The End

    My last week in Berlin was a blast. My host mother was very welcoming, thank goodness she let me stay at her place for an extra week, even though I had to sleep in the living room since my room was now taken by the next student she was hosting.
    New year's in Berlin was amazing. Starting 2 days before Sylvester (German way to say New Year's) fireworks are sold to the public and are going off non-stop. I remember after flying in from Paris, I wanted to take a nap to recover from three weeks of traveling, but the constant fireworks, which sounded like a war zone, kept me from doing so.  Paz, a German friend Phillip, and I made a great New Year's dinner. Then I headed to Teufelsberg (Devil's Mountain) with another German friend, Stephan, to see the firework show. Teufelsberg is the highest hill in Berlin and one is granted with a great view of the city at the top.  
   By the time we got there, it was not midnight yet but everyone was lighting fireworks off the hill. Colors flashed here and there and pieces of debris were falling on me and fireworks were being shot right next to my ear. But my adrenaline level kept me from caring about how dangerous this actually was. Once midnight came, I looked out into the city. There was not a spot in Berlin that was not covered with color. The whole city was on fire with celebration, and I was there watching it all. 

Right next to a firework!

    After staring at the city in awe for several minutes, Stephan and I decided to check out more of Teufelsberg. On top of the hill there is an old tower with a huge dome on top. The U.S. National Security Agency built one of its largest listening stations on top of the hill in the 1950's, rumored to be part of the global intelligence gathering network. "The Hill", as it was known colloquially by the many American soldiers who worked there around the clock and who commuted there from their quarters in the American Sector, was located in the British Sector. Prior to establishing the first permanent buildings there in the very late 1950s, Mobile Allied listening units had driven to various other locales throughout West Berlin hoping to gain the best vantage point for listening to Soviet, East German, and other Warsaw Pact nations military traffic.
    Now it is an abandoned place with tons of old debris: couches, shopping carts, appliances, anything that Berliners bring. People hang out there all the time even though it is technically not allowed. Rumor has it that sometimes exclusive Berliners will throw raves and huge parties in the tower. Stephan and I could see the tower from the part of the hill we were on. But in between us and the tower was thick vegetation as tall as I was. I was determined to see the tower since I had actually known about it for awhile. When we were in Brussels, our couch surfer had told us about the place but I had never gotten a chance to go because of the rainy weather. Now that I was in Berlin for one last time, I was determined to see it! We pushed our way through tall grass, bushes, thorns, mud, and steep terrain to get to the tower. My shoes were completely destroyed, there were weeds in my hair, and thorns in my pants. Stephan, who is kinda a pretty boy, did surprisingly well through the excursion. Let me remind you that it was completely dark so any new bush and thorn was a surprise. 
    We get to the tower, which thankfully was surrounded by paved roads, and at the entrance there are several fences but each had holes in them. We climb through and are greeted my several drunken Germans, one in particular rolling down the hill in a shopping cart. There are several buildings surrounding the watch tower, I assume they were used for storage. The place was completely graffitied but I could not see the details in the dark. If I haven't mentioned this already, Berlin is a huge artistic, hipster city where graffiti is a place of artwork and not just claiming your gang's territory like I see in Oakland.. We get to the tower and there are several stories of stairs that lead to the dome on top. But at each level there was a place to step out and look at the view. The building was made out of some kind of sheet metal. Strips were coming off and they would thrash around in the wind, creating loud, dramatic, thundering bangs. By now the city was covered in smoke. We had to be extremely careful because there was no rail between the platform and the edge, where a several hundred foot drop awaited, and of course the higher you go the more windy it is. We climb all the stairs to the dome and go inside. Its closed off except for a small opening someone had ripped open to look out of. The acoustics inside the dome were absolutely fascinating. Anywhere you stood your voice echoed and lagged several seconds after speaking. Standing in the middle was the most intriguing. You could only hear yourself speaking, but also your heart beating, your blood pulsing, and your eyes blinking. Because you were in the center, your noises were exemplified but no one else could hear them unless they were standing next to you. After playing around in there for a bit and admiring the murals, a German couple stood in the middle and started humming. It sounded like a weird seance so we decided to leave.
    After another hour of trucking down the hill and walking to the train, I remembered I still had to go to my host brother's New Year's party. We arrive at 2:30 am, right when shit had gone down. Apparently over 100 people had showed up to his small flat, someone had just broken a window and the police were called.

Police entering the flat, in helmets and gear. Serious business.

   Most of the people were gone by then, and thankfully no one was hurt. But I see a friend that I had met through my host brother, and we hang out with the few people who were still around. We socialize and speak German/English. My host brother was not to be seen and I found out later that he had left when the police had come to avoid the drama. Around 4 am I decided I was pretty hungry, so Stephan and I head over to Moustafa's for some  döner. Great thing about weekends in Berlin, the food joints are open all night! 
    That was my New Year's in Berlin. The rest of the week I browsed museums I had wanted to go to all semester, hung out with German friends and the new student my host mother was hosting. A few days later I  actually went back to Tuefelsberg because I wanted to see it during the day. The hill was also much easier to navigate and ironically there was a trail not far from the mountain of brush we had crawled through on New Year's Eve...figures. 

