What happens in Vegas...

Vegas is known for endless buffets, high stake gambling, extravagant shows, the Bellagio fountains, The Hangover, and crazy clubs. My Vegas trip, however, didn't involve much besides the clubs, drinks, and hangovers. Which means it was a perfect and hilarious vacation from school/work and the best way to celebrate us all finally being a legal age. 5 of us had planned a trip to Vegas the weekend of the final 21st birthday and we defintiely had a celebratory mindset going into the weekend.

We left on Friday around 3 after everyone got off from work, packed our bags (including an entire bag filled with drinks ranging from a birthday present bottle of Patron to hangover cures like Powerade), and started the road trip playlist. The drive is a short 5 hours, but we quickly changed our mind about waiting to get dinner in Vegas once we reached Barstow. After being stuck in the middle seat and with our phones dying, everyone was starting to get hungry and cramped. A quick stop at I' n' Out and one double double protien style burger later, and our group I was much peppier and we were back on the road.

As we pulled into Vegas, I attempted to take pictures of the strip from the car and got extremely excited for the weekend. We parked in the Venetian parking lot, and checked into our room. I have only been used to the Vagabond hotel by USC and budget hotels around Europe, so I was extremely impressed with the room. It was huge and perfect for five girls since it had two queen beds, large sofa bed and a huge bathroom to do make up in. Since I couldn't balance how badly I wanted photos and how embarrassed I was to be taking them, the photos aren't great.

It was already around 8pm and we were there to celebrate,  so we brought out our suitcase of beverages and set up our own little bar on the desk complete with a small bottle of patron (I don't normally touch tequila but I made a two shot exception this week). After a few drinks in our hotel room--we are college students on a budget after all--we headed down to the Venetian casino to try our luck at gambling. I intended to donate $20 to The Price is Right slot machines, but after my friend Andrea won $40 from a $1 bet and I had lost $7, I put an end to my high rolling ways. We walked around briefly before being approached by a club promoter and getting VIP tickets the hotel's club Tao and tickets for their day club.

After using our complimentary drink cards from check in, we headed in to Tao relatively early at 11 with no line or fee. Ends up being a group of 21 year old girls has it perks, and we made our way to the VIP area and were invited to drinks that included a massive bottle of Grey Goose--aka the best way to feel like you're living the luxurious life. From our spot we could see the whole club and it was crazy. From the girls in bikinis in glass boxes to the dancers in the bathtub with shell pasties literally three feet away from us, Tao definitely gave off the Vegas night club feel.

The night ended on the earlier side around 2:30 with some late night food of pizza tomatoes because apparently I am an extremely strange person. Don't worry, I fixed this issue and went for the pizza slice the next night/morning.

Going into Vegas I was excited, but didn't have any real expectations of what we would be doing, how the clubs would be, or even what the hotel would look like. The result: by the first night I was blown away by the extravagance of the clubs, how I wasn't spending a million dollars, and just how much fun we had from getting ready (stressful dress shopping the week before paid off) to dancing in the clubs. My worry that the next night wouldn't live up wasn't necessary either--we would be up to 5 am, seeing celebrities, and partying to Afrojack soon. 

A Night In Downtown LA

From working full time this summer to starting my senior year at school, I've been pretty busy. Although I've done many blog worthy things in the past few months (hello, Jay Z and Justin Timberlake concert), my night out in downtown LA was the weekend that finally prompted me to get my camera out again.

My roommate Madison had her friend Ashley from study abroad--both visited me in Prague this March--fly into LA, so we wanted to take her out. After a full day of work on Friday, we spent our time getting ready, picking out outfits, and having a drink before leaving. I was mostly excited because I finally got to wear my new Asos leotard I had been looking for an excuse to bust out, and borrowed Ashley's leather skirt to go with it. An all black outfit made me feel cooler than I actually am--which is always a sign of a good outfit.

We has reservations for dinner at a trendy restaurant downtown called Baco Mercat. It was our first time going, and we'd all heard the food was amazing. Our priorities were in the right place since we focused on picking and drinking a cocktail (Pimm's 408) before looking at the menu.

