Back!

I'm BACK! First order of business: watch too much TV.

HELLO New York. You're looking fine.

I'm hanging out and birthday celebrating in New York this weekend. Then I'm off to Ohio to save money and work on my portfolio from March 4-April 2. Then I'll be back in Brooklyn for good. And that's the plan, Jan!

Treat Yo Self

Today was great and lovely! The weather was sunny and 45 F. I didn't even wear a coat! I'm in Iceland if you've lost track.

somewhere in Iceland idk

on the set of Prometheus

After finding my long lost love (cottage cheese) at breakfast, I was off to Blue Lagoon. Blue Lagoon is a geothermal mineral pool and spa thing. A wee bit pricey but I was really looking forward to this.

beautiful Blue Lagoon! Little man, I want to Photoshop you out so baaaaaad

Gorgeous darling.

It was so beautiful and relaxing. I was just swim-swamming around in February in Iceland. The whole place smells faintly of farts due to the sulphur, but I didn't mind. I need to shower because I still kinda smell faintly of farts (moreso than usual).

The water is mineral-rich and very good for your skin. They have the boxes of silica mud you rub on your face like a mask. It's totally unattended and free. Naturally I took giant handfuls and covered my entire body with it. Sorry, but that's what you get when you leave me around free beauty/skincare/anything unsupervised. I also went to the steam bath and sauna. Then I got an ice cream bar at the swim-up bar and everything was perfect.

Tomorrow I will undertake a quest for some shark. It's their national food and I would like to try shark. Then I'm BACK!! My flight leaves at 5pm tomorrow and I'm supposed to land at 6pm in NYC because we're flying against TIME. It's a 6 hour flight. I have plans for a couple trip-end posts over the next day or so. Reflections, art dump, stuff I made, etc. We ain't done here yet son.

Hungöveretten

Hi guys, it's time for my favorite kind of post: hungover. Currently self-medicating said hangover with a giant cup of coffee and chocolate cake because I like to reward bad decisions with delicious cake. There's something a little beautiful about hangovers. I'm so enveloped in feeling sorry for myself that I forget I'm a tourist in a strange Deutsche-land. I'm just a human lookin' for that cake. Cake cake cake cake. I was quoting poet-laureate Rihanna at the end there.

I'm still in Berlin! I've seen a lot of museums. So. Many. Museums. I'm tapping out. I've gotten so spoiled and sometimes I buy a ticket and speed walk through the joint. It's happened a couple times. I'm not terribly proud of this fact. But it is what it is.

Museum Island

I went to a 19th centuryish art museum, a 20th centuryish art museum, a DDR museum (East Berlin), an "alternative Berlin" tour, Bauhaus archive, and the abandoned airport Tempelhof.

Bauhaus was cool. I finally learned its pronounced "bow-house" so I can stop embarrassing myself. Unrelated: Lime in the Coconut just started playing in this cafe. I bought a poster! I buy nothing ever, so that it significant.

Bauhaus Chairs

I miss art school!

The DDR museum was really well done. It was largely about daily life in East Berlin. Here's a photo, idk man..

Who is this Party informant snooping around my East berlin flat?!

Tiny naked people! East Berlin didn't have enough swimsuits so everybody went naked. And then 25 years later someone felt compelled to make a diorama about it. 

Tempelhof was so cold. I imagine it would be wonderful in the summer. They had BBQ spots. In the winter though, woof. The wind just impaling you from those flat empty runways. Like trekking Siberia. I took a photo of myself so I could remember what I looked like before my nose fell off from hypothermia. Isn't it nice to know I'm still so dramatic even when it's just me?

Tempelhof aka Siberia 

in remembrance of my nose

I also have successfully undertaken the bahns, as I affectionately refer to them. U-Bahn and S-Bahn. Berlin public transit. Apparently ticket inspectors check sometimes, but I have yet to see one of these fellows. I keep buying tickets though because I'm terrified of getting yelled at in German.

I've also been pretending to be German as much as possible. To accomplish this, I just say "Hallo" and then nod when people talk at me. I also maintain a bored face and hide my panicked confusion. It's been working out for me. It got me a fork at Starbucks, interestingly.

