Hello all, I just wanted to write and update. I apologize for not updating my blog very quickly in the recent weeks. End of the semester work kicked in and final preparations to leave Prague fast approached.
The end of the semester went fairly well. Classes gave out much work and I was stuck in the coffee shop for 3 weeks straight trying to finish final work, papers, projects, and studying for approaching finals. My friends and I would all congregate in the same coffee shop for those 3 weeks, completely overwhelming the staff. Apparently doing work in a coffee shop is truly an American thing. In the end, it was and is the most comfortable place for me to get work done, so we apologized to the staff there and went along with our work.
I finished all my finals and work by 16 December and took a nice sigh of relief. That day (Wednesday), my friend Mike was leaving in the morning. He had finished all of his work early and his parents were arranging his travel back instead of the AIFS personnel. His parents got him a flight home for that morning on United. He woke me around 7:00 to say goodbye. He was the first one to leave for the program.
The next day. I went to pick up Jonathan at the airport. It began to snow and the random snow storm Prague had in October, it was the first real snow of the season. I grabbed the bus and met him at the airport. He got off the plane and was........well.........cold, haha. The weather was a bit different for him from the weather he was used to in Kenya. We made it to the dorm and got settled. We wandered around the city for a bit and came back early due to Jon's jet-lag. Jon got to skype with the parents that night and my brother and mother got to see one another for the first time in a year.
We woke a bit early the next morning and wandered around the city with Daisey and Jon got to see all the sights of Prague and all the wonderful Christmas Markets. That night we had a goodbye beer with everyone in the program in the Pub downstairs and then said goodbye to everyone. My brother and I hung around with my suite-mates for a while before making it into bed.
We woke the next morning and said goodbye to my suite-mates before they headed off to the airport. It was said to see everyone leave. Thank goodness for Facebook. Jon and I then went into the city and did some laundry. Jon was quite excited to be able to use a washing machine and dryer. We finished our laundry, then headed to lunch before dropping the laundry at the dorm. He and I then went out to the Christmas Markets again to gets some food and do some last minute Christmas shopping. We made it back to the dorm and hung around for a bit before heading out to catch our bus to Zurich.
Our bus ride to Zurich was very very very long. We finally made it by 11 a.m. Sunday morning and found our way to the hotel. We then settled and wandered around the city for a bit and grabbed our train ticket to Milan for the 22 December (tomorrow). We hung around and got some food and then went out with a few British guys we met at the hostel and got a beer that night.
Today we went up to Uteilberg (the mountain overlooking Zurich) and hiked for a bit. We then wandered around the Christmas Markets here again and did some shopping. In between hiking and shopping we got some lunch. Jon and I found a stand where there was a Kenyan woman selling handmade things from Kenya. He and she got to talking for a while. It was a surprise to say the least. He and I are now hanging out for a bit before we grab some dinner and a beer.
Tomorrow we will travel and make our way to Turin. It is time for Christmas with the relatives.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Final Weekend Trip Away From Praha
Before I start to write about my small adventure into western Europe I want to apologize for my tardiness in writing in my blog. This should be one of the last interesting posts until I leave Prague on 19 December.
On Friday 27 November, Alex and I left the lobby of Masarykova Koleg and made our way to the bus to bring us to the airport. We arrived at the airport, checked the board and found our check-in desk. We waited in line for a while and then finally received our boarding passes. We made it through security and over to our gate. We wait for a few moments and then began to board the plane. I sat on the plane waiting to take off and realized this would be the last time I would be flying out from Prague Airport. As much as I have traveled since coming to Europe, I will still miss Prague Airport.
We arrived in Barcelona, Spain and made out way to the public transportation system where we purchased our tickets and grabbed the metro. We road for a bit and then made it to our stop. We checked into our hostel and then continued to go explore a bit before I called it a night.
I woke the next morning and got ready for a day in the city. Alex and I grabbed the metro and met Val, Courtney and Imran at Catalunya Square. I walked up from the metro and at first glance I was blinded by an unfamiliar source, sunlight. I was so excited to see the sun. We met up and began our adventure. We wandered up to a beautiful park in the city and then to one of the only remaining Roman structures in the city. We then wandered around some more before making it to the beach. It was a positively beautiful day and everyone was at the beach. We wandered along the beach and search for a place to sit and eat. We found a nice little restaurant where we sat and enjoyed an awesome meal of paella. Paella served near the beach in Barcelona is equivalent to one of the best culinary experiences ever, haha. We then wandered the streets for a bit and explored Barcelona at night. We all called it a night so that we could wake for our flight in the morning.
