příští zastávka Kutná Hora... and my česky love

Final full day with the mother and the Aunt. We decided, ok well I decided to take them on a road trip to Kuntá Hora to see the kostnice Sedlec, or in English/my language, the Bone church. This trip turned into more of a "Samantha practices her Czech" trip, but there was good pizzia, good food, and lots of bones so a good time all around, miunus the bumps.

We got to Florenc bus station and bought tickets to Kunta Hora, then had some time. Right next to the bus station was a little flea market type thing, which I will never enter again, and not only because they were selling guns, tasers, and brass knuckles. It was basically the most sketchyest set of tents I have ever walked through so warning to all of those who plan on exploreing the land around Florenc bus station. Got on the bus and made it to our destination. Boring part.

Better part: Now we were officially in the middle of nowhere. I pretended to know exactly where we were and what the plan was, but I honestly had no idea whatsoever what we were going to do. I went in to the information center and asked if the woman spoke english, to which she rudely replied no. Thats when I knew it was going to be an interesting afternoon. I started leading eveyone though a small basically abbandoned town and ended up at a small pizza place for some much needed lunch. NOTE OF IMPORTANCE: they don't speak english in Kunta Hora. Hardly any at all. This was good in some respects, I got to really practice my Czech and somehow succeeded. I was able to order our meals and sit outside and everything without using any english. Yes. I was very proud of myself. If only more people in Prague would speak Czech to us english speakers maybe I would be fluent by now.

Ok not fluent but closer.

Anyway I brokenly asked the waitress how to get to this bone curch and she said we needed to take a bus. Great. back to the bus station. I tried my hardest to speak Czech to the same woman who earlier had rejected my sad attempt at communication, and this time she was very friendly and was patient with my Czech and we somehow figured out what eachother was talking about and we made it on the bus. Now the question was what stop to get off at. The bus driver found me and my Czech especially amusing, especially when in Czech I told him I spoke very bad Czech but I was studying to be better. So after a good laugh he told us where to get off, and finally we made it to the Bone church!

Smaller than I expected quite honestly. But very intriguing. The Sedlec Ossuary, a smll church from the 1400's or something, was decorated with the corpuses of 40,000 people. ALL the decorations are made of bones, including a chandelier and a crest on the wall.

I really enjoyed looking at all the bones and using my Anatomy and Physiology class knowledge to pick out which was which, which was quite hard. Back to the books.


So that was basically the bone church. It was really interesting to see, probably more to me who loves bones (don't take that in a creepy way, I'm a nursing student). So back on a train this time and return to Praha. It was nice to show them some Czech country side and a very small town that is absolutely NOT touristy at all. No Englih. definitely an experience.

We then did some souvineer shoping, yes I did buy a Czech me out shirt that I plan on wearing in Rochester, and got a drink at a small resturant near the square.

For dinner I really wanted to try one of the resturants in staré město and they wanted one last Czech meal so we went to staroměstská restaurace, where I saw my future husband. The most ADORABLE Czech man EVER. I kid you not. He was always smiling and seemed to be in the best mood. I am basically in love with him and plan on walking past that restuarace every day for the rest of my time in Prague. We literly stayed in there through 2 bottles of wine and basically until closing so I could watch him more. Just saying, our bi-lingual babies would be cute.

Then I showed them the sights at night, because they are just as if not more beautiful at night.

And the mother and the Aunt left in the Morning. Hopefully with a bag of duty free crispy M&Ms from the airport to await me in America. (since they stoped selling them in the states in 2006- bad move USA.)

The next few days that followed were filled with homework catchup, and amazing weather that still couldn't get me out of my bed, but I did open the windows. Also signed up to run the Prague mini-marathon in May, aka a 5K. Really excited actually because not only get to run the race but get a shirt and medal. I haven't run a race in a while so I am looking forward to this, however after running on a tredmil all winter and then hitting the streets of Praha have taken a toll on my Quads. Ghetto Prague is quite hilly. Wish me luck!!!

That time I explored Praha.... again

SOOOO got back to the Praha around 10.. just in time for Czech class which I was basically a zombie through (or... and direct quote this: a "Cracked-out mess". Thanks)

After Class I went to wait for my mother and Aunt who had gone on the free tour. When they got there, raving about their tour and the leader, named Justin. I saw Justin... and he was NOT who he said he was.

Explanation: Last time I took the tour we had Donnal as the tour leader. Very good and very recognizable. When my mother pointed out Justin, I decided that from afar he looked very simialr to Donnal, and when I saw him up close I realized that he WAS the same person. WHAT? So who was he exactly? By the almost end of the tour he asked if I was studying there and then said that I looked really familier and he recognized me from a past tour. Well I decided if we were getting personal that I might as well call him out, so I mentioned that I had been on the tour a couple weeks ago, but it was strange because it was with Donnal who he looked exactly like. The kid took it like a pro and told me about how he had lost his nametag and borrowed one. I decided that it was the perfect time to tell him I knew that they all told the same jokes and it wasn't that funny. We bonded a little, however I still have some questions about the tour so I'm gonna have to find him again and bring up my concerns. I don't want people having to suffer though a non-enjoyable tour. You are welcome once again New Europe Tours.

