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

Berlin July 14th

A littol catching up to do...
Thursday night my roommates and I grabbed some wine and walked around the Prague Castle. It was so beautiful to see it at night, it's amazing how places can look totally different in the dark. It had been storming earlier that night but when we got to the top, there were no clouds in sight. We could see all of Prague and pointed out everything we know! We also came to the realization that the night marked 2 weeks left in Prague and we still have some places we need to see before we go! No more putting it off till next week.

Friday morning my program met up at the main train station to catch the train to Berlin. It took about 4 1/2 hours which kind of sucked but the German country side is so beautiful. We arrived at the Hautbanhof in Berlin and took the subway to our hostel/hotel. The train station was massive!! Probably bigger than the Prague airport.

Our hostel is in Kruezberg, a hip part of Berlin and is pretty close to all the main sights via subway. I'm in a room with 4 other girls and we have our own bathroom which is clutch.

A couple of us left the hostel to walk around a bit, even though the sky was supa threatening. We stumbled upon the Topography of Terror, an exhibit of Berlin from 1933-1945 which is on top of the old main Nazi buildings. The buildings were ruined in the war so only parts of the basement remained but it was still pretty eerie to think about all the people that walked through those doors and all the corruption and terrifying ideas created there. The exhibit was really extensive which was awesome. Sometimes people forget how hard the war was on the Germans as well, though nothing compared to those in concentration camps, but Hitler definitely didn't create a better economy and standard of living like he promised.

Next we walked to Checkpoint Charlie which was pretty cool. I though it would be more dramatic but it was just an old US Army shack and a sign saying you have now left the American Sector. Also cheesey photos could be taken with a US Army guard. Saw more American flags than I have all summer! Berlin is pretty different than Munich in that it's modern but not as clean. There isn't much German culture, food, etc that I've seen yet....where are the pretzels??

We had dinner at this really swanky Indian/Thai place but unfortunately, I may have gotten food poisoning or something because my whole abdomen was aching! No bueno. Not to go into much detail but my dinner was expelled during the night...

Waking up was rough and I didn't have breakfast because my stomach was still hurting. It was pouuuring rain like I've never seen it rain that hard in my life. We were going to do a walking tour but because of the rain, we got tickets to a sightseeing bus tour....so Amish and lame and touristy!

We got on for one stop and went to the Atlas Museum which held Greek antiquities. We saw the Berlin Cathedral which was really stunning. All of a sudden it stopped raining and became sunny with blue skies! I'll never understand European weather because it said it was supposed I rain all day.

Next we went to the Paragomman Museum which had Islamic artifacts and part of the gates of Babylon which was sick to see. We got on the bus again to go to the Brandenburg gate. It was interesting to read about the history of the gate and see how much the area has changed over the years of different governments. We saw the Holocaust Memorial and the Reichstag building that had a huge observation dome on top but for appointment only...annoyin.

We returned to the bus (so touristy!) and went around the city seeing various sights. We saw the embassies which each had their own style of architecture for their country which was really cool! We stopped at the Jewish Museum, a place I wanted to make sure to go to. The museum was a really interesting set up, the architect made it for people to try to interpret it. It was probably one of my favorite museums I've ever been to because it was so interactive so you never were just reading something, really sweet other museums should try to do that more often!

I still wasn't feeling well and hadn't eaten so we grabbed dinner at a traditional German place which reminded me a lot of Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Of course it wasn't as good but I got a pretzel.

Hoping this bug or whatever I have goes away by tomorrow, not trying to go on a 5 hour train ride tomorrow while feeling nauseous the whole time.

Berlin is not like what I was expecting it to be which is pretty cool. All the architecture is really modern and interesting. Last day in Germany for awhile!! Supa sad but I will return!

Love and miss you guys! See you supa soon!

Auf Weidersehen,
Whit

Wednesday July 11th

Not sure how it's already Wednesday night, days are really flying by here! 2 1/2 weeks left...keep wanting to round up to 3 weeks but I've got to be realistic.

Yesterday I had class all day...struggle to stay awake towards the end but I'm really enjoying the topics. I have this strong fascination for the period of 1930s to 1940s in Europe.  I'm learning something new every day and I'm able to recall everything weeks after.  Before Prague, I loved history but I hated having to read and listen to lectures, taking notes after notes but learning it here is a totally different experience.  I'm able to see everything that we talk about, the Jewish ghetto in Prague, the concentration camps, the exact turn of where Heydrich was attacked and then died days later, the town that was completely demolished by the Nazis because Hitler was so upset after Heydrich's death, the secret synagogues....the list goes on and on.  I'm so interested in learning everything I can, something my parents are probably pretty happy about! K I definitely feel like a total nerd after writing this...

I know all this information will stick with me because they're topics I've been interested in for awhile now.  I couldn't even tell you how to draw a chair in organic chemistry anymore...shows how much that stuck with me!  I wish I could take more classes but I know this experience is so pure that anything else won't live up to it.

Today my class went on a field trip to Terezin, a concentration camp about an hour outside of Prague.  Terezin was actually a military fortress made by Joseph II in the late 1700s who named it after his mother, Maria Theresa. My professor is so knowledgeable about the most detailed subjects, it's amazing to listen to her. Some of my classmates don't appreciate it but their loss! This was the third concentration camp I've been to in a month and let me tell you, walking through it wasn't any easier. This camp was mostly a transport camp meaning it was a place that the Nazis would organize people to send to the East to be murdered.  Over 80,000 Jews went through Terezin and over half went to Auschwitz to be gassed.  What was different about this camp from Auschwitz and Dachau was that mostly children were there.  The children were allowed access to paper, pens, and paint from which they created diaries, drawings, and paintings.  We're fortunate because many of these forms of media were found and saved after the war.  Each drawing or painting revealed who the artist was and their fate, making the work come to life.  It's amazing how mature these children were, so thoughtful and passionate.  I can't imagine how much more educated this world would be if these people weren't savagely murdered.

After walking through Terezin which is still a town with many inhabitants today, we headed for Lidice.  Lidice is a town about 20 minutes outside of Prague.  In June of 1942, a couple of Czech paratroopers attempted to assassinate Heyrich in Prague (eventually he did die days later but from blood poisoning from a piece of fabric in a puncture wound...so random).  Hitler was extremely distressed after this because it's said that Heyrich would've been Hitler's choice for his successor.  The Nazis searched for the paratroopers all over Prague and eventually were tipped off that the paratroopers had connections in Lidice.  They went to this small village and murdered all of the men and deported the women and children to concentration camps.  During this, they completely bulldozed the town, leaving just rubble.  Many women and children from Lidice survived the war and came back to find that their home no longer existed.  Where the town used to be is now just hills of grass.  It's a story like this that really hits you about how terrible the Nazis were.

I'm currently reading In the Garden of Beasts which is about the US Ambassador to Berlin during the Nazi regime and I've learned even more about the context of the time period. We always think about the Nazis being these people who were extremely anti-Semitic but it's amazing how much of the world was anti-Semitic at the time.  Really makes you think twice about everything we learned in high school about the Holocaust because some of our high ranking government officials were anti-Semitic.  Learning about all this definitely makes you wonder about the what ifs. What if the world actually believed what was going on and did something earlier? What if Hitler didn't become Chancellor of the Weimar Republic? What if Hitler had gotten into art school in Vienna? So much could've been different.

Sorry if this post bored any of you but I just wanted to get my thoughts down and reveal some of the information I've been learning (yes I'm ACTUALLY doing school here, not just traveling!)

Yesterday I went paddle boating after class with my friend who was staying with me and of courssse it started pouring the minute we got out on our boat. Luckily it only lasted 15 minutes. Prague weather is so bipolar!

Class tomorrow and then off to Berlin Friday morning for the weekend! Can't wait to be back in Germany for a bit.

Love and miss you all, see you very soon!