The waitress suggested to order the meal tapas style, and we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the dishes. We split everything between 5 people and the dishes were still big enough to go around (which cannot be said about the similar style restaurant by campus). Every single dish tasted amazing. Even food I don't usually enjoy like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower were incredible. It takes a lot for me to say I truly crave Brussels sprouts, but the "ceasar" brussels sprouts salad was one of the highlights of the meal. Along with the Brussels sprouts was a caramelized cauliflower dish, and we ordered two flatbreads to share. The first and table favorite was the bacon and egg flatbread with tomato, farmer's cheese, and pecorino. The dippy egg in the middle may have caused some fork wars as we all tried to attack it, but it was super delicious. The second flatbread was the carne picada with spiced beef,  yam, pine nut, and feta--also delicious but nothing could compare to the first. "Dessert"was a sugar snap and pear salad. It was warm and had cinnamon, goat cheese, and pomegranates seeds--I ended up pouring the remaining sauce into my spoon before we left.

Like most trendy LA restaurants, the lighting was terrible and my photography skills are rusty. So while my pictures are terrible, it was still a great meal and worth blogging about since this is essentially my journal that only I, Scott, and sometimes my Mom read.

Since our guest of honor is an English major, we grabbed a taxi and went a few blocks to the Library Bar. It's a small bar with large bookshelves and cocktails inspired and named after literary pieces. Although I ordered (a painfully strong) vodka soda, Madison's drink tasted delicious. After we fought our way onto a couch, we sat and hung out to waste some time before it was late enough to head to our next stop. We also managed to grab a few photos by the book case before heading out.

Less than a block away was The Standard- a swanky roof top bar that is surrounded by the downtown LA skyline. We waited in line and mingled until we got to the door. I think there is a $20 cover charge, but as a group of 5 college girls, we weren't asked to pay it (wee, perks!). Once inside the building you head up the elevator to the roof where the bar is set up. The whole place is incredible--lights and skyscrapers surround the building, the pool is lit up, and waterbed couches surround the upper deck of the roof. It was the perfect place to spend my first night out in downtown LA and to take an out of town visitor.

The best part about the swanky night is that it continued into our way back. Instead of taking a taxi, we ordered an Uber car to take us back to the house. The first time you sign up is a free ride for students and a chauffeured black SUV comes picks you up and takes you back home. It was such a fun night and definitely was the highlight of my week--although working 20 hours and taking classes Monday-Thursday didn't give it much competition. I'm already excited to visit a few other bars and restaurants downtown soon!

Last Day in Prague

My last day in Prague was a little surreal. Although I left on Friday, the morning before my flight was spent cleaning my apartment before turning in my keys. So, Thursday was my last full day in Prague, and I planned to spend the last few hours saying goodbye to my new home.

After volunteering at the kindergarten for the last time (and being given two bottles of becherovka as a thank you), I met up with my friend Diana to hang out for the day. Her apartment was having a goodbye lunch at Radost--the vegetarian restaurant-by-day and club-by-night spot we had spent many Thursday nights. I had a half of two different types of veggie burgers that were delicious and ordered my last Czech beer. Although not traditional Czech food, I had enjoyed pork knee with dumplings the night before at one of my favorite restaurants U Kroku with my friend Lauren and her family. Some of the best restaurants in Prague aren't traditional Czech food, so I felt like I was covering my bases before leaving.

After lunch, Diana and I headed to the nearest potraviny to pick up some souveniers and Czech goodies to take home. I bought four 50 ml bottles of beer (you're welcome dad), carmel wafers, and bagel chips to share back at home. After we sufficiently stocked up our suitcases, Diana and I headed from our apartments back downtown to do some last Prague adventures. Our first stop was the Waldenstien Gardens by Prague Castle. While we went to Prague Castle again a week ago, we had missed these gardens on our visit. The area was beautiful, but what we really came for was to find the albino peacock. After searching through the gardens, we got extremely lucky. Not only did we find him, but also managed to catch him with his feathers up long enough for us each to get the picture.



We had also hunted down some acrylic paint and paintbrushes, and set out to do one of the last things on our Prague To Do List's: painting the John Lennon Wall. Although I don't think either of us are the most artistic people, painting on the wall was really cathartic. It was fun and relaxing, and not to mention funny when a huge group of tourists spent about 15 minutes taking pictures of us. We took our time, and were both proud of our end products. I couldn't think of any better way of spending our last day in Prague. It was the perfect last "interaction" with the city that I've fallen in love with, and leaving my mark on the wall gave some closure to the end of my time living in Europe.


We stopped by Kampa park to take a photo with the Chrny babies by a man who recognized us as the painting girls before some of our last souvenir shopping. I grabbed some last gifts for my family, and picked up a key chain that has not left my car keys since I've been home. One last kolbasa for dinner in Old Town, and it was time to say goodbye.

