Post Italy

I know it has been quite some time since my last post, but i'll spare you with how busy i've been and all that blah blah because life gets crazy, and we all know that.

But Anyways... Let's get to the point. Tomorrow is thanksgiving and when reflecting on things that i'm grateful for my experience in Milan, Italy tops everything. 

Here I am.... 

Six months ago I was unknowingly preparing for the best experiences of my life. I knew I would have an amazing experience but I could never have imagined what my time abroad held in store. 

I can't even believe that it has already been that long since I was about to embark on the best adventure of my life thus far. I also can't even begin to describe how much I miss it. All of the things that annoyed me while I was there have gone up in smoke... to be honest I don't remember what most of them were and what I do seem fickle and insignificant compared to the incredible things that I experienced. 

I will always have a special place for Italy in my heart. I can't help but love the eccentric people and culture there and I know someday I will be back!  

I know this is probably going to be a weird, vague, sentimental post but it is really the only way I know how to begin to express what studying abroad was for me. 

I had expectations, as I think anyone does about.. well anything that they've planned for and put a lot effort towards. But, I have learned that rarely do expectations equal your experience and how can they when you jump into something that you have such little experience with. 

I expected to see all of the sights, and be a traveling maniac. Which I was. What I didn't expect was to come home and remember the little moments, as the defining moment of my time abroad. The little moments where I learned about myself. The things I gained from studying abroad weren't the things I expected at all. I expected to come home with a memory card full of amazing places, a bag full of beautiful things, and checks of the bucket list. What I came home with was surprising, but of much more worth. Not only did I come home with the pictures, and the scarves, and the everlasting memories but I came home with gratitude, tolerance, love, friendship, most of all perspective. I know it's about as cheesy as it gets but it's true. 

Not once in my life did I miss or appreciate my family so much. I love them. When you're out in the world by yourself, you realize how much family means. I don't want to ever take my family for granted. I would write in my journal and no matter what had happened to me that day I usually wound up writing about how much I appreciated and loved my family, especially my dad. 

The people that I would never have guessed became close friends. The trips that I planned became exceptional because of spontaneous moments that blew me away or the random people that I would have a laugh with. Submitting myself to varieties of cultures and people gave me a different perspective on my own life and the things that I value. I learned more about what I want to accomplish in my life than I ever have in a classroom. 

Potential Study Abroader's

I have heard people say that some experiences aren't for everyone, and maybe they aren't. But to those who are considering studying abroad. GO. It was all worth everything I had to do to get there. The money, the time spent filling out applications and visas, the stress, taking a fifth year in school, being pushed from my comfort zone, culture shock. All of it. There isn't one thing I regret about making the decision to study abroad and making it happen. The experience that you will have will be your own, and incomparable to anyone else's experience even those in your same program. It is the time in your life to be selfish, reflect on who you are and what you want. Find what you like and what you don't, get to know yourself. 

I'm not saying that it's perfect, or that it's easy. Life never is. What I am saying is that although you will experience difficulties; you will miss home, your friends, your family, your dog... etc. it is an experience that forces you to grow and in a way that I don't know is possible unless you are away from almost everything that is familiar. You will love it and you will hate it. But let's be honest you will mostly love it. 

If I could have told myself 6 months ago anything, I would tell myself to go into every situation with an open mind, make friends and connection with everyone that you can. Never waste a day, be spontaneous. Be YOU. Be the girl from Utah who rides horses, loves to laugh and be independent. Undoubtedly, these are all things that people had mentioned to me before I left and I wished that I had paid more attention.   

I know that my experience has changed me, and for the better. I am grateful for all of the opportunities I had to live the way that I did for those 6 months. I'm thankful for my family and friends who supported me and knew how important this was to me. 

Culture Shock

 Adjustment to life back in the states hasn't been what I thought. And honestly I feel as if i'm still adjusting. I don't remember the shock in Italy, maybe because I was so awestruck and excited but I definitely feel that the adjustment has been more difficult coming home. I realize that it's probably because i'm trying to fit back into my old mold but i'm not the same Rachel I was before I left. My perspective has changed and it's difficult for me to find out how I need to redirect my life in a way that I feel is meaningful. I am getting a little stir crazy, and miss the freedom I had in Italy constantly. I'm still trying to figure out that fine line of work, school, and living life. 

