Viareggio (Italy Spring Break)

[Sunday March 6^th]

Tara, Tricia, Laura and I caught a train around one o’clock on Sunday from the Florence train station to Viareggio which is a small beach city on the coast of Italy.  One of Tara’s roommates had heard about this city because it is known for their Carnevale celebration and the floats during the parade.  Other than buying our masks in the leather market none of us knew what to expect when we got there! An hour and a half later we got off the train and were immediately surrounded by a large mass of people. It seemed as if everyone on our train was heading to the parade and they all were dressed up in crazy outfits.  It looked like our Halloween because all the kids were dressed in cute outfits and the adult costumes ranged from smurfs to crazy wigs to animal suits. After finally making it through the train station we had to walk a couple minutes to the beach and could hear the loud music in the distance.  There were palm trees everywhere and it was the perfect setting with the sun shining =) Upon reaching the beach we saw the floats that Viareggio was known for and were blown away.  The floats were HUGE!! Not only were the designs impressive but they all had moving parts and a ton of people dancing on the float as well.  All of the people on the floats were dressed to the theme of the float and tossed confetti everywhere! Every person there was COVERED in confetti and it definitely added to the atmosphere. There are pictures of some of the floats below but they do not do them justice.  It was unreal.  The best part was that everyone was just dancing and hanging in the streets with the floats! We could literally touch all of the floats as they went by because we had great spots right on the edge of the street. 

Another aspect of this Carnevale celebration was that it was not touristy at all. There were only Italians there and one person even asked us how we had heard about the parade because no other Americans had heard of it.  That made it all the more exciting for us because we were able to experience a true Italian parade! The most noteworthy float for us was near the end of the parade when we noticed a large float of Barack Obama, yes our American President.  At first we did a double take but after noticing the “yes we can!” sticker we knew they were mocking America. On the top hat of Obama was a terrorist with a machine gun as well as a gay pride flag.  The theme of the float was that Obama was the ring leader of the American circus! On the back of the float were numerous other Presidents either swinging on trapeze or riding around on tricycles.  It was very interesting to see their impression of Americans and when that float passed so many people threw confetti at us, guess we looked American!

After all of the astounding floats had passed us we headed to the beach as the sun was setting to relax.  It was a breathtaking view because right beside the waves crashing on the sand you could see the mountains in the distance.  It was such a fun day and I am so happy we decided to take the trip out to Viareggio.  Carnevale was so much more than any of us expected and definitely a day I will never forget!

In our masks

Confetti everywhere!!

One of the magnificent floats

The Obama float

The mountains behind the beach

Florence (Italy Spring Break)

[Saturday March 5^th – Monday March 7^th]

The three of us packed up our backpacks and were at the train station early Saturday morning in order to catch our first train of the week.  It was a three hour train and we slept most of the way which was convenient because all three of us had seats in separate cabins.  I was especially excited to arrive in Florence because we were staying with Tara, one of my sorority sisters, that is studying abroad in Florence.  She met us at the train station and it was so much fun to see a Clemson friend in Europe!  Tara lives in an adorable apartment with four other girls and loves studying in Italy.  It was really nice to be able to stay in an apartment instead of having to worry about locking up our belongings in hostels.  After meeting her roommates she walked us around the city and we realized that it Florence is actually quite small.  It is beautiful though and we had a sunny day to enjoy the surroundings.  She took us to her favorite pizza place for lunch and we all enjoyed our margarita pizzas that came straight from the oven.  Afterwards we accomplished our “touristy” deed of the day and toured the Pitti Palace. It is a vast palace that was the home of the Medici family during the height of their rule.  It now contains an immense amount of artwork and other luxury possessions of the Medici family that were remarkable to see in person.  After walking through most of the palace we took the rest of the day to explore more of Florence.  This included a large amount of time in the leather market which is HUGE! There were covered stands as far as the eye could see down this one road and they sold every type of leather product you could imagine. It was really entertaining to just meander through all the stands and look at the items up for sale. We finished our night by going to one of Tara’s favorite pasta restaurants for dinner and all greatly enjoyed our meals :)