Looking up the tower

My favorite painting, on the roof of a nearby building

Teufelsberg art

One of my final nights in Berlin was
probably my craziest and was a great way to end my whole study abroad experience. Paz and I had our hearts set on trying to go the infamous Berghain, rated one of the best clubs in the world. Unfortunately it is really exclusive and the tattooed bouncers pick whoever they feel deserves to go in. Paz and I had tried to go before, and were denied. It was a goal of mine to step inside before I left Berlin, but that goal wast immediately crushed when I heard they were not open that night.  But that didn't stop me from having a night out. Instead  Stephan, Laura, Paz, Phillip, and I all go to the Pub. This bar has tables lined up with their own tap at each one. You can also request songs right from your table. We have a good amount to drink then head over to another hole-in-the-wall club that was supposed to be similar to Berghain. I see all the people in line dressed like hipsters but I had drank to much to be subconscious about the way I was dressed. Plus, I had less than 48 hours left in Europe. Fuck it.

At da club

Pouring myself one from the tap

 











 I didn't realize how much I had drank until almost immediately getting in the club I lost my scarf, bracelet, and ten Euros. But we hit the dance floor and stayed there for hours bobbin to the electronic beats. Laura, Stephan, and I stayed until 8 am and watched the sunrise. I got home in time to see my host mother leave for work. "Ahh living like a true Berliner now!", was all she said. I slept from 9-11 that morning and spent the rest of the day packing. It was all surreal..my time here was coming to an end. That night I go out for a final drink with Stephan and I actually ended up staying out until 3 am..and was up at 5 to leave for the airport. After 2 great nights out, I slept like a baby for the total 13 hour travel time.
     I have had small cases of "reverse" culture shock, but was also really appreciative for the things I had missed such as free public restrooms and tap water. I still keep in contact with my host mother and some friends in Berlin. Starting the semester at Berkeley was tough and it was hard to get used to the copious amounts of reading and problem sets. I reminisce on my time abroad often and am grateful to have kept this blog to revisit my adventures.

“When good Americans die, they go to Paris." -Oscar Wilde

Once arriving in Paris, we met with Sam and Laura. Sam was a friend Paz met in Berkeley and Laura studied with us in Berlin. Sam hooked us up with accommodations in his girlfriend's studio. Her studio was in a really nice area of Paris and we went out to a fantastic dinner. I had a huge plate of mussels that were not too expensive.
  Our first full day in Paris we saw the Notre Dame. My American self could only compare to what I have seen in Disney's Hunhback of Notre Dame. Then we went to the biggest museum in the world, Louvre. It was a 2 hour wait to get into the main entrance (where the pyramid is, see picture below), but we found a side entrance and walked right in!

Bakery right by our studio...best bakery ever!

The Louvre is the home of the Mona Lisa, and swarms of people crowded around this small 11x20
painting. In the same room, complete walls were painted like I had seen in the Vatican.
   We then made our way towards the Eiffel Tower but on the way we stopped by Napoleon's old military hospital that still had cannons and other weaponry.

Next to Jim Morrison 

  We made it to the Eiffel Tower Park and basked in the beauty of the structure. Seeing pictures is completely different than in person. We also saw the Wall of Peace, a glass wall that says "Peace" is several different languages that looks into the tower. We then walked down the famous Avenue de Champs-Elysses,a really fancy street with high end shopping. We stopped at Paris's famous macaroon store,  Pierre Herme and indulged.
   After a long day we return to the studio and make a fabulous dinner complemented with wine.
  The next morning was my 21st birthday. I was greeted in the morning with fresh pastries from the bakery down the street (thanks Paz). We also made sandwiches from their fresh baguettes..they were so soft and delicious and  heightened the wonderful culinary experience we had in Paris. We then visited the  Père Lachaise Cemetery where many famous people who experienced their lives in Paris are buried and is also the site of WW1 memorials. We saw the gravestones of: Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Rossini, Chopin, and Edith Piaf. 

Entrance to the Louvre

  We visited a park that Napoleon built which overlooked the city. There were gorgeous waterfalls and rolling vegetated hills. We could also see the Montmarte area which has the best view of the Eiffel Tower, houses the Moulin Rouge, and is in several hit films. We did not venture into that area because it is not considered the safest and is a huge tourist trap (aka lots of robbers). 
   Despite the biting cold, we went to the Berthillon Ice Cream Shop and indulged in amazing sorbet and chocolate (which of course I bought some extra to share with the family).

One of my favorite paintings

Eiffel Tower by night!