After a whirlwind of packing, cleaning, and scrubbing that stupid spot on the floor in our bedroom, I suddenly found myself on the taxi to the airport. Even though I was really excited to see everyone at home, I found myself tearing up in the ride over. There's very few places in the world where you can drive by architecture ranging from Romanesque to Gothic to Rococo with a cab driver who has lived most of his life under communism, and I was going to miss it. Moving into my first apartment in a foreign country was hectic, but I wasn't sure I was ready to leave my cute little apartment with wood floors and big windows despite the loud family of pigeons living outside my room or the impossibly small and lacking kitchen. As I said one last dekuji to my driver, I was sad that it would be my last time practicing a foreign language in an immersive environment for a long time. Leaving felt surreal and I definitely felt like I wasn't done with Prague quite yet.

Although I inevitably have a few regrets--mainly not traveling around more in the Czech Republic--but I know that it is impossible to do everything. I met some great new friends that made the experience so much fun and having Scott in Europe made Prague feel like home since day one (seriously, a life saver--it was like having your best friend going through the exact same thing you were and an instant travel buddy). Studying abroad has been one of the best experiences of my life and has definitely awakened a need to travel more.

So I'll save myself from more corniness (embarrassing post but necessary in a "journal" aspect), and just say that Prague was the best place for me to be this past semester and I can not wait to make it back to the Czech Republic.

Split, Croatia

Our trip to Croatia began with a 6 am flight and 4:30 alarm clock. It was the weekend after 4 finals, 4 papers, and an oral Czech test. The night before we had stayed up past midnight saying good bye to roommates and friends knowing at the very least it would be a long time until we saw them again. After a 5 hour flight (connection in Dusseldorf, Germany), my two friends Diana and Katie and I were all ready to relax and not do too much of anything else.

We checked into our Airbnb apartment which had an excellent location but was mediocre in all other regards. We spent the day leisurely grocery shopping, looking at the open market, exploring Split, and deciding where to eat for dinner.

Tripadvisor lead us to Konoba Marjan.

Our only requirement for our dinner was that it had to be seafood since it's famous in Croatia, and this meal went above and beyond. The three of us shared the seafood platter and an order of mussels with garlic and wine sauce. We were the only people eating in the restaurant (it was only 5:00, but we had been up for a very long time), so the waiter explained that Croatian food is prepared very simply. All the fish is just rubbed with olive oil and salt and cooked fresh. The fish platter included a tuna steak, shrimp, mussels, and two types of fish. This meal alone was one of the highlights of our trip, and since seafood is my absolute favorite, I was in heaven.

 

Our apartment was directly next to Diocletian's Palace--a UNESCO world heritage site and ancient palace that a Roman emperor intended to retire in. It is filled with little shops so we spent some time walking around it and grabbing gelato when it was hot out.

To be honest, most of these first two days are a little bit of a blur. We took the relaxing and reflecting that study abroad was ending to heart, and besides exploring Split we just hung out. There also happened to be small tourism fair where we ended up getting free and delicious wine from a friendly Slovenian women. With the help of delicious Sommersby apple and pear ciders we drank whenever we got the chance, we walked around the island and indulged in our favorite souvenir shopping. We also made a little hike up to a look out point on Sunday, and later Diana and I went on a short run along the coast which felt pretty unreal. Staying in an apartment also made making a few homemade meals possible to try to save the last of our money (it was all of our last trip) and made tortellini, scrambled eggs, and other snacks through the four days.

On Monday, we planned to go to one of the islands off of Split. We headed down in the morning to get on a ferry to Hvar, but realized we had missed the only ride. We quickly decided to buy a ticket to Brac, and got a seat in the sun for the hour ride over. The first thing we did when we got off was walk straight to the beach area. On the way, we decided we wanted a quick lunch and grabbed some fast food along the path. One of my favorite things about Croatia was that "fast food" in this case meant a huge box full of fresh fried calamari and French fries. It was delicious and paired with two Somersby ciders and beach chairs from the beach, it was a very relaxing time.

There was no way we were leaving without swimming, so we braved the cold water and talked about how unbelievable it was that two weeks ago we were swimming off the Amalfi Coast and now we were swimming in the Adriatic Sea. The views were so spectacular and the water was unbelievably clear. We ended up having to grab phones and take a few pictures. Note: none of these pictures are mine--sadly my camera was out of battery this trip. While it was nice not having to worry about documenting anything, I definitely would make sure this never happened again. After achieving the beach day we all had wanted for so long, we slowly made our way back to the ferry while grabbing gelato and earrings (me) in the process. My new, pink Croatia towel quickly became one of my favorite and most useful souvenirs that day.

