Na shledanou v Praze.

112 days later and here we are...

I returned to the states on Wednesday the 16th. I have been back for a few days and am just now writing this post. Why? Putting it off like I have many other times. This time I am probably putting it off so I can ignore the fact that it is all over. I am learning to accept the fact that I am not in Prague and that I will not be returning there in the foreseeable future. Don't get me wrong- I am happy to be home. That is probably the one question I have heard the most the last few days. "Are you happy to be home? I bet you aren't." I am happy! It is just hard. I think it is always hard to leave a place that has become your home. It was hard to leave Edmonds the first time I was going down to Monmouth. It was hard to leave Monmouth after my first full year of school. But with both of those departures, I knew I wasn't leaving forever and I knew I would be back in a matter of months. This time it was different. I can't tell you that I am going back. I can tell you that I want to, that I think I will, that I plan on returning. But I cannot tell you for certain and I cannot tell you when that will happen if it does. So that makes this departure harder. But I am happy to be home, to be with my family, to see my old friends, and to be in my own home.

My time in Prague and the rest of Europe was truly amazing. There is not one word I could use to describe it. I was truly blessed with this incredible opportunity and I thank everyone that had a part in making this experience possible. If any of you are considering studying abroad, DO IT! Follow your dreams and go. You will not be sorry. Two of my other good friends from WOU were also abroad this semester and we all had different but great experiences. And, although I can't speak for them, I will say I don't think one of us will ever regret our decision to go. So to any of my young cousins out there, keep your grades up and start begging your parents now to let you have this experience. When else in your life will you truly get the opportunity to travel around carefree? Studying abroad will forever be a time in my life that I will look back on with big smiles.

So to sum up my past semester I have made an "ABC's and 123's" style list. It was a fun way for me to think of some of the great (and some less than great) parts of my last few months. If you have further curiosities on any part, let me know and I bet I can tell you some great stories!

So here goes...
A- Absinth
B- Burčak
C- Chapeau Rouge
D- Drinking
E- Eurofood stands
F- Fried cheese sandwiches
G- Gulaš
H- Hostels
I- Insect infestations
J- John Lennon Wall
K- Karlovy Lazne
L- Legalized peeing in the streets
M- Moravia and Mikulov
N- Night tram
O- Overnight train rides
P- Potato pancakes
Q- Quirky techno music
R- Random meetings with people at hostels and bars
S- Singing Czech Christmas carols
T- Traveling
U- U Sudu
V- Visitors and Visiting
W- WizzAir
X- eXperience of a lifetime
Y- Yellow Student Agency buses
Z- Zany good times...

0- Regrets
1- Amazing semester
2- Cameras
3- Great visits to Chapeau
4- Roommates
5- Story club
6- Christmas markets visited
7- Caves in U Sudu
8- Countries seen
9- Trips away from Prague

Other fun facts...
5106 or 14GB of pictures and videos, 112 amazing days, 13 cities slept in, 24 cities seen



I went through all 5,000+ pictures and tried to make a cool slideshow. I failed. Apparently I am not as tech savvy as I thought. I might have even lost all my pictures in the process... We are still working on the data recovery. If I ever figure out a way to make this slideshow happen, I will post it. If not I will just post pictures in a seperate entry.

But otherwise I will say na shledanou to the blogging world! I gave it my best effort and I hope you all enjoyed it.

The Little Ging and The Tall One in Spain

The final trip... Where was I headed? To meet Kate Arnold. What was our destination? Barcelona.
Side note: Kate is one of my friends from WOU that is studying in Oviedo, Spain this semester.

We both flew into Barcelona on Friday and had quite the adventure trying to find each other. We had plans to meet at either my gate or at baggage claim. Well I sat at my gate for a little while. There was no Kate. I went to baggage claim. No Kate. I went outside the secured area, a risky move, and looked among all the people that were meeting long lost friends and lovers. No Kate. I sat and waited there for a while thinking she would eventually find me. When I began losing hope in her I decided to walk to the other baggage claim area. In the middle of this long walk, in a big open area, I saw my little ginger friend, with a frantic and worried look on her face. I ran up to her with my arms in the air! It was a joyous moment.

After getting on a bus into town and wandering to find our hostel, we decided to go walk around a little bit. We walked all over but to be honest, I can't tell you where we went or what we saw because we were just talking and catching up after so long apart.