Sunday morning we woke up to another sunny day! Our main goal for the morning was to walk to Piazza Michelangelo because it is known to have the best panoramic view of Florence.  We began the journey to the overlook by walking up many, many steps.  We were all about to break a sweat when we finally reached the top and the view was definitely worth it! The city is magnificent and we obviously took the opportunity to take some pictures.  After walking back down the stairs we went to the Duomo which is the famous church in the center of Florence.  It is one of the biggest churches in Italy and has spectacular decorations on the outside of the building. My friend Tyler was in Florence a couple years ago on vacation and explicitly told me about this one calzone place that he loved so we made it our mission to find it for lunch on Sunday.  Luckily he gave us great directions and it was a phenomenal suggestion because it was the most delicious calzone I have ever had. They were absolutely massive though and all of our jaws dropped when they brought them out.  With our bellies more than full we made a pit stop one more time at the leather market in order to buy face masks because we were taking a day trip to another city that was celebrating “Carnevale”! My next post will describe our trip to Viareggio.

Florence was such a cute city and Tara was the best host! It was really exciting to be able to see another Clemson friend abroad.  We were able to share the similarities and differences of our study abroad experiences and loved going to all of her favorite local places.

Beautiful bridge

The many steps we climbed up to Piazza Michelangelo

Alpha Chi Omega sisters overlooking Florence

Yummy calzone from the restaurant Tyler recommended

The ladies in Tara's apartment

Rome (Italy Spring Break)

I spent my 2011 Spring Break in Italy with just my roommates, Laura and Tricia. It was everything I could have hoped for and so much more! We went to six different Italian cities in nine days, and each only took one backpack for all of our belongings. In order to keep my blog organized I am going to put each city in a different post starting with Rome.

[Thursday March 3^rd – Saturday March 5^th]

We began our Spring Break bright and early Thursday morning because our flight was at 6:20am. With our bags packed the night before we rolled out of bed at three in the morning and were out the door by 3:15am.  Because our flight was so early both the metro and train station were closed so we had to walk thirty minutes to the bus station and catch a 4am bus to the airport in order to make our flight.  When we were getting our tickets/passports approved we ran into our Clemson friend Bruce that is also studying abroad in Brussels. Somehow we did not previously realize that we’d all be in Rome the same weekend (he was meeting his mom there), but were excited because we were all on the same flight and now had a fourth travel buddy! The flight went smoothly and upon arriving in Rome we had to take another hour bus to the center of Rome, but were in the city by 11am and ready to see the sites.

Our hostel was in a great location so after dropping our backpacks off in the hostel we headed for our first taste of Italian food. We stopped at a small pizzeria and devoured our brick oven, thin crust, yummy margarita pizzas. Next stop was the Coliseum, my first world wonder! It is absolutely remarkable. We paid for a tour of the Coliseum and it was captivating to hear all about the games and gladiators.  While most of it is in ruins, it still has the original shape and is more massive than I imagined. This was definitely another surreal experience for all of us because it is so old and there is so much history within its walls. In addition to the Coliseum, the paid tour took a group of us throughout the Palatine Hill and Forum.  The Palatine Hill is the most famous of the Seven Hills of Rome and the emperor Domitian built his enormous palace on this hill around 81AD.  There is barely any of the actual structure left however the tour guide took us around the area that was previously occupied by the house and told us of all the extravagant things that were at one point in the palace – included a miniature stadium where they raced ponies instead of full horses.  The tour ended overlooking the Forum which is the oldest part of Rome and was at once the center of city life.  It now includes statues of honored Roman men and architectural fragments from that distant time. Laura, Tricia and I went down and walked throughout the ruins after the tour.  It was hard to grasp that some of these artifacts were built in B.C. times because we were able to walk all throughout them.  

We ended our historical day by treating ourselves to a real Italian dinner, since it was our first night in the wonderful country of Italy after all. The three of us split a bottle of wine and had bruschetta as an appetizer.  I ordered a spaghetti with meat sauce while the Tricia and Laura got spaghetti with tomato sauce and gnocci with pesto respectively.  Our favorite thing to do is all get a different meal so that we can try a little bit of everything. :) Our first meal would not have been complete without our first Italian gelato! Ice cream has always been a weakness of mine but after we tried our first real gelato we knew that it would not be our last over our week in Italy.

