So this one time when I went to Prague...

I've been meaning to write this entry for awhile, but I had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on this week...

So anyways, in perhaps the most spontaneous decision in my entire life, I went to Prague this past weekend. I had been talking to my friend Dan, from high school, and he mentioned that he had heard from Eileen and that she would be in Prague Thursday-Saturday and (half-jokingly) suggested I come too. Now normally I would have said no, however this all seemed too perfect: I had the weekend free, all of my girlfriends from my program were out of town, one of Dan's roomates was out of town so I would have a free place to stay, I would get to see people I haven't seen in awhile, and most importantly I would be surprising my best friend by visiting her...in Prague, a city I had really wanted to visit during my time abroad.

So I did it! I found a flight, got directions from Dan to meet up with him, packed, and left. Friday April 20-Sunday April 22 were perhaps two of the most amazing days in my entire life.

I got in on Friday at around 5:30 and after waiting forever to get my bag, a bus, two metros, and wandering the neighborhood looking for a tram, I finally made it to Dan's place at around 8. We hung out for awhile, had a beer, and then took off to go meet up with some people for dinner! Eileen was completely floored- she obviously had absolutely no idea I would be there, but we both agreed this was one of the coolest things we have ever done as friends. Dinner was amaaazing- it was so nice to have a break from Spanish food, and everything is so cheap! My meal, with drinks, was no more than 200 crowns (which is about 10 US Dollars...gotta love that exchange rate!) After dinner we went to this crazy Czech bar that was made up of all these different rooms, and tunnels, and big Czech beers! Fuun times!
The next morning I met up with Eileen and her roomate from Galway, Katie, for breakfast at "Bohemia Bagel" where we had blueberry pancakes!! Delish. The girls had to leave after that (caught a train to Krakow, no big deal) and I headed back to Dan's to get ready for my day of sight seeing! Lemme just say that Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen- had I not spent the past 11 years of my life studying Spanish, I would have really thought about studying here.
It's a big city, but still really managable, and we got to see everything: the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Jewish Quarter (6 Synagogues and a cemetary, woah!), the Lennon Wall, and Wenceslas Square.






After walking around for a few hours, we stopped in off of Wenceslas square to get a quick snack and relax for awhile, before heading back to Dan's to get ready for the night! We went out with my friend Evan and Eric to eat some authentic Czech cuisine, and then went to "Star Bar"- a sports bar off of Wenceslas square where we watched the BULLS win Game 1 of the Playoffs. After the game we wandered around for awhile (stopping at a street vendor to do some shots, of course)
before going into a club called Lucerna- awesome night there, considering it was 80's and 90's pop night- does it really get any better? I met up with my friend Christa, who lived on my floor freshman year, and we danced the night away!
Got up fairly early on Sunday to meet up with Christa for yet another amazing meal, before walking around some more, and then finally heading to the airport and back to Madrid. My trip could not have worked out any better- I had such an amazing time in only two short days, and it helped me realize how much I really have grown during my time in Europe. In the fall, if you had told me that I would be traveling alone, to Prague, I would have thought you was out of yo damn mind- but after this trip, I feel so much more confident about traveling in Europe, and in the U.S. I'm so glad I decided to do this!!

Well, to continue on with my traveler's attitude, I don't have school again until May 7th (thanks Madrid for having Festivals on Monday and Tuesday, the only days I have school!!) so tomorrow I leave for Edinburgh to see my cousin Katie!! :) I am SO excited to see the city she has called home since September- we're going to have an amazing time. Then we're off to Dublin, and then Galway to see Eileen, and then Eileen and I are off to Amsterdam- should be a crazy 11 day trip (wow! Spring Break Part II?), but I know I will continue to have to time of my life-Hopefully I'll get the chance to update a little while I'm traveling!

Ho-la

Just a quick little update for now.
Last weekend I played tour guide for an old friend from high school who is studying abroad in Paris and was visiting Madrid for a few days. It was great to catch up and hear all about his study abroad experience. It also made me realize how absolutely in love I am with Madrid, and how much I love showing it off- it's such an amazing city, and one I really can't wait to come back to visit in the future.

