Prague, Ch(z)ec(h)k!

Yes, the play on words this past weekend may have been overused but well worth it. We stayed at the ‘Czech Inn’ hostel…needless to say when we were checking in and punning with words, the lady at the reception desk gave use a look as if ‘Yeah.. Like I haven’t heard that one before’. This past weekend 8 girls, including myself, had an amazing adventure in Prague.

Since we arrived at night on Saturday, we hit the city and went to a popular 5-story club that is apparently the “BIGGEST CLUB IN CENTRAL EUROPE.” It was a lot of fun! We spent most of our time on the “Black Music Floor” and danced to some Pussy Cat Dolls and Katy Perry. A little stereotypical I’d say that they called the floor ‘black music’. I was supposed to meet up with KACIE but unfortunately that didn’t end up happening because she was too busy being a good friend to some other people that needed her help. (I’ll see you in Barcelona! Don’t worry..) I took my first shot of absinthe which was quite an experience. I thought my friend Mara was pointing to absinthe on the menu so I ordered three shots (one for me, and one each for Mara and Nicole - the “twin” sisters - because it was there birthday……) So the bar tender lit the absinthe on fire then let the fire go out then you throw back the shot and suck up the rest of the hot air from the glass. Interesting and not very tasty. I usually enjoy cold alcohol rather than alcohol that has just been lit on fire… Anyway.. Best part about the shots was the fact that all three rang up to 400 crown and when I handed the bartender a 500 crown bill, he gave me ‘change’ of 600. Oops! Sir, either you thought I was pretty or you more likely thought I gave you 1,000 instead of 500… well thanks either way!

Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day. Prague offers amazing free walking tours through ‘New Prague’ where tour guides take any one who shows up on a three hour walking tour of the city. It was SO informative and an awesome way to see most of the main attractions of the city. Obviously by the end of the tour you are so impressed so 99% of the attendees tip the guide generously. Karel did well so we all tipped him about 100 crown each. (100 crown is equivalent to like 5 euro BTW...I'm still a college student). The whole city is paved with cobblestone streets and we came on such a perfect weekend because all the leaves are changing colors to the most vibrant oranges and yellows. We made more not one, but two stops at the Lennon Wall in hopes to find the lock Nicole was looking for but we couldn’t find it!

Old Town Square


Carly, Nicole, Mara, and Dana

Karel.. the tour guide


Making a wish - it's supposed to come true in one year... I'll let you know


Lennon Wall

Monday started off on a depressing note but ended on a very happy one. We decided to bus about an hour away to Terezin, a propaganda camp and fortress during WWII. Hitler made it seem as if Terezin was going to be a great place for Jews and made a fake video portraying the life in the ghetto. The conditions were the opposite. Walking around the old location of the ghetto was creepy but definitely interesting to read and learn about. We returned back to Prague again on a beautiful afternoon, and by my sister’s suggestion I made everyone climb up to the top of the Petrin Tower! Located on top of Petrin Hill, the tower looks like a mini Eiffel tower and you can get the most AMAZING view of the whole city of Prague. It was worth every cramping step. After all our energy was put into climibing up to the top, we enjoyed a nice dinner at a restaurant still overlooking to red roofs of Prague. As my Italian blood encourages me to share my dinner choice, it is my pleasure to share with you all that I ordered the Halibut and it was just delicious. I was in need of some good fish.


Tuesday morning we woke up and went to the Prague Castle. Another beautiful collection of buildings! The architecture around Europe is just amazing and I can’t help but think of my dad when I naturally observe different structures. (SEE YOU TOMORROW DAD!) Yes, he’s an architect and I can’t wait for his big hug and a back cracking tomorrow morning at the airport! Yay!



After an amazing three days in the gorgeous city of Prague I get to see my parents in Amsterdam and then we meet up with my sister in London. I couldn’t be happier! I was informed that my mom has packed along with her some creamy peanut butter, some mallomars, and splenda at my request. If only Chloe could come… woof!

BEER BIKE!

HOORAY!

We finally did the beer bike! My blog pretty much started with the interest in one day during my life in Amsterdam to experience the Beer Bike and I did… and it was great. We had some visitors from Belgium and New Castle and needless to say, they really enjoyed the surprise we gave them. 18 of us fit on the bike but only 10 had to pedal. It was QUITE humorous when some of us would have to get out and push the bike up when we weren’t strong enough to get it up the hill. If you were in Amsterdam during the two hour period of us biking around the city, you probably would have been able to hear us either cheering, screaming ‘CRAIGS FEST’ or singing songs such as ‘Dynamite’ or ‘I Gotta Feeling.’ Ofcourse we also managed to play flip cup at one of our pit stops. Even though we had three stops along the way to give us a chance to use the bathroom, I didn’t take advantage of it and almost peed my pants by the time we got to the end of the tour. The porter potty was just lovely….



