Prague!

So, in Europe, they have this rule where they give all people a massive amount of vacation days; and while we are allowed to roll them over into the new year, we must use them by the end of January. This, combined with the fact that is was one of my collegue’s birthdays (Alex Tam) made us decide to go to Prague! I took a long weekend (Thurs to Tuesday) off and hopped on a plane for my weekend adventure!

Since I was using my vacation days, I arrived a day earlier and left a day later than my travel companions (They arrived Fri to Sun, while I was Thurs to Mon). Here is a day by day breakdown of my experiences there:

THURSDAY – I had an afternoon flight out of London, so arrived at the airport around 10:00 for my 1:00PM flight. It was a short two hours to Prague and I hit down on the ground a little after 4:00 and was checked into my hostel by 5:30! I was a little worried about being there alone my first night because I did not speak any Czech, but I should have guessed, everyone knew English! I made my way to small street vendor and helped my self to a Sausage on a stick! It was tasty. I then made my way to a bar in the city centre, where they tell many Americans to stop at first. I made my way there, and soon realized that while Prague is a fun city on the weekends, it virtually is asleep on other nights. As I made my way to the bar I was excited to have an authentic Czech beer, Pilsner Urquell! Yes, you might have had it in America, as it is popular there, but unlike Australian Fosters, this beer is as synonymous with Czech as Guinness is with Dublin. To top it all off, the beer cost around $1! I was in total shock, but in a very good way. I now know why Prague is labelled one of the top Stag (Bachelor) and Hen (Bachelorette) party destinations in central Europe! The bartender was also great, he told me where I should go on Friday and Saturday. It was also at this time I saw two people at the bar who looked like they could be fun. I wanted to make the best of the night so I introduced myself and asked if they knew of any other fun places to go. They told me of course, and invited me to tag along. Score! Locals who agreed to take me out my first night. Three Czech pubs later, I arrived back to my hostel fully happy with the first night I had (Thanks Jye and Gabreal).

FRIDAY – The second day I had to check out of the hostel, to move to the hotel that we were all staying at, courtesy of Alex Tams girlfriend, Amy Troung (Thank you Amy!). Once they arrived, we used the first day to do some basic exploring. We first went to a really cool building called ‘THE WALKING BUILDING’. If you go to Prague, you should definitely check it out. We then decided to grab some food and randomly found this authentic looking Czech restaurant. Once inside, we were yet again taken aback at how cheap the items on the menu were. We ordered, and soon our meals, or should I say meat, arrived the table. I happened to order Marinated Pork Ribs, with a chilli oil. These massive ribs came out on a metal spike and were stacked one-on-top of the other, and boy were they juicy and delicious! Once stuffed, we made our way over Charles Bridge to the Prague Castle and Cathedral on the other side of the river. After some amazing sightseeing, and a very long uphill track, we were ready for a quick beer at a local pub. We went into the first one we saw, which also happened to look closed, and it turned out to be one of Prague’s oldest pubs. The staff still wore garbs (clothes) from the 1900’s, and the inside really looked like it was the set from a movie. It was one of the coolest finds on our trip. Later that night we met up with one of Leanne’s friends friend, Tomas (pronounces To-Mash), who took us out for a very interesting night. One that ended with us trying Absinth (with Wormwood and Thujone).

SATURDAY – We all woke up bright and early (at 10:00) and made our way to the city centre for the 3-hour walking tour, which started off right by the Prague Clock. Now for those of you who have not been to Prague, this clock attracts people from all over the world. For those of you who have been to Prague, you will also know that this was rated the second most upsetting tourist attraction (right after Stonehenge). Well, the walking tour took us all around the city, and we were even able to see the old Jewish town and the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was probably 50 feet high because they only gave the Jews a small area of land for their dead back in the day. Further, since Jews do not believe in cremation or above ground burials, they had to improvise, but placing tombs, over tombs, over tombs. It was pretty interesting to see, since there were so many tombstones over the top of the mound. After many hours of walking around, we wandered back to the hotel to rest before our big night out for Alex’s birthday. I had managed to get us Discount Entry cards to the largest club in Central Europe, Kaze Lane. It was a pretty fun club, with low ceilings not made for tall people dancing (which I learned the hard way). They had a variety of floors, each playing it’s own music. This night was a lot of fun as well!

SUNDAY – Leanne left early in the morning. Alex, Amy and I wandered around for a bit before they had to leave and I was left to entertaining myself for one more day. What to do, what to do? I wandered back to the hostel to check in and saw someone in the lobby looking just as lost as me. We started talking and decided to find a fun place to go out to. We had a couple drinks at the hostel (they had a really great bar built in) and made our way to grab a bite to eat. It was kinda funny because when we finally ended up at a bar, I ran into people I met the first and the second nights. My friend was like ‘Are you sure you don’t live here!’ It was funny that I already ran into people after only being in the city for a weekend. But I will say it was a fun weekend.

Prague has definitely been my favourite European city to visit thus far, with a great historical story, great pubs, cheap beer, fun and nice people, and a place you can get by only knowing English! I don’t know what European city is next for me, but I will be going to Leeds to visit my friend Ollie with my other friend Andrew (both Monash University Alumni buddies), later this month. It should be a great time. Also later this month, is the second Marquette University Alumni Event, celebrating InterNational Marquette Day on January 29th! It should be a great event, and we already have 16 people registered, that is more than some National clubs do in the US. I say our club is getting off to a great start!