Escargo

We had been cotemplating going up the Eiffel Tower. You may be thinking, "You were in Paris and were not going to go up the Eiffel Tower???"" But it is quite expensive to do so, plus the weather had been less than ideal our whole stay. But Paz and Laura insisted we go for my birthday (thank you guys for the optimism!). We arrive and only the elevator to the first level was open and the very top was closed. I didn't think it was worth going and suggested we hit the bars. Paz and Laura both looked at me and said, "Damnit Christina, it's your birthday. We are in Paris. We are going up SOME part of the tower." ahh I love my friends. We wait in line for about an hour and when we make it to the ticket window the cashier asks, "Would you like to go to the top? Winds have died down and the top just opened." Again, I love my friends. The view of the city from the top was gorgeous. There were still small streams of clouds floating by and sometimes we were actually IN the clouds. The night couldn't have gotten any better..but it did. We met up with Sam at a restaurant/bar area where many students hang out. I had duck and escargo (yay vegetarian me) but it was FANTASTIC. One of the best meals I have ever had. Then we did some bar hopping and to top off my birthday, one of my good friends from Berkeley happened to be in Paris that night and met up with us! Danielle and I were so happy to see each other. We drank the night away until it was time to leave for the airport back to Berlin. 3 weeks of non-stop travel, 1 week before our return to the states, 5 months in Europe. Life is good.

Duck dinner

Rome: EVERYTHING its hyped up to be

 Merry Christmas in Rome!
Last minute we decided to attend the Pope's Christmas morning speech at St Peter's Basilica. We arrived in Rome at 10am and his speech started at noon. Of course, every possible delay you can think of made those 2 hours the most frantic hours of our lives. We got lost trying to find our hostel, the ticket machines for the metro were broken, taking the train in the wrong direction...but we make it just in time: sweaty, out of breath and sleep deprived.  The outside of the church was beautiful..even though the courtyard had a cheap Christmas tree and tacky statues of Jesus.I am not a fan of the Pope nor Catholicism, however it was a rewarding cultural experience to hear his Christmas speech. The entire speech was in Italian, which I could pick out a few words because of Spanish. At the end he said "Merry Christmas" in over 30 different languages. People from the crowd cheered and waved flags when their native language was heard.

St Peter's Basilica 

  We than spent the rest of Christmas Day walking the streets of Rome. The city had such a historically diverse structure. Walking along a strip of banks, shops, and apartments, we would turn the corner and BAM... an ancient church..or a 5000 year old sacred ruin. I will list the historic sites we saw for my future reference, please feel free to skip over them :
St. Angelo Castle
Palazzo di Giustizia 
Plazza Naveria (with a tacky xmas market but cool street performers)
Largo di Torre Angentina 
Ignacio di Loyola
Tempio Adriano (Paz had taken an architecture class and was teaching me about the different styles of pillars)
Fontana di Trevi (absolutely amazing but VERY crowded)
San Carlo Quatro Fontana 
Santa Maria Maggiore
Giardini Plazza Vittorio (ruins right next to a sketch park)
Piazza del Popolo
Via del Corso 

Fontana de Trevi

Rome is huge but easily walk-able...you don't really have a choice since the metro circumnavigates the city.  The streets were also empty, no one was around on Christmas day. We kept our energy up with Italian fudge and amazing espresso.
We returned to our hostel after a very long day and make Christmas dinner. We opened up our bottle of limonchello and realized it was a liqueur and not meant to be drunk straight. FAIL.

San Carlo Quatro Fontana 

The next day we saw the amazing Colosseum and Arco di Constantino. As amazing as these sites were, what really fascinated me were the parks next to the Colosseum- Palentino and Arco di Tito. These ruins are huge and are the most ancient sections of the city.
The Palentino is one of the "seven hills of Rome" and of course it was a beautiful day so we could see the city from the top of the hill. There were MANY more people on the streets the rest of our time in Rome-floods of people, mainly tourists. Standing in a crowd of people and taking in the mystical aora of history and the architectural beauty made me feel like the smallest significance on Earth.
  We later went to the Capuchin Crypt. This was the most horrifically morbid yet exciting thing I think I have ever seen. It contains the skeletal remains of 4,000 bodies believed to be Capuchin friars buried by their order. The Catholic order insists that the display is not meant to be macabre, but a silent reminder of the swift passage of life on Earth. Large numbers of the bones are nailed to the walls in intricate patterns, many are piled high among countless others, while others hang from the ceiling as light fixtures. The last room in the crypt has a placard with 5 languages reading ""What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..." Photography was strictly prohibited, otherwise I would have been all over that. 
  As we walked along the streets we saw this artist had decorated the sidewalk with messages and props. For example, a coin purse was spilling out pennies in the shape of a cross. The label next to it said "Catholicism." Good to know religious critics also live in Rome.

