Hello again! I have made it safely back to Caceres and have taken a much needed shower. The rest of our trip went much more smoothly than the first part as far as travel goes. So i'll get to explaining the meaning of my title.
Last I wrote, I was lying in bed in Prague, Czech Republic. The next morning we went to the Prague Castle. It's very large so we spent the whole morning and early afternoon there. We watched the changing of the guard which was very cool. We went through the museums and dungeons. It was very cool and very different to learn about the history of a country I wasn't familiar with before. Speaking of unfamiliar, I'm going to divert for a moment to the language in Prague which is Czech. So every other country we've been to (France, Portugal, England obviously) we can at least get the jist of what people say if we pay attention. Reading isn't a problem because all the romantic languages are pretty similar. However, while Czech has some latin influence, it has no recognizable sounds and very few recognizable words when reading. Now everything is pretty much in english at the airport and the tourist attractions, but on the public transportation there is not. So trying to figure out what stop you are at in relation to the one you need is very interesting. But we made it through without any major problems, which is funny because the most problems we had were in London...and we speak that language.
Back to Prague. After the castle we walked around the little shops near the castle then went back to the hostel and cooked dinner. The next day we went to the main square, went to the Mucha musuem, walked around the Jewish town, and spent a lot of time at the easter market. We also went to the Charles bridge which was built in the the 1300s.
The next day we headed to Rome. We got on the flight with no problems and no fees!!! We arrived mid-afternoon and had a nice dinner at a restaurant. The next morning we went to get our breakfast. Now I'm going to go off on another tangent. When we arrived the receptionist told us the breakfast was a real italian breakfast at a nearby cafe. He said "croissants and juice and things". When we got to breakfast, we got one croissant and a cup of juice. While it was good, we just thought it was funny. It wasn't exactly a filling breakfast but we left and went to the vatican. We got to see where the pope would speak on Easter. We saw the museums and the St Peter's basilica. We then walked to the Spanish Steps which Maren didn't want to climb but we ended up convencing her otherwise. We then headed towards the Trevi fountain. I lead our group to the plaza I thought it was and saw a fountain that looked old but not very big and started to take pictures. I thought it was kinda small for the all the hype. Well it wasn't the Trevi fountain, it was the tritone fountain. Maren and Erin were laughing at me because they knew it wasn't it but I took pictures. I hadn't seen the Lizzie McGuire Movie which was where they had seen it. Needless to say the actual Trevi fountain was much more impressive.
The next day we went to the colosseum. That was amazing. Maren and I got separated from Taylor and Erin. So Maren and I headed out to the exit to watch for them to come out. We waited for quite a while and then they came out. It turns out we must have walked right past them because they were waiting just inside the exit. They had been waiting for at least a half hour. But we were finely reunited and headed to the roman forum and palatine. It was very cool to walk around all the ruins and try to figure out what they looked like originally. Then we wanted to have a nice sit down meal for lunch. But the cheapest place was full and so we got stuck with an expensive place. When we got our food, our portions were significantly smaller than other peoples. We weren't very happy, and still hungry. We left in a bad mood which was bettered by a canoli at a bakery. We didn't have a bus map so I couldn't figure out how to get to the places we wanted on the Appian Way. I would have done more research a head of time but it turned out our internet at our hostel consisted of going to a laundromat and getting 15 free minutes on a computer with slow internet. That barely allowed me to get the things done I needed to. So then we decided to just go see the pantheon and walk around. Well I pulled another Trevi Fountain. I followed the map to where the closest stop on our bus looked like it might be. When we got off the bus I failed to look at the map to see exactly where the pantheon was. So I thought these ruins were it. We got closer and I realized that it was the Sacred Area of Argentina where a bunch of Roman ruins were. Julius Caeser was actually asassinated there so that was a fun fact. After getting made fun of again, although they didn't know what it looked like either, we headed to the actual pantheon which was nearby. It was very impressive. We then walk through Ladrona Plaza where we got our last cup of gelato before heading back to the hostel to get our luggage.
We then got to the airport and staked out our spot for the night. We sure have gotten good at this homeless thing. I used my sweatshirts and scarf to cover the floor and as a pillow. I used my jacket as a blanket. It was the best night's sleep i had gotten in an airport yet. I have now spent four nights in Airports in 3 different countries. I would say I am a seasoned traveler now.
We got on our plane without a hitch. Best ryanair flight i've ever had. Not that that's saying much. I will never have to fly ryanair again! Once in Madrid we hung out at the bus station and got some real food. I slept like a rock most of the bus ride. When we got home, I took a much needed shower, and just had a great meal. Between those 2 things I wrote a 3 page paper on a Cervantes novel that's due tomorrow. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute. :D I know you're proud mom! It feels great to have a place to call home. But sadly I only have 3 more weeks of living here. I'm excited to see everyone but I will miss being here.
I will put up pictures tomorrow.
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