March 2-11: Berlin, Prague, Vienna & Budapest

Let me just start off by saying that these 10 days were probably 10 of the best of my life. The people that I traveled with were absolutely amazing and I think we laughed more than we slept. There was not 5 minutes that went by that someone didn’t crack a joke! Its an odd feeling knowing that you are experiencing something so indescribably wonderful.
We left Thursday night and arrived in Berlin at 7 in the morning. The over night train was yet again an experience.. The ride was so bumpy but we all just turned up the volume on our ipods and jammed to the music while we attempted to sleep. Luckily our hostel was only a 5 minute walk from the train station. We got to the hostel and they were so confused why we were there so early even though we had put down on our reservation that we would be arriving at 7 am. Anyways we dropped our stuff off, went and got breakfast and then went on the tour of Berlin. The walking tour of Berlin was so awesome just because of how many historically significant monuments are in Berlin. We’ve learned about the things such as the Berlin wall for years and it was just really cool to actually be starring at it. I found it hysterical when our tour guide was saying how most people usually envision the wall to be much bigger- more on the scale of the great wall of china. I did not picture it to be like the great wall, but I did think that it would have been much bigger! There was this one girl on our tour who absolutely hated America and kept making all these sly remarks at us. It was so rude and obnoxious! The tour was so long and it got really cold by the end of it. We had to stop in a few stores on the walk home to warm up. That night we went to this club that had all of the best American music from the late 90’s and early 00’s. It was so much fun because a group of like 25 of us went out and it was just such a blast from the past with that music!
The next day was designated to doing and seeing things that we did not do on the tour. Oddly enough, the food that all of us miss the most from home is Mexican. Shelley found this Mexican place that was supposed to be good so we decided to check it out for lunch. We were all so excited to be having something other than Italian or German plus the Mexican was great! We went to the area of the berlin wall that was painted by famous artists and it was so cool! There were so many different designs, words, pictures and colors that it just consumed all of your attention. From there our plan was to go to the Potsdam square so we got on the metro thinking we knew where we were going…. Well after about a 20 min metro ride that started in the city, went to the city outskirts and then the sight of the high way and lots of trees was when we realized that we were not going where we intended… We were going to the town of Potsdam not the square in the middle of Berlin…. It was just so funny!!
Our next stop was Prague. I have come to love traveling by train! We had little harry potter cabins in our trainI had heard so many wonderful things about Prague, but I did not know if it could live up to my expectations. We arrive at the apartment that we all rented and it was beautiful!! It was such a nice change of pace to the hostel-living that we had been doing. We had a huge common room, little kitchen, two bathrooms for the 6 of us and then 3 bedrooms! All for 7 euro a night… unbelievable! We were right in the middle of Old Town which was also a huge plus. That night we walked around for a little walk to get food at this authentic Czech restaurant which everyone’s dishes with meat in them looks amazing and my vegetarian risotto was subpar to say the least, but oh well! We had an early night to get up early for our walking tour in the morning.