Sbohem,
Whit

Monday July 9th

Back in Prague after a very long day of travel yesterday. We packed up our things in the morning and left our hostel, not without kisses from the hostel owners, too precious! My roommates had some souvenir shopping to do so we left early to walk towards the train station. I haven't bought much from the cities I've visited which is usually not like me. As a kid, I'd want all kinds of trinkets and gifts but now I'm satisfied with the memories I've made and pictures I've taken in each city.

When we arrived at Rome Fluminico Airport to get our boarding passes, my roommates didn't write down their confirmation numbers so they had to call home and wake up their families at 6am Eastern time! They definitely won't be making that mistake again. We got to the security line and it was so incredibly long we were thankful we got to the airport early. I don't know if it's just the Rome airport or just the Italian culture but it was such a haphazard process and they didn't even check our tickets and passports! Anyone could've walked through. Needless to say, I'm quite happy to be heading back to the States soon...

Our flight was delayed an hour (classic) and when it came time for boarding, again, they tried to make the process as inefficient as possible. The guy barely glanced at my passport too! Ridiculous. We took yet another bus to our plane that was out in the middle of nowhere...if I never have to ride a bus again I'll be a happy person. They try to stuff a whole flight on one bus and in 90 degree weather...you get the idea.

Flying through Dusseldorf was quick and painless and soon enough we were flying over Prague. It was cool to be able to point out all the sights I could spot, I could even see where we lived because we have a massive TV tower nearby. Since our metro line was under construction all weekend, we had to take the long way back via bus and switching metro lines. Definitely a public transportation expert by now.

It was such a relief to get back to our apartment but I had my midterm looming over my head that I hadn't started, whoops! I stayed up pretty late to finish it so I could relax today.
Justin, this guy I went to elementary and middle school with, has been backpacking around Europe and headed to Prague today and contacted me since he noticed I lived here.  Facebook is crazy haha but I offered to let him and a friend stay in my apartment for 2 nights, after asking my roommates of course!

We had dinner at my favorite Indian restaurant and it was fun to reminisce on memories and mutual friends. Now about to hit the sack. Still so exhausted from Rome and not sleeping well. Class all day manana!

Sbohem,
Whit

Rome Saturday July 7th

Here I am on my last day in Rome completely exhausted. Every bit of energy has been taken from my body but I'm so thankful for seeing all the sights I wanted to see.

After another night of waking up multiple times, we had breakfast at 9am and got ready for our long, hot day. I haven't slept through the night once while in Europe! So ridiculous and I've been feeling it, especially with all my traveling.

We got to the Colosseum and were greeted with disgusting long lines. Rome is WAY too crowded in the summer. Luckily, we bought tickets online so we got inside in like 5 minutes. We turned on our Rick Steve's podcast and walked in. Again I was speechless. The massiveness of it all takes my breath away. How did they manage to make this in 10 years? It was interesting to hear about the traditional gladiator fights and see beneath the arena floor in the backstage area. I tried to imagine what it would look and sound like which amazed me even more. It's said that 50,000 people could file into the arena in 15 minutes! The Romans should give some tips to sporting events and concerts!

We continued onto Palatine Hill, where Rome was founded. My roommates are pretty into Greek/Roman mythology so they knew much more than I did about the gods and such. Next was the Roman Forum which was incredible. It's crazy to think of all the hustle and bustle that happened on the streets. The grand arches and columns that still stand baffled me with their grandeur. We had a podcast which was extremely helpful. Most of the people there were so lost on what anything was, can't imagine not knowing the significance of the sights.

This day of Roman ruins reminded me of the ruins I saw while in Lebanon 2 summers ago. Both were incredible in their own way, and probably walked around in the same temperature too! It's amazing to think of how vast the Roman Empire was at its peak.

After we walked to the Mouth of Truth where we had to wait in line for the first time since we've been here, rough life! We got our classic picture and headed off to lunch at a local family Italian restaurant. I've been having so much pizza and gelato and my stomach has been completely fine! Such a blessing.

We walked over to the Trevi Fountain to grab gelato at a place my friend Nicole recommended, San Crispiano. Super delicious and hit the spot! We quickly headed back to our hostel because my roommates wanted to attend 5pm mass at St. Peter's. Both of them are pretty strong Catholics so I can see why they wanted to go. I've never been to mass and didn't really feel comfortable going so I stayed back at the hostel to cool off and nap a bit.

We looked up a good place to eat dinner and found this awesome restaurant that was cheap too! I had supa yaummy bruschetta, pasta, and wine. We had such an enjoyable last dinner in Rome that we didn't even realize we had been there for 2 1/2 hours! It's so nice to chat the night away.

We had our last gelato at Valentino's by the Trevi Fountain (recommended by Nicole) and it was the best gelato we've had so far! Great way to end the trip. We finished our night sitting by the Trevi Fountain and headed back to our hostel to get ready for a long day of traveling.

Rome was truly amazing, so grateful to be able to have seen so many sights I've only heard or read about. I wish the city was a bit more romantic, kids dirty, so many beggars and people trying to sell you ridiculous things but all in all, I have to say the trip was pretty successful.

Back to Prague for a full week of school (whhhhat?!) and then Berlin on Friday!

Love and miss you guys! Less than 3 weeks till I see y'all!

Ciao,
Whit

Rome Friday July 6th

Wowow is all I can say about today.

Started off kind of rocky...didn't sleep very well last night cause it was so hot! We walked to Vatican City, guess I can check another country off my list. It was a pretty far walk but it was cool to stumble upon beautiful sites (though I wish I knew what they were!)

We arrived at Vatican City and I was awestruck by the massiveness and beauty of St Peter's and St Peter's square. We had printed tickets before hand so we went right through to the Vatican museum (while being haggled by umbrella and shawl sellers, and tour guides!)

The museum was pretty sick, my favorite part would have to be the room of the maps of Italy. It was 120 meters long and the ceiling was insane. Every room had crazy old statues and paintings but my mind kept drifting to the Sistine Chapel. We finally arrived and my breath was taken away. It was supppper crowded but luckily I found a spot to sit (to listen to my Rick Steve's podcast!) and sneakily snag some pictures. Everyone had their cameras out and it was so loud in there cause the guards had to keep yelling at people to not take pictures and to be quiet. Pretty tough job! The podcast was clutch, he explained every part of the ceiling and Last Judgement painting and described how Michelangelo did it. Too sick to say I've seen it.

We moved onto St. Peter's which was, in my opinion, even more amazing. I've always been so fascinated by churches and this was soooo big! I was wearing a dress with a shawl and was worried about it being a littol too short but luckily the guards just told me to pull it down. That would've sucked if I couldn't have seen it! Again we had a podcast that explained everything. Even explained that Pope John XXIII's body is on display in a glass case...so creepy. Definitely recommend downloading podcast for any city you visit to save money!

By then it was 3:30 and we hadn't eaten since 9am so we found a cheap lunch place. We headed to the Pantheon and listened to our podcast for it. Wowow is all I gotta say. Pretty amazing engineering! Can't believe it.

After we walked to the Spanish Steps to go to the Keats and Shelley museum, 2 English poets who lived in Rome. I found a purse I've wanted for awhile now along the way which was a great find.

We walked back to our hostel to chill for a bit, literally like it was over 90 degrees all day...I felt so over heated!
We walked to find dinner and stopped at this precious place that was cheap as well. Finally got my glass of wine in Italy!

We continued on to the Colosseum, even though we're going tomorrow, we wanted to see it at night. Amazzzing. All the ruins here are too surreal like I don't believe they're real and that I'm here.

Off to bed, long day in the sun tomorrow and our last day in Rome! Way too quick of a trip but very thankful I could see it.
I'm hoping for a better night sleep...may take a sleeping pill to aid that...

Love and miss y'all!

Ciao,
Whit

P.S. forgot to mention yesterday that we saw a proposal at the Trevi Fountain last night! Way too precious, everyone was clapping so luckily she said yes! Kinda hard to top!

