First off, let me warn you that this is probably going to be a huge post since I'm composing two trips within a span of 12 days. I wont do a day-to-day account because I can hardly remember, but maybe the highlights, surprises, let downs, high ups.
Prague
When I left Lyon on my Christmas vacation journey I had mixed feelings. I originally planned to tour europe with my best friend, but due to financial reasons, I was left without a plan, and therefore extremely scared of what would happen on my trip. Luckily, a high school friend joined in my Czech trip, so I didn't suffer the extremes of loneliness on a holiday that demands friends and family (I'm talking about Christmas, fyi). I didn't know much about Prague but two things attracted me to the idea of going: 1) the fantastic exchange rates (even for the U.S dollar! that's like wow!), and 2) the fact that 9 people recommended it to me. I tried to learn Czech phrases, because I think it's important that when you go to a country where English is not the first language, it's culturally-respectful to try and learn how to say basic things in the native tongue. However, after practicing for two days, I realized that to learn any Slavic language from an English speaking background is impossible. I mean, how in the world do you pronounce this: Promiňte, jak zjistím? Anyways, I digress!
A major fear of mine was that the country would lack any sort of diversity, and as an American of mixed race heritage, I desperately needed or wanted to see people like me or at least see that some minorities are present. I researched previously if it was safe for minorities to go to regions such as Czech Republic and compared to Russia and Estonia, it was deemed safe for someone like me to visit. Still, despite the praises of Prague, I still was uneasy and since I'd be alone for roughly a day without my American compadre, I let my imagination run wild with thoughts of kidnappings, an introduction to the sex slave trade, drug trafficking, the like.
Interesting note:
While on the plane to my rather cold destination, I eavesdropped on a Czech woman talking to a french man. I could've easily talked to the two people by me, who were Italian and spoke English, but they were older, and I hate small talk above anything else. The french man asked the Czech girl (we'll call her Anna, since it'll be too tiring to say Czech girl everytime) if she was working or studying in France since she left from Lyon's International Airport, she commented that she studied, but that her classes were in English. Then the man became quiet, probably wondering why she chose France to study if she was going to have her courses in English, and asked her if she liked Lyon. She commented "Not Really" and something along the lines of hating french food. I'm bold, but I'm never that bold, and I remember pressing my forehead against the window of the plane, wishing that I could temporarily exit the aircraft to avoid the tension. The man seemed rather calm, despite the fact that she refused to speak French, hated the food, and thought that everything in Czech Republic was far superior. And, the psychology major in me, or perhaps the active imaginative adult in me, thought that he was either a rational being who didn't let differing opinions upset him, or that he was interested in her. I had a question about buses and the currency exchange that I thought she could answer rather than some non-local, and yet, about 2 minutes before landing, she said something that I found appalling. To keep it short, it was basically along the lines of stating that if one was a woman, she automatically had to be materialistic and had to love shopping (for anyone who doesn't know it, I hate shopping and I'm like 99.9% sure, I'm a woman). After that statement, I felt even more alienated on this plane filled with Europeans. However, with her commentary about France, it pushed me to try and get out of my comfort zone and speak more French rather than force people to try and speak to me in my maternal language.
Temperature:
When I picked up my luggage and exited the airport, I imagined it would've been much colder, but for a few minutes it was fine, even comfortable. However, when I had to take a metro after the airport bus shuttle, I felt the European winter full force. Honestly, it really made me want to find a large fat man, and steal part of his fat for warmth. I was born basically at the end of the Cold War (1990) so I have no recollection of what the Soviet Union would look like during those decades, yet traveling to the center of town was like watching an old James Bond film-the streets were dreary, isolated, empty, cold and the tram that I took had about 5 seats in cars that could easily fit 20 more. What I'm trying to say is that I was scared up until the time I got off tram 20 in the Old Center. I had a few moments when I wanted to go back to the airport when three men I asked directions to didn't speak English and looked a bit dazed and/or intoxicated.
During my stay overall, the people were amazing, even if they couldn't speak English well, -and I met a handful, who thought they could but were just reading letters off of a paper and not understanding their meaning- they would always take time out of their way to walk me to where I needed to go or ask someone else to help me. I got stares from time to time, but they weren't the "What are YOU doing here?" stare or the "You'll make me money" stare, which is always a plus. Once I got into my hostel, I thought I was somewhere else completely. Not only was it not arctic-snow yetti- cold, but it was practically a hotel! Everything was spotlessly clean, and the decorator seemed to love marble since it was all over the place. The only bad news is that it wasn't for interaction. You went there for peace and quiet and even if you saw others in your room/in the hostel, you'd say hi and move on. There was about a 0% fun atmosphere, but for 65 euros for 5 nights in a private room that in any other country 65 euros would've been the rate for a night, you honestly couldn't complain. Thankfully I met my friend the next day!