I thought seeing the little bit of the city that I saw in the night time was amazing, but it did not compare seeing the beauty in the day time! It was really interesting to learn about some history of the Czech Republic and Prague. We got to see all of these stunningly gorgeous buildings and we learned about how Prague has a variety of different architectural styles throughout the city. My favorite was the Charles Bridge. It was has been seen in many movies, such as the most recent mission impossible movie! Our tour guide was telling us how so many movies have been filmed in Prague but in the movie they claim that they are in Paris or some other famous European city. In the middle of our tour, they took us to get lunch at this bagel shop. Not only has everyone been deprived of any kind of bagel but these were NYC style bagel. Everyone was so excited, it was hysterical. At the end of the tour our guide suggested that we go to this bar where the taps are on the table and you get to pour yourself as much or as little beer as you want. We went there later and it was a great time! There was a big screen in the bar that showed you where you table stood compared to the other tables in the bar and to other bars around Europe!
The next day we went over the bridge to the other half of Prague. We went up to the castle which was stunning! The views from up on the hill that the castle was on had the most breath-taking views of Prague! We also went to visit the Lennon wall. It was so cool to see a little piece of music history and see the love for the Beatles that everyone has.
Our next stop was Vienna. I met up and stayed with two of my friends from University of Vermont and it was so much fun to catch up with them! We didn’t get to Vienna til later in the afternoon so once I met up with Anna and Maddie, we just got dinner with a few other kids from UVM. It was a refreshing break seeing people other than the 43 other tech students that I am with 24/7! It was really interesting to see how Anna and Maddie’s study abroad program was set up because they were living in apartment-like dorms but their roommates were people from all around the world and they also have classes with locals and other study abroad kids. Their class schedule was also one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen; one week they would have one class on Tuesday for 8 hours, but that was all the class they had for the week, so needless to say they have a lot of free time on their hands! They also started class the week that I visited them and go until the end of June! After a great dinner, we just chatted and caught up! In the morning, I went and met up with the rest of my group and guess what? It was snowing outside. We scurried around and tried to see a few things such as the palace and opera house but the weather got the best of the southerns that I was with. My friends from Vermont were like oh its just a little snow, we can still see the ground while everyone from the south were acting as though it was a huge blizzard! Quite humorous… We decided to catch an earlier train and off to Budapest we went…

We get to Budapest and around the train station was a little sketchy to say the least…and also it was super crowded!! We were all so excited to get to Budapest because I found this AMAZING hotel for so cheap for us to stay in. Well we get to the hotel and it was even better than we expected. We check in, get up to our room and we were in heaven. Not only did the man at the front desk greet me by saying my last name correctly, we walk into the room and across the TV it says ‘Welcome to the Boscolo Hotel, Ms. Schmadel’. There was also a letter personalized to me, welcoming me to the hotel. This five star hotel was about a million steps above the hostels we have been staying in. We had huge, comfortable beds and the shower was spectacular. We were all ecstatic to be living like queens for the next 2 nights! After a wonderful night sleep, we woke up and walked around for a bit and then found this awesome Mexican restaurant. Although the food and paying the bill took forever, it was a great meal! We set off to find the famous Turkish baths to relax in. We were in the location that we were told that they were in…but we didn’t see them. We walked around this hugggeee building looking for them and after doing a full 360, we realized that they were in the middle of this building haha. The baths were so soothing, it felt like it had healing water! That night was when we were celebrating our friends birthday! We all went out to dinner at a place with an unlimited food and drink menu, and it was shockingly great food! The beer tasted worse than the cheapest beer in America but the wine was good! That night, just by chance, I met a person from Summit and one who had cousins that lived in Chester! It’s a common revelation that I’ve had while studying abroad: the world is too small!
For our final day in Budapest, we decided to take advantage of the spa in our hotel. Included in the price of the room was access to many spa amenities. We got to go in this heavenly steam room and sauna as well as lay in these chair/bed things that were the most comfortable thing I have ever sat in. Unfortunately after a long day of relaxation, we had to get ready to go catch our over night train. We grabbed a bite to eat, went to the food store and got snacks for our 16 hour journey home and it was off to the train station.
We get aboard our train and it was the grossest train that we’ve been on yet. Not only did we have to wait until 10 for the conductor to fold down the middle bed so we could all finally lay down, the cabins were tiny! We made the best of it though and when we get to Zurich, we get on our train to Lugano but find out that we’ll have to change trains because part of the tracks got covered by a land slide. Well… it was not just one change of train but a change of a train to another to a bus back to a train and finally we were back in Lugano!
Now, this blog post can not even grasp just how amazing these 10 days were. But, I will definitely remember them for the rest of my life!

