A Glamorous Weekend in Paris

Last Friday was the official start of Spring Break and while I’m ecstatic to have a break from school, this European adventure will sadly be my last big travel extravaganza before I leave.  Disregarding the fact that I soon have to leave my European bubble and return to reality, this spring break has been the time of my life (so far).  I started in Paris, where my life was graced by perfect weather every day I was there and I gorged myself on macaroons, wine, and duck. 

Saturday morning, April 16, I finished packing my life for 2 weeks and headed to the train station where I met the rest of the Lewis and Clark group and the Kalamazoo kids.  We got on our train around 9 and arrived in Paris 2 hours later and then checked into our hotel.  We stayed in a place called Hotel Minerve, which is located in the Latin Quarter of Paris and was reaaaallly nice.  I think it’s a 3 star hotel and everything was great except for the fact that our room smelled like stale cigarettes.  I shared a room with Jill and Alissa, two of my friends from the Lewis and Clark program.

We had crepes for lunch and then some of us went to Notre Dame where we met up with Rosanna, one of our Canadian friends who is also studying in Strasbourg.  It was wonderful to see her!

That afternoon I met up with Cecile, Clement, and Brice.  I had seen Cecile and Brice a few times since my arrival to France but I hadn’t seen Clement since last year at Longwood so it was great to be with the gang again (except Mariza wasn’t there!)  Anyway, we walked along the seine before we decided to sit and hang out in the park in front of the Louvre.  We talked for a while and then I wanted to go get macaroons from La Durée, which is conveniently located on the Champs Elysées.  I love macaroons and the ones from La Durée are supposed to be really good.  Let me tell you, they are better than good.  Totally worth the wait in line and the money.  

Heaven.

After obtaining those little bites of heaven, I needed to head back to the hotel to meet up with the group, since we had a group activity to see the play called La Cancatrice Chauve, which has been playing in Paris for 6 days a week since the 1950s.  It’s well-known and a comedy, but unfortunately, I did not find it funny.  It’s a play from the period of Absurd Theatre in French history, where there is less plot and more ridiculous interaction between the characters.  The jokes were mostly repetitive and silly plays on words.  Maybe I would have found it more humorous if I hadn’t been so tired, but I just didn’t appreciate the play.  Thankfully, dinner was afterwards. We went as a group to an Indian restaurant and we ate well.  After dinner, some students were making plans to go out, but I was so exhausted that just hanging out in the room with Jill and Alissa sounded like a great time to me.  So the three of us had a great evening in the hotel room eating chocolate and macaroons, drinking wine, and watching tv.  After a hectic day of traveling and walking around Paris, this was a perfect night.

Unfortunately, Sunday morning we woke up too late to go to the Gregorian Mass at Notre Dame de Paris.  The three of us still managed to get up and out in a decent amount of time.  We stumbled upon Victor Hugo’s house and since it was free admission, we decided to check it out.  It was really cool and Victor Hugo had some beautiful views from his apartment!  Afterwards we went to the Musée de Carnavalet, which is a museum about the history of Paris.

Then we had to meet up with the other students for our group activity of the Musée Rodin, a sculpture museum.  I got to see Le Penseur (the thinker) in person, it was awesome.  

Brenah and I broke off from the rest of the group after the museum and we were hoping to go to the Musée D’Orsay, but once we got there and saw the line, we changed our minds and decided to walk down the Champs Elysées instead.  We started at Place de la Concorde and walked all the way down to L’Arc de Triomphe, which we decided to climb.  After climbing the stairs of the cathedrals in Prague, Strasbourg, and Geneva, L’Arc de Triomphe wasn’t bad at all.  When we got to the top, the views were great since the sky was clear and it was really sunny.  We stayed at the top for about 20 minutes before we had to descend to take the metro and arrive back at the hotel on time for dinner. 