Saturday morning we tried to find a walking tour but failed. Instead we made our own. We wanted to see Gaudi, so Gaudi we saw! We went to Palau Guell which was some of his early work. Not that awesome but free. Then we went to the port and saw the boats and wandered around there. We decided after this that it was time for some lunch. We found some seafood paella that was pretty freaking delicious! After lunch we went to La Sagrada Familia (The Sacred Family) which is Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece. It is meant to be a cathedral but is still unfinished. I think it is supposed to be done in a year or so. I don't know. It was pretty sweet looking though. After this we went down to Casa Batllo, also a product of Gaudi. This place was freaking sweet. It is this house that Gaudi renovated and designed everything after the sea. VERY cool. I really enjoyed it. After exploring this house, Kate decided it was time for another Spanish delicacy. Churros and chocolate. Imagine a plate of churros served with a small sized coffee mug filled with melted, hot pudding. There you go. They were pretty bomb. After churros we went to rest at our hostel for later when we met up with some guys from CouchSurfing. It was very awkward meeting.

Sunday we went to the Picasso museum with some people from Kate's program in Oviedo. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, the museum was free. It was interesting but there was not alot of well known pieces. Or even pieces that you look at and think "That is Picasso." But It was still very cool. After the museum we went to Park Guell, out last Gaudi destination of the weekend. This is a big park that had pretty views of the city. It also has two houses, by Gaudi of course, that were modeled after gingerbread houses. The other amazing thing about Park Guell, and the true reason I wanted to go- ANTM was there! That is right folks- Tyra Banks and the America’s Next Top Model crew went to Barcelona one season and the final runway challenge was at Park Guell. Pretty freaking sweet. We had a little catwalk session and took some pictures. We made Tyra proud. It was just like my Sundays back in Monmouth when I would sit and watch ANTM all day, but it was in real life! It was fun. After Park Guell we headed back in towards the main part of Barcelona and decided to hit up the beach. Well whenever you take Anna for foreign waters she will, of course, have to go in them. So the second we hit the sand I started kicking off my shoes and rolled up pants and ran right into the Mediterranean Sea. I only went in knee deep, but I went in! After splashing around for a little while we decided to just sit and enjoy an evening on the beach. It was nice to just sit by the sea and listen to the waves. Later in the evening we went and got some more Spanish food. We enjoyed some delicious sangria and tapas. It was quite delicious.

Monday morning Kate and I decided we were going to spend some time popping in and out of shops near La Rambla. Later on we met up with two of Kate’s friends and decided to go to “The most beautiful man made thing ever.” This was in the words of one of Kate’s friends. It was this big and pretty beautiful fountain. And as if being told it was beautiful wasn’t enough, it was another ANTM spot. I was sold, we were going. It was pretty sweet. ANTM filmed a mock commercial there so we of course did an ANTM photo shoot. We got some pretty awesome pictures too. We sat and had some café con leche at a small outdoor café by the fountain and then made our way back to La Rambla. We had one last stroll down La Rambla and got our fill of the performers on the street. We then got our bags from the hostel and headed to Plaza Catalunya for me to catch the bus back to the airport. Kate and I said our farewells to each other and parted ways.

It was a very nice weekend. I really enjoyed Spain and the Spanish culture. I think I would enjoy spending more time there someday.

Catching Up... For real this time.

OK! I have decided to do a hard core Readers Digest version of the past month or so...

-Leah came to Prague! We had a superb time! We did a free walking tour of the city which ended up being really entertaining. We went to the Zoo. We did a Pub Crawl. We went to the castle and all the other big sites. We had a fantastic time hanging out together!

-Leah and I went to Vienna with my friend Kate! That was a good weekend. Vienna was a nice city. The highlights from that trip would definately be seeing Schonbrun Palace and eating weinerschnitzel!

-Leah went home. That part was sad. It was very fun to have her come out and visit me!

- I went to the Jewish Quarter of Prague! I had been in the Jewish Quarter before, it isn't like it is closed off to the world anymore, but I hadn't been inside any of the sites. I went to the Pinkas Synagogue which is very cool. On all the walls of this synagogue are the names of all the Jews in Prague that were taken to Terezin Concentration Camp which is nearby to Prague. Also, in the upstairs of the synagogue is artwork by kids from the same camp that was done as art therapy and later found when the camp was liberated. It was very cool.