After the tour we walked acorss the charles bridge and had dinner at a cute little czech restaurace. NOTE- every time I speak Czech people know im not a czech person. The waiter kept laughing so I finally was like AHHH is my czech really that bad. he laughed. no other response. I knew that was bad. I told him I lived here and he was quite surprised. Well whatever mister what do you know anyway? besides the language i'm pretending to know.

The next day aka today was major tourist day: first stop was the communist TV tower with the babies on it by David Černý. It is so ugly, and the babies are cool and the view is pretty nice as well so it was an interesting thing to see. SUCKS that the commies put it up though...

After that was the typical Prague castle tour, going into the curch and the coutyards and the stairs. I don't know I have seen the castle so many times it's nothing new. Which is weird to say because it is really beautiful but there is only so many times you can be amazed by the same thing.

After that we saw the pissing statue-- yes thats what it is called. another David Černý design featuring two bronze men peeing and spelling words into a pool shaped liek the Czech Republic. AMAZING!

We also saw a ton of smaller Praguell sites that I have never seen before but always wanted an excuse to go see. these included the John Lennon wall- which was really cool

We went into the cubbist store and looked at the wallpaper, went to see the other David Černý design of St. Wenceslaus riding an upside down horse in Lucerna passage, and the cubbist lamppost randomly placed in a small courtyard next to a resturant with apparently very cute waiters, and then hit the tesco to get some stuff to make dinner.

We also stopped and saw the dancing house, Tančící dům, designed by Frank Ghery. It is actually a really cool shaped building. Afterwards
we went home and made chili and just hung around my apartment. It was a nice day except now I am sooo tired!

and tshirt designs

I forgot the tshirt part of my last post.

I have decided to make tshirts. The back will say " I survived the volcanic flight disrruption disaster 2010" (but when you say it say twenty ten NOT two thousand and ten. Sounds much more dramatic this way.)

on the front will be the name of the stupid volcano, or for the long sleeve addition it will be writen down the sleeve.

thats it.

Tuesday: Day where things began to look down and up simultaneously.. and tshirt designs

Tuesday began as a very lesiurely day. slept in a little, had some breakfast and read the paper that was brought home from the Embassy (news paper not confidential documents!) After decideding it wasn't worth it to stress about the not getting to Prague within the month problem, or the fact that I was never going to be able to attend another class again, we set off in search of museums.

It's funny that I came to Prague worried that I wouldn't see everything and by the end was tired of seeing everything and would have been content to sit on the couch. The first museum we went to was closed, however we found a gallery area and saw a UNESCO site-- a display of works of art depecting poverty in the world I really enjoyed the paintings and chatting with the Greek lady working there-- about everyone's favorite topic, the volcano and how the world is basically shutting down.

We got on the metro to go to another museum and on the way a cell phone of someone in our groups was stolen. A really unfortunate thing that strangely I am so used it it didnt phase me at all. Half the group went back leaving me and my aunt to have a lunch date and do a bit more window shopping.

After some strolling around we thought of a plan- go see the olympic stadium. They were charging 3 euro to get in for the audio tour, and while I usually hate those things this was the best idea of my entire life. The stadium was absolutely amazing as was the view and the story behind it all.

I even got to do a cartwheel on the first olympic track. Coolest thing ever. totally worth all 1 euro that I paid as a student.

After we got some iced coffee and chilled at the house for a while. I took a little nap. Then the good news came- we had a flight! left at 5:30 am the following morning. So having a celebratory dinner that my mom made of pasta and veggies and chicken ( and wine of course) we watched another movie, packed, said our goodbyes and slept for all of 2 hours.

Getting up was a lot harder than expected. Our cab driver was a former Rochester Native who was happy to take us to the airport at the obscene hour of 2am. At the airport it was discovered that my ticket was on standby and 20 people had to not show up for me to get on. After a little crying and lots of worrying I was able to grrab a seat. Which was also amazing as the Slovak water polo team was on our flight and they were absolutely amazing looking. If only I wasn't looking like such a hot mess that very moment I might be dating an attractive Slovak athlete right now. What more could anyone want?

So flew into Budapest no problem and into Prague as well with no issues. It feels good to be home finally, even if my apartment is not nearly as nice and the weather sucks. It's still current home, although Athen's was beginning to feel that way as well.

So now In the Praha with mother and Aunt, getting ready to show them the city. I'll give the update on that one later!

Όταν στην Ελλάδα...να επωφεληθούν από το περιβάλλον σας

Roughly translated: "when in Greece take advantage of your surroundings"

Which we did. Flights all over Europe were cancelled. Thanks to Eyjafjallajokull, that lovely Icelandic volcano, we were stuck in Athens with no bright outlook for the future of leaving.

In the morning My aunt and I decided to get a little exercise (because all the walking we have been doing has apparently not been enough.... ok I really wanted to do this) and we ran/walked/jogged up this crazy steep and mega high mountain thing that has a church/restaurant on the top. It was HARD and I realize how much I need to run more, but the view was absolutely amazing and you could even look DOWN on the Parthenon, which shows you how high it really was. I felt accomplished, hence this picture.

