What I gained from Europe (besides weight)…

My last blog- The reflection blog

  

I have learned a lot over my last three months of studying abroad and traveling around Europe. During my trip, I made it to 11 countries and 21 different cities!! I now feel like I am an expert traveler and I am pretty sure that the “travel bug” will never leave me until I have seen the whole world. Traveling and being away from home has taught me many different things. I have come to learn that everyone has different experiences when traveling. Some people leave the states for three months and they realize how much they love and appreciate the USA, and other people only see how much they do not like the ways of the USA and how they only love Europe. I found myself in the middle ground. Jumping into different cultures all around the world has opened my eyes to what I think America could do better, and what I absolutely love about America and how truly blessed I am to be able to live in such a great country. Being back in the states, I will miss all of the adventures that I would embark on everyday. I will miss all of the wonderful people that I traveled with. I will miss roaming the streets of every cities and admiring all of the beautiful architecture everywhere. Of course, it is a given that I will definitely miss all of the delicious, great, and wonderful food!! During my three months away from home I always missed my friends and family the most! However, I also missed Nebraska’s nice and friendly neighbors and great customer service. I was also not a fan of paying for public restrooms and not getting free water at restaurants, however those were minor things and they were easy to adjust to.

For future travelers here is some advice! Always try something new. You may never be able to come back to the places where you travel, so you need to make the most of your short time there! Do what the locals do and make friends with other travelers or locals. Ask the local people where the best restaurant to eat is at, what sights to see, which bar/club is the best, and what part of the city is the cheapest. Doing this will always help you get the most out of your visit. The most important advice I can give is to remember that you are a guest in someone else’s country. You have to adapt to the way that they do life, and you should never expect them to change their ways just for you. The best part about traveling is jumping into other cultures and living life the way they do!!

It is bittersweet to be reflecting back on my study abroad trip and my time spent in the Czech Republic. I am so very thankful for being able to spend so much time abroad and to learn so much. I was blessed to be apart of such an amazing group! I was a little nervous coming into this trip because I did not know a single person who was in the program. All of these strangers quickly became my close friends and my new family for my time away from home. Sometimes we would get annoyed of each other because we were spending every second of every day together, however I could not ask for better people to travel with. Our Czech professors were absolutely amazing and they helped us out so much! Without them we would not have been a part of such incredible experiences. I also enjoyed getting to know all of the other Czech students and other European students that were also studying abroad in Olomouc. Theses students also went out of their way to help us with anything we may have needed. The program layout itself was perfect! Our program allowed us to travel to a different country just about every weekend, and it was so easy to travel places since the Czech Republic is so centrally located in Europe. I enjoyed all of the classes we took (even the Czech language class that I struggled with) and loved learning about all of the different topics that we covered. Overall I would not change one thing about my study abroad experience. It made me grow as a person and learn so much about other people around the world. If anyone is considering studying abroad or jut traveling anywhere in general, I would definitely encourage you to go! You will not regret it, and it might even be one of the best experiences in your life, like it was for me!  

The best study abroad group I could have ever asked for!!

My home for the last 3 months!

Last stop: Dublin, Ireland!

Week 13: My last destination- Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland  

Ireland is such a beautiful country! The scenery is spectacular and the people are incredibly nice! Every single day we were incredibly blessed with amazing weather!! It was so fun to walk around and enjoy the great sunny weather, and during our trip it didn't even rain on us, which is unheard of in Ireland. Our first night in Dublin, we got all settled into the hostel, had a great dinner, and then had some Guinness beers at a pub. On Sunday, we enjoyed the free walking tour around the city of Dublin and learned all about the history behind this wonderful country. Next, we made out way to the Jameson distillery, which was a blast! We were given a tour and learn all about the way that whiskey is made. At the end of the tour we compared the taste of American whiskey to Jameson, and Jameson definitely won! That night we met up with some people we met on the walking tour and went to some pubs! We enjoyed some great pints of Guinness and danced all night, it was so much fun! Monday morning we enjoyed a delicious Full Irish Breakfast and then spent a lot of time just wondering around the city. Later that day we made our way to the Guinness brewery. This place was huge! It was fun to see the process of how the beer is made. At the end of the tour we made it to the top floor and got to enjoy a free pint of Guinness while looking out at a beautiful view of the city! Tuesday was our last day of our trip in Europe and it was a perfect end. We took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher, which is on the west coast of Ireland. What a beauty it was!!! These cliffs were absolutely stunning! There are no words to describe it and no pictures will do it justice, it was simply just amazing. I sat there starring out to the ocean and reflecting on my entire trip to Europe. I have been incredibly blessed to be able to travel the world. During my time in Europe, I have learned so much about myself and about others around the world. I wouldn't trade anything for these past three months. My trip was everything I could have dreamed of and more, but now I am ready to see all of my family and friends. Next stop: Home! 

