The Center of Europe: Praha

David Cerny Statue

Cathedral near our hostel

Old Town Market 

I am officially half way done with my trip! Right now I am on a train to Amsterdam, so I'm a bit behind on my blog. I just left Berlin, but let's take a quick trip down memory lane and do a recap of Prague.

After taking an overnight train from Switzerland, Danny and I arrived in Prague at 10AM. We stayed at the Czech Inn, a very nice hostel that is about a 10 minute metro trip out of the city center. Since we planned on doing a walking tour of old town the following day, we decided to explore the other end of Prague, home of the Prague Castle, St. Nicholas Cathedral, and much more.

The first thing we did when we got into town was climb up to the Garden of Paradise, a nice garden/ park type place that has a great view of Prague. We followed the path down through Prague's oldest vineyard that has been around for centuries. After strolling through the vineyard, it eventually dropped us out in the city center. Even though the view from the garden was very nice (and free), we decided to pay the extra money to go to the top of the castle's bell tower to get the best view of Prague, the center of Europe. Legend has it that Prague's bell tower can predict bad luck. In 2002 the bell cracked (which forewarns the bad luck) and months later the entire city experienced a terrible flood. To get to the top of this tower, I kid you not, we climbed up the narrowest spiral staircase I've ever seen for at least 5 minutes- I timed it on the way down. Even though I felt extremely claustrophobic, the view from the top was well worth it. We could see all corners of Prague, which in my opinion, is one of the prettiest European capitals.

We wandered the Prague cathedral and castle a bit more, relaxed in a beer garden for about an hour, and then set off to find one of David Cerny's famous public statues. There is a giant radio tower in Prague, and Cerny built these gigantic bronze, naked babies that look like the are climbing up and down the tower. As if that wasn't strange enough, their faces look like they've had a giant square stamped in the center of them...creepy. The following day we found another one of Cerny's quirky pieces, a statue/fountain of two copper men that rotate, peeing into a pool in the shape of Prague... definitely not your average classic statue you find in most city centers.

That night, Danny and I decided to take advantage of the happy hour at our hostel's bar, which cost the American equivalent of $1.25 for a pint of beer! I'm not exaggerating when I say that beer in Prague is literally cheaper than water. We then headed into old town and went to a popular local bar. The bar had live music and cheap drinks, but I was overwhelmed by the fact that probably 3/4th of the patrons were chain smoking indoors with no doors or windows open. It was disgusting. A pub crawl was going on downstairs, so we headed down there and even managed to sneak a free beer by blending in with the pub crawlers. After that we headed to a jazz bar. The atmosphere was much more relaxed and the air was breathable. We enjoyed a few drinks there and called it a night.

The next day we really got to see Prague on the walking tour. It picked up at our hostel and took us all through old town and the Jewish quarter. Old town is so cute. It has tons of markets with vendors selling traditional dishes, fresh pastries, and lots of little trinkets. We learned a lot about the history of Prague, which was largely based on the Catholic v. Protestant feud that lasted a brutal, bloody number of centuries. Needless to say, the majority of Prague is Atheist now. One of the Catholic cathedrals still has a mummified forearm and hand of a Protestant hanging in the back of the church as a symbol of who has the power. We saw it on our tour... talk about creepy.

The tour was extremely informational and interesting, but I won't bore you with more facts. Let's move on to the fun stuff- the pub crawl we did that night. We got two new roommates from Belgium, Dries and Mathijs, who were really cool and we did the pub crawl with. Side note- if you go to Prague you MUST get a train ticket and VALIDATE it. We used the metro for a full 24 hours and no one checked our tickets (which we luckily had). Our roommates bought tickets but didn't validate them in the machines (confusing) and two security guards bee-lined for us on the train and asked for our tickets. Danny and I were OK, but our roommates got what would be about a $50 fine because their tickets weren't validated... stupid... but back to the pub crawl.

Even though the night didn't start off well, the pub crawl was a blast. At the first bar we had unlimited beer and shots for an hour (don't worry Mom, we paced ourselves). The second and third bars were also a lot of fun with a lively crowd, good music, and dancing. The pub crawl finally ended up at Karlovy Lazne, Prague's biggest and most popular club. It is five stories tall with a top 40 floor, a 60s floor, a chill out floor, a hip hop floor, and an ice bar. If you know Danny, I bet you guessed we spent most of our night on the 60s floor. We also explored the ice bar with Dries and Mathijs and it was so cool! (Pun intended). The night flew by and we ended up leaving around 4:30!