So another day trip it is. This time to Nafplio (Ναύπλιο) or the Greek equilivent to Naples in Italy. Before getting there we stopped at the Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου, Corinth Canal, which was really beautiful. It was here we had these sandwiches of kebabs with the fries in them. Just like in Istabul but a little different. I will always love them.
Then to Nafplio. It was a really nice drive there and then we arrived at a small littly town, full of small shops and cafe's and big open squares. And a castle but once you've seen 15 castles, they aren't really as interesting anymore.
It was here we had some loukamades, or these amazing donut like things. I can't really describe them any better than saying they tasted like heaven. This was another nice relaxing day, just casually window shopping for most or actually shopping for some who hadn't bought a dress and shoes the day before ( but they are really cute and totally worth it) On the way home we passed a little side store and bought some saussage and nuts and bread and other various things that were specially made in Greece. OH also forgot about the fact that we bought wine on the side of the street earlier in the day. It looked like vinagar to me, but tasted amazing. Sweet Greek Wine.

For dinner we heated up some leftovers and made a greek salad and watched a movie. The Blind Side which I never saw before and was soooooooo impressed.
I know- what a way to spend a night in Greece, sitting at home watching movies. But it was so perfect. I was already so tired and the fact that there was no hope for getting home within the next few days all I wanted to do was relax and sleep early, which I fully enjoyed. More than you know.

Monday- still no flight out of Athens. The situation was seeming to get worse. So what do you do then? go to a Greek Island of course. Aegina is only a fast 40 minute boat ride away and offers that Greek Island feel without the crazy tousists. Sounds like a commerical right? right. Aegina was really beautiful. At this point in our trip I was WAYY overtired and beginning to miss classes for this week of school and really just wanted to go home. So to make the best of it, while the 3 lovely ladies I was traveling with rented scooters to explore the island, I spent my day with the beach, my chair, and the guy who kept singing the New York New York song. He did offer me a free beach chair and told all the tourists to "leave the American Girl along! Don't touch her!" Was an entire group of Italian teenagers going to touch me? Doubt it, and this doubt was futher proved when they promised the man they wouldn't. So though all of this I was able to enjoy a nice long day on the beach, listening to my ipod and enjoying the fact that I was on a Greek Island sipping Sangria and getting a tan.

The day got a little interesting when waiting for everyone a middle aged Greek man sat down next to me and told me I had nice hair and that he would leave his wife in a second if I wanted to go with him. I kindly thanked the man and told him my Czech boy friend might not appreciate that. Now I just have to tell my Czech boy friend. That is FIND a Czech boyfriend.

We went home and Had the saussage from yesterday, the rest of the Greek salad and of course much wine! We watched another movie however for the majority of the time I was stuck on the phone with plane companies waiting to hear back about any potential flight out of anywhere. Basically a failure, just as the trip to the Athen's travel agency had been that morning. It was beginning to look like I would never return to Prague...

samanthainathens.blogspot.com

Thought I would add some pictures of the first few days before continuing the Greek adventures of the past few days. Thats the parthenon. Pretty important.

That's me and Nike, who I am assuming is the god of running? and if not he should be. This is us being best friends and taking myspace pictures together. A little bonding with some greek gods, ya know how it goes.

This was the time I was trying to be creative and capture home life in Athens. We were given a nice walking route through some small residential areas of Athens and they were so stereotypically Greek. Very lovely.

On to the next day. This would be saturday, aka day 3 of the real part of the trip. We took a road trip with the lovely people we were staying with. This was great because we got to see other parts of Greece most never get to. First stop was the town of Marathon. For those of you who can't quite connect things, this is the town where a huge battle took place and then the guy ran the first marathon distance to Athens. Then died but thats not the part we like to remember. We first stopped at the starting point of the marathon, at the marker that says 40. Honestly I can't really remember what the significance of that is. Anyway we stopped here to have a little picnic of strawberries, bread, chocolate, and champagne. Romantic I know. We stopped at an archelogical museum, which was interesting but I was more into being outside in the amazing weather than looking at old pots. Whatever. Then we went to go to the marathon running museum, which was closed, so We took pictures with the statue of the guy who first ran.

Next stop Sounion (Aκρωτήριο Σούνιο), a town/ thing that looks like the parthenon but isn't. Actually it's the temple of Posidon and is on a cape that overlooks the Aegean Sea. Really beautiful site, which we celebrated with a bottle of wine at the top.

NOTE: to anyone traveling to Greece/I guess to only students: GREAT deals. Regular students get a great discount at basically everywhere and if you are a stdent in the EU, as I currently am, most things are free. and I LOVE free things.

Anyway after seeing the temple we got to go into the water/stick our feet in because it was so cold, and then sat down to an amazing seafood dinner overlooking the water.

I tried occtupus for the first time, and really liked it. Greek food is basically amazing. After dinner we took the long drive back to Athens and settled in for the night.