Just playing flip cup on the beer bike...

Kittens

After skyping with my lovely friends and their new kittens, I got to missing them! Yes, they indeed have kittens. Moe, Jackie, Liz, Fiona, Caroline, and Heather have adopted four little mushes to take care of for 6 weeks: Hugh Hefner, Quilt, Toey, and Mittens. I semi got to meet them over vid chat and they look so cuddly! You guys are semi crazy but I miss you - hopefully they're not peeing everywhere.

Can't wait to not sleep senior year...

A taste of beer and a taste of home.

Only three short days after my skydiving adventure, it was time for Germany! Yes, I can now check Oktoberfest off of my long list of hopeful life accomplishments. We took an overnight train on Thursday in order to arrive in Munich bright and early Friday morning. Yawn. After our bakery visit number 1 (yes we went all three mornings because it was so delicious), we ventured to Oktoberfest! I was excited to finally be hanging out with some people I have missed an EXTREME amount since I have been away. Kacie and Taylor, my Barcelona buddies, sucked up the cold weather in Germany and drank some liters of beer to warm up. Christine and Madeleine bussed from Florence and I almost forgot how much I missed “Weenie Marie’s” hugs and kisses. Miss Alexandra Parking Meter was deeply missed and I am fortunate enough to see her TWO weekends in a row – she will be visiting my humble abode in Amsterdam this upcoming weekend. I was also lucky enough to see two other Manhasset reps – Ryann and Jaclyn. Ryann was the first person I saw as soon as I walked into the tent the first day and I spotted Jaclyn on Saturday from afar with help from her blonde hair and fast paced chatter. Loyola had a pretty good crowd there and going back to Craigsfest at school will probably seem a lot less crowded and crazy from what we experienced this weekend. Instead of getting a burger at Swallows or pizza at Yia Yia’s from Ash, I enjoyed a rotisserie chicken (as encouraged by previous Oktoberfest attendees) and possibly devoured multiple foot long hot dogs… The chicken was delicious and well worth it - the hot dogs were JUST as tasty. Colleen - - you will be in hot dog HEAVEN.



The tent I spent the most time in this weekend was called the Hofbrau tent – one of the more popular ones with lots of young people! One of the things I enjoyed most was simply lifting up my beer and saying “ayyyy” and immediately everyone surrounding you lifts their beer up, clinks mugs together and cheers. You can do it every 5 seconds and people won’t get bored of it. Another thing people don’t get bored of at Oktoberfest: singing “Heyyyyy, heyy baby, oh.. ah.. I wanna knowwwwww if you’ll be my girl!” Other popular hits were Sweet Caroline and a German anthem they played in between every song that pretty much translates to “drink beer!”



Saturday night was our last visit to the tents. We left Hofbrau around 11pm and as I was about to walk out the doors I had a realization – I’m supposed to steal a mug! Woosh – did a casual 180, used my excellent peripherals and 20-20 vision to scope out security guards and grabbed an empty mug on the table. My purse just fit the liter mug and I was able to zipper that baby closed. I strolled out of that tent like I invented beer and passed through security no problemo. My friend Taylor, on the other hand, was not so sneaky. Her attempt to steal a mug was to hold it almost visible under her thin maroon coat. She basically walked up to the guard, who gave her a look, shook his head, and she surrendered her mug. Good try though Taylor. Maybe next time.



On Sunday, a bunch of us girls attempted to see a little more of Munich than just Oktoberfest. We ended up at the BMW showcase museum and the Olympic Stadium. We walked around for a few hours there and it was good to get some fresh air, even though we all walked around with our luggage. Although I only had my turtle shell backpack with me, the mug I captured added a little weight to the bag. Christine looked fashionable as always in her Uggs, Loyola sweatshirt, peter pan hat, and rolling suitcase. Miss you. We all parted ways and me and my three Amsterdam ladies traveled back home on the train. Getting sleep was near impossible in the chairs due to some rude and smelly Dutch men sitting in front of Mara and I. The ride started off with obnoxious beer farts from these annoying guys who were watching Two and a Half Men at volume 100. As they proceeded to be loud when it was appropriate sleeping time, an Australian sitting in the seat in front of them spoke up. A near fistfight finally ended by “I like Australia, but I don’t like you.” Well, Amsterdam finally welcomed us home around 9:30 am with lovely spits of rain. Perfect weather to come back and take a nap in my bed, which I have missed for the past 4 nights.

