Planes, trains and automobiles. Since Jess and I have started this three week whirlwind adventure, it seems as if we have employed practically every type of transportation. It's been fun being so spontaneous and not exactly knowing what each day brings. We've only booked our travels days before each destination and have certainly felt the pressure of it all. We feel like we're on the show The Amazing Race, where contestants race around the world completing challenges along the way and the most resourceful team ends up the winner. After this trip, Jess and I feel confident we'd win.
After a delayed flight from Paris, we arrived in Prague and mastered the public transportation system in the middle of the night to safely arrive at our hostel. We then spent three days touring around one of our new favorite European cities. Prague is beautiful, interesting, friendly, and in mid-January, FREEZING COLD. We are sure that Jess got minor frostbite on one of her toes. It probably didn't help that on one day we took a three hour outdoor tour of the city. and the next day hitched a ride with some Australians we met to a small town in Lord-knows-where, Czech Republic to see a church made partially of human bones. (Don't worry dad - we knew the Aussies a whole 12 hours before we got in a car with them! haha) The Aussies had been traveling Europe in a giant white, beat-up van with no heating. Of course, we got lost on the way, and then the van, surprisingly enough, broke down! We missed the bone church and to top it all off, Jess and I can honestly say that we have never been colder since we were forced to spend the whole day in below freezing temperatures. We finally made an executive decision and said our goodbyes to the Aussies and instead hopped on a train back to Prague. We are still not sure if they ever made it out with a fixed van. Oh well, I suppose that is the life of a backpacker!
Upon arriving back safely, we celebrated out final night in Prague by consuming one of our favorite meals this whole trip. Rightly coined 'The Feast', we ate a traditional Czech meal of potato and bread dumplings, pork, sausage, ham, more pork, cabbage, potato pancakes, and traditional Czech beer. Delicious. Also, if you are a vegetarian, dont go to Prague.
The next morning we had scheduled a bus for Munich and got to the bus station about a minute before departure. It was not our favorite moment. We are thinking of writing a letter to the City of Prague telling them to more clearly mark their bus stops!
After a short 5-hour bus ride, we got to Munich and had the whole day ahead of us. We met some more Australian friends at our hostel (we started to wonder if anyone else traveled around Europe this time of year...). We didn't know what to expect in Munich and after several peeks at the guidebook we still had no idea what exactly the city had to offer. A lady on the metro asked us what we were interested in and Jess quickly replied, FOOD! So we set out on a quest to find the traditional German bratwurst and beer. We found some at a famous Beer Hall where interestingly enough, Hitler made some of his first speeches. We also managed to see the Glockenspiel, some Biergartens, Englisher Garten (bigger than Central Park!), and the site of the Munich Olympic games - all in one day!
We then found some lats minute tickets on an overnight train to Rome where we got our best night's rest yet! We are not enjoying the 'Eternal City' and will post more later.
Ciao!
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HEY Lauren! So great to read your blog. Teena told me about your travels, and I remembered that you told me you were planning to go to Italy. So awesome. I'm trying to figure out how to get over there. I want to know the best way to travel Europe, and where I should start. You are too cool! Miss you my friend!
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