Feb 24-26 Munich

Let me just start by saying that after going to Munich I absolutely LOVE Germany and am so excited that I get to go back in a few days (to Berlin)! After going to Frankfurt a few years ago, I was not so in love with Germany but my opinion changed completely after this weekend! On Friday we got a really early start-our train left at 6:12 am… I luckily fell asleep and woke up in Zurich to switch trains and from there the ride really was not bad! We got into Munich mid-afternoon and went right to our hostel. It was a short walk, maybe 4 minutes, but in that time there was an overwhelming aroma of delicious food! This was amusing to me because in Frankfurt, my mom, sister and I still have a running joke about how bad the food was!
After getting all settled in to our hostel, we decide to go find this outdoor market. The weather could not have been more beautiful! It was around 60 degrees… we were walking around without jackets on, it was great! The street that we had to take to the market was so cool- it was a pedestrian street that had all these fruit vendors lining it. The fruit did not just look good, it looked mouth-watering. The strawberries looked like they were on steroids, there was dragon-fruit, ruby red raspberries and many other fruits, all for so cheap! That was another great thing that we discovered about Munich- it is SO much cheaper than Lugano! We finally get to the outdoor market and it was not like what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be more of a flee-market kind of thing, with all temporary stands but it actually was more like Bryant park in the city! The different little shops were permanently there, and all very unique! There were pastry shops (all with huge pretzels!), butchers, honey shops, fruit and veggie vendors, places that sold herbs, olives, and oils, little trinket shops and then places that sold beer- those were the most crowded haha! Eventually we made our way back to our hostel and met one of our random roommates. He was a nice guy from Seattle, WA who was spending the spring travelling around Europe. That night we went to a nice authentic German meal, where my friend, Abbie, got pork knuckles! After dinner we made our way to the famous beer house, Hophrahaus. It was like something I’ve never seen before! The place was HUGE and without fail, if you were of age, you had a beer in hand. We were sitting next to this big group of German guys, all of which loved their drinking songs haha! I have never tasted beer that was this good!! There were waitresses walking around selling these pretzels that were easily twice the side of my head- we all wanted one but we restrained ourselves!
The next morning we went on our free walking tour of Munich! This tour was definitely necessary to take but it was so heavily focused on history. Our tour guide was this crazy British guy who started out our tour by letting us see the ‘second biggest let down in Europe’ aka the little scene at the Glockenspiel. I will have to say that he was correct about that! This tour seemed to drag on a little bit because there was just so much information to take in but overall it was very helpful! I have found that without taking tours of cities, I do not appreciate what I am seeing nearly as much (mainly because I don’t even know what they are! Haha)
That night we went back to the Hophrahaus and we were in the upstairs this time. Here there were a bunch of performances going on that included some german dancing, a band performing and then the strangest of them all was these two guys got up on stage and played these instruments that looked like fishing poles. I’m not quite sure exactly what it was but it just made this insane clicking sound. It was so impressive because they were twirling these wires around with something at the end of them and when they hit together, that’s how it made the noise. I feel like I would hit myself in the face if I ever tried! We got pretzels that were no joke two times the size of my head! And it was the most delicious pretzel I have ever eaten!
The next day we went to the Dachau concentration camp.. it was a very emotional experience, but one I am glad I had. It was all so depressing and very uncomfortable knowing that I was standing and touring around the first concentration camp. It was so weird standing somewhere that I have learned about for years, but you cant grasp the whole essence of a concentration camp until you go to one…
On a brighter note, I really don’t have enough good things to say about Munich!