We did things that were tourist-y and yet not. I'll tell you right now that I'm not a big tourist. Maybe i'll go on a tour once in a while and find national recognized buildings, but I hate crowds so I'll try and fit in with the locals at bars, dance clubs, or eateries. and the main principle I live by is cost effectiveness. If i can pay like 10 euros for something amazingly fun compared to something that costs 60 euros and is something that is mindnumbingly rigid in structure, well, you can guess which option I'd choose.
So basically the highlights of the trip were going to a torture museum, going dancing until 5 am with amazing people from around the world, and going ice skating -not to mention eating to my heart's content.
For the torture museum, the instruments and descriptions below them were enough to make your skin crawl and your heart beat race. Iron maidens and cat paws were just a few of the items to be seen in the various rooms. The dim lighting, the fact that it was in a basement level, and the creeky floor boards made you look over your shoulder even though you knew that you were in a museum where it's likely that there are other history-lovers/sadomasochistic people roaming around and probably not government/religious fanatics trying to persecute you. What detracted from the museum was the horribly-almost cheesy- looking dummies that they created for some of the devices and the poor voice recordings of men screaming. The owner/proprietor of the museum apparently doesn't give his/her viewers enough credit. I didn't need a dummy's foot being suspended above a melting cauldron to imagine the pain that the unlucky person being interrogated must be experiencing. And, I'm sure I scared a few people when I laughed everytime I heard the audio screams -truly, they were horrendous. Furthermore, although it was only 5 or so euros with my student i.d card, the museum was way too small! It consisted of three rooms, none of them significant in size! so beware if you go there!
Clubbing:
I went to the 5 level Karlovy Lazne club which is the biggest in all of Central Europe. The first floor was mainstream music dominated by American hits, the second and third level consisted of some weird trance/techno that I avoided like the plague, and the fourth and fifth were period/decade floors (the fifth being limited to Oldies, so 50's/60s). I stayed mainly on the first and 5th floor and challenged some go go dancer. The crowd ranged from 18 year olds to people in their 40s and yet, it just worked. I felt like only at this club could I meet literally anyone from every country on the globe. I saw a hilarious battle between a tall German man -who later took me ice skating on Christmas day!-and a Czech cowboy; I avoided being probably bethrothed to a large Russian man, who somehow convinced the entire room to take pictures of my plight rather than help me when I pleaded for help (thanks jerks!!); saw my first gay skinhead, and met an amazing duo of New Yorkers, who will hopefully cross my path one day to have another epic night of partying! In addition, kudos to the other guys that I met at the club, who danced with me and partook in the awesome limbo and conga line formations! If you ever go, try and check out level 3, there's a fog machine that somehow is set up against a projecter so you can see images moving along the fog. It's so simple, yet so impressive!
+, for those that like dancing, the music selections of Prague are second to none. Everywhere I went, from tourist-y shop to restaurant to club, it was filled with dance-able, head-bopping music!
Ice Skating:
When I went with my friend to meet up with this German guy and his Czech friend, my biggest fear was falling on the ice and someone slicing off my fingers with the blades from their skates. I mean, everyone thinks of that, right? I spent about two hours, grabbing onto poor Martin's fingers (German guy), and wishing that the children around me (which were bred for winter olympic sports and aptly named missiles for their ability to skate extremely fast and aim for scared targets such as myself). Luckily, I didn't fall and I even tried to skate backwards! I know, I'm pretty much ready to challenge Michelle Kwan in figure skating! After ice skating, we all went out for some caloric-heavy food (potatoes and meat!) and Pilsner Urquell-which is one of the best beers in the world, from what I've been told.
Overall, I was amazed at my time in Prague with the amazing food delicacies, the niceness of the people, and the ability to immerse myself into the local culture. When I go back one day, I will make it a must to go to the Castle and the various different districts!
fun facts: There's a little bookshop called Shakespeare located by the Charles bridge, which had a lot of interesting gems that I wanted to buy. And by gems, I don't mean jewels, but books! There was one, the biography of Adolf Hitler (roughly 1000 pages) that was so intriguing that if I had the money and didn't mind carrying it in my suitcase, I would've bought. Another was called Monsieur Crocodile which I regret not buying because it's french humor at its finest! And of course, a french-english idiomatic phrase book! :)
I wanted to know why it was called Czech Republic since I grew up calling it Czechoslovakia and thought it interesting that they decided to split into Czech Republic and Slovakia due to cultural, political, and economic differences. I'm also not ashamed to say that I had no idea that they consisted of two groups Czechs and Slovaks. It's amazing how you learn something new everyday!
