Praha | Prague | Praga | Prag

Praha, Česká Republika: 29 april-may 2; may 4-5

Since my arrival to Europe for the semester, I've been pretty smitten with the idea of traveling to eastern Europe and namely Prague, thanks to the enthusiastic raving of a certain Cameron Nelson and several online recommendations. Prague has always had this fairytale land appeal and I knew from the beginning that it was a pretty high priority on my Eurotrip bucket list. Well go ahead and scratch it of, because during my second spring break of the semester, I made the journey east!

Along with a handful of friends, we began our journey early in Sevilla, followed by a layover in Barca, and finally arrival to Prague! After finagling with the tram system and figuring out pieces of the mysterious Czech language, we managed to make it to our hostel (which was the BEST HOSTEL EVER--Art Hole Hostel, if you are in Prague stay there!) Friday was mostly recovery but we managed to cook up a delicious meal of roasted vegetables and pasta with garlic bread--seriously it was incredible (mostly because, if you haven't heard, my food situation here in Spain is continuing to plummet--it's pretty bad...). Then it was straight to bed (considering I happened to develop a pesky little cold, just my luck) followed by an early Saturday morning start to the Prague exploration.

We began our time in the city the completely sensible way...a free 3.5 hour walking tour! Also, fortunately for us, Prague still had all of the Easter Markets open--fantastic klobasa, desserts and more--and went spent time there before our tour started. Our Czech tour guide Filip (notice the F, no the Ph...he very importantly pointed this out to us), showed us all the main landmarks and attractions in Prague and included a great little history lesson to boot. We walked through Old Town and Wenceslas Squares, meandered around the Jewish Quarter, passed by the residences of Franz Kafka and even stopped for a break at BOHEMIA BAGEL. Honestly, the trip to the bagel shop was one of the highlights only because a) I'm addicted to bagels, b) I'm completely deprived of said bagels in Spain, c) I'm an addict. Anyways my hummus bagel (though not quite the same as Alpine's beloved Hummus is Among Us) hit the spot and we finished up the tour with a visit to a church that contains a human arm and a swing by the Charles Bridge area and the gorgeous river.

Next up: The John Lennon Wall and Love Locks.

I've always had a fascination with street art/graffiti and of course I'm in love with The Beatles, so the trip to this famous wall was a must. After a few misdirections, we finally found it and we each took our turn at signing the wall, and taking some rather cliche pictures (who cares). It reminded me a lot of the time I have spent tagging NC State's Free Expression Tunnel and was definitely a plus to the Prague trip. The Love Locks, though nothing extremely revolutionary, make for a really cute story and some unique photos, and were conveniently located right beside the wall! After the wall, we ventured up the Prague Castle, the obvious tour attraction of the city. Although the outside is very impressive, we weren't incredibly thrilled by the insides of the various exhibits, which consisted of a lot of empty rooms where you couldn't take pictures. It also might have just been that we were tired and it was raining. Regardless, I can add "visit to the Prague Castle" to my list!

...As well as a "visit to a bone church," check!

Kutná Hora, a small town about an hour away from Prague via train, is home to the legendary Kostnice Ossuary, or bone church. The structures and adornments in the interior of the chapel are literally constructed out of human bones--they were victims of the Bubonic Plague, actually. While it might seem a little creepy, I throughly enjoyed the visit, especially after learning the interesting facts about the chapel...soil from Golgotha was transported to the surrounding cemetery and the chandelier inside is constructed with every bone of the human body! Although figuring out the trains to get there was a complete nightmare, the trip was well worth it--I mean how many people can actually say they have been to such place?

With the exception of a mini trip to Berlin in the middle of our week (another blog post, don't you worry), we spent the majority of the rest of our time in Prague exploring the Jewish Quarter, including the Pinkhas Synagogue and the Old Jewish Cemetery, Petrin Hill and the roads along side the river and throwing back lots of Pilsner (I also managed to try a Raspberry beer one night a bar--GOOD life choice). We gorged ourselves on a total of 7 desserts in honor of Rebecca's 21st and I managed to consume TWO DELICIOUS sausages from street vendors. Complety worth the 50 koruny each time! On our last night, we made friends with a couple of cool German guys, an aspiring professor and a pilot in training, and spent dinner and drinks with them, talking and laughing a whole lot. In general, we also lucked out with the weather as well--it might have been a little chilly compared to the 85° temperatures we consistently have in Spain right now, but it only made the time spent in the city more magical. Because that is exactly how I see Prague--a lovely Eastern European haven straight from a fairy tale. Maybe its the castle or the red roofed buildings, the tradition or even the tumultuous past that draws me to it's "magical" feel, but I know for sure that I will be returning to the city. And hopefully sooner than later. Prague love! Below I've posted a few more shots from my lovely days in the city.

The end of the Way of St. James, Santiago de Compostela

After my week in the woods, I spent a few hours exploring Santiago de Compostela, the historic end of el Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, and a city that draws thousands of pilgrims every year, who have followed el Camino from all over Europe. It's the city full of historic character, unique gastronomy and the greenest hills in all of Spain; one of my favorite adventures thus far.

Bridge to Terabithia, Birthday Parties, Barney's Adventures; a week in the woods of Galicia, Spain

If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see

Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak

Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself

What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?

And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf

I'll come back to you someday, soon, myself

While the majority of my program spent Easter week, our first spring break, roaming the streets of London, Paris or Italy, I spent mine in the woods of northern Spain, cut off from technology and the bustle of life. I'll go ahead and say that it was probably one of the greatest weeks of my semester and the rejuvenation that I needed to push through the rest of the semester. Here's my recount of that wonderful week, full of nature exploring, new experiences, hard work and lots of reflection. I'll attempt to sum it all up, but I think that some of it was too wonderful to truly express.

