danced our hearts out for a while! Before we were getting ready to go Mary wanted someone to take a shot with her and no one said they would so Seth and I said we would! She got gold tequila shots which instead of silver tequila, salt, and a lime wedge it is gold tequila, cinnamon, and an orange wedge! It was really yummy!! We headed out and walked to a Gyro shop and got some late night Gyro! I was only about to eat half of mine so I saved the rest for tomorrow. Afterwards, Orhan, who was finishing up his shift there offered to drive us back to the dorms. Only 5 of us fit in his vehicle: Cody, Kirstin, Sarah, Lauren, and I were all squished in the back and whoa what a ride!! Orhan is a crazy driver but we were totally okay and we didn’t have to walk back or wait for the bus back to the dorms! We went to our room and boom- sleep!! Wednesday 4.3.19 After classes I went to The Buns with Lauren, Kirstin, and Sarah! After that, back to the dorms and got ready to take Sarah out for her birthday! A small group of us went with our Canadian and Italian friend Giovanni. They took us to a small bar next to Club Belmondo where we met some of the other Canadian students! I got a yummy pina colada and sipped on that until we went over to Belmondo! We all danced and were having fun and Sarah drank her way into her 22nd birthday! We got home about 2:30 and in to bed and went to sleep! Thursday 4.4.19 Sarah’s 22nd birthday!! Yay!!! In class we sang to her and Pops presented her with a slice of cake that had a trick candle that she had to blow out three times!! After class we all went out to the Opera House! We had to sit at separate tables in separate spots in the restaurant unfortunately but our table still toasted to Sarah even though she wasn’t at our table. I split a spinach lasagna with Annalise and the got a chocolate ice cream “cone” for dessert!! It was all very yummy!! I also stole the lemons from Sara’s lemonade for my water bottle and had Lemon water for the rest of the night!! After supper a few of us went to a local bar to continue the celebration. I didn’t drink anything but the others did and bought Sarah a few drinks. We stayed for a bit but Sarah’s stomach wasn’t feeling well so a few of us headed back to the dorms and just relaxed for the rest of the night! Friday 4. 5. 19 Early(er) day we had class at 9:45 so we did class in the morning until about 1. After class we went to the Budweiser Bar for lunch with Pops, Julian, Cody, Seth, Annalise, Sara, and Kirstin. It took a long time to get our food even though there really weren’t that many people in the bar. I split lunch with Annalise, we got a chicken wrap and pasta. After lunch the girls, Sara, Annalise, Kirstin, and I walked around shopping in Olomouc! It was supper fun! We spent a few hours doing that going into hole in the wall stores and some thrift shops before we started getting hungry again. We walked back to the old town square and got some gelato. My cone had chocolate and Lotus Cracker flavored gelato and it was very yummy!!! Then we went to a different bar in the square and the girls did a bit of day drinking and we all shared stories and got to know each other better! Once it got to be about 7 pm we decided to head back to the dorms! I stayed in and worked on my blogs a bit while watching “Isn’t it Romantic” on Netflix. Chatted with Isaac on FaceTime and went to bed! Saturday 4. 6. 19 REALLY EARLY MORNING (from what my body is used to...). We had to be ready by 7:30 to get on a bus for a day trip! We went to the town of Znojmo, Czech Republic. It was a two hour bus ride to get there and I totally slept the whole way there! Once we got there we went to a chapel and spent some time looking at that for a bit and then after that we walked to the catacombs entrance. We did a catacombs tour which was interesting. The best part was a little labyrinth in the catacombs, we all went in (excluding Momma T, Pops, and our tour guide) once we were all in there for a minute or two they shut off the lights and we all SCREAMED, I ran into Alex’s back, started laughing, and then we turned on our phone flash lights and were fine! It took us a second to figure it out but ALL the ends were dead ends so the only way out was the way we came in... soooo we all made our way to the entrance and filed out! It was really fun. So from that I learned that in the catacombs there were a few wells and they would throw people into the wells in the medieval Times as a death sentence. It seemed to be their favorite death sentence because the guide said it a lot!! I can’t imagine living down there. Some of the entrenches were shorter than my knees, some were at my waist, and others I didn’t have to duck but others did. It was really dark even with the lights they put in and very dirty. I just can’t believe that there were whole communities living in there! They were pretty deep underground too. The deepest we went was about 10 meters underground, if I’m remembering correctly! Then we had lunch. We got done with the catacombs a bit before our reservation so we hung out for a few minutes in a town square before headed over to the restaurant. As I was sitting there enjoying the sun, I was watching the pidgins doing there thing. There was one pidgin that I thought was for sure going to fly straight into me. It landed just a few feet from me but it was not slowing down until it was like 3 feet from me it was kind of scary but I’m fine... I’m good! Then we rounded up our whole group and headed to lunch! We went to the restaurant and I got pork ribs and Orange tea! The ribs were fall off the bone and so good! There was a pile of stuff that looked like cheese and oofta it was not!! We found out that it was freshly shaved horseradish- DISGUSTING. I was sooo disappointed, I so badly wanted to eat just a whole pile of cheese but oh well, another day I guess. After we were done with lunch and paid we walked to the winery for a wine tour. On the way I talked to Zach, one of the Canadians, about random stuff. We ended up talking about the US vs Canada and he told me the difference between our education systems which was interesting apparently in their 11th grade of high school they are learning the materials that we learn our freshman year of college- that’s how much more advance they are in their system than we are. Then we were at the winery! My favorite part of the tour (other than the tasting obviously) was a room (and hallway) full of art. The tour guide stated that they were created as possible images for the bottles of wine! It was so cool to see all the different styles of art in there! Oh also there was a little nativity scene made out of corks- so cute!!! There was a dog outside and I really wanted to pet it but it was a guard dog and so it didn’t come close to us, it just barked at us from afar. Then we went to the tasting and got to try 7 of their wines! The first 5 were so good they just kept tasting better as it went to the next one! The last two were okay but the dry red (the 7th one) was not my ish. Julian doesn’t like wine so the rest of our table benefited from him, more for us! After the wine tasting we were able to go to the shop to buy bottles to take back with us. I got the 5th one with a lizard on the bottle and a tropical one that had a scratch and sniff label and it smelled too good to pass up! The bottles we each 180 crowns (7.88 USD). We got back into the bus and the people in the back of the bus opened up a few bottles- one of them was the tropical wine that I had bought a bottle of as well so I went back and tried it! It was pretty good, may be better in a sangria though. We played never have I ever for a bit and the Canadians made a low blow with a “never have I ever been to Nebraska.” After that I spent some time in the Bible and then rested until we got back to the dorms. The rest of the night I just relaxed and FaceTimed family and friends! All in all, a great day! Sunday 4. 7. 19 We got to sleep in a little bit but had to be ready to get on the bus by 10 am. We had a 45 minute bus ride to a castle. We got out and there was a little lavender cafe/ vendor hut thing. I got some hot tea (not lavender tea though- they didn’t have that... I think that was just the theme of the place). We sat and waited for Jan and his kids to meet us there. They were so sweet, Damien was 13 and was super outgoing and Elizabeth or Betty was 10 and was really shy. We walked up to where the castle was but were there before our tour time started so we were able to hang out in the court yard area where there was four birds and their two owners! We were allowed to pet the birds and hold one of the owls! I’m not sure what kind the birds were but there were two types of owls and a falcon and another bird, not sure what type! I held the little owl and then it was time for our tour! Our guide only spoke Czech so Jan translated for us on our tour. It was super cute though because Jan let his son, Damien, translate for us at the beginning which was really just the rules and stuff but it was so cute! Also it was kind of shocking that a 13 year old can speak that well when speaking English- a second language- and I’m struggling with basic, basic Czech language. The castle was interesting as a whole but my favorite parts were as follows: 1. There was a room with a live performance. There was a girl and her guitar and she sang Hallelujah for us, it was really beautiful! 2. There was a hallway that a little bat (yes, the animal) was flying around in and it was so cute!!! 3. The coat of arms! I just love looking at them, they are all so different and cool!! That was the highlights of the castle. Afterwards we got to pet the birds some more so that was awesome!! We walked back to the bus and when we got there, Sara said she had thought she saw a place to zip line so she, Kira, Pops, Cici, and I walked over to the spot and it was pretty cheap, there was a zip line but there was also they had a trampoline thing and go carts! We were kinda nervous that we wouldn’t have time to do it so Pops made us go back to the bus and ask if we had time to do it and the bus driver was super cool about it and said he would wait! So our whole group went!! Some did the go carts, others (including me did the zip line), and the rest just hung out and enjoyed the sun and nature! It was finally time for the Zip line group to go. We all got in our harnesses and hats and were pumped to zip line! The guy told us that we could go upside down if we wanted to and of course I wanted to!!! It was finally my turn, I got all strapped to the wire and went zooming down the line! I turned upside down for the majority of it and I felt like Spider-Man!! It was pretty exhilarating, I loved it!! I also had a soft landing which I was pretty proud of my self for having since most people slammed into the padded wall! When that was done the man gave us all suckers, we paid, and then walked back to the bus. When we got there, Damien had a message or our group which was super cute!!! We had the ride back and I slept. Once we got back, Sarah and I made and ate pasta for supper!! After that I went with Annalise to get on the tram that takes us to the big mall. There was a Trdlnik vendor outside the mall so of course I HAD TO get one!! It wasn’t the best I have ever had but it was still yummy! We went in the mall into a store and with in the first few minutes a guy came up to me and whipped out a paper badge thing and kicked out of store because of my food. I was really awkward about the whole thing and just walked backwards, watching him, and still eating until I was out of the store. I just kind of waited outside the store fire Annalise and ate my Trdelnik but the guy kept watching me and it was really creepy!!!! We started shopping and my card was not working so Annalise has to spot me. We walked to a different section of the mall and i get some free WiFi so I was able to get me card fixed. We did some more shopping, more than we probably should have. When we finally decided that we had spent more than enough money, we left the mall. On out way back, we stopped at an atm so I could withdraws some money, and then continued to head home. Once there i packed and got ready for bed!! 4.8.19 Monday Woke up at 8:30 am and had some breakfast. We as a group were invited to the lake and so I checked around to see if anyone else was going to go to the lake with the Canadians. It didn’t seem like anyone was going but Lex. So I got my swimming suit on and got ready to go before the Zach and Matt came over at 11:45 to take us with them to the lake! Before we left, Lex knocked on Sara’s food and got Sara to come with us!! Orhan and Fabs were having a brunch outside with there sponsor (they were sucking up) and they offered us some food so I tried some of the food they had made but I didn’t want to eat all their food! I don’t know how we got on the topic but I asked Orhan if he knew my name and he didn’t!!! He was going through the names of a TON of other people in my group but couldn’t remember mine! Finally I just had to tell him, he felt really bad about it! We walked about 50 min to get there but the walk was so nice. I loved just walking