strut... like you mean it.

I know exactly what you are thinking.... "Is the title of this post a Cheetah Girls 2 reference?" Yes my friends, yes it is. This weekend we spent in beautiful Barcelona!! 

View from top of Park Guell

Check out that view right? Stunning. This was quite the experience. In all honestly I had no idea what to expect in coming here. I was hoping I would dance and strut around the streets of the city. But of course we had walking tours, you know the real "touristy stuff", amazing food and lots of great shopping! Sorry Rome... Barcelona totally trumps you in the shopping district. Or at least I haven't found my favorite places yet. Don't worry mom, I won't come back with an entirely new wardrobe... let's hope! But this city is just a short 16 hour bus ride from Rome. You may be asking yourself why Chandler and I keep doing this right? Why we are volunteering to get on a bus with 30+ other kids for 16 hours. Well... I say the weekends are pretty worth it. In the states you could take a 16 hour drive to another state. But in Europe... you travel to another country!! I think that's so cool, so instead of a surprise weekend in Vegas or California, you could say you went to Barcelona, Lisbon, or Monaco. Also I have no objection to weekend trips to Cali, so when I get back... if anyone wants to go to Cali I'm so down. Anyway, Barcelona really has a piece of my heart there. The people are so nice, like they smile at you and will wave back, they are patient with 2 American girls who just want some lunch after a long bus ride. (But I will warn you all now: Barcelona is a top city for pick pocketing, so be aware like you always would. Nothing happened to me but my bag was always in front of me.) The city has amazing views, art work and just a great vibe in general! Pictures are worth a 1000 words so I let you see my journey though pictures. Get ready!

Okay so small intermission while I tell ya about our first day. We got into Barcelona around 9 am, and we had a walking tour at 11, so plenty of time to shower and get presentable for the mass amount of selfies Channy and I were gonna take! Right... wrong. We couldn't check into our rooms until 2, so we had to wear what we wore on the bus and just grin and bear it, and you bet we did just that! We had a cool English tour guide, so you can say we were very happy. We saw the Barcelona Cathedral, this cool art work wall, The Columbus monument, daring park, and a ton more! We learned all about the city's history and now I feel a bit smarter! Cool fact: the Columbus monument in Barcelona is the only one in all of Spain that does not point toward America. Why you may ask?? Cause it also looks like he is pointing toward Madrid if he was facing the right way, so he is pointing a totally opposite direction instead! Feel smarter?? Boom, just dropped some knowledge on ya! After a billion pictures and lots of walking later we showered, ate lunch, and we were ready for the rest of the day. We went to Sagrada Familia (left). This is going to be the biggest church on Earth. It has taken longer to build this than it did the pyramids, and it isn't even finished yet. It is said to be completed in 2038!!! Crazy huh?!

#bathroomselfie

Kinda blurry, but hey look the ocean!

Summoning our inner Cheetahs *rawr*

Chan was seriously tickled pink to be by the ocean! So of course we took our shoes off and walked in the sand and the water. Cold, but so worth it! Such am amazing view. #noregrets This was soon to be our motto of the trip, as it should be. This was the end of our first day here and by the end of it we were ready to go back to the hostel and have a Deep Chat over some Ben & Jerry's that we saw in a little convenient store. But to our dismay our not so nice roommates, these 3 annoying boys, stayed at our hostel until like 2 am and got crazy drunk. Okay, clarification, when I saw "annoying" I mean like seriously obnoxious, not "oooh boys are annoying and they have cooties.". I mean they sat behind us the whole bus ride and talked while everyone was trying to sleep. So of course we didn't get enough of them the 16 hours but they just had to be in our hostel room as well. Luckily it was a 12 person room, so we didn't really have to be near them but it still sucked. But all Chan and I wanted was to talk, cause girls love that! But we had to stay in our corner while those boys were getting totally wasted and trashing the room, at one point we left to change into our PJ's cause it was late and they had left, so praise the heavens we could finally chat without the fear of them overhearing. But sadly the came back and started talking about the most inappropriate things! Like pure vulgarity. So we had to make a noise signalling we were still in the room... Now that was awky. Any way here is my advice for everyone out there:: If you ever have roommates, just be considerate and be mindful of others. Anyway we didn't see much of them the rest of the trip, so praise the heavens. The second day was just as fabulous as the first. We went to Park Guell and went shopping and ate good food and had the best time! Okay so here is the Strut part of my post, and for those of you don't know what I am talking about, shame on you, and watch this, it'll make your day better! The mosaic tiles?? Yes! That's the park where we spent like 3 hours at. The park is gigantic and over looks the whole city!

