So I thought everyone might like an update on my adventures over fall break in which I travelled to Prague, Barcelona and London... so here goes! Well... Midterms went okay, for all I thought I'd die from overload :) I love being overly dramatic in Italy, I'm sure your classes are WAY harder... mine are at SC anyway haha :) Anywho, I left Friday for Prague which was probably my favorite part of the trip. The city is INCREDIBLY beautiful! I could hardly believe my eyes. I learned so much while I was there too since my eastern European history is a little more rusty than I would like. The city is filled with beautiful Gothic architecture which really takes your breath away. But what's most interesting to me is the interesting mix the city has in its architecture today. Right beside these incredible Gothic masterp
ieces stand bland concrete building build during the country's time in the Soviet Union which now they are painting vibrant colors to make them more... lively? haha and then you have very modern town-homes and newer structures done in a victorian style. It's really interesting in that its not divided architecturally by area, all of these styles can be seen side by side throughout the city. Things I did: hmm, walked around gawking... a lot. haha I also went to see the famous Charles Bridge, legend has it that if you kiss someone on the bridge you will be together forever... too bad my spoons weren't there with me! ;-) We went to visit the palace and the gothic basilica (amazing) as well as the Jewish quarter which was really interesting as well. They have a jewish cemetery which was used from the 14th-18th centuries. They were burried in 12 layers over that time and now as the land is shifting the oldest tombstones are all moving up to be exposed again..so cool. There was also a really wonderful memorial to the Holocaust which was beautiful and moving in its simplicity. There was a special exhibit there dedicated to the children of the Prague Holocause which displayed pictures they drew while they were being kept in the near-by ghetto. Nearly all the children were deported later that year and the majority died in the camps. It was really moving, and I only made it half way around the room. The one that had the greatest impact on me was drawn by a six year old boy who would later die in the camps of Cane and Able. The reference to the murder of one's brother and they thought that such a young child who should be care free and innocent would understand that concept and apply it to his life broke me down entirely. We also made it to the Communist museum... yet another trip! It was so extreme in its hate of communism...unreal! PS: the food is AMAZING!!!
Pictures of Prague: http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184264&l=ef00d&id=3419897
The next stop was Barcelona for 4 days. The city was a bit overwhelming in comparison t
o Prague and Firenze just in size alone. Unlike the other cities which seem to have a center from which you can walk to everything there is to see, You have to take the subway everywhere in Barcelona. We saw a lot of Gaudi architecture which was cool and different, we saw the olympic stadium and the old castel and palace, which is now a really beautiful museum. I ate paella 3 times! On Halloween I went out to have tappas, watched a flamenco show and then went dancing :) The first two nights we were there we met up with an aquaintance of mine from SC named Mike Thomsen and he showed us around the local bars... Barcelona is one of the biggest party cities in the world you know... haha! We had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I'd put the city on my top list to return to, maybe I didn't do it right, but I just didn't appreciate it as much as I expected to.
