Trip through Eastern Europe for Spring Break
By: Bella Thurston
To pick a favorite memory from my semester abroad was too hard, so I’m writing about my spring break experience. I went with my 8 friends to Berlin, Prague, and Vienna for our trip. Along with learning many valuable lessons, we met many amazing people and had the time of our lives.
We began the trip in Berlin for four days. Berlin, and Germany in general, was a trip that was meaningful to me since my mother and grandmother are German. My friends and I shared a hostel room between the six of us, which was a tight squeeze, but we made the most of it. When we arrived, we realized how widespread Berlin is, so we took some time to walk around and get familiar with the area, language, and metro system. We got some well-deserved Ramen (not the traditional German food we expected) and then finished the evening at a quirky bar for my first German beer, Prost!
The next few days were filled with sightseeing, we visited Pariser Platz, the Republic Square, the Jewish Memorial, and the Berlin Wall. One of my favorite memories from this trip was being in the Kreuzberg which is the Markethalle where we had some amazing food, Crepes, Kartoffelsalat, and had an enjoyable time with friends.
There are too many amazing places to list, but one of my favorites was the Vintage Market we found in West Berlin. Inside the market was an optical illusion experience, and outside the market were shops that sold fantastic clothing at very decent prices.
Next, we jumped on a four-hour train to Prague. While riding the train, we were not disappointed by the beautiful German Countryside which served to be a perfect background to do homework. I was greeted with the best Vietnamese iced coffee I’ve ever had. The first note I made during my arrival in Prague was the breathtaking scenery and landscape. I truly have never seen a place like Prague, with the most colorful buildings, beautiful architecture, and lovely people.
We spent three nights in Prague. On the first night, we went into Prague’s old town and decided to go into a 1950’s esque diner where my friends and I stumbled upon Chris Hemsworth, which was a hilarious experience. I celebrated my birthday during this trip, and it was definitely one to remember. We met amazing people from England who made my birthday even better, and we walked around central. Our visit to Prague was truly a fantastic trip.
Sadly, we had to leave and move on to Vienna. Our hostel was in a fantastic location above an Ikea, which was interesting since all the decor was provided by Ikea. We started our night with Wiener Schnitzel which was delicious. For breakfast the next morning, I had a traditional poppy seed dumpling and we walked around the city center. We finished our evening in a swanky bar with nobody around except our bartenders, so we got to chat with them. Although Vienna was our shortest visit, I loved seeing all that Vienna had to offer with its amazing food and wonderful people.
Our trip has far too many amazing moments to be able to fit into this short post but you’ll have to see for yourself and make your own memories!