Vienna Waits for You...

I've had this Billy Joel song suck in my head for weeks...

First of all, a day and a half in Vienna was definitely not enough time to enjoy and explore this wonderful city. I did not expect to fall in love with Vienna, which is probably why I only planned to be there one full day, and this is one of my biggest regrets of the trip. The music, the food, the architecture, the culture...everything about Austria enthralls me.


1. Eat at Zwolf Apostelkeller- It's an underground restaurant in a cellar built in the 12th century. Traditional Viennese food and a live violinist playing through your meal? This place is everything Vienna.

Lainey being serenaded, so sweet :)

2. Schoenbrunn Palace- Outside of Versailles, if there is any palace worth visiting in Europe, this is it. Marie Antoinette grew up here and it's bright yellow (my favorite color), nuff said. I've never seen anything so beautiful. I think in a past life, this was my home.

Fall in Vienna is gorgeous.

The. View. Oh. My. Lord.

3. Schnitzel and The Original Sacher Torte- Two Viennese staples. Fried meat and chocolate cake...need I say more? Make sure you go to the Sacher Hotel so you can try the original!

I'm not usually a huge fan of cake (brownies and pies are more my thing), but this one is to die for.

4. Ride the Oldest Ferris Wheel in the WORLD- Give in to your inner child. Vienna is the perfect place to be a kid again: chocolate, castles, and amusement parks? Yes please.

So embarrassingly excited for this.

Beautiful Autumn sunset

Up we go!

Me and Mozart (lolz)

5. Go to the Vienna Opera House- If you get to the opera a couple hours before showtime, you can get in line for "Standing Room Only" tickets. For 4 euro, you can get the BEST seats for either an opera or ballet. Just getting to go inside the opera house is worth it!

Outside the opera house. It's huge. Every building in Vienna is grand.

Breathtaking.

The show is about to begin!

Yes. The dancers are dressed up as butterflies. The funniest and most entertaining ballet I've ever seen!

I'm so behind with my posts...but Ljubljana is coming up next!! Then Iceland...and now I'm off to London and Ireland tomorrow...SO MUCH TRAVELING I LOVE IT!!!

Hej Hej,

Emily

Buda Buda Budapest

Oh Budapest... I have dreamed about this city for years, this romantic and mysterious city nestled in the Carpathian mountains with the mighty Danube cutting right through its heart. Budapest certainly did not disappoint, especially with the weather (about 70 degrees every day...and sunny...I almost forgot the sun existed)

Budapest looks very different than Prague. Where Prague resembles a medieval town, Budapest's architecture reminds travelers of the glorious past of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...with a little Eastern European flair of course.

1. Go Antique-ing- And/or thrifting... Budapest is full of tiny, hidden antique and second-hand stores where you can find some really unique clothes, music, and even old USSR passports! Also, if you can find one, buy a Buddha statue (I did). You are going to love saying you bought a Buddha in "Buddha"-pest (corny I know...)

Real passports from the Communist occupation. There were also Stalin matches and lighters...

Knick-knacks galore!! (And a portrait of Stalin...)

2. Check out Budapest's Central Market Hall- It's like a farmer's market on steroids, and way cooler because everything sold inside is authentically Hungarian (for the most part). You can find items from strings of dried out paprika peppers to hand-sewn Hungarian doilies that I'm pretty sure your grandma would love, from gigantic slabs of sausages (because these people are known to eat lots of meat...) to carved wooden "secret" boxes and every other cheesy souvenir you can think of. You can get lost in here if you're not careful...and be sure before you leave to pick up a bag of paprika spices! 

The Market Hall

Spices!! Finally, a place in Europe that appreciates my need for heat. I'm really starting to miss Mexican food...

I could eat them all on the spot.

3. Take a walk on the Buda side- The Buda side of the river Danube is home to the palace district that has lots of windy, medieval looking roads and little cafes. I didn't have much time to walk around, but it really is beautiful, and you get the BEST views of the city! Also, you can take a tour of the palace and go in this gorgeous church...

The colored tiles on the roof are handmade in Hungary and are said to last forever. They never lose their vibrance!