and being in nature for a while. We also had really good conversation about different things! Unfortunately by the time we got there we had to basically turn right und and leave. Before we left though, Sara and I dipped toes in in the cold cold water and Lex jumped in twice! Then we had to walk back to the dorms. Again we had some good conversations and got to know each other a little bit better. Lex and I had just enough time to get changed and head to class. We just had Czech language today, and with that cane confusion with names!! She was trying to teach us a rule they have and it was just all around confusion. After class, we had to pick what group we wanted to be a part of: the Orientation revision team, the Nebraska Presentation team, or the End of semester thank you party team. I signed up to be a part of the Orientation packet team!! After that, Logan, Rachel, Sarah and I went to a bar to order drinks to fulfill a class assignment for our Czech language class. We have been learning how to order food and drinks in Czech as well as how to greet people and how to ask for the check. So our assignment was to go get drinks and or food and record ourselves ordering it and then email the video footage to our professor! I ordered a bílé víno (a white wine) and it was a large glass of white wine! We made it back to the dorms, we actually ran into Zach on the tram and then ran into Orhan by the dorms. For supper, Sarah made me grilled cheese and tomato soup! I then blogged, packed, showered, and slept! That was one different thing about classes here, learning the language is so immediately practical!! In the states it’s practical to learn another language but here we are learning it to use it right away and make our lives a little easier! So far my favorite lectures have been Martin’s one about “witches”- how that became a thing and another one about Islamophobia. We’ve learned a lot of history, politics, economics, and religion. The religious and sometimes the history based lectures are definitely my favored lectures to hear! The classes that take the most work are the Czech language class and my UNK class that my blogs are required for! I’m glad that I will have these blog posts for later but right now they are very time consuming and a lot of work, so I hope people are enjoying reading them! There also isn’t a lot of take home work, we have had some homework for our Czech language class but not anything close that I’m used to in my UNK classes back in the states! The only other “homework” would be our blogs! All in all, I am enjoying my classes here and I think they are helping to expand my mindset while also teaching me more knowledge about the World outside of the US. 3.30.19 Friday After class we all met up at the Train station in Olomouc. It was difficult trying to figure out all the specifics of our tickets- the platform, train car number, etc. We did eventually get it all figured out and got to our seats. We had a nice little 2 hour train ride until Lauren, rachel, Kirsten got off at the wrong stop. Sarah, Sara, Annalise, and I were all in the same spot since we bought our tickets together and when we heard the overhead speaker say “Praha—” which was the first Prague stop, not the one we were supposed to get off at, we about got off but Sarah reminded us that we had to go through a tunnel before our stop. If not for that we would have gotten off too! We waved at them to get back on the train but all the doors were closed and I guess they couldn’t get back on so they just had to take an Uber to the airport. The rest of us got to the Prague stop as planned and then took a bus to the airport. It was about a 30 minute ride but it wasn’t bad! In the airport we got all checked in and our terminal was not on the board yet so we just sat in a random spot. Then I went to go eat with Sarah and Annalise. We went to a restaurant place and i got a Rump steak and apple cake. The steak was really good! It had a garlic butter on top. I put some honey with my apple cake and that made it taste a whole lot better! We found the rest of our group and our terminal. We got on our flight no problem. On the Flight I was sat next to French woman told me about the huge protesting in Paris and how it’s affecting some of the major landmarks/ tourist spots in the city. She seemed very kind! It was Off the plane and into confusion. We walked back and forth so many times that the security guard came to help us. They pointed us in the right direction to where we were supposed to get our bus tickets. We started heading that way and messed up with a wrong turn up the escalator so the security guards came and told us we were going the wrong way and then just walked us to where we were supposed to be! We talked to the bus ticket guy and he directed us outside to the bus stop. We followed his directions and were still confused on what we were doing. It was apparently pretty obvious because some rando guy offered his assistance to us! He helped us get it figured out, we got our bus tickets, hopped on, and it dropped us off in the city circle! From the city circle, we had to split into two groups of four to take two Uber’s to the Air BnB. I was with Rachel, Annalise, and Logan, I Conked out in the car. It was a great little ride there, when we were dropped off, we followed the instructions to the lock box where the key was. We walked to where we thought it was and ran into the rest of our group but then we were lost again. We were at the Wrong house going the wrong way and wrong way again and then finally we started to go the right way. We unfortunately walked Into the car garage for no reason which was fine until a car came in while Annalise was trotting toward the garage door. Thankfully since the car came in, we were able to get out of the car garage. We found our Air BnB, and WOW it is really pretty and nice inside the beds were super comfortable and I passed our pretty quickly. 3.31.19 Saturday Early morning, our alarm went off at 6:00 am (so 5 hours of sleep) buuut I didn’t get our of bed until at least 6:45. I get ready and then we all left at 8:00 am. We had to split up into two Uber’s again. Rachel, Logan, Annalise, and I were in one again together. I defiantly rested my eyes until we got into town. We got to the Eiffel Tower, walked around it a bit and found the rest of our group! Then we did a bit of a mini photo shoot with the Eiffel Tower and once we were done we headed to the Arc de —-. Once there, I split up with the group to go BY MYSELF to the Louvre. While I walked there, I went past a market of sorts. I didn’t buy anything but it was fun to see what they were selling! I got to the Louvre all by myself (with the help of google maps) and in to the museum with no problem. The art was beautiful but oh my goodness the building itself was amazing. The ceilings were soooo beautiful!!! Yes I saw the Mona Lisa, there are better pictures of it on line but I did see it!! There was a ton of amazing art there it was so great to just take it all in and walk around at my own pace. I was going to go to another art museum before meeting the rest of my group but after talking with them I didn’t think I would have enough time in there so I went ahead and got “lunch.” It ended up being a gelato flower of chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, and vanilla flavored gelato. Supper yummy! So then I took the metro to meet up with the rest of the group. We discussed the stop that we were going to meet at but sometime must have happened because we were definitely NOT at the same stop. I was apparently 15 minutes away from them. So they asked if it would be okay if they just go on without me and I just navigate myself there. I said okay but then I literally started to panic. I started to feel the weight on my chest but then I was like why am I feeling like this silly girl you have a Father who loves and protects you so I just started praying really hard and I was fine! Google maps and Jesus navigated me to where I was supposed to be. So there was some construction on the metro which meant I had to get off the one I was on to go on an over ground metro but while I was about to get on it the other group called me and said that they were on that one and it got stopped and they had to get off because of some protesting so they had to get Uber’s To Versailles. So again nervous and more praying but mine didn’t stop so I navigated my way to Versailles by myself and made it before the other group of people. Rachel had sent me her ticket and she was going to use my ticket that was bought online in the group purchased tickets. While I was waiting in line to get in, I met two other guys that were traveling along. We started chatting and when we got in one of the guys went to find his group of friends who were already in the palace. The other guy, Harry hung out with me in the palace while I was waiting for the rest of my group to meet me there! We walked around and got to know each other better. Apparently the group tickets were having issues so I just continued to hang out with Harry until 5:30 when it closed. The palace was sooooo lavish it was ridiculous. And the gardens were soooo great and beautiful! Harry and I attempted to go out to Marie Antoinette's house but since we went out there too close to closing, we couldn’t get in. So we walked back to where I was supposed to meet Annalise, Sarah, Rachel, and Lauren in the gardens. While we were walking I was kind of hungry so Harry and I stopped for ice cream cones! We met the other girls and when they saw my ice cream cone, they wanted one so Harry and I took them back to the little vendor we got it from. They got their own and then we left Versailles. I had a ticket to go to the Eiffel Tower at 7:30 and we were kind of pushing it time wise. I wasn’t sure I would make it on time. The other girls weren’t planning on going on the Eiffel Tower so Harry said he’d go with me since it was his last night in Paris! We took an Uber back into the city center and Harry and I got in line for his ticket to go up to the summit (very top of the Tower). When he went to purchase his ticket I checked with the ticket vendors to see if mine was still valid and they said that they didn’t even think that it was a valid ticket in the first place so he kindly paid for mine and his! Also we had been talking about Isaac and he knew I had a boyfriend and no, he was not hitting on me. He was just a nice guy who wasn’t wanting to be exploring the city alone! Anyway... we got to the top of it and oh my goodness, the view was spectacular! I am a sucker for night time cityscapes and Paris was just wonderful! I FaceTimed Mom and everyone for a few minutes so they could see the views too. Then I continued to take it in some more! There is actually a champagne bar at the top so Harry and I got LIGHT UP GLASSES OF CHAMPAGNE AT THE TOP OF THE EIFFEL TOWER oh my goodness it was freaking cool!!!! We cheered to the beautiful city, drank champagne, and took in the views! After we were done we came down and went to go find the girls we were across the street at a little crape vendors stand. I was a little hungry so I went ahead and got a chocolate crape. Harry went to go meet one of his friends who was in Paris as well and us girls went to go take some night photos of the Eiffel Tower! After that we took the metro back to the Air BnB. Oh my gosh all of our feet hurt. Our phones said that we had walked about 17 miles today and we were feeling it. We navigated back to the Air BnB but the other group of us had the keys and they were already inside and asleep. We called A LOT but no one was answering, two of us had to use the bathroom really bad (including me). We were contemplating jumping the fence but but we didn’t want to get the cops called on us so we just kept calling and calling and calling... FINALY Logan answered and came to let us in! I got to shower and got to sleep by 2:30 am... I konked out! 3.31.19 Sunday DISNEY DAY WE WOKE UP AT 7:30 TO GET READY FOR DISNEYLAND PARIS!! My first Disneyland day!!!!! So much excitement!! Former cast member, Disney College Program graduate, and all around Disney freak- Sarah, lifetime Disney enthusiast- Annalise, Rachel, Lauren, and (first time Disney visitor) I got ready (listening to Disney music by the way) and left our Air BnB by 9:45. We “walked” 15 minutes to Disneyland! We didn’t really walk though... it was a combination of dancing, skipping, and running accompanied by the telling of Disneyland stories, Disney channel reminiscing, and singing of various Disney songs. It was a fun little jaunt there! We finally got to the marvelous gates that said “Disneyland Paris.” I think my heart literally jumped out of my chest! I felt like a little kid, oh my goodness so much excitement! I thought that when we got past security that we were in the part, I don’t realize that was just our transition from reality into Disney! So I was stoked to see the actual inside of the park! We scanned in and I saw sleeping beauty’s beautiful pink castle right in the center of it all! We started in the shops so that the girls could get some ears. I didn’t get myself a pair just because I