inside of Colosseum 

walls of the Vatican

 Our final day in Rome we went to the Vatican museum. Huge and beautiful, we spent hours in there. The walls were completely covered with work done from the famous Italian painter, Rafael. The museum incorporated all types of art: sculptures, African carvings, paintings, drawings, Egyptian calligraphy and more.
We also went inside St Peter's Basilica. It was dazzled with golden statues, elaborate paintings, remains of past Popes. However I was disgusted with how much money the church had invested in for such an appearance.
  Later we also finally saw the Patheon. We had tried to go the past 2 days but it had been closed. To end our stay in Rome, we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice Italian pasta dinner. We found some good recommendations, however the pasta was mediocre (for the price). Oh well, our experiences and the sights outway the food.
  When leaving we were supposed to catch a bus from the main station (Termini) that took us to the airport to Paris. We arrive at Termini 30 minutes before our bus was to leave but got frantically lost trying to find the bus station. We find it probably 3 minutes before it left. Get to the airport just in time...the airport in Rome is small and not built to accommodate how many people were there as security was jammed. Our flight was actually delayed because 20 people were missing from the security jam!

Pisa and Florence, just a dash of Italy

  The flight was horrendous excluding the fact that we sat next to a very sweet Italian woman. She did not speak  good English but tried her best to describe the beauty of Italy. She was meeting her daughter in Pisa and was very excited because she had not seen her in 6 months.  She left us with a warm comment, "I wish you strong emotions for Christmas!" It was December 22nd, and families waited anxiously while we boarded off the plane...only to be momentarily disappointed that the first faces they saw were ours and not the faces of family.  This was one of the few times I started feeling homesick for Christmas. 

  Our hostel was in walking distance from the airport.
http://www.hostelpisa.it/
 2 Dutch girls shared the room with us and we chatted until the late hours. We wake up early to catch the main tourist sights before taking a train to Florence. Pisa is quaint. A river divides the city that called for amazing bridge architecture (come to think of it, every Italian city we visited had this!). We crossed the bridge right as the sun was rising and the light was beginning to sparkle across the water. Since we were there so early, no one was around and we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Duomo (medevil cathedral) and the Baptistery of St John within no time. 

On our way to the tower at dawn 

On our way back we stopped at a cafe-very cheap! as all coffee in Italy was. I noticed that all the locals came in screaming Mama mia! (guess it's not a stereotype) and greeted each other by first name. Italians all gather at the bar and stand while drinking coffee, instead of sitting. 

    We then took a short train ride to Florence. Any future travelers out there make sure you stamp your ticket! We bought our ticket and thought everything was fine. Once the conductor came around to check tickets, even though we had bought one, charged us 5 Euro because we did not stamp it at the station...bastards. 
  The first thing we did upon arrival in Florence was take a bus to Piazzala Michelangelo which provides a magnificent panoramic view of the city. We then tried to have lunch at a pizza place I had been recommended too, but the line was long and the servers didn't speak English. We ventured and found some whole-in-the wall pizza place and decided to check it out...we were starving and eager to eat anything..well "anything" was an adjective maybe too quickly used. We get a pizza with artichocke hearts, feta cheese, spinach, eggplant, olives, mushrooms...sounds delicious right? Probably the worst pizza I had ever eaten..AND IN ITALY! We had to roll up our slices into a calzone type mess otherwise everything would slide off. We also had mediocre gelato later in the day. Being a little disappointed, we didn't let that stop us from exploring the city. We went to the famous Ponte Vecchio, a stone-arch bridge that has fancy jewelry shops along it. The scenic view of the bridge had way more value than any of the diamonds being sold. 
   

Ponte Veccio with the beautiful river making a perfect reflection

We also saw the Duomo, the world's largest brick church/building.Not only was the brick design ornate and amazing, what I enjoyed most was the simplicity it had on the inside. In Austria and many other places we had been too, we  walked into a church that was  literally a gold plated room. However the Duomo had simple architecture on the inside with plain designs. Just to recap, I had been to some of the most famous museums in Berlin, the Prado in Spain, and was planning on going to the Vatican and Louvre. Florence is home to a famous museum as well, Uffizi. We did not end up going to this museum because the entrance fee was expensive, plus the collections' period of time was similar to the Prado's collection. That being said I can only handle so many crucifixion paintings before I start going crazy. BUT if I were to go back I would go, I just can't handle that many museums in a short time. 
   Despite the beauty of Florence, our time there became really stressful. On Christmas Eve, we realized we needed to buy groceries that would last us for 3 nights. We could get food that night, but had to have our meals planned until the 27th when stores would be open again. We were also going to Rome on Christmas day, so we would be traveling with all of our groceries and had to make sure we did not have any perishables. We also wanted to make nice elaborate dinners for Christmas Eve and Christmas. After about 2 hours in the grocery store, which included multiple trips back, we hauled 4 grocery bags down the narrow ass streets back to our hostel. 
We also had this 6 person dorm all to ourselves. Yay for traveling in the off season!
http://www.ostellosantamonaca.com/en/index.php
  On that note, the streets really ARE narrow with an almost non-existent sidewalk. You cannot have a conversation if you are walking down the street because you had to walk in single-file to avoid getting hit by crazy Italian drivers...not just with cars but their mopeds too! Since the streets are small and the buildings are close together, turning every corner was an adventure. We almost had several collisions with other pedestrians. Florence must have been a good place for the Mafia, sneaking around and shooting people would have been easy. Also, Italians don't clean up after their dogs, so while you were avoiding brisk pedestrians and street traffic, you had to make sure not to step on turd bombs. Florence's public transportation was mainly buses, which they also crammed into those tiny cobble-stone streets! Also it is impossible to NOT get lost in the streets of Florence..even if you have good navigational skills like myself. The street signs are small plaques on the buildings that basically blend in with the building so it is hard to read. 