Roman Holiday, Thursday July 5th

Can't believe the trip I planned the first week I was in Prague is finally here!
We started off our day at 7am when a driver picked us up. We would've taken public transportation but they're working on the metros this weekend so it would've taken us way too long to get there on our own.

We flew to Dusseldorf, Germany...never heard of it before! And waited for our flight to Rome. Unfortunately our flight was delayed an hour...we were so frustrated because we really don't have that much time here.

Once we arrived in Rome we got o. A bus to take us to the city center which costs 5 euros and took about an hour. We could've taken a train that takes 30mins but it was 14 euros and we're trying to save our money for food! As we were driving it still hadn't hit me that we were here, even now I'm in disbelief. Everywhere you looked on the ride there was some sort of ruin or establishment, so awesome.

Our hostel was recommended to me by my friend Nicole who was in Rome a couple months ago. She warned me that it was impossible to find and wow was she right! We were so tired and hot and luckily asked someone who directed us to it. There's no sign for it at all which is ridiculous. Our hostel is super precious. It's basically someone's flat that's converted into a bed and breakfast. A really precious couple runs it and they were so cute and helpful. We have a private room which is really nice and we haven't seen anyone else yet so we don't know if we're the only ones.

We planned our days for the trip back in Prague so we had some sights we wanted to see. Trekking out into the heat, I soon realized my camera wasn't working! I had just charged it so I was pretty bummed it was dead (it's working now of course). Our first stop was the Trevi Fountain. Walking to it we saw such amazing sights, though we wished we could've known what they were.

Trevi Fountain was straight out of a movie. Too surreal, I still can't believe I saw it! It's so much larger than I thought it would be. Of course it was supa crowded but we managed to get some classic coin throwing pictures. We also grabbed some gelato and wow did we need it, we realized we hadn't eaten all day! We then headed to the Spanish Steps which were pretty awesome. We learned some history about it from a sign which made it all more cool.

We continued walking to the Piazza del Popolo and then walked down the river. Gotta say I wish my mom was here cause she'd have some travel book that would say what everything is! We have some research to do for the pictures we took.

We had dinner at the Piazza Novena which was good but definitely over priced. It was a beautiful view with fountains though so we were pretty happy. I'm so tired of having to pay for water at restaurants....this trip is going to make a huge dent on my wallet!

After we met one of Jesse's friends at the Trevi Fountain and walked around a bit more. She had been in Florence for 5 weeks so it was cool to hear about her experiences. We got another gelato, but this one was so much better! Only get gelato from tins that are covered. Nicole recommended a couple gelato places to me but I haven't found them yet! Gosh there's so much good food here....

I tried to meet up with a friend who's studying in Rome but she's leaving for Pompeii early tomorrow and she lives pretty far from our hostel so that was a bummer.

The walk back to our hostel was so nice, the weather was just right! We were ready to konkkkk out. Of course the wifi wasn't working so sorry to all that I didn't respond to!

In disbelief I'm here, everything is so beautiful and ancient. It's crazy to think about all the history here.

Vatican tomorrow with our Rick Steve's podcasts! Not tryin to pay for tours.

We were talking about how once we get back to Prague, the next 3 weeks are going to fly by...so sad!

Love and miss y'all!

Sbohem (ciao!),
Whit

4th of July!

Happy 4th!!

I have a couple days to catch up on so I'll do it quick!

Monday was my last day in Stockholm...really sad to leave! We walked around the city, looking at the beautiful architecture and shopping a bit (I had so much money left over!)
My flight was at 2pm so at noon I headed to the metro to get to the train station to go to the airport (public transportation in Europe is THE greatest.)  Saying goodbye to my family was sad, I had such an awesome weekend with them! I'm so lucky to be so close to my extended family. It was see you later since they live 10 minutes away from me at home!

I arrived at the airport and since the printer at the hotel wasn't working, I had to get a boarding pass. Wow was that a joke. I was behind 2 huge school groups at the check-in counter and there were only 2 people working...Czech Airlines sucks. It took about an hour to get through to the front where it took literally 5 seconds for her to print my boarding pass. Luckily the security line was non-existent so I went right through! It's going to be hard to get used to going back to the states and taking forever to get through.

I was so exhausted from the whole weekend that it was so nice to be able to relax for a bit in Prague...till I leave for Rome!

I had class on Tuesday all day, pretty standard. Tuesday was the anniversary of Franz Kafka's death, a famous Czech author, so we visited his grave. Later in the day my class went on a World War II tour around the Old Town.  I've learned so much about World War I and II that it's getting pretty repetitive!

My roommates and I wanted to attempt to make our 4th of July as traditional as possible and it was actually a pretty awesome day! We woke up early and had breakfast at our favorite French cafe (the waiter now knows us and our order.) and then headed to school to print out our boarding passes and tickets to museums for Rome!
After we walked across the Charles Bridge (sooo incredibly touristy, getting tired of having to walk across it so much!) and went onto an island on the river to rent paddle boats! The weather was so nice and it was extremely relaxing to be on the water. We had a bottle of wine from our local farmers market which was supa yaummy!

For dinner we went to the Globe, an American bookstore and restaurant. I ordered a burger and a beer, trying to be all American. The burger was definitely not beef....sketch, didn't sit well in my stomach. But it was the closest to an American meal I could get. As I was eating, I spotted a beautiful golden retriever out of the corner of my eye! Gift from God, I've been missin Tucker like no other!

We then met up with some friends and headed out to these fairgrounds outside of the city. The carnival was sooo vacant and abandoned we thought it wasn't open but sure enough it was! We were the only people there and it seemed like one family was running the whole place (there were lots of trailers around so they may actually live there.) It was so much fun to go on some rides!

All and all, I have to say that this 4th of July is one that I'll remember.  It was awesome to be able to hang with fellow Americans and realize how privileged we are to be able to have these experiences. I'm sad I'm not in Chester, CA at Lake Almanor with my family and close friends as we go there every summer for the 4th but it was still an amazing day!

Packing for Rome, we're getting picked up at 6:50am! Long day ahead but can't wait to see, eat, smell, hear and experience everything Rome has to offer. It's going to be 90s all weekend!

Love and miss y'all!

Sbohem,
Whit

Sunday July 1st

Wooow reality is setting in that it's July and at some point I'm going to have to return to the states. I've got to say I have mixed feelings about it, miss my family and friends but my time here has been nothing but amazing. 25 days to make the most of my European excursion and almost half of that time I'll be traveling! Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam/Brugge are ahead for the weekends in July.

Today we woke up early and walked around Ostermalm, a prominent part of the city. It was a beautiful neighborhood with so many parks , gardens, and Parisian architecture. We then got on a ship to go to Vaxholm. Stockholm is so stunning because of how many islands make up the city and surround it. I enjoyed traveling through all the littol islands on the way, all had such cute houses. It was such a beautiful day so when we arrived we walked around the island, did a bit of shopping and grabbed a snack and then headed back to Stockholm.

After we got lunch at this AMAZING burger place (and y'all know how much I love burgers.) called Vigarda. Hipster-chill place. We went shopping for a bit (a lot pricier than Prague!) and then grabbed coffee and headed back to the hotel to rest. My parents have been to Stockholm and recommended this one restaurant called Five Small Houses which we ate at this evening. The restaurant combined 5 houses (hence the name) and was mostly underground, it was really sick! The food was amaazing, reindeer anyone?

So incredibly sad to be leaving Stockholm tomorrow. If you ever get the chance to go to Stockholm, do it! (I would only do it in the summer though!) it's 11:30pm and it's still light out...so crazy
It's great to be with family, love them! I definitely needed this break!
Busy week ahead, class Tuesday and Rome Thursday morning!

Sbohem,
Whit

Saturday June 30th

It was so weird to go to bed when it was still light out at midnight! I woke up around 3:30am and the sun was rising...crazy. My judgement of time is so off because of it.