Other things with me. I've been watching a lot of vice videos. I think I will send them a letter re: giving me a job. These guys went to North Korea! Makes me feel like a lame little baby for not jumping head first into some weird underground Berlin club with like those pierced people hanging from a ceiling and an animal sacrifice. That's probably happening somewhere in Berlin, right? Who knows. But I like wifi and chocolate cake and art museums.

Now I will take a train to Frankfurtty and get a hotel by the airport and hang around. So close to being home! Are you coming to my birthday? Come to my birthday!

TV Tower

Berlinagain

Hey-o! I'm back in Berlin. I think I may have left Munich a bit prematurely because after I got to Berlin, I realized I actually know THREE people in Munich! Whoops, I screwed up! I'm happy to be back in Berlin though.I totally did have another super weird night train dream again. I dreamt that I was watching a Beyoncé WWE pay-per-view fight. And I kept asking who she was fighting and everyone would just say "haha um Not Beyoncé."

Yesterday I was planning to go the Bauhaus Archives and that was a 32-Double D BUST. Short version so as not to dwell: spent an hour getting there, museum closed on Tuesdays. Bad job, Liz.

Last night was great though! I went to a "Living History" talk that my hostel out on with a man from West Berlin that occasionally did work in East Berlin. When I was last in Berlin, I met with a man from East Berlin. It was really interesting to hear stories and perspectives from both sides of the wall. It really blows my mind how recent that history is. When I was a wee babe, the wall was still up! I was pooping my pants in Texas and Berlin was divided! Bananas.

Did you know there were two subway lines that ran from West Berlin, underneath East Berlin, and back to West? The train would just slow down in the East stations, but never stop. The East Stations were guarded with machine guns. Once a train lost power IN East Berlin, and they refused to let anyone off or even have contact with the West Berlin passengers. I can't imagine, but I'm really fascinated by the whole thing.

Okay, here are my Berlin goals: Bauhaus Archives, Topography of Terror, Museum Island museums, now-closed Tempelhof Airport. If I do not do these things, you should yell at me.

Gold Beers Cold Beers

After wandering around Munich and spending a half hour smelling all the celebrity perfumes in Sephora, I went to Haufbräuhaus! I had a beer and pretzel for lunch, which I felt was nice and Bavarian. An oompa band was playing!

Hoflighthaus

Bier!

Haus

Then I went to the Residenz, the home to the electors/dukes/kings of Bavaria (they kept getting upgraded). I recommend it! I was in a "eh, this will kill some time" mind frame, but it was very interesting! Really expansive and they give you a free audio guide. Very opulent and fancy-schmancy.

Seashell Lady

Hermes and MORE SHELLS

They also had a chapel for all their relics. Relics, dude, relics. They say they have the head of John the Baptist, but the Catholic Church says that's in Italy, so I'm not really clear how that counts.

Love the Lana del Rey headpiece, John the B

So intricate!

Why isn't science all over relics? Shouldn't Bones be out here telling us what's what? Is that happening and I just don't subscribe to the right periodicals?

And on that note of old saint body parts, I gotta go find some dinner! Icky.

This is not the Hofbraubaus

Guten Tag!

Yo Munich! Yesterday I went on a walking tour that was quite nice. Munich's name comes from monks! There used to be a bunch of monasteries here and people would just say "Oh I'm from that place with the monks." I also saw my first ever real monk in Zagreb! Brown robes, rope belt, whole thing.

Munich

Munich

After the tour I did a wee bit of shopping (got a birthday dress oh yeaaaahh), grocery shopping, and laundry.

Today is Sunday, as you may know. So everything was closed. Everything except museums! I did FOUR museums today. On Sunday admission is only one euro and all the museums I wanted to go to are in a little block. Good day good day. Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, Museum Brandhorst, and Pinakothek der Moderne.

Side story to tell you about this German woman. I was just checking my map and she offered to help me. She was probably like 70 and had so many lady whiskers! Basically a full beard, but all white. And big fat tears were just coming out of her eyes whenever she blinked and she didn't seem to notice or care. I think I'm going to make up some German folklore about her. She was nice though.

