I can’t believe that time has gone by so fast and my semester abroad is coming to an end in a little over a month. People were right when they say that time goes by even faster when you are abroad. This is why I believe that one should live in the moment and take advantage of what is around them. Personally, I love to explore new places and studying abroad in Europe has given me the chance to do this since it is not that far to travel to different places in Great Britain and other countries by train, plane or bus.
By the way Happy Thanksgiving to my mates back at New Paltz. Mates is the British way of saying friends. As many people in America enjoy their Turkey’s I will be traveling to Krakow, Poland. Why Poland? There are a couple reasons. One is that I know someone there who I will see on Saturday, it was reasonable to get their on ryan air, and the currency rate is good for the American dollar about 3.3 something pln to one American dollar.
Last Monday I registered for the classes I am going to take at SUNY New Paltz in the spring. For the first time I got all of the classes I wanted. I am graduating this spring and I wasn’t using the SUNY New Paltz mail server are probably the two reasons why.
About two weeks ago when I was in London something happened to my friend which was a wake up call for me. I met my friend at st pancreas train station in London since he arrived a day later than me. I met him and them we went to go wait online to take a picture with the Harry Potter 9 and 3/4 sign and carriage. Right after I realized he was frantically searching through his backpack. He was looking for his wallet which he said he left in the front pocket of his backpack. “He said why did I do that?” I always leave it in my front pants pocket. He couldn’t find it so we spent like an hour searching both stations which we had been to and all the lost and founds. It was not there so we had to get wifi so he could find the number to cancel his credit and debit cards. We went to McDonalds to get wifi and fortunately my phone had some international data to call the states. The only form of id that my friend had on him was his passport and thank god that was not stolen. I lent my friend money and he was still able to go to the Harry Potter exhibit he pre booked. If you haven’t assumed my friend is a big Harry Potter fan. I didn’t go with him to the exhibit because it was expensive and I’m spending my money on a lot of other traveling.
The lesson I learned from my friend ‘s experience of getting his wallet stolen was to be extremely careful with your valuables including my wallet, passport and electronics. Keep them in in front of you or in a pocket inside of your coat. Getting important things stolen is not good and is a big hassle.
Today we went to an aquarium! It was suuuuuper pretty!!
We decided to meet at Cocowalk Mall! I took the streetcar there with some friends.
Inside, I saw this.
I miss bubble tea so much… I used to drink it so much in the states haha!
Then we left to the penguin museum! It was quite a faraway trip, maybe about half an hour? It cost roughly 500yen to get there one way!
We got off here.
There was bit of a long path to get to the actual museum itself, but it was a super pretty walk! There were some scarecrows here hehe.
Here it is!!
We got in for free because of our resident cards eheh. If you ever come here, there are SO many places you can get into for free when you show your resident card!
When we walked in there were all these cute little fishes!! Then this huge tank full of huge fish!!
We kept laughing about how weird some of them looked lol.
There was also a huge tank for the penguins to swim in! They were kept on the second floor, there was only one swimming in here.
Then we went upstairs!
More fishies! And jellyfish! AND PENGUINS.
Tiny baby jellyfish!
This fella waddled over to us.
There were also these guys! Wonder what they were doing…
What an unfortunate looking fish…
I stepped outside because I saw a vending machine (with CALPIS written on the side. I thought it was a vending machine full of different flavored calpis drinks. I was completely wrong and mislead) but there was this GORGEOUS view!
Look at the kids with the penguins!!
We started getting hungry around now and went down another path, and saw more penguins!
The giftshop and food place were really expensive unfortunately lol. But they had narimo!
Then we went to go pet a penguin!! They’re a lot softer than I expected!!
It tried to nip at my friend…
After all of that, we decided that we were all hungry and went back to Cocowalk. One of our friends had never had okonomiyaki, so we went to an okonomiyaki restaurant in the mall! It was the kind where you took off your shoes.
