A Peaceful Weekend in Wien

It's finally coming to a close. In less than two weeks and two days I will be leaving what has now become a beautiful and warm city. I am going to miss Prague and living in Europe a lot, but I'm ready to get home to New York and reality. I'm currently searching desperately for a job since I managed to blow through ALL of my savings this semester. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

So over Easter weekend Lisa, Alissa, and I went to Vienna. Vienna was beautiful and cultural, really different from most of the other cities I've been to. It was incredibly clean and quite, I guess that's why they have the highest living standard in the world! Unfortunately, on our last day there the weather was pretty crappy, but the second day was beautiful and we spent most of it wandering the grounds of the Schönbrunn Palace, which is of course a UNESCO site. The Gloriette on the hill behind the palace was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We also rode the Ring Tram to see the main sites in the town center and had much better Asian food than you could ever find in Prague. The first night we went to a Turkish restaurant and it was surprisingly delicious and bought strawberries to soak in vodka which was surprisingly gross. The last day, after Alissa had abandoned us to go back to Prague, Lisa and I saw the Belvedere Palace, the Hofsburg Palace, and wandered through the city center until it was time to head back home. Here are some pictures:





Lisa and I also decided to challenge the two famous sacher torte cafes in Vienna to see which had the best cake. The two places had a lawsuit to determine which was the "original sacher torte," but no one ever mentioned which cake tasted better so we decided to find out. We settled on Cafe Demel as the better cake, but Hotel Sacher had the nicer atmosphere.



And finally, I got to see the Prater, a ferris wheel that has been standing since 1897. For some unknown reason I've always really wanted to ride the Prater. I didn't ride it this time, but seeing it was enough for me.



The following weekend Lisa and I went on an NYU sponsered trip to Brno to see some caves, which was nice, but you don't need to hear about it really. Check out the pictures though!

This weekend is my last trip. We are going to Brussels to celebrate Maria's birthday. I can't wait for the waffles and fries and chocolate! I'll write about that early next week (maybe)!

Spring Break 2010: Europe From Top to Bottom

So. We departed from dear old Praha on March 18th. Our first destination was London, where we confirmed that we all miss NY and people who speak English. I stayed with Imran, which was a lot of fun. That city was definitely not conducive to sleeping. We saw all the important things...Westminster, Tower of London, Parliament, Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, Buckingham, and of course, Platform 9 3/4... The second night we went to this great Spanish bar near the NYU dorm. Another thing I realized in London...the dorms in Prague are amazing. In London they have tiny little rooms with communal kitchens and strange locked cabinets in the fridge. Some pictures...

NEXT, we headed down south to Athens. We decided that since we were arriving at 4pm and leaving the next morning at 7am that we shouldn't get a hostel. We went into the city and started by wandering around the Zappio gardens. We noticed some columns in the distance and upon trying to find them we wandered through a tennis match. After we went into Psyrri, the best district to party in. We started at this great hookah place where we smoked and tried this amazing Greek drink that's hot wine with honey. So good. Then we bar hoped until 2am when we headed back to the airport for a few hours of sleep on benches.

                                      

 

After a very uncomfortable sleep we flew down to Larnaca, Cyprus. Cyprus is absolutely beautiful. And tiny, only about the size of Connecticut! It was super warm and we got to go to the beach. Our hotel was right on the beach and everything important in the town was within walking distance. We rented a car, which was quite an experience! They drive the British way in Cyprus, so it was kind of terrifying to watch Alissa and Maria driving on the left side of the road. We drove across the island to Pafos, where we went on a glass-bottom boat ride. We also hit up two UNESCO sites. One morning Alissa and I woke up at 5am to watch the sunrise on the beach. It was gorgeous. Pictures...

Then we headed back up to Athens for two amazing nights. We took a walking tour of the city and marveled at the Parthenon on the Acropolis. It was actually Greek Independence Day on the day we left so we got to see a little bit of the festivities. Many of you know that I have some issues with food because well...I don't like anything. So I was actually really surprised to learn that I enjoy Greek food quite a bit. All the restaurants we went to were delicious. Athens managed to top even Berlin in my book and is now my favorite place I've visited. I can't wait until I get the chance to go back to Greece someday.

Our next destination was Calabria in Souther Italy. We stayed in a beautiful resort owned by Maria's family in Borgia. Her cousins took us around to see castles and fortresses and even the family olive farm! It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Our final stop was Milan, but we were only there for one night so there is not too much to say about that. This is the Duomo...

So that was my spring break adventure in a nutshell! 12 days. 8 flights. 4 countries. A million memories. It was wonderful and fun and I loved all the places I got to see. 

Next up: my Easter weekend in Vienna!

Before I can mention spring break...

So I realized just how big of a slacker I am because I never mentioned two of the sites I recently visited in the Czech Republic. At the beginning of March I went on an NYU trip to Terezín, a transport camp during WWII. It was really sad to see and we got to hear the story of a man who survived both Terezín and Auschwitz. The next day a few of us decided to go see Kutná Hora, or the Bone Church. This church contains different items constructed entirely of human bone. It was really crazy and pretty creepy. The structures were created by monks from over 40,000 bodies that had been buried in the nearby cemetery during the Plague. Here's a picture so you get an idea of what I'm talking about...

THEN, right before break, Mallory visited! 
Despite having midterms while she was here, we had a lot of fun and I finally had a reason to take the free walking tour in Prague. Who knew I was walking past so many important things every day. I took her to the amazing Hungarian restaurant and we got creeped on at Karlovy Lazny, the five story club. It was so great to see her, but it made me miss New York and being all together at NYU so much more. ALSO, I got to experience Mallory's first ever really drunken experience and it may have been the funniest moment of my life. We went to Chapeau Rouge and she tried absinthe, that can do anyone in. 


More recently, Mike came to visit with two of his friends from Madrid. Once again, I had a midterm, but it was fun and we made truffles! This time it was Lisa who was drunker than ever. Good times. I finally went to Futurum and saw the crazy czechies dancing to American 90s music. 

Well that's all for now! This weekend I'll actually be in Prague so I'll write the overdue spring break post! Also coming up, my recent weekend in Vienna. If you are feeling impatient use the links on the sidebar to see some pictures from all my trips on Picasa. Check back soon!