A Side Note....

Tomorrow is my last day of teaching. Am I disappointed? Not so much. I am glad that I didn't end up getting my Spanish Secondary Ed. degree. Only a little nostalgic to be leaving some cool people behind and to be ending another phase of my life....

I will try to get some pictures tomorrow and update about my last day sometime soon.

Adventures...in a Train???

As I alluded to you all, our flight was cancelled on Tuesday, the day we were supposed to head back to gay Paris. The night before we looked at the flight and supposedly it was to be one of the first out of Prague for the day. We were somewhat relieved but at the same time it made me anxious to be a little like a ‘trial flight.’ In any case, Marco woke me up the next morning with bad news – the flight had been cancelled. He is currently in the middle of an internship and wanted to get back to France ASAP (if he hadn’t had this, I would have been more than happy to stay an extra day to explore the city!). Instead of going to see the Jewish Quarter, supposedly one of the best things to see in Prague, we went to the train station at 8am to get the first train seats out. Normally the ‘international’ counter opens at 9am but because of all of the issues, there was a line by 8:30am. We knew it would be a rough journey, we just didn’t know the path it would take us! The fastest way to get back to France was to take the train from Prague to Berlin, then a night train from Berlin to Paris, then a last train from Paris to Nantes. Who knew that making a HUGE detour through Germany would be the fastest way!? In any case, I was excited because it gave me a chance to see a part of Germany in the train and then the afternoon in Berlin.

The train ride from Prague to Berlin was gorgeous. We rode right along the river for the majority of the trip and saw lots of quaint little German towns and houses like these.

We finally got off of the 5 hour train in Berlin. The train station is even impressive in Berlin! The city is very modern (since it was completely destroyed during WWII). It reminded me of the US in some ways. As you might be able to tell from this picture, Marco wasn’t very happy that we had to carry our backpacks with us around Berlin…. Not only that, but there were gypsies following us around trying to get money from us.

The first thing we saw was the Parliament (Reichstag). I asked Marco to take a picture with me in front to prove to Katie and Oli that I finally stepped foot into their country!

Nearby is The Spree River with cool modern buildings all around. We were still in West Berlin at this point but in about 100 yards we entered into East Berlin. Normally I make a guide for each city I go to, but unfortunately I did not have one with me since it was a surprise visit.

We next ran into the Brandenburg Gate. It is one of the biggest German symbols and is seen in many WWII pictures and communism pictures. This entire street has all of the major embassies in ultra-modern buildings. Directly to the left of the Brandenburg Gate is the American Embassy. I think it is the first free-flying American flag (and American soil) I have seen since being here! I *almost* felt at home! I do have to say, the Anglo-Saxon culture of Germany was much more like the US than France though. It was a nice breath of fresh air!

Along with all of the embassies, there were some pretty impressive cars. This is one of the most expensive in the world (Bugatti). I think Marco told me that it costs 1 million euro or 135 million dollars. He was like a little kid in a candy store – we had to keep crossing the street to see the cars on the other side of the boulevard…. I do have to admit, the Bugatti was pretty sweet!

We continued walking and decided to turn around at the Berliner Dom (a protestant cathedral) with the Fernsehturm (TV tower) in the background. It was just about at this point where the sky started to get really dark and the wind picked up. I got my umbrella out just to be sure and unfortunately, it was needed. It started to rain chiens and chats a few minutes later. There was nowhere for us to get shelter at this point so we booked it back to the train station which was still a good 30 minute walk away…

The rain finally ceased to a mere drizzle. We got slightly lost on the way back but it ended up bing a good thing! We got to see a part of the Berlin wall as a result. I loved Germany and Berlin. I was side I did not get to see my high school friend, Kathi, while I was in her city but since it was such an unexpected trip, there was no way to contact. Darn. Guess I’ll just have to go back again someday!

We got back to the train station and shortly thereafter boarded our train for Paris. We were lucky for the first few hours to only have to share our 6 person compartment with one other for the 14 hour train ride to Paris. Unfortunately, a few hours later, a few big military men joined our compartment. It ended up being a very uncomfortable and long ride back. Needless to say, I hardly slept at all. Marco resided to finding the bike room and sleeping on the hard floor. We were SO happy to get off the train in Paris. And to simply BE in Paris. We knew we still had a 2 hour train ride back to Nantes but after the 30 hours of train we had done in the past 3 days, it seemed like nothing……

All of this for a little volcano in Iceland that no one even knows how to pronounce. Let’s hope the winds don’t change and I don’t have a problem getting back to the US…there isn’t a 30 hour train for me to get back to Philadelphia….