We were a large group so were split into two tables. My table ordered 2 okonomiyaki, and a side dish. (Later we ordered one more okonomiyaki because we’re fatties…)
Flipped!
Ta-da!
And this was our side dish. I can’t exactly remember what it was though! I do remember that it was delicious and amazing…
Afterwards we went to go get ice cream. They all Baskin Robbins here 31 flavors. Apparently both names are interchangable in the states (since they advertise having 31 flavors apparently), but in Japan everyone seems to just refer to it as 31 flavors and won’t know what you’re talking about when you mention Baskin Robbins… Funny though, since it says Baskin Robbins right on the logo too!
They had really cute display stuff.
I got matcha ice cream since it’s my favorite!
That was the end of it for today! I found out it costs me 300yen to go from Cocowalk all the way to my bus stop… sigh…
It’s my last day in Europe, for now. I say for now because I know I’ll be back, but all the same, the last day of an extended trip always feels kind of strange. Its strange because you know what you’re going home to. After three and a half months of waking up and never being too positive what the day might bring its a bittersweet feeling to be going home. I am excited to be with my family, celebrate the holidays, reunite with friends, but I will miss the thrill I get from being in another country, meeting someone new everyday, and having a sense of independence that only comes while traveling. This isn’t to say things won’t be different at home, of course things will be different. I also don’t believe I can’t find adventure and meet new people at home, but anyone who travels will understand. They will understand that hostel life can suck, but it can also be incredibly entertaining and enlightening, they will understand the fright and excitement of not being sure where you’ll be tomorrow or how you’ll get there, and they will understand the feeling one gets while traveling that makes one feel more alive than ever before.
As I sit here in the Dublin airport and think about the past three months a whole range of emotions fills me. Traveling is always a challenge that isn’t always glamorous. There are points you want to throw down your backpack, the map, call a cab to bring you to the airport and crawl home, but you don’t. You keep that pack on, you struggle to find your way, and you make it to that next hostel. Then you meet people and you start to put your “issues” in perspective again and remember how lucky you are that you have been given the opportunity to travel and see the world and you are so thankful that you are able to get lost in a foreign city, struggle to find your hostel, and have to carry a 45 liter pack around with you, because you know not everyone is that fortunate. Travel is such a wonderful thing and at the end of every trip I take I think about how much travel has made me who I am today. It has made me a more conscious, independent, and outgoing individual. Without travel I am not sure where I would be or what I would be doing, but I also know that I never want to find out. I love the person I have become through my travels and I cannot wait for my next adventure.
The past 3 and a half months has been filled with adventure, challenge, and new life long friends that will never be forgotten…
Since the last time I wrote, I have been traveling every weekend. It’s a bit exhausting, but it’s so fun to experience new places, people, food, and sights and I wouldn’t change anything.
Budapest was a beautiful city, and not too crowded. My friends and I decided to go caving on Saturday morning which was amazing but don’t do it if you’re the slightest bit claustrophobic. We were army crawling about 85% of the 3 hours we were in the cave. We got to wear these ridiculous jumpsuits with helmets and headlamps, we got nice and dirty (all the rocks were covered in clay), and we had the time of our lives. Afterwards we headed over to the Széchenyi thermal bath to relax. The warm water felt absolutely amazing on our tired muscles. The best way I can sum up our time at the baths is to say this: imagine fifty adults swimming in a giant whirlpool, laughing hysterically as the current whips them around in circles time and time again. That is what we did for about 2 hours and it was the best way I can think of to end our day. Also, Budapest is filled with bars made in old World War II ruins. We went to one called Szimpla Kert and it was such a cool place. Each room was unique and it had decorations similar to a hipster coffee house in most rooms. My favorite part was the projector playing videos of baby elephants running in the ocean while Russian rap music played in the background. It was one of the coolest places I’ve ever hung out in and if you ever find yourself in Budapest, it’s definitely worth paying a visit to.
