TESCO?

Tesco. The mysterious, unfindable grocery store.

Jake, Devon, Donnie and I decided to venture out in the morning (Saturday) to get some more groceries at Tesco, the large department store here in Praha. After one wrong turn off the metro, we spent the next two and half hours wandering the city in search of this store =)

What may seem like a pointless hunt, turned into a great opportunity to see the city. From the metro to the tram, we traveled all over! We saw Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, the Royal Opera House and much more. Finally we gave in and called our contact, asking for directions. Turns out... that the grocery store section of Tesco was actually in the basement of a store we had already been to! Not knowing any Czech takes you on quite an adventure...

Another cheap shopping trip sent us back to our apartment to unpack and relax. Later in the evening we met two of the other girls in our program, Liza and Christine. I met them at the metro and then we ran into Donnie and Jake on our way back to the apartment. We all headed towards the Nove Mesto district to check out a few local pubs. We ended up in The Shamrock, a local Irish pub. Getting to know everyone was great, since our program is small, we will be spending a lot of time together.

Finally being here, I still feel like I'm in a haze. I feel a bit lost in the huge and beautiful city. There are definitely going to be a lot of adjustments, and I know I will be stretched. I couldn't ask for anything more...

Prague, you are full of surprises.

My bed.
Desk. Dresser. Shelves. The other side is Devon's part of the room.

We were met at the airport by the student representative of CEECE our study abroad program, Natasha. She helped us get some money out of the ATM, NOTHING IS IN ENGLISHHH. We hopped in a taxi and ventured through the city to our apartment. There are a few inches of snow on the ground, but the buildings and the landscape is still beautiful.

Surprise #1.
While we all thought I was getting a roommate (GIRL) to fill our 4 person apartment, the numbers were off, and its me and 3 guys :/

We were a bit shocked at first, but there is honestly nothing we can do about it. There is one larger bedroom that they have sectioned off with all the furniture, so it is basically two rooms. I'm in the back part and Devon is in the front. Our other roommate, Donnie, is from Minnesota. He seems nice and friendly, so I'm sure it will all work out =)

When we all arrived, Natasha (the student rep) took us on a quick walk to show us all the bus/metro stops and the nearest grocery store, then left us on our own!

Surprise #2.
In the area we are living, no one speaks English since we aren't in the main part of the city.

So the four of us head to the local grocery store, where we are quite overwhelmed to say the least. Not only are all of the labels in Czech, but we have no clue what to buy! The one nice thing is the food is so cheap! We got loaves of fresh bread for 5o cents! So after an hour of throwing random things into our baskets we decide we might have what we need. Then comes the line.

Everyone is talking to us in Czech and we have no clue what is going on. We stare blankly. Four hundred Czech crowns ($15) later I headed back to the apartment.

Surprise #3.
They don't really know what a kitchen set it, or should have.

Lets just say that there are no sharp knives. 3 bowls. A pot. A pan. And TONS of empty shelves. I think our idea of cooking well just went out the door =)

BUT needless to say, it is quite nice and cozy! I'm all unpacked and moved in. I guess I'm calling this home for the next four months!

Let's Go Exploring.

We left Dublin around 8 and flew back to London. We headed straight to our storage unit and dropped off our carry-on bags, the seem to be getting heavier =) Since we had already been in London for awhile, we all had a sense of our favorite parts. We decided to split up for the afternoon and go exploring...

I headed back towards the British Museum where I had remembered seeing a bunch of small book stores. And there I buried myself. Books on art, history, literature, fashion, architecture, they all were crammed in shelves so close together you could barely walk through. I plopped down on the floor and began reading. While the past 2 weeks have been wonderful, they were a bit stressful as well, so being able to just relax and read was just what I needed. After three shops and two purchases later (Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer and This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun) I headed to Starbucks. We were all meeting there later and I was tired of walking so I settled in a corner with a coffee and a book and read my afternoon away (I finished This Blinding Absence of Light by the end of the day, I highly recommend it!)

Six o'clock rolled around and we all met up for dinner at a cute little whole in the wall crepe shop, Creme de la Crepe. I'm in love with crepes, they are so delicious!

London decided that it had given us enough nice weather and gave us some rain, just as we had to go pick up our luggage :/ We got on the tube and went back to our storage unit, picked up our luggage and trucked in through the rain back onto the tube. Since our wallets were running dry we just decided to stay the night in the airport.

Well who knew that a lot of people sleep in the airport. Seats were a hot commodity and we all tried to find some bit of comfort. We managed to get a few hours of sleep, but were forced awake by the noise and the cold.

Check-in. Bag drop. Security. Waiting. Boarding. Flying. Baggage Claim. Customs. Prague.

Tourists are friendly.