This week us Purdue kids have been celebrating Grand Prix, which is one of my favorite Purdue traditions. This Saturday there is a go-kart race, but the week leading up to it is just full of crazyness and partying. It's so much fun though, and there's no way any of us wanted to miss out. On Sunday we went to Christine and Ariel's piso for some pizza and shirt decorating. It was a lot fun just hanging out and got me really excited for the whole week!


On Monday I had class all day and then met up with everyone for Happy Hour. We wore our shirts there, and had a great time. Our bartenders liked the idea of Grand Prix so much that they just started giving us free drinks, and there was a group of old Notre Dame grads that did the same. All in all it was a crazy time for a Monday.

Tuesday was pretty tame- class all day then met up with some of the girls for dinner at this great place called "Rey de Tortillas" (Tortilla King). We all had some great food and ordered this giant sangria dispenser called a "Metro" for 15 euro. Very fun.
Yesterday I had my Prado tutorial with Madison and then afterwards we met up with the girls at the park to hang out and bask in the sun. The weather in Madrid is absolutely gorgeous right now- mid 70's and nothing but sunshine. I looove it.
Last night the whole group went to Chesterfield's, a discoteca, and danced the night away- soo much fun.
Today I'm just hanging out, running some errands and doing some homework before meeting up with everyone tonight for more fun! I swear I actually do some studying (B+ on my midterm! ha!) buuut for now I'm really trying to enjoy that rest of my time here, especially considering the fact that the majority of the kids on my program don't go to Purdue...I can't believe I'm not going to be able to see them everyday! boo

Well anyways, all for now- I'll update more after this weekend...should be a good one...! ;)

PS My thoughts are with the Virginia Tech campus and community...this has become international news (all the papers and tv stations here have been reporting on it) and it's been interesting to see the European perspective. Such a senseless tragedy that really shook all of us up. As college students (and especially as college students abroad) we have so much freedom, and a love for life, that we often forget how quickly it can all be taken away. I've been keeping in touch with my friends at home, and it's amazing to see the amount of support being given to VT from colleges all over the country.

Semana Santa

This is post number 3!

Our last group of visitors arrived on Sunday April 1st and it was really great to get to spend time with part of Kate's family. Her mom Cindy and her sister Amanda went with Kate to their hotel for Sunday night, while I hung out at the piso and packed up for our trip. We left on Monday for Alicante and after a few mishaps with our first train, we finally got on one for 6 pm. The train ride was actually really fun (the sangria didn't hurt either) and after a little more confusion over where our hotel was, we finally checked in later that night.

The rest of the week was spent laying out by the beach or pool, grabbing some food, walking around the area, hanging out/showering in the room, having dinner, playing cards (Eileen- I am FINALLY learning how to play Euchre- tourney this summer?) drinking at the hotel pub, watching Amanda hit on some German golfers, going to bed around 1 or 2 each night, and getting up early for the complementary breakfast, only to do it all over again.


Our hotel was in a pretty remote area, so we definitely all spent a lot of time together. It was fun though and 3 days was the perfect amount of time for the trip. It was also really relaxing, which is exactly what I needed after the whirwind Portugal trip. I loved getting to know Cindy and Amanda better, and it was nice see how Kate is around her family. All in all it was a really great beach vacation.

We got back into Madrid Friday afternoon and grabbed some tapas at a little place down the street from our piso. Amanda and Cindy had a really early flight on Sunday, so we hung out here last night, watching some movies (and of course LOST) before going to bed fairly early. Saturday Kate and I were pretty much bums, which is exactly what we deserved. Playing tour guide/translator is great, but we're both in agreement that not having any visitors for awhile will be a nice break. Seeing everyone from home was also exactly what I needed- homesickness seems to be a thing of the past, considering we have less than three months left here...

Sunday was Easter, and while Kate and a few other girls from the program went to church in the morning, I slept in (lol)! But it was still a great day since I got to meet up with them for brunch afterwards. We had an AMAZING Easter feast and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up and hearing about everyone's break.
No school today which gave me some time to catch up my homework- all in all a great weekend.
Whelp- that's about all for now! Hope you've all enjoyed the three-part summary of my last few weeks!

Besos-
Nicole

Obrigada, Portugal!

This is post number 2!

We (Mom, Joey, Amy, Kari, and Diane) got into Lisbon on Thursday afternoon and got a little bit of a tour/some brief history from our driver on the way to our hotel. When we got there we waited for Kate to come meet up with us, before walking around the city. Lisbon is SO beautiful and so old...there were so many gorgeous sites and monuments to see.