Ok, so that German lady told me "Pinakothek" is basically Greek for "place to keep important things." Take that as you will. It was four different art museums for various time periods. I really enjoyed myself.

Art

I'm drawing!

No.

Seriously, mom?

Monkeying Around

DESIGN

Warhol

Tomorrow I'll do some more Munich stuff then I'm heading BACK TO BERLIN. Crazy, right? I really liked Berlin and my hostel there though. I think there's still a lot for me to see there and it's slightly cheaper than Munich. Another night train by the way, so lets see if I have another vision quest.

Munchin' in München

Greetings from Munich! Home to Oktoberfest, Hitler, Hofbräuhaus, Olympic tragedies and who knows! I'll have to find out!More importantly though, I took my first night train. I can only speak of my one experience, but whoa, night train dreams are like some vision quest stuff. A bunch of my friends were all having an elaborate tea party on the train station platform and we kept arguing about which train to get on. Poetic?

It wasn't bad except this German guy slept like a log the first 2 hours (when we still had to go through border patrol every couple of minutes) and then kept getting up every hour during sleepy times! Duuuuuuuude. He and his wife were okay though. I, however, was a sloppy mess. Shirt kept riding up, blankets twisted all over the place, belly hanging out. Not cute.

I suspect it's related to traveling alone, but a lot of my thoughts are occupied with "what if." For example, last night it was "what if I just took my pants off in this sleeping car?" Would anyone say anything? Would they ask me to put some pants on? Would no one care? Would the conductor/ticket man say something? Too gauche? Their English wasn't great, so I wonder how it would translate. I did keep my pants on, for the record.

Now it is 7am and I will go eat some hostel breakfast, explore Munich, and come back to check into my room. That's how my day's shaping up.

Oh I did have a very Bridget Jones moment in Zagreb. I'd been walking in the snow all day and my little head was saying "wine wine wine wine." I went to open my Hungarian wine, but the cork kept breaking so I started stabbing it furiously with a knife. I think I'm the only one who didn't see this next bit coming. I pushed the cork in too forcefully and wine went all over my face and shirt and hair. I legitimately had to go wash my face. Anyway, I smelled like an alcoholic for the day but that didn't stop me from enjoying my wine with the accompaniment of deli slices and popcorn. C'est magnifique.

Update: I've hit a wall. Big wall. It's now 9:19 am and I'm killing time till the free walking tour at 10:30. Dying. So sleepy. I wish I could be cute and say I've hit a BERLIN wall, but I'm in Munich so screw it.

Srce

"Srce" means "heart" in Croatian. Pretty sure that word is missing some vowels, but that's Croatian for you! I'm in Zagreb. I can't quite get a handle on Croatia. What's your deal? I don't know!Everyone is very nice though. I think tourism is still novel enough that they don't hate me immediately. The staff at my hostel is wonderful! And there's a DOG named COOKIE. Dogs are so great. My wifi sitch is meh though, hence the lack of activity on the blog.

Cookie Cookie Cooke

Things are nice and cheap as well. Not as cheap as Budapest, but pretty good. Everything is weirdly 30 kuna ($5 USD). Lame nachos, pasta primavera, movie tickets, vegetarian risotto, museum admission. All 30 kuna!

First day I went to the new Museum of Contemporary Art and then went to see Warm Bodies at a movie theater. I actually have a ton of photos from all the art museums I go to, but I've been hoarding them. Maybe I'll do a big international art post at the end of trip. Anyway, the weather was gross so I wanted to keep it indoors. My plan to go south for more warmth has really backfired.

Next day I walked around Upper Town. Zagreb used to be two towns (Kaptol and ummm something starting with a G) and they would fight for ages. In the 1800s they finally joined forces and now the symbol of Zagreb is a heart. Because the two towns coming together. Get it? It's appropriate for VALENTINES DAY wheeee!

Zagreb

Me in Zagreb

Zagreb

lil thingy

Today I woke up and made delicious Paleo Pancakes! This paragraph is not travel related. I'm not doing Paleo, but I'm lazy and like easy things. You mush up one banana, add two eggs, whip it up, and cook it like a pancake. It's a very tasty banana crepe kinda of thing. Would be amazing with Nutella. Two ingredients! So nice. So healthy.

