Monday, November 17, 2014

Prague

For some reason I decided it would be a good idea to go to Prague for the weekend. Actually, when I say weekend I really mean 30 hours... which is a very short amount of time. But, if I'm being honest, any time spent in Prague is a good time. It was so nice to travel to the fairytale town of Prague. Last time I was there I fell hard for the city and I wasn't about to say no to an opportunity to visit again.


Saturday November 15

Getting up at 5am to head to the airport wasn't the best way to start the weekend. But hey. Not all travel is pretty/fun. 

I had a layover in Frankfurt. If you've never made a connection in Frankfurt I would suggest you keep it that way. 

Pro tip: when making a connection through the Frankfurt airport you WILL have to go through passport control AND security again. Yes, that's right, if you bought a big bottle of water after you cleared security in your last airport of departure, that bad boy is going straight into file 13, unless you down it on the spot. 

Thankfully, I didn't have to actually run through the airport this time, but I pulled a mall-walker jaunt that could only be rivalled by Olympic speed walkers. I made the flight by the skin of my teeth, literally I was the last person on the bus to the plane. (another pro tip: Frankfurt keeps their planes and terminals separate, except on rare occasions, which means after you land you will be bused into the airport, then after walking down seemingly endless amounts of long and empty hallways, passing through passport check and security, and arriving at your gate, you will then be put on yet another bus to take you to your next plane). I met Jessica and Blake on this flight and when we landed in Prague we dropped our stuff at the hostel and took straight to the streets. 


PRAGUE!!! As viewed from our walk up to the castle
Our hostel was right at the base of the castle. So, we went up to see the cathedral before it closed for the evening (it's the one thing that is free to enter within the castle). 


Entrance to Prague Castle
St. Vitus Cathedral (inside the Castle)
Inside St. Vitus
Back of St. Vitus
Awkward panorama of St. Vitus (main entrance around the left side)
Significant doors on side of St. Vitus, but I don't know why they are significant.
Basilica of St. George
Seflie for mom in front of St. George Basilica
Then we walked across Charles bridge and to the Old Town Square. Jess and Blake had a rehearsal to go to, so I wandered around Wenceslas Square and back to the Old Town square where I people watched while eating a nice hot cinnamon roll and sipping on hot mulled wine. 


View of Prague Castle at dusk from Charles Bridge
It was a long long day, and it seems only a little bit of it was actually spent in Prague, but I was very excited to be there nonetheless. 

Sunday November 16

At this point I only had about 5 hours of sleep a night for the past three nights in a row under my belt.  

I got up early because I originally wanted to bus out to Theresienstadt, a concentration camp an hour outside Prague in the town of Terezin. (I should clarify that my sole reason for traveling to Prague this weekend was to see Jewish art created in concentration camps during WWII, a topic on which I am currently writing a paper and am thinking about writing my dissertation over). My dad even stayed up super late (in good 'ol America) trying to figure out the bus for me Sunday morning, it's VERY confusing. But, when I was looking to see whether it'd be worth my time, I realised I was not mentally and emotionally capable of touring a concentration camp that day, and it seemed that there was little art on display there. Little sleep, high stress from school, and a one night stay in a foreign country in a different bed is a hard enough task without experiencing the additional emotional and moral weight sites such as concentrations camps put on me. 

So, I went to the Jewish Quarter and spent the entire morning touring their sites they have open to the public. 

It was a Sunday morning and I had the whole city to myself. Below are some pictures I snapped on my way to the Jewish Quarter.



View of Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge
Selfie, cause I was sporting a bright pink polk-a-dot umbrella all morning in the drizzle
Charles Bridge
View of St. Vitus in the castle (the row of buildings just beneath the cathedral is ALL the castle too)
When I found the Jewish Quarter I bought a Jewish Museum pass which allowed me to get into most of the synagogues and museums within the area. What I mainly wanted to see was the Jewish Cemetery and Pinkas Synagogue, which displays art created by children in Theresienstadt.

I accidentally snuck into the Jewish Cemetery with a large tour group, but didn't realize that Pinkas Synagogue is attached to the cemetery, so after walking through the cemetery I had to go back to the entrance and actually scan my pass, which means I then received the important directions to "do Pinkas first", which ALSO means I got to do the cemetery twice! Winning!



Pinkas' walls are used as a memorial and as such are covered with the names of the 80,000 Jews from Bohemia and Moravia who were victims of the Holocaust
View from above, you can see the names on the top part of the ground level walls.
Unfortunately I could not take pictures inside Pinkas, even though I snuck out with these two, the pictures I tried to take of the children's art display were useless.