Alex and I woke and got the Metro to the Airport. We arrived and grabbed our boarding passes and then found our flight to bring us to Lisbon, Portugal. The flight only took about and hour and fifteen minutes. We arrived and grabbed a bus to take us into the center of the city. We only got to wander for a few hours before having to grab the bus to go to the stadium. We arrived at the stadium and saw some of the biggest crowds I have ever seen. The concert looked like it was going to be a full house and I was so so excited.
The Concert I am referring to is for a band called MUSE.
We grabbed our tickets and made our way into the stadium. It filled up very quickly and the concert was about to begin. The band came out with crowds cheering. I have never seen so many screaming Portuguese people in my life. As Val and I screamed along with the crowds, we experienced the most amazing concert of my life. I cannot say anything more influential then that. The concert was truly out-of-this-world. The concert ended around 11:30 unfortunately and we cleared out.
We found a bus to bring up to the airport and then continued to hang out in the airport for 6 hours until we could collect our boarding passes at 6 a.m.
We grabbed our boarding passes and made our way through security to the gate. We waited for a bit and then boarded the last flight we would ever take back to Prague. It was a sad occasion, but in the end, we were still going back to Prague.
I finally think most people from my trip are traveled-out. I have enjoyed my travels here and in the end, I am not traveling until 8 January. My final count with Prague as home-base includes...
1. Stockholm, Sweden
2. Milan, Italy
3. Venice, Italy
4. Budapest, Hungary
5. Krakow, Poland
6. Istanbul, Turkey
7. Vienna, Austria
8. Barcelona, Spain
9. Lisbon, Portugal
and I cannot believe you all have been reading the posts related to all these cities, haha. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. As much as this is not the end of my blog posts by any means, it is the end of my weekend adventures away from Prague.
Until next time...
On Friday 27 November, Alex and I left the lobby of Masarykova Koleg and made our way to the bus to bring us to the airport. We arrived at the airport, checked the board and found our check-in desk. We waited in line for a while and then finally received our boarding passes. We made it through security and over to our gate. We wait for a few moments and then began to board the plane. I sat on the plane waiting to take off and realized this would be the last time I would be flying out from Prague Airport. As much as I have traveled since coming to Europe, I will still miss Prague Airport.
We arrived in Barcelona, Spain and made out way to the public transportation system where we purchased our tickets and grabbed the metro. We road for a bit and then made it to our stop. We checked into our hostel and then continued to go explore a bit before I called it a night.
I woke the next morning and got ready for a day in the city. Alex and I grabbed the metro and met Val, Courtney and Imran at Catalunya Square. I walked up from the metro and at first glance I was blinded by an unfamiliar source, sunlight. I was so excited to see the sun. We met up and began our adventure. We wandered up to a beautiful park in the city and then to one of the only remaining Roman structures in the city. We then wandered around some more before making it to the beach. It was a positively beautiful day and everyone was at the beach. We wandered along the beach and search for a place to sit and eat. We found a nice little restaurant where we sat and enjoyed an awesome meal of paella. Paella served near the beach in Barcelona is equivalent to one of the best culinary experiences ever, haha. We then wandered the streets for a bit and explored Barcelona at night. We all called it a night so that we could wake for our flight in the morning.
Alex and I woke and got the Metro to the Airport. We arrived and grabbed our boarding passes and then found our flight to bring us to Lisbon, Portugal. The flight only took about and hour and fifteen minutes. We arrived and grabbed a bus to take us into the center of the city. We only got to wander for a few hours before having to grab the bus to go to the stadium. We arrived at the stadium and saw some of the biggest crowds I have ever seen. The concert looked like it was going to be a full house and I was so so excited.
The Concert I am referring to is for a band called MUSE.
We grabbed our tickets and made our way into the stadium. It filled up very quickly and the concert was about to begin. The band came out with crowds cheering. I have never seen so many screaming Portuguese people in my life. As Val and I screamed along with the crowds, we experienced the most amazing concert of my life. I cannot say anything more influential then that. The concert was truly out-of-this-world. The concert ended around 11:30 unfortunately and we cleared out.
We found a bus to bring up to the airport and then continued to hang out in the airport for 6 hours until we could collect our boarding passes at 6 a.m.
We grabbed our boarding passes and made our way through security to the gate. We waited for a bit and then boarded the last flight we would ever take back to Prague. It was a sad occasion, but in the end, we were still going back to Prague.
I finally think most people from my trip are traveled-out. I have enjoyed my travels here and in the end, I am not traveling until 8 January. My final count with Prague as home-base includes...
1. Stockholm, Sweden
2. Milan, Italy
3. Venice, Italy
4. Budapest, Hungary
5. Krakow, Poland
6. Istanbul, Turkey
7. Vienna, Austria
8. Barcelona, Spain
9. Lisbon, Portugal
and I cannot believe you all have been reading the posts related to all these cities, haha. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. As much as this is not the end of my blog posts by any means, it is the end of my weekend adventures away from Prague.
Until next time...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)