Okay in all fairness, I really should have warned you guys that I was going away for Easter break and wouldn’t be back until Monday night and then I’d have a really busy week at work and then going away again for the weekend so I kinda maybe sorta figured I wouldn’t have time to blog until tonight buuuuut oops I’m back now and it’s a super special two for one deal post so I’m not totally awful right? Right.

And yes, I know. Punctuation is a thing. Thank you Jonny Diaz.

Alright so these past two weeks, I’ve spent more time travelling than not. Last Thursday, the 28th, I left for my Easter break in Prague and Vienna. I came back on Monday night, went to work for three days, and left on Friday to Geneva. I just got back this afternoon, and I’ve been busy catching up on everything. This is my last week at work which is crazy! I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast. But more on that later. For now, here’s a recap of my lastest travels (partly in list form cause it’s late and they’re fun right? Right!)

Czech’n out Prague
So for Easter break, we had Friday and Monday off which was fantastic. My friend Ryan and I had planned this trip in like February so I was pretty excited. We were doing two nights, two days in Prague, and one night, two days in Vienna. We got to Prague late Thursday night and just wandered around the city. It’s pretty small so by the next morning, I more or less knew my way around already. On Friday we started off early and joined one of the free walking tours which was a great way to get to know the city with a historical background. It was pretty cold but it was worth it. On Saturday we did the Prague Castle which again, really chilly but the views were gorgeous. Okay list time.

• Prague is literally one of the most beautiful cities I have been in
• Friday night, we decided to do the infamous Prague Pub Crawl with a few people from our hostel
• I highly recommend it
• Though I remember about 20% of that night so take my recommendation with a grain of salt
• Ahem, yeah moving on
• We also did the Beer Tour which is a fun chill night getting to know different pubs and stuff
• That one I definitely recommend
• No worries there
• Promise
• Czech food is delicious, the money is called crowns, and the beer is great
• Ask for the authentic restaurants to avoid tourist traps
• Trust me, Prague is so cheap you can treat yoself all day erryday
• I want to go back in the summer when it will be warm and green and even more beautiful
• And go up to the castle and that vineyard and saunter around
• And go to the John Lennon Wall which is the only thing we didn’t have time for
• But all in all, perfect city

Bikes and Billy Joel in Vienna
This sounds silly but I’ve been dreaming about Vienna since Billy Joel told that crazy child to slow down. I really didn’t know much else about the city but that song has always been so close to my heart and I knew I couldn’t leave Europe without paying a visit. We left Prague early on Sunday morning, taking a 6am bus into Vienna. We got little sleep the night before so needless to say, my plan was to knock out for the full five hours. This bus was way cool though. Each seat had a little mini TV in front of it with a ton of movies and TV shows and games. THEY HAD FRIENDS. With weird Czech subtitles but STILL. I watched two episodes and then I switched to Crazy Stupid Love. Great movie. I slept for the last two hours. We finally arrived around 11am to terrible weather. Windy and cold with snow and rain drifting about. By the time we checked into our hostel and ventured back out, it was worse. And as the day went on, it became unbearable. We walked around and tried to see some sights but then the snow really started coming down and we weren’t nearly as warmly dressed as we should be. The next day though could not have been more different. The sun came out and it was warm and beautiful. Our flight was at night so we took full advantage of the day, rented some bikes, and rode around everywhere. Anyway here is da Vienna list:

• Billy Joel has definitely never seen Vienna in the slushy snow
• Cause otherwise that song would have been very different
• Slow down you crazy child cause these icy roads will kill you
• Anyway…
• The best way to see any city is on a bike
• Even a shitty one with the seat like the girl’s neck from The Exorcist
• The best way to see Vienna is on said seat with a chocolate cocoa pretzel singing Billy Joel while riding down a hill in Museum Quarter
• Falling asleep in museums is frowned upon
• But not expressly forbidden
• And when it’s 20 degrees and slushing, it is downright acceptable
• That’s my story and I’m sticking with it
• You can do a lot in one day
• Like see the entire city, go to Belvedere, and see the Palace
• Especially if you’ve got a bike and time to kill
• Won’t stop talking about the bikes cause they were literally awesome
• Don’t settle for tourist trap restaurants
• Walk for twenty minutes across the river into the empty Jewish quarter and you will be rewarded
• No idea what any of the restaurants we went to in the entire weekend were called but they were all amazing
• Flying back into Heathrow was the perfect ending to the trip
• No long sketchy bus or train rides, just the good old Tube all the way back to Gloucester
• Basically a really fun and relaxing and adventurous break and if you ever get a chance to go, do not think twice

