After Fall Break!

I got home from fall break this week, and I had the best time of my life. I went to Dublin, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest. Here are a few highlights from the trip!

DUBLIN:
1. Making friends with an authentic Irishman named Gerard. He took us to an amazing reggae bar named the Foggy Dew. The Reggae scene in Dublin is very popular.
2. Going to the famous Temple Bar!
3. Seeing the Glendalough and Wicklow mountains
4. Pouring a pint of Guinness for myself
5. Meeting a tour guide named Tommy. He is an 80 year old ex-union worker and made my boyfriend push his tourbus in Dublin when it stopped running.
6. Later in the tour, we had to push another man's car out of a ditch. What are the chances of pushing 2 cars in 1 day?

Countryside of Ireland

Pouring myself a pint at the Guinness Factory

Tommy is the one in the blue jacket. That's everyone pushing the car out of the ditch. 

BERLIN:
1. Seeing the Berlin Wall
2. Finding out that Hitler's death spot is a parking lot, and his office has been turned into a chinese restaurant.
3. Going to the Absinthe Depot (the place looks like it belongs in the 1920's)
4. Eating Currywurst - Berlin's signature dish. It is just sausage with curry on it. (Legend has it that a woman spilled curry into her sausages by accident. It just happened to be a hit with the family she was feeding it to.)
5. Vintage shopping! Berlin has amazing second hand stores.
6. Seeing the AMAZING street art around the city.

Touching the Berlin Wall

Street art in Berlin

Currywurst!

PRAGUE:
1. Taking late night walks across the Charles Tower Bridge (absolutely breathtaking)
2. Eating "Old Prague Ham" and drinking hot wine in Old Town Square
3. Seeing a church made COMPLETELY out of human bones. The idea behind this is to remind the churchgoers that your body is just bones after death, but your soul lasts forever.
4. Playing with marionettes (Prague is known for them)
5. Seeing the castle

6. Making friends with my hostel's cat, Wifi
7. Seeing the John Lennon Wall

My Santa Marionette

Wifi the cat. 

BUDAPEST:
1. Making new friends - a Belgian couple named Flora and Sebastian. They're visiting me in New York this February!
2. Going to the baths of Budapest. There are literally 20 baths in one big building and a large thermal bath outside. It was freezing running in your bathing suit in the cold to get to the bath but SO worth it once you got in.
3. Eating Hungarian food. My favorite was the sour cabbage :)
4. Going to the top of Castle Hill (amazing view)
5. Going to a "ruin bar". There are bars in Budapest that are in dilapidating buildings. I went to one called Szempla - it has amazing art instillations in the bar and you sit in bathtubs instead of seats!

At Szempla, with our new friends

At the outdoor Szechenyi Baths in Budapest!

Sitting in a bathtub seat at Szempla

The top of Castle Hill

The Szechenyi Baths in daylight

For those of you who would want to take a similar trip...here is my itinerary!

Dublin (2 days)
Stayed at: The Ashfield House. Great location, friendly staff, free breakfast, wifi!
Got there by: Ryanair flight
Attractions: Saw the countryside, Guinness factory, Temple Bar, Trinity College

Berlin (2 days)
Stayed at: EastSeven Berlin. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ! Beautiful rooms, free walking tours, free coffee, huge kitchen to cook in, amazing location.
Got there by: Aer Lingus flight
Attractions: Berlin Wall, Absinthe Depot, Humboldt University, the Holocaust Memorial, Check Point Charlie, the bears at Kolischner Park

Prague (2 days)
Stayed at: The Charles Bridge Economic Hostel. ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The staff is incredibly friendly and make you coffee upon arrival. Free coffee throughout visit, wifi, gorgeous clean rooms, and the location is unbeatable. It is practically located on the Charles Tower Bridge!
Got there by: Bahn train
Attractions: Charles Tower Bridge, John Lennon Wall, Kafka museum, Old Town Square, Astronomical Clock, Bone Church

Budapest (2 days)
Stayed at: The Lavender Circus Hostel. Clean rooms and friendly staff. Located across the street from the National Museum, so centrally located.
Got there by: Orangeways bus
Attractions: Jewish Quarter, Baths, Castle, Parliament, the Central Market Hall, the ruin bars