It was the start of a new day on Friday, 20 November. My roommates and I woke to shower and get ready before filing onto the bus with the rest of the AIFS crew. We all, half-awake, stumbled onto the bus and fell asleep for a bit. By about 2 in the afternoon, we made it to Vienna, Austria for the start of our adventure.
We were dropped off near the center of the city and led to our hotels. We all got situated and met downstairs to be led to the city center and dropped off for the rest of the afternoon and night. We wandered around and by the time we made it to the city center, the group and I realized the organizers just dropped us in the most expensive shopping district in the city. We all looked at each other, then around us at Tiffany, Cartier and Prada, and realized we could not only not afford anything in the general vicinity, but that it was very cruel for them to drop us off hear, haha. We wandered around a bit, grabbed some food and then ended up in the Christmas Markets for a while before going to sleep for the night.
We woke the next morning and grabbed breakfast at the hotel before being led out on our tour by the tour guide.
Side Note: In Vienna, you must be a registered tour guide in order to give tours legally in the city. You can get in much trouble if leading a tour and your are not a registered tour guide.
Anyways, we were led out and saw a lot of the famous buildings. We saw Parliament, downtown, the Christmas markets, the Church where the Vienna Boys Choir sings. We had much fun and enjoyed the tour. We then had a 2 hour break before our next tour began and some of us decided to go to the Natural History Museum. The Museum was huge and a lot of fun. At 2, we met up and took another tour. After the tour, were set free and a few of us decided to go back to the hotel for a bit and rest before setting into the night.
We took an hour or so break and then went out to dinner at a restaurant called Centimeter. We got some traditional Austrian Schnitzel and a beer.
Andy, Jill and I then wandered into the Christmas markets to do some shopping. We ate some more and enjoyed the festivities. Andy and Jill bought a few things and then we headed back to the hotel for the night.
Today (Sunday) we all ate breakfast and then set out of the bus to Maria Theresa's palace, Schobrunn Palace. We got to see one of the most beautiful palaces ever. I loved it there so much. There were more Christmas markets there that we enjoyed. We then explored the grounds and found the gardens and then hiked to the top of the hill overlooking the palace where Maria Theresa's Triumphal Arch was built. everything on the property was so cool.
We then got back in the bus and headed back to Prague. Vienna was awesome.
Until next time...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Turkey, Turkey, Turkey...............yum
It was Friday morning, 13 November, and I woke to my alarm around 8:15. I rolled out of bed and tripped over my backpack lying on the ground. I stood up, cursed a bit, and then prayed to god that this was not how the entire weekend would be. I got into the shower and proceeded to dress and pack my backpack. I tried to pack a bit light for this trap because I was told that I would be bringing a lot of stuff back. I then met up with Alex and Val in the lobby of the dorm and we grabbed the bus to the airport.
We got to the airport and did the whole airport thing (checked in, went through security, found our gate) and then hung around for a bit. Val then walked over to Alex and me and said, "I just mentally woke up and realized that we are going to Istanbul for a couple days and you know what, I am so excited"
I laughed and then realized how ridiculous I had been for not going through the realization myself.
This past weekend I grabbed my flight with my two friends and made our way to Istanbul, Turkey. We arrived at the airport in Istanbul and found the tram system and proceeded to our hostel. We got lost when we got off the tram and could not find the hostel. A very nice young Turkish man came up to us and called the phone number for our hostel and the hostel owner came and found us and brought us to the hostel. After seeing where the hostel was and seeing that it was unmarked in every way, we wondered how anyone in the world could find the damn hostel, haha.
We made it in to the hostel, proceeded to give Val's boyfriend, who was flying in from London to stay in Istanbul with us for the weekend, directions to get to the hostel. We then all settled in and walked across one of the major bridges in the city where we found a place to eat some dinner. The restaurant was awesome. We then walked through the city a bit at night, exploring and taking some awesome night pictures and then called it an early night so that we could wake the next morning early.
We woke the next morning and immediately made our way up to the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia).
Side Note: The Ayasofya was originally built as a Christian Church and then seized by the Muslims and turned into a Mosque.