We kept the good day going by visiting our new favorite restaurant again that night. This time to get seafood pasta with pesto, shrimp, and mussels. We again were very satisfied and had another early night. That Monday and the next day would definitely be my favorite days of the trip.

We wanted to do something a little more adventurous on our last full day in Croatia, and a quick talk with the travel guide from a local travel agency(one of the friendliest and helpful people I met, and free!) led us to book a river rafting trip on the Cetina River the next morning. This was by far one of the best decisions we made and is one of my favorite memories abroad. At 9 am we were picked up by one of the guides and driven about an hour into the mountains and to a river bank. The drive in was absolutely beautiful--the ocean view, the trees, the mountain, the river and everything was breathtaking. It's one of the reasons why I would love to go back. Once we met our instructor we changed into spring wetsuits (we were warned that the water was really cold) and immediately got started. We were joined by two girls from Sweden, and like most big group of girls we immediately started all talking our mouths off. Meeting other people are age from different parts of the world is just one of the many reasons I'm glad that English is such a universal language. On that note, I had a really proud moment during the trip. Our guide explained that 6 months out of the year he traveled around the world and the other six months was spent guiding raft tours in Split. He talked about all the languages he knew, and asked us what languages we had studied. His face looked beyond shocked when I mentioned I had studied Spanish, Russian, and Czech. I made sure to clarify exactly how long these study periods had been and how little I could actually speak, but it was gratifying to hear him say he wouldn't have guessed that from an American. Just a little egotistical pat on the back for the blog, but, hey, it's my journal, so my stories. The rafting itself was really relaxing. Although it was supposed to be rated a 3, it was very mild, but fun.

The really exciting part came in the middle of the trip. Since it was off season (we couldn't even find a single bar), our instructor asked if we would be interested in doing something a little different than the usual routine. We all immediately said yes, and he explained that usually all passengers have to get off the boat and walk past the short but dangerous rapids in the river. He still couldn't take us through the rapids, but instead of walking around it we could swim and climb through a cave--which was behind a waterfall no less. His quick warning before he left to take the raft farther was to not fall of the mossy rock so we wouldn't get stuck in the rapids and swim towards his voice once he gives us the go-to.

I ended up being the first one to jump in and the water was freezing! I forgot what the actual temperature was, but I remember our guide kept joking that it was the perfect temperature for a pivo (beer) to be. Once out of the cave we climbed over the boulders to get back to our raft and continue down the river. That experience alone had us filled with adrenaline and loving life, but it got even better when we stopped to jump off some of the rocks and go swimming. By this time the water actually felt great, and we all had so much fun swimming around, trying to fight even this small current, and making ridiculous poses when we jumped off the rock. The guide had a camera and took a bunch of pictures throughout the 3.5 hour trip, and we had no problem splitting the cost for the CD between the two of us. Especially since there were some hilarious photos on there. Apparently, I was constantly getting caught by surprise...

After getting back to Split, the three of us kept recapping the day and did some aimless wandering around. We grabbed some more fried calamari and forced ourselves to eat the not chopped tentacles before deciding to sit out on the coastline and get a real meal. For dinner, I had a salad with tuna and we all stocked up on our last Somersby ciders of the trip (they are delicious and have the same alcohol content as beer, but are only available in select countries).

The next morning we made breakfast, I desperately drank my last cider at 9 in the morning (it would be a crime to have one go to waste), and got on the bus to the Split airport. That airport was the smallest one I've ever been in. It only had 5 gates and three airport stores, but that's all I needed to spend the last of my Croatian cash on some German chocolate. After a long layover in Vienna, we were finally back for our last days in Prague and Europe.

I absolutely loved Croatia. The first few days I was there, I was elated to be in Split, but I thought it was going to be one of those countries I just wouldn't ever end up coming back to. But exploring the Cetina River and the islands has made me wish I did more. I want to go hiking in all the national parks and see more of some of the most beautiful scenery of my life. The people were so nice (and it's a Slavic language!) and there's so much more I want to do. I would love to have another trip to Croatia and also visit neighbor countries like Montenegro and Slovenia. Although the first two days were spent sleeping off finals exhaustion and farewell emotional exhaustion, ideally Saturday and Sunday would have been more filled with activities. One thing I wish I did? Rent Vespas for the day at just 20 euros and explore! But this trip was beautiful, relaxing, and exciting all in one, and one my favorite trips. Croatia (and Slovenia), I'm coming back for you!