Class ended December 18th, so what have I been up to since then? Traveling. A lot. In total I estimate that, without counting my flight back to America, I traveled over 2000 miles. Part of that time was spent with my mom, dad, and brother when they came over for Christmas in Germany. Another large chunk of that time I was traveling for a week with Topdeck Travel Tours on what was called the “Winter Waltz.” Continue reading for the adventurous details!
Christmas in Germany oozes feelings of winter wonderland. Christmas markets, light dustings of snow, and hearty food all contribute to that feeling that your life is a movie. Overall we traveled to Frankfurt, Baden-Baden, Freiburg, and castles near Munich. My top three moments of traveling with my family included the wonderful soup shack at the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt, spending the day in the thermal baths of Baden-Baden, and having the perfect amount of snow on our tour of Linderhof and Neuschwanstein castles.
Frankfurt Christmas Market
My family at Linderhof castle
Neuschwanstein Castle
Travel is no easy feat – it is completely exhausting after a few days, even with a more reasonable amount of luggage. I could see my mother experiencing many of the same emotions – the growth and hardships – that I have experienced traveling this semester. Sometimes it makes you emotional for absolutely no reason. In regions where everything is in a different language you can feel lost and confused easily. You keep on going and solving constant problems. Looking back it makes you proud of yourself, but in the moment it’s overwhelming. I was very proud of my parents for making every single train we took and growing as world travelers with me.
New Years was the start of my Topdeck tour. It was quite an international New Years as I was in Prague, Czech Republic, my parents were in the US, and my brother was in Morocco. Prague at New Years is completely hectic. Amateur fireworks are being set off everywhere… even right next to you!! The chaos built up my adrenalin so much that I had to blow off steam somehow. The opportunity provided itself in the form of Prague going up the down escalator of the subway. I was entirely sober at this point mind you, so that wasn’t it. I fumbled my way on and set a blistering pace upwards to the sound of thundering applause. However, my legs turned into jello three feet from the top. Two people from Topdeck tried to reach out to pull me to victory, but alas, I could not take one more step forward. It was a courageous way to start 2015.
The rest of the trip led us to Berlin and Amsterdam for two days each. The highlight of Berlin was going out to a beer hall dressed in drag. It was a girl named Heidi’s birthday and she wanted a gender-bender party! I sampled the absolutely delectable pork knuckle dressed in a bow tie and five o clock shadow. In Amsterdam a ton of things happened including a Red Light District tour and the Heineken Experience with Masnoon before he studies abroad in New Zealand for a semester. The Heineken Experience was amazing!! We learned the history of its founding, the ingredients and process, in addition to getting some free samples and a glass to take home!
I’m ready for the gender bender party!
Masnoon and I at the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam having some fun with the photo cut-out boards.
My last day with Topdeck was a whirlwind start to the next 48 hours of travel. We started really early in the morning from Amsterdam and took a short lunch in Bruges, Belgium. I ate traditional Flemish stew with some fries and even squeezed in running into a shop for a waffle. A few hours later we were in Calais, France boarding a ferry across the English Channel on our way to London where I spent the night. The following day I went under the English Channel in the Eurostar train on my way to Frankfurt, Germany for my flight out to the US. 6 countries in under 48 hours, phew!
Alright folks I’m going to hibernate for a week or so and come back to you with my final post – a reflection on my changes as a human being throughout study abroad and re-entry. Bonus: What I would exchange between US and Germany to make ultimate super cultures.
Late fall and early winter mark several celebrations for Americans back home. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and all the days until Christmas and New Years. Though Germans do not celebrate Thanksgiving, my IES program was very sensitive to the fact that this is a special time for family and friends to come together for a large meal back home. So about 2 weeks ago IES hosted a dinner at one of the fancier restaurants in Freiburg up on Schlossberg mountain. After everybody huffed and puffed up the stairs to the top – because really who is going to pay for a two minute funicular – we were so ready to eat. I entered the dining room feeling mildly underdressed, but easily relaxed as I saw my friends and two of my previous teachers, Klaus and Sandra!
Klaus, my Environmental Ethics professor, and I at the Thanksgiving Dinner
Sandra, my Sustainable Policy professor, and I at the Thanksgiving Dinner
We still waited quite a time for the food! That may have been the only bad part of the evening though. The wait staff kept bringing a steady supply of fresh bread with butter to my table in particular (Many vegetarians, one vegan, and me, the “flexitarian”) Our first course was a kurbissuppe or pumpkin soup and our second course was a wonderfully dressed selection of salad and vegetables. The main meal was different than what I am used to. For me, it was in a good way. We got small cylinders of what I assume was their version of stuffing. Many of the other students mentioned they missed “real” stuffing. Mashed potatoes, warm applesauce, corn, carrots…. more bread. The pièce de résistance were the mushrooms in cream sauce. I have always been a huge mushroom fan, but never in my life have I experienced them in a more mouth-watering way. The one small piece of turkey I ate from someone else’s plate was very nice, better than the turkey I eat at home. The dessert left a lot to be desired (no pumpkin or apple pie), but we were entertained by two IES students, Ben and Katrina, singing songs from Sound of Music. I left the Schlossberg restaurant happy and very full of Thanksgiving food. IES really pulled out all the stops.
Those mushrooms…. I will never forget them.
The following weekend after Thanksgiving, I began my exploration of the Christmas Market in Freiburg! There were bright lights, people selling their crafts (glass, wood, ceramics, you name it). My friend Dave and I shared glühwein which is traditionally a mulled red wine for the winter season. (P.S. I am not a fan of glühwein) I also ate kartoffel puffers which are actually latkes! Dave had potatoes with a fried egg on top. There was flammkuchen (flat pizza), pasta, sauerkraut, burgers, sausages, cheeses, and sweets. Basically a smorgasbord! I returned to the markets the following day after a few hours of ice skating with my friends.
