Thursday July 26th

Can't believe it's already Thursday! This week has been going by fast which isn't a good thing! I'm frantically writing papers for my classes, attempting to reach the page limit and then calling it a day. I can't remember the last time I wrote this much for classes, except for lab reports.

Anyways, I had my last day of class was Tuesday which consisted of a field trip to a museum and then watching a movie over wine. Pretty solid way to finish off classes for the summer! After class I started the horrible task of packing...I'm actually pretty happy with how much I've done (and I'm making sure to be under the weight limit with the help of a luggage scale sent from my dad!) I've gone on countless trips here that it feels like I'm just packing for another weekend trip to a European city! I'm sure it'll hit me once I'm on my flight home on Friday.

Yesterday I worked more on my paper...it's as good as it'll ever be! And hung out with friends over dinner. We all went out for the last time last night...pretty sad! It was awesome to see everyone and realize how many great (and interesting) people I've met from all over the US.

Today I did some last minute shopping after getting our classic breakfast at the French place near our apartment. Definitely going to miss that! I'm basically all packed which it's a huge relief so I can enjoy my LAST NIGHT in Europe for awhile. Crazy to think that I've been here since May 18th...seems like just yesterday I was in Vienna with my parents!

Looking back on my summer, I've done more than I ever thought I would. I've grown so much from this experience and learned a lot about myself. For one, I'm much more independent and patient. This summer has made me realize I just need to chill out sometimes and everything will get figured out. And if it doesn't, I'll have a great story! I've made some great friends over here...but they definitely made me miss my solid group of friends at home and at Michigan. I've been completely pushed out of my comfort zone, I didn't know the language, social etiquette, city lay out, food, money, or history. I'm such a stronger person because of it. 

It's crazy to think like, will I ever see these people again? Or will they just be in the memory of the best summer of my life? Some people I may, such as the guy who goes to Michigan, this girl who actually may sub-let in my house in the winter, and my roommate Sam and I want to go travelling next summer. All this may be just talk but it's nice to think that we actually like each other enough to even suggest the idea. Since I've travelled so much over the past months, I've been able to develop a sense of the kind of person I want to travel with. It's so tough to find the right person that you mesh with! (or maybe I'm just a picky person..?)

I'm excited yet somber about heading home. Home seems like such a foreign concept to me like I have my home in Los Altos, home in Ann Arbor, and now I created a home here in Prague. Kind of feeling like a nomad...but as cheesey as it sounds, home is where the heart is and a piece of my heart is in every one of those three places.

As stressful as travelling is, I've realize it's going to be a true passion of mine for the rest of my life. Seeing so many diverse cultures has really enlightened me and made me realize how sheltered we are in the US. I'm ready for the next destination, where ever that may be. My next goal is South East Asia, hopefully next year around this time I'll have a blog about that!

As a send off, two of my closest friends and I grabbed dinner by the river and just walked around the city, no care for the time or destination. Just taking in everything we've seen (or haven't seen) and walking around as the sun set on the city. So sad to be leaving such an amazing city with so much culture and life. I can honestly say, from all the places I've visited, Prague is definitely one of the best cities to study in...I maybe biased though!

Leaving my apartment tomorrow morning for the airport...15 hours of travelling with a connection in Frankfurt but I'll be home at 8pm CA time! And hopefully my littol bro Tucker will be there to pick me up! (Hint hint Ma and Pa...) Can't wait to catch up with family and friends!

Love you all, thanks for taking some time out of your hectic schedules to read my blog, I'm glad I could share these experiences with you all!

Most of all, thank you to my wonderful parents who allowed me to go on this trip and supported me throughout the whole way. I'm incredibly grateful to have such amazing parents that will cheer me on in anything I do and keep pushing me to my potential. Although sometimes I may not show it, I can't imagine my life without such supportive parents and I miss them every day I'm not with them.

Sbohem (Good-bye!),
Whit

Monday July 23rd

Back "home" in Prague after a long day.

Again I couldn't sleep much last night so waking up early to get out of the hostel was rough. We didn't have anything particular we wanted to do so we decided to walk into the city since it was such a beautiful day, probably the warmest Northern European weather I've experienced! We tried to go shopping but apparently stores don't open till noon/are closed on Mondays...so we just lolly-gagged around.

Eventually we decided to head to the airport...weird to be leaving my last trip after planning everything weeks ago! I can't believe everything is coming to an end, so much to do till Friday morning! I have a presentation tomorrow, take home final due Thursday, and 8-page paper due Thursday......I'm getting really stressed out when I should be enjoying my last days! I'm not going to try very hard (sorry teachers) so I can make sure to relax and enjoy a bit.

3. days. left. Unreal.
Mixed emotions but definitely ready to head home and not be a tourist...it's so exhausting to be an annoying idiot!

Love and miss y'all and shout out to my big bro!! Happy 25th birthday! Can't wait to celebrate this weekend!

