Italia: land of pasta, gelato, and David

The latest addition to my non-stop itinerary of travelling was a wonderful 5 day trip to Italy.  It truly was love at first sight as I flew over the Italian alps descending into the Milano airport.  Beautiful snow capped mountains surrounded us and the sun was shining (currently a rare phenomenon in Prague).  Upon arriving in the city center, our first stop was, of course, pizza, of which there was much to come.  The center of Milan is very upscale with gorgeous buildings ornately covered and more designer labels than one can count.  The city was a lot larger than I had imagined and finding our bearings was slightly difficult.  But, we were able to oggle at the main church and soak up the class.  The next day we toured San Siro, the local football (soccer) stadium where AC Milan and Inter Milan play.  I could feel the intensity of Italians jeering at each other rampantly.  We got to visit the locker rooms and sit in the chair where David Beckham once laced up his cleats.  He, by the way, is coincidentally not the David the title refers to.  Next was a visit to a museum all about Michelangelo and his inventions.  Quite an intellectual, that one was.  Then, it was off to Florence!  We stayed right near the duomo, possibly the largest and in many ways most magnificent church I've ever seen.  Then it was pasta, vino, gelato, and more pasta.  We went to visit the David (yes, the one the title refers to). Having seen a number of pictures of this monumental statue, I thought it would be just another statue among a long line I have seen thus far during my travels.  But David was far and away the most impressive statue of them all.  Each of us stood under it somewhat bewildered by its presence.  Touche, Michelangelo, touche.  With this, we headed over the river on the famous ponte vechio to the other side of the city.  With no metro station and sort of limited public transportation, we were able to walk a good deal of the city and see things off the beaten path.  We hiked up a hill dubbed Michelangelo Hill and were able to see the entire city of Florence and surrounding bits of Tuscany.  It was absolutely amazing...note to self: someday when I'm rich, buy a house in the hills of Tuscany.  We were quite surprised by the number of Americans we met in Florence, especially around our age.  It was a pleasant surprise to hear English again, but made me thankful for the true immersion we get in Prague.  Quite the successful trip of sightseeing, wandering, eating, and taking in the gorgeous Italian culture.

I AMsterdam

Amsterdam may have a relatively controversial reputation and taboo connotation for those of us who live in America, but I have to say that after visiting for a weekend, it is so much more than that.  It is probably my favorite place I've been on this journey so far (with the obvious exception of Prague which has a different, yet larger place in my heart).  The maze of canals, massive parks filled with changing leaves, ponds, and trails, and the main mode of transportation, the bicycle, made me fall in love with the city.  Not to mention that the national food of the Netherlands is the french fry...duh!  I walked (and biked) the city so thoroughly that my socks were poking out the soles of my boots.  While not wandering the cobbled streets, I visited the Van Gogh museum, Vandel Park, the famous I AMsterdam sign, the Heineken experience, and stood outside of the Anne Frank House.  We also boarded a small ship and sailed through the canals, a great way to see the city and to get out onto a larger body of water.  We stayed right in the heart of the city on the edge of the Red Light District (don't worry, it wasn't too intense) and were able to get to all of the attractions easily.  On our final day we rented bikes and rode around as much as we could.  I haven't used a bike with foot brakes since I was a little girl, so getting used to the bike and the crazy traffic and bells took a little while.  Even during the first week in November, Christmas season was in full swing in Amsterdam with lights hanging above every street.  I was not ready to leave the city and will definitely be returning to this wonderful place.

Do they celebrate Halloween in Prague???

All Hallow's Eve has a different meaning in each nation, and after celebrating it here I'm now relatively certain that its meaning in the Czech Republic is this: hype up a holiday for the sole purpose of making money off of Americans between the ages of 18 and 26 who may or may not be studying in the vicinity.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed the holiday by hitting up thrift stores to find something costume worthy and dancing the night away.  It was a more subdued version of Halloween than college students in the states may expect, but I think I preferred it.  Oh, and I did happen to see one Czech native wearing all orange and black :)

Berlin

My program recently took all of us on an overnight trip to Berlin, Germany.  We started off with a walking tour of West Berlin and a bus tour of East Berlin.  In many ways Berlin reminded me of a metropolis in the United States with large city streets and business.  But the history was also abundantly apparent.  We were able to see pieces of the Berlin wall that are still standing, memorials to those who suffered during WWII, and museums dedicated to the history of Germany.  Free time was dedicated to exploring the city, hanging out in a large park, and eating the wonderful Doner kebab and currywurst.  My favorite part was the East Side Gallery, a huge stretch of the wall that spans many blocks of East Germany and is now a public art space along the river.  Graffiti artists are commissioned from around the world to create images on the wall.  Some are political, some are random, and some commemorate the falling of the wall and what it stood for.  One night in Berlin was much too short; I hope to go back someday and explore more of what the city has to offer.

Visitors from the US of A

Hello all!  I must immediately apologize for my hiatus from writing, I won't let it happen again.  The end of October is upon us and much has happened over in Prague.  I had three wonderful visitors in Prague earlier this month.  Together we thoroughly explored the city and some of its surrounding areas.  We visited the massive Prague castle and complex.  There we saw a previous residence of Kafka, a beautiful cathedral, and great views looking down on the river and the old town.  We ventured just outside of the castle complex to Petrin Hill and up the 299 steps of the "Little Eiffel Tower" from which you can apparently see to Poland.  Other important sites visited were the Communist museum, the Jewish Quarter of Prague, my neighborhood :), Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, and a large variety of great restaurants and pubs.  We ventured out of the city to Terezin, a stopping off point for many Czech Jews on their way to other concentration camps in Central Europe.  As harrowing and horrible as this place is, I'm so glad I was able to go and experience it.  The town of Terezin isn't much more than a memorial to the horrific events that happened there, but there is still much to see.  The fortress, cemeteries, museums, and barracks tell a story of what happened there many years ago.  I thought the most interesting part was the crematorium through which 180 bodies went each day. I realize that this is minuscule as compared to other camps in Germany and Poland, but it was still shocking to see.  My family and I spent the weekend in a small town in southern Czech Republic not far from the Austrian border called Cesky Krumlov.  This is a beautiful, quaint town settled on the Vltava River (same river as in Prague).  The weather was cold but beautiful and made for a relaxing weekend of site seeing, eating, and poking around little shops.  I was lucky enough to meet up with the crew in Bratislava as they cruised down the river.  It was a great day trip in which we saw the town square, museum, castle, and the Slovakian version on the Space Needle.  I won't lie, as biased as I am, Seattle's is better, but the views were amazing.  I didn't realize how modern and large Bratislava was.  Slovakian pride was obvious everywhere we went; the split from the Czech Republic was quite clear.  There were many similarities (I understood a few Slovakian words that were similar to Czech words) but there were differences as well.  I'm so fortunate to have had visitors from so far away, I hope they enjoyed the adventure!