wasn’t sure what I would do with them afterwards! Once we got out of the shops we headed toward the center of the park. I was super hungry and the popcorn smelled sooooo yummy so I got some sweet popcorn and then we headed to Frontier Land! It was so cool it was literally like transferring from one land to another with how extravagant the scenery is! It doesn’t even feel like you’re in Paris, it truly takes you to a different place! We got a fast pass to Big Thunder Mountain and then the other girls were hungry so we stopped at a vendor cart. Annalise and Lauren got crapes, Sarah and I got beignets, and Rachel got chips! I had never had a beignet before but it was super yummy! It was basically like a puffier fluffier doughnut covered in powdered sugar! The wait time for Indiana Jones Temple of Doom was minimal so we headed that way got in line! Again transported into another world it felt like we were in the jungle!! There was bamboo and sounds and I don’t even know. It was crazy. While we were in line, we decided to make a game plan for the day. Thankfully Annalice is a planner so she proposed ideas and we agreed to them as we saw fit! We also went ahead and got our supper reserved for 4:30 at Plaza Gardens Restaurant which is an all you can eat buffet- OH YEAH! We finally got to the front of the line and oh my gosh, the cast members (Disney Workers) were even in outfits that match the theme of the ride so they all looked like little saffari people! We got on- so excited- and it was really fun really fast so it was kind of a short ride but there were loops and turns and drops so it was still awesome!! From there we continued to walk through Adventureland and saw Jack Sparrow's ship. Then we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride which was cool again its crazy you just transition from one world to another! This one was neat because it had a storyline to it unfortunately I had NO IDEA what they were saying because it was IN FRENCH but still the track was neat it looked like night time in there which was interesting. Once we were done, we went over to Fantasyland to ride It’s A Small World. The outside of the ride was so cute! There were pastel colors used for the scenery and there was an Eiffel Tower outside as well! In addition to all this there was a “lake” under us because its a water ride. In the water there were two little ducks swimming around! They were so cute! I really liked this one, there were so many beautiful colors and lights! The scenery was really amazing! Going through this ride, it did feel like a small world! When we got done and were waiting in line (in our boat) waiting to get out, the two little duckies swam up to us and I wanted to touch them but then people started splashing water on them and they swam away. Rude. Anyway… after that we were starting to get hungry and we wanted to eat before our fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain began and expired. So we stopped and ate at Au Chalet de la Marionette (a Pinocchio place). They split us up into different lines. Rachel and I were in one line, Sarah and Annalise in another, and Lauren in a different one by herself. Rachel and My line was going really slowly so when Lauren reached the front before we did, Rachel and I just had Lauren order our food for us and we paid her back for it. I ordered a vegetarian salad and a lemonade. The salad was really yummy, it had a ton of vegetables, chickpeas, and the dressing just pulled it all together! The lemonade was kind of weird, It honestly tasted more like a sprite because it was made with sparkling water. We were pushing our time because we were in Fantasyland and needed to be all the way across the park in Frontierland before our fast pass passed us by! Unfortunately, Lauren had to leave us after lunch because she wanted to go back into the city and do some shopping! So Annalise, Sarah, Rachel, and I walked over to Frontierland to redeem our fast pass and the ride wasn’t going at the time so they told us to come back anytime that day to redeem them. From there we decided to check out Discoveryland since we hadn’t been there at all! On the way, we decided to look at the inside of the castle while we had time. It was so artistic inside. The stain glass windows were so beautifully and flawlessly made and I loved the scenes that they chose to depict on the windows! They were really iconic scenes and I really hope Disney paid a real artist for them!! There were also some beautifully woven tapestries that depicted more iconic scenes! Once we were done, we continued to make our way over to Discoveryland. We got into the single rider line and bypassed a huge line of people. We still had to wait for a hot second buuuuuuut definitely not as long as we would have had to if we were to go in the other line to all ride together. There was a code V (vomit) situation from what it looked like and so we had to wait for that to get cleaned up before it started up again. In line Annalise was saying that sitting in the back of this ride is the best spot so I was kind of hoping that’s where I would be placed! And as it so happens, I was not only placed in the way back but Sarah and I were placed next to each other and got to enjoy the ride together! Oh my goodness it was truly amazing!! I honestly felt like I was zooming through hyperspace in a star wars movie! The ride itself went really quickly but I didn’t mind because it was so cool!!! Sarah and I met Rachael outside of the exit but couldn’t find Annalise. She had mentioned walking through Les Mystères du Nautilus- Captain Nemo’s submarine which was right next to Hyperspace Mountain so we decided to go through it and see if she was in it. We didn’t see her so we started walking to Plaza Gardens Restaurant where we had made our dinner reservations. Sure enough, she was there! We had a bit of trouble getting our reservation but we finally got in… it was $40 which we weren’t expecting so we definitely attempted to eat our fill while we were there! I overstuffed myself… I had everything from salad to pasta to chicken to potato slices to six different desserts! Then we found out that they give out ice cream cones so of course I had to get one of those too. After supper we split in two: Rachel and Annalise went to explore and ride some more rides while Sarah and I went to watch the parade! The floats and costumes were so lavish and beautiful! I FaceTimed Mom, Wyatt, and Jordyn and I think they liked it too!! I was so excited to see all the characters it was honestly really cool!!! The worst part about it was how crowded it was watching the parade but honestly once it started, it didn’t even phase me! When it was over Sarah and I headed back over to Fantasyland. We decided to go through Alice’s Curious Labyrinth! It was super cute, there were the this way, that way signs, small doors, the caterpillar with his pipe, the oyster story characters, the Cheshire Cat, the cards painting the roses red, and the Queen of Hearts. I didn’t see Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb unfortunately but maybe they were in there I just missed that part! Toward the end, we were nervous that we weren’t going to get out!! We kept taking the wrong way and hitting dead ends! We did finally get out though so that good. Then we went to redeem our Peter Pan’s Flight fastpass. This ride was so cool!!!!! It took us through the Peter Pan story from the children’s bedroom through the window to fly over the city and into Neverland. I really felt like I was flying over the city, it was a really cool experience. Afterwards we walked around a bit and ended up running into Annalise and Rachel in Adventureland Since we were all right by Frontierland anyway we decided to ride Big Thunder Mountain!! We passes by a little Arabian-esc spot and they sold Dole Whips which was what Sarah and Annalise were looking for all day but we were all still full so we were just going to come back after the ride! We got on Big Thunder Mountain and Annalise asked If we could be in the way back so they put us there! It was super fun! Again the scenery was amazing but so was the track!! After it was over we went back to the Dole Whip cart and it was closed. I thought that Annalise was going to cry but she was okay, not happy but still okay. We headed back to the castle and Annalise and I went to go on a story ride. On the way we saw Escalabor and I tried to pull the sword from the stone, I couldn’t. We went on “Blanche-Neige etbles Sept Nains”- a Snow White ride. It was cute! Then we went back to Main Street and Annalise did some shopping for souvenirs! I met back up with Sarah and we secured our spot for the watching of the fireworks! The display was so amazing! The fireworks, projections, music, characters, and colors were just so beautifully put together and I loved it!!! The other girls cried, I surprisingly didn’t!!! When it was over, we did a little more shopping and Annalise has to go to the restroom because large crowds mixed with the amount of food we ate made her sick. After that we went to Main Street to see what they had there for souvenirs. We walked back home and soaked our feet in the tub. It felt really good after a long weekend of walking. I got my stuff together for tomorrow morning and then crashed! 4.1.19 Monday Woke up at 6:30 reluctantly. As a group we cleaned up the air bnb before we left it at 7am. While Annalise retured the keys to the drop box, I got a chocolate croissant from a little pastry shoppe. We took two Ubers and I was with Sara, Lauren, and Kirsten on the way to the airport. We flew out at 9:45 am for a 2 and a half hour flight. It was a little behind which was cutting it close to our bus departure time. We landed in Prague and Annalise was freaking out that we would miss our bus so we were going to run off the plane and out of the airport. When we got off the plane there was a bus to the airport- not in the plan- and it put us more behind. sprinted through the air port and two people were calling ubers but we didn't have time so we hopped into two taxis to try to make it there in time but only a few of us had brought Czech currency with us and we were not even sure that we had enough. I was in a taxi with Logan, Lauren, and Kirsten. Logan had 800 and I had 100 which really is not a lot and the price was racking up fast while the time was running low. Logan was really anxious which was making the ride a little stressful for the rest of us and Kirsten said if God is with us we will make it. We made it with a few minutes to spare and it was just under 800 so Logan paid the driver and we sprinted to where we were supposed to be. Logan kind of had an idea of where we should be and so he led but when we were looking at the platforms we couldn't see one the said Olomouc so Logan asked a woman and she pointed us to the one it should be, we saw the train, confirmed it was the right one, and JUMPED ON! We made it- God was defiantly on our side! I didn't have my ticket because Annalise had booked hers, Sarah's, Sara's, and mine all together and she wasn't in my taxi so I didn't even know if they made it onto the train! I had Lauren text her and they did make it on the train as well! She sent Lauren my ticket via text and I went to go find them and my seat. I found them and got settled in for the two hour train ride back to Olomouc. We made it to Olomouc, took the tram to the history building, and were surprisingly on time for our 3:00 class! "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Honestly, I was overwhelmed this trip with all the ways that God was showing me that He will and does provide for me. It truly felt like at every point of uncertainty and nervousness He was there making everything go right. When I was navigating by myself and started to get nervous all I had to do was pray and I was immediately comforted. When I didn't want to be alone, Harry made his way into my story. When we weren't sure if we would be able to make it to class on time because of this or that it ALL worked out. There was just so much that constantly fell into place it was so amazing. The two verses as two that my beautiful friends gave me and they defiantly summed up this weekend.