-I went to ITALY! I spent just under a week in Italy with my friends Kate and Mikaela. We flew into Milan and spent an hour or so there before hopping on a train to Venice. We spent about two days in Venice. We rode a gondala. Ate some pasta and seafood. Saw the sights. Went to a big fish market. The depressing thing about Venice? The Bridge of Sighs (which I consider to be semi famous) was under some sort of construction! It kind of killed it for me. Construction has been plaguing my European experience. After Venice we got on a train to Florence. We got in there pretty late and met up with some couchsurfers that were hosting us for the two nights we were in Florence. They didn't have a place for us to sleep that night however, so they offered to stay out with us all night. After a drink at one bar, they took us to a secret pastry shop. Then after our pastries, they took us to a place with a pretty view of the city at night. Then realizing how tired we all were, it was decided that we would sleep in their car which was named "The Car of the Dreams." And folks, it really was! It was tiny too! The five of us squeezed into the little car and slept inside the car when it was parked in a random parking lot in Fiesole. It wasn't as shady as it all sounds though. I promise! The next day we toured Florence and saw The David! As well as some other sites. The David was pretty amazing though. That night they hosted us at their "House Near the Sea" for dinner and drinks. We slept there and the next morning they were nice enough to drive us and drop us off in Pisa where we spent about an hour. Just enough time to take some cheesy tourist shots with the Leaning Tower and then get to the train station! From Pisa we headed to Cinque Terre. This is a set of 5 small towns built into cliffs right along the sea. They are all connected to each other by some intense hiking trails and a train track. They are all gorgeous as well! We hopped around from town to town. Ate some delicious pesto for lunch and some fantastic seafood pasta for dinner. Also sipped the local wine. At the end of this long day we got on a train headed for Rome. It was an overnighter that got us into Rome at about 5am. We arrived and since nothing was really open yet we decided to take a nap on the floor of the station. At about 8 or 9am we woke up and headed to the Colleseum and Roman Forum. Those were both very cool to see. It was one of those moments where you are standing there and realize that you are staring at the Colleseum. Something you have seen many times in books and in movies, but never really thought you would get the chance to see in person. It was awesome. After those sights we went in search of a place to sleep. We found a hostel, dropped our bags, and headed to see more of Rome. We went to the Spanish Steps where we sat and felt cool chillin' on some steps. We went to the Trevi Fountain where we each tossed three coins in and drank some of the water. It is said that if you toss three coins in or if you drink the water it ensures you will one day return. We did both. Better safe than sorry. We went to the Pantheon which was pretty freaking sweet as well. After all this we went back to the hostel, showered (which we hadn't done in a while) and then hung out. Our hostel was having a bruschetta and sangria night so we stayed in and had a great time meeting people from all over the world. That is probably one of my favorite things about hostels. You can literally meet people from all over. I have friends from 5 continents now! We are still working on meeting someone from Africa. The next day we got up early and headed to The Vatican! I was very excited for this part of our trip. We went on a guided tour of the Vatican Museum which was very benefical as there were no signs up to tell us what we were looking at. We went into the Sistine Chapel which was GORGEOUS. And in case you were curious Kim, no one needed to trash their bag afterwards. We then went to St. Peter's Basillica. First stop was to the grottoes where we wandered among the tombs of past popes. Then we went into the actual basillica part and wandered around. It was very big and very pretty. After we had our fill of The Vatican we went for more pasta and then went to our hostel to get our stuff and then headed to the airport. Italy was pretty sweet. I liked it there alot.

So that portion of this post ended up being alot longer that I had planned.

-After I got back from Italy I enjoyed being back in Prague. As you have now seen, I was running like crazy all over the place. So it was definatelly nice to be back home and sleeping in my own bed for a while.
Enjoying Prague consisted of hanging out with people from my program, going to a Slavia-Praha vs Brno soccer game, and Thanksgiving! It was very hard to not be home for Thanksgiving, but luckily I was surrounded with other people that have become like family and who also were having a hard time being away. Along with 4 girls from my program, a Czech girl who is friends with one of those girls, and one mom, I celebrated a Czech Thanksgiving! I was in charge of dessert and people wanted somthing chocolatey. So I made French Silk Pie, one of my favorites. Then I found out there was going to be no stuffing. Thanksgiving without stuffing? Not ok. So I decided to be ambitious and make stuffing. Fun fact: The Czech Republic does not have any kind of premade stuffing like StoveTop. So I truly was ambitious and made stuffing, for the first time in my life, from scratch. It ended up being quite delicious. And the pie turned out great too. We also had salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and chicken. No turkey, it isn't common here in Prague and when you find it, it is really over priced because the stores know only the Americans will be buying it. But Thanksgiving was still pretty good, different but good.

-The other exciting thing that happened was April's parents Sandy and Gary coming to Prague! April is my brother's girlfriend and I had the chance to see her mom a few times while she was visiting. We went on a ghost tour and a boat tour or Prague. Both were pretty neat and it was fun to get the chance to know Sandy.

Well that just about sums it all up! I have caught up! However, I will have a great post about my last weekend coming soon. I promise! Now that I am close to caught up I refuse to get that far behind again!