Praha!

So far,  Prague is wonderful. We have already seen and experienced so much! We have even gone on a "field trip" to a nearby smaller city as a class. I am really enjoying all of my classmates and professors! We arrived on Wednesday, explored the city and moved in to our apartment on Thursday, took a walking tour on Friday, had orientation Saturday, took a day trip to Kutna Hora yesterday, and had our first class today!

Prague day ^ and night views

I am living in a 3 bedroom 2 bath apartment with 5 other girls and we all get along really well. The place is nice and really big. There's no heating or air conditioning so we're a bit cold right now lol but it's been fine. We have a full living room and kitchen also in the apartment. We went to buy groceries yesterday so that we could eat a few meals in and save a little money, and it was an adventure to say the least! Getting groceries in the city is NOTHING like getting groceries where we're from lol - I learned that very quickly. Also, it's not easy to buy food when you have absolutely no idea what the label says. I got some sandwich stuff which I'm assuming is turkey (lol not too sure, but it tastes pretty good), some cereal, fruit, and some other snacks. The only good thing about the whole experience was how cheap it was! We got our groceries - which was a few bags full each (oh and you had to buy your bags!) and walked out to try and catch the trolly back to our apartment. We realized very quickly that the trolley wasn't gonna come soon enough, so we started just walking back and our bags started ripping! All in all we got back to the apartment with our groceries and I had a sandwich for lunch today. Needless to say, I will now forever appreciate buying groceries in bulk, loading 'em up in the back of the vehicle, and driving them home!

Prague is an extremely old city and one of the neatest things about it is it's history. It's been really fun(and interesting) to experience such a different culture. The people here are very to the point and keep to themselves. We've met a few sweet ones though! I've tried many new Czech dishes and my favorite was this goulash soup in a bread bowl! Y'all don't be surprised if I come home weighing in at 500 lol.

Yesterday we spent the day in Kutna Hora. It was a really beautiful little city. We went and saw the bone church there (if you have some time you should look it up) - it was really neat! It was a peaceful day just because it was kind of away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Our School is the University of New York in Prague. It is a very nice building in a great location. There are two Tech professors who came on this trip and they are both WONDERFUL. My professor is Dr. McDonald (pictured below). His wife Lois is on the trip and she is awesome also. I have really enjoyed getting to know them! Our first class today was actually pretty interesting we just went over the basics of marketing and got everyone refreshed on the subject.

Just a few random things - I am reading the perks of being a wallflower (Bo gave it to me for Christmas) and it is wonderful! I watched the movie on the plane and I really liked it a lot too. I am REALLY missing the sun - I need some warmth! I miss all of my friends and family so much, but I am SO happy to be here! I am surrounded by wonderful people and a wonderful city :)

Amy

Paris

Paris was absolutely incredible. The food, people, sites, culture, and atmosphere were all just wonderful. I wish I could've had more time there, but I know I definitely want to go back someday! Although it wasn't as clean, nice, or comfortable as London, it had it's own attributes that made it unique and awesome!

I'll start out by telling you about the most important part - THE FOOD! Every single thing I ate in Paris was absolutely delicious. On the first day we checked in to our hotel then immediately went out to walk around and see the beautiful city. About 5 minutes into our walk we found a little crepe stand where of course we had to stop and get one! We got nutella and banana crepes and they were so amazing! Next, we ate at a little hole in the wall restaurant that was so cute - it was my favorite meal! I had delicious bread, vegetable soup, steak, potatoes, green beans, and creme brule for desert. The next day I had the best tiramisu with a macaroon(my FAVORITE things!) and then a wonderful dinner. I know I probably just gave you too many details about my meals, but dang they were all so so so good - I had to! Here's a picture of the guy making our crepes, Nicole and I eating our crepes, my favorite meal, and tiramisu with a macaroon!

We met some really amazing people in Paris. I know that the French have a bad rep and we all think of them as snotty, rude people, but either we just got extremely lucky or that stereotype is absolutely wrong. Our first person to encounter was the receptionist at our hotel. He was so nice and helpful! He answered a million of our questions and gave us tons of advice. Honestly almost every person we encountered was like that - very kind and helpful. At our last dinner we sat by the nicest French man who was eating with his niece and her husband. We chatted with him about Texas (he has been to Houston once), Paris, our lives, his life, just everything, and he was SO sweet! On the other side of us were 3 men from Ireland who were hilarious. They asked us where we were from and when we told them Texas they replied in a very Irish accent "hey y'all!" To say the least, don't ever be skeptical about traveling to Paris because of the people 'cause they were all wonderful.

Although we were only in Paris for a short time, we got to see almost everything we wanted to see! We went to the Pantheon, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles(which my mom would LOVE and made me think of Hilie especially), and Arc de Triomphe. They were all incredible. I know this is expected, but my favorite was the Eiffel Tower. It was just so big and beautiful - especially at night!!

I have to compain a little bit just so y'all aren't getting too jealous. ;) The weather was not wonderful. It was cold and rainy the entire time. I love a cold, rainy day just as much as the next person, but not when I'm trying to run around and see Paris in a day! I am missing that Texas sun so much!