Let me tell you more about the Theresienstadt children's artwork. Theresienstadt was the camp that the Nazis showed off to the Red Cross. Because of this they made sure it was nice and looked like an ideal place to live. There was a concert hall, amongst other recreational activities, where the residents could put on theatrical plays and orchestras. Art was also created there. What I hadn't realized is that today in Prague children are still creating art similar to how the children in the camp created art.


If I remember correctly, an organization was created that uses art therapy to help children today depict how the Holocaust and WWII still currently affects them. They use similar techniques to those that were used in Theresienstadt. The children get markers, paper, magazines, and newspapers and have 15 minutes to create, to create their feelings and emotions about how the dark past of the Holocaust is still affecting their lives today. They are not given any instruction, just told to create. A few of these pieces were hanging in the gallery in Pinkas. I have always loved children's art. I can't wait to have kids of my own to create art with. Seeing these works by children of today and children of the 1940's was powerful, and did not differ too extremely in their appearance, which I found rather interesting.


Then, I walked through the cemetery. Jewish people take burial very seriously, it is very ritualistic and symbolic, as well as religious. Thinking back to the Holocaust, and the amount of Jews who were murdered and left to rot or burn, this criminal act by the Nazis takes on an even more disgusting characteristic when you know about the Jewish burial customs. I will leave it at that because I am very close to getting on my Holocaust soap box, and I know you don't want that, and neither do I. But, anyway, the cemetery is located above street level and takes on a very serene feel. As you can see in the pictures, grave stones are stacked right up next to one another. Some are tiny little stones and others are large and ornate. It seems that the majority of them are angled this way and that and it gives the feeling that the cemetery is a being in itself. Limited space within the Jewish Quarter of the city, and the Jewish custom that no grave shall be disturbed, means that old graves are covered with dirt to make room for new graves. Apparently there are up to as many as 20 layers in some parts of the cemetery (which explains why it is so built up above the street).



Jewish Cemetery 
The Jewish Cemetery was very powerful. It was so calm and serene even though it sits just above a busy street.
The reason why Prague's Jewish Quarter is so phenomenal is because it is actually still physically there today! Six synagogues still stand in the Jewish Quarter in Prague, SIX!! During WWII, Hitler decided not to bomb Prague (Hitler, along with everyone else who has ever visited the city, fell in love with Prague) and actually began collecting Jewish items, amongst other things. He did this so that he could one day make a museum to educate people about the extinct race, the Jews. While this chilling idea/plan of Hitler's is extremely disturbing on many levels, it saved Prague from destruction and bombings.

Right off of the Jewish Quarter is Parizska Street, which leads straight to the Old Town Square. Parizska is the Czech word for "Paris,"  so I felt very much at home.



The Old-New Synagogue. Unfortunately I did not tour this guy, which is a regret I'm sure I will have someday soon. It's not included in the Jewish Museum ticket, but apparently the inside is amazingly decorated. It is also rumored to be the legendary resting place of Golem, the predecessor of Frankenstein's monster. 




Its my name in Czech!
After a somber and humbling morning in the Jewish Quarter, I met Jess and Blake in the Old Town Square where we began our hunt for lunch.


View of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn from the Jon Hus Monument. Jon Hus was a religious reformer who was burned at the stake. 


Old Town Tower of Charles Bridge
Hi, my name is Paris and I am a cinnamon roll addict. This was my third of four I ate within the 30 hours I was in Prague. No ragrets.
We went up to the castle to find lunch and then we split ways yet again. Jess had never been to Prague and Blake spent a summer studying there, so he took her on an actual tour of the fabulous castle grounds and I decided to trek over to the observation tower.