Pictures of Gaudi :) http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184498&l=66ec2&id=3419897
Finally we made it to London. Having everyone around me speaking english was an incredibly strange feeling, I must admit. It was wonderful though! The first day we walked around and saw St Paul's Cathedral, London and Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern, St. James' Park, Buckingham Palace, Trifalger Square, liescter square, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster. I met up with my friend from high school who is studying about 3 hours north of london and luckily happened to be in the area for
a field trip that day which was awesome! We went out to dinner at an awesome jappanese restaurant. Saturday we walked around and got tickets to see Avenue Q later that night, then bought a whole lot of wine from a wherehouse because the friends who were giving us a tour wanted to have a wine party later that evening... they looked up information about each of them and everything, it was a little ridiculous. Then we went to see the Tower of London, but unfortunately one of the Tube lines was closed so we didn't make it there before it closed... but it was still cool from the outside and I was dorky and gave a crash-course in Tudor Family history :) We saw the play that night... too funny, had a little wine and then left for the airport at 3am! The trip back was absolutely ridiculous! We had to take an hour and half bus ride to the airport, followed by a 2 1/2 hour plane to rome, another hour bus ride to the train station, and a 4 hour train ride to florence, which broke down a half hour outside of the city and we had to wait for a new train... haha it was not meant to be! I should've stayed in London! I really hope to make it back to London in the Future! There is so much that the city has to offer that I feel like I missed out on! Too bad its so expensive :(
London pictures! : http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184500&l=68d88&id=3419897
ieces stand bland concrete building build during the country's time in the Soviet Union which now they are painting vibrant colors to make them more... lively? haha and then you have very modern town-homes and newer structures done in a victorian style. It's really interesting in that its not divided architecturally by area, all of these styles can be seen side by side throughout the city. Things I did: hmm, walked around gawking... a lot. haha I also went to see the famous Charles Bridge, legend has it that if you kiss someone on the bridge you will be together forever... too bad my spoons weren't there with me! ;-) We went to visit the palace and the gothic basilica (amazing) as well as the Jewish quarter which was really interesting as well. They have a jewish cemetery which was used from the 14th-18th centuries. They were burried in 12 layers over that time and now as the land is shifting the oldest tombstones are all moving up to be exposed again..so cool. There was also a really wonderful memorial to the Holocaust which was beautiful and moving in its simplicity. There was a special exhibit there dedicated to the children of the Prague Holocause which displayed pictures they drew while they were being kept in the near-by ghetto. Nearly all the children were deported later that year and the majority died in the camps. It was really moving, and I only made it half way around the room. The one that had the greatest impact on me was drawn by a six year old boy who would later die in the camps of Cane and Able. The reference to the murder of one's brother and they thought that such a young child who should be care free and innocent would understand that concept and apply it to his life broke me down entirely. We also made it to the Communist museum... yet another trip! It was so extreme in its hate of communism...unreal! PS: the food is AMAZING!!!Pictures of Prague: http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184264&l=ef00d&id=3419897
The next stop was Barcelona for 4 days. The city was a bit overwhelming in comparison t
o Prague and Firenze just in size alone. Unlike the other cities which seem to have a center from which you can walk to everything there is to see, You have to take the subway everywhere in Barcelona. We saw a lot of Gaudi architecture which was cool and different, we saw the olympic stadium and the old castel and palace, which is now a really beautiful museum. I ate paella 3 times! On Halloween I went out to have tappas, watched a flamenco show and then went dancing :) The first two nights we were there we met up with an aquaintance of mine from SC named Mike Thomsen and he showed us around the local bars... Barcelona is one of the biggest party cities in the world you know... haha! We had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I'd put the city on my top list to return to, maybe I didn't do it right, but I just didn't appreciate it as much as I expected to.Pictures of Gaudi :) http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184498&l=66ec2&id=3419897
Finally we made it to London. Having everyone around me speaking english was an incredibly strange feeling, I must admit. It was wonderful though! The first day we walked around and saw St Paul's Cathedral, London and Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern, St. James' Park, Buckingham Palace, Trifalger Square, liescter square, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster. I met up with my friend from high school who is studying about 3 hours north of london and luckily happened to be in the area for
a field trip that day which was awesome! We went out to dinner at an awesome jappanese restaurant. Saturday we walked around and got tickets to see Avenue Q later that night, then bought a whole lot of wine from a wherehouse because the friends who were giving us a tour wanted to have a wine party later that evening... they looked up information about each of them and everything, it was a little ridiculous. Then we went to see the Tower of London, but unfortunately one of the Tube lines was closed so we didn't make it there before it closed... but it was still cool from the outside and I was dorky and gave a crash-course in Tudor Family history :) We saw the play that night... too funny, had a little wine and then left for the airport at 3am! The trip back was absolutely ridiculous! We had to take an hour and half bus ride to the airport, followed by a 2 1/2 hour plane to rome, another hour bus ride to the train station, and a 4 hour train ride to florence, which broke down a half hour outside of the city and we had to wait for a new train... haha it was not meant to be! I should've stayed in London! I really hope to make it back to London in the Future! There is so much that the city has to offer that I feel like I missed out on! Too bad its so expensive :(London pictures! : http://usc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2184500&l=68d88&id=3419897
That's about it! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their fall... we're easing into holiday season! Woohoo!
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