I am looking forward to having some visitors this weekend and not have to move around much for the next two weeks. The month of October, however, will be full of movement. I am gone for about 21/31 days of the month. YIKES. My places of travel in Oct. are almost confirmed to Prague→ London → Madrid → Barcelona → Budapest → Vienna. Don’t worry – I’m only missing ONE class the whole time. Mom, Dad, and Katherine – can’t wait to see you guys. I will soon be sending you my list of things to bring me… Chloe’s on the top of the list!

So this is a video with pics and clips but the sound has been disabled for some VERY unfortunate reason. I have tried every type of export and size and it just hasn't been working. I'll try my best but enjoy the visuals!

LIBERATION

Unreal. That word sums up my experience this past weekend. Our trip to Switzerland was filled with travel failures and everything that could have gone wrong probably did. First, our easyJet flight was delayed from Amsterdam… should have known. We therefore arrived at the Geneva airport too late to catch the last train to Interlaken. We purchased the wrong tickets, thinking we could get away with half fare tickets only to find out we would not only have to purchase another 60 swiss frank ticket, but wait in the airport until 5:12 am. FUN. It was actually fun though. If anyone ever needs to know their way around the Geneva airport, just let me know and I can tell you all the cool things to do there, including taking a ride on a luggage carrier down secret hallways or running up the down escalator.
We finally made it to Interlaken around 8:30am and arrived at our hostel a little too late to make our 9 am pick up for skydiving. After a short nap, the skydive company picked us up at 1pm and we signed our lives away (aka wrote our name and birthday and signed a piece of paper… not much for jumping out of a helicopter). The weather was icky and we waited around all day in our suits and couldn’t jump! Sunday was a national holiday, so no one was allowed in the air so we occupied ourselves with the beautiful scenery of Interlaken, went on a nice hike and saw the Trummelbachfalle which was awesome! All these melted glaciers turned into waterfalls in the mountain. After a long day on Sunday, we woke up super early on Monday morning, the weather was perfect and our jumps were about to be completed! I can’t even describe how I felt before/during/after the jump. It was absolutely amazing. The place we went to only had helicopter jumps because they had no planes or something, and apparently not too many places around the world have helicopter skydive. Only two tandem could fit in the helicopter plus the pilot (you can see how small in the video below). Me and Mara wiggled our way in the helicopter and before we knew it we were up above the swiss alps. WHAT?! Mara was practically hanging out of the open door of the helicopter the entire ride up and I was just looking around amazed by how beautiful the surroundings were. Clear skys, white snowy alps, and vivid evergreens crowding the lower mountains. Yes my heart was almost pumping out of my chest, but somehow I got a little less nervous and more excited. As we reached between 10 and 12 thousand feet up, it was time to jump! First went Mara, then myself. In through the nose, out through the mouth. We shoved our way to the ledge of the helicopter and I shakily put my feet on the ledge on the bar outside the door, arched my back, looked up, and in a blink I was soaring through the sky over the mountains. What I saw with my eyes and what I felt while free falling was indescribable. After supermaning through the air for 45 seconds, my jumpmaster released the chute and we soared on down the rest of the mountains. We did a few spins in the air and I could almost touch the mountain and trees with my feet. It was absolutely incredible. This video below entails most of our experience this weekend so please enjoy!

Still Here

Family, friends, lovers, haters, stalkers, and all other in betweens – sorry it has been a while since I have updated you on my life. I’ve been pretty busy and actually have to go to CLASS during the day. It’s not as weird having to go to class now that my fellow Loyola classmates are back in Charm City livin up the Baltimore dream – aka when they’re not at Craigs, THB, sitting on the quad, or listening to the sunscreen song, they actually have to go to class too. Fortunately, my friends are technologically savvy so I’ve had the chance to keep in good touch with them while they settle into the long depression of missing me. Moe: I’m glad I’m not too deprived of the poof, however sometimes I try to stick my hand through the computer screen to feel the volume of the blonde mountain on top of your head but it’s just not the same. Liz: In my first video chat with you, Fiona was already delivering you a coffee.. and then you probably asked her to brush your hair or rub your back. I’m glad things haven’t changed. Caroline: thank you for coming on the dark side and getting a blackberry – I do not miss your sleep talking NUMBERS NUMBERS NUMBERS. Fiona: I’m also pleased you have purchased a crackberry, however, I am not pleased that your peeing tendencies have gotten worse. Jackie: I’m sorry that too many RA’s recognize you not to believe that you are in fact Caroline Herman and go to Georgetown.. maybe next time. Heather: PLEASE make sure that cockroach does NOT escape from its cage and no matter how drunk you are don’t convince yourself that it is cute and try to cuddle with it. Jenny N: Make sure you only sprain your ankle like.. 3 times this semester. I won’t be there to feed you grapes. Christina: please lock your windows. I do not want you to get taken.
I almost take back what I said about Liz because apparently she’s been accomplished so far this semester and has been doing less of this:




In regards to my family, I have some very exciting news that was supposed to be a surprise. Miss Katherine Anne Rainone will be returning home from her long adventure earlier than expected and will be traveling to London with my family! I am thrilled that I will be able to see her before Christmas. Mom – please don’t throw away everything in my room and pick out pretty colors for my wall and carpet. And Dad - mom sent this picture to me of you in this hat. I could use a big hug and a back cracking.