In the spirit of being festive, I went to the Museum of Broken Relationships! People donate objects from their relationships and a little story about it. Very interesting. It's very much like spying on strangers most vulnerable moments. Donations are from all over the world, but the stories are all pretty universal.

I bought my ticket for Munich tomorrow! I'm taking my first NIGHT TRAIN. I don't know what to expect from that. Going to attempt Zagreb Zoo tomorrow during the day.

Staying: funk lounge

Budapest Snow

Yesterday I went to the thermal baths and swam around in outdoor heated pools while snow fell on my head. And then I watched Magic Mike in my hostel. To Zagreb!

Ooooo snow!

Buda Buda Buda

Rockin' everywhere. Budapest is a cool cool city. Second favorite after Amsterdam. I read a quote somewhere that "Hungary is viewed as the East by the West and as the West by the East." I like that and it seems very spot on.

First day I went to art museums and had a nice day. Unfortunately, that isn't much a very interesting story. I did realize how cheap Budapest is though! I got a "smoked cheese" (?) sandwich and sparkling water at the museum cafe (always notorious for being over priced) for 950 Fl!! That's less than $5. Oh yeah. And I got two cute skirts and a lil coin purse for under $20. Budapest is great!

City Park

Saturday was a really lovely day. I went on a WONDERFUL walking tour. Our guide Anita was super. They showed us the sights, but also have us a lot of helpful tips about Budapest. She explained tipping practices, public transport, Hungarian food and beer,and even taught us some Hungarian phrases. I gotta TripAdvisor them.

St Stephens

Spooky!

Cafe Alexander!

Castle Gate

I love all the old run down buildings. Looks like beautiful haunted houses

ME

The tour ended right next to the Faust Wine Cellar, which I remembered the lovely Em Batt recommending. So nice! For $22 I got to sample 6 wines with an attentive guide. It's this little husband and wife team. He explained all the "notes" or whatever and I loved it. Am I at the age where I should stop buying Three Buck Chuck and maybe go for the $10 bottles?? Only time will tell.

wine tasting!

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the white wines! All the white wine I've had is either gross and sugary or smells faintly of pee, but not these! I even bought a bottle! So unlike me. It might be nice to send it home buuuuuut I'll probably just drink it. Hungarian wine y'all, get into it. But you can't because apparently they don't have much of an export.

THEN I was supposed to go on a pub crawl from my hostel but it got cancelled for the third night in a row! Not enough people. Trés disappointment. I ended up going to Szimpla Kert (once again a stellar Em Batt suggestion). I wish we had something like that in Brooklyn! It's an abandoned building and so so neat. They had this weird stationary bike race thing in one corner? Lots of guys in those silly little cycle hats. And there was a stag party with everyone dressed up with a nautical theme. The groom was a merman. All stag parties should be nautical themed. I have decreed.

I didn't stay long though because I was by myself and awkwardly wandering around. Traveling alone is hard. It takes a lot out of you. You try to talk to someone and it falls a bit flat or they don't speak English. Solo travel has perks, but on the whole, I wouldn't recommend it. Lizbob Lonelypants.

ANYWAY, I retired back to the hostel after a kebab and ended up going out with a couple American boys from my room. We met these Chinese kids that were so plastered celebrating Chinese New Year. They kept giving us champagne and asking about their favorite American TV shows. It's year of the Snake! I'm year of the Snake!! It's my YEAR.

ok bye bye I love you

A Brat in Bratislava

I went to Bratislava! Being able to say that was a large part of my reasoning for going, so mission accomplished?Bratislava (in Slovakia) is just an hour from Vienna and en route to Budapest. So why the heck not! Also, Rick Steves recommended it and he is my mentor.

I ate some Slovakian food: an onion & sirloin soup and some cheese dumplings. Those cheese dumplings could kill a man. It's like macaroni and cheese on steroids with cheese fondue on top. It was an intensely cheesy experience. But "death by cheese" may be a good way to go.

