Mick Jagger's Influence, Gnocchi, and Legit Gelatos

Prague continued:

It is of huge regret that I wasn't able to see the Prague Castle at night when it's lit up with its beautiful lighting. Oh, well... My visit in Prague won't be the last. I will be going back there, hopefully, in June and then I will make sure I see the dazzling Prague Castle at night while thinking about the cool story behind it. You might be wondering why Mick Jagger is on the title for this post. Well, he has to be because if it weren't for him and The Rolling Stones, Prague Castle won't have its modern lighting system. The story behind it is that when Mick Jagger, sorry, SIR Mick Jagger, came to Prague in 1995, he was amazed by how beautiful the city was especially the Prague Castle. However, it was such a shame that he couldn't appreciate it more at night because it was too dark. The former president of Czech Republic, Václav Havel, told Sir Mick that they do not have money to fund the new lighting. So, low and behold, Sir Mick said (and I am putting words in his mouth right now), "Worry no more! I will pay for it!" AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT! Mick Jagger was like a god creating/giving light to the then dark Prague Castle. I am not sure if it's right to say I am not a fan of Mick Jagger... but eh... I'm really not. Still, thanks to him, Prague Castle is so much more beautiful at night.

Oh, btdubs, Happy Easter! Here is cool picture of a lady painting a gigantic Easter egg at Old Town Square in Prague.

Happy Easter!!!

Now, let's talk about my adventures in Italy. Yeah?

20th- 22nd of April '11: Venice, Italy.

We left Prague in the morning of the 20th and it made it to Brno at 2pm: an hour from the time of our flight to Milan. Cutting it close, eh? Well, from Prague we had a series of unfortunate events that continued on until we got to the airport at Brno. So, let me tell you details here. While still in Prague, we had the mistake of taking the tram to get to the bus station which would have been easier if done by foot-- walking that is. But we got on a tram and got off the park across the trains station. There we wandered and asked where the bus station was. Luckily, it was just one train stop away so we took the train and got to the bus station. We did not buy our tickets to get back to Brno. Unfortunately, the tickets for the bus line Student Agency were sold out and that the next bus will be at 12pm. There's no way we can make it on time if we took that bus. So we decided to take Eurolines instead. It was the shittiest bus ride of my life! We sat on the back and it was very shaky. Pretending that I was just getting a bad massage from a massage chair, I survived a 2 and a half hour ride. Arriving at a different bus station where there were no cabs to be seen, going to the airport proved to be a great challenge. The clock was ticking.... 2:10pm.. 2:15pm... 2:30pm... NO WAY IN HELL we are making it to our flight... So I asked around if anybody could speak English during that waiting time and someone, thank goodness, was kind enough to translate information for us. He even pointed out where to take an alternate bus to get to the airport. However, it was already 2:45 pm and our flight was at 3pm. So... yeah.. we missed the flight, we thought. We got on the bus and arrived at the airport just wanting to get the next flight and OMG! Our flight was delayed 30 minutes. The director let us board the plane and off we went to Milan! An hour and half later, we landed with smiles extending from the left ear to the right. It was a miracle we were still able to board. That was really one of those times when you can feel happy that your flight has been delayed. Milan was just the first layover city for us though. So, we took the train to Venice and arrived in the evening. We had no energy to go out and see places so we just slept and refueled our systems for the next day.

We woke up at 9AM to get a light breakfast from the mini-market across the street since our hotel does not include breakfast. After that, we took a bus to get to the center of Venice. It was a warm day and you bet everyone was out to soak up the sun. Yep. I was right! A lot of people were there just wandering the tiny and winding streets of Venice. Oh, by the way, pardon me if I cannot relate anything to Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice; I've never read it. Anyway, we tried to get on a gondola but it was too expensive. It was 80 euros for a short ride. Converting that to USD, that is probably around $100. So, NO. No gondola rides... Sigh. Well, I will come back and make sure to ride one then. Being a broke college student sucks but at least I got a picture of it! We'll just be content with a picture for now. Okay? Our adventure did not end with wanting to ride a gondola. We walked around for about 5 hours taking pictures at docks here and there. We also bought some souvenirs of masks from the infamous Carnavale. I bought some magnets to take home with me for my tiny fridge at the dorms. After a couple more hours, walking around became tiring. Don't get me wrong on this... Venice is a beautiful place but after hours of walking around the same streets and getting lost became less and less appealing. It was nice to just wander but then it was hot and crowded that day. So, we just thought we should find a good restaurant to have a legit Italian meal. We did find a place and had Gnocchi with pesto sauce. It was really good! I've never had Gnocchi before but I really liked it. The last place we went to that day was Piazza San Marco where Heath Ledger's movie Casanova was filmed. I wanted to go inside but it was 8 euros to get in. Too expensive for me... Maybe next time. After this we just went back to the hotel and refreshed ourselves. We decided that we will leave early the next day to go to Verona. Venice didn't seem like a 2-day trip. So, off we went to Verona!