Venice! Feb 17-19

This weekend we went to Venice for the big Carnevale celebration! I was very excited to go because we learned all about this festival in my Italian class. Before going to Venice, I heard many mixed reviews on the city. Upon arrival into the city I was taken back by the beauty and uniqueness of it. We only went into the city for dinner on Friday because our train arrived fairly late, after many delays. We found this cute little café and had wonderful pesto pizza! It is a growing trend on how much pizza we all get because it is so delicious and so cheap! Early Saturday morning we go back into the city and this time I was so overwhelmed by how many people were there! The streets were flooded with people, many of which all dressed up in fancy outfits and masks. There were people of all ages dressed up- some in traditional Carnevale outfits while others were in outfits such as the Mario Kart characters! In the main square, San Marco, there was a huge stage set up as well as numerous vendors selling masks. On the stage, there was a few performers singing songs ranging from the chicken dance to pop songs.
There was not much else to do in Venice other than walk around the streets, but that was fine by me! I thought it was so cool how no cars are allowed in the city (for good reason- the alley ways are so narrow and there are bridges everywhere!). The weather on Saturday was absolutely beautiful- we really could not have gotten luckier! It was probably in the mid 50’s and not a cloud in the sky! And since it was not too hot, it was not smelly because of the water like I hear it is during summer. I wish I could have gone on a gondola ride, but they were at least 50 euro… so there went that idea! It is so funny how easy it has become to spot the Americans- if they are wearing a north face jacket, there is like a 95% probability that they are from the states haha! Over the past day we all have done so much planning on what we are doing for the rest of the weekends/week long breaks. Reality is hitting in on how fast time is flying by over here and how we really don’t have too much longer here! It is official that I am going to Munich this weekend and I could not be more excited! A bunch of people from my trip already went there and most of them said that Munich has been their favorite city thus far!

First 10 day break: Edinburgh, Dublin, Stockholm and Amsterdam!!

Here goes the start of my first 10 day break! We flew out of Milan to Edinburgh on early Saturday morning. Getting to Milan’s airport was a headache. Peoplesaid that they found a way to get there for free, using our rail pass, something that no one has found a way to do before. We usually have to take a bus that costs 35 franc one way or 60 for round trip, something that no one wants to pay for. Well the night before we’re supposed to leave at like 10:30-11ish I was talking to the woman at the main desk at where we live told me that this train that we were planning on taking was a horrible idea. Since it was really cold and snowy the local trains probably would not be running, especially at 5:30 in the morning when we were going to get on the train. By this point a lot of people were asleep and I realized that we (20 of us) had no way of getting to the airport because 20 of us could not show up at the bus in the morning expecting them to haveroom for all of us. One of our professors, Julien, found out about this dilemma and helped me resolve it. He got on the phone with the bus company and arranged for a big bus for all of us but by the time that we got this all sorted out it was 12:30 and most people were asleep. I needed to inform everyone on what the new plan was as well as get cash from them all. This burden was placed on me but without this we would have all missed our flights.

We all get on the plane and it was the scariest flight of my life. There was so much turbulence that I felt like I was in the scene from LOST where the plane went down. There was this one woman who was screaming while all the turbulence going on and looking back on it, it was quite humorous.

We arrive in Edinburgh and I instantly fell in love with the city. Little did we know though, that the day we arrived was the day of the huge Scotland vs. England rugby game. There were people every where getting ready for the big game- tons of guys in kilts walking towards the stadium. This actually worked in our favor because the other side of town was empty for us to do sight seeing. We really booked it around Edinburgh so we could see everything. My favorite parts were going up to the huge castle and then going to this park where the ‘second Parthenon’ was supposed to be built. Apparently Edinburgh was the Athens of the north so they started to build another Parthenon but soon realized that they had no money so it was only partially completed. But from this area the views of Edinburgh and the landscape were breath-taking! As game time approached, we went to a bar to watch the game with all the locals! Sadly, Scotland lost but none of us really knew anything about rugby anyways. While talking to some locals we told them how we were going to Dublin the next day and they thought we were following the rugby tournament because apparently the next game in

the tournament was in Dublin where Ireland was playing Wales. This gave us a little piece of mind on why the hostels were so booked in these two places for our stay!

I absolutely fell in love with Edinburgh and want to eventually move there. Everything about the city was wonderful. The people were so friendly, the buildings and streets were so charming and within the city it felt very welcoming. I wish we got to spend more time in Edinburgh, and I already plan on going back as soon as I can! It was a good thing I had a ticket booked out of Scotland because I did not want to leave!

In the morning we took a very short flight, 40 mins, to Dublin. We got into Dublin and I have to say I was not immediately impressed. It felt like just another big city because we got off the bus on the main street. My opinion did change though. Our hostel was a bit of a walk away but it was so worth it! It was an amazing place- the lobby was actually 3 floors, all of lounges, big TVs and a bar area! The room was also great- so clean and spacious! We walked around Dublin on our own that day and that night was both the rugby match and the super bowl! We knew it was going to be a late night so we rested up a bit because the super bowl did not even start until 11:30 their time! Ireland lost and my patriots lost so sports-wise, it was not a great day!