The best part about this trip was the relaxed feel we had. There was no worry about being quiet in the hostel or not having a place to chill. I really liked being able to come back and put on pajamas and sit on a couch or on the balcony and read or just sit around and talk. I didn't even want to go out at night ever because it was so nice to just sit at home and do nothing, becuase that is usually not an option on trips. Also being able to get up and lounge around. Miss that!

PLus the weather was absolutely AMAZING. 23C the entire time ther, which is mid 70s in the F degrees. Such a nice difference from Prague. I can't wait for summer!

So this was saturday. It was this evening that I found out my flight for sunday was cancelled. Therefore my blogging adventures for Greece continue into Day 1 of being stranded.

Day 3 stuck in Athens: no hope on the horizon, only ash

Last time I wrote to you all it was sunday and my flight was cancelled. Currently the time is Tuesday and I'm still reporting from Greece, listening to NPR and trying to figure out what to do today since I have seen more of Athens than most people who live here for 3 years. I'm thinking a good day on the couch would work out just fine, however when stranded in Greece, I guess you need to take advantage.

I guess I can just begin the reporting from day 2 of being here, not stuck day 2 but actual day 2. Way back to Friday...lets see if I even remembered what happened...

Woke up in the morning and had some coffee and cheerios. that's right, cheerios. Randomly they sell cheerios here in Athens, yay for the west!
Today was the typical Athens tourist day. We walked over to the Theatre of Dionysus, and the Acropolis and the Parthenon. It was a beautiful day out, in the 70s, and the sun was shinning so it made everything that much better looking. I've seen the old European towns, but here it is all ancient ruins, and they are amazing to see. Most are in better shape than my apartment in NYC... which is saying something. I decided that going to college is no longer necessary (which is convienent since I may never get back to college) and I'll just build houses like they did in ancient Greece. Yay new life plan!

We walked around the ancient promanade and saw things like old temples, shrines, statues, and the old agora, which was the ancient Greek mall. It was just really great to walk around in the weather and not see old buildings in the gothic style or hear church bells like basically every other place I have been to. I loved it. We stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe, which is all they have here and as you might have learned is my favorite. ( and I can now say I have tried basically every type of Greek beer, and that was all while being here in the actual days)

We saw some more sites and headed back to where we are staying and went to meet the people we are staying with, who work at the US embassy here in Athens. COOL PART: We got to go into the Embassy with them and see the complex... which I probs can't tell you about or the government would be after you. (ok probably not really but it sounds better saying that) The best part is that the embassy has a store with food from America, and I got to go in and buy things! I go a butterfinger, which I never eat at home but it was just really nice to see it. I also got cheerios and syrup to bring back to Praha, if I ever make it back that is.
We went out for drinks next to the Embassy and then headed out to dinner near gizi, an area in Athens where there are tons of clubs and restaurants. We ate at one place and had a ton of amazing greek food (imagine picture here)SOOO yummy. After dinner we went out for a drink in the bar area, which would have been so amazing if I wasn't with my mother and... well people that aren't my age. (love everyone.... just not going to go clubbing with them!) it was nice though and I was tired enough that heading home and sleeping by 2:30am was perfect.

So that was friday. I feel like Im going to have 13thousand entries for Greece. After friday we started to get less touristy, going to areas that tourists don't really go to, and my journys even include an island adventure and whatever happens today... which could basically be anything.

I love Greece, but I'm ready to be home. I'm missing all these classes and my food is going bad and I just want to be back in Praha, even though the bed Im sleeping in now is absolutely amazing compared to anything I have slept in in 3 months. Luckily the weather is amazing and we have a free place to stay. The best part is its like being at a real home, with a couch and we make dinner here and just watch movies and read the morning paper and have pancakes. I've been able to do some reading and eat breakfast on the patio, overlooking the orange trees on the street and watching the greek people down below. Ok guess I shouldn't complain about being stranded...

Stuck in Athens Indefinitely...Výborně

Soo.... Went to Athens this weekend and before I begin telling you my adventures I should tell you what I'm STILL doing in Athens. It has to do with Iceland and the potential end of the world. No I don't think Im being dramatic whatsoever. A volcano errupted in Iceland about 2 weeks ago and now the ash is spreading across Europe, causing ALL airspace to be closed. This meaning that my flight tomorrow back to Prague has already been cancelled. The thing about Athens to Prague is that it is impossible to find a somewhat reasonably priced ticket even when there isn't an international airspace crisis. So in conclusion I still have to figure out how to get home. As of right now all I can do is email my professors and enjoy 75 degree Athens... which i know is nothing to complain about at all.

So I'll just tell you about our first day in Athens and save the rest for when I can add pictures.