Found some graffiti that applies to my life while hiking up the hill, "From Paris with Love"
View on a portion of the walk up the hill. This walkway was lined with these white encased murals (left) which portrayed different scenes of the crucifixion. 
FINALLY made it up the hill to this tower full of promise. Blake said there was a funicular up to the top but I didn't see it the entire time I was up there.
View of the castle! In this picture you can see the entire length of the castle grounds. I think it starts at the brown roofed building to the left of St. Vitus and extends all the way to the red triangle roof on the right! This is the largest castle in the world folks, and has been the seat of the Czech Government for over 1,000 years!
Climbing to the top of the tower!
Prague is just breathtaking. Fun fact, I love heights and prefer to be high up with a view down on the world. I think this might be due to my shorter height, but it also helps me keep a perspective of the bigger picture.
Typical
Walking down the tower 
The closest bridge on the right is Charles Bridge and the green dome in the bottom left corner was just down the hill from our hostel 
Honestly, I'm glad I never ended up finding the funicular. The park and walkways surrounding the observation tower were stunning and I needed a nice late afternoon walk through the park to reflect on the heaviness of my time spent in the Jewish Quarter.
I was surrounded by crunchy golden goodness! Blake said that in the summer Prague is insanely hot and humid. My first time to visit Prague was in March and it was miserably cold. This weekend greeted us both with perfect weather, in the mid 50's and feeling just like autumn should feel! I would definitely recommend visiting Prague in the autumn, I'm sure it's also fantastic later in the spring, maybe around mid April? but I wouldn't take my word for it.

View of the castle as I headed back to the hostel
Castle selfie!
Prague is so picturesque! (The black flags on the left pinkish building was the entrance to our hostel.) 
This is what the cinnamon rolls in Prague are called. Anywhere you see this sign they will be cooking dough that is wrapped around a rod, and then when its nice and hot and crispy on the outside they roll it in their cinnamon/sugar/nut mixture and you end up with what is pictured below. 
This was my fourth and final trdelni'k of the weekend. Sad day. BUT I ate it up the walkway to the Prague Castle overlooking the city. Can it be any more perfect?
There was a restaurant located above our hostel that had a roof top terrace. So we sat up here to watch the sunset over Prague before we headed to the airport. Sipping on hot chocolate in the Prague autumn watching the sunset over the city is my kind of party. Also, the hot chocolate was so thick that I actually didn't sip it, I ate it with a spoon. It made for some yummy hot chocolate pudding! I love that European hot chocolate is the equivalent of a melted chocolate bar!
We headed to the Prague airport (I passed out snoozing on the ride there) and played a couple rounds of big life-size floor chess before we went through security (Jess had never played chess so it was a great opportunity for her to learn). Thankfully, I flew through Munich instead of Frankfurt on the way back, so I didn't have to rush through the airport (it was smaller and I only had to go through passport control, not security). I got to my gate with 10 minutes to spare before boarding and I made it back to my room in London by midnight. It was a very packed two days of travel and I am beyond exhausted, but my 30 hours in Prague were so wonderful! I can't wait for my next European city adventure!

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Paris Inception

It's like a dream within a dream, but it's me, Paris, visiting Paris (see what I did there?!).

So, as you probably know (if you've been keeping up with my blog recently) this is my first trip outside the UK since moving over here for grad school. And boy, was it needed. I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that in Europe you can be on a train for an hour or two and be in a completely different country and culture than where you boarded the train. 

Thursday November 6

I got one bucket list item off of my list this weekend, I rode the Chunnel to Paris from London! It was very exciting, I was speeding through the English country side, then I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was speeding through the French country side. It is a very convenient way to travel though, especially now that flights are so stingy on EVERYTHING and busses take FOREVER. 

I did quite a bit of daydreaming out the window while training through France. It was obviously not England anymore. The landscape and buildings within the small towns were different than those in England (And my UK phone no longer had cell service). So of course, I do what every single girl does when she is in the French country side. I dream of the grey stone cottage I will someday have. I'd like it to be on a bit of land, not too much, just enough for a few hens and a dairy cow. I could plant a little garden and grow fresh fruits and vegetables, eat fresh eggs and churn my own butter (not an easy task). That's about as far as my dreaming went, but it was obviously circa when women wore bonnets and aprons around to do their chores. Mainly, I was dreaming of a simpler life.

Then, the train arrived in Paris, shoving any daydream of a slow and quiet life quickly out of my mind. I thought my time in Paris would be painful on my heart, my last experience in Paris was the most romantic one I've ever had. However, I loved getting off the train and waltzing through the city like I own the place, I mean, I basically do, my name is on literally everything. 

So, I dropped off my things and headed straight the the Iron Lady. (BIG HUGE shout out to my friend Amy for letting me crash at her place for a long weekend!)



This is what happens when your mom asks you to send her a selfie and you're in a crowd of tourists and trying to be conspicuous... however, I don't know if I would necessarily dub it a selfie fail..?

Then I walked along the Seine to the Tuileries and toured the Musee de l'Orangerie. I might have to do a separate post on the art I saw this weekend, because, oh my.


