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Tag: Europe

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By jfbarszcz

Hey there! I was pretty sick last weekend, so I didn't write an entry last week. But I'm back now! So while this might be the fourth week of blogs, it's only my third post, but I'm going to call this Week 3 (because the first one was Week 0, remember?). Don't bother looking for Week 2. It doesn't exist.

When I saw the prompts for this week's entry, one jumped out at me immediately. "Tell us how to get around your city! (Describe how to take the bus, ride a bike in the city, etc.)" This is because one of the most wonderful things about Prague is how easy it is to get around! While I love DC, its public transportation, by comparison, is honestly crap. The only American city I've been to with a comparably extensive mass transit system is New York, and if you've ever been there you know that besides its extent the NYC Subway lacks in pretty much everything else... besides character, of course. It has loads of that. But really, if Prague is any indication, Europeans have the public transportation thing WAY better figured-out than us Americans.

...continue reading "Week 3: In Which Jake Espouses The Virtues Of The Systems Of Rapid Transit In The City Of Prague"

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By asthaa

Have you ever had your breath-taken away by a spectacular performance? By people doing what they do best for a whole audience to marvel? I had the opportunity to see Carmen, a story told through the lens of flamenco, earlier last week and I fell in love. With fast-paced feet and lean, graceful arms, the dancers of Antonio Gades Company conveyed the anger, sadness, and intimacy of Carmen so well that the audience was left clapping for minutes after the show. An ensemble of singers and guitarists completed the story, singing and playing some of the most beautiful music I have heard in Spain.

...continue reading "Flying to Flamenco…But Not Really"

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By rlubitz

Alas! I am here in London after boring everyone for three weeks writing about vanities like watching TV on your computer sans pants and panicking about leaving Taco Bell.

Leaving the country for three months didn’t really hit me until my friends started sobbing at Whole Foods. It’s organic! But also humiliating

But I am here and they didn’t remove me from their country (so far) and I finally feel like a real adult person. Getting here was tough, harder than I thought it was because I had what I think was the most talkative airplane seatmate. Was he the air marshal? Probably. Actually…yes. Most definitely.

...continue reading "Jetlag: How To Wake Up In A Room And Have No Idea Where You Are"

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By parisjetattends

The plan of the Parisian metro is insane. Undeniably the craziest thing I've ever seen. But remarkably effective...

During the day:
I stood on the metro yesterday, as it was packed. Per usual. A woman was hellbent on staring at my leg and finally after a few minutes leans over and asks me what my tattoo says. I explain to her that its a poem by an author she probably won't know and she insists that I tell her more about it. After trying to dodge this bullet with words, picture this: she gets down on hands and knees and reads it. Then asks me to translate it for her. Sorry but I don't remember the words for sighing or longing, but I improvise. Definitely one of the weirdest things thus far to happen to me.

But at night:

...continue reading "Metros and Taxis. Ugg."

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By parisjetattends

Le Marais. An ode to the hipster bible. Bobo. The word for hipster. I spent the day wandering down the narrow crowded streets, jumping from one vintage store to the other. This district is known for Jews and gays and may be my favorite place I've visited thus far. And simultaneously my least favorite place because of one fact: there is nothing I don't like in Le Marais and this is a heavy burden for my wallet.
...continue reading "Shopaholics Anonymous"

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By asthaa

GW Madrid“Sometimes it’s the small things in life.” Spain continues to reaffirm this for me twofold. One of my favorite experiences this week has been making a new friend close to home (in Madrid). On the route to my flat, there are quite a few little shops, restaurants, and bakeries. Last week I decided to bring home some sweets from a pastelería around the corner. As I decided which cookies, or galletas, I was going to take home, the girl who worked there kindly guided me through chocolates and the crèmes. We struck up a conversation about where we were from and whether she lived nearby, and I left the store feeling like I knew one more friendly face in my neighborhood. A couple of days later, I saw her working and stepped in to say hello. Luz told me her name and that she was from Paraguay and we decided to meet up to get some coffee. This simple gesture of making plans with a new friend in Spain on my own was one of the highlights of my week when it comes to engaging more with Spanish people.

...continue reading "Concerning Cookies and Friends"

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By squeakyrobot

Mikhail, my host dad, regularly inundates me with books about Petersburg and Russian culture. I’ve only been in Russia for twelve days and I’ve already fifteen books sitting on my desk. Each book outlines hundreds of topics, some of which include city and state history, national cuisines and how to prepare them, detailed backgrounds of ethnic minorities, and the richness of Russian visual arts and culture, namely ballet, opera, literature, and paintings. Mikhail urges me to scan through these books and highlight my favorite topics so that he can later inform me where I can go in St. Petersburg to experience these matters first-hand.

...continue reading "Russian Study Abroad Dilemma: How to Have It All"

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By rlubitz

I knew it was gonna happen but I just didn’t think it was going to happen to me. Because I am a stressmonster and have a habit of freaking out for hours at a time, I thought by now I’d be all set, just waiting for the plane to get here, just waiting for the time that I have to actually physically leave Washington, DC. Instead, it’s one day before I leave for London and I’m still configuring bags and giving clothes away and realizing that I’m definitely not going to be wearing three different black sweaterdresses while I’m there because I’m lazy and I never wear dresses.

In these hectic days, I’ve had to rely on humor to not shut my entire world down. For instance, I created a Saturday Night Live skit yesterday while I was lugging my bags across town and it’s called “Rachel Throws A Bag Bigger Than Herself Down Three Flights Of Stairs.” It’s hilarious.

...continue reading "I’m Overpacking and I Know It"

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By parisjetattends

My first few days in Paris can be categorized by a sense of enchanted confusion. I arrived a few days before the start of my upcoming study abroad program with the intention of renting a Craigslist apartment. Standing there in front of the stoop with far too many heavier-than-lead bags I rang the bell and rang the bell and rang it. Nobody answered, and nobody showed up. So my first time being stood up was by a man from Craigslist. I suppose it could have been worse. I looked to the right and saw a hotel next door that was overpriced, but it did the job admirably, and had the advantage of being in an utterly charming neighborhood.

...continue reading "Paris, Enchanté"

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By parisjetattends

Berlin is nice and quiet and the air is sweet and calm but never stagnant. When it rains it pours. The people don't stare much. I am never provoked, or touched by strangers on the street. My last night in Cairo, a young boy grabbed my butt. That doesn't happen here. Here, where there is law and order and organization and above all, calm serenity.

I can see the stars at night.

...continue reading "Berlin, Ich Vermisse Dich"

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