Our last day was spent exploring more of old town. What I loved about Prague was that it had the romantic feel of an old European city, but it wasn't quite as crowded as a city like Paris. I loved exploring the markets and enjoying the sights without getting pushed around by some fat tourist trying to get the perfect picture he will never look at again. That evening we had a wonderful dinner at a local hangout just up the street from our hostel. It was very hispter-esque with a lot of gluten-free options and quirky decor and servers. It was a nice change of pace from tourist places.

 We met back up with our roommates and ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night, drinking Belgium beers and playing guitar (Danny was in heaven). Our roommates were also going to Berlin in the morning, so we decided to ditch the train and road trip with them! It was a beautiful drive and nice to be in a car again! We arrived in Berlin that afternoon, but that is a story for another blog! Ahoj!

Interlaken, Switzerland

I am writing to you from an overnight train from Switzerland to Prague. It is about 9:30PM right now, and we aren't expected to arrive until 10...AM. Talk about a long train ride! Danny and I are in a six bunk cabin with little dorm-style beds. It isn't too bad. The only problem is I can't sit up straight which makes typing rather difficult, but let's not get off topic. Let's talk about Switzerland.

When I started thinking about taking the kindle out to write a blog about Switzerland, I got pretty overwhelmed. I already wrote 16 pages in my journal, trying to capture the breathtaking scenery and moments that made Switzerland my favorite stop so far. But don't worry, I won't put you through 16 pages. I'll just put the disclaimer out right now that Switzerland is a place that no combination of words or photos can do justice. I know I've mentioned awesome views in other blogs, but believe me when I say that nothing compares.

We arrived in Switzerland five days ago on the most beautiful train ride of my life. Coming in we saw so many rivers, lakes, and towering mountains that it was impossible to take pictures of them all. We arrived in Interlaken around sunset, and took it easy at our hostel, Balmer's, for the night.

The next day we packed in a full day as usual. We enjoyed our free hostel breakfast with the best Swiss mountain cheese, and headed off to Lauterbrunnen, a small town just out of Interlaken. From there we hiked for about 40 minutes up to Trummelbach falle, a mountain that you can hike up and into to see the waterfall that runs through it. The waterfall comes from melted glacier water, so when we finally hiked up inside the mountain, it dropped about 10 degrees. The sound of the rushing water echoing through the caves and seeing the water twist and turn down the grooves was well worth the hike. Not that the hike wasn't well worth it on it's own.

At almost all times throughout our stay, we could look up and see the Swiss Alps covered in snow with lush green hills in front of them. Everything around us was green. There were expansive grassy fields everywhere, colorful gardens, icy blue lakes and rivers... I could go on forever (but don't worry, I won't). When we were hiking, I felt like I just left the Shire and now I was exploring all that Middle Earth had to offer. It was awesome.

Over the course of our hikes, we found plenty of picture perfect scenes, but a few stood out more than others. One was when we were trying to get to the lake and we stumbled upon ruins of a castle from the 13th century. We ended up having lunch at the top of its lookout tower, and the entire time we weren't bothered by lines of tourists or anyone for that matter. After we found those ruins, we set out to find more and found another castle, more well preserved, and explored the stoney walls- all the while not seeing any other tourists. Being constantly surrounded by natures made for a very peaceful trip.

Another highlight of the trip was when we decided to splurge and do one of the excursions. Switzerland is all about extreme sports. You can do basically anything there: paragliding, skydiving, canyoning, bungee jumping... you name it, they have it. We opted to go white water rafting. I had never gone before, and the rivers were so gorgeous that we just had to. The other options all sounded awesome, but this was a 6 hour experience, so we chose to fill the day with it.

I will admit, that in the beginning I was a little apprehensive. White water rafting through melted glacier water? The hour tutorial about how what to do if you fall in didn't help much either. The rapids ranged from classes III to IV. Even though I was a little worried about how it would go, once we got the raft in the water I had such a fun time. After I got past the fact that I couldn't feel my hands, I had a great time paddling the team as we manuvered the raft around massive boulders and tricky currents. Luckily, no one fell in; however, we did all have to jump in to do a rescue test. After experiencing both peaceful floating where we could enjoy the beauty around us an adrenaline pumping rafting, we ended in a lake. I am definitely glad I took the plunge (pun intended), and went on the excursion.

