Where Have I Been?
It’s been a very long time since my last blog post, and for that I am truly sorry. Too busy having the time of my life? I suppose. But now that my excitement has died down and I have major essays looming, I thought I could squeeze in some updates…
So, how great is London, you ask? It’s simply the greatest. I wouldn’t trade being here for anything in the world, and the thought of returning to Oak Lawn for an entire summer away from Europe physically pains me. And it’s not just London I’ve grown to love, either.
Over Queen Mary’s spring break last month I had the opportunity to take my first trip outside the UK! Two friends and I flew to Prague and then stopped over in Amsterdam before returning home to London (“home to London”—isn’t that just the best thing you could possibly say??).
I’ve seen some pretty beautiful places in England this semester, but I can now say with confidence that Prague is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever visited in person. I loved everything about the city, from the breathtaking castle views all the way down to our hilltop hostel. Experiencing Prague was honestly one of the best weekends of my entire life. We saw all the major sights like the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, and the John Lennon Wall.
Since we were in Prague from Thursday to Monday, it felt like we had all the time in the world, which made it more of a marathon than a sprint. We had time to hit all the sights during the day and hit the town at night! On Saturday night we took part in the world-famous Prague Pub Crawl, which touted over 200 twenty-somethings to five of the city’s best nightclubs. (And if you think that’s a lot, the guide told me he was once in charge of 500+ people on a Thursday night tour… Try imagining that happening in Chicago!)
We made friends with other young people from Canada, South America, and the UK, just to name a few. That night was certainly a marathon, and also one I’ll never forget! Fun managed to lurk around every corner in Prague. After a long hard day of trekking up hills and across uneven cobblestone, we treated ourselves to traditional Thai foot massages, because we were on vacation and we could. And that might have been the most relaxing 30 minutes of my life.
Another highlight was walking far and wide to find a restaurant we heard referred to as “Monks and Beer” near the castle district. A few hills later we found ourselves at the foot of what looked like a private residence, but a few signs led us downstairs to a hidden but fully functioning dining experience in the wine cellars of an old monastery! We drank famous blueberry beer and sampled traditional Czech food like goulash and dumplings, all by light of a few candles. Everything about Prague was surreal, and I grew very attached to it in only four days! I didn’t want to abandon it for Amsterdam, but alas, our plane tickets beckoned…
Amsterdam was a SPRINT. We landed in “the Venice of the north” late on a Monday night, exhausted from travel and our weekend in Prague. But we only had until Thursday afternoon before returning to London, so we had to conjure up a second wind and get our butts in gear. And once we got going, Amsterdam became just as beautiful! It is definitely a city of museums, and we managed to see five in just two and a half days (six, if you count the massive seven-floor Openbare Bibliotheek Library). We could have spent two weeks wandering exhibits and galleries, but there was just too much too see.
On our first day we spent hours admiring every inch of the Van Gogh Museum, which houses the biggest collection of his works in the world. We followed up with a long afternoon wandering around the Albert Cuyp Market, widely recognized as being the largest daytime market in all of Europe. We sampled everything from traditional Dutch stroopwafels (a warm flat waffle filled with caramel and smothered in chocolate, also DELICIOUS) to spicy Tex-Mex street tacos. I even bought a wooden tulip!
But luckily, our day wasn’t over. We managed to book late tickets to the highly-popular and world-famous Anne Frank House. And as happy as I am with all the fun we had on this trip, visiting that house was the most important thing we did all week. You simply cannot go to Amsterdam without it on your itinerary. It’s one thing to learn about Anne and the Holocaust from the safety of a classroom and entirely another thing to physically walk through the annex and stand in those rooms. Absolutely nothing else can compare to it.
We filled our Wednesday with still more museums and walking tours around the city. We even tried mixing with locals in the trendy Jordaan neighborhood, but I’m pretty sure they sniffed us out. Before we had to leave we managed to take a nighttime stroll through the infamous Red Light District and a morning boat cruise around the canals. It was so heartbreaking to leave, but I also couldn’t stop dreaming about my bed back home in London!
Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better spring break. I may never get the chance to see Prague and Amsterdam ever again, but I would go back in a heartbeat.
More astronomically long posts to come…