The beautiful streets of Dublin!

The Jameson Distillery!

The Guinness Brewery! 

A good pint of Guinness!

The AMAZING & STUNNING Cliffs of Moher!

The boat ride around the cliffs!

Sisters:) 

the crew :)

Goodbye Dublin, we love you!

Trip to Paris and then back to Prague again!!

Week 12: Paris and Prague

Paris

We finally made it to Paris! After navigating our way through the big city of Paris, we made our way to our hostel. I was so surprised and happy with our hostel, it was so new and clean and probably the nicest hostel I have stayed in my entire trip. Our first adventure in Paris was a wine tasting tour! It was a blast!! We had the best wine expert and we all learned so much about French wine. After that we made our way to the grand Eiffel Tower! What a sight! We spent a long time just lounging in the grass and admiring the Eiffel Tower. While in Paris, we did a lot of walking! Our trek from the Eiffel Tower to our hostel was two hours long. We were all worn out that night and fell asleep right away when we got home since we had been walking all day. The next morning we did the free walking tour, which was great! The rest of the day was spent enjoying some time at a cafe, visiting Notre Dame, roaming around the Latin Quarter, and eating lots and lots of crepes. Our third day of Paris consisted of pouring rain the entire day. It was absolutely miserable to be outside, but we still had a great day! We spent the entire morning at a delicious cafe! Next we went to huge high-end department store in Paris. We could not afford anything here because of all the top name brands of clothing, but it was fun to roam around and look at all of the expensive price tags. Next, we made our way to the Louvre. On our walk to the museum we got completely soaked, but we finally made it. The Louvre was great! We saw the Mona Lisa and lots of other great art work. After this, we found a cute restaurant, and spent the rest of our evening drinking wine at our hostel and talking to all of the other travelers that were staying at our hostel also. We decided to make a day trip to Versailles on our last day in Paris. The castle here was absolutely astonishing! It was the biggest and most beautiful castle I have ever been in! Since it was raining and very muddy, we were not able to walk through the beautiful gardens, but we still were able to catch a glimpse of them through the castle's windows. Since our time in Paris was coming to an end, it meant that this was Therin's and I last time together. We have spent every minute together for the last 3 months and have become best friends. We have had so much fun together and have made so many memories! It will be weird to not travel with her for our last two cities, but I am excited to see her back in Nebraska! I couldn't have asked for a better roomie abroad! Overall Paris was not my favorite city, but we still had a good time! Our time here was full of a lot of walking, plenty of crepe eating, and just enjoying a little bit of relaxing time! Next stop: Prague! (Back to my 2nd home- the Czech Republic) :)

The wine tour was a blast!

sister

roomie

The group

All of the locks were taken off of the old lock bridge but this is a new lock bridge!

The Louvre

The Mona Lisa

We had to have macaroons!! 

Notre Dame

The large and expensive department store we went to!

Palace of Versailles

Prague

We were blessed to have amazing weather in Prague!! It was always beautiful out! When we first arrived, we enjoyed a great traditional Czech meal with the world’s best beer. I was able to show the girls all around the streets of Prague, and it was fun just roaming around. That night we went to the Prague Beer Museum and enjoyed having some crazy flavored beer. The next morning we did the free walking tour and listened all about the history of the Czech Republic. For the rest of the day we enjoyed the views of the Charles Bridge, went to the John Lennon wall, and walked all the way up hill to the Prague castle. Friday we spent the day eating lots of delicious food and shopping around. We made our way to Lucerna that night, which was a blast because they played 80s and 90s music all night! Our last time in Prague included eating lots of trdelniks and gelato! I was very sad that this was my last time in the Czech Republic, it will always hold a special place in my heart. Next we were on our way to Dublin! 

I got them hooked on trdelniks!

Roaming the streets of Prague

Old Town Square

Love this view!

The best candy shop in the world!

My favorite Czech meal- goulash!!