An eye-catching installation in the Tuileries 
Musee de l'Orangerie!!!

Then, after experiencing the FABULOUS Monets I went straight to the Musee d'Orsay. Which, is a very large museum, but it has a magnificent collection. It's probably good I went by myself, because if someone came with me they would've been super freaked out by my art nerdiness. 

View on my walk to the Musee d'Orsay, Paris during the golden hour!
The Orsay is a fabulous space (as is the Orangerie). The building is architectually stunning and the layout of the museum is rather interesting. I have this fantasy that I will one day meet a cute guy in an art museum. We will be looking at the same artwork and it'll be the cliche guy-saw-girl type story. I was thinking the Orsay would be the absolute greatest place for this to happen, but it didn't. So. Back to reality. Actually, fun fact, I've never actually dated anyone who really appreciated art, I don't know how that keeps happening. 

So, after I was done at the Orsay, my phone was at 6% battery and I was still a 45 min walk from the hotel and passed by many a photo opportunity.

Don't worry, still managed to snap this bad boy
Thankfully my phone didn't decide to die until I was in the hotel elevator. Then I went out for pizza around the corner with Amy and one of her coworkers. And that concludes my first night in Paris, besides trying to figure out Friday's schedule (so much to see, so little time). 


Friday November 7

I started the day off a little later than I planned. Staying up late the night before had me dragging to get myself out of bed by 9:45. Then when I was ready to head out and about I had a last minute freak out session over the the fact that I can't speak French. So I didn't get out the door until around 11:30. 

I went straight to the Arc de Triomphe (it was on my way)

I literally popped out of the metro to snag this pic then ducked right back in to catch the next train.
and then headed up to the Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre.

It's a long steep trek up to this guy, but totally worth it!

I walked through the Sacre-Coeur and then watched a group of three guys sing outside the basilica for 20 min or so (their name is Les Presteej, and from what I can gather they were on the x-factor!). When they were packing up to leave I bought their CD, so now I have some rad local French music!! I wandered around Montmartre for the next hour, not in any particular direction, and came across the square where back in the day some famous artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso ruled.

Today, artists still paint here. Mainly its a tourist trap, but there are some actual artists who are trying to make a living and create amazing works!
Once I wandered back down the hill I found the nearest metro and sped off to the Notre Dame.

Notre Dame selfie say hey!! This was also taken because my mom texted me "where are you today?"
I sat outside for a while and munched on a granonla bar. Then I found the Shoah Holocaust Memorial (Shoah means calamity or tragedy in Hebrew). And wow. It was very powerful and moving.

What interested me most was not the museum itself, but the fact that the area is under very tight surveillance. The entire area is surrounded by a barred metal gate, resembling a prison, but not to keep people in, to keep them out. Visitors have to enter through a side door which opens directly into the security screening, where bags and jackets are x-rayed. It is so sad to me that a people trying to remember a horrible and massive tragedy must still be on guard to antisemitism today.


These are the only pictures I snapped. I didn't know if I was allowed to take pictures and I wanted to default on the side of respecting the memorial. This is in the center of the courtyard, and is the first thing visitors see when walking into the complex. It can also be viewed from the street. It is a piece comparable to the chimneys seen within concentration camps. Listed on the piece are the names of the extermination or death camps, two of which I have visited, Dachau and Mauthausen. 

The Shoah focused on the Jews specifically in France during World War II. It looked at the progression of antisemitism predating, during, and after WWII. As always, these types of places take it out of me physically, mentally, and emotionally.
So, after I had spent quite a while within the Shoah's walls, I headed back to the hotel and Amy and I went out to dinner and gorged ourselves in crepes (Which is basically what I survived on this weekend).

Savory crepe perfection!
Walking through the city and along the Seine after our amazing meal, we ended up at the Eiffel Tower 7 minutes before the hour. So we watched it twinkle along with the other tourists. I don't think that would ever get old. 


It was a whirlwind of a day. Yesterday I walked everywhere and my feet were so sore, today I metroed everywhere and witnessed my first public display of urination, courtesy of a homeless man in the metro. I have already noticed so many differences between Paris and London. Both are amazing and have so much to offer. No offense Paris, but London is cleaner, smells less like urine and body odor, has the oyster card (which I now fully appreciate), has cleaner and newer modes of public transportation and.... that's all I got right now. Oh yeah, everyone speaks English! But there is no Eiffel Tower or Mansard rooflines and definitely no hopeless romantic feel, nor as good of food!!