We walked in and saw.....................well..........................ABSOLUTE AMAZEMENT. I cannot even describe in words the beauty that I saw inside the building. It was a mix of Christian and Muslim symbolism with the years not tended stone all around. The building was breathlessly beautiful in every way. We wandered around the first floor and then made our way up the the gallery. I think I took pictures for 4 different couples who wanted a shot in the mosque. It was awesome.
We then made our way across the street to the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was absolutely gorgeous in every way imaginable (on the outside). We originally arrived to the mosque right before prayer was about to begin so we did not get to go inside at that point. We then went off and found something to eat and then came back about 45 minutes later. We removed our shoes and walked inside the building. The building was......lets just say I could have spend an entire day just inside that mosque. We wandered around for a bit and then left to wander around the city a bit more.
We then followed all the signed and made our way to the one and only Grand Bazaar and oh boy was it Grand. We found so many different places we wanted to shop and plenty of places we could spend a lot of money. We did some shopping and made our way through the endless halls, finding new things to see around every corner. We did some more shopping and haggling and ended up spending lots of money, ahah. I will not be back for a while, so I figured I could spend a little bit of money. We finally made it out after about 3.5 hours of shopping and then wandered back to the hostel to rest for about an hour.
We then headed back out to the National Museum Theatre where we had purchased tickets to see and hour long show of Traditional Turkish Folk Dancing. The performance was amazing. I could have sat and watched the performance all night. We had a lot of fun.
We then went out to a restaurant and enjoyed some tea and then proceeded to another restaurant where we ate a few kebabs. We then headed back for the night
The next morning, I woke at about 5:45 to the first prayer.
Side Note: In the religion of Islam, followers of the religion pray at 5 distinct times during the day which is usually led by the Imam (usually the leader of the mosque). The prayer is sung through a P.A. system that runs throughout the entire city (in majority Islam communities) so that all the followers may hear.
So the first prayer was sung over the P.A. system at than time and it woke me up. If there is a new way to wake for the day, that was definitely it.....and I loved it. It was such an awesome way to wake for the day.
Woke and gathered to head out for a short morning of exploration of the city. We made our way up to the Valens Aqueduct near the top of a rather large hill in the city. Unfortunately we could not climb on the aqueduct, but it was still cool to see and take pictures of.
We then headed back to the hostel and said good-bye to Val's boyfriend because his flight left before ours.
We then received a phone call about an hour later saying he had been sent to the wrong airport. We looked at the map and saw that there were two airports in Istanbul (whoops). We then got on the tram and made our way to the airport. We made it through security to get into the airport and found out that Perry (Val's boyfriend) was to fly out of the airport on the Asian side of Istanbul, not the European side (the airport we flew into). Long and short, Perry missed his flight. He found a flight that was to leave for London tomorrow morning and bought the ticket and was going to wait in the airport for the night. We made it into the terminal and grabbed out flight back to Prague.
Istanbul is my first favorite city after Prague. It is such a cool city and suggest that anyone who feels like flying half way around the world to visit. You will not be disappointed.
Until next time....
We got to the airport and did the whole airport thing (checked in, went through security, found our gate) and then hung around for a bit. Val then walked over to Alex and me and said, "I just mentally woke up and realized that we are going to Istanbul for a couple days and you know what, I am so excited"
I laughed and then realized how ridiculous I had been for not going through the realization myself.
This past weekend I grabbed my flight with my two friends and made our way to Istanbul, Turkey. We arrived at the airport in Istanbul and found the tram system and proceeded to our hostel. We got lost when we got off the tram and could not find the hostel. A very nice young Turkish man came up to us and called the phone number for our hostel and the hostel owner came and found us and brought us to the hostel. After seeing where the hostel was and seeing that it was unmarked in every way, we wondered how anyone in the world could find the damn hostel, haha.
We made it in to the hostel, proceeded to give Val's boyfriend, who was flying in from London to stay in Istanbul with us for the weekend, directions to get to the hostel. We then all settled in and walked across one of the major bridges in the city where we found a place to eat some dinner. The restaurant was awesome. We then walked through the city a bit at night, exploring and taking some awesome night pictures and then called it an early night so that we could wake the next morning early.
We woke the next morning and immediately made our way up to the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia).