Today we had breakfast at the hotel which had basically anything you wanted (even lactose free milk, yogurt, and cheese!) We headed out with our jackets and umbrellas expecting a full day of rain. Our first stop was the Vasa museum which displays this huge ship called the Vasa that capsized in the Stockholm harbor in 1628. It was insane how preserved and massive it was! Apparently the Baltic Sea isn't very salty so wood is preserved (or something like that...?) It was interesting to learn about how they found it and brought it to the shore, crazy engineering! There were shoes, rings, and even skeletons that were found in the ship.

Next we walked across multiple islands back to Sodermalm. Stockholm is so beautiful with numerous islands that make it up. The sun was shining and no clouds were in the sky so the weather report was definitely wrong. The water made everything look even more stunning. We had a coffee at this cafe called Mellqvist Kaffebar where apparently the author of the Dragon Tattoo trilogy wrote parts of his book. Pretty cool to see after reading all the books and seeing the movie.

We headed to the Drottingholm Palace which was a bit outside the city. We had to take the subway and apparently got on the wrong line so we were stuk at a terminal station on the metro for 10 minutes and couldn't get out. That was an experience! We eventually got to the palace and it was gorgeous. Right on the water and so green and beautiful. I love this city, probably one of my favorite so far. It's hard to think about what life is like in the winter! I would love to live here but wow I don't think I could handle it.

After dinner it started to pour so hopefully it only rains during the night since tomorrow we have lots of exploring. I can't wait to shop! It's so great to be with family, my aunt and mom are so similar it's quite eerie!

Less than a month left till I head home...so weird to think about.

Love and miss y'all!

Sbohem,
Whit

Stockholm! Friday June 29th

I've arrived in the motherland! I'm partly Swedish so I'm going to count it.

Last night my roommates and I did a pub crawl...in hindsight I shouldn't have done it before having to wake up at 8am! I had to take the metro and a bus to get to the airport (free with my transportation pass) which took around 45 mins. I swear the bus driver was trying to make the ride as uncomfortable as he could make it. Airport security was nothinggg like it is in the US, so much more lax it was weird! And scary!

When I arrived in Stockholm I had to take a train to get to the city center. The train was supppper nice and wifi! I took a taxi to our hotel and met up with my cousins, it's so great to see them! It's nice to see some familiar faces and get away from the people in my program for a bit and be able to relax rather than plan a whole trip.

We walked around Sodermalm, a bohemian part of the city and got dinner. Just walking around, the city is amazing and beautiful! Cities on the water have a certain beauty to them. Off to bed, so tired!
Can't wait to see more of the city tomorrow though it may rain a lot.

Weird that it's still kind of light out and it's almost midnight! I didn't really believe it when people said it would stay light so late. It really trips you up cause you think it's a lot earlier when it's actually pretty late.

Love and miss you all. Wish the rest of my fam was here to experience this together!

Sbohem,
Whit

Tuesday June 26th

Man class from 9 to 5 is quite tiring...that's all I can really say about my day haha

After class I grabbed drinks with some of my classmates and then headed on a dinner boat cruise with my roommates Sam and Liz! It was so beautiful to be on the water as the sun was setting and the boat had a really great band playing. We kept talking about how cities on rivers are so amazing. It's so great to have such great friends here, we have great conversations that are interesting and thoughtful which is so relaxing. The cruise put me in such a great mood!

Barely awake as I write this...last night I was up pretty late thinking about where I want to go for my last weekend in Europe (the weekend of July 20th) and I couldn't figure anything out since everyone was giving different ideas. Two of my roommates and a couple other people are going to Paris but since I've already been there, I didn't really want to go again. My roommate Liz didn't have any plans for the weekend so we decided we should find a place to go together. We looked at a map of Europe and thought of all the places we wanted to go to. We've decided on Amsterdam and Brugge for the weekend! Booked it tonight! We're going to be gone from Thursday night till Monday night so we've got some time to enjoy the cities. Really excited but also crazy to think I'll never be spending a weekend in Prague again...oh well! I've got some great trips ahead of me. Stockholm, Rome, Berlin, and then Amsterdam/Brugge! So sick!

Day off tomorrow, I hope to catch some extra zzZzzs!

Love and miss you all sososo much!

Sbohem,
Whit

Sunday June 24th

Going to bed at 4am really throws off my day! I barely got any sleep last night so thank goodness I don't have class tomorrow. We went shopping for a bit after getting Indian food for lunch (so good!) and then lounged around since we were all dead tired.

We went to a movie tonight, trying to take advantage of movies only being $6 here! Pretty funny movie, What to expect when you're expecting. It's nice that the movie is in English with Czech subtitles!

I'm off to read for class, no school tomorrow though. I hope to have a productive day! Weeks are flying by here...

Side note, one of my roommates is going to grad school at Yale for molecular biology (wow) and has been helping me with looking for internships and such. So nice to have someone to talk things out and figure out what I really want to do. Sam and I were talking about maybe trying to do one together next summer! She's been a really great roommate and travel partner. All just talk for now but that'd be sweet.

Here's to the beginning of another week! Friday I'll be in Stockholm with my cousins, cannot wait!

Love and miss you all!

Sbohem,
Whit

Saturday June 23rd

Haven't blogged in a while due to lack of action in my life here..didn't want to bore you!

Thursday was the Czech vs. Portugal quarterfinal game in the Euro Cup. A big group of us went to Old Town Square to watch the game on the big screen. The square was packed! We could barely see the game over everyone's heads but it was still awesome to be in the atmosphere. They ended up losing 1-0 in the last 10 minutes which was a bummer! The night would've been crazy if they would've won.

After we went to this bar called "The Big Lebowski." It was a cool, cozy local bar and the hitch was you paid what you thought your drink was. Pretty sick! The owner is a really chill guy who keeps the bar open late (they close at midnight) because he likes it when people are enjoying themselves.

Friday was a very relaxing day. I went to the farmer's market by my apartment and shopping to get items for our dinner. My roommates and I made fried chicken, fried cheese, and potatoes and it turned out really good!

I went to bed pretty early because we had to be at a location for a bus to take us (about 20 of us went) to Kunta Hora for the day. Kunta Hora is a quaint, UNESCO protected town that began as a silver-mining town. We saw Saint Barbara's Church, the saint for the miners safety, and then headed down on a tour of the silver mine. It was quite different than the salt mine tour in Krakow! It was so wet and TINY. I was bending over the entire time so I wouldn't hit my head (thankfully we were wearing helmets.) But wow you wouldn't be able to do the tour if you were overweight or a giant. Definitely got claustrophobic at some points...so freaky.

We had lunch, wandered throughout the town, and then went to the infamous bone church. The church's cemetery ran out of spots so they dug up graves and took the bones into the church. There were thousands of bones and all arranged in rather odd ways! Chandeliers, shields, streamers of skulls, and candle holders. Really creepy.

Off for a night on the town...so tired from the day though. It's pretty sweet to have a 4 day weekend!

Love and miss you all!

Sbohem,
Whit 

Wednesday June 20th

It was really refreshing to be able to sleep in for the first time in awhile! I did some reading in the morning for class and then went to the farmer's market with some of my roommates. All the vegetables and fruit are so good! I have to say, the strawberries here may be small but they are soooo incredibly sweet. Definitely comparable to Watsonville berries which is a huge statement. Sam and I bought some local wine that is in a plastic bottle! So weird. For 1.5L we paid like $4!

We then headed to school to meet up with some people from our program to go on a trip to the Starhov Monastery and brewery. It was extremely muggy today which was quite unbearable on a crowded tram with smelly people...The monastery was beautifully decorated and the library connected to it had a huge variety of preserved sea creatures, it was really cool! The monastery also has a brewery (kind of thought that was hypocritical of monks?) which started in the 1300s when the monastery was built. We got a tour of the brewery and were able to try a couple samples! I thought the samples would be pretty small but they were like full glasses...ridiculous but awesome.