The next weekend I went on a school trip to Krakow. The first thing we did was take a tour of Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which was hard to see emotionally and psychologically, but at the same time was extremely powerful. I can’t really put into words what I felt as we walked around that morning, but it was definitely had a huge impact on me as we walked around. Then we got back on the bus and went to Krakow, where we had free time for the rest of the day. There was a guided walking tour of the city the next morning where we went to the Schindler Factory, the Jewish Quarters, the Wawel Castle and Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Francis, and Saint Mary’s Basilica. Krakow was a small city but it was filled with all young people and students. The food was cheap and the pierogies were absolutely mouthwatering. My favorites were the ones filled with onions, potatoes, and cheese. I could’ve eaten them for every meal of the weekend. Experiencing a school sponsored trip was great too because our guide, Eva, was so great, I got to stay in a hotel with a really comfortable bed and delicious breakfast buffet, and I got to do activities I wouldn’t have been able to do or thought to do on my own (i.e. Auschwitz and the Wieliczka Salt Mine). Krakow was never a place I imagined I would visit, but I am so happy that I did; it was one of my favorite weekends of the semester.
Sitting on the Chain Bridge that connects the Buda and Pest sides of the city
Caving adventures!
Inside the Wawel Castle
cheesin’ with the Krakow Dragon
After Halloween I had about a week and a half left in Prague. During my time in Prague I had been working at the ECES office in Charles University, which has been a great experience. It has been so rewarding to work on the Czech side of the program that made me who I am today. It was also very inspiring to work so closely with Jitka, the director of international programs at Charles University. She has done so many great things for the international education department at such an impressive university, she is an amazing woman to get to know and learn from.
My original plan was to stay in Prague until mid December to finish out the semester working with ECES, unfortunately I was unable to get a short term visa extension and was forced to leave earlier. I decided to go to Ireland and take a TEFL course in Ireland, but was very upset that this would shorten my time in Prague. In addition, my boyfriend was leaving, so needless to say my last week in Prague was a bit of a difficult one. I not only had to say goodbye to my boyfriend, but the wonderful women I worked with, the amazing friends I had been living with, and the city I call my “home away from home.” It is always bittersweet when leaving a place, but starting a new adventure. I also know in my heart that I will be back in Prague and it will be brilliant, just like 3 years ago and just like the past 2 months. It is a magical city and I know that won’t disappear.
I was in Ireland 3 years ago, right before I moved to Prague to study abroad. I LOVED it the last time I was here and it remained on of my top 3 favorite countries. The scenery, the people, the beer, it is all wonderful on this emerald island. And it’s an island! Back to the coast, back to the beach, the sea breeze always makes me happy. Being back in Ireland has been great. And I should add, I was very nervous to travel alone. I love people around me and having someone to share experiences with, but traveling alone since my boyfriend went back to NY has been an incredible experience, I actually love it. I have met more people and shared so many different experiences with people form all over Europe than, I think, ever before and it has been wonderful. It is such a great feeling knowing I am able to travel on my own, enjoy it, smile, learn new things, and make new friends. I honestly never thought I was the type of person that could travel alone. I always figured it would be the same conversations over and over, where do you come from? where have you been? where are you going? why did you choose to travel europe? These conversations can get repetitive and irritating, but you don’t have to have these conversations. The people I have met haven’t just been interested in me as a traveller, but me as a person and it has been incredibly refreshing to witness this.