Side Note: The Ayasofya was originally built as a Christian Church and then seized by the Muslims and turned into a Mosque.
We walked in and saw.....................well..........................ABSOLUTE AMAZEMENT. I cannot even describe in words the beauty that I saw inside the building. It was a mix of Christian and Muslim symbolism with the years not tended stone all around. The building was breathlessly beautiful in every way. We wandered around the first floor and then made our way up the the gallery. I think I took pictures for 4 different couples who wanted a shot in the mosque. It was awesome.
We then made our way across the street to the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque was absolutely gorgeous in every way imaginable (on the outside). We originally arrived to the mosque right before prayer was about to begin so we did not get to go inside at that point. We then went off and found something to eat and then came back about 45 minutes later. We removed our shoes and walked inside the building. The building was......lets just say I could have spend an entire day just inside that mosque. We wandered around for a bit and then left to wander around the city a bit more.
We then followed all the signed and made our way to the one and only Grand Bazaar and oh boy was it Grand. We found so many different places we wanted to shop and plenty of places we could spend a lot of money. We did some shopping and made our way through the endless halls, finding new things to see around every corner. We did some more shopping and haggling and ended up spending lots of money, ahah. I will not be back for a while, so I figured I could spend a little bit of money. We finally made it out after about 3.5 hours of shopping and then wandered back to the hostel to rest for about an hour.
We then headed back out to the National Museum Theatre where we had purchased tickets to see and hour long show of Traditional Turkish Folk Dancing. The performance was amazing. I could have sat and watched the performance all night. We had a lot of fun.
We then went out to a restaurant and enjoyed some tea and then proceeded to another restaurant where we ate a few kebabs. We then headed back for the night
The next morning, I woke at about 5:45 to the first prayer.
Side Note: In the religion of Islam, followers of the religion pray at 5 distinct times during the day which is usually led by the Imam (usually the leader of the mosque). The prayer is sung through a P.A. system that runs throughout the entire city (in majority Islam communities) so that all the followers may hear.
So the first prayer was sung over the P.A. system at than time and it woke me up. If there is a new way to wake for the day, that was definitely it.....and I loved it. It was such an awesome way to wake for the day.
Woke and gathered to head out for a short morning of exploration of the city. We made our way up to the Valens Aqueduct near the top of a rather large hill in the city. Unfortunately we could not climb on the aqueduct, but it was still cool to see and take pictures of.
We then headed back to the hostel and said good-bye to Val's boyfriend because his flight left before ours.
We then received a phone call about an hour later saying he had been sent to the wrong airport. We looked at the map and saw that there were two airports in Istanbul (whoops). We then got on the tram and made our way to the airport. We made it through security to get into the airport and found out that Perry (Val's boyfriend) was to fly out of the airport on the Asian side of Istanbul, not the European side (the airport we flew into). Long and short, Perry missed his flight. He found a flight that was to leave for London tomorrow morning and bought the ticket and was going to wait in the airport for the night. We made it into the terminal and grabbed out flight back to Prague.
Istanbul is my first favorite city after Prague. It is such a cool city and suggest that anyone who feels like flying half way around the world to visit. You will not be disappointed.
Until next time....
Monday, November 9, 2009
1 City, 2 Bus Rides, 54 Broken Hearts
I am going to start this post and just let everyone know that part of this post is not going to be the most cheery writing ever composed, but that is the way this trip was.
The group from AIFS and I woke Friday morning nice and early to catch our bus at 8 a.m. We all gathered in the lobby of the dorm and then walked up the street to the longest bus ride ever, haha. We spend some time on the road, stopping every few hours or so and then made it into Krakow, Poland around 4:30 in the afternoon. Of course, this was right in the middle of rush hour so our descent into the heart of Krakow took about an hour and a half instead of 10 minutes. We finally made it to the hotel around 6 and got to unpack before being led to Old Town where we would be let go for the night.
We walked around Old Town Square a bit and then all grabbed some money and dispersed to explore. We ended up finding a nice place to eat and then wandered again through Old Town. We found a bar, had a few drinks and then called it a night.