Streets of Florence

On Christmas Eve we also realized that Paz and I hadn't gotten each other anything for Christmas. While doing our touristic view of the city, (and avoiding bold Italian flirtations) we split up for a bit in the city center, trying to get something humble yet special. We also did some shopping for our host mothers back in Germany, and of course for our own families. 
We stumble upon Santa Maria Novella Perfume House, one of the oldest in the world that also had aromatherapy products and a fancy tea house. 
http://www.nstperfume.com/perfume-houses-s/santa-maria-novella/
When we left the perfumery, Paz realized she did not have her purchased presents with her. Thinking she may have left them somewhere, we retrace our steps for hours and finally found them at a shop we had been to earlier in the day. While I was making my purchase, she had set her stuff down, looked around, and wondered off without them. This may seem like a silly mistake to readers, but this is how exhausted we were. 
We were trying to keep up the Christmas spirit with the lovely decorations around the city, but it had been a long day. At the hostel we bought our train tickets to Rome, which, we had been worrying about all day. We had read that buying tickets the day before is much cheaper, however we were afraid of tickets being sold out or trains not actually running on Christmas. 
  Finally Christmas Eve dinner was prepared; pasta with our own mushroom pesto sauce and Italian wine. Gifts are exchanged; Paz had lost her moleskin in Barcelona so I had found her a really cute notebook from a company that makes them right there in Florence. I also got her a cannoli which consists of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling usually containing ricotta cheese. She had gotten me tarts and pan-forte, probably the only decent food we had in Italy besides the meals we made ourselves. It was a great way to end a chaotic day and a reminder to be grateful for what I had this holiday season. 

Tarts and Canolli 

Dinner in our hostel with xmas decorations

Inside Joke: does it look like a person or scoop of gelato?

Buda and Pest

    Getting to Budapest was a piece of cake, being only an hour train ride from Vienna.  We arrive at the main train station and look for an ATM. The choices for withdrawal: 10,000...15,000 ..and 25,000 Hungarian forints. This is a rang e from $45 to $110. Once again the eastern European currency was going to be strange to get used too.
   We get on the bus heading to our hostel but quickly realize we took it going in the wrong direction. The buses were very old: bald tires, rusting body, screeching brakes, and absolutely no shocks. We get off in a frightening looking residential area..not the best first impression of Budapest! After some re-navigating we finally find our hostel. Simply amazing! AND cheap! 4 nights for only $35! http://www.maverickhostel.com/eng/index.php
   We eat at the nearby Cafe Balin, super cheap and absolutely delicious! I had a salad with fried cheese (almost like a mozeralla block, except the batter was just a thin layer). Hungary is also a big wine producer. I had drank so much mulled wine over the past month in Berlin's Christmas markets that I could go without it for awhile. However we had a voucher for wine at this cafe so we tried it out.....OH MY GOD IT WAS THE BEST MULLED WINE I EVER HAD! We also tried white mulled wine..not the best but a good idea.
   We took a city tour the next morning and saw many of the historic sites such as Stephan's Cathedral (the first king of Hungary). Hungary was originally an Asian territory, then the Turkish invaded. Traces of the Turkish culture still linger such as the Turkish baths, which I will get too shortly. There are many Hungarian influences and inventions. Drew Barrymore and Marilyn Monroe were part Hungarian. Hungary invented the refrigerator, the television, and the rubix cube! Hungarian is the 5th hardest language in the world, and after hearing it and seeing some of the characters I would not doubt it. Budapest used to be split into 2 cities, Buda and Pest. There are several bridges that now connect the two, each having their own architectural originality.
  The city was enticing but it was incredibly cold. We were miserable walking around so we decided to warm up at the hostel. We meet many travelers, British, South African, Indian and Brazilian. One traveler, Shirin, was 60 years old but had more energy than us. She told us incredible stories about her travels and life. She was visiting Budapest for dental work, which I guess is where many Europeans go because it's cheaper there. She took us out to a wine bar and we laughed for hours on end. One night we went to a "ruin bar" (an old building renovated for a bar) with a South African couple and a Brazilian. We talked politics and the South Africans had very interesting view points regarding the problems of Africa, complaining about the gang violence but also stating how the villagers were too "uncivilized" to adapt to Western lifestyle. Although I disagreed with their view points, we enjoyed the Pálinka shots and mediocre beer (go to Hungary for the wine, not the beer). 

wine bar with Shirin

One of the highlights of our trip was when Paz and I hiked to the "Lady Liberty" on top of the highest hill in Budapest. The statue was built during Communistic rule but was too expensive to tear down once communism had fallen. The Hungarians covered the statue with a sheet and a week later "revealed" the lady to represent liberty of democracy. The view from the top was absolutely stunning and the statue was much larger up close. At the top of the hill there were also old Soviet cannons and a museum. Seeing the view made me fall in love with Budapest.