Kartoffelpuffer – yummy
The next weekend I went to the Christmas Market in Colmar, France. First, my group got a tour of the city. We saw their Mannekin Pis, which was made to look like the one I saw earlier this year in Bruxelles, Belgium. Afterwards we saw the birthplace of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, creator of the Statue of Liberty, which I saw for the first time right before coming to Europe. Colmar is obviously just on the border of France and Germany based on the different architectural styles and languages written and spoken there. In fact Colmar has switched 5 times between French and German rule.
Mannekin Pis à Colmar
The Christmas markets themselves were more spread out throughout the city (5 different areas), which was different from the centralized market in Freiburg.The glühwein here is made with the traditional wine and spices, but also has some brandy in it. The white wine version here is made from Alsace grapes. There were also more crêpe and waffle stations and even a stall selling escargot. I almost tried it, but chickened out when I realized I did not know the proper way to eat them. Food etiquette is a pretty big deal to me in respecting a culture, so escargot will be on the list in the future. I also noticed more people selling lace products in Colmar and fewer wooden products. It was great to experience two different markets to get a feel for what they have in common and how regional differences play into their diversity as well.
Colmar Christmas Markets
A Santa spotting!
Back at my flat, this winter season has brought with it many awesome surprises. One of my flatmates, Hanna, organized an advent calendar. Nine of the flatmates contributed 3 presents each (that were 5 euros or less in cost). We hung the presents up in the living room as part of our Christmas decorations. Each day one person opens the presents (we have a list on the wall to keep track of who opens a present on which day). So far I have opened two presents: a cloth pencil/paintbrush holder and a bar of chocolate. A few days ago I woke up and found Stutenkerl, barely sweet dough, in the shape of a man on the handle of my door. This was to mark St. Nikolaus Tag (St. Nicholas Day) on December 6th. French legend has it that a hungry butcher killed three lost boys, but that St. Nicholas brought them back to life. My flat had a Christmas dinner this weekend with knödel, which are round bread dumplings, along with different soups and salads. For dessert we had baked apples filled with nuts and topped with vanilla sauce. It was great to have this bonding experience just one week before I move out.
Advent Calendar
Baked goods for St. Nikolaus Tag
Christmas dinner with my flatmates
Which brings me to letting you know I have only:
-3 days left of class
-6 days left in the flat
-7 days until I see my parents who are coming here to Germany for Christmas (we are starting in Frankfurt, then Baden-Baden, Freiburg for Christmas, and Munich)
-24 days until I am home… after my parents fly back home from Munich I get to go on a weeklong tour of Europe
I am excited to enjoy my last month or so in Europe with family, friends, travel, and great food. But I really am also ready to come home to fulfill all my plans. Through this time abroad I set up an opportunity to shadow a genetic counselor, volunteer training at a domestic violence shelter in Richmond, and joined an organization called WILL* (formerly known as Women Involved in Living and Learning) at my school. I will also be able to declare a double major in biology and environmental studies and a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Not to mention when I get home I turn 21 two days after arrival, get to go to Washington D.C. with Oldham Scholars, and get to settle into the newest dorms on campus in Westhampton Hall. My life is filled with endless blessings. Coming to the end of my time in Germany allows me to reflect on how thankful I am for all my supporters, for all my challengers, and for my privileges, all of which have led me to live this full, spectacular life.
As soon as December hit I knew I had just over two weeks to make the most out of my remaining time in Europe and I knew that I wanted to spend my last weekend abroad in Valencia, so that left me with one weekend left to travel. After countless weekends of travel all over Europe (an unreal feat that will only hit me once I get back Stateside), coming to the realization that one excursion remained was rather shocking. That being said I knew exactly where I wanted to go, Florence. For some reason, and I have no idea why, this city had been on my list of places to visit the entire semester. I was able to gather a group of 8 close friends who were all thinking the same thing, “one weekend of travel left? Let’s do it big.” The plan was put into motion and a day later I had my tickets booked for Italy. Cities featured on this trip: Pisa, Florence, and Rome.
The first week of December absolutely flew by with our excitement for Italy and before we knew it we were crammed into our small seats on a RyanAir plane ready to take off. Just under two hours later we landed in Pisa raring to go and immediately hopped a bus to go see the tower, you know, the one that leans. We had already booked our bus into Florence so we had about a four hour gap to get to the tower, take your typical touristy pictures, grab lunch, and get to the main bus station.
As we were riding along the bus we were distracted by the beautiful Pisa sights…well actually Pisa doesn’t really have much to offer so we were just chatting until we stopped and some local said, “Tower. Now.” We hopped out of the bus and walked a few minutes until we saw it. Prior to laying my own eyes on it I wasn’t very convinced that it could be leaning that much, but wow. The degree of this tower just does not seem to add up. I still can’t wrap my head around how this tower seems to ignore the law of physics. After taking three pictures and waiting an hour for the girls to create a massive portfolio of every pose imaginable we made our way to a quiet restaurant. We sat down and ordered shortly after, pizza and wine for everyone. For the next four days there was a theme of pizza, pasta, and red wine for everyone. Not the worst order.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The first of many pizzas
That night we made our way into Florence. Our apartment was a 20 minute walk from the bus station so we took that opportunity to get some fresh air and see a little bit of this city. From the first minute, my standards were through the roof and Florence did not disappoint. Five minutes later we were walking past the massive Duomo, lit up by a full moon.
The Duomo in Florence
A side view
A little tired from all the travel in one day we decided to sit down for dinner. This was the best dinner I have had all semester, and not just because of the amazing food. Somehow we decided to go around the table telling our favorite three memories of our time abroad and then raising a glass to it. All of the memories from the entire semester came back and we spent hours laughing with one another. I am truly thankful for the friends I have found this semester and I know I am going to keep in touch with every one of them.
My friends: A little dysfunctional, but that’s nothing new.