The next morning, we all woke to a nice guided tour of Krakow. Krakow is a beautiful city. It is full of student life and seems pretty young. The Polish Government has done an awesome job keeping up the city over the years. It did not seem run down in the least bit. We saw plenty of Catholic Churches and did a lot of shopping. I put down my camera for this trip because I knew I would not be taking many pictures. We were going in and out of so many places that cannot be photographed that it was not even worth lugging the camera around. I handed the 5D off to a trusted friend who shot it for the day.
We wandered around and then was led to the old Jewish quarter of town. It was very interesting to walk through that part of the city and see all the history.
We then went to the Castle in the city. It was big and awesome like all the castles in Europe, haha. We were then set free from our tour and we all split up and a few of us found some food and headed back to the hotel for a bit. No one wanted to go out for too long so that the bus ride would be more comfortable the next day. We enjoyed the easy night. I ate some ice cream, haha. We called it an early night and headed off to bed.
Waking up the next morning was an experience. We all woke and bombarded the front desk with our keys at the same time and left the hotel. The bus ride was lively and fun for the first hour, but then it hit us.
Our bus pulled into the parking lot of Auschwitz. We all got off and we walked into the facility. I do not quite know how to describe my emotions when I walked through the grounds, and when I do figure it out, I will let you know. To see a place that did do many things beyond mention does one thing, it drains you. I do not know what to say.
We then got on the bus and went 15 minutes down the street to Auschwitz II.
After these two visits, I had no desire to do anything but sit and think. I and the rest of the my 53 companions were all in the same thought for much of the bus ride.
We made it back to Prague around 7.
.......
The group from AIFS and I woke Friday morning nice and early to catch our bus at 8 a.m. We all gathered in the lobby of the dorm and then walked up the street to the longest bus ride ever, haha. We spend some time on the road, stopping every few hours or so and then made it into Krakow, Poland around 4:30 in the afternoon. Of course, this was right in the middle of rush hour so our descent into the heart of Krakow took about an hour and a half instead of 10 minutes. We finally made it to the hotel around 6 and got to unpack before being led to Old Town where we would be let go for the night.
We walked around Old Town Square a bit and then all grabbed some money and dispersed to explore. We ended up finding a nice place to eat and then wandered again through Old Town. We found a bar, had a few drinks and then called it a night.
The next morning, we all woke to a nice guided tour of Krakow. Krakow is a beautiful city. It is full of student life and seems pretty young. The Polish Government has done an awesome job keeping up the city over the years. It did not seem run down in the least bit. We saw plenty of Catholic Churches and did a lot of shopping. I put down my camera for this trip because I knew I would not be taking many pictures. We were going in and out of so many places that cannot be photographed that it was not even worth lugging the camera around. I handed the 5D off to a trusted friend who shot it for the day.
We wandered around and then was led to the old Jewish quarter of town. It was very interesting to walk through that part of the city and see all the history.
We then went to the Castle in the city. It was big and awesome like all the castles in Europe, haha. We were then set free from our tour and we all split up and a few of us found some food and headed back to the hotel for a bit. No one wanted to go out for too long so that the bus ride would be more comfortable the next day. We enjoyed the easy night. I ate some ice cream, haha. We called it an early night and headed off to bed.
Waking up the next morning was an experience. We all woke and bombarded the front desk with our keys at the same time and left the hotel. The bus ride was lively and fun for the first hour, but then it hit us.
Our bus pulled into the parking lot of Auschwitz. We all got off and we walked into the facility. I do not quite know how to describe my emotions when I walked through the grounds, and when I do figure it out, I will let you know. To see a place that did do many things beyond mention does one thing, it drains you. I do not know what to say.
We then got on the bus and went 15 minutes down the street to Auschwitz II.
After these two visits, I had no desire to do anything but sit and think. I and the rest of the my 53 companions were all in the same thought for much of the bus ride.
We made it back to Prague around 7.
.......
Monday, November 2, 2009
Halloween Weekend, It Wasn't Too Scary
Well, the best way to start this post would be to wish everyone a belated Happy Halloween.