The next morning we went on the walking tour of Dublin! It was so awesome because we had a great tour guide who knew everything about Dublin so we got to learn all about the history of the city! My favorite part was probably walking through the Trinity College campus. It was so cool how it was in the heart of the city but once you walked through the campus walls, it was like the city was miles away! We also went to this really cool museum where there are preserved bodies from hundreds of years ago. They were in these bogs that the alkaline levels were so neutral that it allowed the bones, hair and nails to stay intact! We had the most amazing dinner that night. Luckily, we past this small restaurant that looked really cool so we decided to eat there. We all had one of the best dinners of our lives!

Next we made our way up to Sweden! Stockholm was a city that I really did not know anything about nor had an idea of what to expect. The beauty of it pleasantly surprised me! Our hostel was in a very convenient location, it was right along a very large pedestrian street. The street was lit up at night with tons of Christmas lights and such, which made it fun to just walk along! My favorite part about Stockholm was walking in the old downtown part.It was narrow, cobblestone streets that were just lined with various little shops and restaurants. Megan, Lindsey and I went into this small coffee shop to escape the cold and get something warm to drink. Megan and I ordered chai lattes and we were served them in these huge bowls. Never in my life have I had a chai that was so good!

We went to the Vasa museum where there is the huge vasa ship that was discovered in the waters right by Stockholm dating back hundreds of years yet the ship was still in perfect condition. Now the ship is in this museum and it is just surreal. You can’t appreciate how big this ship is unless you are standing right next to it. They also had specialists do facial reconstruction on the bones that were discovered so they could see what the people who were on the vasa looked like. It was all so impressive and overwhelming because it was hard to believe how this ship was really hundreds of years old and I was standing right in front of it. The only thing I did not like about Sweden was that the people there were the most unfriendly towards tourists that we have seen so far.

Our last stop of this crazy trip was Amsterdam. It was so cool to see it when we did because all the canals were frozen over, something that has not happened in over 20 years! Everyone was ice skating down them or just walking on them to avoid walking on the streets because the streets there are crazy! There are cars, busses, trams, and the thousand bike riders as well as pedestrians walking around. Amsterdam was another place that I didn’t really know what to expect. The architecture there and how the whole city is set up around the canals was so cool. Going to the Anne Frank house was probably one of my favorite things I did this break. It was so interesting to walk through it and actually be in the place where I have learned about for years.

It was a weird transition going from the Anne Frank house to the Heineken factory. But the Heineken Experience was definitely worth it! It was really interesting to learn how beer was made and the history of Heineken (as well as tasting some of the beer J ) My first souvenir that I brought on this entire trip was this customized Heineken bottle! It was sad to see this trip come to an end but by the time that I got back to Lugano I was so happy to see my bed and get a nice 13 hour nights sleep J

Florence and Tuscany Jan 26-29

We arrived in Florence at night after a day of class and get to our small hotel. At first it seems kind of sketchy because it is so quiet, but it actually turned out to be a nice place to stay! That night I just went to sleep because we had to get up early and go on a tour of Tuscany. At 8 am Friday morning, Lindsey, Megan and I go to the bus station to get on our bus to start the tour.

Our first stop is the small town of Siena. This is where the annual horse race goes on. The town was so quaint- the streets were quite empty but there was so much charm! All the buildings were so old but very well preserved. We had a guide walk us around the town and give us a little history about it. Our next stop was at an organic farm and vineyard where we got a delicious meal consisting of home made pasta, salad, bruschetta, cheeses, various kinds of wine as well as biscotti with wine that you dipped it in. From there we went to another small town called San Gimignano. There we walked around on our own. There were many leather shops as well as places to get gelato. We caved and got ourselves so gelato and it was delicious! Our last stop of the day was at Pisa. We got out of the bus and had this little train/tram thing take us around the town. I have to say I was not as impressed with Pisa as I thought I would be. Granted it is not tourist season, but the town was pretty dead and dirty. We did get to have our ‘cheesy’ leaning tower of Pisa picture taken though!