Models... amiright!?

Even with the rain the park was beautiful! We tried really hard to get a fun like "Strut" picture... but it was rainy and I felt super awkward... hahaha! Mostly cause our super attractive bus2alps leader was either watching us take the pictures or taking them for us and I got nervous.  (I know it's silly so sue me) so embarrassing that I just said that over the internet, and lets pray he never reads this.... And moving on! Later that day we went shopping at the Marina and finally got the Ben & Jerry's we had been waiting for! 

Barcelona was seriously the best and I can't wait for our next adventure! I will definitely be back because I can;t get enough of it. Here's a couple more pictures of us! Hope you're not sick of them! 

We are always laughing... #sorrynotsorry

Until next time,

-O

praha.

Pragua. Praha. Prague. 

We spent this past weekend in darling little Prague. It has become one of my favorite cities in Europe. I mean I have only been to two.... so that probably doesn't mean a lot but I think it does! I mean we plan to travel a lot during our time here so by the end of these wonderful four months, I can actually say of all the cities I've been to in Europe...(insert name) was my favorite. But we'll talk about my other travels when they come, but for now Prague has center stage. 

Picture from bus window. Czech out that view.

First off, let's just throw it out there that there may or may not be a lot of Czech/Check puns in this and for that... I apologize ahead of time. Okay now lets get stared! First we took a bus from Rome to Prague. We picked more kids in Florence and had a 45 minute stop somewhere at the top of Italy. Someone said we were in Verona... but I don't think so. It was like midnight so I couldn't really look around and see where I was at. Sorry bout it! But we left Rome at 6:00 pm and made it to Prague at 10:00 am the next morning. So you can say I got quite the nights rest. Nope, very much much the opposite. I barely spent at all. I don't know why, I usually can sleep in any moving vehicle! Heck I have already fallen asleep on the train here! But this bus wasn't doing it for me. I don't know what it was but my brain wouldn't shut up. I think it was just as excited as I was and wanted to know where we were at every second. I mean wherever we were for the most of the night, it was snowing! Like a lot! So I wanted to know if it was Italy, Germany, Austria, somewhere! But no clue... So that was a waste of non-sleeping. But I would sleep for like a half hour ever 2 hours so I mean I got some rest, I wasn't like a walking zombie the next day. I finished a book, and watched some movies that they company had put on for us. So it wasn't a complete waste of time either. But anyway, we got to our hostel which was literally a giant pun in itself. It was so cute! It's called Czech Inn.. Hahaha. If you are ever in Prague, stay there! It is really convenient with the trams and buses, and the staff there is was nice! So we got to the inn at like 10:00 and our tour was at 10:45. We had 45 minutes to get changed and get the smell of travel and bus off of us. So you can already guess that we looked suuuper good for that tour. Oh! And we still had to eat breakfast! But somehow we and 30 other 20 year olds managed to get ready, eat, shower, and be down in the lobby close to 11. It's not 10:45, but I mean with 30+ 20 year olds, that seemed like a record! So we had a great tour kid his name was Isaac, and he was hilarious! I wish I kept a list of funny things he said because I was dying! But he was super cool, he knew all his stuff and had traveled a lot so I mean that's what you want in a tour guide so it fit like a glove. We saw the town square, the museum, and a ton of other places! I don't remember a lot of their names because the Czech language is crazy. 

We also had the privilege of having a lovely lunch at a place called Lokal. It was super good, and very traditional Czech food. I got like 3 sausages with mustard and horseradish. It was super good! In Prague, the beer is basically on tap so you can have it with ease at any restaurant! But Chan and I don't drink, so whenever we asked for just still water the waiters looked at us like we had just cursed their families. They were not pleased with us, but hey sorry I don't drink. Anyway after the water incident the waiter suddenly was really nice and had to suggest something for dessert. Of course we had to get the traditional Czech biscut! A sugary cookie with whipped cream on it! *PSA--- In Europe whipped cream has no sugar. I repeat, just plain whipped cream. Thank you, that is all* After that we were full and very satisfied, but so so cold. Prague is crazy cold right now! Windy and frigid. So we made for the hostel, to shower and possibly nap if there was time.