Saying Goodbye, for now
Going to miss this office view in Praha
Dinner with the wonderful women of the ECES office
Ireland
Feeling Wonderful on the Galway Bay
On Sunday, 16 November, I took a trip to Stonehenge and Bath and it was AMAZING and the views were extremely breathtaking. I left Cardiff at 9:30 am in a coach bus and arrived first at Stonehenge around 11:30ish. My first reaction when I first got off the bus was “dang it’s cold” and it got colder as the day went on. Despite the weather conditions I continued to enjoy my day. When we got to the visitor’s center, the tour guide handed us our tickets and a radio which guided us through the history of Stonehenge as we made our way around the monument. Before we got to Stonehenge, we had to take a shuttle which dropped us off at the beginning of the site, where we followed a green mat up and around the monument (we were not allowed to go up close to Stonehenge in fear of high foot traffic will damage the monument and the surrounding areas as well). As I made my way around the monument while listening to Stonehenge facts on the radio given to me, I learned that the stones were brought one by one to that spot (using lifting and pulling equipment of course). While walking around the stones I had a chance to take some great photos because of the wonderful scenery. Here are some:
I didn’t get any pictures of them but there was also sheep, that were fenced off around the area as well. We stayed in Stonehenge until about 1:30pm and then we were on our way to Bath!! 🙂
…
We got to Bath around 2:30pm and the area was so beautiful. On the drive into Bath, I had a really good view of the entire city, however I was not fast enough with my camera but it’s very vivid in my mind. The houses, land, and even farm areas were beautiful, maybe it’s because I have lived in the city all my life. When I stepped off the coach the city gave me the ancient Roman feel with the cobble stone streets as well the brick lined buildings. We went to the Roman Bath, which is a preserved site for public bathing. The touring of the building start at the street level at first and then through doors and stairs you eventually will make it down near the water where you can take pictures standing or sitting next to the bath. The tour was not that long, I would say probably 20-25 minutes tops and after that I went photo crazy, taking pictures of myself and my surroundings. Here’s a tip though: watch your step. I almost had a fall that could of broken myself and my camera, but I’m all good. Here are some photos:
After this it was time to meet our bus and head back to Cardiff but I did get to walk around town and take a few more pictures for my photo album. In the end it was a day well spent and stay tuned for more adventures. I’ll try to be more consistent, my adventures is starting to kick up now so I feel that should be no problem. Till next time, goodnight 🙂 !!
The next morning, we drove about 2 ish hours to Sydney. We checked into our hotel room and left the room at around 3 to explore the city. We walked around the city to Darling Harbor (the suggestion from the previous hotel owners). It was beautiful. It was just a little harbor with people sitting on the steps around it, some boats docked in and the glare of the descending sun on the water was magnificent. We ate a late lunch of Subway, very Australian I know. As we ate lunch we had a spectacular view of the harbor. There were many seagulls near us, staring at us, waiting for us to drop some food, which we didn’t. Dad and i decided to stare back at them examining their thin legs and the fact that they have no eyelids (we are normal, I know :P). One had no foot and it was limping, very sad 🙁 Another one was fat as my dad said, so he didn’t want to feed it. After lunch, we walked more along the harbor. After a bit, we turned around and went to a walking bridge to see the sunset. The sunset was disappointing that night because there were no pretty colors, but it was nice to see the sun reflecting off the water from another angle. Since dad was all walked out, we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner. Surprise Surprise, Dad fell asleep within 10 minutes of lying/sitting down. So I laid on the bed watching TV and I fell asleep too. I guess the jet-lag was still affecting us. I woke up around midnight and thought to myself, I guess we missed dinner. I got into y PJ’s and fell back asleep.