4/1/2019 0 Comments OlomoucHighlights of this week: 3.25.19 On Monday We went to a Jewish community center and chapel in Olomouc for a lecture. We were given homemade pass over bread and tea or coffee which was all very delicious! I got groceries that should last me for a few or more weeks and only spent $22!! 3.26.19 Tuesday I was working on my blog posts and cooking: bad combo. First I stuck the butter in the microwave to soften it up and apparently the wrap around it Is not like the paper wrap we have in the US because it sparked and started on fire. There must be foil in it... but all was okay it was just a little flame that got put out... then I was still working on my blog and ended up burning one side of my grilled cheese sandwich and the stove started beeping at me. Sarah thought it was funny and tried to take a picture of it and in the process dropped it on the floor! I still ate it but dang it was a process! We have been planning spring break our Paris trip this weekend and it’s just blehhhh I am not a fan of planning trips! But it’s going! We learned about witches this week and the progression of their “existence” and why people believed in them! It was really cold to hear about! 3.27.19 Wednesday night a big group of us went out to a local club (Belmundo). I was baby sitter but it was still fun! Robin, one of the bartenders, is a really nice guy and he gave me a FREE GLASS OF ICE WATER!!!!! Oh my goodness seriously highlight of my week I really miss ice water and FREE ice water at that! I basically drank it all in one go but I didn’t want to go back and ask for another one since he was working with other paying customers so I just munched on my ice. Sarah and I left shortly after so it was fine, we got a taxi home and konked out! 3.28.19 On Thursday, Sarah and i went to the mall to exchange money for Euros for our Paris trip. We then did a little shopping and i got a new shirt and Sarah got a new dress! Then we got a quick lunch at a sandwich/ panini place in the mall! I got a bacon spinach something or other and a chocolate cream puff! We had a really interesting lecture about Islam and Muslim religion as well as islamaphobia. Thursday night our whole group went to a hockey game. It was the play offs and our home team, Olomouc, made it and was hosting it so we had to go!! We actually missed our last class to be able to go but our professor that was teaching it was very kind and forgiving about the whole situation and we will be making up the class later in the semester (from my understanding). The game was really cool to see, there were some fights, penalties, and crowds yelling just as it is in the states. For food we got fries with mayonnaise and ketchup on them and a brought worst thy came with mustard and two slices of bread. When the crowd was cheering, we weren’t sure what they were saying so we just said similar sounding American words instead and yelled those! It wasn’t as aggressive of a sport (in the rink) as it is in the states which was interesting. Once we got out of the arena we were kinda concerned. There were TONS of police men and women decked out in shields, dogs, and full attire like some thing really bad was going to go down! I should have felt more safe with them there but honestly I felt a lot more uneasy! We went ahead and made our way back to the dorms and I got ready for bed after FaceTimeing a few friends! 3.29.19 Friday we had to wake up early (well earlier than my body is used to..) for class at 9:45! We learned about borders and discussed why we have them, how they are formed, and if they are necessary. Then we had Czech language class- MY FAVORITE! I’m doing a lot better in class with the language but outside the classroom I just can’t think of the right words/ phrases to say. Soooo I definitely need to work on it more. We also found out that the Chancellor will not be coming over to see us, he is unfortunately having some major health issues! After class Sarah and I headed back to the dorms for a quick lunch before we had to go to the bus station for the start to our weekend in Paris! Continued in Paris blog... Some things I've noticed:
-When you go out doors you have to pull, when you go in you have to push. It took a while to get used to this... -Toilet paper is brown not white (some is white buuut It is typically brown) -The common sheet material is similar to the feel of a towel -There are not water fountains here. Not even in our school building, we have to fill up our water bottles in the bathroom sink. -People are very quiet and like to keep to themselves. When we are on the tram in small groups instead of our big group it is so quiet on the tram that whispering feels like it is still to loud. Its weird, people aren't even wearing headphones, they are just quiet. -They really don't do cents here it wouldn't be 80.25 like we have it would just be 80. The coins are just whole figures like our dollar coins if that makes sense. -The food around here really isn't that different option wise, there are burger places, pasta shops, pizza places, sushi restaurants, fries, etc. The traditional Czech food is different than our food though for example: Goulash is not made with noodles like in the US, it has dumplings and meat instead -Sometimes (like in the town center) its hard to tell the difference between the sidewalk and the road because it is all cobblestone. - No ranch here -People are kind of weird about when you are in their way. They don't really say excuse me or "I'm just going to sneak past you really quick here..." They don't say anything- from what I've noticed, they either stare at you with angry eyes and an annoyed expression until someone in your group pulls you out of their way so they can get through or they just shove you with out saying anything. -The people seem fairly healthy here, I have not seen really obese people here -You have to pay for public restrooms... it is annoying but whatever -When you order water at restaurants it comes in a glass bottle (similar to the old coke glass bottles but for water). They bring you out that and a small empty glass and poor some of the water into the glass for you. -They also say "um" -Towel warmer racks are a normal thing to have in the bathrooms (of homes not public restrooms) 3/21/19 Thursday from Olomouc to Prague Woke up at 7 am to be at the tram station by 8 then we took the tram to the train station and got on our train to Prague at 8:45ish. So already it was a busy morning!! We had a 2 hour and 10 minute train ride to Prague. It was so cool we were in our own little cubicle just like in Harry Potter! I was with Sara, Kirsten, Lauren, and my two Czech professors Jan and Martin. We had some good conversations and then they took a nap and I had time with God and slept a little bit and before I knew it, I was in Prague again! We headed off in a little group to the metro where we bought our tickets, got on, got off and found our hostel. The lobby of the hostel was super nice so I had high hopes for how the room would look but the rooms were really cramped so it made sharing the space really difficult but the beds were plush! Anyway so we put our stuff away and then met up in the lobby with our whole group and professors so that they could take us a few places around Prague. The first place they took us was the actual church from the Anthropoid movie we had watched. This was the church that the last patriots from the mission had died after being hidden there by the priest, being ratted out by a snitch, and holding the Nazi soldiers at bay for 6 hours (only two were killed by the Nazis, they other 5 took a pill to kill themselves). There was a window to the crypt that the Nazis put hoses in to try to drown the patriots out and we got to see that window as well as the crypt itself. It was a really hard and powerful scene to watch in the movie and then being in the real spot where it took place was very somber. We had to leave the crypt early because it was considered a war memorial and there were soldiers from France that were coming to look at it. So from there we made our way over to the old town square and that's where the left us to split into little groups and do what ever we wanted to with the rest of the day! I split off with Annalise, Cici, Alex, and Sara! We hung out in the town square for a while and I played with the bubbles that this guy was making with a huge bubble wand. I was going to try to take some cute photos with the bubbles but I just got so excited to pop the bubbles that I forgot to pose and stuff but its fine, I was having fun! Then we got stopped by a guy who told us about a Prague Pub Crawl and one of the girls in our big group, Tiffany was celebrating her 21st birthday that day so we asked the guy a lot of questions and presented the idea of going to the group and all but one person so 20 people said they would go! Then we got lunch at a little Italian place and I got a margarita pizza bigger than my face! It was really yummy. We walked around the old part of town for a while, and we ended up seeing a little dessert shop! So of course we stopped. I got some macaroons- lemon and blueberry flavor and not to mention that they're loper colors! They were pretty yummy and then we just kinda doddled around for a bit before heading back to the hostel. For supper I ate a brought worst from a street vendor which was suuuuuuuuper yummy!! Then we all went out to the pub crawl! It included admission to 3 bars and one of them was 5 story bar that has a different music theme on each floor! It was neat to see the different atmospheres of the rap/ hip hop floor vs. the oldies but goodies floor! At the first bar, there were free unlimited shots of vodka cranberry juice and absinthe, red and white wine, and beer. Since it was free, I tried the absinthe and regretted it. It tastes like black licorice in a drink and I do not like that!!! We got home and asleep at about 3am! That's super late for me but we left some of the group there who wanted to keep dancing. 3/22/19 Friday in Prague We met the rest of our group and our professors at 9:30am. Our professors took us around Prague and pointed out some significant historical spots and spoke to us about some of the facts and history of them! They took us to the Charles Bridge and told us the history of the bridge and the statues on it. It was a very beautiful bridge and it was super cool to see the Prague from on it! From there we made our way to Prague Castle. On our way, We walked past the John Lennon Wall which was full of love and peace imagery. We stopped and took a few fun pictures in front of it and then continued to the Prague Castle. At Prague Castle we saw the cathedral and a few other places within the castle. the cathedral was so beautiful inside and out. My favorite thing about the cathedral was the beautiful color splotches on the floor made from the stained glass windows. We also went into a different section of the castle and in that was a room of family crests that filled the walls and . It was so cool to see all the different imagery on each of the crests. On our way out we stopped in a room that showed a ton of the different kinds of amour that was used. Once we were done at Prague Castle, we split up and were done being in a group for the day! I stayed with Sarah, Seth, and Rachel. Our first order of business was to eat. We walked around a bit just looking for a spot and then we found a traditional Czech restaurant so we went there. It was kind of an odd little place and we were the only people in the whole restaurant but the food was good so it was fine! I got the goulash which is very different in the Czech, they don't use noodles. Their goulash has beef and gravy and dumplings that you eat with it. Then we walked to Petrin Gardens which is a huge park overlooking Prague. It was so relaxing to just sit in the playground (no kiddos were using it, so it was okay that we were) and just enjoy the beauty of the city. We stayed there for a while talking about our adventures and more importantly reminiscing our childhoods. Then we walked around the city a bit more and we got Trdelniks (ter- dell- nik) before crossing over the Charles Bridge again. The Trdelnik shop that we went to was real freaking cool!!!! You could see the whole process of making them (and added bonus, the workers were wearing cute old style matching outfits). So the process is that you take a ball of dough, roll it into a snake, wrap it around the wooden rolling pin thingy, roll that on the table to smoosh the rolls together, dip it in sugar, put it over the coals (on a conveyer belt type thing that is constantly turning them), once the are golden brown and delicious take them off, dip them in another sugar mixture, knock them off the rolling pin thingy, fill with toppings. OH MY GOODNESS YUUUUUUUUMMM!!!! They are the best thing ever. Mine that I got was lined with chocolate on the inside, packed with strawberries, covered in ice cream, with a strawberry slice and chocolate drizzle over top. I am salivating thinking of this. Me and my tummy were so happy but also really stuffed!!! So we walked back to our Hostel and I took a nap. Then it was time for supper. Seth, Lauren, Kirsten, Sarah, Rachel, and I went to a pizza and pasta place. Rachel and I were both still so full that we went ahead and split a pasta dish. Again, super was really yummy!! Afterword, I went back and got ready for bed and slept. 