Adventures in Berlin and Prague

Since leaving the south I've been keeping myself busy and also adjusting to the climate change. It went from 75 and sunny to 30 and cloudy in Berlin. Go figure, I ended up feeling sick as soon as I got off the plane. The following days I slept while my friends went out and discovered the city. Bogus. After some much needed rest I finally got out to see Berlin on a free tour led by a guy who used to give them in Munich. I saw the Brandenburg Gate and some other historical sights. I don't remember much considering I was in a heavy cold-medicine haze. Feeling much better the following days I got out of the room and made some friends. I met up with Liam and Nathan, two Aussie guys that my classmate Brittany met in Spain. I also hung out with some other Aussies and some Canadians and we had a really good time. I went with Brittany to see the Berlin Wall and some local alternative street art. That was incredible. I can't even describe it. Alex met up with us later in the week. More fun/ chaos ensued.

The three of us left for Prague with the addition of our Aussie friend Nathan... he had some complications with his passport and Liam had to go to Dubai without him. We reached the trainstation late in the evening and got hassled by someone trying to convert our Euros into Czech Koruna. This is obviously a scam so we walked away as fast as we could. The night got better when we ate our Thanksgiving feast. Even though we couldn't have turkey and the usual fixings, we had stir fry, mashed potatoes, green beans, meat, cheese, bread and wine. It was incredible. The Aussies were SO excited to be experiencing American Thanksgiving.

We also did a really cool pub crawl and went and saw the Castle in Prague. Apparently it's the largest in Europe.

It was SO hard saying goodbye to our Aussie friends. The last day we spent under a historical bridge eating sausages and drinking beer saying our goodbyes. I just hope it's not the last time I get to see them.

Leaving Munich and adventures in Italy

Leaving was extremely difficult. My coworkers became like a second family. My boss Dr. Peters even bought me going away presents. On the second to last day I walked my neighborhood streets one last time and said my goodbyes. I'm certain that I will be going back if not maybe living there (when I'm rich).

I arrived in Levanto Italy on the 6th and was greeted by my classmates as soon as I got off the train. The train ride was pure evil. The devil. 12 hours is far too long to be sitting with complete strangers and doing nothing. At least I got to sleep for a couple of hours. Anyway, Levanto was amazing. We were right on the beach and spent almost all of our time picking rocks and walking up to our knees in the water. The place is gorgeous. Being there also reminded me what it is like to be around people. In Munich I was more or less by myself and being with a group of almost 20 people was legitimately overwhelming.

Since then, I've been in Rome with my friends in the class. We've had so much fun, definitely too much fun. On the first day we went into Vatican City which is beyond words. We ended up getting ambushed by this sketchy lady offering to take us in to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel without waiting in the lines. We were nervous about this for sure. One of the rules for travelling abroad is to never trust someone who approaches YOU. If you approach them then it's generally safe. Regardless, the sketch lady took us to the best pizza place in Vatican City and then we were off on the tour. It turned out to be the best tour I've ever been on. We saw the gardens and sculptures surrounding the Vatican, went through the Sistine Chapel (breathtaking) and ended in front of the line for the Vatican. We walked right in without ever having to wait. We walked the entire thing from top to bottom. Literally. The basement was filled with the tombs of the first popes and we climbed 300 stairs to get to the very top. It was insane.

Today we took a stroll to the colloseum and rode a tour bus through the city. The ruins in Rome are mind-blowing.

Pizza is good, pasta is fantastic, I can actually somewhat sort of enjoy red wine now... kind of.

All for now!
Ciao!