So that was Easter, exactly a week ago. The next three days at work were insanely busy. There was so much going on, and the week passed by in a blur. Before I knew it, it was Friday and I was off again, this time to Geneva to visit one of my best friends and roommates from BU, Deepika. It was beautiful. Short visit but sweet and absolutely worth it. I just got back today so since it’s getting late and I have work tomorrow, let’s jump straight into the list cause why not…

Chocolate and Cheesing in Geneva

• Sometimes when you’re in Geneva, you just casually stop by France for lunch
• Sometimes this place is called Annecy and it looks just like Venice and you end up staying the whole day and eating your weight in cheese and chocolate
• In case you haven’t picked up on my really subtle hints, we took a bus into Annecy, France on Saturday and walked around and ate really good food and it was so beautiful
• We went to this restaurant and had an amazing cheese fondue with bread and potatoes and a ham platter
• We walked around the Old Town and the shopping area and the lake and the castle and the church
• And since we had more time to kill we decided why not let’s get crepes cause we’re not already bursting at the seams from cheese
• So we had chocolate cocoa crepes with tea and coffee
• On Friday night when I got in, we ate dinner and went out with the people from her floor who are awesome
• We also found out that we’re going to be living together again in an amazing corner apartment in Stuvi with our other two best friends/roommates
• Any non-BU people: Stuvi is one of the amazing high rise buildings on campus that look like hotels but are actually dormitories and it’s amazing and I’m excited
• So we celebrated accordingly that night
• Saturday night too, but walking around a lot more which even though it got really cold it was still really beautiful
• We got an early start today which sounds smart but probably isn’t once you realize nothing is open on Sundays and if they are, they open at noon
• But it was still nice walking around Old Town without any tourists taking pictures of a stone that looks just like that other stone and then blocking the view of that really important stone
• Or something I don’t know it was just nice and empty
• The day started clearing up so that by afternoon it was sunny and relatively warm
• By relatively warm, I mean like high 40’s what is my life I am from Miami this is not okay
• After Old Town, we made our way to the UN building
• With a quick pit stop to buy some chocolates to bring back to work and my floor
• It was so cool to see all the flags and we took some mega touristy pictures by the sign
• We made our way back and stopped by an outside market and bought a rotisserie chicken with potatoes and vegetables for lunch cause it smelled irresistible
• We also waited in line for ten minutes for a falafel
• And it was the best falafel I will ever have in my entire life
• Almost got run over by a car because I was so into this falafel
• Do not cross the street eating a falafel because your tombstone will read Death by Falafel
• Made it back, had a quick but amazing lunch from the chicken we bought, finished packing and before I knew it I was gone
• Definitely one of the nicest weekends of the semester, if only cause Deeps is actually the cutest best friend ever and she made such a short time totally and completely amazing and we ate cheese and chocolate and went to France and what else could I possibly ask for

Anyway. Like I said, it’s been pretty non-stop these past few weeks. Thursday is my last day of work and then this weekend I’m going on a horseback riding trip to Wales which is going to be amazing! I’ve been looking forward to this excursion all semester. I leave Friday after class and come back Sunday so expect another delayed post. See I warn you guys sometimes… I have most of next week absolutely free so I’ll be able to write fairly soon. I’m gonna take full advantage of no work and no class and really soak up London while I still can. Tourist alert.

So, next week: Wales, horses, last week at work, summer plans? Sounds riveting. Stay tuned erryone. Until next time!