As background, I registered with a website called Workaway, a website where hosts seek volunteers to help with a variety of work including organic farming, child care, house refurbishment and much more (big THANKS to Lisa Waller for the tip!) It is similar to WWOOFing, which is an organization of organic farms--in fact the project I did is listed on WWOOF as well, for those of you who may be avid wwoofers. The eco reserve I found is based around organic farming, although it is at a self-sustainable level rather than commerical. For just 18 euro, I've got a 2 year membership to find places to volunteer--and receive free food + accomodations in return! It is a pretty awesome deal I must say.

But let's begin my journey. Thursday, 10 pm, arrival in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia: I arrived at the airport in Galicia fairly late, but to my advantage, Barney, one of the people I spent the week with, had arranged to come pick me up in the car! We spent the 1.5 hour journey back to the village talking about lots of things, the history of the eco-project, my studies and my experiences in Spain so far, and the natural beauty of Galicia. Upon arrival to Valderrodas, it was straight to bed for me (but only after meeting wonderful Emma of course!), in my cozy and rustic room lit only by candlelight.

The reserve is in Verducido, a little village about 30 minutes from Pontevedra, the nearest city. It is an eco-community nestled in the Galician mountains, where the members raise their own livestock and grow their own produce, sharing it with the neighbors. Emma and Barney definitely embody the idea of living off the land, and it was such a welcoming and refreshing change of perspective. Everything about Valderrodas, the reserve, is organic and sustainable--from the natural spring irrigation system, the solar power electricity, the compost toilet :), the plant based fertilizer and the completely natural building materials and wood burning stoves. Currently, they are working on several projects including refurbishing many of the finca ruins (stone houses) for living, removing the invasive eucalyptus from the forest (to restore its natural tendencies), planting lots of vegetables, fruits and herbs for consumption and working on plans to make it an educational nature reserve for children. Currently they have space for about 15 volunteers, but I was the only one their during the week, which was just fine! It is clear that the ambition at Valderrodas is bounding, and I was quite fortunate to be a part of this, starting from day 1.

My enchantment with the eco-project and Galicia in general began that next day with breakfast and the following days' food--breakfast comprised of a delicious DIY museli and toast with peanut butter. Barney and Emma are vegans and the food is completely organic--and TO DIE FOR! From homemade guacamole and hummus, fresh salads with self-grown vegetables to jars upon jars of olives and gerkin pickles, I was eating like a queen for the week (no fried food!). We even had a dessert every day--lemon-coconut cake, rice pudding and ginger cakes topped it all off. I think that vegans sometimes get a rap for not having any "normal" food, and that's entirely false--spaghetti, fried rice and pasta salad are all pretty normal in my book. And with it all being organic, I felt the best I've felt all semester. But the food was just one part that made Galicia so wonderful.

Generally speaking, I often enjoy the chance to have a hand at some good old manual labor. And that is exactly what I did up in lovely little Verducido. A few days consisted of preparing several irrigation beds for planting tomatoes, squash, lettuce and much more. A few more were dedicated to ring barking or taking an axe to the invasive eucalyptus that still cover a good portion of the land (yes, I hacked away at a tree. and cut one down. champ!). We planted and composted, cleaned up a few of the fincas and got down and dirty--I think I was still covered in dirt about a week after I left. And although every morning I would wake counting how many more muscles I could not move easily, the hard work was incredibly refreshing, especially when I began to see the progress. There was always something to and that made working that much more enjoyable.

Hard workin'

Axing, I mean ring barking some trees

But it would be silly to do all work and have no time to play. My afternoons at first consisting of exploring the forests, which look like those from the children's novel Bridge to Terebithia, covered in ancient ruins and lush vegetation (that looks an awful lot like my lovely NC). I climbed to the tops of hills and stare out at the wonderful natural beauty, went swimming in a rather chilly, but beautiful river, hiked along the ancient stone path and explored the moss-covered finca ruins and even had the chance to attend a birthday party for a cute as can be one-year-old (where I ate delicious cakes and played with some of the best kids, making a perfect afternoon). I watched a fantastic documentary about a community garden in the heart of LA, met all of the locals and connected with Emma and Barney's friends, I talked about the state of my own countries politics, sustainable food and my passion with the growing Latino culture in NC with Pili and Isa (The Chicas) at the local bar and learned Egyptian belly dance moves from Laura. From sharing my passions and adventures with everyone I met to trying countless new things, I felt right at home in this rich community and was quite amazed by its liveliness. I watched some beautiful sunsets over the hills and will never get over the endless mountains teeming with vegetation. I journaled everyday and enjoyed the time to reflect, something I had not had much a chance to do so far this semester. Overall and most of all I lived life simply and fully, just the way it should be done.

Abdul, such an awesome kid

my favorite, Jamal

I could probably go on and on about my week, but honestly it has been hard to truly explain it to people--the impact was that immense. In a lot of ways, it draws a lot of parallels to my incredible experiences at Blue Ridge and I would be lying if I said I didn't think of the Mountain often during the week. Physically speaking, it looks so much like the mountains of North Carolina, but also the genuine people I spent time with made it feel like I was at my mountain home. I've got about 15 pages of journaling (in Spanish mind you!) to remind me of the week, a few hundred photos, but mostly rich memories of some the most inspiring conversations to date. Considering that I've got quite the gift of gab, I think that that week's discussions will be treasured for some time to come.

the magical forest...

sunsets are always the best