The restaurant we went to that night was probably my favorite of the entirety of the Paris trip.  For an appetizer we ate ravioli stuffed with chevre (goat cheese).  If you know me, you will know that one of my favorite things about French culture/cuisine is the cheese.  I love cheese.  My favorite is probably Chevre, followed closely by Munster and Roquefort.  I love that the French have cheese in its own course.  It’s one of my favorite parts of dinner/lunch with my host family.  Anyway, for the main dish we had DUCK.  Since I came to France, I ate duck for the first time and now it is probably one of my favorite foods. With the duck we ate yummy cooked vegetables and of course red wine.  For dessert, we had a sort of creamy yogurt with a raspberry sauce.  It was delicious.  Afterwards we had coffee.  It was pretty much the perfect meal. 

After dinner about half of the kids in the group wanted to go to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night/climb it.  It took over an hour for us to organize ourselves after dinner though so by the time we got there, it was too late to climb the Eiffel Tower so we just hung out on the lawn in front of it and watched it sparkle at the top of the hour while some of the kids drank wine. My camera was dead so I was unable to take pictures.

Monday morning we had an organized tour of the Opéra Garnier in Paris.  I have seen the Opera several times from the outside, but this was my first time going inside.  It was beautiful!!  Everything was immaculate.  The staircase was flawless and the many types of marble were amazing.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and she even showed us inside of the hall.  The ceiling inside of the performance hall is incredible and the seats and tiers are so stunning.  I feel lucky to have been able to go inside and hopefully one day I might actually see an opera inside… who knows.

After the Opera tour, Alissa and I went to Galeries Lafayette and shopped around.  I didn’t buy anything (shocking, I know) but Alissa found some great stuff.  Then I went to meet Jill somewhere outside of touristy Paris to go shopping in an area that her host mom told her had lots of boutiques and wasn’t very expensive.  I’m not sure if we missed it or if it just doesn’t exist, but all we found was a street that was full of children’s clothing shops.  We walked around the block but couldn’t find anything and we were in kind of a sketchy part of town, so we hopped on the metro and went back to an area close to our hotel.  I convinced Jill to come with me to Café de Flore so we went there for an afternoon coffee.  It was lovely but kind of expensive... Café de Flore is really well known in Paris and a few famous philosophers used to frequent there (ie Sartre).  After coffee we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  This dinner was also very delicious – we had a lot of wine with dinner and for an appetizer I had a sort of sausage with red peppers, for the main dish I had pork, salad, and potatoes, and for dessert I enjoyed a crème caramel.  It was all very delicious but compared to the dinner that I enjoyed the night prior, it was average.   Oh my gosh, am I becoming a food snob?? 

After dinner, Brenah and I decided to go to the Eiffel Tower just the two of us to climb it at night.  Despite being really tipsy and having food babies in our stomachs, we hurried over to the Tower after dinner and we climbed the 700 stairs to the second level.  I would love to go to the third level of the tower someday, I have never been but it’s expensive and only accessible by elevator.  Maybe one day…

Anyway, when Brenah and I got to the top, the views were spectacular.  The lights sprinkled across Paris made it twinkle in the night and there was a full moon hanging over the city.  It was my first time going up the tower at night and it was absolutely exquisite.  A lovely ending to a delightful weekend in Paris.  

Meghann's Visit!

Last Thursday morning, I went to the train station to pick up Meghann.  Before we left home, we promised to visit each other.  I went to visit Meghann in March over St. Patrick's Day, and she came to Strasbourg on Thursday to spend a long weekend here.  We had a blast!

When Meghann first got here, we walked around town and had lunch at a rooftop cafe that overlooked Strasbourg.  The weather was clear, sunny, and, dare I say it, hot!  After lunch, Meghann went back to the apartment to sleep (she only slept for two hours in the span of 24 hours, she was pooped) while I went to school to make up a test that I had missed twice due to surgery.  Afterwards, we walked around the city some more until I had class at 6 and she came with me.  Unfortunately, she came to creative writing, which is a class where I sit with other Anglophones and we talk all class and don't pay attention.  Woops.

Thursday night, after dinner, we went over to Jill's apartment and watched a movie.  It was pretty chill since Meghann was still so tired.