I don't know what I want, or where I'm going for certain but I'm trying to enjoy figuring it all out. 

"You don't need to have it all figured out to move forward."

Thanks to everyone who made those 6 months amazing!

Ahoj, Praha

The title of this post translates to Hello, Prague. Deep, right? Not really, but because I saw the John Lennon wall and Beatles are on my mind, You say goodbye, I say Hello... Prague.  

Now that that's out of the way i'll begin the journey. A friend from my program, Claire, and I decided pretty early in the semester that we both wanted to use the Italian holiday that was last Thursday and make a trip to the Czech Republic to see Prague. I had also gotten the great idea from one of my friends that studied abroad last semester that it would be possible to throw in Budapest as well. Both of these countries intrigued me and I wasn't quite sure what to expect from central/eastern Europe but I wanted to see what they had to offer. And here I am, still exhausted a day later but I came home with only happy memories which makes the long train & bus ride as well as spending the night in the airport and flying, yet another, Ryanair flight all worth it! 

The plane tickets to Prague were pretty pricey, so we went the cheaper route and took a 14 hour train ride. Sounds horrible, I know. I thought it would be horrible too but we trained through Switzerland and had a quick "layover" in Zurich for about an hour. The ride through Switzerland was absolutely beautiful! We also had some entertainment in our cabin, a Turkish guy was telling anybody who would listen how much he disliked Italian trains, and basically Italy in general because of their lack of organization of well... anything, which I agree with. He had some valid points, which made his monologue very funny. To top it all off his use of curse words in English sentences didn't always make sense and were absolutely hilarious. 

Looking back i'm really glad that we were able to train instead of fly because I was able to see so much of the Swiss countryside as well as spend  a teeny bit of time in Zurich. We got to Zurich around 6 pm and walked around until we found a lovely little river with a path alongside where we ate some snacks that we had brought along. We had beautiful weather and it was nice to stretch our legs and  relax before our next leg of the journey.

Our Swiss train ride consisted of mountain landscapes, waterfalls,
lakes, and all things beautiful as far as nature goes.

Claire & I riverside in Zurich!

 The next train was an overnight train that continued through Switzerland and Germany. I didn't get to see much of Germany since I was sleeping but I am seriously regretting that I won't be able to get to Germany until the next time that I come to Europe. No matter how many places I see in Europe there just seems to be more places that I want to go, and I have loved every place i've been so far and could revisit. The world is huge, and i'm realizing that the more I travel. 

Claire and I get on the train and we are trying to find our seats. She finds her seat and settles in, and I couldn't find my number near her, which makes sense since we booked separately. So I wander around for a bit and finally find it, and it's in a sleeper cabin with a bed! I was pretty stoked, and so I go and tell her and there is only one other person in my cabin so she came to hang out with me and see if she could get by in the cabin without the ticket guy kicking her out. So once we get all settled the ticket guy comes in and proceeds to tell me, as well as Claire, that we are in the wrong cabin... Whoops. He then pointed me in the direction of my seat in the very back corner of the cabin with the reclining chairs. No sleeper beds for us. It was fun while it lasted though.

Excited about the sleeper car

Really, the only picture that I got of German
countryside along with the full moon.

The reclining seats weren't bad, I've gotten pretty good at knocking out in any situation by now. I did have two Swiss boys who had seats in front of me that I talked to for awhile, they were going to a slack lining (when you tie a rope between a tree and walk on it) festival in Germany. They were really nice, and one of them had actually been to Utah so it was nice not spending half of our conversation telling him where Utah is in relationship to California, which is how most conversations go over here when they ask where i'm from. 

By 10 pm I was asleep, but a paranoid sleep because I was worried about someone stealing my bag. At one point in the night I feel that someone is moving around the chair where my bag is next to me and I wake up worried that someone is trying to steal my bag. Fortunately, no one was trying to steal my bag it was one of the Swiss boys jungle gym climbing on the seat next to me to get up into the luggage rack above my head to sleep. My sleepy brain didn't even think this the least bit odd. I was actually thinking, "Hey, that's a great idea. I should have done that!", it wasn't until I woke up the next morning that I started laughing and thinking how weird it is to sleep in a sleeping bag in a luggage rack. But hey, i'm sure he was more comfortable than I was! 