The tour guide that took us around the Palatine Hill and Forum had a tour of Vatican City at 10am on Friday so we woke up early and were on the metro by 9:30 Friday morning.  Unfortunately the Rome metro is not as fast as the metros we are accustomed to so we arrived at the metro stop at 10:15 and the tour had already left.  While we were momentarily disappointed we realized that there were probably many more tours available and started walking toward the infamous Vatican City.  As expected, there were people lining the streets with flyers for tours to go on. All of the options were very expensive because you have to pay to get into the Vatican period and then of course have to pay for a tour guide fee on top of that.  I was wary at first but we stumbled upon the best tour ever and it was definitely worth it.  Laura, Tricia and I were the only three to go on the tour so we had a personal tour guide throughout the Vatican City! He was from Amsterdam, spoke great English, and had a degree in art history.  We started the tour by walking through St. Peter’s square and learned about the history behind this small country.  He knew more information than we could have every asked for and since it was only the three of us we were able to ask as many questions as we wanted which made the tour much more personal. He then took us through the entrance of the Vatican City Museum and pointed out some of the most famous pieces.  The museum is a collection of the gifts and purchases of the popes throughout the years.  If you spent one minute at each of the pieces inside this museum for eighteen hours a day, it would take you over two weeks to see them all! Needless to say we did not see everything, but all of the things he pointed out to us were amazing.  There were statues, paintings, tapestries, and even a collection of huge marble bathtubs that were evidently very expensive.  One aspect of the museum that really baffled us girls was that all of the ceilings appeared to have intricate moldings however it was all actually flat! It is hard to describe but the depth perspective technique was the best I had ever seen.  Our tour guide then gave us a lengthy history about the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo before we actually walked into chapel.   It was interesting to understand what each panel of the ceiling meant and the stories that went along with some of the unique characteristics of his work.  The next twenty minutes of our Rome experience was spent looking up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in awe – it truly is remarkable.  We tried to take pictures with our minds and remember it all because you are not allowed to take pictures inside.  Our three and a half hour tour ended after the Sistine Chapel and loved every minute of the tour! Firm believer in everything happens for a reason because if we had not missed our first intended tour then we would have never had the opportunity of having a personal tour.  The roomies and I then waited in line to go into St. Peter’s church by ourselves.  It is the world’s largest church and breathtaking inside!

After the Vatican City tour we went back to our hostel for fifteen minutes in order to quickly change clothes but then met up with our second tour of the day at 5pm.  This was a free walking tour (our favorite kind) around the city center and showed us the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, and Piazza Navona.  The Trevi Fountain was by far my favorite and so much larger than I expected! The water was crystal blue and the fountain itself was magnificent.  There is a myth that if you throw three coins over your shoulder you will return to Rome one day, so of course the three of us did!  The tour ended at the Piazza Navona which was a large open square with three fountains and several restaurants along the edges.  In the middle was the “Fountain of the Four Rivers” which was another remarkable fountain representing the four river gods – the Nile, the Danube, the Ganges and the Plate.  We met Bruce and his mother in the Piazza and all ate dinner together at one of the outdoor restaurants.  It was a perfect night outside so we all sat there for three hours and enjoyed another delicious pasta meal.  Laura, Tricia and I then walked to the top of the Spanish steps and saw the city at night.  After a long and filled day we took the night bus back to our hostel in order to wake up early and refreshed for our train to Florence.

Everyone says that you need three days in order to see all that Rome has to offer, however I can proudly say we saw almost all the sights in only two! Unfortunately it was raining for the majority of both days, but we did not let the bad weather slow us down. I saw my first world wonder and loved touring the Vatican City. We saw different ruins at every corner and had delicious Italian pizza and pasta each day. I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain and am crossing my fingers that the myth is true and I will someday make my way back to Rome! 

Coliseum

In St. Peter's Square with my pink umbrella because of the rain!

Just hanging with the Roman ruins

Magnificent Trevi Fountain

Roommates, best friends and travel buddies

Bruge Day Trip

[February 25-27]

Everyone stayed in Brussels the last weekend of February because we had a scheduled day trip on Friday to Bruge.  After five straight weekends of traveling Thursday to Sunday it was nice to have a break.  In addition everyone had been traveling to different places on the weekends so we were all excited to actually spend a weekend together!