We woke up a little later than I wanted that morning, and we decided to go to the Blue Mountains, since it would be a little cooler the next day. We left the hotel around 11:30 AM and drove about an hour to the Blue Mountains. We stopped in an information building and a lovely man gave us his five favorite spots within the blue Mountains, we took his highlighted map and started to drive to our 1st destination, Wentworth Falls. We saw the Jamison lookout and walked a bit to the Princes Rock lookout. The steps were steep, but it was a nice lookout onto the mountains. The waterfall was a little wimpy and small, but still nice. We then went to the Conservation Hut to eat (near Wentworth Falls and actually in that town), Dad and I shared a steak sandwich and a Greek salad without purple lettuce and olives. So the waitress called it a not do Greek salad. She was a nice waitress and a bit funny. We were unsure of how we tip the waitress, it seems to be less common here than at home. After lunch we made out way over to the town of Katoomba to see the three sisters and the giant stairway. From the tree sisters lookout, it was hard to see all three sister stones/rocks, we could only see one of the sisters, the other two were hiding behind the first one. We walked part of the giant stairway down to the tree sisters, instead of just the lookout. The stairway was really steep and took a lot of balance and holding on to the railing. But it was cool to go down and touch one of the three sisters. It was exciting. There was also Echo Point lookout in Katoomba where we could see all three sisters next to each other, it was a beautiful view. Next, we drove to Blackheath, where we went to Govetts Leap lookout. To Dad’s disappointment, it wan’t named after Govett who leaped off the edge because of a woman, it was named after Mr. Govett because he was the first to discover the beautiful lookout onto the Blue Mountains that Dad and I got the privilege of seeing. Next, we drove to Mt. Tomah, where we drove past the botanical gardens because of the ext days planned activities. We then drove back to Sydney some weird way, but we winded up finding the correct road we were supposed to be on to make our way back to Sydney. We drove to dinner that night and ate at this interesting Italian Restaurant. Each customer got a card and walked up to the counter, to a chef, who cooked your food in front of you, kind of like Oscars in New Paltz, and added the price to the card which you paid for at the end. It was like cafeteria style. The chef I went to was really friendly, striking up a conversation with me until my food was don’t, the food was very tasty, as mom would say is Alec’s favorite word. We went back to the hotel and I relaxed and watched a movie, the Blind Side,, as Dad took his long wanted bath and we went to sleep.
I forgot to mention the first day we were in Sydney we went to a mini market to get some milk and juice. When we went to the cash register and started a conversation with the person behind the counter, we mentioned we were from New York, USA. He then asked, “Ohhh the rich part?” We responded with, “Not quite!” That was a very interesting stereotype to me.
The next day was a busy day in Sydney. Since it was our last day, we wanted to hit all the attractions. Dad and I got a late start, nothing new there, and we got a cab a few blocks from our hotel. The cab driver didn’t know where our destination was, I felt proud teaching him something faraway from my neck of the woods. We started out at the mint, only coins. We walked past a hospital, which had amazing architecture, you would have never known it was a hospital, besides the signs of course. Next we took a mini self tour of the parliament house with a booklet they had available. Dad took a bunch of little booklets to give to Alec as his Australia gift. We ate at a small cafe place, we both had some kind of chicken sandwich. Dad and I then walked to the botanical gardens, it was beautiful! We took a stroll through the most of the gardens. We saw some interesting looking trees with a lot of branches. I was a bit disappointed though, the garden wasn’t as colorful as I expected. Dad did remind me that it was the winter there, so it made sense. As we came closer to the end, we stumbled upon one of the best sights of the trip so far. There was a little harbor with cute boats in it. And on the other side of the harbor you could see the city skyline as well as the Sydney Harbour bridge and the Sydney opera house. The best and most touristy attractions were right in front of out faces. I couldn’t get over how the sun was shinning/reflecting on the calm of the harbor water with the skyline. After we took a million pictures there, Dad and I walked fast through the rest of the gardens to catch a tour of the Sydney Opera House, we could walk through the Sydney conservatorium of music and the government house. Unfortunately the conservatory didn’t have tours running on that day. The government house was also closed to go inside, but we walked around the building. We then went to the opera house. While waiting for our 4:30 tour to start, Dad and I sat outside enjoying the scenery of the opera