The Final Day: Reflections

Okkk guys. I know I have been a total deadbeat blogger. These last few weeks have honestly been an insane whirlwind of finals and snow and cramming in last minute shopping! Tonight is our last night in Prague, and it just seems unreal. I have been anticipating and preparing the end of the semester for so long, that it doesn't seem possible that it's really here. After we finished a tough week of finals on Wednesday (yes... real school!), we have been revisiting all out favorite restaurants and coffee shops to say "Na Schlad" to them all. Yesterday, we went on a final walking tour with Z called "Bye Bye Praha" just to say our farewells!

After a very full and tiring semester, it is odd to reflect on life here and everything I have done and learned here. First of all things I will NOT miss...

1. The smells. It is odd how cities have weird smells seem to catch you unaware and make you want to run for cover. The body odor situation has been a lot better since people have been wearing layers and coats in winter, but I still get a whiff even through all that every once and awhile!

2. PDA. I honestly feel like the couples of Praha seem to seek me personally out as their chosen audience for public affection. It seriously drives me bonkers! My last day in coffeeheaven was almost ruined by this couple making out (FAR TOO LOUDLY) for a solid half hour. Seriously people? Get a room!

3. Mullets. Too many mullets. What ever happened to "Have a mullet, go to jail!"??? When will people learn that it just isn't flattering. And dying it multi-colored really doesn't help. Really.

Things I will miss...

1. Walking. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to wander and explore. People don't really utilize their own legs in the US, and it's quite a shame! It can be a very cathartic and wonderful experience to plan out your daily route from place to place and never worry about finding parking.

2. Public Transportation. It's so nice to have a reliable and convenient source of public transportation! The metro is so easy and wonderful.

3. Being lost in translation. The language barrier has been a challenge at times, but it has definitely provided some great and humorous moments. For example, while we were taking our final, our history professor was trying to explain the the last person to finish had to take them to the office. So he told us: "So whoever is the slowest, or who is the most retarded, must take them." HAHA. He also uses the word "normalizators" on a steady basis, and says "I try to survive!" whenever it gets stuffy in the classroom. I will definitely miss those little moments!

Well, those are just some of the things I have thought about in the last couple days. It has definitely been a learning experience, and more challenging than I ever expected. But I am proud that I have finished the semester without any huge debacles and emotionally stable! I am so looking forward to coming home and enjoying the comforts of family, boyfriend, and Christmas. :) I am ready to sleep for approximately one week and watch TV and movies on my couch!!! Can't wait to see you all and give lots of hugs and love to you all. And yes, I know that I still owe you an entry on Berlin... but it will have to wait! I have to finish packing and enjoy my final night in Prague before flying out manana!

Here are just a few pictures from the last couple days...

These fish are the traditional food of Czech Christmas dinners! The carp! You can buy the fish on the street from these big pools, and most people keep them in their bathtubs until Christmas day.

Snow has fallen on beautiful Praha, making the city a winter wonderland. When I walk through the city, I feel like I'm walking in Dicken's "A Christmas Carol." :)

This is Alex and I on our final walk through Prague. It was FREEZING. Approximately 10 degrees (F) with a wind chill that made it feel like 2 degrees. YIKES. I couldn't feel my hands or ears, but it was a beautiful walk!

Heading out tomorrow morning... Na schladenou Praha! <3

This is Julia Miller reporting for The Blague!

A lot to be Thankful for :)

Greetings Readers! Since I tend to fall behind on my updates, I had to make sure I wrote about my wonderful Thanksgiving weekend before leaving for Berlin. That's right! My final trip of the semester will begin tomorrow morning bright and early, as Alex and I take the train to meet Annemarie in Berlin for the weekend. I am very excited, and am sure that I will have a lot to share when I get back!

But more importantly, back to a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Annemarie and I were so thrilled to be able to spend Thanksgiving together so far from home. It was very strange to be away from home for the first time on Thanksgiving, but it was nice to see a little slice of home (in the form of Annemarie of course!). She arrived on Wednesday while I was in class/napping, and did a little exploring before we met for dinner. After I went back to the dorm to grab some stuff, we had a long night of girl talk and catching up - something we are pros at.

On Thursday morning, we grabbed some delicious coffee at one of my favorite little cafes near school, and then walked across the river to the castle. The square behind St. Vitus even had a Christmas tree! It was oh so festive.

Then we went to one of my favorite little restaurants for lunch, and Annemarie was so infatuated with the decor that I'm not sure she even noticed the food! Hehe. After lunch, we walked a short way to the John Lennon Peace Wall where I jumped for JOY!

It was such a beautiful day that we didn't even touch the public transportation system, and we continued to walk around the city. After visiting the wall, we walked through Mala Strana and back across the Charles Bridge to Old Town. This is beautiful Annemarie on the bridge with the gorgeous Prague Castle in the background!

For Thanksgiving dinner, our program reserved seat at the Marriot Hotel here in Prague. Everyone dressed up and looked very fancy indeed. Most of the Czechs don't even know what Thanksgiving is, so we were glad to have our own little enclave of Americans to eat with. They had a delicious spread of food and desserts. Only two things missing in my book - green beans and mashed potatoes! I couldn't believe it! But the food we did have was very good, and we even got to have some pumpkin pie! Yummmm. This is my plate for the evening!

I was really diggin' the turkey. It was delicious!

Haha, Annemarie also enjoyed the festive centerpiece - complete with leaves and gourds!