3/23/19 Saturday in Dresden I started the day with a breakfast from McDonalds which was cheep and delicious- for the most part. I got a raspberry lemonade because I was feeling adventurous but first of all, I don't even like raspberry flavored things and second of all it was gross because it was made with sparkling water so it like bubbled on your tongue and was all around just gross but other than that, my food was good! We met as a group at 7:45am and headed to the tram station, got our tickets and used the tram to head to the bus station where we took a two hour bus ride to Dresden, Germany. On the bus I got some yummy complimentary hot cocoa and watched Lego Ninjago. When we got to Dresden we walked to Altstadt Centre to another cathedral. While we were in the square, Martin and Jan talked to us about what the Centre looked like during WWII. Apparently the Allies would use about five waves of bombs to destroy the manufacturing from that area. They would bomb the areas at night by looking for the rivers because even though all the lights were off, they couldn't disguise the rivers. So the piolets would have to study the maps and know the rivers and bridges so when they would fly, they would navigate the rivers and count the bridges and that's how they would know where to drop the bombs. The Cathedral that we went into had been almost completely destroyed except for the north west tower. They left it in ruin for about 10 years before they decided to rebuild it. We went inside and all I could think was that I would love to hear a choir sing in this Cathedral! Also it was baroque style which was a little tid bit! Anyway we got to go into the crypt and there were a few different rooms designated to different things. One was a mediation room with a sculpture signifying the ten commandments in the middle of the room and benches along the wall for people to sit, pray, and meditate. There was another room with gravestones. Another had two sculptures that stood for destruction and rebuilding. I lingered a little to long in the sculpture room and when I came out, no one from my group was around. I went outside and I couldn't see anyone! I was a little annoyed because I was supposed to go with a few people from my group up into the tower part of the Cathedral. It wouldn't have been an issue except for the fact that I didn't have any euros on me and the place only accepted cash to get in. Most of our group didn't have euros so our professor aka Pops was going to pay for all of us and then we could just pay him back but he gave the money to Griffin and I didn't know where he was. I was in a pickle. I didn't know if they had already gone up or not so I figured if I just waited by the entrance I would catch them one way or another! I waited for a while and then they finally came out, I got the money from Ria, and headed up by myself to the top of the tower. The group said the views were amazing so I was excited to see it even though I was a little worried I would have to miss lunch since we were to meet the rest of the group at 1:30. Griffin ended up coming with me to go see it a second time so that was nice of him! We got to the top and got to see the whole city from up there! It was so breathtaking. I spent a bit of time just taking in the sights before I came down. Griffin and I had enough time to eat so we found somewhere close and ordered our food. We couldn't read the menus so we decide that we would just point to something and order it and see what it is when it comes! Mine ended up being a lamb dish and his was octopus. He let me try it because I had never had octopus before and it was pretty okay!! It took a bit to get our check so we ended up being a little late to the meeting with the rest of the group. After lunch we walked to a different section of the city along the river. We stopped and our professors gave us the choice to go to either an art museum or to a museum of armor and other things. You can probably guess which one I chose to go to... yeah no surprise that I chose the art museum! There was a lot of renascence paintings which isn’t really my favorite era of art buuuuut there was an AMAZING room of sculptures. I don’t think they were marble but they were still very beautifully made! All in all it was really cool as a museum! Afterward we had a bit of time before we had to meet with the rest of the group so we walked around the city a little. Seth and I got separated from Sarah, Lauren, and Logan because we were listening to an opera singer who was out on the street singing for a crowd! I wanted chocolate or a dessert or something so we found a little place by where we were supposed to meet the rest of the group and ordered some dessert something that they had but it really wasn’t that great. Then they wouldn’t take our card even though they had a card reader and again I had no euros on me sooooo yeah neither did Seth which meant we were two stuck people. Thankfully they had WiFi so we were able to message our groups group chat and Pops came and rescued us with his cash!! We just paid him back with our card. So then we walked around a little more before going to the meeting spot. Our whole group met together and we took the metro to the bus stop. We took the bus back to Prague and when I was on the bus I got some really yummy complimentary hot tea! I am not sure what kind it was but oh my gee it was good!!! We got back to Prague and I was ready for bed! 3/24/19 Sunday from Prague to Olomouc Woke up, got ready, checked our luggage into the holding room at the hostel, got McDonald’s for breakfast (this time I got OJ instead), then we checked out of the Hostel! We met with the rest of the group including Jan and Martin. They took us to two Jewish synagogues. The first one was turned into a museum and inside of the first part of it was walls full of all the Jewish people who were killed in WWII. There were names upon names upon names on these huge white walls. It was a hard thing to see- how many people were murdered because of the influence of one person. There was another room filled with children’s artwork. It was really cool to see what they had drawn and get to see a little bit of what was going on in their minds during this terrible time. It was also awesome to see how art and art lessons were such an important aspect for those kiddos to help them work through their emotions and their reality. Outside of that was a cemetery full of headstones. Apparently there were layers of up to five bodies buried in the cemetery. There were so many head stones, it was crazy. The second part of it was the synagogue. It had a lot of Jewish religious objects. We learned that the only reason that these things were intact was because the Nazis were ordered to keep them for a “Museum of the terminated race.” That was hard to think about... yeah... then we walked past a little street market to go to another synagogue. That one was much smaller and we discovered that women weren’t allowed to attend the services but they could sit outside the sanctuary in a hallway and listen to the service through little wholes in the wall! Then we split up and Sarah and I went back to the little market that we had passed earlier to see what they were selling! After that we headed back into town over by our Hostel for lunch. We found a cute little café place and got pasta— yummy! I also got some tea with my pasta and it came with a lemon wedge. There was a cool little metal contraption with the lemon that would squish the lemon for you and then you just pour the juice out of it! It was super nifty and I kind of want one for no real reason at all! After lunch, Sarah and I window shopped around the city and then got one last Trdelnik before leaving! It was good but not as great as the other one that I had!!! We then met the rest of the group, got our luggage, and headed back to our home base- Olomouc. 3/19/2019 0 Comments A few days in Olomouc3/18/19 Monday Continued I stayed up, dropped my bags off, changed, and I headed off (back on the tram- navigating BY MYSELF) to go see Mamma T so that she could take me to the doctor! I was super proud of myself that I was able to navigate by myself and managed not to get myself lost! Mamma T walked me to the doctors office and it was a really pretty walk despite the fact that I did not feel well and was super sleep deprived. We got to the doctor and Mamma T translated for me so that she knew what symptoms I actually had and then she checked me out with her doctor tools. So I’m at the doctors office and Mamma T and the doctor are having a conversation about me in Czech that I can’t understand and it was honestly a little irritating because I wanted so badly to know what was being said but couldn’t understand so I just sat there in a sick little lump. The doctor finally diagnosed me with bronchitis, inflammation in my ears, and eczema rash on my neck. Then she gave three prescription papers to Mamma T and explained how I was to take my medicine, I paid her 250 Koruna ($11) for my appointment, and then off we went to get my meds! So we get to the pharmacy and they start pulling out my meds and they just keep going so by the end, I have 6 boxes of medicine for me to use. These people are not shy with their medicine, let me tell ya! I paid for all of that (about $40 USD) and we headed to the tram. While we waited, i think i asked Mamma T about 7 times when i was supposed to take each of my pills and i finally got what the writing meant. So one box says 1-1-0 which means One pill in the morning one at lunch and none at night. Another box says 1x1 which means one pill a day. A different one says 1-0-1 o 12 h which means one in the morning none at noon and one at night 12 hours apart. My ear drops say 4x2k which means 2 drops 4 times a day. It was confusing. I finally got back to my dorm and passed out! I slept All day. Up until that point I think I had been trying to suppress my illness and just power through it that it didn’t really hit me how cruddy my body was feeling but oh my goodness when I took a breather and just stopped for a second it hit me. It hit me hard!! So yeah I messaged my professor about what was going on and He allowed me to skip the one class we had that day to rest up and heal my body so I slept a lot!!! So that’s what I spent the rest of my day doing. 3/19/19 Tuesday Still feeling sicky so I took it easy today too! Hung out in my room and worked on journaling, time with God, and sleep. Then I headed to class on the tram with a few other people and we had two Lectures. One was a guest speaker who talked about the division of Czechoslovakia and the other was our history professor who talked about the difference between Judaism and Christianity. Once that was over we came back on the tram! There was actually a guy on it checking for passes, I hadn’t ran into this yet. I had my pass but a different girl with me didn’t so she got a ticket but it only cost like $2.50 so it wasn’t that bad! We got back to the dorms and I made popcorn for supper, hung out for a little bit and then we planned a little more of our Paris trip and our spring break! Then I went to bed. 3/20/19 Wednesday I am feeling a little better and I am thinking that by the end of this week, I will feel 100%! Lets hope! Again I had more of a relaxed morning. When I woke up I had time with God, watched a sermon online with Seth (called Foundation- so far its pretty good!), ate, packed for our first class trip (which starts tomorrow), and got ready for the day. I had two lecture classes and then we watched a movie so it was a "long" day of classes today (3 pm- 9pm). The first lecture was by Martin and he talked about the differences between Judaism and Christianity. It was really interesting because I haven't studied the different religions so I don't really know how they are different than my own nor what they believe! Then Jan (Pronounced like yawn) gave a lecture of a case study of Totalitarianism. It was super interesting! He also gave us details about the anthropoid mission (which was what we were watching a movie about next). The crazy thing was his family connections to the anthropoid mission and the men who were involved in the mission. "Operation Anthropoid was the code name for the assassination during World War II of Schutzstaffel (SS)- Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office, RSHA)." It took place in Prague and this was the highest general Nazi to be assassinated during the war! Then we got a break for supper before the movie so I went to go get a burger at The Buns and then some fries at Fancy Fries. Both were suuuuuper yummy and I was so full! Also Fancy fries had a little stand for the "Potato of the Day" and I just thought it was the cutest little thing! Anyway then we headed back to the school to watch the movie Anthropoid. I honestly suggest that if you really like learning about WWII and have some extra time on your hands, that you should watch this movie. There were some heavy scenes in it that I couldn't watch but I think it stayed pretty true to the reality of the mission and what was happening! We all had pretty heavy hearts after watching it. After it was over, we all headed back to the dorms and I went to sleep! 