Day 1 of the neverending adventure. I leave for the airport at about 4am... which for those of you who don't already know me is not a good time in my day. I made it to the airport and to my gate and then disaster struck. A group of American girls were in the airport and where being SO FREAKIN LOUD and absolutely made me get up and get my application to permenatly never go back to America. It was 6am and they were acting as if it was 10 at night. Talking about bra straps. I do not jest. Each of them also had a stuffed animal that they were carrying. I wanted to throw up.

so blah blah plane rides were fine and I made it to Athens. There I waited for my Aunt's friend to arrive and we Began the 45 minute metro ride to her daughter's house, where we were staying. We made it and met up with my mother and Aunt and got adjusted to the area and time difference a little. The 3 of us (Aunt mother and daughter) went out to explore and even though all the things ended up being closed we were able to see the acropolis , parthonan from a distance and some other old ancient sites. I also climed up a rocky hill and had an amazing view of the entire city. We stopped for some Sangria and Tzikite (which I will spell again when I have more time)and then continued exploring a little before heading back to the apartment. There we were greeted with a homemade greek dinner of stuffed zucchini and tomoatoes and amazing potatoes. It was soooo good to have a homecooked meal and not have to do it myself! We then just hung out here and got some baklava and just sit on the couch with the doors open and the warm air comming in. Basically the best night ever to just relax and not be cold. Then I had the best nights sleep in the best bed I have slept in in months.

So other people want to get on the computer so i have to go but basically Athens/Greece is amazing and I always said I never want to leave.... and it's slowqly comming true. More later!

stalagmites, stalactites, and a tub of lard... Crazy night in Brno, Česká republika

Laying on my bed listening to Dave Matthews and coughing, I decided to update the blogg right away, even though I have spent sufficient time crying my eyes out from the lack of comments recieved on my blogg after all the hard work I put into writing it. It's fine my feelings are only semi-completely hurt.

So NYU trip to Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic. I had no idea what to expect honestly, being as a lot of the NYU sponsered trips have turned into complete disasters I was hoping this free overnight adventure would change that steak of bad vacays! We borded the bus at 9am to be greeted with the most interesting bus driver in the world, who Im pretty sure is blind as 2 seconds into our trip we ended up trying to drive through a construction scene and ended up driving completely over a tram stop sidewalk. Here we go! Luckily we made it to the first stop... which was not expected whatsoever. We pit-stoped at Skanzen, an old Czech village that is preserved as a museum thing now. For those of you at home think Geneese Country Muesum without the actors. aka extremely boring. Sorry. But it kinda was, and they only had Czech guides so we basically only knew what Misa could translate on the tour. At least we were able to use to WC for free.

So then it was back on the bus for an obscene amount of time and found out way to the caves! Ater a nice 2.4km hike through the woods we ended up at this little train thing that took us to the cave area.

FOr the caves we were given a walking tour of the first part and they were ablsolutely amazing! I have never been in a legit cave before and it was just like they look in the movies. I was really intrigued by them and now, I plan on studying caves. Not really.

Then after the walking part we got into BOATS and took a boat tour of the rest of the caves because there is no walking path. that was probably the coolest part. NYU actually came through this time!

So after the caves we went to the city of Brno and checked into our hotel, which was actually pretty nice, especially considering we have been staying in hostels for the past 3 months. Clarke and I were in the honeymoon sweet (haha basically)and it was huge and the beds were soooo comfortable. So after a little chill time NYU took us out to dinner at a medevil resturant. ummm it was interesting. At first they only served us lentles, bread, pickles, and what looked like mashed potatoes and turned out to be an entire dish of lard. this was the first hour and I was starting to lose it, or as someone put it my sim dimond went from green to red, very quickly. Then they brought out a huge thing of these amazing potatoes and a huge platter of as many kinds of meat that you can imagine, and sparklers. It was quite intertaining and the food didn't taste that bad! After dinner we walked around the town for a little and then headed back for a nice sleep in those comfortable beds!

In the morning after free hotel breakfast we took a tour of Brno which was really nice but it was raining so it was pretty misserable. Brno is a nice city, much smaller than prague and not as active but it was a relaxing time, which was nice. After the tour we borded the bus and went to Telč, a UNESCO town in the Czech Republic. Here we went on a tour of a beautiful chateau and then walked around the town... for about 15 minutes because it was sooo cold and we were all so tired. But it was a really beautiful city.

So then we took the bus back to the Praha and ended the free trip to Brno. Overall it was a really great trip and it was really nice to see more of the Czech Republic and the countryside along with it. Although I have learned one important thing on this trip. Americans are awful especially in other countries. So when you hear that Europeans hate Americans and you get offended, blame those disrespectful American tourists, and there are plenty of them.

Cheers! You're in Dublin love!

As I sit here drinking my 15th cup of tea and blowing my nose every 5 seconds I can finally say that after this entry I am fully caught up with my blogging!

I want to begin with my favorite conversation I had this weekend in the lovely english speaking country of Ireland. It occured in the Jameson Distilary with a large American with 2 piercings in his chin:

Large American: (after hearing us speak) oh Americans! its been so long since I have heard that!
Me: haha oh how long have you been here?
Large American: not here but I have been in the UK for 25 days. what about you?
Me: over 3 months, but in the Czech Republic, so hearing english is something new
Large American: oh

Why did I find this funny? Because they speak the same language in the UK as they do in America.. so mr. Large American a 25 day vacation in an english speaking country is nothing much to brag about to someone who hasn't been in an english speaking country in 3 months.

Anyway Ireland was absolutely amazing. I loved every minute of being there and can't wait to return. Still haven't found my irish husband so I have to return for another go.