Budapest by night

Lady Liberty

Other sites we saw were the Jewish quarter, with a divine synagogue. We walked to the Parliament building, which was once the biggest but 2 other countries have beaten it. Of course the Opera house was lovely and much more aesthetically pleasing than Berlin's.  

  But now, it was time to spend an afternoon in the famous Turkish baths. We had been waiting for this since the beginning of our trip and the time had finally come. We went to the biggest one in Budapest, Szechenyi. There were almost 100 baths inside, ranging from big to small, hot to cold. The baths were mineral baths so it smelled unpleasant but felt really refreshing on the skin. There were also steam rooms and saunas. Everyone had to wear a bathing suit..thank god..since most of the crowd was over 50 and 100 pounds overweight. Paz and I even treated ourselves to a massage...not the best but it was an experience. More of a "back rub" than a massage I could have gotten from  one of my friends. Most of the baths were indoors, but there was a large heated pool outside in the courtyard. We decide to check it out right as it started to snow! We looked a little ridiculous running through the snow in our bikinis :)

  After the baths, we were high on life. We felt so refreshed, relaxed, and rejuvenated. This point of the trip really was the most sentimental for me. I reflected back during last semester and summer, and how hard I had worked to study abroad. Now that I was here I was so grateful to be taking advantage of these opportunities.     On our way back we walked by Vajdahunyad castle, which is a mixture of architectural styles. It was small, charming, and an ice skating rink now replaced the once-upon-a-time moat. 

castle

 We walked by the famous Hero's Square and did I mention we took the oldest underground subway? It was the first one ever built in Europe, with London not far behind. Once back we treated ourselves to delicious Hungarian pastries right from the bakery next door to our hostel. To top things off, our hostel was giving complimentary ADDITIONAL pastries and wine. Could life get any better?

ice skating!

The following day was not as relaxing. We realized the honey containers we bought from Chris's uncle in Austria were over 100ml (which you can't take on a plane). However Paz and I have become experts on beating the system. We went to a nearby pharmacy and bought small lotion containers. Can you predict what we did? I bet you can. We emptied the lotion, vigorously cleaned the containers, and transferred the honey into several smaller lotion containers. We kept the jars in tact, since the honey was gifts for family. (They better appreciate what we did for them by the way)! Side notes, transferring that back to the jar when I was back in Berlin was not easy. We had time to kill before our flight so walked to Magrite Island. Cute, but rather dead and probably more lively in the summer since we saw advertisements for beach bars everywhere. We did get a beautiful picture of the Parliament building though. 

  Anyways, back to the airport story. We successfully got through security with our transferred honey containers, however we each had gathered more "stuff" during our trip..souvenirs, food, ect. Europe is really strict with baggage. Carry on bags have to be within a certain dimension and under a certain weight. Check in bags range from 20-50 Euro. So Paz and I always arrived at the airport in multiple layers...we wore anything that made our carry-on bags lighter...jeans, leggings, scarfs, multiple socks, multiple shirts. A few times we felt like we were going to die of heat exhaustion..but then we realized you were allowed to carry on a jacket. So when we checked in we started holding our jackets...with stuff shoved under them! Our souvenirs and toiletries we wrapped up in our jackets and just shoved them back in once they weighed our bags and before we went through security. We are geniuses I tell you! The airport in Budapest was incredibly inefficient and do not recommend flying out. Try to avoid it! Specifically do not fly Wizz Air. They are disorganized and delayed our flight for absolutely no reason. The planes suck too. Anyways, next destination: Pisa. 

Cow milking in the Austrian countryside

   We arrived late in Vienna, Austria. The German dialect was very different, much more slurred and mixed like Bavarian (southern Germany). We greeted a Hungarian woman at the hostel reception office around midnight. She offered us a complimentary glass of wine and showed us our room. The hostel was incredibly nice and super cozy. We only stayed for 1 night, so we didn't get to use the kitchen but it looked incredible!

http://www.dostepinn.com/

  The next morning we met with Chris, a friend that Paz also met in Berkeley who lives close to Vienna. He was hesitant to open up (a German characteristic) but by then end of our trip we could laugh and talk about anything. I quickly missed the prices in Madrid as a small breakfast and an all day train ticket pit me back 15 Euros. He showed us historical sites and important buildings in Vienna such as:

Schönbrunn Palace: The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs

View from top of a hill in the Palace gardens

Palmenhaus: a large greenhouse featuring plants from around the world. It is the most prominent of the four greenhouses in Schönbrunn Palace Park, and is also among the largest botanical exhibits of its kind in the world, with around 4,500 plant species.