We all woke up the next day and while the girls were taking their time getting ready the guys were making plans: Duomo, City Center, Michelangelo’s David, Ponte Vecchio (Bridge), and finishing the day by looking over Florence as the sun set with a marvelous view thanks to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The entire time we were walking around the city I had a huge smile on my face. Looking back on it, I can easily say that Florence is one of the best cities I have ever visited. I love that place and I want to go back ASAP! Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse into the beauty I was seeing at every stop:
The daytime face of the Duomo
The copy of Michelangelo’s David statue that stands outside the Palazzo Vecchio.
The view off the Ponte Vecchio
Florence at almost sunset
Me in Florence. What a view!
Unfortunately, we were only in Florence for a day and a half. Fortunately, our next stop was Rome. We took a three hour train into the city of Rome and took a short metro stop to our apartment. By now, traveling had become second nature. The feeling of getting into a completely new city and figuring your way around it is liberating. That night we took an initial visit to the Colosseum and saw the impressive building in all its glory. The Colosseum lit up in the evening is a special sight. We proceeded to walk around the city for a long time and found our way into a church, the Pantheon, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (random, I know, but a very impressive building), as well as the Spanish steps. Dinner? You guessed it: Pizza.
The Colosseum in the evening
The organist in this church was playing Christmas music!
The Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities
The Pantheon!
Early Sunday morning we found out just how close we were to the Vatican City by walking 20 yards from our front door and passing through the Vatican Wall. Walking into the main plaza (Piazza San Pietro – St Peter’s Square) of the Vatican we found ourselves in the midst of hundreds of people. At first we thought this was a normal occurrence on Sunday, then we were informed that in 30 minutes the Pope was going to address everyone. What luck! Needless to say, we stayed put and shortly after the Pope appeared from a window. He was speaking in Italian so I wasn’t able to pick up on much (I thought Italian and Spanish were more similar than they are) but I did understand a few things!
St. Peter’s Square
The Pope!
Seeing the Pope in person must have drained our resources of luck because we soon found out that everything in the Vatican Mueseum was closed because of a holiday. That meant no Sistine Chapel…! After a minute of sulking we rebounded by heading back to the Colosseum to actually go inside the building (we watched Gladiator the night before and were in the mood to get an even closer look). Our luck came back to us with free admittance. Without a doubt the Colosseum meets up to its hype.
The interior of the Colosseum
Me (far right) with my friends at the Colosseum
That was a very brief overview of my four day trip to Italy. There was a lot more that I got around to (including an impromptu dance party at a random book store in Florence) but I can’t include everything or this would turn into a thesis length blog post. Everything in Italy was amazing and Florence lived up to everything I had hoped for. That was one of my favorite excursion, thanks to great company and beautiful cities. I can’t wait to get back to Italy.
As I write this I am trying to get my head around the fact that I only have about a week left in Valencia. Everything is starting to feel very bittersweet because we are trying to do as much as possible, knowing that we don’t have much time left in Europe. Valencia has become a home for me and I do not think I am ready to leave it just yet. I will be enjoying this week to the fullest but I know my next blog post will be very difficult to write. Now I’m going to go play fútbol with my little host brother!
Winter in Denmark is upon us. The sun doesn’t rise until eight in the morning and calls it quits early at about four. Temperatures are cold but that’s nothing compared to the wind that will nearly blow you over and make you cry involuntarily. As a Massachusetts native, I am no stranger to these facets of winter, but I have to say they do make days drag on a bit slower.
There’s one thing though, that makes the cold and darkness all worthwhile. Christmastime! The Danes don’t hold back when in comes to Christmas, and they enjoy celebrations early since they (obviously) lack the need to wait until after Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season.
Christmas markets have popped up all around the city selling an array of goodies like fuzzy hats, honey, and glassware. The markets have a magical aura about them with everyone in the holiday spirit enjoying outings with their friends, families, and loved ones.
A display at one of the Christmas markets
A personal favorite sold at the markets is a Nordic traditional holiday drink called gløgg. Gløgg is a mulled wine consisting of red wine, sugar, and spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and cloves and it smells like Christmas in a cup. You can buy gløgg, hot chocolate, waffles, warmed nuts, and many other goodies for your stroll—there’s something for everyone.
Another wonderful part of Christmas in Copenhagen is the iconic Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is the second oldest amusement park in the world and it is truly a magical place. The Gardens close for winter but open twice to celebrate the Halloween and Christmas season respectively. While Tivoli is always characterized by beautiful lights and landscapes, its Christmas displays take things to a whole new level.
The main entrance to Tivoli Garden
Tivoli is a winter wonderland surrounded by lights, fake snow, and rides for people of all ages. You can purchase unlimited rides with your entrance fee, buy individual tickets inside, or not go on any at all. I had already tried all the rides (multiple times each, in fact) earlier this year when the weather was warmer, but even the wind chill couldn’t stop me from getting on the swings on my latest visit. The ride is simple: a bunch of chain-swings that get raised up a tall pole that spins. While it’s not the most exhilarating ride in the park, the swings give a magnificent view of Copenhagen. The ride is most stunning at night when you have the best seat in the house to see the wonderfully illuminated park and city. Perks of the swings: the wind drowns out sound so you can sing whatever song you want up there and no one will know. My go-to has been Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” but “I Believe I Can Fly” and “I’m Like a Bird” are viable alternatives.
Inside Tivoli Gardens
We were lucky enough to happen upon the light show that night as well, and it was a great way to culminate a wonderful visit to the Gardens. Every night, there is a light show over a pond in the middle of the park and the Christmas show was Nutcracker themed. It’s a Christmas tradition in my family to listen to the Nutcracker soundtrack when we decorate our tree at home so seeing a beautiful light show with spinning holograms and colorful shooting streams of water was an awesome experience that reminded me of my traditions at home.