3/15/19 Friday Continued We met up as the group of 12 to get onto the tram that takes us by the bus station at 3:30, got on our tram, got off, and didn’t know where the bus station was at. That was frustration #1 so we were by the tram station and some thought that was it so we walked over by that and then there were buses pulling up on an opposite corner so we went over there and then decided to go back to the tram station to go inside. At this point we had gone in a circle and with 12 of us walking along like little ducklings we were very noticeable! I thought it was funny but others were becoming anxious and frustrated so finally someone finds a digital map to the bus station and we walk 15ish minutes and find it. We were at the platform that our bus should be picking us up at but people were still anxious and unsure. While we were at the bus station there was a guy there that must have been on some type of drug or was just schizophrenic because he was walking around “talking to” someone or something that wasn’t there and feeding an imaginary dog and unsuccessfully doing cartwheels. I was trying not to stare so i missed where this random person came from- I’m assuming hey just got off a bus and had to walk past this guy. But the other person was walking past the odd guy and I don’t know how it led up to it but the guy that was walking by starts punching the odd one until he’s on the ground, kicks him, walks over and kicks his bag- stuff goes flying out of the guys bag, and then they leave. The guy recovered quickly and then He finally landed a cartwheel and threw his arms up in triumph but then a bus came and needed to drive right where the man was at and the guy wouldn’t move he started flailing his hands around like he wanted to fight the bus but then he finally moved over and eventually left the premises. We finally got on the bus at 5:05 and headed to Brno on a 1 hour bus ride where we would get off and wait for an hour to get on another 4.5 hour bus ride that would take us to Budapest. All was going well until we got to the bus station in Budapest (at 12 am none the less). We didn’t know what public transportation we were going to use to get us close to our Air BnB. So we were exploring all of our options people were getting frustrated and anxious again and some of our group found a guy that spoke English and he directed us to a bus stop. So we went there buuuuut we didn’t know where to find tickets so more frustration and confusion until we find that we can go underground to get them. We do and we all got 72 hour passes and since it was already Saturday of our two day weekend we were good To go. They were only 15 USD so fairly cheep and one of the girls has the buses we could take and the stop we could get off at ready to go so we get on a bus and get off at our stop stumble around a bit trying to get us to our Air BnB but we finally find the building where it’s at. Three people in our group wanted to walk so they did and the rest took the bus. So we are at the building (that looks like a motel or some type of apartment building) in a court yard and I feel like I’m a detective or something because we have pictures and a description of where we are supposed to go but nothing is matching up well it turns out we were on the 1st floor not the 2nd floor so we go up these stairs and still can’t find the door but we find one that fits the description for the most part and found a key to go with it so Seth just goes for it and tries to open the door. We all though we were going to be breaking and entering but it turns out that we were in the right room so that’s good! We all picked our beds and then I got moved to a different room with a single bed so I didn’t get anyone else sick so basically I got quarantined. We waited until the other three that walked showed up and then chatted until about 2:30 am and then went to bed! 3/16/19 Saturday We slept in and then got ready to go to the thermal spa which is one thing that Budapest is known for. We all split in to smaller groups. The thermal spa was sooo relaxing to just to sit and talk in what was essentially a giant hot tub! We (Logan, Kirstin, Sarah, Lauren, Rachel, and I) talked about Disney as a franchise and their parks for about the whole time that we were there! We stayed for about 3 hours before we had to leave to get ready for our boat cruise! When we left the spa, we got pretzels from a street vendor in the park next to the spa. They were pretty bad. They were not great pretzels. We were headed back to our Air BnB and ended up waking through Hero’s Square and there was a ceremony going on, although I’m not sure what it was for! There were a ton of people holding the sides of a verrrrrrrry long Hungarian Flag and were waking in a semi circle into the middle of Hero’s Square and folding the flag (on a tarp) on the ground. It was kinda neat to see! We got back to the Air BnB using the metro and waited for a different girl who went on a different small group to the thermal spas. Once we were all together as a different small group (Lauren, Sarah, Rachel, Kristina, and I) we headed to the docks for our city tour cruise! There were two boats side by side and we had to walk through the first one to get to the second which was the one that we were riding on for the cruise. We got really nervous though because the first one was a real junker and was super dirty and just full of crap so we were very relieved that we weren’t riding on that one! When we got on the boat they gave us a complimentary glass of mulled wine and that was really good! I had never tried that before so that was fun! We ended up sitting on the terrace part of the boat and they provided us with blankets to keep us from freezing to death! The sights were so beautiful! Their buildings are so amazing breathtaking! We got on the cruise at 5 pm and by the time we were almost docked we got to see the city at sun set and it was so awesome! The sky was an orange and pink fire over the city and it was so cool! Then we got supper at a little restaurant by the docks and we all got “traditional” Hungarian dishes I got a Transylvanian wood platter I think? It was three different kinds of meat, “smashed potatoes,” and an onion pepper mix. It was pretty good! The we headed back to the Air BnB. I hadn’t been feeling that great throughout the whole day and ending up getting a weird neck rash for no apparent reason. Sarah thinks I could either have an ear infection or strep throat or both so I got ready for bed and laid down and attempted to sleep while everyone else when out! 3/17/19 Sunday Slept in again, Yay!! Well kinda slept since I’m a sicky I’m not sleeping that well but oh well! Anyway we started our St. Patties day off with a walking tour of the city! Before we got to our starting point, I got a Kürtőskalács -chimney cake with Nutella in it! We (Kirstin, Logan, Rachel, Kristina, Sarah, Loren, Kira, Ericka, and I) started on the “Pest” side of Budapest and ended on the “Buda” side. We were shown a ton of historical landmark and been though the tour was 2 and a half hours, it went by really quickly! Our guide was really good! He told us some of the places that we could go see that we may enjoy and have us some other tips! After that ended we split into smaller groups again and Kirstin, Loren, Sarah, and I went to a ring shop that Loren’s bartender told her about last night. We all want to get a ring from each country we go to on this trip. We felt like we were getting lost but it was okay because we weren’t and we eventually found the ring shop. I got one that has a a turquoise stone and some flouncy leaves and designs on it. I chose It because the turquoise color reminded me of the color of the thermal spa and the flouncy designs reminded me of all the detailed architecture in this city, so I think it encapsulates this city for me! Once we got our rings we decided it was time to eat! We took the metro from the buda side to the pest side which took us under the river! How did they even do that? People are amazing. Anyway Loren wanted to try Langos which is another traditional meal from Budapest so we found a place that sold them. It was actually called Langos so you know it’s legit. Since I’m sick and can’t smell I can really taste anything but the texture was good and the other girls said they were reaaaaaaally good so you’ll just have to take their word for it! Mine was the dough bottom with sour cream and cheese! Once we finished, we headed back to the Air BnB. On our way back, we saw a weekend market that was in a kind of alley way that had businesses on both sides. There were tables with jewelry, pottery, tatting, stamps, pins , and hand made accessories. It was really cool to see all the vendors and what they had for sale! The best part was at the end of it, we were actually closer to our Air BnB without even trying! Once we got there I took a nap, thy was super nice to rejuvenate a little bit since I’m still sick and my body was tired after all that walking! I woke up and got all my stuff packed and then we had decided we should get supper before our 11 hour bus trip back to Olomouc. So we (Lauren, Rachel, Kristina, Sarah, Kira, Erica, and I) found a nice restaurant and bar to eat at! I got a Mango and Rosemary Lemonade that was really yummy with a potato soup and Cesar salad! Then we headed back to the Air BnB again to get our stuff and go to the bus stop. We took the metro to the bus stop, found our bus and got on for our 6 hour bus ride! 3/18/19 Monday
Our bus was ahead of schedule and ended up getting us to our bus stop about an hour early- getting us there at 3:30 am. We went inside the bus station and had to wait until 6 am for our bus. It was an okay wait but you had to pay to use the restroom and there was a creepy man in the restroom that you had to pay as in he was in with the stalls so he could hear your stream... it was really creepy and needless to say none of the girls used the restroom on our wait. We finally got on our bus at 6 am and got back to Olomouc by 7 am! We all went back to the dorms and everyone went to bed but me. I stayed up, dropped my bags off, changed, and I headed off (back on the tram- navigating BY MYSELF) to go see Mamma T so that she could take me to the doctor! To Be Continued... 3/12/2019 1 Comment Czech-in' into my new life3/10/2019- Leaving Prague for Olomouc By 1:30 am, we decided we should probably turn off the movies and head to bed but at 4:30 am I was woken up (on accident) by our hostel mates who were just getting back from a pub crawl! Thankfully I was able to get back to sleep and slept in until 9:30 am. Once we finally got up and got our stuff together, checked out of our beautiful hostel that honestly looked like a hotel! We were told that It the home of an architect from a while ago in history! We had a few hours to roam around in Prague before we had to be at the airport to meet all the other students in our study abroad program so we ended up wandering up our street. We went into a puppet shop (apparently the Czech is known for their marionette puppets), a local art shop, and then a restaurant for lunch. They were serving traditional Czech meals and I got a stuffed pork dish with veggies on the side and an odd Czech dessert that I HATED but I am not sure what it was called. After lunch we got a taxi to the airport and found the rest of our group. We were actually the last ones there... oops... but we were still on time so it was okay! We then got on a coach to take us to Olomouc... a 4 hour bus ride. We stopped part way through our drive to eat at a McDonald's that was supper fancy! There was a part where they were selling deserts like macaroons and cheese cake and had vases of REAL flowers on their tables. It did not feel like a McDonald's other than the fact that the food was the same. On the bus ride, I got to sit by Sarah, my roommate. She is from Omaha, she is super sweet, and such a Godsend. I have been praying hard for my roommate and I think this is one way God is showing me that He has got me taken care of. We are very like minded in many ways and it is super comporting to know that I will have someone to hang back with if I don't want to go out to the pubs. Once we got to Olomouc (ol- um- oats), we got checked into our dorm rooms. I am on the fifth floor in a pod with 4 other rooms of girls from my trip. So I have one roommate (a person that I share my bedroom with) but 6 pod mates ( girls in separate bedrooms but in the same "pod" or "cell" as they call them here). I think that makes sense? Also in my pod we have a little kitchenette with a microwave, stove top, and sink, two bathrooms, and storage lockers that we put our big suitcases in. In my room, I immediately started to put all of my stuff away and once that was done I began to put all of my pictures and bible verses on the wall. It was so encouraging to read through all of the verses that my friends wrote to me. I am sure that I will need them through out this semester! Then we took the tram to a stop close to Globus which is the Czechs version of Walmart or a Super Target. It hit me hard. Oh my goodness I was soooooo frustrated with shopping there. I would say that was a taste of culture shock for me. We started by eating in the food court and there was just a huge group of us Americans who didn't know what anything said or how to ask for food or what the food even was so the server lady got irritated with us and we were stressed and it was just an ordeal in itself. I just ended up getting what the person in front of me got by pointing to her tray of food. I am not sure what I ate but it tasted pretty good! After I was done it was on to the shopping part... more confusion and frustration. First of all it is hard to keep track of how much you are spending because everything looks so expensive (even though its cheaper- 1 