We all met at nine o'clock on Friday morning and took a one hour train to Bruge. It is another city in Belgium that is absolutely adorable.  There are cute little houses everywhere and it has a ton of shops and restaurants.  A tour guide walked us around for a little more than an hour pointing out historical sites and giving us the history of the city.  We then had the second half of the day to wander ourselves.  Laura, Tricia and I enjoyed a nice lunch and then explored the shops.  We purchased some Belgian chocolates that looked too scrumptious to pass up – and Belgian chocolates really are the best.  Unfortunately the weather was slightly gloomy outside so I am definitely looking forward to going back in April when my family comes to visit!! There were several places where our tour guide mentioned that flowers fill the fields in the spring and I am anxious to see them all =)

In addition to being a break from our travels it was convenient to stay in Brussels because it was the weekend before our finals. I was taking three classes the first two month session and had my accounting, marketing, and economics final the following week. None of us wanted to believe that our semester was already at its halfway point. Following our finals week however was our weeklong spring break so we were all super excited about that!  In addition the second two month session I only have one class that meets Monday and Wednesdays for two and a half hours and then my online class, much easier than the first session to say the least.

I definitely enjoyed relaxing in Brussels for the weekend and got a chance to spend time with the other students in our program as well as explore more of the country we live in. In addition my roommates and I were able to organize and prepare ourselves for our spring break extravaganza in Italy J

Canal

Main square of city

Roomies

Krakow, Poland

[February 17-20]

Our trip to Poland was with a new travel group but our second trip to Eastern Europe.  As expected it was very cold upon arrival, but we were bundled up with many layers! We arrived in Krakow, Poland on Thursday evening and went straight to the hostel to drop off our bags.  The hostel was on the second floor of an apartment complex so it was a small hostel.  There were about ten other travelers, in addition to the eight of us, that stayed there but it was by far the nicest hostel we had stayed. It had a full kitchen (with an included breakfast each morning) and large bathrooms with nice showers.  With our spirits high from the great hostel we went out to eat our first Polish meal. It definitely did not disappoint either and was very inexpensive. I had sauerkraut and kielbasa and we all split pierogies.  Needless to say after our first meal we all knew that it was going to be a weekend full of great eating! After our dinner we walked around the city before heading to bed and realized that Krakow is actually quite small; we were able to walk from one end of the city to the other within twenty minutes.

Friday morning we woke up early for our tour of the Aushwitz/Birkenau concentration camps.  The eight of us got picked up in a bus from our hostel and watched a forty minute documentary on the “Liberation of Aushwitz” during the drive.  While the movie was intense and very sad, it still did not prepare me for the tour.  I honestly don’t know what to say about being in an actual concentration camp.  We toured both Aushwitz I and Aushwitz II (Birkenau) and it was the most surreal and saddening experience.  Everyone learns about the holocaust and the awful things that happened at these camps but it was overwhelming to actually walk through the crammed corners and gas chambers where so many innocent people lost their lives.  The Birkenau camp is so much larger that I imagined - seemed to go as far as your eye could see. There is a memorial at the back of the Birkenau camp however and we all were able to take a moment there to reflect on our thoughts and pray for all those who died and the families who lost loved ones.  I will never forget the experience, but would never want to go back.  The tour took almost all day including the drive there and back so we just went out to dinner upon getting back to Krakow. Delicious meal round two was potato soup in a bread bowl, and of course we all split a plate of pierogies.   (Couldn’t go a meal without them!)

Saturday we woke up to snow! Surprisingly we have not had any snow in Belgium yet so it was exciting to see the white dust on the roads. After enjoying the hostel free breakfast we took a free walking tour around Krakow and learned about the culture and legends about the city.  One of the most famous legends is that the initial ruler “Krak” built his large castle on top of a dragon in order to capture the dragon underneath.  This is how Krakow got its name and there are literally dragon stuffed animals and figures everywhere! We were freezing after the walking tour so we warmed up at the hostel for an hour or so before venturing out into the snow again to buy some souvenirs.  In addition, we had a three hour tour of the salt mines at five so we wanted to grab a quick snack before since we knew that we would be having a late dinner.  You guessed it… we had pierogies! We called it the “fast food pierogies” because there was a small restaurant that was open 24 hours and gave you to-go boxes of them.  Laura and I both got a variety of pierogies including cheese, pork, and sauerkraut and mushroom.  Even though they were in to-go boxes, the pierogies were just as yummy as our previous ones.  The salt mine tour was our last adventure of the day and it was remarkable.  A salt mine that had been out of service for several years was turned into a tourist attraction because the miners built so many statues and cravings all out of salt. It is hard to imagine until you see it in person, but it truly was amazing. They had one huge chapel with the Last Supper carved into the wall, as well as many other famous paintings, and a magnificent alter where church services are routinely held on Sundays and you can even get married inside the mine.

Sunday was just our travel day and we made it back to Brussels by Sunday afternoon. Another successful weekend trip and I was able to get to know another group of students better which is always fun J All in all both of our Eastern European trips have been filled with delicious foods and great times! 