4. Visit the House of Terror Museum- Another place on my list that I wish I could have seen! The House of Terror is a museum about Hungary under both Nazi and Communist occupation. Even if you aren't really a museum person, this one is supposed to be amazing and well worth the visit.

Clever architecture...

5. If it's a beautiful day, spend time relaxing at the park behind Hero's Square- Or on Margaret Island!!

Musical fountain on Margaret Island. There's also a jogging track that goes around the entire island if you're in the mood for exercising (and checking out the locals...)

6. Watch the sunset from Margaret Bridge

Stone replica of the crown jewels. Yes, the cross is supposed to be crooked.

Budapest lit up at sunset, shimmering like golden stars

7. See St. Stephen's Hand- inside St. Stephen's Cathedral

THE HAND. Catholics and their holy body parts...so creepy, but awesome.

One of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever seen

St. Stephen's at night

8. Go to Mozaik Tea House- and have some Elderberry tea...honestly try everything. Spend a whole afternoon here. I fell in love with this place.

So cute

Write your name on the chalk walls!!

Yummy :)

9. Go out to a "Ruin" Bar- These bars/clubs are where the nightlife flocks to in Budapest. The "ruin" part is in quotes because these places aren't like ancient ruins or what you may be thinking...instead, the bars are inside old, abandoned, graffitied-up warehouses. So underground and so cool.

The dance floor was a little quiet considering it was a Tuesday night...but the DJ was awesome and everyone was dancing!

10. You HAVE to try Langos- Before you leave, this is the one food item that will change your life. It's basically deep-fried pizza dough, covered in either sour cream or marinara sauce, and topped with cheese. Best. Thing. Ever. Just watch your consumption because you could leave Budapest with 15 extra pounds of baggage (and I'm not talking about souvenirs...)

Our final meal of Langos and junk food on the train from Budapest to Vienna! We're drinking Coke Zero, which obviously cancels out the calories of everything else.

Worth it.

Two more journeys to document, plus I need to update you all on my trip to Iceland this past weekend!! Check back soon!

Hej hej,

Emily

This is Halloween...

...and I am sitting at home with no candy, and no costume. Halloween in Denmark is not the most popular holiday, but it's been getting more and more attention over the past few years.

On Culture Night Copenhagen, DIS had a pumpkin carving event with s'mores and even a haunted house!

You have no idea how happy this made me...

Okay, so Denmark doesn't have graham crackers or Hershey's bars...but this Danish s'more was still delicious

I wish I carved a pumpkin :(

Also, Tivoli decorates its grounds the two weeks before Halloween for the Potato Holidays when Danish and Swedish students are out of school.

I think they have the right idea...

Unfortunately Tivoli is very expensive so I didn't go inside, but you can still see the jack-o-lantern lined pathways!

It was weird walking around tonight and not seeing anyone dressed up in costumes on the train, but as soon as I got back to my host family's house, I saw lots of kids dressed up for Trick-or-Treating...or in Danish: Slik-eller-Ballade "Candy-or-Trouble"

I'm having some intense nostalgia thinking back to my Trick-or-Treating days. I remember walking around with a pillow case (usually dressed up as a witch) and once my bag got full, I would go home, dump everything out on the floor, and organize all the candy into piles. I wish I could still go Trick-or-Treating now...but unfortunately I have no costume...and I'm 21 years old. Shouldn't I be out at some swanky Halloween party right now?

Nah, I think I'm just gonna watch The Nightmare Before Christmas and relive my childhood.

Off to Iceland tomorrow where apparently 80% of the population believes in magic, so maybe I'll get a little taste of Halloween there too :)

Hej Hej,

Emily

My Guide to Prague

Prague is magical city... The whole time I felt as if I was walking through a medieval fairytale, if only the tourists would disappear (I know that's hypocritical considering I am one). However, the first night I arrived in Prague (the night I was left to fend for myself) there were absolutely NO tourists. After checking into my wonderful hostel (Hostel Orange), I decided to wander around the city since everything in Prague is so close together...