Portugal
I chose Portugal because I wanted a warm place to go to during the winter season, since I despise the cold and I was told that not a lot of people spoke English in Spain -which is fine, but I know absolutely no Spanish and the spanish I do know, wouldn't even hold up to Mexican standards. Previously, I had no intention on going to Portugal, but the weather is what allured me, and I'm so thankful I went! It wasn't as warm as I thought, and in fact, for most of the time I was in my hostel, I felt like I was going to die of frostbite. I think it was the fact that the hostel was within the train station (weird, I know!), a train station that happened to be a royal palace prior to it being sold to the government, which was made out of stone. However, what made up for that (and really, I think everyone else were fine, but as a Californian, it was arctic), was the Portuguese lifestyle. Everyone was so amazingly nice, and it was impressive to hear someone speak portuguese, french, italian, english, and spanish to tourists that were in need of recommendations or help.
I went on a walking tour, ate portuguese pastries, drank brazilian cocktails called caipirinha, ate a lot of cod, and danced the nights away, meeting really amazing people along the way!
The Walking Tour:
The walking tour was amazing because it was led by a local, who was around the same age as everyone in the group. She included the history of Portugal from pre-18th century to modern times and talked about the political atmosphere as well as the ethnic and cultural influences that still exist in Lisbon today. Interesting facts include the stories about the great 1755 earthquake that almost destroyed all of Lisbon, and created a huge tsunami, which in turn was accompanied by several fires around the city. In addition, that the king of Portugal Joseph I and his family were saved from this catastrophe when they decided to spend a day out of the city, and upon hearing about the damage from the earthquake vowed to never live in a house again and lived the remainder of his days living in a very large tent within the hills.
Portuguese pastries:
Unfortunately, I can't tell you the names of the pastries because I couldn't pronounce them nor did I try to write them down. But pointing to them worked in all the pastelarias I went to -which were quite a lot. I ate this one croissant-thin which reminded me of a pain au chocolat (bread with chocolate) but it had fudge in the middle and on top. Then I had this large ball with sugar, and various custards and apple pie renditions. If you're in the Lisbon area and are familiar with Bario Alto, on the way to that area, there are amazing pastry shops! And although I wasn't able to make it to Belem (where all the portuguese and foreigners go for Pasteis de Belem, and the recipes of their pastries dates back to the 17th century by Monks), I was told it's a must-go place!
Caipirinha and bars!
I had some of the craziest nights in Bairro Alto, meeting everyone under the sun from an amazing group of Italians that must fulfill the exchange we agreed on, to french tourists who introduced me to the brazillian drink Caipirinha, to a german-spanish guy who had a wonderful perspective about life and relationships, to the local portuguese, and of course the amazing brazillians! If you love going out at night and meeting locals or foreigners, it's like the hottest place to be! And, if you're a fan of latino beats, pop hits, old rock songs, live performances, reggae and/or reggaeton, then this district might become your second home!
My New Years in Lisbon was a blast! I went with an organized party at my hostel to a bbq (which is how every New Years Eve should start off with!), to a club, and then to another club where tequila sunrises are more like 'Let's just put 90% tequila and an ounce of orange juice'-sunrise. I didn't know anyone really well, but it was so easy to walk up to groups of strangers, share a glass of champagne and yell Happy New Years or as the Portuguese say, Feliz Ano Novo!
If you decide to go to Lisbon and a big fan of hostels, you should check out the rossio hostel. Everyone who worked there were so nice and gave me great tips, if not advice that I can apply later in life!
Great things about my trip:
-received flowers from my first Portuguese friend
-was given this michael jackson-like hat from a Hawaiin, who could dance like no other! It was fantastic dancing with a professional dancer
-given some weird Puss n Boots toy from a brazillian guy who was drunk or on something else.
:)
For more pictures/videos of my trip check out my facebook, for questions about crazy stories, just ask! I'm not a blogger as can be seen by the fact that each post I make is separated by months/weeks of inactivity.
and we're all hardcore Star Trek fans.....but without asthma and social awkwardness. (Level up!). So, combined with absolutely geekdom, we decided that playing snowboarding video games -btw, did you guys know there's a shaun white snowboarding game, that's hilarious, just saying- and LSD-inspired car racing video games just wasn't enough. We HAD to eat Supcakes with redbull (my first energy drink in 8 years! asdkf;eweo......sorry!) and watch Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country -I couldn't really tell you what it's about since we had to discuss why Connor had to watch Enterprise and TOS....something about klingons....That proceeded to me asking Connor about his dreams -which are mega lame...in my professional psychiatric opinion ;). And during that 10 hour adventure of being a nerdy girl, I realized that I was a major fat ass, with 95% of my meals consisting of cupcakes and energy drinks... Take that Sally Struthers love child with Rosie O'Donnell. 
your face if you saw mine: 