22nd-23rd of April '11: Verona, Italy.

Oh, the city where the novel Romeo and Juliet was based from... So lovely! Except that Juliet's balcony was so tiny that I didn't feel the love Romeo had for Juliet. At the entrance there was a wall full of comments of love by lovers and friends who have visited the balcony. It was awesome taking pictures of the place but I think seeing it once, maybe another time again, is enough. I think I also have to be inlove to appreciate it more. Haha! Anyway, I did write to Juliet year 200o style; I emailed her my love letter. They have 2 touchscreen computers where you can write to Juliet and someone from her club, Juliet's Club, will write back to you. I know... I know.. It sounds pathetic sending an email to a non-existent person but I just wanted to say I wrote her a letter. Such a hopeless romantic, huh? Well... that's me for you! Anyway, we visited other places as well so we could get our money's worth from buying the 2-day Verona card, which enabled us to go to museums and monuments for free. Each place averaged a 6 euro to 8 euro entrance fee so we did get our money's worth cause we visited 5 or 6 places. Included in those places were the duomo in Verona, the Arena, the Roman Theatre, and other museums. We did all of these in 2 days and I think I would love to come back to Verona some day. The place where we stayed here was lovely too although I still like Blindeye's friendly environment. Our bed and breakfast hostel in Verona wasn't too budget friendly. We only stayed for one night so it wasn't too expensive then. The owner Roberto was really funny and nice. He was a little clumsy but it made me laugh so all is good. The bathrooms were huge and clean so I'm happy about that. Oh, before I forget, we also had yummy pizza here and gelato that was legitimately handmade. We were told that if the gelato was piled up high to attract tourists, then it is probably not gonna be good. We went to the 2 most famous gelato places in Verona so we are sure we had the real one. We left Verona in the afternoon of the 23rd and took the train back to Milan where our flight was. It was really tiring because of all the transfers from buses to trains and then buses again. Once we got to the airport we just put our backpacks down and laid there till boarding time. About 200 people were doing the same so we didn't feel like hobos on the street. We flew into Malaga and took the bus to Granada.

24th of April '11: Granada, Spain.

It felt so good to be back in Granada! Finally! I missed my bed... the bathroom... and of course our Spanish parents, Ana and Antonio. It was raining when we came back and because of that the Easter procession was canceled. Many were saddened about this because it took a lot of time to prepare the floats for the procession. I was too! But then I was just so happy that I could relax and put my face mask to while away the evening. It was a little chilly too! Ah... Laying down never felt better! Later I went to church with my friend Estephania to catch the 6pm Easter mass. I didn't understand most of it because the priest spoke in rapid Spanish with a heavy Granadino accent although I still said my own prayers and thanks. After the mass we went to get some snacks to eat while walking and just chatted before saying goodbye. Sunday didn't seem like a good day to do homework. So, I just called my mom to tell her my stories. She had to go to a lunch date with her co-workers though so I had to cut my story short. I'll call her later day for continuation. =)


I am now posting some pictures for you to see. There are more on Facebook (I will upload them later). So just check them out there.

Here are some of the pictures:

Mask for the upcoming carnavale

Gondola tour for 80 euros...

Rialto Bridge, Venice

In the train going to Venice...

Piazza San Marco

"Man is a free agent; but he is not free if he does not believe it, for the more power he attributes to Destiny, the more he deprives himself of the power which God granted him when he gave him reason." --Casanova

Lighting candles inside the Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco

The Arena in Verona

Darkness overlooking Verona from a tower

Juliet's tiny balcony

At Piazza Brá

Omnom nom nom! Gelato

Gnocchi with pesto!


The view from the Roman Theatre

Castelvecchio or Castle Vecchio

Love locks again!

Phew! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and the one before this because I had to summarize a bit so as to not get you bored!

Regular classes resumed today so I have to get back on doing homework now... AFTER my siesta. Haha! Until my next post! =)

Arrivederci!

You Don't Get to Taste the Honey without the Sting of the Bee

At last! I am back in Granada from an exciting and action packed adventure in Prague, Venice, and Verona. Three cities in 10 days! Talk about a beginner backpacker getting lost in translation between Spanish, Czech, and Italian. Phew! Having to 'decipher' little words to help me get by was such a funny thing although I learned a lot. Shall I teach thee some new words in Czech and Italian? ¡VALE (means 'okay' in Spanish)! Let me divide this entry into parts so that I could give justice to every city I have traveled to the past 10 days.