It’s not just the Christmas Markets and Tivoli that make this Copenhagen festive though—the whole city is lined with lights and wreaths. The excitement is infectious, so much so that even Santa needed to pay a visit. Last Sunday, hundreds of people gathered in City Hall Square to celebrate the lighting of the tree. Enthralled faces watched as Santa climbed his way up the ladder and little children hopped frantically up and down believing it would help him light the tree. It really felt like I was part of a great community when everyone started counting down in Danish and the energy was palpable. At “en” or “one,” Santa’s wand sparked, the tree lit up, people cheered, and Christmas carols started playing. It was a beautiful tree and an even more beautiful moment I was lucky to enjoy.
If you’re looking to escape wintertime happiness and festivities, Scrooges of the world, don’t come to Copenhagen.
Two weekends ago I went to Morella on the last school organized excursion. UVA in Valencia had organized three free excursions for all of the students and I took full advantage of them. The first was to Peñiscola (a town on the beach about two hours north of Valencia), the second was to Xátiva (a small town about two hours south of Valencia), and Morella is a tiny mountainous town, two hours northwest of Valencia. Each of these three excursions presented an awesome opportunity to see Spanish towns that you would never visit otherwise. Whenever anyone visits Spain they only see Madrid and Barcelona but these small towns scattered across Spain offer a more authentic trip. The people who live in these towns do not have much exposure to tourists, so being almost conversationally fluent in Spanish (as I am) is a huge benefit. Each of these towns has history dating back to the 8th century and so we followed a tour guide around for a couple hours to understand the cultural history of each place. I think Peñiscola was my favorite but Morella was a close second.
Since Morella is so high up, the weather is awfully cold (and by awfully cold I mean about 50 degrees Fahrenheit…Valencia has made me weak to cold weather), but to be honest the cold breeze was a welcome change to the regular 70 degree, sunny weather of Valencia in November. Parts of this small town of less than 3,000 inhabitants date back to 1000 BC but the majority of it dates back to Moorish history of the 8th century (like the majority of Spain thanks to the Islamic conquest). The town had a quaint feel and after touring the fort on the top of the hill we sat down at a local café for some food and drinks.
A view from the fort on the top of the mountain
I finally knocked Madrid off my list this past weekend after being on there since hearing about my acceptance into the Valencia program. Contrary to popular opinion amongst my friends, I actually preferred Madrid. I don’t know how to explain why, but it just felt more organized and put together. I think Barcelona felt too spread apart for me with no real purpose if that makes any sense. Then again, I was only in both of these cities for two days each. We blitzed Madrid by seeing the King’s palace, the cathedral, and retiro park (central park of Madrid). However, the best experience was the free tickets on the 7th row of an Atlético Madrid game. They won 3-1!
55,000 screaming fans
I’m definitely sad to realize that this past weekend to Madrid wrapped up my Spanish trips, as next week will be London and the following, Italy. The end of this semester is now less than a month away and it is starting to fly by. My experience so far has been life changing. I always knew I could be this independent but to be thrown into a foreign speaking country three months ago and to see how I’ve come out of it on the other side has been a very rewarding experience. I’m growing as a person day by day and it feels amazing. That being said, there is no doubt that this weekend will be hard because I will be away from my family this Thanksgiving for the first time. A shout out to them: I miss you guys so much and I’ll see you in a month! These last four weeks are going to be a ridiculous whirlwind of good times.
“Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
— Vaclav Havel
***
People packed Národní Třída on the morning of November 17th for the Struggle of Freedom and Democracy Day’s celebrations. Beatles music blared as people mingled, listened to speeches, held signs, and chanted many things I couldn’t understand.
One of the first people I spoke with was a local street artist. Despite his broken English, he seemed to enjoy my company. He even offered me some of his breakfast wine, which he was drinking out of a beer bottle.
I asked him several questions about the holiday and his views on the Czech Republic’s current state, and he passionately answered each. As I was getting up to go, he had one more thing to tell me, as if he hadn’t made his message clear.
“Czech Republic is freedom,” he told me. “I am freedom.”
Although the Czech Republic may be, using his words, “freedom,” it is potentially facing another era of political instability, which was on full display on this holiday.
***
This year’s holiday had a greater significance than typical years, since it marked the 25th anniversary of the incident that led to fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. Parts of the city center were blocked off all day where a variety of memorials, musical events, and other festival-like attractions were held. At night, the festivities climaxed with an epic concert in the city’s most famous square – the same square where thousands and thousands of civilians rallied against the communist regime 25 years earlier.
Wenceslas Square, the Times Square of the Czech Republic, was as packed as I have ever seen it for the large concert on Monday night. But…
Vaclav Havel, one of the greatest leaders in recent history, speaking to his followers in December 1989.
November 17th marks the beginning of the Velvet Revolution. On Nov. 17th 1989, thousands of Czech students gathered in the city center to commemorate another assembly, one 50 years earlier protesting Nazi fascism that resulted in more than 1,000 Czechs being sent to concentration camps. The 1989 demonstration started off as a state-sponsored event, but it quickly turned to a riot against the current government. Violence ensued, policemen beat students, and the Velvet Revolution began.
The Velvet Revolution was, for the most part, a peaceful movement that resulted in the overthrow of the communist government. Led by Vaclav Havel, A Czech version of Nelson Mandela who was honored by America and placed in Statuary Hall on Thursday, Czechoslovakia moved into a new era. Less than a year after the Nov. 17th movement, the Czechs held a democratic election. The Czech Republic and Slovakia had a peaceful split in 1993, and moved forward into a much more open time period. And everyone lived happily ever after, right?
Not exactly.
The holiday’s demonstrations, the vandalizing of the Lennon Wall, and, most importantly, Miloš Zeman’s continued idiotic antics intruded on what was supposed to be a gleeful day of remembrance, while demonstrating the Czechs current political instability.