There were SO many cute places to shop, but unfortunately we didn't have much time for that! Every single shop though was adorable. I really just loved the atmosphere and beauty of the city. It really is very romantic! Being in Paris is like being in another world. It's interesting because I never would've thought this before going, but I really think my dad would love it. My mom too! There are just tons of wonderful places to sit and eat outside which he loves and lots of great shopping areas and things to see. I vote that my family makes a trip to Paris soon! :) If only it were that easy lol. In the restaurant where we had my favorite mea,l they were playing American disco music; it was hilarious! "The Hustle" came on, and I immediate thought of my Aunt Donna because we always listen and laugh to that song together. I wish she could've been there with me - I just absolutely loved that moment! Here's a picture of that little restaurant and my favorite picture I took of the Love Lock Fence.

To sum it all up, Paris was absolutely delightful. If you haven't gone, you need to plan a trip. Like NOW lol what are you waiting for?!

Short Update

I don't have time to give you all the details on Paris; I'll do that tomorrow. I just wanted to give a little update to let you know a few things.

First of all, I'm in undeniable love with Paris. It's everything and more than I imagined it would be!

Secondly, we fly out of Paris at 2:50pm tomorrow and will arrive in Prague at 4:25pm. Our classmates and professors will arrive the next day, and we will move in to our apartment that we'll be in for the month.

Lastly, I am oh so happy :) and thankful to be doing and seeing all that I am. I am EXTREMELY blessed!

I will give you a big update tomorrow and tell you all about my love for Paris... (like probably too much lol). Good night from France y'all!

Amy

It's my momma's birthday; so if you haven't already, go tell her happy birthday and that you and I love her!!!

London

Okay, sorry I've already fallen off and haven't posted much, but we didn't have WiFi at our hostel in London so I didn't have a choice!  Just to catch you up, we arrived in London Saturday and trained to Paris today.

Now let's talk about London! It was so incredibly awesome. I mean I absolutely loved it. Nicole and I both did. The city is beautiful; there are just tons of plants, trees and just GREEN everywhere! That was probably my favorite part about the city. Most cities are just tall skyscrapers and are just plain ugly. London however is gorgeous. It contains so much history too which is just incredible, and it's our history too which makes it even cooler. Here's a picture of Hyde Park - it was gorgeous!

We stayed in a hostel in London, not a hotel. Meaning that it was more like a church camp kind of set up if that makes any sense... that's just what it reminded me of. Our room was very small with a bunk bed, the lobby and common areas were very colorful, and we all ate breakfast downstairs at about the same time. Oh and the entire place was just housed with kids. It was a great experience to stay there and I mean I was in London I could've been sleeping outside and still been so incredibly happy!

My favorite part of our entire time there was when we went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Now the actual ceremony wasn't my favorite part; honestly, we couldn't really see anything. That place was crazy packed - I mean there were SO many people. Anyway, there was this little boy sitting on his dad's shoulders, and he was so enthusiastic and excited. He had the most precious english accent and kept yelling "hello guards". He then asked his dad "is the queen coming?". All of that doesn't seem very cute, but if you could just hear his little accent you would know why I am just in love with that memory! I LOVED hearing all the little english kids talk - they were soooo precious! Here's a picture of the little boy lol I know it's kind of creepy, but I had to!!

Big Ben and the Parliament Building were my favorite structures. They were just so big and beautifully crafted. We went on the London Eye and got a wonderful view of them! We also went on a double decker bus, traveled using the tube, and ate fish & chips!

Another great thing about London was the ease of it all. We had no trouble communicating and getting around because obviously everything was written in English which was extremely helpful! Although it's similar enough to be easy to navigate, it's also different enough to be completely unique and beautiful. Here is the London Eye, London Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey.

I HAVE to go to bed now! We are getting up early and headed to see Versailles. I am so excited and will tell you all about Paris very soon. I can tell you this now - I am 100% in absolute love with this city!!!

Amy

Pre Departure

I absolutely can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow! I feel like the time went by so slow and then all of a sudden so quickly. It's officially here. I'm not even packed - typical Amy Rose style lol. I'm sure I'll be up most of the night, but who can sleep anyways knowing they're going to Europe the next day?!

I'm just gonna go ahead and apologize for the grammatical errors you might see on this blog. I have tons of teachers in my family, and I know they're gonna notice every single one of them. So y'all please forgive me! However, I am Ila Mitchell's granddaughter so I do have some of that English teacher coursing through my veins! ;)

I am the world's worst at communicating and keeping up with things like this, but I know all of the 2 people who are gonna read this will be counting on some updates... so I promise I am gonna try my hardest!!!

Nicole (one of my friends from Tech who I used to play volleyball with) and I are leaving DFW tomorrow at 4:45 pm for London. We are planning to stay two nights in London then train to Paris and stay 2 nights there. We will arrive in Prague on the 22nd and the rest of our classmates and professors will arrive on the 23rd.

My dad always says "I thought you were going on this trip to STUDY abroad" (as you can tell he's just hilarious). I actually am going to be taking a graduate marketing class while I'm in Prague that will count towards my undergraduate marketing degree. We will have class Mon-Thurs from 12-3pm. I know that doesn't seem like much school, but I actually am hoping to learn a few things. I know the experiences I'm gonna have will teach me more than anything I can learn in a classroom!

I should really start packing. I hope someone actually reads this lol. Good night from Monahans, Tx. Tomorrow I will be saying good night from LONDON! :)


Amy



Oh P.S. here's a little picture of Prague for you to dream about... I know I will be tonight! :)