We spent Saturday and Sunday in Florence. I was thrilled that I go to see my friend from high school, Amy, in Florence on Saturday night! While in Florence, besides just walking around seeing all of the beautiful buildings, we went to the Galleria dell’Accademia, the Duomo, and the Uffizi. Seeing Michelangelo’s David was surreal. From pictures you simply can not appreciate how stunning of a sculptor it is! We walked across the Ponte Vecchio as well! The only thing that I did not love about Florence was the mass amounts of tourists there were. I felt like I did not see any locals- all tourists! All of the food was amazing though- we got authentic Italian meals that were delicious! I would have to say that Tuscany was hands down my favorite part of the weekend!

Copenhagen, Denmark Jan 20-22

This weekend I went to Copenhagen, Denmark! We got there on Friday night and just walked around, getting acquainted with the city! We were pleasantly surprised to find out that everything in the city is relatively close together. The people in Copenhagen were some of the nicest people I have ever met! When we got to our hostel, I felt like I was in the Beatles movie, Across the Universe! The hostel had such charm to it and it was a really welcoming atmosphere. The people at the desk were so eager to help us and just to chat. Saturday morning we went on this amazing free walking tour of Copenhagen. Our tour guide was hysterical but also really knowledgeable- I learned so much about the city that I never knew. We found out that Copenhagen has had two major fires in their history- one of them burnt down 46% of the city! Thank goodness the city was not too spread out because it was FREEZING! It went from raining to snowing and then it continued to snow all day. I actually was afraid I was getting frost bite on my toes!

That night we got dinner at this quaint Danish restaurant. We walked in and asked for a table and the hostess said that they would not have any tables for at least 45 minutes. Then there was this older couple already sitting down at a fairly big table and they offered for us to sit at the other end. It was so nice of them. They were from Oslo, Norway here in Copenhagen for their 30^th anniversary. We talked with them for almost 3 hours about things ranging from politics to their favorite spots in Europe. At dinner I got this delicious salmon and mashed potato dish!

On Sunday we walked around the city more. All of the architecture is beautiful! It also was so cool how everyone there rides their bikes around the city! Our tour guide said that over 60% of the residents ride their bikes to work every day. I was sad to leave here!

Interlaken, Switzerland Jan 13-15

Today we got home from Interlaken! On Friday we took the bus there. It was a terrifying ride- our bus driver was a sketch and then on a road going down a huge mountain (while it was snowing) we hit a huge line of traffic. Our bus driver decided it was a good idea to cut across the road right before a bend in the road to go to a place to park while the traffic cleared. Well we almost caused another accident doing this! There was a car going very fast around the curve that stopped just in time. Due to the traffic, we almost missed our train to go night sledding. What an experience night sledding was… It was terrifying but a huge adrenaline rush! We started out the night by having a fondue dinner at the top of the mountain. Lots of cheese and carbs… We were all shocked when we saw the crappy plastic sleds that we would be taking down this mountain. The trail was not like tubing back at home- it was a straight up ski trail!! We talked to a few locals on the gondola ride up and they were laughing when we said we didn’t have headlamps and we wearing sneakers. It was not until we started to sled that I saw why they were laughing. The trail was pitch black. There were orange ‘lights’ every 1000 feet or so but they didn’t give off any light.. it was just merely marking the trail. To top it all off the sleds went SO fast and no one had any idea how to steer. We kept our feet out as a way to kind of slow ourselves down! It was honestly a little frightening, but looking back it was really fun!

On Saturday, my friend Ashley and I went skiing on the Swiss Alps. It was absolutely surreal. There were no trees on the trails and the trails were so wide! We had to go through 4 gondola stops before we got to the top of the mountain! It was such an amazing day, I could not believe it as it was happening! All in all this weekend was a great time to bond with everyone on my trip!