My last day on this fantastic trip. It is now 4:35 in the morning on the 9th of January. I have decided not to sleep tonight as I wanted to finish this blog. And I still need to pack for my noon flight. This study abroad semester has been a rewarding experience for me. I learned a lot inside the classroom...

On my last full day in Europe, Désirée was nice enough to drive me to Bern to spend the day. But before we left, we checked out Jamie’s kindergarten. It was really big and super clean with all new looking desks and whatnot. Very cool. Reminded me of being in kindergarten. Unfortunately, because...

I got into Munich late at night and even though the hostel was less than 200m from the train station, I still got lost getting there. But I got to walk past a local Circus in town: Krone Circus. I could tell even before I saw the signs that animals were around. The smell was very powerful. The hostel...

I arrived in Prague at 10am after stretching out across 3 seats in the train and sleeping the whole way. I had an hour to drop my stuff at the hostel, check in, and get to the meeting point for the free walking tour. After the Berlin one, I was determined to take one at each city I visited that had them. I...

I woke around 10am to find out that I had more time than I thought left at the apartment before I was kicked out. I decided to make good use of the extra time and go to the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island. I got there around noon and the queue was about half a futbol field long. But I met some friendly...

Definition: In Europe, New Year’s is called Silvester. Hence, New Year’s Parties are called Silvester Parties. I went to the biggest Silvester Party in the world on New Year’s Eve 2009. Some skeptics say it was number 2 in size, but those nay sayers are doubters. This party was held...

I arrived in Berlin in the morning after having to rig a bed sleeping on the seats in the train. After meeting Susanne, my second au pair, at the corner near her brother’s apartment in East Berlin, I took a shower and we went out with Bea, her friend, to do some low-key exploring of Berlin. Susanne’s...

I woke attempting to repeat the same success I had with Salzburg the day before. I should have known that today would be different from the 3 snoozes it took me to finally get out of bed. I had mapped out a few things the night before so I decided to take the metro out to Schönbrunn Palace where the...

I got into Salzburg the night of the 26th and hoped to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, the first hostel I tried was fullup and 2 out of the 3 they recommended were either non existent or also full. But the third one was a quaint hotel in a remote part of town conveniently next to the train station...