Inside Dublin Castle.
The Guinness Storehouse.
Barrels. They are really hard to make.

Well this has turned out to me a great day.

We began with a free tour of London that began in the middle of the city. We saw City Hall, Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, the Viking area, St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Green and much more. On our tour we met a bunch of really cool people, two from Australia and two from Italy (originally from Toronto and Nebraska).

After the tour was over we all decided to walk over to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. The self-guided tour took us level by level showing us everything about Guinness. From the four ingredients to the detailed process of making the beer, it was all quite interesting. As it was getting late, the whole group decided to head up to the Gravity Bar for our free drink. The Gravity Bar is set at the very top of the building, all the walls are glass, giving you an incredible view of the entire city. We sat around talking and getting to know each other, it was just really cool to meet people who are all experiencing different things in their travels.

From here we all headed back towards the city center and found a nice Irish restaurant for dinner. It was by far the most expensive meal yet, but well worth it after a long day. I am still super lame/sick and stayed in tonight. I just want to get better!

We head to Prague on Friday, so I will definitely have photos up by the weekend!

Goodbye Belfast. Hello Dublin.

Since Jane had to go to school on Monday, I decided to take the day off and rest in hopes of getting better while the guys went out to climb this mountain. After sleeping in, I spent the afternoon watching daytime soaps with Jane's mom =) When everyone returned we had a great dinner cooked by Mrs. Brown, packed up our things and went out to rent a movie.

This morning we all woke up early to say our goodbyes to Jane =( I can't describe how thankful we all are for her and her family taking us in for the past 4 days. They were so gracious in sharing their home, family and delicious cooking with us! We packed up our things and caught the bus into town to get a bus south to Dublin.

We arrived here around 2:30 earlier today, found our hostel and settled in. After walking around a good bit of the city we weren't able to see too much. Many of the buildings and tourist attractions close pretty early in the afternoon =( We grabbed dinner at a nice sports pub in town and settled in to watch yet another Liverpool game. Unfortunately, the game ended in a tie (0-0). I called it an early night and headed to bed in hopes of sleeping off the remnants of my cold.

Sunday walks.

Devon, Jane, Jake and myself at the Portrush Beach. This dog was great.
Portrush.
Dunlace Castle.
Myself, Jake and Devon at Dunlace Castle.

After a late night, we all decided to make it a late morning as well. We began the day with the Irish breakfast, ulster fry. Basically a huge meal with bacon, sausage, potato bread, soda bread, egg and beans.

It was a damp morning, but of course, that wasn't going to stop us! We headed down to the beach in Portrush. Once again, it was so beautiful with the waves and the yellow sand. There were crazy surfers riding the waves and tons of people out walking the beach with their dogs.

We drove over to Dunlace Castle, seated on the North Antrim coast. The remnants that are left from this castle were incredible. We climbed up and down stairs and reached a look out that was directly over the ocean. It was beautifullllll.

We said goodbye to Jane's apartment and the lovely Portstewart and drove back to Belfast to make it to church. It was a night young adults service that was quite like services back home. We all liked it a lot! We just spent the rest of the night at Jane's house with a few of her friends Megan and Alan.

Still sickkkkk =(

I'm Jealous.

The Antrim Coast.
Jane and I walking in the countryside.
Climbing up Giant's Causeway.
Jake, Devon and I on top of Giant's Causeway.
Jane and I.

I'm jealous of this country. Of it's beautiful coast and the sheep on the hills. I'm jealous of its silence amidst the loud waves.

Ireland continues to surprise me. We woke up a bit late to sunshine pouring through the windows. Mary Jane's family was wonderful, letting us stay the night, cooking us delicious food and giving us a true Belfast experience.

After a great breakfast we packed up and headed towards the northern coast to MJ's college apartment. We stopped at this wooden bridge hike thing... I can't remember the name. A nice walk along the coast line was a bit chilly but absolutely gorgeous. The rolling hills covered in old farm houses and sheep was a nice change to Ohio's flat land.

From here we kept driving to the Giant's Causeway. Legend has it that an Irish giant starting building it as a bridge to Scotland, to fight a Scottish giant... or something like that (google it). Another great walk along the coast line took us all these cube-like stones piled on top of each other. We climbed up them! On our walk back it started raining, but not for too long.

We finally made it to MJ's apartment in Port Stewart. It is this beautiful little coastal town =) Her apartment overlooks the ocean with great big bay windows. We freshened up a bit and went into town to a nice restaurant for dinner.

Unfortunately I started getting sick yesterday, so I stayed in tonight while the rest went out to the pub. I hoping it is just a sore throat that doesn't last long :/

Ireland. MJ. Cougars.

Up in this glass dome overlooking the city.
Belfast city.
View from the dome. City Hall and the Belfast Wheel.
Deb, Jane and I at the Botanic Inn.