Friday morning, Meghann went with me to the doctor, which took a long longer than expected so by the time I got out, we had just enough time to go home and have lunch before I had class in the afternoon.  While I was in class, Meghann went out in Strasbourg on her own and went to the markets to buy food for the lunch she was making for my family the next day.  She bought everything she needed and used the French that she knew to get buy.  She had no problems except she accidentally bought a kilo of mushrooms and it ended up being a comical amount but I am proud of her just the same. :)

Friday afternoon, Meghann and I went to l'Orangerie park after I got out of class.  We went with a baguette to feed the ducks.  The weather was beautiful again and the park was blooming with foliage and flowers.

Friday night, we went out to a bar and had a drink with Jill.  It was another relaxing evening, my favorite kind. :)  Saturday morning, Meghann started cooking lunch shortly after breakfast.  She made home-made Focaccia bread, a spinach, roasted pear, and walnut salad, bruschetta, pasta with mushrooms and a white wine sauce, and then a lemon cake for dessert.  She did an excellent job and my family really appreciated it.

I forgot to take a picture of the salad until after we had served ourselves..woops!

Meghann with my host family at lunch :)

After lunch, Meghann and I went out to walk around since it was hot and sunny outside again.  We went up to the cathedral and climbed 330 stairs to the top of the tower.  The view was amazing.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home so the only pictures are on Meghann's camera and she has yet to post them *hinthint, Meghann*

Saturday night, Meghann and I went to see Dom Juan by Moliere which was put on by the National Theatre of Strasbourg.  It was reallllly good.  The set was very simple but really well done and the actors were great.  Meghann understood most of it, too!  I knew French would come back to her quickly :)

Sunday we woke up relatively early to make it on a boat tour of Strasbourg.  It was sunny and clear again but since it was still morning, it was chilly in the shade but we still had no reason to complain about the weather.  The tour was really informative and we learned a lot!

At one point on the tour, something gross happened.  I was sitting in the boat and listening to explanations of what we were seeing when all of a sudden, I felt something wet on the side of my lower lip.  I thought it was some water splashing up or someone messing with their water bottle, but when I took my fingertip and wiped it off, I noticed that it was a brown, liquid smear with a little seed in it.  "What the hell??" I thought, "Did I just get pooped on by a bird? On the mouth?????"  At first, I didn't know what to do.  I felt kind of like throwing up, and I kept thinking of where it would have landed if my mouth had been open.  I checked my neck and shoulder, but they were clean.  The bird had only pooped a little and I was lucky enough to be the landing spot.  I didn't want to cause a scene so I wiped it on the side of the seat next to me.  Then I felt so gross.  I was too embarrassed to tell Meghann at first because I knew she would laugh at me.  I later did tell her and she laughed at me and it is still funny.  My life is a joke.

After the tour, we walked around some more until we stopped at a restaurant for Chinese food.  After lunch, we walked to the Modern and Contemporary Art Museum of Strasbourg.  It was pretty cool, and afterwards we sat on the rooftop cafe and had fresh lemonade (so fresh that they brought us a glass that was 1/3 full of pure lemon juice, a small bottle of water, and sugar so we could make it ourselves).  It was really nice to sit outside and enjoy the view.  We made our way back and stopped at place de la Republique to sit in the grass and soak up some sun.  When we got back, we rested for a while until we went out to the movies on Sunday night to see True Grit.  I was glad it was the original version, I don't know if it would have been nearly as amazing if it were dubbed in French... a western in French would be weird.  Either way, it was an incredible movie and I loved it, I'm glad I finally got to see it. :)

We got back late on Sunday night and we went to sleep shortly after.  Monday morning we woke up early and I walked Meghann to the train station around 5:45 AM since her train was around 6.  I was sad to see her leave!

I had so much fun with her while she was here and I'm so glad that she loved Strasbourg.  :)

Weekends with my Host Family

I have been doing a lot of traveling since I got to France, especially in the past month or so.  I love traveling and exploring Europe, but I also love being in Strasbourg.  My classes are interesting for the most part and I've made some great friends.  When I am in Strasbourg, it's fun to go out with my friends, but to be honest, one of my favorite things about being in France is spending the weekends with my host family.  

Both of my host parents work and my host brother and sister are in school, so with work and school, the most time we spend together during the week is at dinner.  On the weekends, though, we have great lunches together and then drink coffee in the afternoon and they take me out with them.  On Sundays, I go to mass with my host family.