15th of April '11: Alicante, Spain.

The bus ride to Alicante took 7 hours and it wasn't the best bus ride at all but it wasn't the worst as well. Finding the hostel as soon as my roommate Dani and I came was easy. The hostel was close to the center and the beach. Walking to the beach the next day took about 10 minutes or probably less. The beach was really pretty but the water was still cold so we couldn't swim. We just laid there for about an hour to soak up the sun then walked by the shore to take some pictures (I will post them here later). Later that day we met up with Holly who is a friend of mine from UIC that is also studying here in Spain. She is studying in San Vicente, which is a city near Alicante. I met two of her friends, Ester and Jess, and we climbed up the Castillo de Santa Barbara. From the shore where we were earlier that day, Dani and I thought that climbing the castle was not so much of a great idea because it looked so steep and getting there would be a bit tiring. I really have no clue why we would think about the steepness of the way to the castle when three times a week or so we go up the Alhambra and the Albaicin. Anyway, we made it to the top, with several stops of course, and just stayed there for a while. It was funny because once we got there, I started flapping my arms. YES. I was flapping my arms... Ahem, excuse my vulgarity here... flapping my arms in order to fan my pits. It was a very warm day and climbing a steep hill made us sweat buckets so, please understand our sweaty pits... Haha! After that wonderful climb up the hill of Castillo de Santa Barbara, we had a wonderful climb DOWN while casually slipping gracefully here and there. Nonetheless, it was a fun up and down hill adventure. Once we were on flat land, we decided to go to El Corte Ingles (major shopping chain here for 'American' brands) for Ester's quest for a black bikini and Holly's quest for a white one. ALAS. We found none that tickled their fancy... LOL. So, after the unsuccessful trip to El Corte, we went to lash out on tapas at this cool place where they charge you in terms of how many toothpicks you have on your plate and their shapes. Those toothpicks were stuck on top of each tapa for the ease of the bartender. Anyway... the tapas there were delish! If I go back to Alicante I will eat there again! The next day Dani and I woke up early to get to the airport for our flight to Prague. =)

17th - 20th of April '11: Prague, Czech Republic.

We came to Brno, Czech Rep on a Sunday and took a two and a half hour bus to Prague. Getting there, I had so much expectations of what I've seen in movies and I thought it looked quite different. When we got to the bus station, our little adventure of getting lost here and there started. We walked around to find which bus to take to our hostel that little did we know that it was just less than 20 minutes by foot! But we got on a bus and did not have to pay... simply because we were too confused to pay and that the driver did not bother asking as for korunas (Czech monetary unit). They looked like galleons (Harry Potter stuff), by the way! So, we made it to our hostel called Blindeye Hostel, which was at some shady looking place in Prague. Don't let your eyes deceive you though! It was by far THE BEST hostel I have ever been and the owner, Noah, was the coolest person ever! They just opened their hostel on January of this year so everything is new. They were very hospitable and funny. Whoever is reading this right now, if you plan to go to Prague, stay at this hostel because it just feels like home. Noah just had a new baby girl on Thursday, btw. CONGRATULATIONS NOAH!!! Okay.. let's get back to the story line here... On the first day we just chilled and met a couple of new people including this bubbly lady from Barcelona. Her name was Dalia and for almost all the time I've known here, I called her TALIA. She never corrected me because she though it was funny. =_= Poor me... Well, it did not impede or little adventure at the walking tour though. We took amazing pictures of the Old Town Square during the day and the night as well. I think I have about hundreds of pictures of the same places with the only difference being was the time of the day. The walking tour that we went to was really cool. Our tour guide Kate knew her stuff well and I learned a lot. It might have been too much to remember in a crash course on Prague's history but I will try to share some here later. We also went to Wenceslas Square, Prague Castle and saw John Lennon's Wall where I wrote my name and my three bestfriend's names. AWESOME . Boy, oh boy, I think I walked for 7 hours non-stop that day just for the tours itself. Sure thing I thought I deserved to eat sausage after that! I am not sure about this but eating sausage at Old Town Square was so satisfying I could live on eating sausage everyday (maybe). It was very cheap too! For good food like that... I don't mind spending more but I did not have to! Oh, we also had good pizza near the Powder Tower with Dani's friend, Isaac. We met Isaac that morning and through him I rode on a tram for the FIRST TIME in my life. It was nothing special except that I have never taken a tram before! Lmao.. total lie... I was ecstatic to ride that tram! BAM! I saved all my tram tickets because of that so I can put them on my scrapbook once I get back to Chicago. Just to let you know, Prague was big compared to Granada but getting around town isn't hard by foot either. However, it depends on the type of shoes you are wearing. Unfortunately, for me, I was wearing my ankle boots and by the time we got to Old Town Square, my footsies were throbbing with so much pain so I had to a buy an immaculately white pair of sneakers. At the end of the trip I stopped hating them and then became my friends although they weren't the only new friends I met during my little vacay in Prague. I also met wonderful people that I will be seeing in the near future.