The train ride for me went by really quickly and before I knew it we were in Prague! The first thing we did was change our money from Euros to Korunas. The Czech Republic has their own currency which is kind of cool, but mostly a pain. We got a great exchange rate though and I didn't end up spending hardly any money there. Our hostel was located right near the Prague Castle which is, according to Guinness book of world records, the largest castle in the world. The rooms were really nice, and I even laid down and took a cat nap for about 30 minutes before we set off to explore. We did a free walking tour which gave us a really great starting point for what we wanted to see, and a briefing of all of the history that the Czech's have. Our tour guide was one of the best that I've had so far, so it made all of the difference. 

Tallest man in the free tour HAD to stand in front of me,
 the shortest person in the group, the whole time.

A beautiful church that is also home to a really
old cut off arm... 

After the tour we headed up to the beer garden which was a park located on the top of a hill that overlooked the city and advertised really cheap beer as well as sausages! We relaxed and just took in the culture for a couple of hours before heading to the restaurant that the tour guide had recommended. 

Stunning views from the beer garden

Cute little pups taking in the view

Powder tower

All of the outdoor seating was taken which was a shame, because the weather was absolutely perfect! We still had a really great meal, seated near the doorway. I got lamb sausage in stewed tomatoes and onions with baked potatoes in homemade cottage cheese. The food is VERY heavy and I am quite certain I still have a food baby from all of the good eats. After dinner we meandered through town, and walking over the Charles Bridge at night was so beautiful that I didn't mind our long walk to the hostel. 

After dinner treat in Old Town Square, reminds
me of dutch-oven cooking from home.

St. Vitus Cathedral

Famous astronomical clock, whose inventor
got his eyes poked out because they didn't want
him to make any others to deter tourism to Prague.

View of Prague Castle from Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge by night

The next day we did some exploring of the castle on our own, it has some really great views of the city but to be honest we had no idea what we were looking at and what was important. We didn't spend too much time at the castle and then headed to the John Lennon wall, basically a wall of graffiti mostly having to do with the Beatles and John Lennon. After we had lunch in the beer garden, one big hearty sausage that kept me full for the entire day. 

Front gates of the Castle

How they cook my little treat I got the night before

The John Lennon wall. 

Nothing to do with John Lennon, but I still love Minions!

From my previous posts, Another Space invader!

Another "love lock" bridge

Yum, Yum sausage

We booked a guided tour of the castle which was really interesting. We had a younger tour guide with a quiet voice and a big group but in the end it was perfect, half of the group who were about my age got really excited about the brewery, St. Norberts, who professes to brew the best beer in the world, so they all were all about drinking and less about the tour. As the tour went on they migrated farther and farther back in the tour group and at the end weren't even paying attention to the tour. I'm not sure why they didn't just keep the money they spent on the tour and buy beer at the brewery, but whatever floats their boat. 

Really great blue grass band!

If you look closely you can see that the towers are different
sizes they say this is because it represents Adam & Eve or
like our tour guide pointed out, a mistake in calculations.

Absolutely beautiful architecture in Prague!

Yet again, another style of architecture

Cathedral inside of the castle

I think I can now make an album of people & their pets in Europe.

Charles bridge in tourist rush hour

It was amazing how fast time flew in Prague, after the tour we took a little downtime at the hostel and then headed out for one more night of sightseeing and dinner. I ordered a Czech dish of goulash and was able to get one little souvenir for myself and then it was off to bed because we had to be up at 6 am to catch our bus to Budapest. 

Municipal House: on whose balcony, the Czech Republic was
announced it's own country.

Prague is a storybook town. It is very clean and safe. It was nothing like I was expecting but then again I didn't do much research before going. The more trips that I go on, and especially because they are closely following each other, I have a really hard time doing the research besides a quick google search but sometimes it's nice to go to a place without any expectations. 

I loved Prague and I think if I would have had one or two more days there it would have been the perfect amount of time. Maybe one day i'll be able to visit again... which is ending up being my wish about every city so far. 

Finals are upon me, and while most of my friends at home are finishing up, i'm just beginning the studying which is why i'm splitting the long weekend up into two posts. Unfortunately, I do need to squeeze in a little time for studying.

Ciao, for now!