One Saturday, my host mom, Nathalie, took me with her two parents to Soufflenheim, a small village in Alsace.  Another weekend, I went with my host mom and dad, Benoit, and my little host brother (Axel, he is 5) to castle ruins in Germany.

This is Axel, my host brother.  He is so spunky.  We were in the car on the way to Germany and he was wearing his dad's work helmet.

Today, we went to Koenigsberg, a castle that was ruined during the thirty-years war when Alsace was French but restored in the early 1900s by Wilhelm II when Alsace belonged to Germany.  It was so cool and the views from castle were wonderful!  

It's wonderful that my host family takes me out to show me Alsace and France, but I like spending time with them even at home.  A few weeks ago, Astrid came over for lunch and after lunch, she tried to get her dad to dance with her to practice the Valse dance for her wedding in September.  It was so funny to see her try to convince him to dance with her and then when he agreed, she got so frustrated and angry at him.  Another weekend, Astrid, Amycie, and I spent the afternoon making decorations for her wedding.  Yet another weekend, Astrid, our friend Claire, and I sewed little bags for ourselves out of scrap fabric.  Nathalie helped us with the difficult stitches on the sewing machine.  After my first surgery, Amycie spent her Friday night watching a movie with me since I didn't feel well.

Meals with my host family are always wonderful.  Not only because my host mom is a magnificent cook, but because we always talk and they can always make me laugh.  I am very lucky to have such a great family!

Adventures in Alsace

Friday, after going to the doctor, Jill and I went to meet with the other Americans in the program.  We had an excursion planned to visit other parts of Alsace.

The first place we went to was the church of Ebermunster, the only church in Alsace to be built in the baroque style.  It was really beautiful!

Then we went to Colmar, where we visited the Unterlinden museum, which is known for Le Retable d'Issenheim (I didn't know what that was until I got there)

After the museum, we had time to explore Colmar.  It was a magnificent day so I was more than happy to walk around the town.  Here are pictures:

After Colmar, we all loaded back into the bus and drove until we got to Lapoutroie, a small village with a big secret: the museum of Alcohol.  The musee des eaux-de-vie was amazing.  

The owner took us on a guided tour and explained to us how to make alcohol and shared a lot about the history of several alcohols.  It was amazing.  My favorite part was the end, where we got free sample's of the museum's own alcohols.  I had a few samples and got tipsy.  It was great.  I even bought stuff!  Before we left, we got a group picture.

Look at my sassy pose.  The directors wouldn't let me stand behind anyone to hide my sling.

After the wonderful world of alcohol, we went to Munster, France.  The place where the cheese is made.  Alcohol AND cheese??  In one day?!  Paradise!  Upon my arrival in Munster, I was determined to find the delightful cheese and buy some, but I couldn't find any and most places were closing since it was getting closer to evening.  We went to a restaurant called l'agneau d'or where we had a wonderful dinner and I continued to drink white wine with appetizers and red wine with the main course.

Appetizer: foie gras on toasted baguette with seasoning

Entree: Munster cheese profiteroles with spring salad

After a strong cheese, we got a palette cleanser of homemade violet sorbet before the main course

Plat principal: rooster with mushrooms, spring vegetables, and a potato delicious-thing

Dessert: homemade cookie-type thing with rhubarb sorbet, a creme-type thing and strawberries.  It was so good.

After dessert, we had coffee and then headed back to Strasbourg.  It was such a delicious dinner.  I love France.

Jill and I soo happy during such a good meal

Jamais deux sans trois : Surgery #3

Are my stories about surgery in France getting annoying?  It's getting annoying to write/talk about them since I have had three surgeries in the past three weeks.  Astrid told me that the French have a saying "jamais deux sans trois" ("never two without three," kind of like the American "third time's a charm" but with a more pessimistic feel)

This story starts on Monday, after I got back from Prague.  I went to the doctor, who opened my bandages after my second surgery to find my finger just as red, swollen, and pus-filled, if not more so, than it was on Friday, despite half of my fingernail removed.  It was painful to touch.  The doctor changed the bandage and then explained to me that I needed to come back again on Tuesday to get it looked at again.  I was telling him when I was available to come back and not really paying attention when he dumped a bunch of alcohol on my open wound.  I whimpered and teared up in pain.  Then the he said, "Oh, maybe I should have told you I was going to do that."

