Spring break 2: Backpacking through Eastern Europe!

Hola!

So apparently the professors at my school have collectively decided to save all of the homework/presentations/tests for the last 3 weeks of school :( so my friends and I have been trying to stay on top of our work while still enjoying the short time we have left in Granada.

During Semana Santa, my second spring break, I traveled to 6 cities in Eastern Europe with a group of anywhere from 12-18 people. It was amazing!! I'll give you some of the highlights....

Itinerary: Prague, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest
Who I traveled with: friends from Granada, friends studying in Barcelona (and some of their roommates), 2 friends studying in Florence, and one in London
Weather: Incredible! Sunny and 60s-70s every day!
Favorite city: Salzburg-- our hotel was right next to the Alps and I woke up to a beautiful view of the snow-covered mountains; the city was quaint and picturesque with cute narrow streets; the castle was incredible with beautiful views of the city; the girls spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the beatiful weahter
Favorite memories: I woke up at 5:45 am, hiked up to the Prague castle, and saw Obama give his second speech about foreign policy on foreign soil in Prague! It was awesome to be there!

Salzburg is the home of The Sound of Music, so our group of 14 walked in a single file line in height order throughout the city in honor of the Von Trapp children.

In Budapest, we went to a Turkish Bath for our last day of the trip. It was a huge site with 3 different outdoor pools and 10-20 different indoor pools, all of varying temperatures. They also had saunas with different scents and temperatures. It was a great way to spend the last day of our trip.
Favorite meal: Our first night in Vienna, we went to a Viennese restaurant recommended to us by our hotel. They had no menus in English so we had the waitor tell us a few of his favorite dishes and we each chose one, not really having any idea what we ordered. The food turned out to be wonderful- I had cream soup with Chicken in a barbeque-type sauce with dumplings. We loved trying the local food everywhere we traveled and were constantly surpirsed with how great every restaurant was.
Experience I'll never forget: Visiting Dachau, the first concentration camp. There aren't really words to describe how I felt when I was there. As much as I've read/heard/learned about the holocaust, I still wasn't prepared for what I saw at Dachau.

Overall, I loved seeing places I'd never thought I'd see, spending time with friends from Granada and U of I, and learning about many different cultures and important events in European history. I'm so lucky I was able to take this trip!

Time for class.....hope you're all doing well!

Jon Visits!

Hola!

I clearly haven't posted in a few weeks so I'll update you on my travels and adventures! The semester is flying by-- I can't believe I have less than a month left!

Jon visited 3 weeks ago for his spring break and we had a wonderful time together. I loved showing him around Granada, taking him to my favorite tapas bars, and introducing him to my friends. Maria cooked us a feast for lunch on Friday including Paella, seafood salad, shrimp, and a cool exotic fruit from Granada.

We spent the first weekend exploring Barcelona where we also saw our friends from Illinois who are studying there (Josh, Ben, & David) and Marc & Josh (from Florence). We loved walking down the busy Calle Bib Ramblas and seeing the unfinished Sagrada Familia church by Gaudi. On Sunday night, Marc and Josh flew back to Granada with us and I took them to my favorite tapas bar where we met up with a few of my/their friends. It was so fun hosting them in Granada after being in Florence with them a month earlier. On Monday we went to the Alhambra, I showed them my apartment and introduced them to Maria (Marc loved talking to her in Spanish!), and we went out for tapas with a big group that night.

Jon and I spent the next few days relaxing, enjoying Granada, and eating lots of Spanish food. He even came to one of my classes! On Wednesday night, we left for Roma...

Rome was amazing! Even though I went during my first spring break, I had a great time seeing parts of the city I hadn't been to and spending time with Jon. We loved the Bourgaisie museum and gardens, the Colusseum, Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums, Trevi fountain, Roman forum, etc! We ate lots of gelato and spent time with Max and Becky (Max was also visiting)-- it was so fun to see them!

We spent the last night of our vacation going out for tapas in Granada-- a great (but sad!) way to end his visit. I'm so lucky Jon was able to come-- it was one of the hilights of the semester.

I'll write later about the past 11 days in Eastern Europe! Time to catch up on a little homework....

Hope you all are doing well!