Wow, so I haven’t written anything in such a long time! I’ve been so busy there has barely been anytime to breath or rest. So I guess I shall start with fall break:
My experiences with cab drivers is just getting weirder and weirder. As I’m waiting for my cab on the corner of calle sederos everything is quiet, its cold, and I’m not even seeing the occasional drunk people loitering on the streets. A cab soon pulls up blasting some epic instrumental music as if we were going into battle to fight the Romans. So that was the first thing that threw me off. The second was that while I was sitting in the cab the smell became familiar. It was the smell of some parties I went to in high school. It took me a while to realize, but when I did it hit me like a ton of bricks and now I’m thinking that this cab driver may or may not be drunk. Or drunk yesterday. Or in the near past. The smell of black and milds and cheap vodka lingered in the cab as I prayed I would just get to the airport in a timely fashion. Finally I arrive. In one piece. At the airport. Which is STILL closed. The line won't open until 10 minutes before I board. Ohhhh spanish peopleee… at least this time I was at the Granada airport in 15 minutes.. not that bad.
Once the trip actually started, fall break was amazingly fun! I started off the trip by heading to Frankfurt, the industrialized yet pleasant city in Germany. My boyfriend showed me a good time, like always by first heading to the last weekend of Frankfurt’s version of Oktoberfest. I believe this was a warm up to the real Oktoberfest, but nonetheless it was crazy. After three of the largest beers I have ever seen, I was speaking fluent German (or at least I thought I was)
So happily nervous to drink that whole thing.
Marvin and I
The rest of the stay in Germany was more laid back. It consisted of watching Law and Order SVU and eating pizza at any chance I could get. This made the first part of the trip a solution to the much-needed break and relaxation after finals. After a few days in Germany, my boyfriend and I hopped a train AND bus in order to make our way to Prague, Czech Republic. The journey was long, but the bus part of the tripped reminded me of the Megabus rides to New York City. Except driving through the Czech and German countryside was surprisingly duller than driving on the Jersey Turnpike. At least on the turnpike I could understand the signs and where I was. On the Prague bus with Marvin dead asleep next to me, the only thing I could do to entertain myself was count how many Polish license plates I saw (8).
Marvin, Papa, Madre, and I in Prague!Finally we arrived in Prague (or how the Czech say it, PRAHA) and not only was I excited to get off the bus, but my parents were also waiting there for me! They looked the same and I was glad. My father sporting some brightly colored jacket that he assumed was a shade of dark blue, and my mother dressed almost exactly like me. It was comforting to know that even though a month and a half went by they still acted the same. My father asking the cab driver a bunch of questions and my mother telling him to be quiet. My dad trying to tell jokes to the Czech people who clearly have no sense of humor and my mother still telling him to be quiet. Oh, it was like being at home once again. We arrived at our hotel, the lovely and infamous Courtyard Marriot Flora, where the bed was the best bed I slept on in Europe. We just had a quiet night in. Ate some Goulash. Discovered that Goulash is disgusting, and then went to bed. The next morning we were to go on a 6-hour tour of the city starting at 9.
The hour of 8:30 am could not feel any earlier. After hauling our own asses out of bed Marvin and I soon discovered that my parents weren’t even up yet. We almost missed our tour! But luckily we didn’t, and this day it wasn’t raining, so the city didn’t look at depressing as the first time we saw it. However it was freezing. The wind chill made it so much worse and I was not used to this weather after warm Spanish weather. Our guide during the tour was interesting. He was a former history professor and treated us all like his students. He’d catch me spacing out during his twenty-minute tangents and ask me to pay attention. But after a while it was a bit funny. The tour was nice. I learned a lot of this about Prague that I never even wanted to know. How basically all of their designs of their buildings are copied off of every other European country. The church is like the one in Germany, they have a mini Eiffel Tower, the architecture is from France and Italy. The only thing that seemed to be original was Kafka and walk to school from his house. (But even he was a German Jew, so not even Czech). The city was beautiful. It came into it’s own when I saw the brightly colored buildings and the fancy cobblestone streets. After the tour that seemed to last forever, we walked around the city a bit more and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
The church in Prague that in just like one in Germany. Other activities that we did was go to a symphony, where every single person besides Marvin and I were over 50, and half of them fell asleep halfway through. However, it was nice to hear the music in the Municipal building and in Prague that has such a rich culture for classic music. We also had the best dinner at this one place close to our hotel. Grilled foie gras and duck and tuna, it was great food for such a little place, with remotely no one inside.
Prague overview The trip to PRAHA and the rest of fall break was great, however it had to come to an end, and of course, school had to start. Luckily my parents were able to talk time off and come stay with me in Granada for a week. The new classes I am taking are literature, art history, and Spanish history. Art history looks like it will be interesting since we go on many trips with the class to explore the architecture of Granada. Also, the professor happens to know a song with everyone’s name in it.. and proceeds to sing to us when he calls role. So I get to listen to an Azoulay song for a bit right before I am called on to read. History is slightly painful. I like the subject, but all the classes are 2 hours long and this professor talks straight through it. At least the other ones add 5 minute breaks half way through.
I finally got to eat some amazing food with my parents being here! Jamon all day long! I took them to the Arabic district, the many shopping districts, and we also had a spa day, which completely wiped me out. It was much needed relaxation. Also, this past weekend it rained the whole time in Spain, which I didn’t even think was possible! Now the parents are gone, and I’m pretty sure I’m getting a bit sick.
Gotta rest a lot this week and prepare for London this weekend! Hopefully there won’t be too much schoolwork!
Until next time fans!
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