***
Let’s meet President Zeman. Since Zeman won the presidential election last June – I can’t comprehend how he won – he has found different, and sometimes innovative, ways to anger his people. I have yet to meet a young Czech person who has anything nice to say about their president, and for good reason. He’s not just a drunkard; he makes appearances in public drunk. He doesn’t just have a dirty mouth; he used, what Czechs have told me, the dirtiest word in the Czech language to describe the heroic Russian band Pussy Riot. He doesn’t just look the other way from oppressive regimes; he endorses them — he supports Russia and not Ukraine; he supports China and not Taiwan.
Czech people have had enough Zeman, and they made sure outsiders knew that when the world briefly focused on the small Central European nation for its historic holiday. The Czech people believe they have given their president enough warnings. He has, in terms of soccer football, already earned a yellow card. So on this day, thousands of Czechs assembled around the city to give Zeman symbolic red cards, representing their desired ejection, removal, explosion – whatever word you like best – of their president.
At a different event, some protestors took advantage of an opportunity to chuck eggs at Zeman. As you can see in the video below, his guards used umbrellas to shield Zeman as he spoke. I don’t have a word-for-word translation from his speech, but a Czech friend helped translate the speech for me. Zeman’s main gist: I’m not scared of you. You weren’t part of the Revolution. I was part of the Revolution. You cannot scare me.
You don’t need to even know what he is saying to sense the large disconnect between him and his people. Just listen to his unsympathetic tone and the passionate crowd.
Talk about a charismatic leader!
Zeman’s unjust rule and unfound sympathy managed to overshadow what was supposed to be a day of remembrance of all those who fought for freedom, especially Vaclav Havel.
And yet, Zeman’s actions were not even the wildest part of the day.
***
The Lennon Wall has served as Prague’s greatest symbol of freedom since the 1980s. Throughout his life John Lennon preached the importance of freedom, peace and liberty – a message that struck the Czech youth when, at the time, they lacked all three qualities. So students would graffiti the wall, at the risk of punishment, to illuminate their dreams. Even after communism fell, the Lennon Wall lived on, serving as a reminder of how lucky we, the Western world, are to have peace and freedom, how difficult freedom can be to achieve, and, most importantly, that many people still do not have their natural liberties. The Wall constantly changes, but it is always beautifully decorated with beautiful messages. That is, however, until the night of Nov. 17.
Here’s a picture of the wall before that night:
Lennon Wall Before
And here’s what it looked like after:
Lennon Wall After
So many questions, fueled with anger, arose: Who did this? Why did they do this? Is the wall gone forever?
The answers, luckily, are much more positive than some people, including myself, feared.
Prague Service, an anonymous group of art students, painted the wall white and added the message “WALL IS OVER!” Their reasoning was, in the best interpretation, fantastically hopeful, or, in the worst interpretation, justifiable; in a statement, they said they wanted “to provide free space for new messages of the current generation.” In essence, it was a symbolic call to action for young people. If you don’t like your government, don’t sit back and complain. Make your voice heard, one way or another.
Two friends and I went to the Wall the following night, and, not surprisingly, many people were already leaving their mark on a wall that was no longer white. Was the Wall what it had been before? Of course not. But it was already well on its way back.
Less than 24 hours after the Wall had been erased, dozens of people helped start the process of establishing a new Lennon Wall.
My friends and I hung around the wall for a while talking to some of the people there, reading the messages, and, of course, writing our own messages. While I watched people paint the wall from a few yards back, I began speaking with one of the young people there who brought out loads of paint for others to use. He offered me some of his beer, and I hesitantly asked, “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” he replied “It’s Lennon Wall!”
How could you not take a sip after that?
***
Monday was a day full emotions. Tears of joy and tears of sadness; cheers of ebullience and cheers of disdain. But, most importantly, it was a day of celebratory remembrance. Not long ago, Czechs would be severely punished for speaking out against the regime. And now they can hold mass demonstrations against their elected leader, jeer his speech, and, although probably not allowed, get away with throwing eggs at him! The Czechs may not be happy with the current administration, but at least they can voice their opinion – a right many people around the world still lack. Look at, for example, Hong Kong, where its current foundation of a revolution was somewhat inspired by the Czech Republic.
The Hong Kong Lennon Wall looks much different than Prague’s, but they both carry the same hopeful messages
The Czech Republic is far from perfect (Is any nation near perfect?), but, at least, as the street artist told me, “Czech Republic is freedom.”
… It was nothing compared to the events that took place in the same square 25 years earlier.
***
Selfie of the week:Because I am an egotistical millennial, here is the selfie of the week:
Doug and I bought a one-way ticket to a city in the Czech Republic where the Czechs were hosting Iceland in a Euro 2016 qualifier five hours before kickoff. We didn’t have tickets, a place to stay, or a way to get home. But, as you can see, everything worked out.
It’s halfway through my stay in Europe now and more than 65% through my actual classes. I took a week’s hiatus from blogging because the last four days of my Environmental Ethics class took a lot out of me. After all the sleep I caught up on this weekend though, I’m ready to tell you about the amazing trip I had to London!
Werewolves in London – Friday
Waking up early in the morning is the worst idea ever… unless it’s to travel. That’s how my Friday started out, so I could catch my 10am flight out of Basel on time. The one hour flight I was in and out of sleep, hoping that the extra few z’s would fuel me through a full day of living in London. It worked! After landing, I had to sort out some confusion about getting into the city from the airport. I had preordered a bus along with my RyanAir ticket, but forgot to print the boarding code. Let me just say that after two and a half months surrounded by German, it was beautiful to communicate with native English speakers. I sorted through the problem in a few minutes and was on my one hour bus ride into the city!