Well, I hope you are all well back home and, as usual, thanks for reading. I am back to work tomorrow and am actually looking forward to it.

Christmas in London!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in the US! It was nice entering the new year before all of you… Just kidding, it was funny to call my parents back home saying ‘Happy New Year’ only to have them tell me it was only 6PM and still very much 2010 there.

This year was both a good and a sad Christmas for me. Good because I was able to experience a Christmas in London, but sad because it was my first Christmas away from the folks. I am in a destination wedding coming up in March (Manzanillo, Mexico) and since I am from Texas, will be spending a week with my parents around that time too. As such, I felt it would be nice (and cost effective) to spend Christmas in London. Luckily, one of my friends in London invited me back to spend Christmas with his family in North Devon, UK. Yes, the countryside, just like Chronicles of Narnia. Specifically, the first one where it was cold and snowy.

After a four hour train ride, and an hour car ride we arrived in a quant little town of Barnstaple, UK. When we were at his parent’s house, I definitely felt like we were in the country side with fields of white. When we went to the city, I mean town, I felt like I was in a medieval kingdom. It was pretty amazing to see churches that were built in the 1500’s, streets that were made of cobblestone, and cemeteries with tombstones you could no longer read. It truly puts things in perspective when you realize that our lives are only a ‘blip’ on the radar of life. It also made me realize that we live to love and be loved. I love you so much mom and dad. I love you Avita and Cicely. I love my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents as well. You were all missed this Christmas.

One of the shocking aspects of the city was when we walked by the butcher shop and I saw some freshly caught bunnies hanging outside the shop to air out. I knew I was no longer in a city. One thing I did learn while staying with a British family is their level of sarcasm, also called ‘Taking the piss out of someone’. I truly do not get it, but the British like to make snide comments to each other and it is completely accepted, even part of the norm here. In America, things that might offend are justified here because they are intended only in jest. I think it will take me more time to get used to this one, but if you come to visit, be warned! (You can ask Leanne Eberle about this one too www.cubangalinlondon.blogspot.com!)

Overall, my Christmas in Devon was amazing. My friend’s family was extremely nice, and they even got me some gifts! I know, it was an unexpected surprise! His mother made me feel so welcome, and she always had some sort of food she was offering. His dad was a pleasant gent as well and even got me a Christmas card and a bottle of wine. I truly enjoyed the experience and it was nice to be around a family (even it was not mine) for the Holidays.

A British Christmas is nice though and very similar/different to a US one in the following respects:

Similarities:

• · They have Christmas Trees too
• · They open presents like we do
• · We both celebrate with our family and loved ones
• · We both have mashed potatoes, cranberries, rolls, gravy
• · We both drink wine

Differences:

• · We celebrate Christmas Eve, they celebrate Boxing Day (they don’t even get the 24^th off!)
• · We have fruit cake, they have Christmas Pudding (which I realize I do not like)
• · They have bacon wrapped sausages as part of their meal
• · They always have Turkey, we traditionally have a variety of meats (I think this one is because they don’t have Turkey at Thanksgiving so it is their only holiday to cook the bird)
• · They have these little things called ‘crackers’ which are placed at the table where you are sitting. Each person gets one and you and the person next to you grab on to each end (similar to what you would do with a wishbone) and pull. >POP<>
• · They have this stuff called Bread Pudding, it is a gravy like substance and pretty good
• · I literally drank 5 cups of tea a day (I never realized they really liked it this much!)

On the 27^th, I headed back to London to meet my friend Maria Gencev who was visiting me for Christmas. She is currently living in Madrid and is actually in the destination wedding as well, so she stayed in Europe over Christmas like me. As such, I wanted to show her a good time during her visit. The first night we went out dancing, and had a great time. We went to a very large venue and actually got lost for a bit, but then found each other again. The second day, after we finally woke up, we ventured into Central London to see the sights, including Trafalgar square, Camden markets, Big Ben, the London Eye, Soho, China town and Leicester Square. I had a couple co-workers over that night (Ryan and Dani) and we tried to go to a place called the Roxy. While it sounded fun inside, the hour queue (line) and the amount of 18 year olds in line prompted us to choose another venue. We found a small venue called ‘The Bar’ which was nice, and we heard a funny story about ‘Yumma Yumma’! (Only Maria will get this one). It is really nice to be able to show my friends around London, but I think I am going to have so many pictures of Big Ben by the end of my two years here. For some reason, every time I go I end up taking a picture.

Well, Happy New Year all and thanks for reading. I am actually headed to Prague for a long weekend (Thursday through Monday) so I will be sure to write again soon about my experiences there. Talk to you all later!

Belton

Early Birthday Notice:

Also, Trista and I are starting to plan for our 30^th birthday now! If you are reading this, then you are definitely invited. We will be going to Ibiza for our birthdays the weekend of August 4 – 7^th! If you are adventurous, you can even come to London for July 29 to August 4, then Ibiza from August 4 – 7^th, then Back to the US on the 7^th! This would be a weeklong trip of fun. Plus, the ticket from London to Ibiza is only £50! I really want to get a large group to go and rent out a large apartment there. For those of you who have not heard of Ibiza, just google it!

PS. Congrats Meghan and George on your wedding! I can’t wait to see you guys in Mexico!!!