Tuesday: I went back again and the first thing the doctor said when he opened up my bandage was "putain, c'est pas possible."  (translation: fuck, this is not possible.)  My finger was getting worse.  I hadn't been on antibiotics for a few days but he prescribed me some more and dumped more alcohol on my finger (after warning me this time).  The doctor shared the culture test results with me: I had a really bad staph infection in my finger.

Wednesday: the surgeon who did my first two surgeries saw me instead of my regular doctor.  He was also concerned with the state of my finger because he said that he knew that he cleaned it all out and removed all of the infection.  He didn't want to take any further action yet since I hadn't yet been on antibiotics for 24 hours.

Thursday: I went back and my finger was worse yet, except I shared with the surgeon that on Wednesday night, I had a fever, my arm hurt up to my shoulder, I felt weak and almost passed out, and I had no appetite. The surgeon was concerned and went to get the head doctor.  She came in and looked at my finger and said that we needed to do emergency surgery that same day, but first, I needed to get x rays of my finger to see if the infection had gotten into the bone.  So I was sent to the other side of the hospital to get x rays.  (Meanwhile, I was missing the second chance to make up the test that I missed on the day I had my second surgery).  The x rays proved to be hopeful: my bones were OK.  However, this third surgery was going to be extensive in one of those scary operating rooms that's too bright, so I needed to come back in the evening when they were prepared.  I needed to come back at 8 but I couldn't eat anything after 3.  My host mom picked me up from the hospital and took me home where I ate and tried to sleep.  Astrid came over and hung out for a while; I was glad she kept me company since I was dreading getting a third operation.

At 8 PM, my host mom brought me back to the hospital.  A nurse came and got me and told me to change into a hospital gown.  This made me nervous since the first two surgeries they just pushed up my sleeve and cut away at my hand.  Why did I need to put on a hospital gown, those weird feet things and a cap if they were working on my hand?  Either way, I put on the gown and accessories and then the nurse took me into the anesthesia room and told me to get under the covers of the hospital bed.  I laid there for about 10 minutes before the anesthesiologist came in.  He introduced himself and asked me about my finger while he prepped my injections.  He said that he was going to numb my entire left arm.  In order to do this, he had to stick several needles into my armpit and let the Novocaine in gradually through this tube-type thing.  Although I was relieved that I wouldn't have to endure the agony of getting needles stuck into my hand and finger, I dreaded getting shots in my armpit.  First, he put this jelly-type thing on my upper arm/armpit to look, I guess to find the veins. Then he stuck me with the needles.  It was unpleasant.  I forgot how many times he stuck me.  I could feel the liquid going into my arm; it was so gross.

The anesthesiologist would leave the needle in for a few seconds and talk to me.  At one point, he looked at my folder and read out my name.  He asked me if I was American or English.  When I told him, he asked,"Are you a real American or fake American?"  When I asked him what that meant, he asked me if my parent(s) were American or French and if I had lived in France my whole life/a long time.  I told him that both of my parents were American and I was just spending the semester in France but he didn't believe me at first.  He was like, "I swore you were French, etc etc etc"  This is always a huge compliment when French people think that I'm French and it made me smile and laugh.  We talked while he tortured me with needles for another 10-15 minutes.  He told me about how he had trouble understanding American accents, how he wasn't good at English (he had trouble pronouncing Rs) and was asking me all sorts of questions about myself and my life in the states.  Then he started flirting with me.  I thought, dude, you are sticking my armpit with needles.  This is neither the time nor place. I was not amused and did not play along.
After he finished injecting me with Novocaine, he left but kept coming back every few minutes to talk to me and check on my arm.  He did the cold test and put a cold bottle on my shoulder and moved it down my arm.  The first few times, I still felt it, but the third time, when he had the bottle near my wrist, I actually had to ask him if he was even touching my arm.  That was it, my arm was numb.  He asked if I could still fold my arm.  I started to lift my arm towards me but it was dead and started to fall on my face.  He caught my arm and was like, "okay, I think you're ready."  I had to wait until the two guys who needed surgery before me went through.  Thirty minutes later, I couldn't even move my arm when I tried to lift it and move my fingers.  It was so funny.  Finally my turn, I was the last patient of that evening.