Back at home now, reading lots of excerpts for class tomorrow. Class at 9am wouldn't be as painful if I didn't have a commute to school. Can't wait for what the weekend has in store! My roommates and I are going to cook a traditional Czech dinner on Friday with food from our farmer's market. I hope it turns out well! It's going to be nice to have a relaxing 4 day weekend.

5 weeks exactly till I fly home and almost 2 months till I'm back in Ann Arbor...where has the time gone?

Hope you're all doing well!

Sbohem,
Whit

Tuesday June 19th

First day back at class and it was pretty rough. I have more friends in my classes which will be nice but 3 hour long classes of mostly lecturing is quite painful...The material of the classes are going to overlap a lot which will be nice but still lots of reading!

After class, a group of us decided to get on a random tram and get off after 2 stops and find a place to eat. It was a great spontaneous idea and we found a delicious Czech place.  Our server really liked one of the guys we were with because he was trying to talk only in Czech (he wasn't very successful) so she gave us a "present." It was 3 slices of brown looking bread with cranberry sauce on the side. Cameron tried it and said it was good so we all started to eat it. I thought it was pretty good but it reminded me of some food I've eaten before but I couldn't put my finger on it. A couple at the table next of us informed us it was liver. YUCK! The taste in my mouth immediately turned sour and I chugged my beer for a bit. Reminded me of the time I had lamb testicles in Lebanon.

Tonight we're going to a Czech film festival for a bit and then heading out on the town. It is held in a park and has no English subtitles or anything so it'll be interesting! Tryin to be all cultured.
No class tomorrow which will be nice to relax for a bit!

Yesterday marked one month of being in Europe! Crazy...kind of seems like I've been here longer but also it feels weird to say I'm "living" here. A month and a week left, time is flying by!

Sbohem,
Whit

Sunday June 17th

 Our tour to the Wieliczka Salt Mine was at 9 am and we had to move out of our hostel so it was a pretty rough morning. The mine was built in the 1200s, making it one of the oldest salt mines in the world that's still being used! It was nice to be able to go underground for awhile...Krakow was so hot like over 85 degrees! It was insane to be walking down over 60 flights of stairs, just to get to the first level. There were so many amazing sculptures and chapels randomly throughout the mine which was sweet.

They said that the air is very good for you which we were thankful for since of all the second hand smoke we've been getting. That being said, there is a spa down in the mine...crazy. There's also a restaurant, bar, and reception area that people use for weddings!

After the salt mine we had no clue what to do. Our train was leaving at 10pm so we had 9 hours to kill. Everything we tried to go see was closed which we're not used to. Krakow is a lot more religious than Prague so everyone was at mass which was a bummer. We tried to find this museum that showed a hidden city under the main square but couldn't find it (later we found out on the train we were standing right by the entrance...frustrating). We walked around a lot, finding random things to look at and eventually went back to the hostel to rest and get some cool air. It was SO hot and I felt disgusting.

We went to dinner around the Main Square at this small Polish place. The service was abnormally rude and bad, the guy tried to put stuff on our bill that we didn't order and then acted like he couldn't speak English when we had just heard him talking to some other Americans. He got so frustrated with us that he eventually took our money and threw the change at us, little did he know he gave us 10 zloty extra (around $3), karma!

After walking around for a bit to absorb our last moments in Krakow, we went to the hostel to freshen up before our train. We got to the train station and had some extra money to spend but the only place around it that was open was a veerrry small news stand so we had to buy like 7 candy bars...let me know if you want any!

Our train to Krakow was called "EuroCity" aka meaning it's nice. This train we were on was called "normal train" and wow was it way worse that our trip to Krakow. The beds were rock solid, it was so hot, smelled like urine everywhere, bugs flying all around. Just grody. We found our beds and Sam and I were with a Singapore couple. We chatted for a long time about their experiences growing up in Singapore and where to travel in South East Asia. They informed us that their favorite shows were "The Voice" and "How I Met Your Mother" hahha though they said that their TV is many seasons behind. They also told us it costs $40,000 just to get a license there! Since it's so small, the government wants to prevent as many cars on the road as possible. Additionally, something I found very interesting, Singapore gives bonuses and incentives for people to have babies because they're an aging population, quite different than China!
It's so interesting to hear about people's lives all around the world.

We arrived at the train station before our station at 7:45am, the time it was supposed to arrive at our station. The conductor said there's a 40 minute delay so we decided to get off and go on the metro since it was close. Finally back in our "home" and I'm so thankful we've made it. So happy I'm not travelling too much this weekend!
Saturday we have a planned day trip to Kunta Hora just outside of Prague. Next Friday will be my first time to the Prague airport as I'll be flying to Stockholm to meet up with my cousins! Really excited for that trip and to see my family!

Off to write my final for my art and architecture class...pure torture...

Love y'all and hope you had a great Father's day!

Sbohem,
Whit

Saturday June 17th

I slept pretty well last night considering our window looks out to the clubbing street! Woke up around 7ish when other people in the room were getting up and then got out of bed at 9. We had free breakfast at our hostel which was cereal with warm milk (yuck), assortment of meats and cheeses, and toast. We went out to explore a bit before our Auschwitz tour and tried the Czech dessert (in Poland?) of honey cake. Sooooo good! It was so nice to see the sun again and soak up some vitamin d (and get a littol color!)

Our bus picked us up and we were off on our 1.5 hour bus ride to Auschwitz! Pretty sure the bus was made for midgets because my legs couldn't...one of the many times I wish I was just a bittt shorter.

We arrived at Auschwitz and began our tour. I was interested to see how this would compare to Dachau and it was totally different. The building were multiple stories and all of brick. It was more of a museum than showing the camp. So incredibly disturbing. I think what really hit me was 230,000 children arrived at Auschwitz and only 650 remained when the camp was liberated. Thousands of lives cut short. There were rooms and I mean rooms full of human hair that the Nazis saved to send to factories, shoes, suitcases, combs, cosmetics and pots and pans. It was so devastating and frustrating to see.

We then got on our bus and headed to Birkenau, the largest camp of Auschwitz that was made by prisoners for 90,000 prisoners. The camp was huge, probably the size of 5 by 10 football fields. It was terrifying to see the train tracks go through the camp and end at the gas chambers. The gas chambers and crematoriums were blown up by the Nazis towards the end of the war and the ruins were creepy to see. It was probably over 80 degrees all day and we were extremely exhausted but there's no way we could complain because these prisoners worked in this heat for months on end and with no food for energy. The barracks were especially difficult to see. Since they were made of brick, the heat radiated inside and having to sleep 10 people to a bunk would be completely unbearable. I'm thankful to see these concentration camps, the images and stories will always be on my mind and remind me that this is still happening today which makes me sick.

We got back to Krakow and had dinner at a traditional Polish place where I had, yet again, pierogies. We also tried the Polish vodka...not so good but very strong! After we went to this chocolate store and had the best desserts of chocolate ice cream and drizzles. We found a pub to watch the Poland vs Czech soccer game, we were told to be careful rooting for our home country since Poland takes their soccer very seriously! Luckily they tied 1-1. I think they did, I was so tired I kept drifting off while watching.

Tomorrow at 9am we have to be moved out of our room and off to the salt mines outside of Krakow! They're apparently beautiful!

Our train back to Prague leaves at 10 pm so we have some sites to see after our tour.

Krakow is more beautiful every day though I have to say, I'm missing Prague and am happy to be staying in town next weekend. Traveling is so stressful and exhausting!

Love y'all!

Sbohem,
Whit

Krakow! Friday June 15th

We've arrived and it has been a loooong day.

Last night when we got to the train station, we couldn't figure out where our sleeping car was on the train since our ticket was in Czech. We figured out we were wagon 353 so we counted the numbers and figured it was towards the front since the numbers were going up. Turns out ours was one of the last cars and not all the wagon numbers were in order...so annoying we had to sprint all the way to the end. We got on the train and a minute later it left! Whew!