house in front of us and the harbor bridge behind us. The guide gave us some headphones so we could still hear her if we ended up in the back of the group. We got to see into a few of the theaters as well as get a history lesson on how the design was chosen and how they executed it so well. The building of the Sydney Opera House costs over double their anticipated price and took over twice as long as they originally thought. The design was so hard to build that the contest winner eventually gave up on building it and went to another country. Other architects eventually figured out a way to build the tree domeish shapes by just connecting a bunch of small pieces together. It was designed so every nook and cranny was there for some purpose. The opera house doesn’t only hold operas, it holds plays, musicals, ballets, circus, acrobatics, dirt bike tricks, and many many more. The biggest theater had three rings coming down from the ceiling, they move up and down depending on the performance. The stage and chairs move as well. We witnessed workers setting up for the next show in that theater. After going to the place where they store all the equipment, we went up to the 2nd balcony. I looked up to see the reflection of the bridge on the glass. Another unforgettable sight was seeing the sun setting behind the bridge. The Sydney harbor Bridge looked gold from the suns’ rays (the pictures I took didn’t do the in-person view justice). It was absolutely breathtaking to see the sunset from a high point in the city in the Opera House. You could see the reflection of the sunset on the glass that covered part of the opera house. After the tour was over, we bought some souvenir pictures and history about the opera house and went outside. We took in the view of the city skyline, the bridge, and the opera house at night, lit up. (I forgot to mention the winning design architect didn’t see the finished product of his design and work yet.) We then took a taxi back to the hotel where we relaxed for a bit. I kept begging Dad for dinner because I was really hungry. But, he ignored me, kept pushing it off and milking the time just to annoy me. So when he finally decided that he was hungry, we went to china town, where dad suggested we eat. We ended up picking an authentic Chinese Restaurant. The food was surprisingly not that good. Neither of us finished our dishes because we didn’t like it that much. We are used to Americanized Chinese food, so the authentic food tasted weird to s. We walked around china town for a few minutes as we were heading back to the car. We then went back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the flight in the morning. But I decided to take a relaxing bath before I packed. (The first bath for me in over 7 years!) Then it was sleepy time zzzzzzz.
<3 <3 Stay Awesome!! <3 <3
Hello all! Greetings from the train ride down to Cambridge, England. I have to make 2 changes to get to Cambridge on the train, and right now I’m on the second train from Wakefield- Westgate to Stevenage. From Stevenage I will catch my final train to Cambridge. I am spending one night in Cambridge at a hostel there. My plans in Cambridge are to walk around the town and the university, go this meditative yoga talk and maybe rent a bike. Tomorrow afternoon I am taking a bus down to London to visit my family that lives there for the weekend. One of my flat mates is going to meet me there on Saturday.
Besides from traveling which I am doing a lot of I have done involved in /gone to exciting things in Huddersfield and in the nearby areas. I am part of the climbing and mountaineering society. We go climbing every Wednesday at the rock wall in the neighboring town called ROKT. I really like ROCKT it is a very big place with a lot of different rooms for bouldering (climbing not as high and not harnessed in) and really solos for top roping (where you are harnessed in). Next weekend we are going on a weekend trip to go climbing, walking and eat a lot of cheese (everybody brings cheese, grapes or bread and we have a big food fest). I have met a lot of nice people from the climbing and mountaineering society. Last Friday, I went over one of my friend from the society’s house, Varsha, who lives about 30 minutes from Huddersfield. She made me a traditional vegetarian dinner that a lot of people in Yorkshire usually have on Sunday. Also one of the guys from the club took me outdoor climbing in the Peak district.
One thing about Huddersfield, that I didn’t know before I came, is that my religion is a very big minority. I am Jewish and there is one other girl that I know who is also from SUNY New Paltz that is. We have a faith centre on campus, which I usually spend time at between classes because they have free tea/coffee and it’s a good place to do work. There is no Jewish organization on the Huddersfield campus. I have been to the Chabad at Leeds Univeristy which is a 20 minute train ride from Huddersfield and Manchester University which is about a 45 minute trip. My friend Varsha, from climbing society, is very interested in Jewish culture and last Friday night I took her to Shabbat dinner in Leeds. She really liked and wants to go there again.