5 o'clock and we were up.

We caught a train to Stanstead Airport at 6:15 and arrived without any problems around 7ish. With no problems with our baggage sizes and all checked in, we boarded our flight to Belfast to see Mary Jane!

We arrived to the airport a few minutes early and sat down to wait for Mary Jane. And 10 minutes passed, then 30, and then we began to wonder.... So after a slow purchase of some internet time, some bad attempts at skype phone calls and a review of emails and FB messages, Jake realized that we had never told her an exact day =) She knew the time, but we had just given her a range of days, unfortunately beginning on the 23rd... a day later! Finally we got a hold of her on Skype and she was there to pick us up within the hour. She was great =)

Back at her house, we had some tea and biscuits and caught up talking. Her friend Alan was there and provided us with some jokes and laughter. The sun was shining, so we bundled up and drove into the Belfast City Centre to walk around. We saw the City Hall, the Belfast Wheel and went up this really great glass dome that let you see the Belfast sky line. The mountains were beautiful, a countryside that I am very jealous of! We walked down towards the river and the shipyard where the two cranes that were used to build the Titanic still stood.

MJ's mum had made us a great home cooked dinner, greatly appreciated! Once again followed by tea and biscuits (something we really need to bring back to the states). The four of us went out to go to a few pubs and meet up with one of Jane's friends. We started out at the Crown Bar, and old Saloon style bar. It was really neat inside, with each booth gated in like an old stable. The crowd was on the older side so we set out for the Botanic Inn. A really large place, full of live music and a great atmosphere. We stayed there for awhile just talking about lots of things. The place filled up quickly and to avoid screaming across the table, we decided to head out.

Tomorrow we are heading up north to the coast and to see some of the land up there! It has been another exhausting day, as you can see we really don't take a break =)

Lovinggggg it.

Art. Parks. Theatre.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Millennium Bridge.
St. Paul's Cathedral.
Baker Street, home of Sherlock Holmes.
Devon and I in Camden Market.
Queen's Theatre: Les Miserables. It was phenomenal.

So London seems to like us by gracing us with surprisingly beautiful weather. We started off Thursday morning a bit later, a few extra hours of sleep did us all good.

We hopped on the tube and headed towards the Tate Modern Museum. We walked around the city for a bit, crossed some beautiful bridges (the sun was just gorgeous on the water) and checked out Shakespeare's Globe Theater before heading in.

A very industrial looking building, the Tate Modern was full of galleries and exhibits portraying all the different era's of modern art. Warhol, Pollock, and Picasso were just a few. Seeing some of the displays made us reconsider what we call "art." All in all, the museum was great! As we were heading out, we grabbed a few sausages from a stand for lunch and walked across the Millennium Bridge.

From here we walked around St. Paul's Cathedral, the architecture is simply amazing. It was a bit too expensive for us tour, but seeing the outside was just fine.

Jake had an appointment with a doctor in London from his surgery, so we all ventured toward Regent Square to wait for him. After the appointment (all went well!) we walked through Regent Park. Lots of dogs, birds and squirrels were enjoying the sunny weather =) From Regent Park we took a few turns and ended up on the famous Baker Street! We looked around in the Sherlock Holmes shop, right below 221b.

We hopped back on the tube and went back towards our hostel, into Camden Town. Little did we know that right down the street from our hostel was an amazing market! The street was alive, with food vendors, loud music and a really young crowd. At the end of the street was the Camden Stables Market. It used to be an old horse hospital that they have beautifully renovated into separate "stalls" for each shop. From vintage shops, independent designers, and antique collectors to punk stores, wooden jewelry shops and book stores; each stall held its own character. Thankfully I didn't have any money on me... or it would have ALL been gone.

Then came my FAVORITE part of the day. Les Miserables!!!! We found the cheapest tickets and got the cheapest seats (second row from the back) to see this amazing show! Even from far up, we had a perfect view. The story was amazing, the singing was superb and the set design and costuming made me want to drop out of GCC and go to design school. I couldn't have asked for a better way to end our stay in London =)

To say the least, London was fantastic. The buildings, lights, the energy, it was all I thought it would be. I would love to come back!

Tickets, tickets?

The Imperial War Museum.
Preserved skeleton in the British Museum.
Sculpture of the Greek philosophers in the British Museum.
Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Today was another early start for us, as we woke up to a slight rain outside.

As we have finally gotten a hang of the tube, it is by far our main form of transportation. So we headed down to Hyde Park for a walk through the beautiful grounds. Although the trees and flowers failed to impress us with any blossoms, the walk was still wonderful.

We made it to Buckingham Palace in time to see the changing of the guard. Hundreds of tourists were gathered to see everything, making it hard for us to get a close look. From there we headed to the British Museum...