Overall, I don't have any complaints about Switzerland. The scenery was more than I ever imagined. The hostel had an awesome bar, reading room, kitchen, etc... Everything about it was picturesque. I hope that one day I will be back to explore more of Europe, but I know Switzerland is somewhere I will visit again.

When in Rome...and Florence

 The Colosseum: Rome, Italy

The Spanish Steps: Rome, Italy

 Michaelangelo's David: Florence, Italy

Michaelangelo Plaza: Florence, Italy

After nine days in Italy, Danny and I are finally in Switzerland. For the sake of the reader, I'll try to keep my update on Rome and Florence to just the highlights. We arrived in Rome mid afternoon, and decided to start sight seeing right away with none other than the Colosseum. We bought the Roma Pass, which is 20 euros, and allows you to skip the line at the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Considering it was about 90 degrees outside, it was worth the extra few euros.

Even though I have seen countless pictures of the Colosseum in textbooks, seeing it in person really puts how strong and massive the Roman empire was. It was the size of a football stadium with towering archways and a complex labyrinth of pathways below where they kept prisoners and animals before the "shows." It took us about an hour to walk around the entire thing and read the informational panels. Going to a location with such a rich history and architecture that has been around since 70 AD was an incredible experience.

After the Colosseum, we went to the Roman Forum, the Times Square of ancient Rome. There were a number of dig sites where they were still uncovering bits of what once was the most powerful empire in the world. Even throughout the city, we would be strolling down a busy shopping street and then stumble across a massive column, many dating back to BC. Not only was Rome gorgeous, but it put in perspective how young our own country is.

A few more of my favorite sights we saw over the course of the four days was the Trevi Fountain (the famous wish-making fountain), the Spanish Steps (a main hangout for tired tourists during the day and someone who just wants to enjoy a drink at night), the Vatican, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (the biggest building I saw in Rome). Rome had it all: modern shopping, ancient architecture, rich history, and delicious Italian food.

Part of what contributed to our great time in Rome was that our hostel had a pasta night where there was all you can eat pasta for five euros. We met a few people there, and ended up doing a pub crawl with a Canadian guy, Evan. I could go on forever about Rome, but for my own sanity and yours, let's move onto Florence.

I know Rome is ROME, but I think I liked Florence even more. Florence had the same romantic Italian feel, but wasn't as disgustingly hot and was less crowded. Another thing we learned from Florence is that having a good hostel can make all the difference. We stayed at Plus Florence, and I would 100% recommend it to anyone. The rooms had a dorm/ hostel feel, but it also had a full restaurant, a bar inside and outside and on the roof, a big computer room, a pool, and a laundry room. Because there was such a good community atmosphere, we made friends with a big group of backpackers the first night and hung out with them everyday. Getting to hang out with people past the, "So where are you from... Where did you just come from... Where are you heading to next..." was definitely nice.

As for my favorite sights, obviously Michelangelo's David. The David is located in the Academia and it kept under a giant skylight. It is 17 feet tall, and hold such a presence when you walk into the building. The David was built between 1502-1504... and he still looks great ;) Unlike some of the statues we saw where the heroes look like bulked up body builders, David was detailed perfection.

Another highlight was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the largest cathedral in Florence. The entire outside was made of colored marble, and it was beautiful. We walked across Ponte Vecchio, a bridge dating back to the 1300s and explored all corners of the city. Just like most European cities, there were tons of statues, but there was one, Piazza della Signoria that had a ton of original statues from the 1500s. This is where the replica of the David now stands, but many famous statues such as The Rape of the Sabine Women still stands there; however, it will soon be moved into the Academia as well.

The highlight of Florence was the last night when the majority of the little group of friends we made went up the Michelangelo Plaza, which was on top of a massive hill. We packed plenty of wine, grapes, pesto, fresh bread, olives, and sundried tomatoes, and had ourselves a nice little picnic as the sunset over Florence. From the top of the hill, we could see all of Florence. It was a fantastic way to end our time in Italy. Even though we said goodbye to Italy for now, I'm sure I will be back in the future! Ciao!

Cinque Terre: three days in the five lands

Hike from Monterosso to Vernazza

Vernazza

Monterosso

Ciao! I'm writing to you on a train to Rome! I can't believe it has only been a little over a week and we have already been to three different countries. We just left Cinque Terre, which was probably the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Cinque Terre translates to five lands in Italian. It has this name because Cinque Terre is a national forest that has five small towns throughout it. We stayed in the only hostel we could find with availability out of all of the towns, Riomaggiore. Our hostel was far from ideal. Online reviews called it "cozy," but in reality is was a rundown two bedroom apartment with ten beds crammed into it. Even though the hostel was awful, it only gave us more incentive to get out and explore the Italian Riviera.