The bus stopped at several places and on a whim, I got off around the corner from Regent’s Park. First wonderful decision of the day, which was quickly followed by another – Baskin Robbins for lunch. Shush. I do not want even a little judgement. Baskin Robbins…. it’s been a long time guys. I worked there one summer and spoiled myself with ice cream to the point that I have not visited since. That Jamoca Almond Fudge really hit the spot as I continued on in the sunshine towards the park. Unlike my original plan for the day, I spent about 3 hours in that park and regret nothing. Regent’s Park has stunning flower gardens and gilded gates, water fowl sanctuaries and weeping willows. There was even an older couple reading on a bench together, which touched my heart.
Regent’s Park has gilded gates that caught my eye several times.
The beauty of flowers in a park.
Finally I started to head out of the park as the daylight subsided. My new mission – find a place to Facebook message my cousin, Grace, who is studying theatre in London for the semester. Because my cell plan is not international, it would cost me a lot to call her and let her know I was there. On my way towards a section of London called Camden Town, I passed the London zoo. Through the gates I could see giraffes and hippos! Good thing because that place is really expensive at 20 something pounds for adult admission.
Giraffe spotted in London
As I walked further I became hungry, and magically a deli and café called Melrose and Morgan appeared. There I accessed some Wifi and ate my first scotch egg. A scotch egg is s hardboiled egg surrounded by meat and rolled in breadcrumbs. Basically, it is breakfast all rolled into one. Breakfast is my favorite meal, so I was not complaining about eating this at around 4pm. I ordered mine with chili chutney, which added just the right amount of spice and sweetness to satisfy my tastebuds.
My Scotch egg – a dining experience I recommend
After this short break in walking I continued onto Camden Lock Market, which has a ton of international food stalls. I remember seeing Polish Sausages, Peruvian food, sushi, crêpes, and a stall devoted to mac-and-cheese (which had no vendor behind it much to my chagrin). My stomach was full from my Scottish egg snack, so I went with a fresh smoothie instead of any food. At this point I still had about two hours to kill before meeting up with Grace at her schoolroom, so I walked through Camden. It is obviously a very grunge artsy place, which I loved! There were tattoo parlors, people in Darth Vader costumes, a DJ Grandpa, and other hilarious costumes. At this point my stomach made its presence known once again, so I stopped in a lovely looking tapas restaurant called Jamon Jamon. I recommend it, especially on a Friday night for their specials.
I feel like this would only happen in Camden – The Joker serenades three trick-or-treaters.
Grace’s school was only a ten minute jaunt away. I waited outside for a few minutes and a woman came out who graciously let me in. Upstairs I found Grace and gave her a huge hug! Her friend Maggie who is from Baltimore was also there and we all walked for an hour back to where they live. The rest of the night was spent getting into costume, Cards Against Humanity, dancing, and junk food. My cousin Grace went as Sally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and I decided to change from Peter Pan to Misty from Pokémon. Grace was sweet and let me go downstairs to sleep in her bed while she took the couch, which I definitely needed after walking around with my backpack on all day. It was a howl of a Halloween.
Misty and Sally Skellington
Operation Mega Tourist – Saturday
Ahhh how nice to wake up at 10am. Grace and I were refreshed and took our time getting ready in the morning as our only schedule was to make it to the Mayfair area of London by noon. When we arrived there we took a quick walk to see Buckingham Palace and then headed back to our real destination – Murano Resturant. Murano is a one Michelin starred restaurant owned by Angela Hertnett, protégé of Gordon Ramsay. I consider myself to be a foodie and also wanted to treat Grace for hosting me. This was the most memorable meal of my life so far.
It was gorgeous weather in London but these men continue wearing their bearskin hats.
Before we ordered anything, we were brought three kinds of bread, olive oil, parmesan crisps, fried truffles, and carpaccio. This seriously was their “free bread” portion of the meal. Are you kidding me. Pure heaven. For starters we ordered a tuna dish and a quail dish, and for mains Grace got the risotto while I got pork cheek. My main was such a homey dish it made me really feel like I was back home eating my mother’s pot roast. We both ordered desserts and we even got orange gummies plus chocolate raspberry lollipops after our real desserts! Overall, excellent service, value, taste, and presentation – everything I dreamed it could be.
My Murano dessert. Chocolate cake with pear filling, pear ice cream, and pear pieces.
To get rid of our massive food babies, Grace and I started a day long trek through the city. We passed Buckingham Palace a second time on our way to Big Ben and the Eye. We didn’t go up in the Eye because of how expensive and time consuming it is to do that. Our investment of time in lunch was much more worth it! After crossing a bridge, we saw the National Theatre where Grace has seen several plays and also saw the Globe Theatre of Shakespearean fame (though it is obviously relocated and remodeled). We went through some side streets and happened upon the original Globe Theatre site! This all took a couple hours of walking so when we reached Borough Market we both got a little sweet treat to tide us over until dinner. I got a lime mint cupcake while Grace got a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream on a cone.
The Eye and Big Ben
The Globe
Tower Bridge
Tower of London poppies
As evening approached, the rest of the tourist sites were in store. Crossing London bridge allowed us to view Tower Bridge. We went to see the Tower of London. Great timing because this was one of the last changes to see the gorgeous WWI poppy tribute. Trying to save our time we did not stay through much of the reading of the names. Instead we continued on to the Tube to Kings Cross Station for a picture at Platform 9 and 3/4. I wore my Hufflepuff scarf proudly. My cousin is a Hufflepuff too I think, but they only had one yellow scarf! This was my crowning moment as a Harry Potter fan, I have to tell you. To wrap up the evening, Grace and I got carry out Thai food and watched Footloose. The next morning I got up at 4am to catch the bus back to the airport for my 7am flight. What a whirlwind weekend in London!
Quitting Muggle school. I’m goin’ to Hogwarts!
Next Week’s Post
Check out the blog post about a break down of what I learned in my Environmental Ethics class! This was my first time studying philosophy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This weekend I was lucky to host my parents in Valencia! But, before I get into that I want to talk a little about my weekend in Barcelona.
