SNOW in Roma!

Today, I woke up to SNOW falling outside my window! The Italians had a hayday, they've never seen snow... they were all carrying around umbrellas and my cleaning lady couldnt stop looking out the window... Ohhh Italy.

Carnivale di Venezia

Venice and Rain and One Star Hotels, Oh my!!

Last Friday morning February 5, we hopped on an early RyanAir flight to Venice. It still amazes me that flights are so much cheaper than trains now a days, we spent about half the money and got there in a quarter of the time! Our flight was short and sweet, and we arrived in Venice in about forty minutes... and it was raining.

The first order of busiess was to find our hotel to drop our stuff off before heading to the island of Venice. Our hotel "Hotel Giovannina" was on in Mestre down the street from the bus stop, and was a ten minute bus ride to Venice so it was a pretty good location. However, we quickly discovered that the location ended up being possibly the only good thing about the place. Honestly, if you have an enemy and they happening to be travelling to Venice and you really want to get back at them for something, recommend this hotel!




So let me tell you a little bit about Hotel Giovannina. First, there is no way that this place would ever pass an American health and safety regulations check, no way. We first got there and checked in (the guy at the dest was very helpful atleast) and he handed me a key with a key chain that honestly weighed like five pounds. He told us that you must turn in your key everytime you leave the hotel and they would give it back everytime you came back. Later, we discovered that to get your key back you just say "Room 118" and they hand it to you without checking ID or anything. So basically, anyone could say they were staying in our romo and coud get the key = awesome security. The room didnt seem too bad upon irst entering, but it went downhill from there. The walls and ceilings were stained with God knows what, Tom's sheets had a stain on them, and my blankets smelled awful.

The worst was the bathroom, which deserves its own paragraph. We noticed that the shower was strategically placed in the doorway (???) so that you had to walk through the shower to get to the toilet. That, and there was nothing to catch the water from the shower, so when someone showered, the water just went all over the bathroom floor and leaked into the room (so, you can imagine, part of the floors of our room was soggy from all the mold underneath).

We dropped our stuff off (but took our valuables with us) and left that hotel room as quickly as we could. We meandered arouond Mestre for a little while, found a gorcery store and grabbed a bite to eat before heading to the bus station. Our hotel receptionist had given good advice about what buses to catch and where to buy tickets, so that was helpful. The bus ride over kinda got us out of our dreary little run that we had fallen into because of the rain and the room because driving over water and seeing all of the ports and stuff was gorgeous. We got off the bus (it was still raining) and started walking. There were tons of sidewalk shops and stands, most of them selling masks and costumes for Carnivale which was starting the next day. We wandered around Venice for a little while, just happy to be there and admiring the canals and the such.



We eventually found our way to Ponte Rialto, Venice's most famous bridge crossing over the Grand Canal. Apparently, the original wood bridge collapsed in the 1500's so the built a new, huge one made ouot of stone. Today, there are at least a dozen shops built on the top of the bridge, its a really fun place to shop and a huge tourist site. From there we made it to Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Square), which was beautiful. We could see them already setting up for Carnivale and I got so excited :)


We spent the afternoon sight seeing and it was very relaxing. First, we went into the Basilica di San Marco which was absolutely breath taking on the inside... there were dozens of signs saying no pictures but I did anyways. On the altar we saw the tomb of Saint Mark, and the altar piece marking the tomb was gorgeous. There were also mosaics everywhere depicting stories from the Bible, they were so intricate it was amazing!

Next we went to the Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace) which was right next to the Basilica and had a pink and white facade that reminded me of a fairytale castle. Inside we found dozens of grand chambers with incredibe paintings on the walls and ceiling and stucco and marble floors (again i wasnt supposed to take pictures but I did). The palace housed the Doge's residence, the head of State, as well as other government offices. Ultimately we learned that the almost over the top decor actually served the purpose of illustrating to visiting ambassadors and diplomats Venice's extreme wealth and power. Perhaps my favorite part of the visit was the "Prigioni Nuove" which were prisons built next to the Palace to house the prisoners that were earlier locked in the palace's attics and basement. The prison was connected to the Palace by a bridge over the canal called the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs), which got its name from the legend that once a prisoner crossed this bridge after getting sentanced, they would never return.



After the palace visit, we shopped around a bit and got dinner. Venice was absolutely dead, probably because of the rain, and there was hrdly anyone on the roads. We stopped to get some dinner and we were the only people in therestaurant, which was a little awkward because then the waiter just stood and watched us eat. We decided to head back to the hotel afterwards because we were exhausted and wanted to rest up for Carnivale the next day, and we were in bed by eight o'clock (but not without a lot of whining to eachother about the disgustingness of the beds).