In addition, I am involved with an organization called Active Travel. This is an organization in the UK that promotes physical fitness when traveling to school or work. They have free bike rentals and you just have to put down a deposit. I got a bike from this organization to use. Unfortunately right now I don’t have the bike because the Huddersfield representative, Chris, who gave it to me needs it. Almost every Tuesday in the early evening I meet Chris and we go on a ride to map out routes to the surrounding villages of the Huddersfield city Centre. Last Wednesday, I helped Chris with a program at the local college, for 16/17year old ESL students, where we took the students on a short ride along the canal and showed one girl how to ride a bike.
As a study abroad student I will be the first to admit that there was point a got a little too carried away in “the country count” – how many countries can I get to during my semester abroad? This happened around the spring time when the weather started getting nice and I was more comfortable traveling far and wide on the weekends. I went to places like Norway and Croatia, which were a little off the beaten path and to date two of the most beautiful countries I have been to, for both their architecture, natural beauty, and people. Despite the amazing places I saw and the great people I met during these weekends abroad I look back and regret it a tiny bit, this cut into the time I could have spent exploring places outside of Prague, but still in this country I called home. Since I´ve been back I have taken the initiative to learn more about this country, their history, their people, and the places outside of Prague.
During this quest I have seen some truly remarkable places that I never knew existed in the Czech Republic and it has been nice to see more of the countryside and less of the cities. A few weekends ago my boyfriend and I took a trip to Cesky Krumlov. For those of you that know CR at all probably know this it the second most popular tourist destination in the country, not really “off the beaten path,” I know. Nonetheless this is a place I never saw last time I was here and it must be the second most visited place in the country for a reason, right? Well, it most definitely is an absolutely beautiful little village. It sits on a unique spot on the Vltava River, where the river forms the shape of an “S.” Due to this unique formation of the river the town has lots of small bridges and waterways that makes it such a fairytale. This town is truly the most romantic and fairytale esq place I have ever been to. Visiting in late October was magical. Autumn is always such a pleasant time of the year, but autumn in Cesky Krumlov is something everyone should encounter. The colors of the buildings set with the leaves of the hills and the blue of the river is something too beautiful for words. Our hostel sat a little outside of the main town center, but right on the Vltava. The sound of the running river at night was enough to put the most agitated baby to sleep. Cesky Krumlov is a part of CR truly to be admired.
After this picturesque weekend in CK the following week was filled with reunions with old friends. My friend, Lukas, who I met during my time abroad here has also been back in CR, but living in the countryside. He decided he needed a little city time and came to visit me and my boyfriend in Praha. It was really great to be back with a good friend in the place that we met. This was his first time back since we left in 2012 and it was interesting to walk around our favorite places together and see his emotions mirror what I felt 2 months ago when I first returned to Praha. Just as I felt, it was strange to be back, of course it was different and certainly we missed our friends we met here that are now in different places. But, it is also a lovely thing to see this place from a different point in our lives, to remember who we were when we studied here, to realize how much this place changed us, and to witness how much we have grown as friends and individuals since the last time we walked these streets.
After Lukas left on Thursday, a mutual friend of me and my boyfriend, Jon, came to visit. We know him from New Paltz and he has been traveling the world since he graduated, about 2 years ago. He decided to come spend my boyfriendś last weekend in Prague with us and of course celebrate HALLOWEEN. Halloween is such a celebrating in the states, but especially in New Paltz, we LOVE this day and I certainly was feeling a little nostalgic for it, so it was very nice to spend with another “New Paltzer.” Halloween is not a thing here, little kids don´t get dressed up, and only the very popular and crowded bars and clubs throw Halloween parties. Fortunately, the hostel my boyfriend and I live in celebrate Halloween to the fullest. It was such a great night and I realized with the right people and the right spirit you don´t have to miss things like this from home, you just need to have the energy to bring it to you.
Selfies in Cesky Krumlov 😉
The porch of our hostel on the Vltava
Birds Eye View of CK
Reunions!
Forrest & Jenaaaay for Halloween
Magical sunsets on the Charles Bridge