I have no idea how to begin to describe these past couple weekends. Visiting three countries in two weeks was absolutely eye-opening. Let me also start this out by saying this might not be my most poetically written blog post since I'm beyond delirious from lack of sleep and still don't know which way's up. I'll go one trip at a time, starting with March 5-10 in Eastern Europe. The Itinerary: Wednesday night: slept in Barcelona airport Thursday: flew to Prague Saturday: missed our bus to Budapest, took later train to Budapest (oops) Monday: flew to Madrid, train to Alicante, made it to class the next morning feeling/looking like a corpse The Grupo: Christine, Heather, Jack, Charlie, Nick, and me (and more Alicante friends we were with on Saturday) The Agenda: - Learn how to say "hello," "cheers," and "sorry," in Hungarian and Czech, because those are the only three things we ever need to say. - Eat the best traditional Hungarian and Czech food - Attempt to understand their currency (12,000 HUF to take out of the ATM...normal) - Soak up some Pilsners and some culture We landed in Prague and were immediately greeted by a friend of Nick and Charlie's who's studying abroad there. She met us at the airport, showed us to the bus, helped us find our hostel, AND brought us beers to legally drink as we roamed the streets...Colleen was a godsend. We stayed at the perfectly located Old Prague hostel, where we met several other Americans and some French guys next door that ended up coming out with us that night. We ate a little restaurant close to our hostel where we had great traditional Czech goulash soup in a bread bowl (check off the to do list) and Pilsners (check again). Then Colleen and her study abroad friends brought us out to the bars and clubs, which were not your average European pubs. The cool thing about both Prague and Budapest is the cities have been built from underground up...beneath the streets are caves that have existed for centuries. What better way to utilize these underground taverns then to sell alcohol and provide tunnels to hidden dance floors? There is none. The next day we got up and set out on a free walking tour, led by a super enthusiastic little Czech dude named David (Dah-vid). And this is the day I fell in love. Not with our chipper tour guide...with Prague. The city was literally layered with history, with the architecture of each building unique to a different time period. We walked through the cobblestone streets and learned about exactly what happened where we stood - where guards used to stand to monitor the import/export of the market square, where the Jewish ghettos were during World War II, where people used to walk and kids used to play hundreds of years ago - I could just tell it all looked almost exactly the same. And it was beautiful. According to David, every part of Prague had a "legend." He'd say in his thick accent, "Now if you want, I give you a legend...." And we'd all scoot closer like a bunch of wide-eyed kindergartners. We loved it. We started out in the beautiful Old Town Square, went in St. James' Cathedral, the Jewish Quarter and then across St. Charles' Bridge. The massive pedestrian bridge was awesome and historic, crowded with street performers, artists, and vendors. And there were huge religious sculptures carved into its foundation along the way. Of course, each statue came with a legend and some body part we had to rub for good luck or safe travels or to make a wish, which we dutifully did. From the bridge we went up to the Prague Castle, where we conveniently stumbled upon a special ceremony honoring the Czech Republic's first president, since that day was his "name's day" (Thomas). David explained to us that everyone has a "name's day" and it's celebrated almost like a birthday. Well, what we found ourselves at was a lot of people in uniforms in a procession up to the statue of Thomas outside the Castle, and some serious speeches while someone else was protesting in the background with signs (everything in Czech obviously). After that was the marching and changing of the guards outside the Caste gate, which was so legit and so cool (running out of words but that's exactly what I'm trying to say, so)...Cheery David informed us that he had no idea we'd run into all this, and how lucky are we! So lucky, David, so lucky. After the tour we grabbed some "Trdelniks"...or as we called them cinnamon twisty things...and hot wine. I don't know why this isn't a thing in the States. Hot red wine sold on the streets with a hint of apple cider taste...unreal. Then we headed to the famous John Lennon Wall, covered with layers and layers of graffiti, messages, and artwork. A guy played Beatles tunes on guitar while we walked up and down the wall; it was a nice touch. Of course we had to sign it...and as I was going to sign my name, in the "P" of the word PEACE I saw something so small and wonderfully familiar - the Pi Beta Phi letters. I signed Mizzou Pi Beta Phi right next to it. All the way over in the Czech Republic I'm still connected to my sisters. I don't know if it was that or the hot wine but I couldn't help feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Mushy? Maybe...but it's a great feeling and makes me miss you all guys back home. I have to wrap up Prague. Ok, that night we ate at a great restaurant called Parliament (had roast pork and