In the morning, we debated with eachother for about an hour whether showering in our scary shower was worth it, and I was ultimately the one to take the chance first (terrible idea- frozen water, gross floor = two minute shower). When we left, we stopped at the grocery store for some breakfast and headed to Venice for the day. When we got there, a lot of people were dressed up in capes and gowns with Carnivale masks, so Lizzie and I bought a couple cheap ones for ourselves. We spent the day people watching and admiring all of the cool costumes. Tourists and Americans were everywhere, they seemed to greatly out number the number of Venetians. We watched as they prepared for a performance in the main square and stopped by another museum. The performance during the day seemes to be geared towards children, because a creepy bunny came out dancng and singing. We shopped around a little bit more and grabbed a bit to eat mid afternoon (best pizza I've had in Italy! I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant) before heading back for a nap. When we finally got up, the rain had finally stopped for a little bit and our spirits were lifted. We ran into a friend from Rome (Dan) who had bought complete costume for hundreds of euro, but it was very cool ad we hungout with him and his friends for a little bit. We headed back to St. Mark's square for a more adult performance in Italian. There were so many people! and so many cool costumes, I'm glad I experienced it :)





We left on a plane early Sunday morning, and we were all excited to be out of the hotel! Looking back, I wish that our visit to Venice wasn't full of rain, but I think that we did a phenomenal job making the best of it, and Carnivale was so fun :)
I actually missed Rome a little bit and I'm excited that this weekend we will be staying in town to get some Rome-time in!

Czech-ing out Prague!

This past weekend, I absolutely fell in love with the city of Prague and found it the most charming place that I have ever been. The city was absoultely beautiful with its architecture, landmarks, cobblestone roads and quaint little pubs on every corner. While I was walking the streets, I came to the conclusion that Praha (as the Czechs call it) was now my new favorite place in the world. Then I wondered how many times I will think that about how many different places during the next four months...

Me, Tom, Lizzie, Cara, and four of Tom's roommates Phil, Robbie, Connor and Miles all hopped on a train, then another train, then a bus to the Rome-Ciampino Airport on Thursday night. We successfully boarded our hot pink "WizzAir" plane and were off on our way to Praha. I quickly became the hero of the plane ride because I happened to say something to one of the stewardesses, who then realized that I spoke English and offered all eight of us Emergency exit row seating which had to be occupied by English speakers. Note: Emergency exit row = twice the leg room, success.

I have to say that this flight was the most amusing plane ride I have ever taken. In addition to the sassy stewardesses that made funny comments towards the passengers over the loudspeaker, the italian passengers were quite an amusemnet. As soon as the seatbelt sign turned off, people were up and out of their chairs and congregating around their friends, sitting on the arm rests and drinking their beers. While all the Italians were throwing their little party, Lizzie and I decided that their behavior totally wouldn't "fly" on American flights (get it?), but it seemed to be perfectly normal. However, I'd have to say that my favorite part of the trip was upon landing the plane in Prague when the entire plane erupted in applause when the plane touched the ground. This apparently happens at the end of every flight… what a hysterical little Italian quirk.



We reached Prague around midnight, hit up the ATMS for some Czech crowns, and set out to find a taxi. It was a little rough because well, there were no taxis waiting for us at midnight and when we finally flagged one down we realized that I hadn’t written down the address of the hostel (Okay, I’m still working out a few travelling kinks). Nonetheless, Lizzie, Connor, Tom and Cara decided to get in the taxi anyways and claimed that they would just roll down the window and ask street walkers for directions. Unlucky for them, literally three seconds after they left, the remaining four of us found the address and were able to get to our hostel in a timely, cost efficient manner while they were driven around aimlessly and dropped off on a random street corner forced to find their own way to the hostel in the falling midnight snow.

I have to mention a little bit about how I felt on the cab ride to the hostel. Although it was dark, the city was beautiful. Snow covered everything and the city was silent as the snow fell, such a change from the constant horns and sirens of the streets of Rome that fill every night. With the trees and the snow and just the environment, it almost felt like a Minnesota winter night drive. I fell in love with Prague within two minutes of being in that cab, probably partly because I was reminded of home…and maybe partly because I saw both a KFC and a Starbucks on the street… (kidding).



We definitely lucked out with our hostel ("Old Prague Hostel"), which turned out to be ranked the eighth best hostel in Europe. We all had paid the base rate of 11 Euro per night of the basic 8-person dorm, but luckily since there were eight of us, we were all assigned to the same dorm… no sleeping with strangers, awesome. The hostel gave us free luggage storage, free breakfasts, free walking tours of the city, free maps and tons of discounts at local restaurants. Not to mention, I got the best showers that I’ve had all month and a bed with an awesome pillow (I don’t have quite these luxuries in my Rome apartment). AND I did not get bed bugs, so the hostel was a success. I almost feel like we were spoiled and might have a rude awakening when we stay at other hostels during our travels.