The night after the walking tour I was tired to go out and try the awesome pub crawl they had going. So, I just stayed in to check my email and sleep early but I met these cool people sitting behind me and just chillin' with their Gambrinus beer. Two of them were Martha and Maria who are both from Mexico but are studying at Gent in Belgium right now. The other two were Mike and Grant who are both from Canada but were in Prague to finish their degrees. We just passed time talking and drinking beer (Mom, don't worry, I did not even get to the half of my bottle cause I do not like beer). It was cool talking to all of them except that they all had to leave early for their next trips. I am gonna be seeing Martha and Maria in Gent this coming June though! And Mike, when things go as planned, will be coming to Chicago for Lollapallooza. Gaaaah... I cannot wait! Grant on the other hand will be back in Canada for his last remaining year, I believe. Kudos to his sister too because she is marrying a Filipino guy. =)

The last day in Prague, well, I spent it by walking around by myself just to reflect on the beauty of the place peacefully and without talking to anyone. I loved that I had my me time and enjoyed just sitting and taking pictures around Old Town and Wenceslas Square. I went up the Astronomical Tower and was able to take a picture with the trumpeter. Every hour on the hour the trumpeter sounds his trumpet. It's one of the highlights when going to Prague. You must see the Astronomical Tower and here the trumpet. It's also cheap to go up the tower so I recommend that you see it when you visit Prague. Also, that day I had the best bacon and was entirely satisfied for the day. Well, I ate sausage towards the afternoon... but eh. I am on break! I shall eat like I have never eaten for days. JK! Food was just really good and I failed at controlling myself.

The next day we made our way to the bus station by taking a tram and a train. We weren't really suppose to take any of those two but being such confused tourists, of course, we committed an honest mistake, which turned out to be honest mistakes (read for more of these so-called mistakes). We arrived at the bus station only to know that there were no more seats and that we have to take an alternative bus line. We took a Eurolines bus to Brno and pretended that the shaking of the back of the bus was massage. We did well on that but once we got to Brno, we got lost again. No one spoke enough English to help us and my little Czech words were of no help at all. We ran around looking for cabs for about half an hour and time was ticking. We were close to giving up until I found someone who spoke English and translated info for us. He pointed us where to take the bus and from there we waited for another half hour. There was no way in hell we would make it to our flight cause after all that we went thru, we took the right bus going the opposite direction. See what I said about honest mistake? Here's another one.. Well, we made it to the airport eventually but our flight was miraculously boarding still! It was 25 minutes delayed and by God's miracle we were let in. We boarded the flight to Milan and in an hour and half landed safe and sound. Life is good!

Old Town Square at night is lovely!

Zizkov TV Tower

Powder Tower

Love locks!

Wrote my bestfriends' names on John Lennon's Wall

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!

LÁSKA ♥

Some Czech words:

Milacek- darling/ sweetheart
Neperliva- water without gas
Perliva- water with gas
No- means YES... yeah, it is confusing
Prosim-please
Zavolej mi- call me!

I think this is a good place to cut my entry. The next one will be a joint entry for Venice and Verona. Enjoy reading this one for now! ;)

And Away We Go!!!!

It's been 2 weeks since my last entry. I've gotten really busy with homeworks and projects that I should have done as soon as they were assigned. Well, I got them done just in time for me to start packing for our Semana Santa break! Yes! We get a break from being on a break! How can life be any better than this?! Well, let's see. My roommate and I are traveling for 10 days. The first leg of our trip starts in Alicante, Spain. We are taking a bus there and will be staying until Sunday morning. A friend of mine from UIC, Holly, is currently studying there so I will be seeing her! From Alicante, we are flying to Brno, Czech Republic and then taking a bus to Prague. We are spending three days there and then we are off to Milan. From Milan we are taking the bus to Venice and will be there for 3 days as well. After Venice we are taking the bus to Verona. The last leg of our trip is Malaga where we will only be spending half a day to see a procession for the Semana Santa. I really don't know what to expect for this 10-day trip but I can tell you that my heart is beating so fast because I cannot hide my excitement anymore! Ah... I never really thought I'd be able to travel BEFORE I even become a doctor. I thought I would have to work and save up a lot before I could do this but here I am printing my boarding passes. =)

I really hope to see beautiful places and be able to take great pictures while I am away. For my family and friends, I will be sending postcards to you! You know? Do what I do best... ♥

I will update all of you with fun-filled stories when I come back!

Adios for now!