Czech Korunas = $.04 USD). Secondly, I CANT READ WHAT THE PRODUCTS SAY!!! Oh my goodness its kind of funny how hard it was to shop, I honestly felt so helpless buuuuut I made it though and I got my groceries and I am fine. Once we got back to our dorm and I put my food away, our neighbors from across the hall came over to introduce themselves. The pod next door has students from Canada, Spain, and Italy. Zach is from Canada and he is the one who came over to our pod and talked with us girls for awhile and then when his roommate got in we all went over to his room to meet Nick and the other guys but Giovanni, Nick, and Zach were the only ones that stayed up and chatted with us. Finally at about 1:30 am I went to bed. 3/11/2019- First day of classes (Well Orientation at least) Alright, so I work up at 8 am and I was tired but I pushed through and we took the tram to our orientation room. We had 3 hours of lecture from various faculty and professors from Palacky (pah- lot- ski) University. They told us a little bit about the Czech people attitude, such as that they have dark (or sick sense) of humor, they aren't very happy people (until after drinking ), they don't like to smile at people, and most are agnostic or atheist. Czech people also call people who smile too much American smiles. I honestly I take that as a compliment that we are happy and able to find joy in many different things in life but the Czechs take that as being fake. Another interesting fact is that Czechs like American country music. I thought that was odd. But they fed us fruit and little Czech pastries and WATER- yuuuuumm! Then for lunch! We split up into two groups because Czech places are not as fit to seat a large group like American restaurants are. So I went in the group with the two professors so I knew i wouldn’t get lost!We went to a little Czech restaurant and I had stuffed chicken with mushroom sauce and sautéed vegetables on the side. It was really good and I have been so happy with all the food I have had so far! Once done we had to pay which was a confusing mess as we are all getting used to the currency here and trying to get 12 Americans out quickly with one interpreter professor was a bit of a challenge but at least we had “Mamma T” the interpreter professor began a walking tour of Olomouc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful city and there is a lot of really cool history but it was toooooooo cold out to pay great attention to what was being said... we spent two hours seeing the city and we turned into Popsicles. We all thought we were going to get sick for being out that long in the cold but oh well we probably won’t! Except maybe Kristina, she didn’t bring her coat, she was just wearing her sweater so our guide gave Kristina her scarf. That finally got over and we all wanted to warm up so Sarah, my roommate, and I went to Costa Coffee with four other girls to warm up before we went back to the dorms! Sarah and I didn’t get any drinks of cake like the other girls did but it was nice to just be in the warmth of the indoors for a while and regain feeling in my body again! We headed back to the dorms and then got ready for our welcome party that was being put on for us. We left a little early in a group to go eat and we ended up meeting the rest of our group on accident at a pizza place where I got a yummy panini! And then off to the welcome party! It was in a little wine cellar and they had water, small garlic butter cheesy bread bites, and fruit pastries for us and then we could order any drinks that we wanted! So I got a sweet white wine and chatted with the other students that showed up like Paul, a Czech student at the university, Matt, a Canadian Student, and a few others that I can’t remember their names. It was also nice to be able to talk to the other people in my group to get to know them better. I got another drink that was a tropical mixed drink just to try it! Those two drinks were just under $3.50 so that tells you how cheep the drinks are here, it’s kinda weird. I really miss free water though and wonder if this is the last free water I’ll get in a while! We wanted to go with the other students that we had met to the the bar/club that they usually attend on Monday nights. So we ALL, our whole group of 21 American students, followed our new found friends to a bar around the corner while we were waiting to got to the club that go to on Mondays. I sat with some of the other girls that are Czech students, Nicole and Sasha, that I didn’t get to talk to at the welcome party! The language was a bit of a barrier but we chatted as much and as well as we could and get to know each other a decent amount before Sasha had to leave! I was starting to get tired but I wanted to see what the place looked like so I stayed up and went to the club with the rest of the group. We went in and our group went to. The front of the (very small) club where there was a dance floor and we just started dancing like crazy! It was really fun jumping around and being silly with everyone! It was a little funny you could definitely tell where the Americans were versus everyone else because the other people we trying to dance really well but we were just jumping and “dancing” very American-like. But it was fun none the less. Apparently Czechs usually got out from like 12:00-5 or 6 am. I didn’t do that and I won’t be doing that. The sober ones of our group, including me, were ready to leave by 1:30 am (which is super late for me). Nicole said she usually walks back so we decided to do that as well. She directed us as far as she could with our totally steering her off path from where she lives. It was a 45 minute walk back to our dorm. That sounds terrible but after dancing for so long it felt nice to be put in the colder air and it was really awesome to get to see the city in a quiet, undisturbed state. We got back safely to our dorm at about 2:30ish and I crashed!! 3/12/19- Tuesday Another early morning with orientation at 9am. We actually went to a museum (that more geared towards kids) that is either sponsored by the university or part of it? I’m not sure but it definitely has something to do with the University! There were history, nature, and science sections and a little planetarium. I went to the science part right away and there were a lot of co things like a wave generator, a diy blood type model, brain teasers, and huge eye and brain models that show how the eye and brain work. It was really hard to figure what we were supposed to do because all the institutions were written ion Czech but we did the best we could! There was also a gyro-sphere. I have always wanted to go on one so I did and it was awesome!! Our professor went first and it was so funny, he said “yee haw” and we all burst out in laughter! Only me and one other student went on after him because everyone else was either 1. Hung over or 2. They just didn’t want to. We looked around more for a while and then headed up to the planetarium! They were playing a video about the earth narrated by the guy who narrates the documentary “Cosmos” on Netflix (and I know that because yes Isaac and I love nature documentaries and watch them a lot). It was interesting buuuuut the seats were actually bean bags on the floor so I got really comfortable and ended up sleeping though most of it... and then we left for lunch. We went to eat in a little cafe restaurant and I got a yummy duck risotto! I had never had risotto before and I’m not quite sure I’ve ever had duck either but it was really good! After we were done there we went to a HUGE shopping mall for some people to get power converters and Mamma T wanted to get a mascot for our group and wanted our help picking it out. So I picked out a really soft and glittery platypus and she picked out a pig. Then we got Starbucks in the mall, met the rest of the group and headed back to our dorms! All day today people have been throwing around ideas of where to go this weekend (our first free weekend). Some are going to Berlin some to Brussels and then a few said Budapest. So I hopped on the Budapest one and we all got together (all 12 of us who wanted to go) in my room and figured out our bus and living situations but that took a lot of effort. We hangout for like 3 hours trying to get it all worked out but it finally did get worked out and we were all good to go! And then I went to bed. 3/13/19- Wednesday I forgot to journal so I can’t really remember... but we had our first language class and that was a bit difficult but really fun!!! And then that night we went out to the other club in town (just to see what it was like) and Mims came out with us and danced and had a good ol time!! A few people in our group are starting to get sick and I am getting a sore throat so that's kinda cruddy! 3/14/19- Thursday I slept in until noon!! It was wonderful! So then I did my laundry from the last week at the laundry mat by our dorms for 160 Korunas. And while I was waiting, I sat in Cafe Nicol by the laundry mat and did my time with God, chatted with Seth, and drank green tea! I got my laundry and hung it up to dry on the clothing lines outside my room on my porch! Then we headed to class and had that was interesting to learn more stuff! I forgot to journal again but these are about the most important aspects of my day! 3/15/19- Friday Another early morning, we started class at 9:45 but had to be out by the tram by 9:15 so leaving our rooms by 9:05. On our way to class we say a small group of protesters talking about climate change! Anyway we had our language class and learned the informal conversation phrases and our numbers. Then we had a lecturer come in and talk to us about Turkey history and modern world! When that was over We headed to the exchange office to get some Hungarian Forint (that’s their currency- 1 USD is equal to about 278 forints). Then back to the dorms to pack! This day continued on Budapest Blog Post. 3/11/2019 0 Comments Looking for LeprechaunsGalway- Day 1 (continued from London Day 4) It is so beautifully green and fresh here! We then took the bus to Galway from the Dublin Airport, which was about a 2 hour bus ride. The nice thing was that it was a Mercedes Benz bus so it was super comfortable, had free WiFi, and charging ports so I was able to talk to friends and family on the drive once it got too dark to see the scenery. We finally got to the hostel, a whopping 2 minute walk from the bus station, get checked in, got our stuff put away and then went on the “pub crawl” with a group from the Hostel. It was really fun meeting and talking to people that are staying with us that are from all over the world! We met some people from the US (San Francisco- Rachel), Germany (Sam and Agnes), Finland (I don’t remember her name..), Norway (Augustus), and probably a few more that I’m forgetting! We went to three local pubs, the first two had the soccer game on and by the time we got to the third one it had live music out! It was really funny to watch the men on the pub react to the soccer game, it reminded me at being at a Husker Football party! It was also really fun to be immersed in the true culture of Ireland- the pub life- and see the locals doing what they do- drinking Guinness. I can definitely tell they love their Guinness beer here. We were having so much fun dancing with our new found friends at the last bar (they were playing covers of 80s songs from the US) that we didn’t get back until 1 am— which is really late for me but it was cool to be awake and dance Kristina into her 21st birthday! Things I noticed: Ireland’s websites end in .ie My favorite thing so far: how easy it is to make “friends”/ get to know new people when staying in hostels!! Galway- Day 2 We started out with breakfast from the Hostel, this one is a lot cleaner and nicer than the last one we stayed at which is great!! I had some granola with milk and a berry scone, it was delectable! After that we walked over to the train station and headed out for our day tour! Our bus driver was a ginger named John and he was very funny, he made the whole bus ride very fun!! We made a few 15 minute photo stops on the way to the Cliffs of Moher to some castle ruins and other historical spots. We also got lunch at a Pub & Restaurant spot. I got the Baked Salomon on Mash and it was really good and tasted so fresh! On top of that, they got it out in like 10 minutes or less of my ordering which was surprising because they had a restaurant full of people!! We then set on our way to the Cliffs of Moher. They are a 702 feet drop to the water below and it was super windy when we were climbing to the top of the viewing center but it was soooo beautiful! It was great just soaking in God’s breathtaking creation! After 2 hours at the Cliffs, we got back on the bus and headed back to Galway. We say a horse on the way up to the Cliffs and John, our bus driver, told us he named the horse Fred and that sometimes he will come up to the window of the bus to take an apple from him! So on the way back, he called Fred over and asked if anyone wanted to feed Fred the apple so if corse I raised my hand but another woman wanted to as well so we fed Fred together!! When we