Just Czech-ing in with y'all ;)
School is still just standard. It's kindof weird because we're already 4 weeks in, and I haven't had an exam yet. Normally, I'd be preparing for exam #2 back at Marquette, wasting away in e-hall or the library, while consuming ridiculous amounts of coffee. I'm still consuming lots of coffee, but just because it's SO good. I have my first exam next week in social psychology, which so far has been a joke. Not having to study 16 hours a day has been nice, but I actually really miss my major classes, and building onto the material I already know. The classes are definitely review here, and nothing near the level I have taken at Marquette, but overall, it is a nice change of pace.
This past weekend, I went to Prague, Czech Republic through a company called Bus2Alps. It is a tour company for study abroad students where they plan everything out for you, and you pretty much just show up. Huge difference between the last 2 weekends where I was in charge of planning my own sight seeing. It was so much less stressful then planning it all on my own. It was so nice having transportation all planned out for us, and being told exactly where to go at all times.
As soon as the bus got into Prague after 19 hours of transit, we hit the ground running with a walking tour around the city. I learned so much about the history of Czech Republic--almost too much. We learned about the differences between the architecture of the buildings. The more simpler, the more communism. The more elaborate, the more it represented democracy. Hearing the stories about the torture and separation the people of Czech went through made it hard to look at the city the same way I did upon arrival. Especially since it all happened so recently (1989). It was crazy hot outside, but everyone kept saying "it's the last day of summer". We didn't imagine that the change in temperature could be so drastic.
After all of our activities that day, I met some other girls from the Bus2Alps group who were from the American University of Rome, and we all went to get a Tredlnik. A Tredlnik, or "turtleneck" as the tourists say, is like a hollow croissant, with nuts and sugar coating on the outside. They have a variety of fillings, but I got mine with vanilla ice cream, salted caramel topping, brownie bites, and nuts. It was heavenly, and topped the long day of walking off nicely.
On Saturday, we woke up early, ate breakfast, and went for another walking tour across the Charles Bridge, to the John Lennon wall, and then to feed swans (they were SO big! and so hungry). Said "people" were not wrong about the quick change of seasons literally over night. It was low 60's, and very windy. I definitely didn't pack appropriately. After, we went to a Czech place in the middle of nowhere to get an authentic Czech meal. It included 3 courses: Potato soup with rye bread, Beef Goulash, and to finish, apple streusel (all paired with a beer the size of my head). It was incredible, and a perfect, cozy meal for a really fall-ish day. With a REALLY full belly, we continued our tour to the top of the hill to the Prague Castle. The castle once held the kings of Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, and Roman emperors, dating back to the 9th century, and the president still lives there to this day! To top it off, our tour guides mentioned that the Starbucks by the castle has the best views in all of Prague, and looks over a cliff. Naturally, I had to find it. I ended up branching off from my group once we got there (they weren't as excited about the Starbucks as I was), and sat outside and enjoyed the view while face-timing my mom. What should've been a 45 minute walk back to the hostel ended up being a 2 hour walk due to operational malfunction by yours truly. However, I did have fun turning down random streets and finding cute boutiques to stop into (don't worry mom there were people everywhere). I finally ended up back at the hostel, and went to a dinner market with my friends, and one of their close friends who lives in Prague. It was one of the coolest "fair" type places I've seen and had so many options to eat. I found sweet potato fries, too! After, we went back to the hostel, and went to bed, because we all had to be up and ready to meet the bus at 6:30 am to leave for Oktoberfest.
Our hostel had 12 girls in it. So if you can only imagine, alarms were going off non-stop from 5:15 am and on. I didn't even have to set an alarm (insert eye roll here). It was about a 4 hour bus ride to Munich, and we were let off basically right outside the festival. We had the opportunity to buy lederhosen and dirndl, but because we were only going to be there for 3 hours, I opted out, and spent more money on food and souvenirs instead. If you know me, and my mom, and even Jacob, you know we are pretzel SNOBS. I have been craving a good pretzel, and this one was above satisfactory for sure. Especially paired with a stein ;) We hung out in 2 different beer tents, split some apple strudel, had sub-par chicken schnitzel, and boarded the bus promptly at 3:30 weighing in 45 lbs heavier than I did at arrival. It was definitely quite the experience, and I really wish I had more than a few hours to spend there, but my dad wants to go so I'll just have to plan a trip some day with him, and my mom of course :-)
We arrived back in Rome at 3:45 am, and got into my apartment at 4:15 am. AND I had class at 8:30 am. If you can imagine, I was super #excited and #ready to be awake 3 hours later and to take on a day of 4 classes. It actually ended up being a great day. I went for a 6.5 mile run to the Vatican and back, and made some really tasty oatmeal+banana pancakes for dinner.
I'm really hoping this week will be better than the last few. As you all know, I have been having a really hard time adjusting. I know, it seems crazy. I am in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and have had so many privileges that most people don't have, and for that I am so grateful. But, it doesn't change the fact that everything I love, everyone I love, and everything I am comfortable with is not here with me. I'm used to walking down the streets going to class and seeing at least 15 people I know. Here? No one. I'm used to being able to get in a car and drive to the store and grab some groceries in 15 minutes. Here? Trying to just find almond milk and oatmeal took me 30 minutes. You get the point. It is a different world when you are living here, but I am realizing how much I already have, and how much I will continue to grow from this experience.
Sorry this got serious really quickly, but I think it's important to document the "behind the scenes" of this time in my life so I can look back and remember how I felt, and I want to be as transparent as possible with y'all.
Anyway, it's a new week! I have no plans to travel this weekend which I'm super excited about. I have a few exams next week, so I plan on studying for those, getting my life together a little bit, and hopefully exploring more of Rome.
As always, thanks for much for keeping up with my blog, and HUGE thank you to everyone who has e-mailed, texted, messaged me, etc. I appreciate you guys, and your wise words, more than I can say.
Much love,
Marisa
What a weekend! So glad you had a great trip, girl! ❤️