We spent the whole day sight seeing and doing a little shopping before heading back to the hotel to clean up and get ready for dinner. We went to this great little italian restaurant which had amazing pasta and incredibly fresh sea food. It was great to relax and socialize and get to see Lisbon at night.Early Friday we met up with our tour guide to go see the nearby cities of Sintra and Cascais, both of which were amazing. In Sintra we toured two palaces and the remains of a castle. There was a LOT of walking involved, and the pictures from all of this can't even do it justice. The views from the castle were amazing, and I was so proud of the moms for even attempting to climb up the whole thing. The palaces were also beautiful and overlooked the whole city.



On the way to Cascais we stopped by to see some amazing cliffs and get some lunch. We also got to see the "Boca del Infierno" (the mouth of hell) which was pretty spectacular.Cascais is a small town right on the coast, and there were a ton of boats in the harbor. It's a cute town and we walked around for awhile, but at this point we were all pretty tired so we headed back to Lisbon.

Friday night we went out for dinner to a Fado restaurant, which was one of the most interesting things I've ever seen. It's a restaurant, but while your meal is going on these performers are telling stories and folklore through song. Even though I couldn't understand any of the Portuguese, it was still really beautiful.



Saturday was another busy day. We met up with a different tour guide to see all of Lisbon. He took us to the oldest part of the city, the Alfalma, where we walked through the streets seeing all the old buildings and churches. Next we drove down the coastline to see the Monestary and other monuments in the city.



We also visited an old (and famous!) bakery to have some delicious Portuguese pastries. After a stop by the water for some photo ops, we went to see the oceanarium, the second largest one in Europe! It was soo much fun- the sea otters and Nemo were definitely my favorites.

After the aquarium we made the mistake of agreeing to go to the large, new shopping mall for lunch. Needless to say it was all downhill after the meal...but it was decided by the group to strike the outing from the record! (lol)Our last night in Portugal we went to "las docas" (the docks) for dinner and drinks. The area is really cute and there are a ton of restaurants and bars. It was a really nice way to end our trip.

Everyone left on Sunday :( and Kate and I headed back to Madrid to greet her mom and sister who came here to spend a week at the beach with us!

Back in Madrid

Hanging out in the piso right now, looking at pictures and relaxing after a crazy but fun two weeks. This is post number 1!
My mom, Joey, Diane, Amy, Kari, Jayne, Eileen, Katie, and Sara all got here on the 24th and it was so nice to get to see everyone. Saturday I took them around Gran Via, the palace, and the Plaza Mayor. We hung out for awhile and then went to a delicious dinner down the street from their hotel (this is when the moms realized that free table water doesn't really exist in Spain...oops). After dinner we drank some more in the hotel lobby before going to a "Belgium Beer Bar" for a little bit. All in all a busy but great day.

Sunday everything is closed in Spain so we went to the Rastro in the morning and Retiro in the afternoon. The weather is Spain was pretty cold, but still sunny and it was nice to relax and not have a definite plan for the day, considering mostly everyone was still recovering from jet lag. Sunday night I took the kids out for euro bocadillos and then they met up with the mothers to go to a flamenco show. Unfortunately I had to miss it...stupid 8:30 class. Monday they went to Segovia while I was at school and then we all met up again at Happy Hour!! :) Afterwards we went for a delicious Mexican dinner in Chueca and then some of us continued the night at Dubliner's.


Tuesday the gang went to Toledo where my brother bought a sword- clearly he had a great day! (lol) When they got back I walked around with mom a little before meeting back up with everyone (incluing Colin!) to go out for an amazing paella dinner. On the way to dinner we passed by a movie premiere.......needless to say, almost catching a glimpse of John Travolta pretty much made my year. (lol) After dinner we ended up in some tiny bar close to the hotel before heading back for the night and saying goodbye to Jayne. Wednesday was everyone's last day/night in Madrid so when they got back from a day trip to Cordoba, we hung out at the hotel (in the VIP lounge, of course) before saying goodbye to the backpackers: Eileen, Colin, Katie, and Sara.
It was sad seeing them go but I'm going to get to see them all in a month when I go and visit!! Wednesday night we went out for a nice italian dinner ...and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our vacation to Portugal!!