Last weekend, along with 10+ friends on my program, I took a train from Valencia to Barcelona. While most of my friends rented an apartment for the weekend I stayed with my friend Tom, who has been studying there this semester (saved me about 60€). I had never been to Barcelona before and so I was thrilled at my first chance to head up the coast to this huge city. After spending the previous 6 weeks in Valencia, Barcelona looks like New York City and my eyes lit up at night. While in this city I checked off four big things: Park Güell (the mosaic gardens by Gaudí), Sagrada Familia (the crazy looking church), Camp Nou (CF Barcelona’s stadium), and a live Porter Robinson concert (A big EDM DJ).
Park Güell is located towards the North of the city on a hill with an unbelievable view of Barcelona. The park dates back to 1914 and is an example of the brilliance of Gaudí’s organic focus in architecture. The park, while brief, is full of mosaic tile walls, plants, and views.
View from Park Güell
Tile lizard by Gaudí
Sagrada Familia is easily the most unique church I have ever witnessed in my life. After touring Europe for the past two months I have seen a whole lot of churches and cathedrals, but none of them looked anything like this one. It is another one of Gaudí’s organic works that results in a type of melting aesthetic with various towers and statues. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it inside the church, which I regret, so I will just have to come back!
Sagrada Familia
Seeing a CF Barcelona game had been on my bucket list since I started playing Fifa back in 2007. Finally, 7 years later, that dream came to fruition. Unfortunately Barça lost 1-0 in a less than spectacular game but the atmosphere of Camp Nou made up for it. This stadium is the fifth biggest in the world with almost 100,000 Catalans singing for their team. I’m glad I was able to check this one off the list. (P.S. Barça comes to la Mestalla on the 30th of November to take on Valencia. It’s a clash of top 3 teams in La Liga and I recommend you all tune in!)
Camp Nou
Tom and I at Camp Nou!
Coming into Richmond, Porter Robinson was my favorite DJ out there. EDM music was everything, and is still huge, for kids my age so saying that this guy was a top tier talent is really saying a lot. After a two year hiatus, he released a new album with a more artsy focus. This was the tour he was on when I saw him live in Barcelona. The guy killed it. His live show lasted about four hours and it would have been impossible to even try to stand still in that club. Needless to say, I’m a bigger fan of Porter Robinson than I was before.
Now on to having my parents in Valencia this past weekend. I met Mom and Dad in the airport friday afternoon and could feel how excited they were to be in Valencia with me. It had been about two months since I had seen my parents, so naturally my mom almost cried upon seeing me. We had a busy weekend of sight seeing including the cathedral, the río park, the city of art sciences, the mercado central, tapas, and much more. All of that was a lot of fun but none of it compares to the Sunday lunch we had with my host family. My host mom cooked a four course meal and filled us up with local food and good wine. Acting as a translator between my two families was an unforgettable experience. Needless to say, we all had an awesome time and I am sad to see them leave. Mom and Dad, I’ll see you in a month and a half, but until then I’ll be hitting Madrid, London, and Budapest!
A big reason for why I chose Europe for study abroad is because of the expansive list of travel destinations it offers. One thing I love about the time I’ve spent across the pond is the luxury of being able to visit so many remarkable places around the continent. Luxury is actually an important term here too, in fact, because it perfectly describes the nature of my travels.
Anyone who has traveled abroad knows all too well that budget airlines represent the peak of extravagance. When you fly Ryanair or Easy Jet you quickly forget you’re boarding a cramped bullet-shaped tomb that offers little to no leg space and enforces a strict one-bag policy, and instead imagine yourself entering a five star hotel with wings. Magical flight attendants, or “angels” as I prefer to call them, patrol the aisles offering up foreign delicacies like M&Ms and tired-looking sandwiches at prices higher than your current altitude. You’re flying so high in the air, no wonder this place feels like heaven.
“Comfort” is another word that comes to mind when describing the beauty of budget-travel. It is common to go to great lengths seeking cheap flights and you will sacrifice nearly anything to obtain them, namely sleep and time. Pure exhaustion is an inevitable product of this plight and you become grateful for all of the amenities available in your travels to make you more comfortable. It’s great having your knees, even as a girl standing at a mere five feet and two inches, touch the seat in front of you regardless of whether the chair is reclined or not. It’s cozy. As for a pillow? Don’t worry. Your faux-leather purse stuffed with your phone, wallet, camera, sunglasses, and clunky global adapter makes the perfect alternative. Adjust the purse against the window just so, or prop it up on your own shoulder if you’re a lucky middle-seat inhabitant. Go ahead, you. Catch up on that sleep you missed leaving for your flight at four in the morning—you deserve it.
It looks like it would make a wonderful pillow, right?
An advanced demonstration on how to use this purse-pillow. Take notes.
These cheap flights bring even more excitement, like accidental layovers! A girl-on-a-mission dead set on finding the most inexpensive flights knows full well that those Expedia, Skyscanner, and Kayak prices are not set and could change at any given moment. You expertly have all three, amongst others, loaded on different browser tabs with the window pushed to the side of your screen to cross-reference departure times with your class schedule. Sometimes you forget to breathe, let alone realize you’re about to book a flight from Prague with an eight-hour layover at eleven at night. Things happen. But have no fear, as a seasoned budget-traveler you know you have options—options like going through security eight hours early with your purse-pillow and finding the least-awkward couch on which to sleep in public. Bonus travel tip: drape your jacket over your head to block out the florescent lights and strangers’ judgmental stares.
A couch I found in the Vienna airport that I caught some sleep on.
