Back to the Bas.

Well, I am officially back home in Calabasas which marks my final blog post. I have to admit, it is very nice to come home to...a refrigerator full of my favorite foods, tap water, ice, frozen yogurt, sushi, a big bed, NICE SHOWER, my dog, family, and my car. However, these past four months have been the most amazing months of my life and the past 24 hours have definitely been emotional. To think that I have travelled to ten countries, met so many new people, and experienced so much diversity and culture is truly astounding. Prague is the most incredible place I've seen in my life: the architecture, the landscape, the liveliness. Everything about it makes me smile. The last week in Prague, we took full advantage of the beautiful weather: walked along the Charles Bridge at night, went paddle-boating in the Vltava River, and even went on a segway tour around the entire city! I couldn't have asked for a better last week, and  I wanted to end this blog by emphasizing some key points  for those of you hoping to come to this beautiful city:

• the language: czech is not easy. let me re-phrase that. Czech is freaking IMPOSSIBLE. You would think after a 2-week course, 5 days a week, 5 hours a day, that I would be a fluent speaker.... wrong. Even though I got an A in the course, I left knowing how to say the basics that anyone with a Czech guide book could speak. To be honest though, most people spoke or at least understood English. This made me feel even more of a failure. Oh well, I had fun attempting the language. I think I'll stick to English and Spanish.
• public transportation: Shocked? So was I. But as a matter of fact, I am now a PRO at the metro, tram, bus, and even walking. This couldn't have come at a better time in my life, considering I might need to take the subway in New York. PSH that will be easy as pie after taking the metro at least 4 times a day in Praha. Pros of the metro: quick, conveniently located to my dorm, cheap. Cons: smelly, crowded, HOT. The best part about taking the public transportation everywhere was definitely the people watching and the culture shock. From dogs on the metro to heated kissing couples sitting next to me, there was never a dull moment on the metro, tram, or walking along the streets. Also, I absolutely love how you walk so much in Prague. Definitely something I will miss at home, but don't get me wrong, I missed driving.
• the food: Goulash. Yes, I know Czech food is more than just goulash, but that is the only czech dish I tried, and yummmmmmmmmm. Very very filling? definitely. Warms you up on a sub-zero day? definitely. The goulash came with different dumplings too. I mean, to be honest I only really had czech food 4 times. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that Prague had a variety of restaurants: italian, mexican, japanese, thai, american, and chinese. They even had a Hooters... who would have thought?? Clearly, I wasn't at a loss when it came to food. But in my opinion, I could only handle a few bowls of goulash in four months.

Prague, thank you for not leaving me one dull moment. From the insane night life, to the incredibly cheap prices of meals, drinks, and souvenirs, you were all I could have asked for and more. To anyone planning on traveling to Prague in the future, I have pages of restaurants, cafes, clubs, and bars for you to have. It has been such an amazing semester and I cannot believe it is already over. While I doubt anyone other than my family reads this blog, thanks for being a part of my journey. Ahoj!!

my last trip... Split!

A view of the island from our boat!

Jenna and I at the port.

Hello All! We got back from our amazing Croatia trip at about 2am this morning... seriously SUCH an incredible weekend. Unlike any of my previous trips, this one involved no site-seeing, and PLENTY of sun-bathing. Many of you know how important this is to me, and let's just say, I was in my element. A group of about 20 of us (from my program as well as friends from a different program) signed up for Bus2Alps.

This student travel agency sets you up with hostels, day trips, etc. We left Prague on Thursday at about 8pm and our bus arrived in Croatia at about 9am. Yes, quite a long bus ride.. Believe me, it was not fun, but obviously worth the wait. When we checked into our hostel, which was actually pretty awesome, we immediately changed into bathing suits and shorts, hit up the ATM for some local Croatia Kunas, and hit the beach. It felt SOOO good to be relaxing and napping next to one of the most gorgeous ocean's I've seen. We of course had some tropical beachy drinks, and listened to music. 5 hours later, and a skin tone or two darker (or maybe more red), we headed to dinner at this little place right on the beach. Croatia is known for their pizza since they are so close to Italy, so naturally, we tried it. After a great meal, we headed back to the hostel to shower and get ready for our first night out in Split. Bus2Alps set us up with this really cool pub crawl which took us to local spots. We went to some spots on the beach, and some in the medieval parts of Split. After a fun night, we headed back to get some sleep after the brutal 13 hour bus ride in.

Me in my element.

Saturday was by far the best of the trip (granted, it was only about 2 days) because we went on an "island hopping tour." About 40 people signed up for this excursion which made it that much more fun and lively. We got onto our boat and everyone rushed to get a good spot on the deck... to catch some sun of course. We were on the boat for 4 hours, during which time we were socializing, taking in the sun, and enjoying the beautiful scenery. There was even a dolphin right next to our boat at one point! Once we reached the island, we were given a delicious lunch inside the boat of fish and wine. After eating, we got off the boat, and had about an hour or so to explore this island. A few people went to go get souvenirs, but the others (including myself) found a gorgeous private beach with white sand and chase lounges. IDEAL.

Jenna and I on the boat!

After a quick cat nap, we were woken by our friends that said it was time to head back... thank gosh otherwise we would have been stranded.. I mean, I would have been happy to have been stuck there, let's be honest. After another 4 hours and a beautiful sunset, we made it back to Split. My roommates and I were pretty exhausted and a bit sea-sick, so we all
decided to stay in. The next morning, we woke up early to shop around: they had a marketplace with oils, honeys, fruit, veggies, and souvenirs so we were all very happy about that. Finally, we got to the bus at about 1045am and headed back to Prague by 11. After a movie marathon and a numb butt, we made it safely back to Prague early this morning. I cannot believe this marks the end of my many travels, but I had such an incredible weekend. It is crazy that in less than 2 weeks I will be back in America. Until then, BYE!