Since we arrived in the late morning, we had plenty of time to start our adventure the first day. We took a train to the farthest town out, Monterosso, and decided to take the hike all the way to the next town, Vernazza. Monterosso was beautiful, but it was nothing compared to the view from the hike. The hike started with seemingly never ending stone stairs that climbed up the side of the mountain. Whenever we passed hikers coming down the trail we had to find little cubbies on the side of the path because the stairs were too narrow for more than one person at a time. Luckily, it was a little overcast that day (still very warm though) so the hike wasn't too exhausting.

Once the stairs came to an end and we hit the regular trail, the view was unbelievable. Aside from being surrounded by tiny local vineyards, naturally growing flowers, bamboo, and a variety of trees, we had a full view of the town below. From the mountain we could see all the way from the colorful little shops and homes below to the green mountains across from us. In addition, we could see the gentle waves lapping up into the coves and all the way to shore. I wish there was a better way to describe how breathtaking the view was, but I think it is somewhere you have to visit to understand.

Eventually, the hike led us down into Vernazza, which was smaller than Monterosso. There we relaxed with some gelato, wandered the side streets, and eventually had a delicious pizza dinner. Danny tried an Italian beer and I had a local wine, Cinque Terre D.O.C. We then stumbled upon a little cove where I collected beach glass and then we sat on the rocks and watched the sea. We ended the evening over even more vino at Giammi Caffe`, which was near our hostel.

The next day was spent further exploring Monterosso. We bought a few postcards, had lunch, and laid out on the beach. There was a group of rocks that wasn't too far from shore that Danny and I swam out to. It was an unforgettable moment, sitting on the rocks in the middle of the Mediterranean, looking out towards the mountains and Monterosso. After we got back to Riomaggiore, we walked around the Marina, shared another half liter of wine and bruschetta at Giammi Caffe`, and then made our own dinner in our hostel. Early this morning we caught the train out of Cinque Terre and now we are only minutes from Rome!

It was pretty Nice...

                                    View from Chateau de Nice

I am currently sitting at the desk in my hostel in Genova, Italy, drinking a Peroni and looking out onto the Italian Riviera... life is good. Danny and I arrived in Italy late this morning. We wanted to go straight to Cinque Terre, but there is only one hostel in the area and it was booked, so here we are in Genova.

Leaving Nice, France this morning was not easy. We had the most wonderful time at such a relaxing hostel. We arrived in Nice late on the 4th and the man at the front desk upgraded us to a private room for free. The room was air conditioned, had towels, soap, a TV- hostel heaven. That night we caught up on sleep and started the next day bright and early with a trip to the beach. Instead of sand, the beach was covered in little pebbles. The water was around 70 degrees, very salty, and turquoise blue. We relaxed for about an hour, got some groceries for our hostel, and then headed out to explore the city.

This was when I fell in love with Nice. Wandering through the city, we saw so many detailed statues and squares filled with families enjoying an ice cream, little allies with shops and colorful clothes hanging from windows to dry- getting lost was one of the most rewarding parts of the day.

We eventually made our way up to Chateau de Nice, a castle that was abandoned in the 1600s and almost completely broken down by the 1700s. On our way up, we stopped in the cemetery, which was beautiful. Even though cemeteries typically have a creepy vibe, the view of the ocean and all of the statues made it quite the opposite. From there we made the the hike up to the top of the castle. Right before the top there was a roaring waterfall where we stopped to enjoy the mist after our long walk up. Finally, we arrived at the top of the castle, and the time we spent up there was indescribable. Up in the castle we were surrounded by oak and pine trees, a nice break from the cigarette smoke of the city. The ocean breeze was perfect after the long hike up, and we could see the entire city: the houses built into the hills, a full spectrum of blue in the water, tourists parasailing and sunbathing- it was the highlight of the trip so far.

That evening our hostel, Hotel Bacarrat, hosted a free champagne party for all of the guests. As if free champagne wasn't cool enough, we met a ton of other backpackers. We ended up hanging out with two Australian guys, Harry and Marcus, and went out with them and a big group to the bar, Wayne's. Wayne's was filled with backpackers and had an awesome live band that everyone was dancing too. After the band stopped playing, we ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night, drinking Stellas and swapping travel stories. We eventually called it quits and ended the night with some drunchies- needless to say it was a night to remember.