This time you can seriously click on the pictures to enlarge them. I figured out the trick!

Here is the Wiki link to Berlin if you want to learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin

Adventures in Prague!

We stayed a night in Prague with the Rhos before heading to Vienna but we just explored the main tourist areas. After we got back from Vienna, we had a day and a half to see as much as we could – or so we thought!

We started off our day by heading to Starbucks. Marco is one of those people that need a cup of coffee to get going in the morning. We crossed over the well-known Charles’ Bridge on the way and snapped a few photos of the castle and cathedral over the river.

There are lots of people selling souvenirs or doing caricatures on the bridge. It seems as though it is only used by tourists.

We both liked Prague but we also felt as though it had a bit of a ‘Disney’ feel to it. Contrarily to Vienna, the tourist attractions are all concentrated in one area. In this area there are only tourists and things geared towards tourists. Vienna is much more spread out and we could constantly hear German around us, which made it a more unique experience. This picture shows a bit of that Disney feeling – with buildings that look like they were restored just for pictures such as this one.

The Prague Cathedral is situated in the middle of the very large castle (one of the biggest in the world). It is hard to get a picture of the front of it since the castle walls are not far away.

The castle was built from 1344- 1890ish. It is the only cathedral I have seen that has been so recently finished. This stained glass is from the end of the 19^th c. The ones at the front of the church are visibly much older.

Every major city we have been to recently has had some sort of memorial to the former President of Poland who died in a plane crash not long ago. This one was located in the cathedral.

After ‘escaping’ from the Disney Castle and Cathedral area, we walked down a little hidden garden path to take some pictures and then went up the funicular to Petrin Hill. Prague is known as the ‘City of a Thouand Spires.’ You can get somewhat of that from this picture.

On Petrin Hill is the Petrinska Rozhledna, an observation tower which is to resemble the Eiffel Tower. We climbed the endless stairs to the top to see the Prague skyline. We also walked around the gardens which are just blooming on the hill.

We continued on our walking tour through Prague. This is the American University of Prague that the Rhos go to. A little bit smaller than Grove City J.

Close to their university is the Lennon Wall. It started during the communist regime and was covered with John Lennon-inspired lyrics and graffiti. There are some pretty ridiculous things written on it too. Close by is also a little area called Kampa which reminds me of Venice – canals with houses on either side.

A monument that spells ‘Revolution’ in Czech to commemorate the 1989 fall of communism.

The New Old Town Square in Prague. We looked at the sites here quickly but did not spend too much time here.

At the end of the day, we were ready for some peace and quiet. On my list I had a park written down that is on the outskirts of the city (Vysehrad Castle). It was a castle at one point but pretty much all that remains is the wall. It was beautiful and we were pretty much the only non-Czech people there.

That night we took Jake, Hana, and Devon out for dinner as a thank you for letting us crash at their place while we were there. It was so great getting to see familiar faces. They were the best part about the city! It makes me even more excited to see everyone back home.

They took us to a Czech restaurant that is far away from the tourist crowds. It was SO cheap. Beer was 1 euro and this entire plate was 6 euro. It was delicious. After numerous trips to ‘MacDo’ as the French call it, and Burger King, I was ready for a real meal.

The menus were hilarious. What does that mean!!?! Something warm to the ball? Something to beer?

The next day, we planned on going to see the Jewish Quarter which is supposedly very cool. Little did we know we’d wake up the next morning to a cancelled flight in the evening and need to leave right away….more details to come about that in the next post!

In general, we liked Prague but it isn’t a city I would return to like I would with so many others. I am happy I got to see it, but the Disney feel and the techno music blasting everywhere ruined part of the charm of the city. Guess it would be better if I liked to go clubbing…

Tidbits about Prague:

• Lots of tourists – especially from France
• Even though they are in the EU they use the Czech Crown which is pretty cheap
• Obvious that it was Communist at one point in time
• Highest number of atheists in Europe
• Lowest birth rate in Europe – their population is declining at such a rate that there are major government incentives to have children (according to Hana!)
• Their fashion is well…unique…same with hair styles. We saw lots of females with brightly dyed hair.
• Not so friendly over all
• Lots of beggars but no gypsies.

I think this blog is more negative overall, but don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the city as well. Maybe someone who has lived/studied abroad there can correct my ‘first appearances’ of Prague.

P.S. I am not sure why the photos are not correctly oriented. I'll try to fix it.

A Bit of a Problem...