I arrived in Dublin around midnight on thursday after a disaster with a delayed takeoff and the worst flight ever. All I wanted was sleep but no, instead I got a bumpy flight and a very nice but talkative frenchman who lived in North Dakota for a while. Once getting off the plane I found something that I haven't seen since America. EVERYTHING was in English. Signs, announcements, TV, information...it was like a dream come true. I was able to ask how to get into the city and get directions to my hostel no problem. I was the most excited person in the world and Im pretty sure the bus driver thought of me as insane. Anyway made it to the hostel. It was probably the worst place I have ever stayed. I just needed somewhere to sleep for the night, and I almost got that. It was only 8 euros for the night so im ok with that, but it was literly a couple of springs with a sheet over it and a piece of paper for a pillow. I was also sleeping in a room with 20 other people and had to go downstairs to get to a bathroom. I don't wish to talk about it anymore. But I had the feel for real backpacking.... and I guess if its that cheap why not but don't expect your back to feel good after that!

Firday I made it to the other hostel which looked much much better, and probably had less STDs as well. My Aunt's plane was late so I just chilled in the lobby for a while and talked to some fellow travelers and compared stories. Thats why I love hostels... you meet so many interesting people. Once she arrived we left our luggage and got some breakfast aka BAGELS AND COFFEE. Western breakfast rocks!
We got train tickets and borded a train to Dún Laoghaire, which is a town along the coast. It was absolutely beautiful. The day started out cold and rainy but by the time we began walking it was a little chilly but the sun was shinning and everything looked perfect. We walked along the water and saw some countryside and rocks and everything was just so Irish I loved it.

We past by the James Joyce Museum, Sandy cove in which people were swimming and apparently they do all year round, and some other beaches and rocky cliffs. there were all these paths leading down these grassy hills to the waterside. You know everything you hear about Irelnd.... it's true. We ddn't see a lot of the countryside or the mountains but it was still really magical.


We went into this castle in a little town nearby and were given a tour by an actor from the viking time. He tried to cut off my hair. not funny. Ok it was actually really funny and enjoyable. Got lunch in the town and I had the best soup and Irish soda bread which is my favorite! and....we had....CHAI! and not caj like tea in the CZ but actual chai latte as in leaf and bean style. Made my entire day.

We took the train back and went to the hostel for a little to get ready to find somewhere for dinner. Since it was good friday everything was closed and no where was serving alcohol. We ended up findng a legit irish resturant near temple bar and had a great Irish Meal. I had the best mushroom soup I have ever had, partically because it didn't really taste like mushrooms, and I had cabbage, boxty pancakes whihc are basically potatoe dumplings, and more soda bread. and FREE TAP WATER which also excited me probably a little too much. After dinner we walked around a bit but everything was closed so we just went back and got some much needed sleep.

The next morning brought some of our own directed sight seeing of Dublin including Trinity college, Dublin Castel, St. Patricks and some other churches, a park where we became friends with some spanish men traveling, and some old viking gates and whatnot. After a lunch of bagel sandwiches (I couldnt get enough of these!) we went to... get tattoos. Thats right. Sam has been inked. We both got Irish Tattoos, My Aunt a celtic knot on her back and I got a shamrock thing on my side. i know. cliche getting a green shamrock tattoo but I love it so there.

After the inking session we headed over to the Guiness factory to find it had closed for the day, so to cure the depression that set in we found ourselves bonding at one of ireland's oldest pubs and having my first Guiness. So much better than expected to have the real stuff. We went for dinner and shared a yummy pizza and dessert and headed off to an authentic irish pub for the true Irish Experience. It was fun...had a great time scoping out the irish bartenders and watching a guy dressed as a pear walk around.,.. no comment. It was a good night.

The next day we got up and headed over to the Guiness factory and finally made it inside. It was huge and something I didn't know was that Guiness the beer was the creator of the GUiness book of records of whatever its called. So cool. So the factory itself was really cool and I learned a lot about how the beer is made and everything, and we learned how to pour the perfect pint. Thats right I have a certificate and everything... professional!
The top of the factory is a bar and it has the most amazing view in the entire world. The view was especially great being that the sun was shining and everyone in Ireland is in a good mood all the time so... well basically perfect.

After the Guiness place we went to the Jameson Whiskey Distillary. It was really expensive to get a tour so we went to the cafe and I had an irish coffe with Jameson. I don't like it. Whiskey is not for Samantha. But it seemed like a cool place anyway and by that point I was still just really excited to be in Ireland so it worked for me!

So after that I had to catch my plane home, but all in all it was one of my favorite trips hands down. I don't know what it is about Ireland but I am and have been and always will be in love with it and I can't wait to go back!!!

The three days I was in Prague

So post morocco and pre dublin was the week that everyone in the world visited Prague.

Basically.