Then we walked around and saw the Reader's Digest highlights. Check out those photos. Bratislava, bb. Next we hiked all the way up to the castle, with Vanessa and I stopping like every 15 minutes because UGH. Anyway, check it off the list.

Just a general note: Europeans love Django Unchained. It's weird. I've heard the Django soundtrack in 3 different countries. My Berlin hostel played it every morning during breakfast. My new "line" to start up a conversation with any young European? "So Django." Literally all I have to say. I'm tempted to try to analyze this, but I'll resist.

Now I am in Budapest! I'm happy to be here. I also just bought a new shampoo that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT. And my hostel here will do my laundry with a DRYER for $10. I'm giddy about this. Clean and non-stretched out clothes will be mine tonight!! I'm always pretty chill about big things and weirdly enthusiastic about little things. What's up with that?

Wien Wieners

So Vienna is another one of those cities that we made up a new name for? I didn't know this. It's actually "Wien" here. Which also explains "wiener schnitzel" finally. A lifelong mystery: solved!

Firstly, I went on a walking tour with an adorable octogenarian guide named Ingrid. She was lovely. I got some quick Vienna history, saw some sights, and quickly realized what I was interested in doing. Vienna is apparently known for opera, schnitzel, and coffee shops.

I first went to a coffee shop and sampled some famous Sacher cake. It was kinda of dry and I was unimpressed. HOWEVER I did really enjoy the coffee shop culture. You've claimed your spot and no one will bother you. Fantastic. I love not being bothered.

I would like to do this for 100 hours

I then traveled to the Leopold Museum. They had a giant exhibit called "Nude Men" which I find hilarious because I am 11. Lots of penii. That's the plural of "penis" I may have just made up. Whatever, I don't have Internet right now to look it up. Also, lol that iPhones capitalize Internet.

heehee

Oh! And a very nice but alcoholic man was singing at the hot dog stand and I forced him to dance with me. It was charming in a Vienna way. Just trust me on this one, it was cute.

Finally I went to my hostel bar and became so friendly and forced the bartenders to teach me their craft. I can now fully put "bartender at hostel bar in Vienna" on my résumé. I also stole an abandoned box of toffee at the bar. Well it's eaten now.

And now I am off to Bratislava! I convinced this fun Australian girl I met yesterday to come with me on the day trip. I am so bossy! (cue Kelis)

Vienna

Vienna is pretty! Doesn't it look a little Diagon Alley-esque with that Gringotts at the end?

me being bossy

Segway Segue

I finally took the Segway tour! It was two hours and quite fun. Freezing cold though. Shockingly, I wasn't as terrible as I expected to be. There were definitely a few moments of pure terror, but nothing catastrophically dramatic happened. It was just me and the guide as well, and she was very patient. I also think she could read the terror in my face occasionally because she would say things like "You hanging in there?" But later she took the speed governor off and I was zooming along and I felt like Tron.

The funniest moment was at the end when I was trying to get off. I took one foot off and the things just started spinning, going around in a little circle. I was standing there with one foot dangling off, doing that kind of panicked "ahhhhhhhh" groan. This guy from the front desk ran and had to help me. Luckily, it was pretty minor mishap, in the grand scheme of my life. How fucking cute do I look on this Segway though?

Segway!!!

I went to Prague Castle and a toy museum that morning. Prague Castle was nice, but I'm getting a bit spoiled with cathedrals and old things. They did have some very cool Muchas stained glass.

St. Vitus Cathedral

The toy museum was great though! They had old toys from the WWI and such. Really interesting to see. I already tweeted it, but let me say it again: Thank you Northeastern for not putting a date on my student ID. I've gotten so many student discounts.

Nightmare Fuel

Umm

Just a fun alcoholic sailor toy

Very Fantastic Mr. Fox I thought! For Eric Allen

Lil Devil Doll

Trains planes and automobiles

The toy museum had a big collection for 50 Years of Barbie. I was nostalgic looking at all the sweet 90s Barbies I had. Thanks for all the Barbies, Mom & Dad.

girls girls all types of girls, girls I do adore

If you ever want to feel stumpy, take a photo next to Barbie

I'm currently killing an hour and a half in the Prague train station, waiting for my train to Vienna. In other news, I got my first European nosebleed! It wouldn't be a Liz Kelley Adventure without a nosebleed.