Well, I have not had internet/TV/phone for four days now. We thought it would be fixed today when the repair man came but we were greeted with bad news - the internet will not be back for two to three weeks because there are some serious wiring problems. Thus meaning that I will not be able to easily post again until my return. I will go to Marco's from time to time to use his internet so I will do my best to post blogs when there. The next blog might be during the week, but most likely not until this upcoming weekend. Sorry!

Adventures in Vienna!

I am going to make my post of Vienna comprise mostly of pictures as usual. The city was so magnificent that I don’t think I would appropriately be able to put words to it. Just a little bit of history to our trip to begin: Marco and I went to Paris to catch our flight to Prague (we then took a 5 hour train to Vienna) to meet up with Kris Simpson, my good friend from Northern Ireland. When we were at the airport, I got a phone call from him saying that his flight was cancelled because of a volcano erupting in Iceland. At this point, I had no idea what was going on and was confused as to how this affected his flight. In any case, I was extremely disappointed because it was the last opportunity I had to see him before leaving and now I don’t know when I’ll see him again. I am sad that he didn’t get to share the experience with us, but at the same time happy that he didn’t get on a plane that may have been unsafe.

Kris’ empty bed at the Meininger hostel in Vienna L. It was funny seeing many last names similar to mine. There were tons that ended in ‘-inger.’

After checking into our hostel, Marco and I explored Vienna by foot. At first we walked in the opposite direction and were very confused why people thought Vienna was so incredible. Once we got reoriented it became very clear, very quickly. This is a picture of George Clooney for Nespresso. I don’t know what it’s like in the US right now, but Nespresso is HUGE in Europe and 100% because of good ole George. It’s the ‘in’ thing to buy.

The next day, we started off by going to the most famous café in Vienna, called Café Sacher. They are known for their ‘Sachertorte.’ It is a type of chocolate cake with apricot filling. It was heavenly. I finished it off with a cup of Starbucks J. Speaking of Starbucks, Marco started a collection of Starbucks mugs for everywhere he travels. It’s pretty sweet.

We visited lots of cool churches. This one had a pretty impressive ‘trompe l’oeil’ dome. Thus meaning it is a painting on a flat ceiling. Not a dome at all.

An example of the buildings we saw everywhere. We were fortunate to have gorgeous weather the entire time, which doubled the beauty of the city.

A famous church (Votivkirche) in the heart of the city. The roofs are like in Budapest – bright colors and patterns.

We were there the same weekend as a huge festival in front of the city hall (Rathaus). Most of the people there were Austrian so we got a good feel for what the citizens are like. Lots were dressed in traditional clothes and had a beer and bratwurst in hand. Lots of fat people too. An unfortunate reminder of the US.

There were lots of activities for kids as well as different stands and mini-concerts. The Burgtheater is in the background.

We decided to follow the crowd and eat some traditional food. It was delicious. I hadn’t had horseradish in so long. I ate all of Marco’s too!

Their parliament building was modeled off of the Zappeion in Athens.

View from the top of the steps of the parliament onto the side of Hofburg Palace.

Our legs were very tired since we walk absolutely everywhere when we travel. We think this gives us a better feel of the city and it’s cheaper. But, even though we were exhausted, we decided to check out one of the most famous museums in Vienna (this sentence used to end in a preposition – I changed it just for you, Mom). Marco really likes Natural History so we went there (pictured above).

The inside of the museum was probably more impressive than the outside. As you can see at the top of the picture, the rooms were very ornate with intricate crown molding, paintings everywhere, gold leaf etc. The collections of minerals, fossils, and animals were enormous. By the time we got through the museum, I thought my legs were going to fall off!

Our last day in Vienna was a Sunday so we visited a park and a cemetery. First, we visited Mozart’s grave. It was fairly simple which we both liked.

There was a huge marathon in Vienna on Sunday and somehow we had to get to the other side of this road. We had to wait for quite awhile before there was a gap in the runners.

Marco and me in front of Vienna’s famous 1897 Ferris wheel (Wiener Risenrad). Definitely not the best thing in the city, but a must see nevertheless.

After long days of much walking, we saw it as a nice break to have the 5 hour train ride back to Prague. Two more days of walking ahead of us! Or so we thought…..

Tidbits about Vienna:

• Everyone always seemed to be dressed in their Sunday best.
• The city was very clean and pristine
• We saw lots of 20 year old girls with 40 year old men. Just weird.
• It’s a very rich city. We saw countless numbers of top of the line vehicles and women dripping in bling-bling.
• Lots more fat people than in France
• Everyone speaks English (Marco did at least try to speak some German though)
• The German is different than in Germany – the accent seemed much harsher.
• Quite a few tourists in April so it must be crazy during the summer tourist season
• There are horse and carriages everywhere. A nice break from all the walking!
• There are also people playing classical/jazz music everywhere. It definitely added to the charm of the city. I guess that is appropriate since it is the city of Mozart and many other classical composers!
• Austria has never admitted to their role in WWII and has never paid any retributions (on the contrary, Germany has almost overcompensated – if that is possible). I always had this in the back of my mind when I saw the wealth in Vienna.