Beginning with LAUREN!!!! who flew over from London with her two friends from over there. I met up with them on Saturday morning and we did the New Europe free tour.
-Plug for them: its a really great tour! I had been on it before, and actually will later in this post but it is really informational and they do a good job telling the same sarcastic bad jokes on every tour no matter the tour guide. I think thats my favorite part is that the training has to inlude a specific script that you have to memorize and it includes all the same awful jokes. I bet they don't think people will go on it more than once and notice, but for those of us who have officialy been on it over 3 times... we know. I wonder if I should write them a letter or something. I think I at least deserve some compensation or my picture in the brochure for this little advertisemet. The tour was good but for those of you planning on taking it, Czech history is pretty intense and there is a lot of it, so don't expect to be a "czechspert" as they will tell you you have become. I'm not even a czechspert and I've been here for 3 months, so Dear new Europe, might want to drop that joke.

Anyway: After the tour I got to see a bit of the Prague half marathon, which was really exciting and while I knew I couldn't run it because of spring break, I kinda wish I had. New life goal. Run the Prague full marathon. Maybe after I graduate. NO I will after I graduate. I better start saving money now... oh and maybe running more. If I start training now maybe I'll be ready in 2012.
We went to paneria to get some lunch and then walked around old town for a little, showing them NYU, getting Gelato (ok while I got gelato) and watched the clock go off. I swear I don't know how people live in prague for so long and don't burn down the clock. Then we headed back to my apartment so I could finish some homework and the girls could shower and relax a little.

For dinner we hit up Pizzaria West for some yummy dinner and desert, and then we headed over to Václavské náměstí to meet up with a friend from Madrid too. We found this really cute bar that I have never been to or seen before and got wine and talked for a while. It was nice and low key which is definitely what I needed since I was still tired from spring break. Actually today is the first day of rest I have had since before spring break. ugh.

Day 2, aka Sunday was day that Sam had to do some homework and get her presentation for the next day ready, so the girls went exploring around Prague. I met them for dinner at U Golema, this amazing Czech restaurace in the Jewish Quarter of Prgue. I went all Czech on them and had garlic soup and goulash for dinner, and it was absolutely AMAZING.
something I noticed- I try and speak Czech to people in resturants and stores and they answer back sometimes in Czech and sometimes in english. Is that because I reek of America, my czech is really bad and they just cant listen to me speak it anymore? or, and Im hoping this is the answer, they can tell I speak english and want to practice? whatever the reason its not helping my czech to improve and since I plan on leaving this country fluent and forget all my English, I need people in this country to start coopperating. After dinner I took them to one of my favorite bars to try Becherovka, a good Czech Liquor, and then went back to my place.

Monday meant class for Sam while everyone was out exploring. Cultures presentation went well, had a good discussion and now have a lot of research to do on AIDS. Czech class killed me as we found out what was going to be on the midterm wednesday. I don't want to talk about it. After class I found Lauren and her friends and My friend Andrew from high school and his friend who is studying in Denmark with him and we all went back to my Apartment. I had to leave them all again to go to class, but do the math and you will see that therewas 5, yes 5, visitors staying in my room. It became a bit crowded but was a bonding experience if nothing else.

Ater class I met the boys for dinnerin Mala Stanà and then we went to grab their stuff and headed home, met the girls who had gone to sader and they all slept while I did some homework. Lauren had to leave at 7am, and Im sad she is gone but SOOOOO glad I got to see her and meet her friends!
That day Andrew and company went out while I did some studying and homework and fixed the fridge problem that I mentioned in an eariler post, And Then go to class. Luckily that day I recieved a PACKAGE from America with cookies, coffee, peanut butter and my white sweater that had been left behind. I went home and prepared myself for a night of Studying for my midterm. It happened but with many distractions in the true Jaurisova fashion, and so by 3am I gave up studying and just got up earlier instead. I was a complete zombie the next day but I think I did ok on my test. I'll find out wednesday hopefully. Later that night everyone here went out with my friends and introduced them to the beer factory. I'm pretty sure everyone had fun.

Thursday we got up and made some pancakes, however there was no syrup in this country so we had to make strawberry jam work. They went to the jewish quarter and I went to meet up with another friend from Madrid who was in town, and went on half of the free tour....again. same bad jokes.I should sign up to be a guide.
Then I met back up with the boys and introduced them to Smažený sýr and my favorite coffee place.

After all of this, I packed my bags and took a night plane to Dublin.... so its been about 2 weeks, and no sleep. Get ready for one Irish weekend filled with no sleep and then this blog is all caught up. All you reading this owe me! ;)

"Is good for you, is not good for me". Finishing out Spring break in Africa

Finally getting around to completeing blogg entries about spring break! I know it was almost 2 weeks ago but a lot has been going on, which you will hear about in future posts. Im sick now so I'm guessing im going to be getting a lot of blogging done from my bed in the next couple days.

The is the post about Africa. Thats right I would like to stress that I finished out my spring break in the 3rd continent this trip and my 4th all together. Even though I have never been to countries in the heart of Africa, I have a feeling that Morocco is NOTHING like the rest of Africa. It reminded me a little of Turkey, being that their cultures are so similar and its the same religion, but it was also extremely different, especially being that I felt a lot safer in turkey than I did in Morocco. But the good news is I made it out alive and now I'll just begin at the start...