I'm now thinking the rest of my trip will be: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Zagreb, Venice, Munich, Frankfurt, Iceland, NYC.

Czech It

Well, first of all, I am not going to Turkey. A US embassy was bombed in Ankara and a young female tourist from New York was murdered in Istanbul on January 21st after a solo backpacking excursion through Europe. So yeah, no. Nope nope nope. I'm sad about it, but I'll just have to go another time.

Lennon Wall

So Prague. Yesterday I went to the Lennon Wall, which is just a lil baby Berlin Wall, pretty much. There were three different groups of British tweens that were taking lots of photos in front of it and writing quotes like "Live. Laugh. Love." But I don't judge too harshly because I whipped out my iPhone to take a photo for my blog. I wasn't the one that wrote Harry Potter.

Then I went to the Museum of Decorative Arts and wowee. I'm so glad I'm a graphic designer because I love this shit. (Do you love this shit?) I had no idea art nouveau was so big here. To be honest, I knew totally nothing about Prague before getting here. At one point in my life, someone said "Prague's cool." Therefore, I go to Prague.

Stained glass at Museum of Decorative Arts

crazy elaborate beaded table centerpiece thing

cool poster

cool woodcut

In that same vein, I went to the Alphonso Mucha museum. I like Mucha even if he is "commercial." Hipster problems. But do I like him enough to buy a $80 scarf? Hell to the no. That place had the most outrageous museum shop I've encountered yet.

Then I went on a pub crawl which was fun in that pub crawl way. Apparently I'm very Canadian because I apologize too much. Also, four people at my hostel came to the consensus that I have the exact same voice as Donna from That 70s Show. I get it, but I think it's 70% just because I'm American. Then I said "Eric Foreman!" and we all laughed and it was jolly.

Today I had a full day with a trip to Kutna Hora, an hour train ride outside Prague. I paid for a tour and I feel so spoiled! I have a GUIDE and he buys the tickets and tells me which train to get on and tells me history and takes me to a wonderful Czech restaurant for lunch and I love him. Yes I'm paying for it, but that bothers me not at all. We were a small group of five.

Kutna Hora

unfinished cathedral

Czech Republic bb

Our guide is Pavel and he's great. Probably like 40, married, Czech, dad. Does not seem to give any fucks. "Over there is main square, but it is not interesting so we don't go." He told us a lot about the recent Czech elections on the train ride. Also he says "pagan" like "peggin" and I'm only mildly joking when I say I love him. For this visual, picture a Chris O'Dowd type character with a beard and Czech accent.

Haha, I just wrote a whole paragraph about our guide before talking about why I went to Kutna Hora. Priorities! Kutna Hora was the silver mine town that pretty much funded all of Prague. Pavel pointed out three different buildings that were half finished because the silver stopped. Whoops.

The main reason for my visit is for the grando tourist trap that is The Bone Chapel. Nancy Drew and the Mystery of Bone Chapel. This guy decorated a chapel with the bones of over 40,000 people. Plague victims and soldiers. It serves as a giant memento mori; like don't forget you're mortal so behave. It's not satanic or anything. It was cool to see. A bit twisted. Please don't let my bones be used for decoration though, please and thanks. Peace n blessins.

I'm getting into interior design

Coat of ARMS (literally)

For lunch I had wild boar goulash with gingerbread dumplings and a Czech beer. Pivo! Ugh so good. I wish I could just run that back and eat it again. Round two.

GOULASHES

Let me tell you, the Czech people hate tourists. Apparently it's mostly a cultural thing. The Czechs do NOT do small talk, partly because the hesitation to divulge information with strangers has carried over from communist spy days. And since they don't do small talk, they complain. And everyone loves to complain about tourists. This is what Pavel was saying, but that the younger generations are changing.

Tonight I may do the Segway tour (eee!) and then Prague Castle tomorrow morning. Then I'm off to Vienna on Tuesday for a day or two, followed by Budapest. Since Turkey isn't happening anymore, I don't really know what's happening. Barcelona may be in my future.