This past week was not very interesting. I went to class and enjoyed the company of Praha. Most important parts of this week have to be when professors mentioned the up and coming midterms that I will be taking this week and next. I also sat down for a while and tried to figure out a few things that needed attention for next semester back at St. Anselm. It is so very hard to believe that I only have about 6 weeks left in this beautiful city. I have decided that if I could move anything and everything that is a part of my life (people, concrete items, etc.) over to Praha, I would live here for the rest of my life. The truth of the matter is that I miss all of you and, being how moving all of you over here is not an option, I am definitely coming back to the United States (at some point). I can't even think about leaving this city right now, it is too sad to even imagine.
This past weekend was interesting and fun. Friday was a lazy day and we all just kind of hung around. I went out to do a few errands and walk around the city. Friday night we went to a restaurant/pub where they served a bunch of micro-brew beers. We sat and enjoyed beers like Coffee Beer, Banana Beer, etc. A bunch of us shared a few flights and then we called it an early night.
Saturday (Halloween) was a very interesting day. I woke and exercised a bit and then at about 3 in the afternoon the festivities started. My friend Andy and I met up with Jill and Alex and we hung out for a bit. After a couples hours, I was granted to the honor or tattooing everyone with a Sharpie marker if they wants a tattoo. In my opinion, the angel wings and the anchor came out the best, but I'm just saying. We hung around a bit before heading out to a club.
Side Note: Halloween is not a big event over here. The United States has definitely done its part to completely blow the holiday out of proportion.
We found a fun place to enjoy Halloween and then called it a night.
A few friends and I were in total need of something fastfood-like and American to eat the next morning, so we headed out to McDonalds.
Side Note: The three big fast food chains here in Praha are Subway, McDonalds and KFC. I have not eaten at Subway of KFC while here and yesterday was the first day I ate at McDonalds, haha.
It took us 30 minutes to travel across the city by metro to go to McDonalds. We got there, ate, and left for our 30 minute ride back.
I then talked to Jonathan for a while on Instant Messenger and he and I finalized our plans for when he comes to visit and then when I go back to Kenya to stay with him. That is going to be a fun trip. The day ended with some homework.
Now it is Monday, and I totally have a case of the Mondays.
Until next time...
This past week was not very interesting. I went to class and enjoyed the company of Praha. Most important parts of this week have to be when professors mentioned the up and coming midterms that I will be taking this week and next. I also sat down for a while and tried to figure out a few things that needed attention for next semester back at St. Anselm. It is so very hard to believe that I only have about 6 weeks left in this beautiful city. I have decided that if I could move anything and everything that is a part of my life (people, concrete items, etc.) over to Praha, I would live here for the rest of my life. The truth of the matter is that I miss all of you and, being how moving all of you over here is not an option, I am definitely coming back to the United States (at some point). I can't even think about leaving this city right now, it is too sad to even imagine.
This past weekend was interesting and fun. Friday was a lazy day and we all just kind of hung around. I went out to do a few errands and walk around the city. Friday night we went to a restaurant/pub where they served a bunch of micro-brew beers. We sat and enjoyed beers like Coffee Beer, Banana Beer, etc. A bunch of us shared a few flights and then we called it an early night.
Saturday (Halloween) was a very interesting day. I woke and exercised a bit and then at about 3 in the afternoon the festivities started. My friend Andy and I met up with Jill and Alex and we hung out for a bit. After a couples hours, I was granted to the honor or tattooing everyone with a Sharpie marker if they wants a tattoo. In my opinion, the angel wings and the anchor came out the best, but I'm just saying. We hung around a bit before heading out to a club.
Side Note: Halloween is not a big event over here. The United States has definitely done its part to completely blow the holiday out of proportion.
We found a fun place to enjoy Halloween and then called it a night.
A few friends and I were in total need of something fastfood-like and American to eat the next morning, so we headed out to McDonalds.
Side Note: The three big fast food chains here in Praha are Subway, McDonalds and KFC. I have not eaten at Subway of KFC while here and yesterday was the first day I ate at McDonalds, haha.
It took us 30 minutes to travel across the city by metro to go to McDonalds. We got there, ate, and left for our 30 minute ride back.
I then talked to Jonathan for a while on Instant Messenger and he and I finalized our plans for when he comes to visit and then when I go back to Kenya to stay with him. That is going to be a fun trip. The day ended with some homework.
Now it is Monday, and I totally have a case of the Mondays.
Until next time...
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