Anyway, I figure I’ll start where I left off: Clariece and I were just exploring Prague and taking in the sights. After getting girly drinks at a nearby bar (tequila sunrise has quickly become my new favorite drink, besides beer of course), we decided to go to a concert that we had seen advertisements for earlier in the day. The concert featured a saxophone quartet playing classical and jazz arrangements. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of saxophones, but this was really incredible and held in the gorgeous Mirror Chapel, complete with amazing acoustics. I had no idea saxophones could even make the kind of beautiful sounds we heard. The concert ranged from Bach to several selections from Carmen and ended with Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. I love that such high-quality music is just the cultural norm in Europe. When the concert ended, we went back to the hostel and waited for Mike to arrive. He did, luckily, but only after a confusing mix up with the hotel. When everything had calmed down, he showed us pictures of his trip to London and Seville, we talked about various adventures in our journeys thus far, and eventually went to bed.
Monday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and set out to explore Prague. First we stopped at the bus station so Clariece and I could purchase tickets to to Vienna. Let me just say that I love Czech Kroners -- the bus ticket cost the equivalent 12 Euros. Amazing. In high spirits after such a cheap discovery, we took the metro into the center of town and walked around. We wandered into Wenceslas Square, where they were setting up for New Year´s Eve celebrations and listened to a Czech group rehearsing what sounded like an odd combination of folk music and hip-hop. From there we meandered to the Opera house and found another square. Prague is really incredible in that really, wherever you go, you just happen to run into another building with breathtaking architecture sitting modestly below intricate spires and monuments. In the second square we happened upon, one of us noticed that there was an exhibition on Mucha and Dali... quite possibly my two favorite artists. So wonderful! Seeing Mucha’s work in such vivid detail made me indescribably happy. I’m such a nerd.
From the exhibition, we decided to go buy "supplies" (read: alcohol) for the night's activities. We even bought a somewhat nice bottle of champagne to ring in the New Year. We walked back to the hotel and hung out for a while, until it was time to pop the champagne and start the festivities. Around 9 or so, we left our hotel and went downtown, where we ate the Czech version of gyros (not at all like Greek gyros) and I sampled some of the local beer. We still had a ton of time until midnight so we decided to go to a bar and get some more drinks. Finally it was approaching midnight so we went to stake our claim on a spot on the Charles Bridge. After rubbing a statue for good luck in the coming year, we actually ended up standing pretty much on the center of the bridge. Somehow we ran into three (fairly tipsy) French guys from Nantes, of all places. The six of us happily chatted and somehow started talking to a Russian girl and two German girls as well. The Russian girl gave us sparklers and we all had a fun time just hanging out and twirling around with the sparklers until midnight. There wasn't a countdown, which was slightly disappointing, but a barge we hadn't previously noticed straight ahead of us on the river suddenly started setting off fireworks. So, there we were: nine international strangers celebrating New Year's Eve on a medieval bridge and watching an impressive fireworks show right in front of us. Once they stopped, there was a flurry of "Happy New Year!" wishes in various different languages and many cheek-kisses in typical French style. Mike, Clariece, and I decided to head back early after that so we would actually be awake for the next day's activities. It was probably the best New Year’s Eve celebration I’ve ever had.
The next day we woke up it was snowing! Happy 2008 indeed! It melted fairly quickly, but it was pretty magical, if that’s not too cliché. We first went to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus’s Cathedral. St. Vitus’s was actually one of the coolest cathedrals I’ve been in because it has a stained glass window by Alfons Mucha. It is completely unlike any stained glass I’ve ever seen, as it still retains his Art Nouveau style. After exploring, we ate a tasty and surprisingly cheap meal near the Castle and set back down to the Jewish Quarter. There are several famous synagogues in the area, but most had a very high visitor’s price… too expensive for broke college students. So, we saw the oldest synagogue in Europe and then walked from there back to the touristy area. That night we just hung out and got ready to head to our respective destinations.
On Wednesday 2nd, Clariece and I said goodbye to Mike and hopped a bus from Prague to Vienna. They played “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” on the ride, which was hilarious after all of the stories I’ve heard from the Greece program (not to mention having visited Greece myself). We got off the bus and managed to get lost in Vienna, though only for a little while. Eventually we found our hostel, which turned out to be amazing! It’s a very highly rated hostel, complete with Internet and laundry facilities. Best of all, there’s a bar with great Austrian beer and amazingly cute British bartenders. Yum. Clariece and I went to a nearby Turkish restaurant, ate kebabs, drank apple tea, and reminisced about our travels. When we got back to the hostel, we caught up online and did a load of much-needed laundry. It’s incredible how just one clean pair of socks can feel after days of wearing the same ones. After a beer and figuring out our plan for the next day, we went to bed.
The next morning we set out to tour Vienna. My host sister (the good one) had previously told me that Vienna was “simply gorgeous and worth seeing”. Seeing as she had also told me months ago that going to Turkey “wasn’t worth it” and that there were only “poor people” there, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Now I realize that a city with Charlotte’s blessing is simply a city that could belong in France. Vienna is certainly gorgeous, but incredibly Western European. Filled with impressively huge monuments and museums, it was easy to overlook the gorgeous details and become overwhelmed. Also, it was cold! We stopped in for Viennese coffee and then a “hearty” Austrian lunch later in the day. We had another low-key night and met a really nice Californian girl in our hostel who had been studying in Australia for three years. That’s one of the things I love about hostels – you meet the coolest people from all over.
