Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.

As you may have read in my previous posts, Claire and I decided to do blind booking for Easter weekend. Once we booked we found out that we were going to Prague which we were both excited about. Many of our friends had already visited and we both really wanted to go. 

Usually the title of my post is just a quote that I like but this week has a bit more meaning to it. On this trip we kept saying that we are travelers NOT tourists so the title has to do with our joke. 

We left mid morning on Saturday and it was only an hour long flight so we made it to Prague by noon. Once we arrived we decided to head to the hostel to drop our things off and plan out what we wanted to see and where on the map everything was. Around three we headed out to see the Easter markets all around the city. Each one was pretty much the same with food stands and gift stands. We walked around taking the city in for a little while before heading to dinner. We had a list of restaurants to try while we were there and decided on this great vegetarian restaurant. The food was great and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant. After that we headed back to the hostel for the night. We met some girls who are Au Pairs in Germany. One is from Australia and the other is from South Africa. 

Easter Sunday we went to church in the morning and then went on a free walking tour of the city. We didn't finish that until 5:30 and by that time we were starving so we headed to the next restaurant on our list. I had asparagus with parmesan shavings and an egg on top. It was DELICIOUS!  

Monday we made plans with Anthony (our new friend we made in Brussels) to go across the river and see Prague Castle. We explored a majority of the day. Walked around parks and through tunnels, getting lost along the way. Not having a plan when traveling is the best way to find amazing things. After seeing everything we planned on seeing we headed to dinner. I enjoyed a turkey club and a side of mashed potatoes. I know they don't go together but I would prefer the mashed potatoes over french fries. After dinner Claire and I headed to a beer tour around Prague. It was a lot of fun. We met some great people and tried some fantastic beers. 

Tuesday was our last day in Prague. We met up with Anthony again and went out in search of a strudel place Claire had read about. It was a bit out of the way so we had to take the tram to get there but it was worth it! The strudel was HUGE and so amazing. It was the best strudel I have ever had! The rest of the morning we spent exploring parks and tunnels. (Anthony has a thing about tunnels.)

Anthony left us mid afternoon and we spent the rest of the day going into shops and looking at clothes. I am really loving the spring lines that are out. My favorite part is Tiffany Blue is EVERYWHERE! I think it is more green than blue but it is most well known as Tiffany Blue. The colors this spring are so bright and fun. Unfortunately being a poor college student attempting to travel the world, I can not buy much this spring but I will admire the trends while wearing last summers wardrobe. (Oh the horror) haha. 

We stopped and had dinner at a brewery before heading back to the hostel to get our luggage and begin our venture back to Germany. I get motion sick in planes, trains, and automobiles (haha) so I had to take my motion sick medicine. I forgot to buy the non-drowsy formula so I fell asleep the minute I sat down on the plane and then again when we were on the train. Needless to say I was exhausted and even though I had plans to skype when I got home I only lasted about twenty minutes before I fell asleep while skyping. 

Prague was such an amazing city and I would definitely recommend going there if you ever get the chance. Below are some pictures from Prague and I am going to apologize right now for not knowing where any of these photos are taken. Most of the pictures I just took where I thought the view was pretty. Also the pictures are out of order because I can't seem to rearrange them without putting them in one by one. 

New friend Darren from Australia/London

The original Budweiser beer *much better than Budweiser in America*

Our new friends from Australia

Church we went to on Easter

Enjoying a snack of hot chocolate and Trdelnik

Strudel

"People are as happy as they make their minds to be." - Abraham Lincoln

I know I am a little late in writing this blog post but better late than never! This is just a quick random recap of my trip to Brussels, March 31st- April 2nd.

Claire and I went to Brussels Saturday morning and arrived around 11. Once we arrived we tried to navigate our way to our hostels. It took us awhile to get there after many stops to take pictures and stopping by a market or two. Once we checked in we headed out to explore the city more. Claire had a list of things to do and see and I think over the course of the trip we saw everything on the list, which if you ask me is pretty impressive!

After walking around Saturday and seeing the sights we decided to go to church. The service was in Flemish but was easy enough to follow. After dinner we headed back to the hostel since we had been up quite early that morning. We hung out at the bar for a little while before we decided it was time to take showers and head to bed. Our room had its own shower but when I turned the shower on nothing but cold water came out. I thought maybe it took a few minutes to warm up but after waiting for 3 minutes it was still freezing cold. I went down to the reception desk where I was told that our half of the building didn't have hot water because some part broke and they wouldn't have it fixed until Monday morning. She offered us 30% off our rooms which we took but that was all she could do since they were at full capacity. I was a bit annoyed but there wasn't much I could do other than go back up and take the coldest shower of my life.

Sunday was another day of seeing the sights and just enjoying Brussels. After a long day of wandering around and seeing everything on the list we headed back to the hostel to have some Belgian beer. The beer was delicious and we made some new friends. One new friend Anthony is taking 3 months to travel around Europe by himself. We mentioned that we were heading to Prague for Easter and it just so happened that he was heading there for Easter as well. We all ended up adding each other on Facebook so we could keep in touch.

Monday morning we were set to leave at 7 a.m. to catch our train back to Cologne at 7:44. We left the hostel right on time and hopped on the underground to the train station. While we were on the underground I decided to check what car we were in when I realized that our train was set to leave at 7:28 not 7:44. You can take a wild guess as to what time it was right then. In a panic I quickly told Claire what was going on and we were almost to our stop. She took my purse and I grabbed my suitcase and we RAN through the train station only to pause and check what track we were leaving from.

Unfortunately we ended up missing our train but we were able to rebook our tickets on the next train back. I definitely learned to check my ticket the day before I leave so this doesn't happen again. It ended up working out well so I don't have anything to complain about.

All in all we had a great trip. This past weekend we went to Prague and I will write another post this weekend about that trip. In the mean time check out my pictures from Brussels. I don't know the name of a lot of the places so you will just have to enjoy the pictures!

Mannekin Pis 

 Zinneke Pis

 Waffle *yum*

 Jeanneke Pis

Beautiful view of Brussels: This picture does not do the view justice 

“Anyone who needs more than one suitcase is a tourist, not a traveler” ― Ira Levin

I know I should be posting about my trip to Brussels from this weekend but I have much more exciting information to share! 

First of all I booked my flight back to the USA! I fly back July 21st. I will be flying Air Berlin from Cologne to Berlin and then Berlin to JFK. I have not booked a flight from JFK to Buffalo yet but that will be easy. I plan on flying JetBlue for the last leg. 

July 21st is only 109 days away! I can't believe how fast time has gone! It feels like just yesterday I was saying goodbye to all my friends and family to start a new chapter in my life. This has been such an amazing experience and I am so blessed to be here. 

I am looking forward to going home and hopefully starting a job. I am keeping my eye out for jobs right now but it is still a bit early to be applying as I won't be able to start a job until July 30th. 

The second piece of news is I booked my flight to Palma de Mallorca today! I am so excited! We will be there May 5th-9th and then I will come back to Bad Honnef on the 10th and head to Budapest that evening. For anyone who doesn't know Palma de Mallorca is the largest Spanish Balearic Island, located in the Mediterranean. It is off the coast of Spain. Below are some pictures I found online. 

Enjoy! Look back tomorrow for a blog post about Brussels!