Aushwitz

Birkenau

Large Bell Tower in center of city

Yummy perogies

Travel group in the hostel

Roommates bundled up inside the castle

Krakow Dragon

The ladies

Barcelona, Spain

[February 10-13]

We left Thursday night for our trip to Barcelona!! We were so excited because it was the first time we got to pack warmish clothes and that I didn't have to wear my peacoat.  When we got to the airport, the weather did not disappoint! My sorority sister, Heather, is studying in Barcelona so she met us at the airport and rode the bus with us to our hostel. It was a long travel day and we were not all checked into our hostel until about 11pm.
Friday morning we woke up and had the free breakfast supplied by our hostel and then met up for a free tour at 11am. It was about a two and a half hour tour and we saw the historical sites of the city. It was a beautiful day outside and nice to walk around, but it definitely was not our favorite tour. After our tour ended however, the six of us that took the tour decided to wander through the city ourselves and somehow ended up at the gelato stand, oops. And yes, it was delicious :) The hardest part was trying to decide out of all the flavors which one to choose. With our yummy gelato in our hands we walked past the palm trees to the water and had a very relaxing afternoon. There was a man casually playing guitar to himself on a bench by the water and we wanted to sit as well so we decided to sit on the other side of the bench and took in the sun listening to slow jams. It was perfect!
Another great perk of our hotel was that it supplied free dinner as well as free breakfast. We all went back to the hostel around eight and greatly enjoyed getting dinner for no cost. We took a stroll on the beach late at night, and I forgot how much I missed the sand in my toes. Friday was a great day from start to finish.
We woke up saturday morning to more sunshine and great weather! Tricia and I decided to have a little date at the beginning of the day and ventured to the open market. It was overwhelming and bustling with all the little stands! This market had fruits, nuts, fish, breads, meats and pretty much any other groceries, but all fresh and delicious looking! We each bought a fresh squeezed fruit smoothie and tried to savor each sip of it.  With smoothies in hand we took the metro to Gaudi Park. The park was spectacular! We walked around for at least two hours and could see the city from afar, a flamingo dancer, many more palm trees and of course the Gaudi architecture.   I am not sure what I was expecting but the architecture reminded me of Willy Wonka because it had lots of bright colors and was almost all mosaic. It was very interesting though! After the park, Tricia and I met up with James and Laura and walked on the beach again (with more gelato). After talking a relaxing break we started our journey to the MontJuic Castle. There was an option to take a cable car up to the top because the castle was on a hill, however it cost money--and we are cheap college students.  So after many steps and burning lots of calories we made it to the top! It was huge castle and we were able to see all of Barcelona. Our touristy day came to end when we decided to have our ethnic meal of the trip and forgo the free hostel dinner.  The roommates and James went to an outdoor restaurant to enjoy the beautiful weather.  We ordered tapas and paella and ate every last bite! The paella had some seafood in it that looked suspicious but we tried them all! Yes, even a sea creature that had tentacles. 

The only bad part of the trip was that my blackberry phone got stolen Saturday night at the hostel.  All of my friends were napping in the hostel beds next to mine, and so when I went to take a shower I left my phone on my bed. Unfortunately some man came into our room and stole it before I got back from my shower.  It was definitely a shock and I was upset, but did not let it ruin my night! We all learned our lesson, and at the end of the day it could have been much worse. Needless to say we are all more careful now with our belongings.

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed for the airport. I had such a wonderful weekend and was so happy to be able to see our friends from Clemson! Barcelona gave us beautiful weather and great memories.  

On the tour

Palm Trees everywheree

Open Market

Gaudi Park

Yummy paella dinner

Roommates at the beach

Taking in the sunshine by the water 

Clemson students in Barcelona!!