potato dumplings, another Czech tradition- so good) and then went to the Beer Museum where we all got a big sampler of local beers. There actually weren't any tables except for the other half of the one these American girls were using...so they ended up inviting us to sit with them. They were from all over the US but were studying in Prague, and within 10 minutes we figured out like 5 people we knew in common. I can't even describe how much smaller the world has gotten since studying abroad; it's crazy. After that we went to some wild bars (James Dean, Harley's...) and hung out with Colleen's study abroad friends/randos from the hostel. There were two guys that we were hanging out with, Chris and Wes, that had been backpacking around Europe for months and were just in Prague visiting one of Colleen's friends...and they were thinking about heading to Budapest the next day. We suggested they stay at our hostel and we talked about how we'd hope we'd see them there (this is all 3am bar talk)...more on that later. So we made some friends. Last thing about Prague - Burrito Loco after hours. Imagine Chipotle but fatter, cheaper, and for the first time in months. One word: yes. The next morning is when we woke up to Charlie's way too calm voice stating, "You guys, it's 8." Missed the bus. No pasa nada. I was pretty impressed with our group's reaction time...we packed up, looked up options, checked out of the hostel, found the train station, walked there, bought tickets, hopped on and took off for Budapest within an hour of waking up. We stayed at Wombats Hostel in Budapest, which was definitely the coolest one I've ever stayed at and probably ever will. It was extremely nice, with a bar on the main floor, a cool looking lobby with a bar and clean, comfortable rooms. We had a six man for all of us just like in Prague. We immediately found the other Alicante chicos (Alexis, Abbey, Amanda, Devon, Jimbo, Mike...) so Saturday night we were as the kids say...rolling deep. And we had a plan - to check out these infamous Budapest bath houses. We went to a bath house party, which we were all extremely skeptical about but somehow not enough to keep us from going. Budapest is known for it's huge production of naturally heated water, so there's all kinds of baths/spas throughout the city. The bath that we went to was like PCB pool European men/laser show edition. It was interesting. Glad we went. I showered the second I got back to the hostel. After our stellar experience with David in Prague, we decided to go for a free tour of Budapest. Our tour guide this time was Zsushi, a tiny Hungarian woman who showed us around. Budapest is more recently out of Communism and to me it gives it kind of an edge. What you see in Budapest isn't like peering into the deep history like you would in Rome or parts of Spain, it's a reflection of post-communistic life and recent turmoil. There were still buildings being reconstructed from after the war, still one government building we past absolutely covered in bullet holes that was in the middle of being torn down. Now, of course, there's parts of Budapest that are modern and urbanized, but not all. Even the nightlife reflected it - like the cave bars in Prague, Budapest had "ruins bars," built inside the ruins of old buildings. Pretty cool if you ask me. Our tour headed over the bridge from the Pest side to the Buda side and up to the government buildings and the area that overlooked all of Pest. I didn't know before that the city was split up into two parts - Buda is hilly, beautiful, and where the rich people live, and Pest is flat, more city-like, and where all the fun is at. My favorite part was the Fisherman's Bastion, the caste-like terrace with big towers and a panoramic view of the city. It was like something out of a Disney movie. The tour ended there and we were free to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Right as Zsushi was wrapping up, we heard some familiar voices from behind...And of course, Wes and Chris from Prague were right there in the middle of Budapest! Like I said, such a small world. That night we went to a little Hungarian restaurant that the hostel had recommended and I'm kicking myself for not remembering the name...it was the best. And I have to throw in here that over the course of this trip we had some unforgettable dinner conversations that included sharing as many embarrassing and/or hilarious stories as possible. We had a good group. We were with Wes and Chris all that night and ended up spending a lot of time at the Wombats Hostel bar meeting people before going out. It's hilarious how quickly our "group" expands. Suddenly we were leaving the hostel to head to the ruins bars with a ton of Norwegian people and plenty of other new friends as if we'd known them for years. It was great. The next morning we had a late afternoon flight so we were in no rush to get up - until we slept past check out time and housekeeping woke us up, followed by intimidating workers coming all the way into our room and yelling in Hungarian. That's when learning "sorry" would have come in handy (Jack instead started repeating the word for "hello" as they left the room). We were in bad shape that morning. We said adios to our new friends...who are now seriously considering coming to Alicante during their backpacking adventures once they hit Spain. That weekend