We arrived in Morocco in the early afternoon, and luckily I was beginning to recover from my little sick episode in Madrid. My stomach still hurt for about the next entire day, but at least I was able to walk, wasn't throwing up, and could keep down food in small amounts.
SO we get to the airport and take almost a half hour trying to locate the only atm in the entire airport, and then head outside to get a cab into town. The cab actually wasn't that expensive. The conversion rate was about 8 MAD to 1 USD, and a cab from the airport was 50 Dirhums each. 1st thing we noticed, the roads were a hot mess. there are dividing lines, however they dont mean much. There are traffic lights, but if you think you can make it, then they dont really matter either. Also- bikes and moter bikes are big there, and by big I mean everyone rides them. And by everyone I mean entire families, on 1 bike. Thats right. If you don't know me then I am very nervous in some traffic settings from past unlucky experiences, so the entire drive I was grabbing onto everyone in the backseat hoping that we wouldn't hit one of the scooters carring a mother father and their 2 small children. We made it to the little parking area and aguide led us to the Riad we were staying in...and its a good thing he did because to get there we had to go through a maze of small dirt streets inbetween houses and dodge scooters and walk across a bridge of moldy wood and we finally made it. The Riad was really beautiful inside, and the owner spoke czech randomly, so instant bonding moment!


We headed out to find the huge square where there were markets and snake charmers and the works, and after getting lost a few times we finally maed it and decded to sit down for some lunch. The place we found offered moroccan food and pizza.... but the couscous was really good and it was a great atmosphere. It was actually pretty hot so we sat outside and enjoyed the sun and the surroundings. After lunch we walked around the square a little, however this is very dangerous. People will come up to you and try to sell things and even give you something like a small henna tattoo and then charge you for it. You really have to keep guard or you will end up paying for a picture with a monkey, although that was totally worth it!


We hit up a couple of important things to check out, like the palaces (there were many) and a tomb site and an old Mosque and basically just enjoyed taking in the culture and the weather and the different surroundings from what we are used to.


After taking in most of the sights in Marrakech (did I forget to say we were in Marrakech? we were. my bad) So we found some other NYU students that were there and we went to see their hotel, which was basically the ritz compared to ours... which I forgot to tell you about...

So our RIad was really nice, and then we got to our room. It was on the roof, which was actually really cool but it made it really cold in the morning. We had three beds set on plywood in this room that contained the beds and 1 window and a light door that didn't lock and kept in no heat. The best part was the bathroom. a room with a door that closed and then there was a toliet, whith a door/piece of wood that closed half way. No sink. and the shower. the worst/most interesting part. It was, I guess a closet like thing that you had to climb into and it was a sauna room that they heated with a wood fire. Then there was a bucket that you would stand in and water came out of this pipe thing on the ceiling. It smelled awful and was really... gross. I didn't shower. I know thats disgusting. I don't want to talk about it.

So we met up with the NYU kids and hung out on their roof for a little while a couple of them tried to figure out the hookas they bought. Then we went to dinner at this really nice outside resturant that had picnic tables and the cooks were all right there. I had a chicken kebab and it was amazing! Plus the bread they serve is sooo good. its a round loaf of bread and comes with 2 kinds of chili sauce and some olives. sooo good!!! After dinner we went back to their roof and hung out until really late.

In the morning the three of us got on a train and took the 3 hour ride to Casablanca. The countryside was really beautiful to watch and I somehow managed to stay awake for most of the trip. Lots of sheep and cactuses (cacti?) and a completely different view than I have ever seen before. When we got to Casablanca, I was soooo excited. I am in LOVE with this place in my head because of the movie so to be there in person was so exciting. We bought a map and found a cab driver and were on our way. The cab driver offered us a tour of the city for 100 MAD each, which actually turned out to be the best decision we made. He took us to see everything in Casablanca that was worth seeing, and none of them were really within walking distance of eachother so this was perfect. and he stopped to let us take pictures and even took some family pictures for us. We saw the 2nd largest Mosque in the world, the hippodrome, important politials buildings, the american embassy, some rich neighborhoods and even Rick's Cafe- which was created from the movie!!!! (however it was way too expensive to eat at) Everything was so beautiful and I think I really liked Casablanca more than Marrakech. 2 Very different places.


After the tour we went to hang out on the rocky beach in the ocean and just admire the beauty and enjoy the warm weather and sun. It was perfect. We got the train back and got some dinner at another outdoor resturant. ALSO- there are these cookies they sell on the street that are SOOOOO good and I have no idea what they are but I want them every day of my life now. We went back to our Riad and sat in this area on the roof with couches and the walls made of carpet, and just bonded for a little (slash I fell alsleep and they bonded). In the morning I got up and went to do some shopping and try the amazing orange juice that they sell, which is the best orange juice I have ever had in my life. When I got back we had breakfast in the Riad, which was AMAZING crepes and bread and tea and orange juice.


and that was it. Spring break over and on a plane back to Praha. It was overall a really great spring break and I had a ton of fun. I loved the people I was traveling with and the places we went and the weather just made everything so much better. I loved spring break, but I also was glad to be back home in prague, even though crazyness ensued beginning the minute I returned. more on that in another post...