Sbohem,
Whit

Brugge, Sunday July 22nd

Woke up early this morning to catch a bus to Brugge, a small city on the coast of Belgium, which is about 3 hours away from Amsterdam. I was really excited to see the city after my parents told me about their time there!

The weather couldn't have been any better, sun was out and there was a slight breeze. We got a short littol tour of the city (it's pretty small and easy to navigate) and then hopped on a boat for a canal cruise, a classic thing to do but the city, like Amsterdam, is made up of lots of canals! It is different from Amsterdam in that the canals are surrounded by littol quaint houses that are right up on the water, rather than separated by a street. It was really beautiful and precious! All the houses were so small and had their own quirk.

We had a couple missions to complete while in the country of Belgium (we had about 5 hours in the town). Drink Belgian beer, eat Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate, and Belgian fries. Happy to say, we completed all these tasks with much enjoyment. Everything really does taste better in the country that started the cuisine.

We walked around the town, finding quaint, quiet streets (there were so many tourists so these were nice escapes!) and went into the famous Church of our Lady of Assumptions which has Michelangelo's Madonna and Child. It costs €5 to see it soooo we passed (we've both seen Pieta so we thought it'd be ok!) After walking around a bit more, it was time to head back to Amsterdam. So sad, definitely would've loved to spend more time there!

We grabbed sushi once we were back and decided to walk back to our hostel instead of taking the tram. It was such a pleasant walk and so cool to see quiet neighborhoods with precious houses.

Last day of relaxing tomorrow before we head back to Prague. Dreading it as I have a take home final and paper awaiting me to start them back in Prague....Hopefully I'll have time to enjoy my last 3 (!!!!) days in Prague.

Exhausted but very grateful.

Love,
Whit

Saturday July 21st

Friday morning we found a cafe to have breakfast and instead we got a whole platter of food. So overwhelming but supa good. We went to the train station to pick up Liz's friend Pierre who's from Belgium.

First we went to the Van Gogh Museum which was quite amazing. I've seen his work in Paris but it was more interesting to learn about his path to becoming an artist and how sick he became towards the end of his life. We spent over 3 hours in the museum!

After the museum, we walked around the canals, picking up "stroopwafels," a Dutch delicacy that is two very thin waffles stuck together with a caramel-like syrup. It was really good but also quite sugary. We took the classic picture in front of the "I Amsterdam" letters with all the other annoying tourists and continued on walking. It's amazing to go street by street and still find each canal so beautiful in their own way. I so badly want to own a tiny townhouse here and a boat so I can have dinners and parties in the canals, it looks like so much fun!

Then we went to the Anne Frank house, luckily we bought our tickets online or else we would've had to wait over an hour! It was crazy to see the secret annex that her family hid in, it was actually rather big! I thought it was just one room but it had multiple rooms and levels. I can't imagine being cooped up in there every day...even more depressing is that her father was the only one to survive the Holocaust and Anne died in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, 1 month before its liberation.

Afterwards we went bar hopping, trying all different kinds of beer. I really like Kriek and Liefmans which are berry flavored Belgian beer (Pierre recommended it, I think he may have a bias though...) It's funny how back at school I kind of detest beer but in Europe, even the cheap beer is so flavorful that I drink it so much more! It'll be a reverse culture shock going back to school and not having such good choices. We wandered around, unfortunately towards the Red Light District...yuck that was so awkward! It's crazy how accessible it is to do such repulsive things...

Figuring out the night transportation back to our hostel was really easy and efficient...come on Prague get it together!

Pierre left this morning to go back home for Belgium's National Holiday aka 4th of July. It was really fun to talk to him about living in Belgium and how it compares to the US.

Today we went to the Rijksmuseum, a famous museum containing works of Rembrandt and other Dutch artists. It also detailed on the history of the Netherlands which was interesting to see because I was able to recall facts from my history classes on high school.

A friend recommended to go on the cheesey canal cruise so we did and I'm happy we chose to do it. You really get a whole different perspective of places from being on the water. After we grabbed a Kriek at a cafe and then walked a bit more. It was sad to walk around the bars and see SO MUCH trash on the ground from the night before. Really disgusting and inconsiderate...
I've noticed there are lots of cats here that are able to roam around, even on top of bars! Pretty odd haha but cool to see a cat sitting on a bar stool.

Early day tomorrow as we have a day trip to Brugge, Belgium!

Doei,
Whit

Amsterdam Thursday July 20th

Sad to call this my final trip! 1 week left in Europe...how did that happen?

Class this morning was a snoozefest as all I was thinking about was my flight! Liz and I flew easyjet from Prague to Amsterdam and it was pretty cheap! Though they try to make you pay any way they can, they were huge sticklers on if your bag fits in the littol metal bag holder (who actually uses that..?) and that all purses had to be put inside your carry-on or they'll charge you €50! Ridic

We arrived around 7 and luckily Liz printed out directions to our hostel so we could get there easily...or so we thought. We jumped on a train and got off, not knowing where to get on a bus. A nice old Dutch man noticed we were confused and asked where we were headed. He knew exactly where to go and said he'd go an extra stop to show us, too precious! So far I love Dutch people.