The surgeon (a different one from my first two operations) and nurse wheeled me into the big, white, too bright operation room with a bunch of machines.  The nurse prepped my arm with iodine and cut off my circulation with the compression thing again.  This all seemed like the same process as before, I didn't see what the big deal was or why my whole arm needed to be numb.  Then they pulled out the screen.  They put my arm through a green hole and then attached it to the screen.  I wasn't going to be able to see what they were doing. :(  Then the surgeon asked if they could start.  The nurse turned on music and people went in and out of the operating room and they all talked to each other.  Bob Marley was playing during most of my operation so that put me at ease.  The anesthesiologist even came in to see what was going on and talk to me.  DUDE.  Don't joke with me about how they're cutting off my finger when I can neither see nor feel what they're doing.  Not funny or cute.  After 20ish minutes, they cut away the screen and laid my dead arm back on top of me. It was wrapped into a huge ball with just my thumb sticking out.  They moved me to the recovery room where I had to wait unnecessarily until I was allowed to walk back to the changing room to get dressed.  With a dead arm and the other arm needing to hold the dead arm, I was unable to dress myself.  One of the assistants who led me to the changing room said with a wink that if I didn't want him to help me get dressed he could call in my host mom.  Ew, creep.  My host mom came in and helped me get dressed and then after we met with the surgeon briefly, we were able to leave the hospital.  It was midnight.  We got back to the apartment and she made me something to eat since I hadn't eaten since 2 PM.

I had a terrible night's sleep but feeling finally came back into my arm around 5 or 6 AM.  Then I couldn't sleep at all because of the pain and of course they gave me crappy pain killers, even though the anesthesiologist slipped a prescription into my folder for a strong-ish (not as strong as vicodin but strong enough to actually do something).  The surgeon wrote me a different prescription (crappy) and that was the paper he gave me instead of the better one.

When I went back to the doctor on Friday morning before the American program's excursion, the surgeon (from my first two surgeries) saw me and removed my bandages.  The bandages were soaked with blood and stuck to my finger.  It hurt so much as he peeled them off of my raw wound.  I was semi-screaming from the doctor's office and Jill, who was waiting for me in the waiting room, heard me and later said that she was very concerned.

This is what my hand looked like on Friday morning after I regained feeling and was able to lift my arm

Despite the pain, the surgeon said that the wound looked pretty good.  I thought it looked disgusting seeing as there is now a hole in my finger where my nail used to be and the skin around the nail is also gone, but apparently the infection is gone and the fact that it's just blood seeping through is a good sign.  I have still been to the doctor every day since last Monday (and to continue, I'm going back tomorrow) but I'm glad that they are monitoring it very carefully.  I'm still on antibiotics and after the terrible pain I had on Friday, it is now Sunday and my finger is much better.  A lot less pain and although it's still bandaged, I think the third time really was a charm.

Czech it out: a weekend in Prague

My life has become a blur and I can't even keep up with myself anymore!  Last weekend, after my second surgery, Jillian and I took a night train to Prague.  We left Strasbourg around 9:30, took a short train to Offenburg, Germany, where we had about 5 minutes to change trains onto our night train that would take us all the way to Prague.

Unfortunately, we had different sleeping arrangements and despite my best efforts in German to persuade the train guy to let us be in the same cabin, we had to stay separated.  I found my sleeping cabin and there were already two people inside, asleep at 10:30.  I was not at all tired.  Just my luck, my bunk was the third bunk, on the top.  The conductor told me that we have to stay in our specific beds because the train makes a lot of stops during the night and there would be more people coming on board.  So, with my hand in extreme pain and in a sling, I climbed my way up to the third bunk with my huge purse for the weekend.  It took me about five minutes to climb up there with my gimpy arm.  I woke up the girl in the top bunk across from me.  Woops.  When I finally got up there, I had to spread out the blankets, which was another awkward hassle with one arm.  I didn't get much sleep that night but when Jill woke me up, it was bright outside and we were close to Prague.