On our first night the group we were with went out to an 80's club and danced it up! But Chan and I still frozen and being the "Resident Grannies" that we are, we stayed in. But we went out and got dinner and walked around for a little bit, so we weren't totally agoraphobes. So the first day was a success, we navigated around Prague, we found a great place for dinner, and we saw lots around Prague! 

Day Two

feed the birds

We got to see lots today!! We saw the Charles Bridge, the Lennon Wall, the Prague Castle and Old Town Square! Okay first the bridge. Wow. It's amazing. 

This bridge is seriously the most amazing bridge! It is beautiful, with the view of the river and of the towns- Old and New. We tried to be all artsy and get candid pics of each other, I say that we did a pretty great job of it! After the bridge we got to see some weird giant brass babies. They are some famous Czech artist. He is a very... strange artist. He has statues all around the city that are just as equally strange. There is a giant silver pregnant woman and two bronze men peeing in a lake. Each has it's own meaning specific to the Czech people. The babies looks like they have been punched in a face with a scanner... Weird huh?? The meaning behind it the artist is conveying is to not raise your children with TV and other electronics. He wouldn't like the way the generation are being raised now would he??? 

Kinda weird huh?? Chan had the hardest time climbing onto the babies! Slippery little buggers. After we got to take lots of picture and such before we went to the Lennon Wall.

The Lennon Wall. Amazing! 

The teenagers in the late 80's hated the communist regime, cause like who didn't, so to protest they painted a wall with Lennon's face and lyrics to his songs. Because they loved what he stood for, peace and love. But the police didn't think that was as great as the teens so they would paint over it, but the kids would come back and paint it again. Over and over again this happened until the police gave up and graffiti became legal. There is stands still with his face and lyrics to the music! Of course all the generations paint over it and start again because everyone has something to say. But it will always be the Lennon Wall. So we got to take place in history, a small place but hey it's something, Chan and I wrote our names on the wall. There was a guy who was singing Beatles music and it was amazing. It made me want to watch Across the Universe. For all the Beatles lovers you need to, after read this of course, go and watch the movie. It's amazing. 

We then got a traditional Czech lunch, full of beer and lots of meat! But wait... we don't drink. Oh boy the look on the waiters face when we refused  the beer (nicely of course cause we're not heathens). He looked as if we were about to steal his first born, in simpler terms... he was not pleased. But he got over it and it was a delightful meal. 3 courses- soup, a meat dish, and dessert. Chan got  beef & cream and I got roasted pork, and for dessert apple strudel. Yummy doesn't describe! 

After lunch we went on the Prague castle tour. I'm going got be completely honest, lay it all on the table, I don't remember a single thing our guide said... Sorry Pavel. The sun had started going down and it was starting to get a wee bit chilly! Lie... It felt like an arctic tundra. It got dark and windy really fast. So like here are some pictures. Pretend I had a lot of cool information about them.

We made it through the ice tour, feeling as though our toes had frozen and broken off. We went to a little Mexican restaurant. People in our group had been telling us to go to it. It seriously was so worth the walk down a freezing alley! And I'm not going to lie... a little tear formed in my eye because I was so pleased for the food and not to mention the warmth! We checked and all our toes were still there.

Best guac ever

It was delicious and well worth the wait! We chatted about everything under the sun (moon and stars) from our favorite Avenger to the meaning of life. It was nice to warm ourselves with amazing food! It was also nice to chat with Channy, I love when we have our deep chats. Love that chick, she seriously keeps me going here. We walked around for a little bit longer and went back to the hostel. We had the best time here and would easy return in an instant! We got a good night sleep before the 16 hour drive the next day. Prague left a little going away present too!

SNOW!

Somewhere in Germany

It was a great weekend away! I recommend everyone go to Prague, if you have the chance. Our bus ride home was a rough one... cause it was so looong. But we made the time pass, we read books, watched movies and slept. Thanks Prague for the memories and adventures. You'll be seeing me again. 

Until next time, 

-O

What's life without a hideous picture?