Saturday November 8


Amy and I had been planning to go on a day trip outside the city on Saturday, and we finally settled on visiting Chateau Fontainebleau. My Home Furnishings professor from my senior year of undergrad would be so proud (she ALWAYS went on about ALL the houses and palaces we HAD to go see as SOON as physically possible). So, we headed out to the train station, our first obstacle of the day. 

Let me set the background.

Friday night we searched away on how the heck we were supposed to get to Chateau Fontainebleau. The two different sites we found were just helpful enough to give us a vague idea of what to do, so we were honestly just hoping to find the correct train, much less make the train. It wasn't on any of the rail maps we were looking at, which we took as a bad sign from the get-go.

Once at the station we actually bought tickets successfully (by ourselves) and then resorted to asking someone for help after wandering aimlessly around the station (we seriously had no clue where to go). Amazingly enough, we got to the right area of the station only 30 minutes before our train left, which was pure luck if you ask me. Then we hopped on the train, and thankfully no one came through to check tickets because we failed to validate them, a huge no-no of train travel (take a mental note all you soon-to-be world travelers!). 

We made the short 45 minute train ride and caught a bus that took us straight to the chateau.

Chateau Fontainebleau in all its glory!

It was amazing, as it always is, to see pictures from a text book come to life. Everything was larger than life and the colors were amazing.


The Throne Room 
What I have claimed as my own private library and study space, and, if we are being honest, future home
Amy caught me trying to open secret doors within the chateau, they were all locked (side note, has my new haircut always looked like a bowl cut from the side and I just didn't know?!)


The grounds were beautiful and we even saw a swan duke it out with a tourist's yappy dog, safe to say the swan won, they are terrifying beasts (if you disagree I have a rather scarring experience from my childhood that I would be more than happy to share). Amy and I both agreed that swans and dragons are not too distantly related. 

Perks of not adventuring alone: having someone to take pictures of you instead of resorting to the selfie, I seriously need a selfie stick, like yesterday

Once again, Amy caught me red-handed, this time attempting to take an artsy picture, which can be seen below... 
My attempt at an artsy (maybe even hipster?) picture
We ate a late lunch at a cafe and took the bus and train back to Paris (this time we validated our tickets!). Then we metroed to the Champs Elysees and waded through the swarms of tourists, because what else is there to do in Paris on a Saturday night?

Arc de Triomphe!!!
We walked and walked and walked, making it to the edge of the Touleries, where the square with the obelisk is located and where Marie Antoinette was beheaded. We went to the Opera House and to La Madeleine and then walked up and down streets until we found a place that sold macarons, don't ask how many I bought and then ate within 3 minutes.

La Madeleine
We found a cafe that suited us and ate a late dinner.


We felt VERY accomplished, mainly by the fact that we got to Chateau Fontainebleau successfully
On the way back to the hotel we got crepes to go and saw the Eiffel Tower glitter one last time, that's all a girl need in life right? A chocolate crepe in hand and a little bit of glitter. 

I am holding a nutella and banana crepe. Be still my heart.

Sunday November 9

Amy and I got up with the sun to head to the Eiffel Tower one last time before I had to catch the chunnel back to London. I wanted to take another jumping pic...


We didn't get much sleep the previous night and got up really early so the struggle was real, as you can see in the picture. Then Amy and I parted ways and I was off to the Eurostar.

Update: I somehow miraculously stayed awake the entire trip and was under the English Channel for approximately 22 minutes. The rest of the train ride was through the French and English countrysides. Coming back to England felt much more familiar than going to France, but coming back to London did not feel like coming home. Which I find rather interesting. In Italy I quickly felt at home in my apartment with my five other roommates, and felt so much more at ease after a long weekend away to get back to my Florence home. I don't know what is different this time around, maybe it's the fact that I don't have my own apartment but am instead living in dorm style housing (this is my best guess, I'm 23 for crying out loud, I'm over the whole dorm life, it's been done, I've moved on).

I'm going to give one last shout out to Amy. I loved seeing her this weekend and am so thankful that she shared her bed with me, put up with my indecisiveness when it came to choosing restaurants, and was up for whatever the weekend had in store for us (and mainly for talking boys and singleness with me).

The past year of my life has been a journey of coming to grips with my singleness. I needed to come to Paris this weekend and re-learn that I am confident in my singleness and confident in the fact that this is my life now and that I can and will live my dreams one day, weekend, city, and country at a time.