On Friday, we began the day by visiting the Jewish Quarter. Although it is one of the more expensive entry fees in the city, I promised Annemarie it would be worth the price of admission. We went into Pinkas Synagogue, the Old Cemetery, and the Spanish synagogue as well. I even told Annemarie some of the legends and ghost stories I learned about while we were walking through the cemetery. Then we lunched at one of my most favorite places, Bohemia Bagel, before setting out to the Alfons Mucha Museum. I went to this museum once before with Alex, and I knew I had to take Annemarie back there! Mucha is a Czech Art Nouveau artist, but he spent a lot of his professional life in Paris. What a nice little connection between our two cities! It's a very small and interesting museum, so we both really enjoyed it. Plus I am writing a paper on Mucha's art for one of my classes, henceforth doing some research at the same time! After the museum, we went up Petrin Hill to the Viewing Tower (think mini-Eiffel Tower) for the wonderful views of the city. Annemarie has a much better picture of us on the tower, but here is mine - with the beautiful city in the background!

We were famished after a busy day, and met up with Alex and her younger sister (also visiting for Thanksgiving) for a traditional Czech meal of goulash and beer - Pilsner of course. That evening was also the official start of the Christmas markets, and we wandered and ate our way through the beautifully lit up square after dinner.

Annemarie tried one of my favorite treat - a trdlenik! I have no idea how to properly pronounce it, but it sure is yummy!

Annemarie's final day in Prague was fairly low-key, because we had done all of the tourist attractions I had planned for us. In the morning, we joined Alex and her sister for brunch at The Globe and ate delicious crepes and eggs and orange juice. We settled in for a little caffeine fix at Costa Coffee and then met up with Alex, her sister, and our two suite mates to go see a movie. I know what you're thinking... "A movie? In Prague? Why?" Well I'll tell you! Because they released the newest Twilight movie "New Moon" on Thanksgiving!!! And being across the world could not stop us from getting our Twilight fix! It was a much better movie than the first one - as in, I only burst out laughing at inappropriate moments once or twice. And thank goodness someone finally got Kristen Stewart an acting class and Robert Pattinson a dialect coach. Anyway, we loved the movie and had a great little girls outing! That night, I took Annemarie to my favorite restaurant in Prague called "Lekha Hlava," which translated to "Clear Head" in English. It is a vegetarian restaurant with a great atmosphere and amazing food. It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful weekend!

Annemarie left early the next morning, which probably would have been much more upsetting if she wasn't going to be with us in Berlin this weekend! Haha. Speaking of which... I should probably get to bed so I don't miss the train. Much love to all my readers. I'm so thankful for all of you!

This is Julia Miller reporting for The Blague!

Hello Everyone! I know, I know. I am a total Blague delinquent! It has been such a crazy few weeks, especially since the professors here have started assigning actual work... weird. Anyway - I will get right to the point of the European adventuring! (Which is obviously much more exciting than me sitting at my desk writing papers...UGH)

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I went to Vienna with our AIFS group! I have to been to Vienna once before, but I was so young that I really didn't remember much of it at all. It really is just a beautiful and classy city, as well as really expensive! Although my bank account suffered a little from this particular boondoggle (that's for you Mama!), it was a really great trip. My definite favorite part was the newly set-up Christmas Markets! This is a European tradition that I had absolutely NO idea about before this trip, but I have fallen in love with it. Essentially, there are tons of booths set up selling a multitude of goodies, including hot wine, desserts, sausages, ornaments, candles, spiced nuts, and pretty much anything that has a holiday theme! From the list, I'm sure you guessed that the main reason I love the markets so much is the food. And you would be right. The markets are just lovely to walk around at night, and it really got me in the holiday spirit! :)

We arrived in Vienna on Friday afternoon, and we were given a free evening to eat, drink, and be merry. So what did Alex and I do? Go to a museum of course! Because we are very cultured and sophisticate ladies, if you didn't already know. We went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in the Hofburg area, which is the museum of art history. We saw some great work by Raphael, Titian, Rubens, Vermeer, and Breughel. We got there only an hour before it closed, so we did a quick tour and even squeezed in the Egyptian exhibit. Then we, of course, spent the rest of the evening eating and shopping our way through the Christmas markets. The next day, the entire group went on an official Viennese tour with an official Viennese tour guide (she had a badge and everything!). Then Alex and I went to Demel (a place I would categorize it as the Laduree of Vienna) for coffee and cake. Honestly, it was so good that I can't even describe it! We split a lemon tart and truffle chocolate cake. We then joined the group again for a walk to the Belvedere Palace, and Z gave us some useful directions to the Military Museum. A group of us girls REALLY wanted to see this museum. Why, you ask? Well because we love history. And guess what is at the Military Museum... the car that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot in, sparking the first World War. It blew my history nerd mind right through the roof! After this, we went to the Christmas Markets (yes... again...) for a delicious dinner, and then went to the famous Hotel Sacher for dessert. Sacher Torte is supposedly the first chocolate cake, so of course we had to try it - even though we had already had cake that day. We went to bed quite happy and full, only to have to say bye-bye to Vienna the next morning. On the way out of town we stopped at the gorgeous Schonbronne Palace (the only place I remembered from my previous trip!). We ended the weekend completely exhausted, on a sugar high, and still a little full from all the cake. :)

Here are some pics!

Horse drawn carriages may be very romantic, but they will set you back 60 euros! They sure do make for a nice atmosphere though!

Me proudly displaying the delicious Sacher torte. Yummmmm

On the left - best lemon tart ever in the history of mankind.

On the right - delectable truffle chocolate cake.

The main streets of Vienna were all lit up for Christmas. Doesn't it just make you smile?

St. Stephen Cathedral was very cool!

The Belvedere Palace in the fog. Please note: the man in the foreground on the left looked very much like Stalin. Although it could have just been the mustache!

Vienna's Parliament building - based on the Parthenon or something like that :)

Schonbronne Palace with a giant Christmas tree in front! Are you feeling that holiday spirit yet?

This is Julia Miller reporting for the Blague. :)