Happy birthday to Adley Kloth! Happy birthday tomorrow to Amanda Hawkins! Happy Half Way Mark to my trip! Happy Superbowl to America! If I'm awake and kickin' I think I'll go to an American bar tonight. It starts at midnight here though so ick blah, maybe not.

Oh and the Georgia thing was a fail. I kept forgetting. Look at all this weirdness on this Czech keyboard ů§¨ěšč¤¤

Staying: Charles Bridge Hostel

Prahahaha

Let's talk about Prague baby. Let's talk about you and me. Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that can be. Let's talk about Prague!!* Well I had a very bad taste in my mouth about Prague initially. But I think it's just because I was hungry and a dog pooped in the train station Claire's. 4/5 times I'm in a bad mood, I'm actually just hungry.

Yesterday I was super hungry (and therefore grumbles) and decided to get some food from a street vendor. "I'm so cool and adventurous!" However, I didn't fully understand what was happening and ordered "Parma Prosciutto Ham" from the menu which I thought was a thing, but now realize was just multiple translations. I received two giant hunks of ham. Seriously, two tennis ball sized cubes of ham. So as far as things go, this wasn't a terrible outcome. Good ham at least. I always know I've screwed up somewhere when the guy taking my order says "Really?" But at that point, I'm in too deep and just say "Yes." To add insult to dumb-American injury, it was in the touristy part and overpriced. I ate $12 of nothing but ham on the streets of Prague. Put that on my tombstone.

Prague

Today I did a walking tour. Prague is very very pretty. There's a huge Art Nouveau and Baroque presence here that I was unaware of. I'm excited to go to the Muchas Museum.

Then I went to a random cafe for dinner and an old Czech man adorably harassed me. He used to live in San Fran and kept holding my hand and telling me how New York is the coolest. And America is SO BIG. He was pretty drunk, but very sweet. "In Czech Republic it is very cold outside but very warm inside!" His name was George. He looked like Alan Arkin if you need a visual.

Tomorrow I'm going to Kutna Hora in CZ that has a BONE CHAPEL. Oh yeah yeah yeah.

Ok, here's some photos of Prague.

Prague

Prague

Prague

*this blog will get me a Pulitzer.

Nomadic Thoughts

I'm on a train from Berlin to Prague at the moment. I think it's dumb we have different words for cities. We should just call it whatever the locals call it, ja? So Praha. But now I sound pretentious. First, a somewhat important announcement for my Brooklyn clique (let's keep that pretension going). I have officially decided to go to Ohio for the month of March. I'll be in NYC from Feb 29 to March 4. My birthday is March 2. Let's hang out. Then I go to the magical land of a free bed and Mom-made meals that is Ohio. There I will prepare myself to be a grown up again and get a portfolio in order.

And since I am bored on a train, I will share some travel trips. You've been warned.

• Reviews

I've had seriously wonderful hostels so far, all thanks to HostelWorld/Trip Advisor reviews. Thanks guys.

• Earplugs

Hostels are full of snoring, sniffly monsters. Earplugs are my savior and magical, and just a little bit frightening with their effectiveness. Allegedly, a British boy dropped a handful of change on the floor at 5 in the morning the other day, and I didn't even stir.

• Pub Crawls

Ok, pub crawls are gross in principle. But they are pretty much an instant way to make a couple temporary friends. Walking tours ain't half bad either. BTW, last night I went out with the hostel bartender because I said "What would Rick Steves do?" and you KNOW he'd want to go to bars with a local.

• Eurail

I love trains. I got my Eurail pass for 20% off (off-season) AND discounted Youth rate. So wonderful. I just go to the train station, up to the ticket window and ask which train to take, then proceed to whatever gate they told me. So easy. On a related note, I'm really not looking forward to my flight to Turkey (just the airport part). Oh and Ina suggested traveling on Mondays since many museums are closed Mondays, which is totally smart.

• Plan of Attack

I like to go straight from the train station to my hostel usually around dinner time. Get settled, drop stuff off, etc. Then wander around in the area of the hostel. Get some "lay of the land," find some dinner. Next day do a super touristy walking tour to help me get my bearings. A cool museum in the afternoon.