We didn't reserve seats (it costed 4 extra euros) so we were all in different rooms but thankfully we asked people to switch so we had our own 3 person sleeping couchette. It was probably 6 feet by 4 feet with 3 beds on top of each other...so claustrophobic! We attempted to busy ourselves to make ourselves tired so we'd sleep well. We played cards and then went to the dining car and had some desserts. We got back around 11:30 and got in bed, hoping the next 7 hours would go by quickly. I had a sleeping pill and immediately fell asleep and the next thing I knew, a train attendant was yelling at us to wake up and get off! We checked our clock and we had gotten in 30 minutes early so we were not prepared. We scrambled to grab all our stuff and headed off to Krakow!

The town was so quiet and empty, quite eerie. We found our hostel pretty quickly, left our stuff, and headed out to a bagel shop my friend had heard about. Gotta have bagels in Poland! We got to the store and it wasn't going to open for another hour...so we walked around to random sites we had on our map. We eventually had our bagel (definitely wasn't a traditional Polish bagel) and then started walking to the Wawel Castle.

Sidenote: finally beautiful weather! It was sunny and warm all day, so thankful it made the day so much more enjoyable!

It was refreshing to see a castle after so many palaces! We walked up this huge tower which had stunnning views of Krakow. I never thought it'd be so green and naturey! We then took a tour of the royal private apartments which was disappointing but eye-opening because there wasn't much to see because it was looted over the years by the various people and armies that used it. We went into an exhibit called the "Lost Wewal" which had archaeological discoveries that were found during the restoration of the castle. There were also ruins of a Rotunda and burial site dating back to the Middle Ages. Really awesome to see. Then we went to the dragon's den, a cave that was formed 12 million years ago at the bottom of the Wawel Castle. It was sick! So crazy to think about how old it was.

After we got lunch at a local Polish place a friend recommended and I got the traditional perogies. They were so delicious and cheap! By then we were able to check into our hostel and make our beds, we're in a 9 bed mixed dorm with bunk beds. Our hostel is pretty sweet and swanky with really nice bathrooms and common areas.

We then went on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter. We thought it'd be an hour long but it ended up being over 3 hours. It was a really interesting tour but mind you, we had already been up for so long and walking all day so we were crashing fast.

We found dinner at an Italian place (made sure there was a TV so we could watch the Euro Cup!) and then grabbed dessert. We're back at our hostel, exhausted from our travels and full day of walking. Tomorrow afternoon we have a scheduled tour at Auschwitz.

After walking around basically all of Krakow, it's just a beautiful city and I'm so happy we made the trip out here. All day we had to keep asking each other, "wait what? Are we in Poland?" It's amazing how close European countries are and yet they're so incredibly different! If you ever get the chance to visit Krakow, I highly recommend making the trip for a few days!

Off to shower and sleep soon...first night ever in a hostel! Hopefully we'll experience the night life tomorrow, currently can't move my legs so I don't think it'd be a good idea tonight!

Love and miss you guys!

Sbohem,
Whit

Miss

Thursday June 14th

Remind me to never go out the night before I have 9am class...felt the consequences all day.

My first class is Jewish Experience in Central Europe and consists of 4 people including me, not something I'm used to coming from Michigan! My teacher is really passionate and fun so that'll be nice at 9am to wake me up. On the other hand, she is expecting a lot from us so hopefully it's not too much work.

My next class is Holocaust and the destruction of Jewish Culture. The class is like 20 people and our teacher is really chill and wants us to enjoy learning and to explore Prague and Europe so he's not assigning much work.

Heading on my overnight train to Krakow! Leaves at 8pm and we get in around 7am. Our hostel is really sweet free breakfast, free wifi, cable tv, free locks, and seems really nice!
Hopefully I sleep better than I did on my overnight bus to Munich!

Can't wait to explore Krakow, I've only heard great things about it and how it's an up and coming city. Let me know if there's anything you think I should see!

Love and miss y'all

Sbohem,
Whit

Go Giants!! Cain with the 22nd perfect game in MLB history!!

Wednesday June 13th

I promised myself I'd blog twice a week and here I am blogging almost every day...I hope I'm not too boring!

Last day of class! Too excited to start a new schedule. Class was quite interesting today because it made me realize a lot about my life and how I want to live when I'm older. Our teacher told us to do what we love and the money will come.  I agree that everyone should do what they love regardless of how much money they're making but why do we have to base everything on money? It's incredible how much my mentality has changed over the past two years in the sense that I'm beginning to realize what actually makes me happy. I've been embracing change more than I used to because I am so thankful and fortunate enough to be able to make changes in my life.

Years ago I would never expect to be going to school in Michigan, 2000 miles away from my home, nor would I think I'd be studying abroad over 4000 miles away, in the Czech Republic of all places. I've always been independent but I think I'm becoming more independent in a different sense. I'm realizing how I need to take full advantages of all these opportunities because I'm so fortunate enough to be able to have them. Although I've only been here for 3 weeks now, it's been such a humbling experience and it really is life-changing.

Just a bit of reflection!

Heading to Krakow tomorrow night! The overnight train should be interesting...definitely taking a sleeping pill!

Thanks for reading and caring!

Sbohem,
Whit

Tuesday June 12th

Lying in bed as I blog so forgive me for being brief

We went to the MEET factory in class today which is a contemporary art gallery and studio. We were able to meet several artists in their environment and talk about their inspirations and such. It was really amazing to see how much thought and work and even emotions go into creating art, made me appreciate it a lot more!

After class we headed home to work on our final projects (I can't believe I actually have school work to do here...) and then headed to Old Town Square to watch the Euro Cup with new people in our program. It was so awesome to meet all the new people and I can't wait to get to know them better. A lot of them live near us so that'll be nice since we've been on the other side of town as everyone else! It was fun to be a tour guide and help them out as we've been here for over 2 weeks now. It sucks we're headed to Krakow this weekend when it's their first weekend here but I'll be in Prague next weekend so that'll be fun!

Tomorrow is my last day of my art and architecture class! (Goooood riddance) I enjoyed the class for the most part but definitely ready to move onto other subjects since art is not my specialty. Quite happy to only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from now on!

Love y'all

Sbohem,
Whit

Monday June 11th

Woken up today early by an electrician since a lot of the lights in our apartment were out. Quite odd to wake up to a middle aged Czech man on a ladder in your room!

Today I had a lot of school work to do believe it or not! One of my final projects was to find all my favorite pictures of Prague and explain what they mean to me which was nice to go through and remember every place. My other project is about an artist's career before, during, and after Communism in Czechoslovakia. Reading about the oppression during Communism made me thankful that I grew up I the US.

Finally we have a day of good weather and I was stuck inside doing homework! After while I decided to explore my neighborhood a bit more and I found lots of cool places. There's this beautiful park a couple blocks away that has a direct view of the Prague Castle, Charles River, and Charles Bridge. The park also has a track which I'll definitely put to use since running on cobblestone is actually quite dangerous and I've been eating such rich food and so much beer...no bueno.
The park was full of people and dogs, dogs are everywhere here and always off leash! They follow their owners and don't go up to anyone else. It's crazy, I'd like to know how they train them to be so obedient!

My roommate Jesse and I went to Old Town Square to watch the Euro Cup game of France vs. England on this huge screen they have set up there. It was pretty sweet! Crazy to have a massive screen in the middle of a historical square. It was raining during most of it...this weather needs to shape up ASAP!
Tomorrow the Czech Republic plays Greece so we can't wait to watch that! The Czech Republic plays Poland when we're in Krakow this weekend so that'll be insane.

The rest of our program arrived today and I can't wait to get to know more people. Hard to believe I was in their shoes just 2 weeks ago!

Love and miss y'all
Sbohem,
Whit

Weekend in Munich

Lots to write so bare with me!

Saturday morning our group woke up early to catch a tour at Dachau. While we were waiting for it, my roommate saw one of her good friends who is studying abroad in Germany and coming to visit Prague in a couple weeks. SUCH a small world. We ran into him two more times on Saturday, so random.