We arrived in the city around 10 AM.  We walked to our hostel from the train station, about a 15 minute walk.  Thankfully, our room was ready and we were able to drop our stuff off and refresh ourselves and plan our day.  First, we walked around the old town square and enjoyed the architecture.

Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square

We also wanted to find the blacklight theatre where we were going to see a blacklight show that night so we wouldn't be late.  It took us a while to find it and we got lost a few times.  After we found where we were going, we realized it was 12:30 and we were starving.  We ate a lunch that was traditional Czech food.  I had a pork, sauerkraut, and dumplings.  Very heavy but really good!

Jill with her goulash and dumplings

Pretending to cut my food.  I was unable to so Jill had to do it for me :/

After lunch, we made our way to Charles Bridge to go up to the castle.

cathedral

Prague Castle

Charles Bridge with the castle and cathedral in the background

 By the time we got to the castle and cathedral, they were both closing so we just walked around the grounds and enjoyed the view!

From the top of the hill at Prague Castle

Afterwards, we headed back across the bridge and back into the city center.

On Charles Bridge!

We walked to the Jewish quarter and looked into the cemetery but we couldn't go in because it was the Sabbath, so we made plans to go back on Sunday.  We did get a picture, though!

We did some shopping and then needed a break so as soon as I saw a Nespresso store, I dragged Jill inside. I ordered an iced Nespresso coffee and it was delightful.  Look at this delicious thing!

a scoop of vanilla, a scoop of chocolate ice cream, a double shot of espresso, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce

After my coffee break, we walked around some more until it was time for the blacklight show.  It was awesome!  There was no talking, but it was a mixture of blacklight performances and these two guys who did mute comedy sketches between acts.  They were really funny!  The blacklight dances/performances were beautiful and really trippy.  Apparently these are really popular in Prague; we saw a lot of black light theatres around the city and the show we went to was sold out!

When the show ended, it was kind of late and we were both pooped so we ate a quick dinner and headed home.  On the way home, we saw this:

This was about the time when I realized that Prague was a fairy tale and my new favorite city

We got to our hostel around midnight and I slept soo well that night.

Sunday morning, we woke up early (although it was an hour later than we thought... we had forgotten about daylight savings time in Europe) and set off towards the castle and cathedral again.  We took a tour of the castle and got to see all the really cool rooms with beautiful murals and furniture.  I even saw the window where the defenestration took place.  It's a long fall, I can't believe those nobles lived!!  We also went into the cathedral and went up the 287 steps to the top tower.  The view was incredible!!

Prague and Charles Bridge from atop the cathedral

Buildings in Prague

weird shaped building

After climbing the millions of stairs just to get to the castle's hill.  Jill wasn't too happy!

After the castle and cathedral, we had lunch and then went back to the Jewish quarter to get a tour of the old synagogues and the cemetery.  It was really moving.  In the cemetery, there were so many tombs and graves that there was no way there was enough space for all of the people who were supposed to be buried there.  I later found out that buying land to bury the dead was too expensive at the time, and if I remember correctly it was a Jewish tradition to keep their dead together, so they would bury their dead on top of one another, leaving earth in between them.  There were also several tombs that had been transformed into wailing walls with hundreds of little pieces of paper stuffed into the engraved tombs.  That was really sad.

Afterwards, Jillian and I had to start making our way back to the train station.  On the way, I did a little shopping and got a beautiful silk scarf from Mango as a souvenir of my weekend in Prague.  I can't wait to wear it!  We left Prague around 6:30, and I was so sad to leave!  The way back I didn't sleep much either, but the cabin was full and I find it hard to sleep when there are five people around you breathing heavily/snoring/shifting in their sleep.  We got to Offenburg at 6:30 AM, and then changed trains and we got back to Strasbourg around 7:30.  I arrived at the apartment as my host family was eating breakfast.  I told them about my trip and then went and washed my face/got ready for school and my doctor's appointment for my finger.  Despite the extreme exhaustion I felt the entire day, Prague was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to go back there and spend more time there in the future.