St Charles's Church: we went to the top if the dome but it was under construction and kinda scary walking on unstable scaffolding

The Belvedere: a historical building complex  consisting of two Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables.  It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates.

Museum Quarter: Didn't go to any of the museums but there are many in what used to be the Imperial Stalls. 

United Nation Building

University of Vienna and Technic University-we got to explore inside because Chris is a student at both! 

Rathouse- government building with big Christmas market in the front. 

Parliament headquarters where we got to sit in a lounge and learn a little bit about Austrian history. 

super ritzy cafe we lounged at while it poured rain

We saw so much in one day and still didn't cover half the city! 
  After a very long day, Chris, Paz, and I took the train to Chris's home in the countryside, a small town called Kirnberg. I learn more about Chris and his family. He lives with his parents and 1 set of grandparents. After some hesitation, he also confessed that his sister had passed away just a few years prior.
    Upon entering his home I was in awe. The house very large and newly remodeled. It was extremely

Chris's house. One segment contains the stables for cows  

cozy with hand made Christmas decorations and humble yet comfortable furnishings. There were memorial pictures of his sister sprinkled throughout the house. She was only 17 when she passed..
 The house is big enough to become a travel lodge during the summer. It is 2 stories and included 3 kitchens, 4 "free bedrooms" not including his and his parents' bedrooms, and multiple offices/dining areas. We were also finally able to wash our clothes! His mother was quiet but an absolute sweetheart. His father very witty and outgoing. The grandmother was very active in the kitchen  and very talkative. The grandfather was the epitome of a southern German who wore his "lederhosen" when out in the stables. Our time in Kirnberg consisted of lounging and eating lots and lots of home-cooked food. Chris showed us around his small village, the church and neighbors who trade eggs for his family's milk. Talking to his family was great practice for my German, although it was difficult for me to understand them. Chris was trying to explain to us the differences between German and Austrian German. "Ich habe dich gesehen" in Austrian is "I hob di gshn". They literally chop their words in half !
Austria is littered with small mountain ranges and villages nestled in the valleys. Chris drove us around and we hiked up several peaks to see the gorgeous view. It was freezing but barely any snow had fallen. Chris explained it was more similar to November weather (we were there in mid-December) and that usually there is a ton of snow by December.

Most of Chris's family lived in Kirnberg or in a nearby village. During our weekend there we visited his other set of grandparents, 2 uncles (one who owned a bee farm; we actually bought home-made honey and saw the bee hives!), and several cousins. At night, we cozyed up by the fireplace and drank Austrian beer, ate homemade Christmas cookies, and played German board games such as Dix it, Genial, and Crazy monkeys. Since Chris lived on a dairy farm, and I couldn't fulfill my wish of skiing in the Alps (since there was no snow), I  demanded that I milk a cow before I left! His parents suited us up and happily let us help out. They had about 40 cows, 10 or so calves. The calves were adorable and chewed on your clothing. When I first touched the utter it felt like rubber. Chris's mom was trying to explain how to do it but I couldn't understand her. I basically just squeezed and pulled. I am sure I was doing this wrong because the cow turned toward me and starts nibbling on my hat (as seen in the picture). I am lucky she didn't kick me! After a few tries I was able to finally squeeze milk out. You can feel the milk pulsing through the utter..so gross! They then showed me how to put on the "milking machine" which sends the milk to another machine to be pasteurized. Of course all the barn cats hung around waiting for fresh milk. Having interactions with so many animals was great and defiantly something I had missed terribly. 

  Our last day we visited a small town called Melk, which has a very famous church/boarding school. We met one of Chris's cousins there and attended Sunday church choir that was being held by the nearby elementary school children. They all wore their traditional "dirndls" and "lederhosen". I don't think my stay in Austria could have been anymore culturally authentic and I am incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity. 

Inside Jokes

Alidog express

Wiener Wald 

pushing a car up the hill 

Madrid and a quaint little town called Segovia

  We were staying in Madrid with a girl I knew from Berkeley who was also studying abroad. We had some time to kill before she got home so we looked for food. Everything was closed (it was only 8 pm) so we had to resort to bar food. I had a common "bocadilla" which is basically scrambled eggs mixed with potatoes in a baguette. We then meet with my friend Sarah and  her 2 roommates. Neither one spoke English so conversation was limited. They also had a small kitten, which I adored at first, however he wasn't neutered so I quickly realized how much of a shit-head he was. 

  On a side note, many of the animals we saw in Spain were not fixed because of the "machismo" or excessive masculine attitude. It is also ridiculously expensive to neuter pets. 

  The next day we see Templo de Debod, a rebuilt ancient Egyptian Temple. 