We hardly touched the surface of Vienna. A city I definitely plan on returning to again.

I will post about the end of or trip in the next blog! To be continued….

A Visit with Mathilde in Marseille!

Four days after my trip to Lyon, I headed to Marseille to see Mathilde, the French exchange student who stayed at our house last summer. I was looking forward to seeing her and also to see some sunshine! I got to the airport around 6h45 for my 8h15 flight. However, upon arrival, I was told that the flight was delayed for an unspecified amount of time. I took this to be about 30 minutes to an hour so I sat on the floor (there are no seats by the departure signs) to wait. Two hours later, still with no news from RyanAir, I went to the desk to ask what was up. To make a long story short, I was at the airport for 9 hours waiting for my flight. The plane in Marseille had a technical problem and couldn’t be flown, so the only solution was to fly a new plane down to Marseille from Dublin, then have the flight leave right away from Marseille to Nantes and back again. I got there eventually but unfortunately I lost a day with Mathilde because of it. By the time I got there, I was tired and it was dark, so we decided to stay in with her family and cute little nephew.

The next day, we went for a hike. It was absolutely magnificent. The landscapes around Marseille are breathtaking. I was completely not expecting it to be that nice since many people had told me that Marseille was ugly. We hiked for about 3 hours through the mountains that run along the ocean. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures of the hike:

We took a break halfway to eat a little picnic lunch that Mathilde’s dad prepared. We were supposed to have ham sandwiches but he forgot the ham J.

Our goal was to reach this little tiny beach along the coast. There were people in bathing suits and some even in the water. It was still too cold for me to be able to do that! The natural beaches in Marseille are like in New England – decent sized rocks. Not so comfortable to walk on…. After this, we hiked the 1.5 hours back to the car, drove through the city a little bit to show me what it is like, then we headed back to their house.

The next day, Mathilde and I woke up to rain in the city of sun. We were a little disappointed because it limited what we could do, but it was a great excuse to go shopping downtown and explore the actual city! The shopping was a success – we both got shoes. No girl ever has enough! I also got a souvenir for my mom – I’ll let her live in suspense for that one! After walking all over the city shopping, I then understood why people didn’t like Marseille. It is the 2^nd dirtiest city behind Naples for a reason. The buildings look like they were built in the 60s and 70s and aren’t very attractive. I was surprised because Marseille is the oldest city in France (inhabited for almost 30,000 years!). In pictures further down, you will see what I mean. Even so, there were some areas that were nice like this picture of an old fountain (Palais Longchamp) in Marseille:

That night, her family took me to the opposite side of Marseille to the man-made sand beaches where all the tourists go in the summer. It was a really pretty to walk along the beach while the sun was setting. We also found a rabbit! Mathilde’s dad is quite a goof so he went into a nearby restaurant to ask the kitchen for a carrott to give to the rabbit J.

During my last day in Marseille, Mathilde and her mom showed me all the sights. We started by going up to the Byzantine basilica of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde, which is a church high on a hill that over looks the city. It was a beautiful view of the city and of the Mediterranean. The church is known as the protector of those out at sea, so inside there are paintings of sailors and fisherman, as well as mini boats hanging from the ceiling!

Mathilde and me at the church.

A view of Marseille. If you click on this picture and make it bigger, you will be able to see what I mean about the buildings.

The 'steeple' of the church.

After that, we went around to see two other old churches (St. Victor and St. Laurent), the old section of Marseille (Le Panier), La Vielle Charite (an old hospice building), a few parks, ate a few navettes (small hard biscuit in the shape of a boat, flavored with orange blossoms), and saw the filming of the most popular French soap opera (Plus Belle La Vie).

This is Vieux Port with Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in the background. It is a pretty view.

A random picture of Mathilde’s house.

After exploring the city, Mathilde and her parents took me to the airport to head back to Nantes. They bought me some navettes and a French novel to read to keep me occupied on the plane. Fortunately, the plane was exactly on time! I needed a good night’s sleep, especially since I left for Prague 24 hours later!

It was great getting to meet Mathilde’s family and to see her and where she lives. It definitely gives a better picture of someone when you see where they come from. Hopefully I will get to go back and see her again sometime in the future!