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