As I am writing this I realized that I only have two more weeks left here in Europe and I am simultaneously really sad and yet, getting more and more excited to go home and see my friends and family. This week is very busy because I have two essays to write, two project presentations, and my last final exam (and hardest one). Then after this week my family is flying into Vienna to spend the holiday with me before all head back to the United States together.
This was my last week of traveling around that I could fit in and it really was an adventure! I went to Zell am See and Prague all within a week. The Zell am See ski trip was planned through the EBN Buddy Network which means that everything was just about planned for us which was really helpful because there is a lot that goes into planning a ski trip. We left Saturday morning and arrived that afternoon and had the whole day to relax and get settled into our hotel. Sunday and Monday were the two days I decided to ski and we went to two different slopes, The Glacier (Kitzsteinhorn) and the official Zell am See slope. Keep in mind that I haven’t been skiing for over five years so I was a little nervous getting back into it. I was really relying on the fact that my muscle memory would kick in and it would be no problem. And luckily I was right!!! After the first twenty minutes of struggling I was able to successfully make it down the mountain multiple times without too much trouble. The slopes were absolutely amazing and the scenery just made everything more magical. I don’t know how I can go back to the United States and ski again there after skiing in the Alps… Tuesday was designated for exploring around the city of Zell am See and checking out the stores, the lake and eventually traveling back to Vienna. This was an incredible trip that I will always remember because of the beautiful location and the people I shared it with.
The day after I got back from the ski trip, Wednesday, was dedicated to two final exams and our bus ride to Prague. My friend Will and I arrived around 10pm Wednesday night and made our way to our hostel after exploring around some Christmas markets we stumbled across on our way. Thursday morning we woke up bright and early to try and fit in as much as we could because Prague is a large city with lots to do. We walked around the Charles Bridge and looked at the John Lennon Wall. We explored the Prague Castle, the largest castle in the world, and the cathedrals inside such as the St. Vitus Cathedral and St. George Basilica. There was also a Christmas market inside the castle that we explored and had lunch at. We ate some amazing Czech style kebab and probably too much Mulled Wine. After spending three hours around the castle, we made our way to Petrin Tower, which is an observation tower often called “The Mini Eiffel Tower.” We got a beautiful view of the city and we were lucky to have a sunny day to do so. Next to the Petrin Tower was a Mirror Maze that we went though and probably had too much fun with the funny mirrors that change what you look like. After walking around for so long, we decided to visit The Dancing House and the GlassBar on the top floor for a drink and time to rest our feet. Since it was getting darker and we were running out of light to do certain activities, Will and I made a last minute decision to see an Opera at The New Stage called “No Man.” I’d like to say that we didn’t know too much going into this Opera and only looked up a brief background about the theme. It was supposedly about the artist who sculpted the large statue in Prague for Joseph Stalin, and the political and social backlash that lead into it being torn down. When we walked into the theater, the audience was lead to their seats on stage while the cast was sitting in the normal audience seats. There was also a man laying on a table on the stage where the audience were sitting. The opera lasted around an hour and a half, and even now I still don’t really know what I watched… The first half was a nice history lesson about the Czech Republic communist rule and the background behind the Stalin Statue, but then once we got into the second half of the show, the cast changed to cavemen and started singing in grunts and random noises. I am still trying to figure out what we watched… However, it was really fun to watch and listen to even if we didn’t really know what was happening. To finish off the day, we ate dinner at Café Italia where we made the right decision to have some traditional Czech dishes such as duck and pork knuckle. Around midnight our friend Julio joined us in Prague and stayed for a day to explore with us.
Because Julio was only going to be in Prague for one day, we saved all the things he wanted to do for that Friday. We walked along the Charles Bridge again and climbed ot the top of the Old Town Bridge Tower to see the city from an elevated view again. When we got down from the tower, there were men with colored doves entertaining the public. They would land on your and were very friendly and calm surrounded by people. We decided to take a walking tour around the city because we had the time and we were interested in learning more about the smaller details about different locations and the city’s history. We visited the Astronomical clock, Rudolfinum, the Jewish Quarter, Charles University, and The Estates Theater. It took us around three hours and our tour guide, Tate, was a really funny guy and knew all the answers to our questions. While it was still light out we visited the Seven Foot Sigmund Freud statue that hangs off the roof of a building. The Communist Museum was on our list of things to do while in Prague, and we did get time to check it out, but we were all so tired that we barrenly made it through the whole thing without everyone falling asleep on different benches inside. Before we dropped Julio off at the bus station, we had dinner at Vytopna Railway Restaurant. I found this restaurant on a Tasty video on Facebook and showed it to Will and Julio. We needed to visit it because the restaurant delivers your drinks to your table on mini trains. The whole restaurant has small rail road tracks winding throughout the tables and connects to the bar. It was really neat, but we weren’t allowed too much time there because the line to eat there was really long.
Saturday was our last day in Prague, and our bus picked us up around 5pm. We were running out of things to do in the city because we managed to fit in so much in the two previous days. We had a late start and spent most of our time on the outskirts of town, outside of the tourism parts. We went to Reigrovy Sady Park and the Žižkov Television Tower. The previous day, Will and I ran across a small Christmas market that sold dim sum, so we decided to visit back for lunch after we went to the Television Tower. We bought a LOT of dumplings because the owner kept recommending different ones to us, and we just kept saying yes. It was so worth it because I haven’t had any style of Asian food that was that good since I was back in the Bay Area. We visited the GlassBar at the Dancing House again for some more drinks, and finished up the day at the Mucha Museum. Alphonse Mucha is a Czech artist who I knew about before coming to Prague, but never knew that he was from the Czech Republic. I had a poster of his painting “Absinthe” in my old apartment dining room. I was so excited to see that he has a museum because I really wanted to get some more of his art and even a t-shirt and it was a great way to finish of the trip.
This was an insane week of traveling and a great way to finish up my time here in Europe. Since I have gotten back from Prague, I have had nonstop 8 hour days on campus working on class projects, presentations, essays and studying for my last and hardest final exam. I only a few more days left before my family comes to visit me and spend the holiday with me here in Vienna. My cousin, who lives in Moldova, will also be visiting and spending Christmas as well, and I haven’t seen her in around a year. As I stated earlier, I don’t really want to leave Vienna, but I am still excited to go home. I didn’t think studying abroad would be any different than me going to school in Oregon, but the time difference and not being with my friends made an impact.
I will most likely be making two more blog posts, one for while my family is here and one about adapting back to life in the United States.
Make sure to check out the Gallery section as well because I uploaded a lot more pictures and videos there.