Part 1:
Friday the 15th was the first day of travel break
and it was all we could do to sit through class, leaving for travel week is the
equivalent to leaving for spring break (but this was so much colder). At 5:30pm
we all took a bus to Bassano and from there took a train to Venice. Our hotel
in Venice was close enough to the station so we were able to walk which was
nice. We grabbed a quick dinner and then took a bus into Venice. Unfortunately
it was about 12:30am before we got there so we missed the BIG Carnival party
but the city was still very much awake. I got a mask right when we got into the
city and kept it on for the rest of the night! We walked all over the city and
saw a lot of CIMBA students who were also spending their first night in Venice.
We eventually made our way back to the hotel around 2am. Then came Saturday…
Saturday morning we walked back to the train station to
catch a bus to the Venice-Treviso airport for our WizzAir flight to Prague!
There had to be about 50 CIMBA students on that flight (keep in mind, there are
only 126 of us in the program) and we got to pick our seats so that was
actually a fin flight. During the flight we passed over the Alps and they were
BEAUTIFUL. At one point we couldn't tell if the plane was really that low or
the Alps were just that tall. When we got into Prague all 50 some of us needed
to exchange our currency which was a pain but Prague is relatively cheap so
that was nice. We took a cab to our hostel which was so gross. Seven of us
shared this nasty little room and the bathroom was repulsive. Some of the other
CIMBA students were staying in a hostel that was a 2 minute walk down the road
from us and it was so much nicer. The girls headed out for a late dinner and
then we met up with everyone else in Old Town Square for a pub crawl. We went
to 5 pubs; the last one was the largest night club in central Europe, 5 floors
of awesomeness. I did have a shot of Absinthe while on the pub crawl (sorry Mom
and Dad!). Over all the pub crawl was a
good start to our time in Prague, AND we got a t-shirt.
Sunday we had a really good brunch at a café that was
alongside the river. After that it was almost 1pm so we decided to head back to
Old Town Square to take a free walking tour of Prague. Our tour guide was a
really cool guy named Simon who was originally from London, came to Prague on
Holiday and just never left. We saw all of the major spots all over Prague and
learned a lot about their history which was fascinating. On the tour we saw Old
Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, Charles’ Bridge, the Old Jewish Quarter,
Old New Synagogue and the Golem, Prague Castle (at a distance), and a much
more. Prague is absolutely beautiful and I would love to come back and see it
in the spring and when I can walk around comfortably without being so cold.
Unfortunately my day stopped when the tour stopped because I
got the “Emily Sickness.” For those of you who don’t know what that is it’s a
stomach sickness I've been getting since high school and lasts about 17 hours.
But as usual, I was as good as new on Monday!
So, Monday Mary Clare, Stephanie and I broke off from the
rest of the group when we went in search of a bagel place that Simon
recommended to us. We made it as far as Starbucks before we decided to give up
when we saw some of the CIMBA boys. We then decided to go check out New Town
Square and have some lunch. After that we decided to head back to Old Town and
climb to the top of the Astronomical clock (I lied, we didn't climb, we took
the elevator). At 2 we found yet another
group of CIMBA boys and all decided to take the free Prague Castle tour at 2. At
this point, our group of 3 had turned into a group of 15. The Castle sits on
the other side of the river and overlooks Prague so you get an amazing
panoramic view at the top. The history and the hidden secrets of the Castle was
really fun to learn about despite the BITTER COLD WEATHER. Oh yeah, while we
were on the tour we ran into yet another group of about 10 CIMBA students.
We’re everywhere. After the tour we finished up our last day and night in
Prague with dinner at the Mosaic Room (the other hostel down the street) and
then went to a local beer pong bar called “Balls Deep.” There were about 20
CIMBA students hanging out in that bar….
On Tuesday (Happy Birthday to my darling Little, who’s
birthday I regretfully missed) we had to get up early to trek through the snow
to the Prague train station. Half way there we saw another Starbucks and caved
to buy a hot coffee before we continued walking. I think I have seen more
Starbucks, Burger King and McDonalds per city here in Europe than I have
anywhere in the States. Once again, at the train station there were almost 30
CIMBA students boarding the train to Berlin. It was a 5 hour train ride through
the snowy German country side and we sat in groups of 6 in our own private car.
Most of the time was spent playing poker and sleeping. When we arrived in
Berlin we took a bus to our Hostel which was a palace compared to the last one.
It was under the same ownership as the Mosaic Room in Prague so it had a nice
bar and restaurant downstairs. For dinner a group of us headed to a nearby
restaurant that brewed their own beer which was really good, but not as good as
the sausage and apple strudel. The rest of the evening was spent at a German
pub, which coincidentally was filled with the same crowd that was on the train.
I promise we didn't plan this all together. Apparently these cities are just
not big enough for CIMBA students...
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