The museum was gigantic! We began in the ancient sculptures of Egypt, and from there the three of us split up in order to see our favorite exhibits. From the Roman busts, Egyptian mummies and Chinese pottery to the African tribal masks and Japanese silkscreens, I was continually amazed. We spent about three hours walking and admiring, and I'm sure we could have spent much more time!

Since we are poor college students, we grabbed sandwich from a deli and ate outside in the cold rain (its cheaper to do take out). And from here, we got back on the tube and headed out towards the Imperial War Museum (recommendation of Jake.)

It was sweet! While I am a girl and not totally obsessed with war and fighting, I enjoyed myself here. Huge tanks and missiles greeted us at the door. There was a submarine that had been re-created to give you an idea of how the sailors lived in those cramped quarters. We also saw a bullet (if that is what you call it) from the largest gun ever made! The second floor featured a video on genocide and social injustice; a depressing yet moving film. From here, we headed up the stairs to the Holocaust exhibit...

Beginning with the rise of Hitler and the invasion of Poland, we were taken through dark halls of pictures and videos of this horrible part of our history. I was once again reminded of what evil humans are capable of, and what we must never let happen again. A quote at the end of the exhibit that stuck with me... " All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to remain silent."

We left the museum as it was closing and headed towards Arsenal in hopes of buying tickets for the game this evening. The tube was packed with fans and the streets were like a parade. After multiple attempts of buying cheaper tickets, we gave up, not willing to spend up to $100. Jake settled on just watching the Liverpool game at a local sports pub, O'Neils. The pub was packed with fans from both teams (Liverpool and Totteham), and the spirits were high. In the end, Liverpool prevailed with a score of 2-0 over Totteham. Hungry, Jake and I grabbed some take out Chinese and headed back to the hostel to meet up with Devon.

We are once again exhausted from a long day of walking and sight-seeing, we are just taking it easy tonight. Tomorrow is our last day and hopefully we will finish up seeing everything!

I'm loving this cityyyy.

CORRECTION.

I'm terribly sorry Rho's. I failed to mention our lovely skype chat Monday night. For this I apologize. Sam, Stuart, Ben, Jeff and Mack it was lovely talking to you! We miss you all =)

London. Walk with me...

Classic. London phone booth.
London Bridge.
St. Paul's Cathedral.
Trafalgar Square.

So after our long trek of hauling our luggage around the city to our storage unit, the three of us headed out on foot to explore bits of the city on foot.

We ended up in Piccadilly Circus to see the beautiful area lit up by the night lights. The National Gallery, a monument to Horatio Nelson, and beautiful fountains caught our attention and our cameras! (My internet service is blocking the uploaded app at the moment, so pics won't be on here till Friday.)

Since we are trying to save money, we skipped dinner and picked up a few snacks at the local grocery store. Walking all day on no sleep and little food made it an early night for us all.

This morning we awoke, well rested and ready for another day of exploring the city. We took advantage of a free tour of London and saw so much of the royal part of the city; Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Parliament, Westminster Abby and Big Ben are just a few. Our tour guide was an excellent help in educating us on the history of London and its government. After a quick lunch we split from the tour group and headed to the National Gallery.

Here we spent three or so hours walking through room after room of beautiful paintings. From Van Gogh to Davinci, we admired paintings small to large. To look back centuries and be able to connect with a different world through art was incredible.

Exhausted from walking the majority of the day, we found a local coffee shop and took a short break. From here we headed up and down the streets of London and made our way to the tube where we rode towards the Tower of London and the London Bridge. We were met with a beautiful view of the Thames River lined with boats and restaurants. A windy walk across the Tower of London Bridge was proved well worth it!

With our feet hurting and our stomachs rumbling we found a nice pub and relaxed for a quick meal. We all feel as if we have seen so much, but know that there is so much to experience in this city =)

In a city where tourists stand out like a sore thumb, the fashion of Londoner's is at its best. From twelve to seventy years old, heels, boots and dress coats are all that is worn. The men in suits and scarves at every corner. Their dress has yet to expose a pair of sweatpants or t-shirts. I love it.

Arrived.

Stuart in the tractor.
It was gigantic.

I have to add this... Stuart graciously picked me up from the airport and we went to the Harrisburg farm show!

Well, after a lovely weekend at the Kern's, Jake and I were off to the Dulles airport in D.C.

We had no problems in the airport, and after a short wait we were boarding! A smooth six hour flight landed us in Heathrow around 9am.

We met Devon in the airport about an hour later. Looking like quite the tourists with all of our luggage, we found the underground and headed out towards Camden, where our hostel is located. Currently we are waiting in the bar below our hostel for check in to begin. We will venture out once again, dragging our suitcases, to our storage unit.

Then the adventures begin...