The next day was spent recovering- basking on the beach and swimming in the Mediterranean. We decided to splurge for lunch and eat in one of the adorable squares we came across the day before. We enjoyed a little pitcher of white wine, some authentic French food, and very entertaining people watching. We were probably there for two hours.

Later that evening, we went to our hostel's pasta party, which was only three euros for white wine and delicious pasta with the other hotel guests. I can easily say that hostel Baccarat was the best hostel I've ever stayed at. Although it was hard saying goodbye to Nice, I look forward to what Cinque Terra has in store for us tomorrow!

Barcelona, Spain: Adios America

Barcelona, Spain

 Parc Guell

La Boqueria

Disclaimer: Even in the past few days, I saw so much and met so many unique individuals that it is impossible to capture the moments in a few choice words. Additionally, I am still not even close being adjusted to the 7 hour time difference, so I am a bit loopy. I also cannot find the apostrophe symbol  on the Kindle keypad (my writing center nightmare)- so bear with me. 

After a grueling 14 hour flight, Danny and I finally arrived in Barcelona. Running on only a few hours of sleep, we decided to hit the ground running and see what Barcelona had to offer. In attempts of finding La Rambla, the main street, we found ourselves in Parc de la Ciutadella. Since the weather was comperable to sunny San Diegos, there were plenty of tourists and locals having picnics, stretching their legs, and enjoying the sun. There was a lot of modern/ expressionist architecture scattered throughout the park, along with the entire city. 

Once our moment of serendipity was over, we eventually made our way over to La Rambla. This massive street was packed with all walks of life: street vendors, shoppers, locals, and tourists from all over the world. Walking along the street, so many different languages were floating through my ear simultaniously that it was close to impossible to decode one in time to figure out where anyone called home. On La Rambla we stopped into the famous La Boqueria, a market packed full with fresh fruit, meat, eggs, produce, and tapas. We worked our way through the maze of vendors and bought a cup of fresh squeezed strawberry and kiwi juice- perfect on a hot August day. 

With the day winding down to an end, Danny and I made the trek up to Parc Guell. Even CSUStairMaster did not prepare me for the climb we made up to the park; however, I am pretty sure we went the long way and ended up at the back of the park first. After listening to a little Spanish guitar, we climbed up to the lookout point that overlooked all of Barcelona. This was one of those senarios that no matter how many photos I tried to take to capture the moment, they did not even come close to doing the sight justice. From there we sat on the famous mosaic benches, enjoying both the view and ocean breeze. Our visit at Parc Guell came to an end as we enjoyed some of Gaudis famous architecture and sculptures. Parc Guell was by far the highlight of the day. 

That night, Danny and I stuck to our American roots and visited the Dow Jones, a bar whose drink prices fluctuate like the stock market. A handful of times throughout the night the stock market crashed and drinks were significantly cheaper. We had a few questionable shots, made friends with the bartenders, and all in all- had a great night. 

The first half of the next day was spent at the famous cathedral, Sagrada Familia. Even though the line took about two hours and it was pretty pricey to get in, the architecture was well worth it. I have been to a handful of cathedrals throughout my travels, but I have never seen one with such unique shapes, stain glass, and mosaics. A lot of the the statues had very sharp, expressionist style lines, which made Sagrada Familia stand out. 

The second half of the day was definitely a learning experience. We went to the train station to validate our Eurail passes, and ended up waiting for over three hours trying to talk to the right people. We also could not get a train to San Sebastian, so on a whim we booked our next ticket for Nice, France (which is where I am traveling to right now). Even though we experienced quite a bit of frustration, we met a few groups of backpackers in similar situations and got a lot of great advice. 

That night we ended up going out with two girls that we met at the train station and some people they met on couchsurfer.com. I will admit that Danny and I were both a bit hesitant about going out with people we hardly knew and people they met online, but it ended up being a fantastic night. Our plan was to go to this shot bar, but another moment of serendipity presented itself when we came upon the side of the Barcelona Cathedral and a group of hippy-esque people were hanging out, drinking, playing music, and doing modern dance. Street vendors were selling beers for one euro, and our time there ended up occupying the entire night. Again, it was an experience that words do not do justice; however, it was an amazing night that truly set the tone of the wide range of possibilities this trip has to offer.