• Pack Light

Duh, everyone says it, but that's because it's true. I have one 23lbs backpack and it is my BFF. I can pack it all up in 20 minutes, throw it on my back and I'm great. Yes, I may accidentally knock into some Germans because I don't compensate for my doubled girth, but hey. I'm so happy to not have a rolling suitcase. I had to abandon two shirts in Berlin due to troubling stains (wine and mustard?) by the way.

• Google Maps

I cannot believe I can just ask Google Maps for directions from Berlin to Prague and it WORKS. Train times, everything. It got a little confused with the Berlin metro, but that's ok baby. I still love ya. A sub-tip: walking. I enjoy walking and I find it is a great way to see stuff. If it's within a 25 minute walk, I'm down.

• Moolah

Fees suck. As soon as arriving in a new currency spot, I hit an ATM and take out enough cash for about $50 a day. Keeps my spending in check (Czech hahaha) and I only get charged once for the conversion.

• Language

I have been pretty bad with language so far. I finally pick up a decent amount of words by Day 5 in a country, and then I leave. I've tried to learn some Czech in prep, so maybe I'll be better in Prague. Ahoj.

• Rooms

Since I'm traveling in winter, no hostel is terribly busy. The secret I've found is booking the SECOND cheapest room. The cheapest room, with 8 or 12 beds or whatever, will always have at least some people in it. Those people just want the cheapest room, naturally. However, no one books the second cheapest room, so I can get it all to myself for at least a day or two. Worst case scenario, I have roommates, which I signed up for anyway. The difference in price is usually a euro and I have a much better chance of my own room.

Okay, what the hell was this post? Do you think this old German man next to me can hear Rihanna through my headphones? Can you call me Georgia now? I'm trying to make that happen; a bit of an experiment. And Liz has had way too many embarrassing moments in her 23 years and could use a clean slate.

Straße

Museum of Natural History and a Street Art Tour. I am pooped though, so you just get photos today. Tschüs.

Butterflies

I spy a hermit crab...

Dead stuff in jars

Tachles

Little dudes

BRRLIN

Hi Berlin, thanks for the wein-rot. Sorry I was lazy.

I was a bit of a bitch to Berlin upon first arriving. I can admit that. It was cold and my hostel has such nice wifi... I didn't do much. But I've been re-energized! Ready to take Berlin by storm and see all the lovely things it has to offer. I've extended my stay an extra night as an apology to the city. 

I did however go to a bar called "White Trash Fast Food" and the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum of modern art. Both were way cool and hipster-approved.

Today I did a big walking tour of Mitte, the generally older historical neighborhood of Berlin. Berlin has a dark history. Two world wars, Nazis, and then Soviets. Oof. I really want to watch a James Bond film that takes place in Berlin; there must be like 6, right?

Germany

Germany

I learned today there were 42 known assassination attempts on Hitler. Also the Nazi salute and swastika are illegal here. Apparently a French-Canadian (le sigh) did the Nazi salute in front of the Reichstag and was fined €12,000!! As a result, I have now developed an anxiety disorder where I'm terrified I'll somehow end up accidentally doing a Nazi salute. My arm is tingling. Ahhhh.

I've been properly educated on the history of the division of East and West Germany/Berlin. I think it was always in the part of the history book that we never QUITE reached during the school term. My world history knowledge gets fuzzy after WWIIish. I knew about the wall, people trying to escape to the West, Stalin, the basics, etc. I wasn't aware quite how terrifying it all was though.

Checkpoint Charley

Berlin Wall

Holocaust Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

All in all, a very nice tour today.

I am meeting people, by the way, if you were worried for me. Lots of Australians. It's slightly surreal to meet these people from all over the world and also know how temporary the whole thing is. I will never ever ever see that person again, but lets live in the moment and talk about how shitty the music playing in the bar is and laugh. Strange. I am getting a wee bit tired of the "What brings you here? How long are you here? Where to next?" standard travel convo though. C'est la vie.

Staying: Circus Hostel