felt like a lifetime...and it was definitely my favorite trip so far. Eastern Europe was just so different from anything I've ever seen before. The languages were insane, the architecture was phenomenal, and the currency was incomprehensible. We used to joke that euros are like "monopoly money." Not even close compared to this currency...I came back with literally thousands of Hungarian forint (HUF) and Czech crowns, which equate to about 10 euros. Imagine what our bar tabs looked like. So after all that I had a few days to go to class and catch my breath....then on to the next one. DUBLIN March 13-16 The Grupo: Sami, Lauren, Shelby, Christine, Heather, Mary (met up with there) and Kenzi (Shelby's friend we met up with there) Recently Buzz Feed has been telling people that they don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Ireland...I don't know who wrote that article but they clearly weren't where I was St. Patrick's Day weekend...because not only do the Irish celebrate the holiday, they live for it. It was exactly how you'd imagine...incredibly green and incredibly rowdy. The first night we set out to Temple Bar, which is actually the name of an entire area of bars where green lights were strung and endless crowds of people filled the streets. We listened to an Irish band and eventually sat down for a round of Guinnesses (Guinn-i?) at a smaller bar, where two Irish guys ended up joining us saying that one of them just got dumped by his girlfriend and they wanted to sit down for a crack. Lesson one of Ireland: if someone offers you crack, asks for crack, or is in the mood for crack, it has nothing to do with drugs. They mean "a joke" or "a good time." We found it pretty hilarious. Friday we went to the Guinness Storehouse, where we met up with Mary Marty. Seeing her and being with her in Dublin was the best. It's amazing to me to be able to connect like that from countries apart...No matter where you are in the world, there's always someone just a trip away. And having us four Pi Phi's all together was an awesome feeling (cue warm fuzziness again). Anyway, the Guinness Storehouse was awesome. After checking out the Anheuser Busch brewery back home I had some pretty high expectations...but this place surpassed them. We learned all about the history and the brewing process and were officially taught to smell and taste the beer (they made us take a confident stance and put our elbows in the air). Finally, we got to pour and enjoy our very own pint before heading to the top floor bar with a 360 view of Dublin from above. Saturday was my favorite part of the weekend - we had a "Paddy Wagon" tour that took us from Dublin to the Irish countryside of Glendalough, the Wicklow Mountains, and the town of Kilkenny. I loved Dublin, but seeing what was outside of it was breathtaking. We went through the exact place where scenes from P.S. I Love You and Braveheart were filmed, and it was absolutely beautiful. The greenest grass I've ever seen extended for miles and miles of rolling hills. Since Alicante almost lacks grass altogether, I'm impressed by soccer fields these days. But this was incredible. In Glendalough, we went to the Upper Lake, which is what you see in the pictures...but they don't do justice. The intense wind, the bright blue water, the waves, the surrounding mountains, and the fact that we were the only ones around in this beautiful place made it so impressive. From there we walked through the woods and across the most beautiful cemetery, if a cemetery can be described that way. In Kilkenny, we got lunch at a little restaurant where I had traditional Irish stew (yum), then explored the town and the Kilkenny Castle grounds. The one thing that stood out most was the music literally everywhere. There were talented musicians in the streets everywhere - little kids in a full band, teenagers playing Red Hot Chili Peppers, a girl singing solo, and countless more. Every street we turned I wanted to dance! And it was like that in some places in Dublin too. This is what I loved about the Irish people: they're bursting with positive energy, are always trying to have a good time, and they are not afraid to show it. Every person we met was extremely extroverted; usually loud, happy, and joking around. I'm leaving out quite a bit but I've got to wrap up this post...I am definitely glad I experienced Dublin. Even though I almost got hit by a car several times because of the whole drive-on-the-left thing, it was a success. We saw some serious Irish dancing, unforgettable scenery, an unreal amount of beer, and a whole lot of green. And people didn't stare at us like in Spain! Incredible. Overall, being in three different counties these past couple weeks has been awesome. It also makes me realize how un-Americanized Alicante is. There are Starbucks everywhere else! And you can order ICE water! And KETCHUP exists! I took advantage of these things like crazy during my travels. As I'm wrapping up this post it's Wednesday, March 20, and I just got back from Las Fallas in Valencia...I'll write about that later, but let me tell you that it was probably the craziest event I've ever seen in my life and there's no way that any of it would be legal in the United States. That's my attempt at a cliffhanger. Adios people. PragueBudapestDublin/Glendalough/Kilkenny
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