Although we didn’t get into the hostel until around one, we still decided to hit up a pub down the street that our receptionist had recommended. It was such a relaxed atmosphere, I wish we had something like it in Italy. We all got a table, ordered drinks and chatted while sipping our first real Czech beer before calling it a night and heading back down the street to the hostel.

On our first day, Connor and I made sure we were up in time for the free breakfast (Ham and cheese sandwiches and chocolate?). We woke the rest of the group up and came to a consensus that the bagel shop down the street called “Bohemian Bagel” would be an excellent place to go to wake up and chill before our free walking tour at 11. Since our hostel gave us unlimited discount coupons for Bohemian Bagel, and because it was so gosh darn cheap and delicious, the bagel shop became our little home away from home away from home (we ate there for at least four meals). We also couldn’t help ourselves when we saw a Starbucks: small splurge, totally worth it.

The weather in Prague was much colder than what we were used to in Italy, and I dressed up like a complete American with my Ugg boots and Northface jacket, hat and gloves to go walking outside. Our free walking tour turned out to be the best decision ever. Our tour guide, Mark, was extremely animated and told historical stories in a way that was amusing and understandable, he called it making us “Czech-sperts”. We saw such things as the Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Jewish Quarter and many monuments along the way, as well as the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle from afar. It was a great way to see the city. Then we grabbed some food and shopped around a little bit before heading back to the hostel to get ready for the night.



Our hostel had told us about a pub crawl that Prague was famous for and we decided to do it. We met them at the astronomical clock at 9:00 and they gave us free shirts that say “Crawl With Me” on them and the brought us to the first bar. It was so much fun because people from all around the world were on this pub crawl and we got to spend the night with them. We met people from England, Sicily, Venice, Canada, Switzerland and many other places. Throughout the night they took us to four different bars and dance clubs before ending up at a five story club that stays open all night. However, when we were approaching the last club, I realized that the pub crawl group had lost Robbie, Connor and Miles so Phil and I had to turn around and go look for them. Apparently, they had met a bunch of English people in their forties and decided to bond with them because we found them in a bar with and English man buying them flaming shots and talking about being long lost relatives (imagine me rolling my eyes at this). When Connor tried to take his shot, he spilled it and lit the bar on fire momentarily so I decided that it was time to leave. We finally got to the last club and it was absolutely huge and packed, what an awesome atmosphere. I checked my coat with my camera in the pocket and we headed in. However, the night took a tragic turn when we were leaving and I got my coat back and discovered that the camera wasn’t in the pocket anymore. When I tried to talk to the manager in charge, he just got mad at me for accusing his men of stealing and was no help, so my camera was lost. I didn’t care about the camera as much as the pictures, but you live and you learn, what an expensive mistake though.



The next day we went on the Prague Castle tour with the same company, and much to our delight, Mark was our tour guide again. The Castle wasn’t so much a castle but a bunch of buildings with a really cool looking Cathedral in the middle. This tour wasn’t as cool as the first one, but it was still fun and worthwhile even though we were freezing our butts off. Afterwards, we asked Mark where we could get some real Czech cheap food and he gave us directions to his favorite restaurant, which was very close by. We made it there, got a table and waited for our waiter. When he came over to greet us, he spoke the absolute bare minimum of English, and the menu’s were entirely in Czech. Ordering food was a treat because we had no idea what was on the menu and what we were ordering. When it came my turn to order, the waiter literally knew the words ham, chicken, potato, yes and no. I said yes chicken and potato. No one had any idea what they had just ordered and we sat with fingers crossed waiting for our food. Incredibly, everyone absolutely loved what they got. I ended up having fried cheese (so delicious) and then potato pancakes with chicken and cheese inside. The meal was incredible and I was so full by the end of it, wonderful Czech meal.

We spent the next day wandering around a little bit. We crossed the Charles Bridge and found the Lennon Wall, but none of us had a pen so we couldn’t sign it. We then went to McDonalds and a Czech casino, and while I didn’t gamble it was quite fun because the lowest bet you could make was 10 czk and the boys had fun passing the time playing at this minimum bid, feeling like they were doing something worthwhile when in actuality 10 czk is like 50 cents. We also found a shopping mall that was full of cool stores, and I felt a little shot of jealousy because I have yet to find anything like that in Rome. I ended up buying a new camera there, figuring that the exchange rate was better in Prague than in Italy. It was then finally time to catch the plane back to Rome, it was quite sad to leave Prague, I absolutely loved it!

Here's the crew on the Charles Bridge!



That's us in front of the Lennon Wall!



The Charles Bridge :)



The Cathedral at the Prague Castle



Old Town Square



Bohemia Bagel!