We didn't think Dachau would take all day but it did and none of us were complaining. No words or pictures can really explain the emotions I felt there. It was a huge life-changing experience and I'm thankful I was able to see it. Our tour guide knew so much history which made the day really enjoyable, I definitely wouldn't have felt the same way if we hadn't had a guide. Each place on the site made me shiver in horror. I was so angry and disgusted by what the Nazis did to the people in the concentration camp. I can't believe the torture, both physical and mental, that they came up with, so sickening.

Our guide made a good point at the end though, Germany is the only country that has really accepted and is open about their past. German schools teach about Hitler starting in kindergarten and by 3rd grade, children have already been to multiple concentration camps. He also mentioned how everyone is disgusted by the Nazis but we fail to realize that genocides are still occurring in history even after the 1940s, and some are even worse.  Definitely makes you think.

After Dachau, we all felt emotional but decided to head to Hofbrauhaus, an infamous beer hall. It was such an amazing and fun atmosphere, we stayed for over 5 hours! The only size beer you could buy was 1 liter, which at first I thought was ridiculous but then we kept ordering more throughout the night! They also had the bessst pretzels. We met some Italians and hung out with them for a bit. It was fun (and sometimes frustrating) to attempt to talk to them because they barely spoke English and none of us knew Italian! I think lots was lost in translation. One of our friends is from New Jersey and they screamed Jersey Shore!!! and proceeded to take multiple pictures with him. We think they thought he was on the show...hahha

We moved on to a sports bar (Hofbrauhaus beers were 8 euros each!) and met a group from SMU there. One of them knew two people I grew up with! Soo random! The girls went back to our hotel while the guys stayed out...their bus was at 7am so they didn't book a hostel!

In the morning, Sam and I went to Nymphenburg Palace, the summer palace just outside Munich. It was incredibly beautiful and so much land! We walked around the forest for bit, finding small palaces along the way. It's crazy all these royal people had palaces within their palaces...

We headed back to catch our bus at the main train station, Hauptbahnhof. The train station is so clean and so many shops and people. It was a really fun atmosphere.

We got back to Prague after 5 hours on a bus...so done with travelling for a bit! Bitter sweet to be back in Prague. I'm so happy I was able to go to Munich and it's probably my favorite city I've been to ever! Germany exceeded my expectations and I can't wait to head to Berlin in mid-July!

No school tomorrow which will be nice, except I have two presentations due Tuesday and Wednesday because my class is over on Wednesday and new classes start Thursday!

DONE! Thanks for reading! Time is flying here, heading to Krakow Thursday night!

Love and miss everyone and hope you're doing well!

Sbohem,
Whit

Munich! Friday June 8th

The bus ride from Prague was quite rough...very tight quarters and so hot. Our bus was stopped twice for the local police to check our passports, once in the Czech Republic and once in Germany.

We arrived in Munich after barely sleeping at 4:30am. Our bus station was outside of the city so we had to take the U-Bahn to get to our hotel. When we got to the U-Bahn, it said it would be 40 more minutes till the next subway...we were so tired and annoyed. Luckily they sent another one that came 10 minutes later! I don't know how we would've made it because we were so exhausted.

We finally arrived at our hotel (thanks dad!) and it is sooo nice so we were happy to get to sleep. We got to our room at 6am and closed the curtains, put up the do not disturb sign, and made an alarm for 1pm.
Needless to say I didn't sleep much but once we started moving in the morning, we felt ok.

Sam and I walked all around the city, it's pretty compact and walkable which is nice and saves a lot of money! We saw St. Martin's Church, Freunkirche, St. Peter's, Marienplatz (the main square), Old Town Hall, New Town Hall, Hoftagarden, and the English Gardens. Everything was so close and we already saw a lot of sites we were planning on going to! It started pouring rain as we were walking which was such a bummer because we wanted to see a lot more. We went into a restaurant and ordered white sausage (veal), pretzels, and beers, a traditional German meal. It was realllly good but the sausages came in a bowl of water...kind of put us off for a moment but it was good nonetheless.

We eventually met up with our other friends in Munich once the weather got better and did basically the same tour because they had just gotten there. Munich is so beautiful, but in a different way than Prague. It reminded me a lot of Vienna of how it was modern yet had lots of amazing old architecture.

We walked to the English Gardens and found a beer garden that was huge, had a hundred people there, and everyone was watching a Euro Cup game on a large screen. We all grabbed a beer and a masssive (I mean massive) pretzel. Right when the game ended it started pouring again so we walked back into the city. It was so light out that we didn't even realize it was 9:30 already! The rain kept coming and going so we stopped for a drink at a lounge. It was a restaurant but had a dj playing dance music...it was rather strange. Once it got to 11 we were all exhausted from walking around all day and didn't want to attempt to find a club.

Early tomorrow morning we head to Dachau! Definitely excited to see it. Our friends decided not to book a hostel for tomorrow night since their bus leaves at 8am so it'll be an interesting night tomorrow! I hope we can find some Munich night life!

I'm so blessed to be able to travel and it's surreal that I'm finally in Germany! It's been a country I've wanted to go to for some time now. Days keep going by quicker so I hope I can take advantage of every moment!

Sbohem,
Whit

Thursday June 7th

When people said the days would fly by here, I didn't really believe them but now I do because I have no idea how it is already Thursday and I only have a month and a half left!

Today our class went to the Jewish Quarter and it was probably one of the more fascinating classes we've had so far.  We focused more on the history than the art and architecture which was an enjoyable break. It was amazing to see the various synagogues and areas that Jewish people occupied during the late 1800s and 1900s.

The first synagogue, Pinkas Synagogue, made me speechless. The walls were covered by the names of all the Jewish people killed or missing from the Holocaust and their last known location. We weren't able to take pictures but imagine names from floor to ceiling in 4 large rooms. One of the rooms also had drawings made by children that were in Terezin, a concentration camp just outside of Prague. Each drawing had a little card that stated the name of the child, their birth date, the day they were sent to Terezin, and the day they died. It was so shocking to know that these children went through so much horror and only lived very short lives. It moved me so much that I know I'll be even more emotional when I visit Dachau this weekend and Auschwitz next weekend.

Beyond the Pinkas Synagogue was the Old Jewish Cemetery. Since the Jews only had a certain section of the city that they could occupy, they only had a few cemeteries. The area was so small and yet 100,000 people were buried here and there were 12,000 headstones. I was in awe seeing head stone after head stone, all sunken into the ground. They say there are 12 levels down of people. What was especially emotional was once you walked into the cemetery, the air was so thick and made it hard to breathe. Very eerie.

For lunch my roommate and I had the besssst pizza I've ever had. Probably the best meal I've had here. I'll definitely be going there again.
The next synagogue was the Spanish Synagogue which had amazing decorations and painted walls. Every wall had it's own design which created such an enjoyable view. It also held silver items and various books and photographs that Hitler took from the Czech Jews because he wanted to make a museum of the "extinct race", that being Jewish people. So creepy.

Tonight my roommate, Sam, and I head to Munich at 11pm! We're really excited to get out of Prague for a bit but also nervous about the bus ride and getting to our hotel at 5am...will be an interesting experience.

Love and miss y'all and can't wait to report back about Munich!

Sbohem,
Whit

Wednesday June 6th

Today our class visited the Veletrniz Palace which contained the national gallery of Czech contemporary and modern art. It's actually been extremely interesting to see the progression of art over the past centuries and how different styles have evolved due to what was happening in the world during that time.

After class my roommate and I went shopping...had to get my fix. I got some great stuff and feel very European! We grabbed a sausage at a local stand just to see what it'd taste like...not so great but I'm glad I tried it!

Last night my dad booked a hotel for my roommate, Sam, and I while we're in Munich. Definitely takes a load off our backs because booking hostels has become a pain since it's the peak travelling season! Our group is planning to hang around Munich on Friday and go to Dachau on Saturday and then we leave Sunday afternoon.