Prague, Czech Republic

[Feb 4-7]

The first weekend in February was my first flight for a weekend trip; We flew to Prague, Czech Republic with Wizzair and had no complaints.  All of our airfare has been relatively cheap within Europe so we were expecting the worst, but it was not bad at all! The plane was a decent size and departed/arrived on time. 
Our flight was at 8:30am so we had to leave our hotel by 5:30am because you have to take an hour train ride from Brussels to the airport that the inexpensive flights fly out of. Regardless we were excited to wake up early and be on our way! In addition to my roommates, six other boys from our program joined us on this trip and it was a phenomenal travel group.
After the freezing cold weather in Paris and hearing that it is colder in Eastern Europe, I was much more prepared for this trip.  We dressed in lots of layers and I wore both my north face and pea coat outside. Surprisingly however the weather was very pleasant when we stepped off the train and we knew it was a good omen for a great trip! When we first arrived at the airport we all had to take out money from the ATM because Czech Republic has its own currency and does not accept Euros. They have a high inflation rate so one US dollar was equal to 17 Czech crown; we felt like we were rolling in the dough when the ATM spit out two 1000 crown bills!
From the airport we checked into our hostel in order to put down our belongings before starting to see the city.  The hostel was very interesting.  It looked extremely old and we had three separate keys to get into our room because there were three different doors you had to open--at least we felt safe! In addition when the hostel manager was showing us to our room it took him about five minutes to get the last door open with the key in which he told us, "This one takes full power to open". Needless to say the boys had to open the doors and often times we had to wait several minutes before they were successful. It was nice however because we had a room just to ourselves with enough beds for all of us.  We were secluded from any other hostel guests so we didn't have to lock our belongings in lockers, simply had to lock the door.
On Friday we ate at a restaurant close to our hostel because we were starving from our travel day. We soon discovered that most of the local food was relatively inexpensive in comparison to other European countries.  We ate plentiful and delicious meals and always spent under $15!


Saturday was our exploratory day.  We ate at a pizzeria for lunch and then starting walking around the city of Prague.  It is such a beautiful city! It is very hilly however, so when I said we walked around, we definitely got our exercise in for the day. In the afternoon, five of us decided to walk to one of the highest hills in Prague to "czech it out" if you will. (Yes we may have overused the "czech" pun a lot this trip) Once getting to the top the view was spectacular; you could see the entire city!  We then noticed however that there was a large tower on top of this hill that would have an even better view so we called this the "mini Eiffel Tower" and climbed up all of its spiral steps to the top.  While we were very winded after all the steps, we were not disappointed.  The sun was setting as we looked basically on top of the city.  We could see the castle and large church as well as all of the distinct buildings. After taking numerous pictures we started the long walk down the hill to meet up with the rest of the group and go to dinner.  Another amazing dinner was in store and we were more than full and satisfied when we left the restaurant! Czech is known for its dumplings so Laura, Trica and I split bread dumplings and they weren't exactly what we expected.  To put in simply--the bread dumplings looked similar to soggy pieces of bread covered in a sauce.  Regardless we were happy that we tried some ethnic food! 
 
Sunday morning we woke up and took another free walking tour around the city.  We had a great tour guide and another beautiful day during the three hour tour.  It was very fascinating to hear the history of Prague and Czech because they were still under communist control for so long and just recently had their revolution in 1989. It was rich in culture and interesting to compare this Eastern European country with the Western European Belgium that we live in.
Our tour guide recommended a restaurant for us to try, and yes you guessed it--we were not disappointed! I tried the potato dumplings this time stuffed with meat and sourkraut and they were delectable, much much better than the bread dumplings from the night before!
After dinner the five of us that initally went exploring went back up to the top of the hill with the pretty view in order to see the city at night.  When we got to the top we all separated for about thirty minutes to ourselves and really took it all in. It was so powerful to be so close to the bustling city but it be completely silent; you were able to look at this beautiful sight with only your thoughts surrounding you.
As if to completely oppose this peaceful place we eventually all walked back to our hostel together and watched the Superbowl! It aired at 12:30am in Prague and I was pulling for my Steelers!! We had a flight home Monday morning at 6:30am so we thought it would be a good idea to stay up watching the superbowl and then leave at 4am for the airport and catch the flight. While I was happy to be able to see the game, we missed the end with the exciting part and it made for a very unpleasant Monday. When the plane landed in Brussels three of us had to book it because we had Econ at 9:30am.  We walked into class with ten minutes to spare and no sleep whatsoever.  I then had Econ from 9:30-12:15 and Accounting following from 1:30-4:45pm.  Needless to say I was beyond tired Monday night and will hopefully never have to pull an all nighter travel day again.

Prague was an AMAZING trip however and I loved the city! We had a great travel group, spectacular food and the weather cooperated. While we were there until Monday it still did not seem like enough time and I would go back in a heartbeat. 

PRAGUE!

Travel Group

View of the city from the hill

Prague at night (The tower in the distance is the one we climbed)

Roomie love on the wall of the castle