We then decided to take an hour bus ride to Segovia,  a small town known for its preserved Roman aqueducts. They were enormous and if you took stairs to the top you had a gorgeous view of the city, it's suburbs, and the landscape. We walked to the Segovia Cathedral, which was unlike any cathedral I had seen in Europe. It was built with Gothic architecture but was white in color. I think this just means that the stone is kept clean but nonetheless it fascinated me. It was also large not in the sense of tall but spread out and wide. We then saw the Alcazar of Segovia It's known especially for it's shape..like the bow of a ship. 

countryside of Spain where bulls roam. reminds me of socal

Segovia Cathedral

Aqueducts

The Alcázar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy. On a gastronomic level, Segovia is also known for "cochinillo", a slow roasted sucking pig eaten before siesta (nap) time. Fortunately we did not see any for the short time we were there. Siesta in Spain is around 2 and all of Segovia was deserted at this time. No one was on the streets and all the shops were closed down. We noticed similar trends later in Madrid. My friend who hosted us in Madrid said many shops don't even re-open after siesta (around 4). No wonder Spain is in an economic crisis when no one can shop! Since Segovia was dead we took the bus back to Madrid. 
  We walked through Park Retiro, which is apparently more lively in the summer with crowds and food stands. But it was deserted when we walked through and the most exciting thing that happened was we counted 15 feral cats. 
  We then went to one of the top museums in the world, the Prado. We were lucky because we went on a day it was free from 6-8 and arrived right around 6. It features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection, and unquestionably the best single collection of Spanish art. For all you art experts, the large number of works include paintings from  Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, Titian, Rubens and Bosch. 

By this point of the day I was completely exhausted. We were trying to take advantage of the free 2 hours and see as much as we could, but my body ached and I was in need of some serious sleep. I could also only see so many pictures of the crucifixion and Jesus before I became dizzy.  
   The following day we spent more time in the city centers of Madrid. On the way to the Palace Real where the royal family lived, a girl came up to me and asked, "English"? She shoves a clipboard in my face and asks me to read a small passage. I quickly skim and it said something about her being deaf but having no healthcare and if I could sign a petition for healthcare. Right when I realized that they were probably pick-pocketers, a guy running by yells, "WATCH OUT THEY ARE GYPSIES!" The girl and the runner start yelling profanities at each other as Paz and I slip away. It was interesting because I know a good amount of sign language and a similar story happened in Paris, which I will tell in my Paris post. 
  Anyways we see the Palace Real just in time for some guards to come out and walk around with their horses. We then head to Plaza Mayor which had a big Christmas market. Not as quaint and cute as German markets..actually quite tacky. We then went to Puerta del Sol  "Gate of the Sun" which is one of the best known and busiest places in Madrid. Basically lots of shops and restaurants. There are also a ton of immigrants that try to sell Louis Vuitton and other things from the black market. They have their merchandise laid out on a sheet so when the cops come they can just bundle the sheet and run. 
   Sarah took us around the city and showed us some cheap clothes shops. Madrid is a fairly cheap city compared to Barcelona or other places in Europe. Later that night we went to 100 Montaditos; every Wednesday is 1 Euro night. If you order a "bocadilla" with a half liter of beer its only 1 Euro! Then that night we went to Club Pacha. The night life in Madrid was so much better than in Barcelona. We were on the VIP list so got in for free. The music was great and I now have a good collection of Portuguese songs. One point in the night they passed out sombreros and free shots. 
    However this was when I really noticed the stereotype of the Spaniards and Italians (there happened to be many Italians there). It is a cultural thing for them to cat call, which I have experienced before in the states, but something I had not experienced before was actually being grabbed. I was never touched inappropriately, however if they think you are pretty they will get your attention by grabbing your arm, hand, or put their arm around your shoulder. MAKE NO EYE CONTACT or they will swoop. Also, DO NOT SMILE. I am a very smiley person and I was having a good time with Paz and Sarah but if I happened to look at someone while I was smiling they would immediately come and make a move. 
   They usually approached me with Spanish so it was easy for me to avoid many of them because of the language barrier. When they did speak a little English, I would just speak German. I had a good plan to avoid everyone :) (since I wasn't interested in anyone who came up to me). Poor Paz and Sarah had to deal with guys chasing me all night. One point  we were completely surrounded by several guys who were all having "bro talk" on when they should make their move on me. These men love blondes and I was one of the few there, making me an easy target. Luckily I had friends who were good cock-blockers. 
  We dance the night away until 6 am and Sarah takes us to a whole-in-the-wall bakery. We have Spanish churros which are bigger than Mexican churros but without the cinnamon and sugar. They would be bland but the secret is to order the hot chocolate as well and dip the churro in the chocolate. The hot chocolate is just a melted chocolate bar...so rich, creamy, and ORGASMICALLY DELICIOUS. It was a great night to end our time in Madrid and overall in Spain. 
  More places I want to visit are of course Ibiza, but that was impossible to do because the whole island shuts down during the winter. On our flight to Vienna we had a layover on the island of Palma, which looked beautiful. Guess I will just have to make a trip back!