As for me, it’s finally hit me that I am LIVING here in Amsterdam. It really hit me the other morning when I rode my bike through the glorious Vondelpark to the gym. As I was riding my bike with a mission, and finally a sense of direction, I passed by a big tour group and realized how crazy it was that I have already been living here for a month. Over this past weekend, I finally made it to the Anne Frank House. Depressing? Yes. However, I don’t know how many of you read the Diary of Anne Frank, but after reading it, I expected that the secret annex was going to be a tiny cramped space of small rooms. This was not the case. There were three floors and an attic and an abundance of rooms. The hard part was obviously keeping silent. Anne wrote in her diary that they could only take a bath on Saturdays! Yikes. And they couldn’t exactly leave the secret annex whenever they wanted… so it figures that Anne would have a lot of time to write a long and detailed diary. I snuck a picture of the bookcase that hid the door to their living quarters.







After we were sufficiently sad after Anne Frank, we decided to do another touristy thing: canal bikes! Thank you guys for designating me as the driver. The canal bikes are a lot harder to maneuver than it looks. We got stuck at a four way intersections with crew boats and tour boats and here I was stuck in the middle with not a clue where to go. Of course a sticker on the boat says “paddling faster will not make the boat go any faster…” Great. As any other great day, we ended with a stroll in Vondelpark.







Somebody take my sweater...






Climbing a tree...


Tomorrow night we leave for Switzerland! Yes. SKYDIVING. Please pray for perfect weather so all goes to plan. In addition to skydiving, there are apparently a bunch of beautiful hiking paths and river rafting/bungee jump type activities so we’ll see what else I run into. Mom and Dad – I will call you as soon as I land on my feet. Don’t be nervous… even though I will probably have an army running around my stomach before I go. Ciao for now!

One month what???

Exactly one month ago, I was boarding the plane at Newark Airport to begin my studies in Europe. Things that have changed since I have been away? My butt is really sore from biking, I sport Euros in my wallet, I am a tourist everywhere I go, and I grew 4 inches from being around all the tall Dutch people. Things that have not changed? I still speak and learn in English, I still have brown hair, and I am still tattooless. OH and… I just did laundry today for the first time since I left. It sounds gross but the laundry place in the building doesn’t open until Monday so we found a place down the street to finally get it done! It’s nice to have some fresh smelling clothes. The nice lady who did my laundry folded it all for me and she didn’t lose ANY of my socks. (I’m not lazy, it’s not really an option here to do your own laundry do I didn’t really have a choice).

Classes started. We have to take the metro to get there which isn’t the most convenient thing in the world, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon enough. It’s strange, because as I am walking to the metro after about 3 minutes of my walk I can’t help but think ‘I’d already be in Knott Hall by now sitting in my class.’ Needless to say, I have to leave about 45 minutes to get to class rather than leaving 10 minutes after class starts (LIZ). It’s also not that easy to text my teachers or bosses and tell them that I’ll be in a little late in the morning because I had too many meatballs last night (CHRISTINE). In two of my classes, we had to change classrooms in the middle of class because apparently the school really can’t get their shi* together. So far, classes don’t seem too bad. Although I am the first Communication major ever to travel to Amsterdam to study in the BUSINESS school (why did I decide that? I don’t know)… I think the classes will be quite interesting.

Friday afternoon we took a crazy adventure and took a bike trip to the windmills up north. It was amazing! All we had was our bikes, a back pack, and a map. After taking a 2 minute free ferry ride from central station, we started following signs toward “Zaanstaad” and made our way to the windmills a few hours later after some stops along the way. My little boy bike narrow seat did not do the finest number on my butt, however it was numb enough by mile 15 that I tried not to think about it. We biked along highways, on main streets, on side streets, over canals, and then finally we made it the beautiful sight of the windmills! Here are some pictures of the beautiful journey:









Today Jaclyn, Kristina, and I walked around the market in Waterloopin and it was lovely. There is are so many little stands to stop at - you could get lost in one of those markets for hours. Kristina managed to find the movie Sweet Home Alabama for 3 Euro, so now we have something to watch on those rainy days...