Maybe after reading all of this, you realize that traveling by plane may not be your cup of tea. Lucky for you, there are other cheap options like the train. I booked a night train back from Amsterdam a few weeks ago, and boy was it an experience! We checked into the station a few hours early so I could print my ticket, only to realize our train had been cancelled due to the German workers going on strike. Yay! After meeting with one seemingly knowledgeable woman we learned that the company could not compensate us for a hotel room for the night but that she could get us on a train that left in just a few hours. Everything sounded reasonable until we talked to another worker who correctly informed us that the strike would be ongoing through the night and that the company could, in fact, put us up in a hotel for a new next-day departure. No one could find the woman we spoke to first but to this day we’re convinced she didn’t work for the train station at all and was actually an actress planted by a mortal enemy trying to ruin my life. Luckily, we caught her mistake and waited about an hour for busses to ship all of the train’s stranded passengers off to a hotel for the night. The room was actually quite nice and I would have enjoyed a pleasant bath if we’d had the time.
We didn’t, of course, and boarded another bus at five in the morning to finally begin our journey home. We were delighted to catch our train until it unexpectedly stopped on the tracks for about an hour. That delay made us miss our connection, causing us to wait a few hours for the next one.
Which was delayed.
That delay made us also miss our final connection, as I’m sure you could have guessed since the cycle is a predictable one.
The great thing about train travel is that you can book tickets in advance to reserve a seat. The bad thing though, is that you lose those reservations when striking Germans cancel your train. At this point you have some choices: you can go all “Hunger Games” and fight for the few vacant and un-reserved seats, you can find a seat in the Bistro car and convince the workers you really are drinking the same coffee for six hours so you don’t give up your spot, or you could prop yourself up on the floor in the hallway and enjoy the ride. We opted for choices A and B and touched down in Copenhagen more than twenty-four hours after our intended departure from Amsterdam. I told you it was an experience.
I hope my sarcastic tone is evident in this post and that my misery gave you at least the slightest amusement. That being said, I also want to convey the appreciation I have to be able to travel as I do, because I know it is not an option everyone has. I recognize how lucky I am to have the chance to even write a satirical entry complaining about legroom on a flight I took to hike the Swiss Alps. I cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for these kinds of opportunities, and I thank Richmond but above all, my parents for making them possible. I have the unbelievable opportunity to explore the world at twenty years old—you could ship me in a cardboard box for all I care.
After spending about two and a half months in Copenhagen I have started to get comfortable in my life abroad here…too comfortable. I’ve adopted a normal routine consisting of cooking, grocery shopping, going to class, going out, making it to the gym on occasion, traveling, and watching Netflix. Somewhere along the line I lost the passion to explore my surroundings and seek out all the amazing things I have at my fingertips in Copenhagen. This realization came with an overwhelming sense of guilt and worry that I was taking my short time here for granted.
So I decided to get off my butt and do something.
A friend was feeling a similar way and we made a plan to be spontaneous, that’s not too contradictory is it? We decided to simply get on the metro and ride it until we saw fit. Originally unsure of our final destination, we got off at the Kongens Nytorv stop and started walking.
This dropped us onto the longest pedestrian street in the world, Strøget. The street is packed with shops of all varieties, ranging from the more affordable stores like H&M and Zara to ones like Emperio Armani and Burberry that will make your bank account cry. I ventured into a few stores but even the “cheap” ones were pricier than I would have liked (remember how expensive Copenhagen is), and I wasn’t really in the mood to shop anyway.
This walking tour also took us to something called the “Happy Wall” which is an interactive art piece made of brightly colored wooden boards. Visitors can flip the boards between colored and black sides to create their own vision, whether it be a message, a picture, or a symbol. Many also sign the wall with happy thoughts and well-wishes. It is a really cool piece in the middle of the city and acts as a glowing representation of Copenhagen’s renowned happiness. If you’re not aware, Denmark was voted the happiest country in the world in both 2012 and 2013, and fell to a more-than-respectable third place standing in 2014.
The Happy Wall
One nice message I saw.
For lunch we got sandwiches at a small shop that offered a student discount and took them to one of the most beautiful spots in the city. If you have yet to see the picturesque colored houses lining the canals of Nyhaven you have done a shockingly impressive job at avoiding Instagram. It’s practically a requirement for visitors to snap a photo of the vibrant homes along the water, and it’s not difficult to see why. Nyhaven is a stunning place that was bustling on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. We became mere faces in the crowd of both tourists and locals alike out enjoying the scenery on a nice fall day.
Many people were out enjoying food and drinks by the canal.
My favorite thing we encountered that day though, was an open-air photography exhibit called Copenhagen Green. Right off Kongens Nytorv Square, there were rows of pictures depicting scenic locations around the city where you can visit for free. There were images of water sports and nature centers as well as gorgeous cemeteries and parks. Not only are the people of Denmark happy, they are very eco-friendly as well. Denmark is one of the “greenest” countries in the world so the fact that their capital city boasts such beautiful sanctuaries was no real surprise.
The best part about this exhibit was that each photograph provided a description of the location. Outlining activities you can do at each place, the photographs made each look enticing enough to visit that day. Of course, our theme of spontaneity continued and we followed one photo’s posted directions to our next stop.
The photograph advertising the Amager Nature Park.
We found our way to Amager Nature Park, the last stop on one of the two metro lines Copenhagen has. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the exhibit’s photo showcasing curious deer-heads, but what we found was beautiful. The park was expansive and made home to many animals. On a backdrop of the silhouetted city, various cows, deer, sheep, and horses meandered around the spacious green and we could walk right up beside them. The juxtaposition of the wildlife with the nearby city was beautiful and I felt lucky that happenstance had brought me there.
I loved the contrast this green open area had with the city. This is a great example of what Copenhagen can offer being a small and eco-friendly city.
As dusk approached it got a bit too cold to be outside, but we didn’t head back before witnessing a gorgeous sunset over the Nature Park. A flock of birds flying through the sunset made for a cliché day’s end but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the cheesiness. It was a great culmination to a day that successfully revived my curiosity and appreciation for the city I’ve made my temporary home.
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