Friday was another cold day in Vienna. Clariece and I went downtown, got some coffee, and wandered around for a while. Before I took the bus to the airport, we grabbed lunch at the same Turkish restaurant and contemplated what the next few months hold in store for us. Then it was time to sadly say goodbye. Clariece is now in Madrid, studying Spanish and living with a host family. I am completely jealous, but also really excited for her. Definitely living vicariously through her blog posts now and waiting for this summer when we’re going to live together in Portland. Good good.
Anyway, when I was planning my travels, I had realized that I wanted to go back to Strasbourg for at least a day or so. The only problem was that I wasn’t too keen on going back to the Crazy Host Family, nor did they probably want to host me for another two days. So, being the amazing person that she is, Sarah let me stay in her apartment for two nights. We met downtown Friday night and happily caught up on each other’s travels. After dropping off my stuff, we went to a bar and then got kebabs on the way home.
Saturday morning we slept in. Sarah and the rest of the Kalamazoo kids still needed to write their ICRPs, a large research paper for K College, and pack, something that I had managed to do several weeks earlier out of necessity. So we lazed around until we went downtown to Chez Christian for one last cup of hot chocolate. I met Mike after that to help him go shoe shopping, only for the two of us to realize that most French shoes for guys are too ridiculous and expensive to actually buy. After stopping by my favorite internet café, I meandered back to Sarah’s, where I finished my book. We got dinner at a nearby pizzeria and then went to Au Diable Bleu, one of our favorite bars in Strasbourg, to meet up with everyone. It was a night that I think really defines my bar experiences in Strasbourg: just sitting around and drinking good beer with good friends. I definitely took advantage of my last night, though, and bought every drink that I wanted, even a fancy (and delicious!) mojito for 6 Euro. It was worth every centime. Saturday night was the first of my real goodbyes and I got pretty misty-eyed as I walked away from the bar.
Sunday morning I savored my last few hours in Strasbourg. Sarah, her brother, and myself, climbed the Cathedrale around noon to get a look at the city. It was a national holiday on the 6th, not to mention the first Sunday of the month, so most of the bells in the city were ringing throughout the morning. As we walked up the winding staircase, I could hear the choir in the Cathedrale singing. That is, before I got out of breath. There are a lot of stairs to get to the top of that thing! It was worth it, though. When I got to the top, it was almost like I could see the semester in front of me. It was great closure, just to see the city that I had wandered and gotten to know in for the past four months. I took a few minutes to relive certain memories and take in the city. Definitely a bittersweet ending, but an ending nonetheless. We met Mike for one last meal of tarte flambée afterwards, discussing how heinously bad it is for your health and talking about future travel plans. I might try to go visit them in Kalamazoo at some point over the next semester. We all took the tram back together and then it was time to say goodbye. I cannot stress how important my friends were to me throughout the semester. I was so lucky to meet such amazing people just by chance, so far away from home. I can’t imagine my experience in Strasbourg without them.
Late Sunday afternoon I stopped by my host family’s house, where my second suitcase had been waiting for me for two weeks. I politely promised my host mother that I would write, though I seriously doubt I ever will. I don’t think I’ll exactly be missed. I somehow managed to drag two suitcases, a tote bag, and my backpack up to the bus stop, though I got quite a few weird looks. In typical Cohen fashion, I arrived at the bus stop an hour early. Maybe it was the fact that I had been holding in all of my emotions or maybe it was just because the incredibly sweet German bus driver let me on a good 45 minutes early, but the minute I sat on the Lufthansa bus, I promptly began to cry. I nodded in and out of sleep as we drove out of Strasbourg and into Germany, wondering when I would see the city again. I stayed the night in Frankfurt, made it on time to the airport, and spent 10 hours restlessly sitting in my seat. And I guess that’s the end of my journey.
Being home is very comfortable. I love having a familiar bed to sleep in and knowing how to work the shower. I’ve been sick on and off with Sarah’s cold, which I probably gave to the entire flight. Take that, United Sates. With the exception of a particularly nasty onset of jet lag, the transition has gone smoothly thus far. It’s been nice to be able to simply lounge around, though I’m ready for school to start.
So, that seems to be the end of it. Thank you for reading and sticking with me through these crazy four months, whoever you may be. I hope my ramblings weren’t too strange, but then again, it’s my blog. I’m pretty weird to begin with. I’m not sure if I’ll write again in the future. Maybe I’ll post the occasional entry when I feel like reminiscing, but until then, I hope you all have a happy 2008. It certainly looks like it’ll be a good year.
Clariece and I in Prague. We're adorable.
New Year's Eve! Mike and Clariece surrounded by vaguely drunk French guys. Quelle folie!
The crew out on my last night in Strasbourg at Au Diable Bleu. From left to right: Corey, Matt, Sarah, Mike, Jill, Dorothy, and Clif.
Not the best picture, but Sarah and I on the top of the Cathedral.Au revoir, Strasbourg.
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