The Old Town Square is virtually empty at midnight on Thursdays

After my short, solitary walking tour of the city at night, I definitely got my bearings down and was prepared to take on the city by day!

Here's a list of recommendations that I suggest you do/see/eat/buy/etc on your visit to Prague, as well as some things I WISH I could have done:

1. Eat at one of the many 24 hour fast food stands- They line Wenceslas Square and even though I didn't buy anything from the food carts, I have been told their sausages and fried-cheese sandwiches are to die for. Plus, McDonald's is everywhere...try something a little more unique when you get the late-night munchies

2. Buy a mini-astrological clock- Definitely a unique souvenir to Prague, and they look just like the real one. Also, you should see the real Astrological Clock! It performs every hour on the hour

The real clock

The mini clocks :)

3. Visit the Jewish Cemetery- or buy a ticket for the Jewish tour of Prague. You get to go in beautiful synagogues, and there is a wonderful museum dedicated to the Jews from Prague who died in the Holocaust. The cemetery is really interesting because bodies were buried on top of one another since there was not enough room in the ghetto to expand the cemetery, creating an oddly shaped hill in the middle of the city. Plus, some of the grave stones date back from the 14th century.

All of the red lines are the names of the 77,000 Prague Jews that died during WWII

The Jewish Cemetery

The Spanish Synagogue. Considered the most beautiful synagogue in Europe, but unfortunately you can't take pictures inside :(

4. Go to the Beer Museum Bar- This pub has around 35 different Czech beers on tap. The Czech Republic is the world's capital for beer (It even surpasses Ireland), and has some of the best pale ales in the world. If you like beer, you will love this place. If you don't like beer, this place will change your mind.

This was my personal favorite, but they also have Raspberry and Chocolate flavored beers that came a close 2nd and 3rd

5. Find your cafe- This goes for every city, but when you are wandering around on your own, take the time to scope out a little hole-in-the-wall cafe. There you will be sure to find great coffee, great pastries, great people, and a "hygge" filled atmosphere. My cafe in Prague is Kavarna Modry Orel (or the Blue Eagle Cafe).

Words cannot describe how wonderful this place is, but I can tell you it is a must-see.

Traditional, freshly baked Czech pastries

The coffee/tea bar

Truly "enchanting"

Homemade chicken stew with a caffe latte. Best foam in a latte I have ever tasted...she is a barista magician

An apple-chocolate cake...probably one of the best desserts I've ever had as well.

6. Go in the Strahov Monastery Library- And try the beer. The monks who live here have been brewing their own beer since the 12th century... it's safe to say that these guys know what they're doing. Even though I didn't have the time to try a pint, I wish I would have... and I wish I could have seen the inside of this gorgeous library.

What I got to see (The huge line should have clued me in)

What I didn't get to see inside...

7. Try this- I don't know what it's called, but it's sold on street corners almost everywhere. If you need a quick sugar high, this cinnamon-roll like thing is the perfect fix. So yummy

8. Take a day trip to Czechy Krumlov- or to Kutna Hora to see the cathedral made of bones!! Either way, day trips are awesome, especially for the Czech Republic since the landscape is gorgeous.

9. Go to the Lock Bridge and see the John Lennon Wall- For all you hopeless romantics, Beatles lovers, or aspiring graffiti artists...these two sights are well worth the visit. This street art gives you a little glimpse into Prague's renegade art scene. Buy a lock and mark your spot or just splatter some paint on the wall, either way you should leave your mark.

So many locks...

The Wall

Johnny

"You may say I'm a dreamer..."

10. Bring bread to feed the swans- There are so many swans that hang out on the banks of the Vltava River. Another perfect way to relax your feet after a long walking tour would be to find a park bench and feed the swans. Just soak in a little bit of the city because before you know it, your trip to Prague will end too soon.

Of course there are hundreds of other things to see in Prague like the Prague Castle (whose lights that illuminate it at night were donated by the Rolling Stones), walk the Charles Bridge, do a Pub Crawl, and try the goulash...but these were definitely my highlights.

Up next: Budapest!!

Hej Hej,

Emily