Hey guys, Sorry I haven’t blogged in a couple weeks, but I’ve been busy being a world traveler, ya know.
For my fall break, I went on a 10-day trip, ‘the Northern Loop,’ where I visited Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris.
Prague was my first and favorite city. In case you are as geographically challenged as I am, Prague is in the Czech Republic and considered to be heart of Europe. It’s the perfect mix of beautiful castles, ill nightlife and everything’s dirt-cheap! I’m a huge Beatles fan, so I loved the John Lennon Wall – graffitied by students and visitors with inspirational quotes and lyrics from the fab four. If you’ve seen Eurotrip, then you might remember that scene where the brother and sister make out in a club on Absinthe. Well, my second night in Prague I went to the Roxy, the setting of that incestual kiss, where the techno beats, lasers and amped up Czechs made for a wonderful night.
Next destination: Berlin. Unfortunately, I only had a day here, so it was hard to really appreciate. It was an interesting history lesson, visiting the spots of the Berlin Wall, Hitler’s Bunker and a concentration camp, but definitely my least favorite city.
So now it’s time for Amsterdam, the moment I’ve been waiting for since I knew I was studying abroad. Of course, the first thing that pops to mind is sex and drugs. Well yes, there is a lot of that; however, despite its naughty reputation, Amsterdam is a beautiful city occupied by a conservative population. Canals run throughout the city lined with bridges, quaint storefronts and colored leaves, making it, in my opinion, the perfect vision of Autumn and the most surreal place I have ever visited. So onto the fun stuff. Although marijuana is technically illegal, the city turns a blind eye and any pothead is free to buy grams, joints, or even spacecakes (muffins with weed) from any coffeeshop. At night, I hit the red light district where prostitution is legal, and you can catch a live sex show or half-naked girl dancing in windows. I’m not really prude about this sort of thing, but I found it creepy watching girls in neon bikinis or police costumes, looking like puppies in windows, luring men in to do the dirty.
Last stop, Paris, or as Kanye West might pronounce it, ‘Par-eee.’ Just as beautiful as I imagined. Throughout history Paris has managed to come out unscathed despite the disastrous adversities of bombs and wars, which truly adds to the magical aura of this city. During the day I visited the Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other awesome Egyptian tombs and terracotta (if you’re into that). Fun fact: the Louvre is so humongous that if you looked at each piece of artwork for 30 seconds, you’d be there for over a month! Then I went to one of my new favorite places in the world, the gardens of Versailles. I felt enveloped in a bubble of beauty, surrounded by baby blue skies, fountains and vast greenery. Unfortunately, the nightlife in Paris was kind of a bummer. Well, first we popped bottles beneath the Eiffel Tower, which was obviously incredible. All lit up, the tower sparkled beside the river. However, the French really detest Americans and wouldn’t let us into the clubs. One of the hottest clubs, Titty Twister, denied us. Like really, can’t even get into Titty Twister? New low. Also, one random man screamed a very derogatory term at my friends and me for no reason. So, I love Paris but I guess Parisians don’t love me.
These ten days gave me an extraordinary chance to see the world and completely different walks of life. Each of the four cities encompassed unique traits and offered me new life perspectives. It’s crazy to think how people, cuisine, nightlife, and even laws vary so extremely from place to place.