Vienna, Graz, Prague and Budapest

Hellooo fellow readers, I have just returned from an amazing two week vacation traveling around eastern Europe. I just got back a day ago and I slept for about 24 hours, so now that I'm feeling like a human again I thought I would update everyone on my trip. Lets see, first stop was Vienna. We arrived on Christmas eve and we scoured the city for an open place to eat/ a place to eat that didn't cost 40 euros a head for christmas eve dinner. We did find a place in Karlsplatz which is the very center of Vienna. Then headed back to the hostel (which was the best hostel ever) The hostel bar was open that night so we did find something to do with the several drink tickets the staff gave us upon arrival. The next day was Christmas day and we went to one of the markets where they had all kinds of food and handmade things that people were selling.

The next day in Vienna we discovered that everything was pretty much closed except for the amusement park that has the oldest ferris wheel in the world.

 The next day we had to leave later in the day but we were able to walk around the city for a few hours and we checked out the Belvedere which houses some famous art. When we went, I think they were shooting a movie or something there because one side was all lit up with stage lights.

Then we took the train to Graz, a smaller city in Austria. We arrived late at night and took a cab to our hostel which was in a not so nice area of the city. The hostel was eerie and we were in the basement and I'm pretty sure we were the only ones staying there that night. At least it was clean. The next morning we got up and met up with Amy and walked around the city. We also went to a photography exhibit that was in this really cool looking museum called "the friendly alien".
NEXT STOP: Prague!
We took the 8 hour train ride to Prague

Prague was my favorite city out of all of them. The architecture was amazing, such a beautiful city. The nightlife was really fun. It was the perfect place to ring in the new year. The first night when we got there we decided to do a pub crawl and that was really fun. We ended up at the biggest nightclub in central Europe. The next day we got up and walked around the city and we went to visit the famous John Lennon wall.

The artwork on the wall was awesome and it was cool just reading all the stuff people had written on there. We added our own little something to it. 

Here's another picture of Prague that I took from the bridge. So PRETTY!

So we were in Prague for four days and then we took the train over to Budapest. 

Budapest, for those of you who don't know, is actually two cities Buda and Pest that are separated by the Danube river and accesible by bridges.  Our hostel was located right near one of the bridges. The hostel was really nice and in a great location. Budapest was also a gorgeous city and we took a night boat tour around the river to snap some shots since the weather wasn't all that good. We spent four days also in Budapest and we saw an opera (La Boheme). 

I don't have any pictures of the opera house but my friends do and it will be included in an album with about 150 more pictures of the trip. 

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a very happy new years!

Feliz Navidad!

I'm starting my Christmas adventures today. I have to head to Granada tonight so I can get the bus early tomorrow to the airport and then its Granada --> Barcelona, Barcelona --> Vienna. Were staying a few days in Vienna then heading to a smaller college town in Austria called Graz. Then taking the 8 hour train ride to Prague for New Years and then Budapest and then back to Vienna to fly back January 6th. I'm very excited although its definitely weird not being with family.
Also, today I had to dress up as Santa at school, I wasn't fooling anyone except the three year olds. I think about 30% of the kids started crying at the woman covered in black paint because she was supposed to be the black wiseman, pretty hilarious/a tad racist.  Anyways the kids put on a little play and sang a song. I have videos that I will upload later. But for now here is a picture....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Bringing back the nose ring

Today I decided that I missed my nose ring that I had so I went to go get it re-pierced. Definitely a different experience that getting piercings done at home. Not to say that it wasn't a clean place but when I pointed out the ring I wanted, instead of getting one in a sealed plastic bag, she just pulled it out of the box with her hand. The piercer did disinfect it but I was a little bit sketched out. At the end they just handed me a sheet of what to do to clean it, they didn't give me any stuff to clean it with but my roommates told me I could go to a pharmacy and pick up the spray. It was an experience but here it is!

Malaga

This weekend and friend and I took off to Malaga for two nights. We stayed in this great hostel right down by the beach and luckily it was t-shirt weather so we took advantage. I definitely want to go back once its real beach weather. We ended up meeting 2 Australians and hung out with them for most of the time.  We walked around the city for a while and last night we found a bar that was playing the Barcelona vs Real Madrid game. Barcelona won 3-1! Over all it was a great trip but I only have a few pictures due to complications with the memory card on my camera.

Puente #1

So this week I've had already five days off, I had work today, and then I have another four days off. I literally don't know what to do with myself. I may take a trip up to Madrid for the next couple days, but it depends on whether or not I'm going to see Red Hot Chili Peppers in Madrid next week. They are celebrating the equivalent of our independence day here, Dia de la Constitucion. I have seven classes left until Christmas break, I feel like I'm ripping off the spanish government this month because they're paying me about 70 euros (about $100) a day this month.
This past weekend a few friends and I went to a town outside Jaen called Linares to go Bowling. We debated whether or not to take the bus, we wanted to walk from the train station even though we had no idea where the center of town was. It was a good thing we took the bus because a. we started walking the wrong way and b. it would have been a solid hour of walking up hill on roads like this...

It was a pretty view though...

And then we got to bowling and I think I bowled 3 or 4 strikes. Our team was on fire!

Belgium is awesome

Me and two friends went to Brussels this weekend and had an amazing time. We only got one day to walk around the city and then on Saturday night we went to a music festival. I would love to go back and spend more time there. The people were really nice and the beer was some of the best I've ever had.

Some more cuteness

Today was one of my students birthday so he brought in a cake and we had a little party for him. He's turning three, so adorable.

Juande, the birthday boy!

Also..

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! 

I'm looking forward to a skype session with the family :)