got back to Galway, we relaxed for a few minutes and then decided to get supper. We went to a McDonalds to say a little money as well as to see what McD’s tastes like in a different country. It was less salty than in America and they actually offered us salt packets to make the food saltier if we wanted. We got back and they were having another pub crawl. Since it is Kristina’s 21st, she and I decided to do it to celebrate her! With the pub crawls, they give us tickets for the three pubs the first one gives you a free beer and the second two give a free shot with a purchase of a drink. I didn’t want any alcohol so I just had ice water and I got a lot of crap from the locals. Kristina and I sat with a local older man named Paul and we had a nice chat with him before moving onto the next pub. He told us some funny Irish stories and he also said that the Claddagh Rings originated in Galway. He was very funny and kind and he gave us “an Irish goodbye” by giving us a hug and kissing our cheek! We went to the second bar for a little bit and then headed back across the street to the hostel. Things I noticed: I like traditional Irish music Ireland has mixed restrooms (or toilets as they call them) and it isn’t weird for me! It honestly doesn’t phase me at all because I mean we still have the stall walls between us! The cows look a lot happier here but I get that I mean if I were them and had grass that green heck yeah I’d be happy too. There is a whole lot less honking here and drivers are kinder to other drivers. They are very good at sharing the road. My favorite thing so far: oh my gosh, the air here. It is so fresh and clean and I just love breathing it in. Expecially after coming from the city were I kept breaking in secondhand smoke. Dublin- Day 3 We slept in a bit but I wish it was more! My body is starting to ware out from all the go go going that we have been doing! We had breakfast at the hostel and then shopped around Galway for the morning. I got myself a Claddagh ring and pointed the heart inward to show that I am in a commitment relationship. The one I bought is a style that I hadn’t seen at all and I love not having the exact same thing as everyone. I love my ring and the meaning behind it! It was really the only thing that I for sure wanted from Ireland! After that we took another 2 hour bus ride to Dublin. We got a cab to our Air b&b and after a while of waiting we finally figured out where to get our keys from and where our room was after eating at a little hole in the wall place. After getting settled in for a few minutes we had to catch another cab to go to the Guinness Factory. At the Guinness Factory, we got to learn how Guinness is crafted, see some of their ads, have a tasting, and learn how to correctly pour a Pint of Guinness! We ended up spending 2.5 hours in the Factory walking around reading all the displays and taking in the atmosphere of the place! Just let me tell you, Guinness is soooo much better tasting here in Ireland. After it closed, we got a cab back to our room but stopped at a pizza place before heading back! We ate our pizza, did face masks, and just relaxed for the night. It was really great to just breathe and not have to go do anything for the night! Things I’ve noticed: “Thanks a million” is a common phrase and it’s so sweet, I love when they say that Favorite thing so far: today it was learning how to and pouring my own Guinness. Things I've noticed: "Slancha" apparently means cheers and good health. London - Day 1 I had a wonderful 8 hour flight to London! I finally got to be in a plane with THREE rows of seats-- just like in all the movies, the airplane company fed us supper (chicken, vegetables, rice, coleslaw, a bookie- brownie cookie, and a drink) and breakfast (a ham and cheese bagel with a cookie and drink) which were both good! I did get some good sleep on the plane- as well as one can get on a plane- and surprisingly am not feeling any jet lag! At this point our feet were killing us and we wanted to get checked into our hostel so we walked back, got checked in, moved our stuff into our room, and I passed out for a bit but I did wake up in time for supper! We walked around the block and found a little Italian Deli. I got a Margarita pizza- so good!! Then we headed back to the hostel, I showered, talked to Isaac, and got ready for another day in London! After we landed, we got our tickets for the rail to take us to our hostel. This was the first three times we got lost: 1st trying to find the way out to the train, 2nd when to get off the train, and 3rd attempting to find the hostel. It took over half an hour, a lot of back tracking, going in circles, reevaluating the map, and asking for help to finally get to the Astor Victoria Hostel. We arrived at about 9 am but weren't able to check in until 2pm so they stored our bags and we headed out for sight seeing. We first stopped at a little café called The Roasting where I got peppermint tea and an almond croissant that were both divine. Then we walked to Parliament Square where we stumbled across the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace even though we couldn't really see it because of the huge crowd of people surrounding it! I saw a lot of beautiful old buildings that looked important but I honestly have no idea what they are! After all that walking, we decided it was time to stop and eat. We ended up dining at a little Chinese restaurant called Baofa Garden Restaurant & Bar. I tried some amazing chicken fried noodles and some interesting veggie dumplings! We then went on the London Eye! There was this sweet grandfather and grandson that was on in and the grandson reminded me so much of Wyatt it was crazy- he was a skinny little blonde hair, blue eyed kiddo with cute little freckles and a Pokémon hat! There were a few tears dropped but I was okay, mom sent me a picture of her and Wyatt later so that helped! On our way back to the hostel, we stopped in a park to look at some of the pretty flowers and birds. In the park there was a man feeding the parakeets and I couldn't help but think "Tuppence, Tuppence..." We hung out there for a little while before heading back on our way. We then got back to our hostel and I took a nap for an hour or so before supper. We then went to supper. We just walked around the place where our hostel was until we found a place that looked good and then stopped there. That ended up being a little Italian deli. I got a margarita pizza and the other girls got different kinds of pasta. Kristina actually found a small piece of glass in her dish and they gave her a new one (boxed up to go at her request) and reduced the price to 0. Then we just headed back to the hostel and went to sleep! London- Day 2 We had an early start to the day as we were on a day tour that went from 8am- 8pm! The tour stopped at Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and The town of Oxford. We had an amazing tour guide, Kevin, and awesome bus driver, Steve. Windsor Castle was very beautiful. I loved the beautiful stone architecture and the elaborate decoration of the inner rooms. It was also cool to see all the family crests that were displayed. Stonehenge was absolutely brilliant! The fact that ancient people could have built that structure and that some of it is still standing today (with out the help of modern technology) is amazing to me. I have already learned about the structure in an art history class, but to be there standing where the builders once stood made these rocks all the more captivating. One theory behind the creation of Stonehenge was that it was to help tell when summer and winter would come. This in itself was interesting because it seems that I always think of primitive people as lacking in knowledge just because they lacked the advanced technology that we have today but honestly they seem to have been just as knowledgeable and insightful as us today, just in different ways. The last stop on the tour was the city of Oxford. We saw some more beautiful buildings and old, old structures. We saw the (outside of the) building that the hospital scenes from Harry Potter were filmed and the library belonging to the Oxford University. It was all good and fine buuuut we did stop by a little fudge shoppe to try free fudge sample... and ended up buying a box of fudge. My favorite was the Chocolate Nut Brownie fudge and the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt fudge. The bus driver was such a kind guy, he gave me a little note so that we could stay in touch and had a great attitude all day! We were dropped off in a different location than where we were picked up so needless to say, we got lost for the third time since being here! But we did find our way back to the hostel safe and sound! In our room we have a Brazilian, Portuguese, and Argentinian girl! We ended up going out to a pub with Bruna, the girl from Portugal, so that she could get supper! We each tried one half pint (all different kinds) and all three flavors were really good! Things I’ve noticed: There are cows here but there are definitely more sheep. The whole road system is backwards to what it is in America Smoking is NOT taboo here- there is a lot of smoking... all the time. There is this distinct British man smell and I don't know if it is just a certain cologne but it smells really good! My favorite thing so far: Definitely Stonehenge London- Day 3 The morning was off to a great start for the fact that we got to sleep in until 9:30. After that we had breakfast at the hostel. They had HUGE slices of bread!! Then we got up and got ready for the day. We wanted to go to a few different parts of London so we decided to get an underground day pass and ending up taking the tube all day all around London! Our first stop was The National Gallery (an art museum- you can probably guess who wanted to go there— me!). There were many famous artworks there but my favorite section was the few impressionistic paintings they had!! I just love looking at them, they brush strokes are so painterly and loose, you can tell that the artist was so lost in their work! There were statues outside the building and it seemed like the pigeons enjoyed claiming the man by sitting on the heads of the statues. I’m not sure why but it really cracked me up! From there we got a small meal at a near by Pret-a-Manger (these things are everywhere— I LOVE IT!). And got on the tube to go see the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge! We didn’t go inside the Tower of London but we did take a moment to just sit and enjoy the view of the Tower and the city. From there we took a stroll to and over the Tower Bridge! From that we got more beautiful sights of the city and got some more walking in! Got in the tube again, came back to our hostel to change for the musical (and grab the tickets we forgot), and then headed to supper. We walked over to The Shakespeare where we each got “A pint and fish and chips.” I felt pretty British after that! Then we were off to the musical - Mama Mia! This musical was honestly my favorite part of the trip so far!! The crowd was so fun and the musical itself was amazing, all in all it was just the best! After that we headed back to our room, got our stuff for our flight figured out, repacked our luggage, and went to sleep! Things I’ve noticed: In the span of the three days we have been at the hostel, we have had 6 different roommates! People are generally pretty kind here! My favorite thing so far: Mama Mia! It was honestly better than everything I’ve done so far. I loved it London (and Galway, Ireland continued in Ireland post)- Day 4 Started out the morning with breakfast at the Hostel and then we checked out! We were going to do afternoon tea (an actual one) but we didn’t have time so we just went to a cafe and had hot tea. After that we headed to the airport via the rail. Once there, we got through security and everything really easily which was super surprising, we were flying with an airline that is known to be very stingy on their weight and size requirements. So we were a bit nervous that they would try to make us pay more money for anything they could but they didn’t so that good! We got lunch in the airport and then hopped onto our one hour flight! Because the plane was so small, we actually walked out to the airplane and boarded it from the runway and I have never gotten to do that before so that was really cool!! I slept on the plane and was in Ireland before I knew it! Today continues in my Ireland blog post |
About Lindsay WarningHello all, I am Lindsay Warning! I am currently a senior at the University of Nebraska at Kearney majoring in Art Education with a K-12 teaching endorsement. Originally, I am from Holdrege, Nebraska. I have a little brother, Wyatt, who is 8 years old, a little sister, Jordyn, who is 5 years old, three pups; Tatter, Murphy, and Bella as well as my parents, Tiffany and Justin Warning. In addition to my fam-bam, I have an amazing boyfriend, Isaac and his wonderful family. God has greatly blessed me with a great family and friends! In my free time I love to hang out with Isaac and my friends, create art, listen to music, and travel. Archives |