So this is goodbye?

Well, I am officially back in New Jersey so I guess this is goodbye. I could talk about what an amazing and life changing experience this was and how I grew as a person and sound as cliche as a Study Abroad pamphlet. So rather than be a redundant bore, I’m going to talk about how delicious the food is in Europe.

I actually tried snails! They were surprisingly minty and gross.

Spanish Tortilla with salmorejo (creamy tomato soup)

First, I’d like to thank my incredible host mother because home is where I had the best meals. She even taught me how to cook a few of my favorites, like Tortilla Española.

Churros and Chocolate: possibly the best thing to ever exist.

Those who study abroad and have the option of a host family should definitely do it, without my homestay, I would not have been exposed to the delicious cuisine of Spain without breaking the bank.

Patatas Bravas 🙂

Pancakes from a very american brunch place in Spain

In Spain, the majority of the food was deliciously fried or very meat heavy. Ham and cheese croquettes was one of my favorite meals. The seafood in Spain is also beyond amazing (before going there I did not eat fish…that changed quickly upon arrival!), cod fish, shrimp, and other shell fish are popular.

Ham and cheese croquettes.

Don’t be surprised either if you find all your meals lacking in vegetables. Coming from a home where I ate raw veggies on the daily, it was hardest to get used to having all of my veggies cooked in oil or fried. Bread is another staple at every meal. My host mother would buy bread from the bakery basically every other day and we would eat it with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Pirinono (a cinnamon-bun like dessert from Granada)

Spanish coffee is better than Starbucks. But then again, any coffee is better than Starbucks.

Another main difference between Spanish and American cuisine is the hour at which food is eaten. In Spain, I would eat breakfast, then snack, then lunch at around 3pm, then another snack, and dinner was early at anywhere between 9 and 10pm.

I found the best cake place in Sevilla (its near Plaza Nueva!)

Cookies from Madrid

Besides just eating in Spain, I tried foods from eleven countries total: France, Holland, England, Morocco, Portugal, Czech Republic, Scotland, Belgium, Germany, and Hungary.

  Sausage and potatoes in Budapest.

Dutch cheese

Currywurst in Germany

Beef in Hungary!

Trying local cuisine was one of my favorite aspects of traveling but that is just because I’m an incredible foodie. 

Fancy grilled cheese in Paris

French Croissant

Anyways, I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone (AKA my grandma) for reading about and keeping up with my semester in Spain.

Belgian Waffle

Adios! 

Coffee

Fancy Iced Coffee

More Coffee

French Coffee

Coffee from an eastern european country (I forget which one)

Spanish Coffee….Again

I’m not the only one who drinks coffee!

Be(a)rlin, Budapest, Prague, London

I was so busy traveling these past two weeks that I couldn’t update this page, so rather than go into detail about each individual place, here are lots of pictures with the highlights!

BERLIN

Vicky and I arrived late at night and after many struggles with the public transportation system we finally arrived to our airbnb. The next morning we went to the East Side Galleries which is the Berlin Wall, this was actually my favorite part of Berlin since it is so beautiful and historical at the same time.

After a lunch of currywurst, we headed over to Checkpoint Charlie, the Topography of Terror museum (about the Nazis and World War II), the Holocaust Memorial, and the Brandenburg Gate.

The next day, we went to the top of the Television Tower which was very crowded but the view was worth it. Then we spent the rest of the day walking around the Friedrichshain are of Berlin which is very cute and “trendy”.

The memorial for the Jews murdered in the Holocaust

It was really interesting to see the East and West sides of Berlin now, knowing that they were so different only thirty years ago.

Sight of the Nazi book burning

Also, Berlin has excellent chai lattes, its this brand called David Rio which is actually from California but they have it in every single cafe throughout this city!

BUDAPEST

Fisherman’s Bastion

This was one of my favorite cities that I’ve visited on my travels. I thought Budapest was extremely beautiful, interesting, and I actually ended up learning a lot about World War II and Hungarian history. It was supposed to rain our entire stay, so right when we arrived we hit all of the main outdoor sights while we still had sun. We saw Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church, and the Hungarian Parliament building during the daytime. While the sun was setting we got lost in Buda Castle (we couldnt find the castle for hours until we realized the whole time we were actually inside it!). Pretty much, we spent the afternoon and evening walking around Castle Hill and looking at the amazing view of the city. Then at night, we walked back towards the Parliament building to see it all lit up.

The next day we woke up to sunny skies again and walked across one of the Budapest’s bridges to go to their famous thermal bathes called Gellert. The process of buying our tickets and finding the baths was kind of overwhelming but once we were in the different pools it was quite relaxing. Afterwards, toured a church in a cave and walked up to Margaret Island. Since Gellert didnt have any openings for massages that day, we attempted to find another thermal bath place that did but that ended unsuccessfully. Later that night, we went on a cruise down the Danube river and got to see both Buda and Pest (yes, the city is divided into two halves- Buda and Pest).

Hungarian Parliament Building

On Friday we woke up to an overcast sky but with no signs of rain, so we explored more of the Pest side and ended up walking to Heroes Square where there was a food festival going on as well.

Heroes’ Square

We also visited two museums, Hospital in the Rock, and House of Terror. Both were extremely informative and my two favorite museums of the entire trip. Hospital in the Rock is a ex-hospital in a cave used during World War II and it was later a nuclear bunker during the Cold War. House of Terror is a museum located inside the house that was the Nazi headquarters and later the Soviet headquarters in Hungary.

View from one of the many bridges.

On Saturday morning, we woke up and got brunch at the New York Cafe which is a super classy and fancy restaurant in a hotel near our airbnb. Then we got on a fifteen row propellor airplane and took off towards Prague.

PRAGUE

The tiniest plane I’ve ever been on!

If cities were amusement parks, Prague would be Disneyland. The streets and buildings were absolutely adorable and everywhere we walked there were street musicians and vendors.

Old Town Square

We had four days in Prague, so we were able to relax a little bit more and take our time seeing the sights. We went to the top of the clock tower, saw Olde Town Square and walked over the river via Charles Bridge. We saw the Prague Castle and ate many Chimney Cakes, chocolate, and gelato. We visited the John Lennon Wall which I have absolutely no idea why it is in Prague, but either way it is very pretty.

John Lennon Wall

One of my favorite things to do in Prague was take a peddle boat out on the river. It was so peaceful and beautiful at the same time.

We also went to the Kafka museum and the Film Special Effects museum, both were very interesting.

LONDON

London is Vicky’s city, which made it so special and exciting to see. Our flight out of Prague was delayed by two hours so we ended up having to take the double decker night bus back to her college campus (I was staying in her dorm). It was quite an experience since the last time I rode on a double decker bus I was five years old.

Big Ben

The next morning we got a semi early start and headed out to Central London where we did many of the “touristy” things such as seeing Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and of course, taking the classes phone booth photo. We even stopped for a classy afternoon tea for two!

Buckingham Palace

We also walked around Shoreditch, a much more hip part of the city that is filled with cute book stores, art studios, and coffee shops.

I loved getting a personal tour of London and despite the cold weather I really did fall in love with the city!