Monday, November 24, 2008

bohemia praha!

Finally, I am able to upload more than 2 pictures per post! Now for more, catch-up...

There's a tour group in Italy called Bus2Alps, which is geared towards students studying abroad in Florence and Rome. My roommate and I went to Greece with them and liked it, so along with a few of our neighbors, we decided to do the Prague trip. The bus ride was overnight, but I was actually able to sleep a little bit! After a little less than 12 hours on a bus, we arrived in Prague. I literally had no idea what to expect, but I was blown away! I fell in love with it the minute I walked into the city center. 

The word I have been using to describe Prague is enchanting. The architecture is absolutely gorgeous and the foggy weather along the river made it a quintessential Eastern European city. It also made me think a lot about Christmas!

We basically walked around all day and looked at the beautiful architecture and the gorgeous squares around town. 


The Tyn Cathedral in Old Town Square



The Astronomical Clock


The clock was pretty cool... it had a bunch of hands and it reminded me of the watch that Dumbledore has in the Harry Potter books. Every hour, the clock would chime and little doors would open to reveal puppet-like figures that seemed to be saints or some other religious figures. 



Horse-drawn carriages in Old Town Square.


We also went to STARBUCKS! I was so excited, even though I had it in Athens a week prior, but since it was cold in Prague it was perfect to stop in the warm cafe and rest with a hot latte or walk around with it warm in your hands. 



Enjoying my first Starbucks latte in Prague.


The tour group took us on a tour to the Prague castle, which was basically a big area with all sorts of buildings on top of a hill. 



View of Prague castle from the King Charles Bridge



View of Mala Strana from Prague castle.


After our tour through the cathedral at Prague castle, we broke away from the tour group and roamed about Mala Strana, which was a cute little area. We got some lunch, which of course included hot soup, since it was so cold! Then, once again... we went to Starbucks! To be fair, it was a different one.... and it had two floors!



In the cute streets of Mala Strana on a cold day.


Overall, I absolutely loved Prague! It has been my favorite non-Italian city that I have visited. It just has so much charm and everyone was nice there. We did a few American things like a bit of shopping in New Town Square and we also made several trips to Bohemia Bagel which had mostly American food, including an egg-bacon-cheddar cheese-bagel sandwich that was delicious! I wish they had a Bohemia Bagel in Firenze!

ciao

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

venezia!

I can't even keep track of how long ago I went to Venice, but here's the post!

My roommate and I decided to go to Venice for a day trip when we didn't have much to do on a weekend. We took the train in the morning and after a slight delay on the train, we finally arrived in Venice at 12:30pm. 

My first impression of Venice was that it was amazing and SO picturesque! It's such a unique city and even though there were a lot of tourists, it still has a lot of charm and character. One of my favorite things to do was to look in the windows and look at all the beautiful Venetian masks for sale:





We basically just walked around and took pictures of all the beautiful bridges and canals.





We had lunch right by the Grand Canal, which was amazing! We had bellinis (peach puree and sparkling wine), which originated in Venice. I have had bellinis before, and these ones were by far the best ever. I had an amazing pasta with mussels, clams, and shrimp. It had been so long since I'd had good seafood, that I was really craving it. The pasta definitely hit the spot!





Unfortunately, we weren't able to go inside of the San Marco cathedral because the lines were too long and we only had until 7pm, but we did get to see all of the disgusting pigeons in Piazza San Marco.

We DID get to see a demonstration of Venetian glass blowing! It was AWESOME! Seriously one of the coolest things I have seen someone do. 

Venice is seriously the most unique place I have ever been to. There is not another place in this world that is anything like Venice and I feel so fortunate that I was able to spend a fabulous day there!