Our hostel is pretty standard, first place I've stayed where there's wifi everywhere! Our beds are tinnnny though, definitely not a twin. It'll be interesting to sleep tonight...

We took a tram to the city center which was about 10 minutes away. Our hostel is in a more residential area, supa cute and quiet. The architecture is so quaint! Really diggin it. It was so beautiful to look along the canals as we went along in the tram. There really is nothing like a city by the water (part of the reason I loved Stockholm so much!)
We grabbed dinner, just Italian because we have no clue what the Dutch cuisine is...lots of french fries? Afterwards we walked around, it was around 10 but still so light out. It's amazing how these northern cities stay lit up so late! Can't imagine what winter is like though.

We saw the central train station which was really beautiful, some churches, Mint Tower, World War II memorial, and the Royal Palace. Crazy how compact the city is! It was just so relaxing to walk along canals and see all the quaint tall and slim apartments. Definitely found the "coffee shop" area by using our noses! I saw a couple windows lit up red with girls in them but it wasn't the Red-Light District (I'll visit that during the day...)

Really tired from not sleeping last night so we're off to bed. Van Gogh museum and Anne Frank house tomorrow. Hopefully it won't rain...European summer weather is straight up bipolar.
It's very pleasant to be with just Liz, I've never traveled with her before. It'll be nice to not have to figure out huge plans because we both want to see the same stuff. Never traveling in groups ever again!

So far Amsterdam has been beautiful, can't wait to see what else it has to offer!

Love and miss you guys!

Doei,
Whit

Tuesday July 17th

Today was the last time I'll see my teacher for my Jewish Experience class as she has a conference to go to in the States. Kind of sad because she was an awesome teacher! She may work at Michigan soon so that'd be a sweet contact to have.

I skipped my afternoon class (sorry!! first time!) to go to Karlstejn, a castle 40 minutes outside of Prague. I think my parents will forgive me for skipping because they were obsessed with the castle when they went. The train ride was quick and painless and soon we were on our way, hiking up to the castle. It was a pretty steep and long climb...not to mention it randomly rained throughout the walk but the view was stunning! The castle was nestled along rolling green hills, on top of a quaint littol town. 

I made sure to do the extended tour which included these beautiful chapels (my parents weren't able to see them so they made sure I did the correct tour.) The castle was the summer palace of Charles IV who ruled Prague in the 14th century. It was massive and had so many corridors, it was really cool. The main part of the tour was the Chapel of the Holy Cross which was on the top floor of the Great Tower. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures but I wish I could've because there were so many stunning paintings and gorgeous architecture. The ceiling was absolutely amazing...covered in gold stars and crazy designs. All the walls had beautiful stones inside them, kind of hard to explain. It's crazy to think that only 3 people, the king, archbishop, and someone else!

After the tour we walked around the town for a bit...so cute though everything was closing because we were the last tour of the castle. Crazy how the town revolves totally around the tourists of the castle! We had dinner at a Czech restaurant and got back on the train for our quick ride back to Prague. This may sound alcoholic, but I'm having a drink with most meals now because this will be my last chance for the next year to order a drink! The bummer of having a an August birthday...

Off to go out with some friends!

Love and miss y'all

Sbohem,

Whit

Monday July 16th

11 days left! Wow so strange

Sooo Berlin. Sunday morning we went to the East Side Gallery which is the longest existing part of the Berlin Wall. There was so much crazy cool art work! It was a bummer it was pouring rain the whole time we were at the wall. Next we went to a flea market where I got some nice gifts to bring back. Of course the weather changed to being hot! We decided to walk around the city a bit more before we had to head to the train station and saw some cool areas and parks. When we arrived at the train station, one guy wasn't there and we had no way of contacting him because he said he was going to sleep somewhere...so dumb. So we had to leave without him! Kinda sketch but that was his fault.

We were an hour outside of Prague when the train suddenly stopped. A man came over the loud speaker to say we were going to have an hour delay because of an accident. Turns out someone jumped in front of our train and their body parts were everywhere. Rather sketch and disturbing. Our train had no cafe cart so we got off to go to this small town to grab food.  Lots of fire trucks and police men came to wash off the blood. After a 2 1/2 hour delay, we were on our way and almost lost 2 of our people because they were running back to the train. That would've been 3 people down!

I was pretty exhausted from being sick and lots of traveling so I lounged around today, made a Czech lunch, saw a movie with my roommates, and had dinner. Days are flying by here...

Tomorrow after class I head to Karlstejn which is a summer castle 40 minutes outside of Prague which my parents loved when they saw it.

Sbohem,
Whit