Tonight we've booked our trip to Krakow for next weekend, we leave Thursday night via train and arrive Friday morning and we're staying till Sunday night and then getting back to Prague on Monday morning. I'm so excited to see Krakow and Auschwitz, especially now that I'm in the Holocaust class. We've looked up sites to see in Krakow and there's a lot more than I was expecting so that should be interesting. The hostel we booked seems like a really fun, clean place so I'm excited to stay there!

My roommates and I also booked our hostel in Rome for July...I have to say it's one of my trips that I'm most excited for!

I can't believe it's already Wednesday night and we leave for Munich tomorrow night...an overnight bus ride should be interesting and when we arrive at 4:30am on Friday, we have to take the subway to our hotel. Can't wait!

It's amazing to think that before coming Prague, I had only been to 3 countries in Europe and now I'm about to explore so much more and experience very diverse cultures. This experience is truly eye-opening and life-changing.

Side note: In Europe, you can't turn on your shower head and have your washing machine running at the same time...had to take a bath tonight because the washing machine takes over 2 hours to complete a cycle!

Love and miss you guys very much!

Sbohem,
Whit

Tuesday June 5th

Woke up the earliest I have in Prague since my parents were here and wow do I feel it. The food we cooked was amazzzzing. I actually haven't had a Czech meal since I've been here so I was excited to try it! Lots of fried stuff though which made me feel sluggish the rest of the day. The fried cheese was probably the best part which I was surprised by! Though making the food kind of took away from how yaummy it was because everything was covered in batter and oil...

Today in class we went to the House of the Black Madonna to focus on Czech Cubist art and architecture. I've always been interested in cubism so it was enjoyable for the most part. This whole being lectured for 3 hours at a time is getting rather old...almost fell asleep in class today so I'm hopefully going to sleep well tonight.

After class my roommates and I went to TESCO to find baking mixes because we want to take advantage of our oven. We were so lost and ended up finding brownie mix but we only have cookie sheets and we couldn't find all the ingredients for that either sooo that was a fail.

Today I switched one of my classes for the next term to a Holocaust class and thankfully my advisor back at Michigan said he'd approve it as a humanities class (shout out to Tim Webb, best advisor ever!) Now I'll have class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12 and 2-5. I'm hoping it won't be too bad seeing as I'll have 4 day weekends and a break in between.

Sbohem,
Whit

Monday June 4th

Wow this day went by surprisingly fast!
My roommates and I woke up this morning and got a great breakfast at a local cafe. A littol pricey but it was definitely worth it.

In class today we visited some gardens that were really beautiful. It was amazing to be in the center of the city and find these hidden gardens that were absolutely quiet. It was so peaceful to not hear people yelling, trams going by, or cars honking. It was so calming to be able to look for miles across the city. I become more amazed and in love with this city every day.

We then went to the Church of our Lady Victorious. This church holds a relic of baby Jesus which from my previous understanding of a relic, I thought it was going to be something he had or wore as a child. Instead it was a wooden baby Jesus that was dressed up in a fur cape and gown that was passed down through Hapsburg emperors. I was extremely appalled to see something that people idolize to be dressed up, they actually change the gown every so often. It's interesting to see so many Catholic churches but I'm definitely confused, I believed they were against idols but I guess it is different here.

After class my roommate, Sam, and I booked bus tickets to Munich this weekend though our bus to Munich leaves at 11pm Thursday night and we get in at 5 in the morning...that'll be interesting. Four of our other friends are going so it should be a fun time!

The weather is supposed to be bad for just one more week which I hope is true! It's not cold, it will just randomly rain so hard and then stop so you never know when it's coming.

My roommates and I went to another show tonight, tryin to be cultured and all and wow was it weird. Don't really have much to say about it haha I'm not a huge play person so it was rather interesting.

Off to bed! Waking up early to head to our program's office to cook a traditional Czech meal, schneitzel, fried cheese, potatoes, and a cucumber salad!

Sbohem,
Whit

Sunday June 3rd

I had literally one of the better nights of my life at Karlovy last night. It was so awesome to be able to go up and down to hear different types of music and the music was so good!

My roommates and I thought the metro closed at 12:30am...definitely closes at 12 so we had to figure out how to get to the club. We ended up getting on the correct tram but a Canadian guy told us how to get there (we thought we could trust English speakers...) but he ended up taking us miles past the club so we had to walk all the way back, and the stop we were going to get off at was perfect so never trusting anyone else again with directions. 

When we first got to the club, there were sooo many guys and very creepy ones but we ended up finding a good floor. It's funny how Americans stick together and try to find more Americans while we're out. I actually met someone who knew someone from my high school because they go to USC together...so random. 

It was getting towards 4 am and most of us were ready to go but we stayed a bit longer and that's when it got weird. So many men would just come up to me and stare at me and not leave, all of the guys we were with had to keep pushing the creepy guys away. We finally left (as the sun was coming up) which I can say was definitely a true going-out experience in Europe. 

I woke up around 1:30 today and had a rather lazy day. It was nice to catch up with the fam and such! My roommates and I met up with 2 other girls and saw an improv show night. Quite hilarious actually! It's really amazing to be in a city and have so many things to do like shows or festivals or farmers markets. Originally when I applied to colleges I wanted to be in a big city hence my love towards the Boston schools so it's awesome to be able to experience the life I once dreamed of. (Though big cities have nothing on the greatness that is Ann Arbor!)

As we were walking back, it started to pour and of course I happened to be wearing sandals, no jacket, and had no umbrella. Such a rough life. The weather looks pretty dreary for awhile which is a huge bummer!

Tomorrow I'm forcing myself to wake up early and have breakfast at a cafe before class. I sincerely hope I stick to this plan because I'm wasting so much of my days here sleeping!
I'm also planning a trip with some friends to Munich next weekend so hopefully everything gets figure out soon. Can't wait to start travelling around!

Love and miss y'all

Sbohem,
Whit

Saturday June 2nd

Barely slept last night because of waking up so late yesterday so I've felt tired all day. Today my roommate, Jesse, and I walked around Wenceslas Square, a historical main square, and went to Palladium, the largest mall in Central Europe. I wasn't really in the mood for shopping but the weather was so dreary. The mall wasn't that great...large but no stores that were interesting. 

After we came back and set up dinner with some friends at a pub near our apartment. I'm finally beginning to feel like myself here after warming up to people. I am soooo tired of going into restaurants and seeing a haze from all the smoke...everything I wear smells like it and so does my hair, it's getting ridiculous. I can't imagine how much second hand smoke I'm getting here!

Tonight we're meeting up with friends and going to Karlovy Lazane, the infamous 5 story club in Prague. Each floor has a different set up and style of music playing so I can't wait to experience it!

Hope your weekend is treating you well and thank you for reading!

Sbohem,

Whit

Rainy Day Friday June 1st

How is it June already?

Last night was a lot of fun, went out with a big group to a pub and club. It was pouring rain which sucked with walking everywhere! We figured out the night tram system and were waiting for 30 mins...quite annoying. Got home at 4am, not sure how I'm going to do this every weekend!

We had a planned trip to the Prague Zoo with our program but it was cancelled due to the weather which I was bummed about but I definitely needed the extra hours of sleep. I eventually woke up around 1pm and we had no clue what to do for the day. One of my roommates, Sam, and I decided to go to the CEA office to get travel books for Europe and sit at Starbucks to read them.

After awhile we decided to check out a communist museum. It was so incredibly interesting. I cannot imagine living in such fear of doing something against what the government wants you to believe in. It was insane to see these riots of so much violence in the places we walk around every day here. It made me value growing up in the US so much more. It also made me remember how my friend Michelle's parents left during the rioting in the late 1980s so it will be interesting to talk to them about their experience after learning more.

Tonight I'm going to see a movie with my roommates at a mall near us. Ticket is only $6.60!! Insane. Hopefully we chose the right one that's in English...

Finally got my Czech phone! Not like I really need it but it'll be good to have.

Miss y'all, the time change sucks with staying in touch with people.

Sbohem,
Whit