Long time, no blogging! HOWEVER, I'M BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER. I had my last (!) final exam the other day, so my semester is DONE. I leave for the US on Sunday, so taking these last few days to explore some more of Madrid, relax, and pack. I will definitely post a reflection blog soon..this isn't the last you'll see of me!

The past week in a half has been super busy with schoolwork. And then the week or so before that, I was super busy with traveling. I had a very challenging finals season, since everything was happening at the same time. I had 4 exams and 4 papers. The papers were substantial, so that was tough. I probably wrote around 30 pages worth of work last week. Whew.

I didn't want to study or write any essays on my trips, so it was really hard to get everything done when I got back. I did end up having to write an essay in the airport all day and have a girl in my program print it out and turn it in for me..That wasn't the plan. But I'll get to that later.

I went to FIVE countries since the last time I blogged. Wow. To make it a bit easier to write and read, I'm going to organize by sights and tastes I experienced. I present to you: Copenhagen, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, and Athens (Athens was unplanned! I'll get to it later, ok???)

COPENHAGEN:

1. Sights:

• Rosenborg Castle: absolutely beautiful, I got to see the crown jewels which were unbelievable
• Nyhavn: the waterfront district with all of the colorful houses
• Christmas Markets: the first time I had seen a Christmas market! They are so fun. Lots of cute huts that sell Christmas stuff. Joyful! Spirit! Yeah!
• Christiania: a self-proclaimed autonomous anarchist district..interesting to say the least
• The Little Mermaid: by the water, which was nice. Jumped on the street trampolines on the way there!
• Ice bar: a bar made out of ice that was in the hostel. Cool ;)

2. Tastes:

• Skinbuksen: Danish restaurant we went to right after we got there. What a start to the trip, let me tell you. Luckily, we chose a local place, which meant that it was a HELLA GOOD TIME. Imagine this: the wall is covered in outer space murals, there is a pianist playing Christmas songs and random danish songs. The tables are pretty close together, so everyone puts their arms around each other and swings to the music!!! The potatoes and fish were tasty. Getting this first bill was when we realized that everything costs so much though
• STREET FOOD! This place actually closes for good TODAY, which is just really upsetting. It was a highlight for me, so I'm glad I got to go before it closed. They had a bunch of food stalls with foods from ostrich burgers to falafel. I had a delish Thai dish. RIP.
• DANISH SAUSAGE!! YUM. Best sausage I've ever had. Take my word!
• Mulled wine. Major key in the cold weather. Take my word.
• Ableskivers (aka pancake puffs): had these in NOLA and had to get them

VIENNA:

1. Sights:

• Nachtmarkt: so huge, lots of samples of random stuff
• Charles Square
• Opera House: didn't go in, but also beautiful from outside
• Albertina Museum: Cool art like Monet and Picasso! There was also a Raphael exposition, and I was writing an essay about his art at the time.
• Joseph Square, with a gorgeous library that we peeked into
• Christmas Market: right in front of city hall -- stunning lights
• Schonbrunn Palace and walked to Gloriette for a sunset view

2. Tastes:

• Wiener schnitzel!
• The Breakfast Club for brunch -- bacon and french toast DELISH!
• Frauenhuber for coffee and apple strudel -- where Mozart played his final concert!
• More sausage!!!

BUDAPEST:

1. Sights:

• Walked by the synagogue and Holocaust museum; however, did not go inside
• Central Market Hall -- a cool indoor market
• Walked across the bridge to "Buda" -- AMAZING views, we were eating our chimney cakes at this time as well
• Vorosmarry Square with a Christmas Market. I bought a cute bracelet
• Main Christmas Market was by St. Stephen Basilica. There was a cool 3D lights show!
• Parliament building -- gigantic, beautiful building to walk around; also walked by the Shoes on the Danube Memorial, which honors the Jews killed there by the fascists during WW2. Very, very moving.
• Ruins bars with the hostel..of course Phoebe and I end up meeting Spaniards and talking to them in Spanish all night. jaja
• Széchenyi Baths -- I was really into it until I saw a woman popping this guy's back pimple and realizing that I was swimming in the same water. Still an unbelievable experience!!!

2. Tastes:

• Drum Cafe -- the 2 girls we met from the hostel in Vienna were actually studying in Budapest and recommended this place. SO cheap. Ate some nice beef goulash!
• Chimney cake -- holy SMOKES!!!! (PUN INTENDED OK). Cinnamon, sugar, galore. Looks like a chimney, hence the name
• Free dinner from hostel, and then pizza from a pizza place because we were still hungary (ok I know it's hungry, I'll stop)
• A la Maison Grand -- best brunch everrrrr, very pretty place to eat too

PRAGUE:

1. Sights:

• Went on 2 really good walking tours -- one for the city and one for Prague Castle
• Old Town Square with a clock that is very underwhelming when it strikes the hour (still crowds of people come to watch it every time)
• Republic Square
• Jewish Quarter
• Charles Bridge -- fangirled a bit because I realized that the composer, Smetana was from Prague and one of his songs (The Moldau) was about the river that flowed under this bridge. I am in love with that song, and of course, it was stuck in my head all weekend!! Dvorak was from Prague too -- got a picture with his statue
• John Lennon Bridge -- 100% a highlight of the trip. We went with guys we met from the hostel, so they could lift us up as we tagged the wall. If you don't know what it is, look it pictures and read the history. The graffiti is constantly changing -- the wall never looks the same
• BY THE WAY it SNOWED!!!! SO COLD. omg. But it was still amazing.

2. Tastes

• Bake Shop: The best egg inside of a croissant in the whole damn world
• Pasta Fresca: got really good pumpkin risotto
• Burrito loco
• Another restaurant that I don't remember the name of, but it was great. Got soup and mulled wine when it was snowing

So.......ATHENS? What in the world?

Ok, so what happened was..we were going to have a layover in Brussels, but that flight was cancelled. I was on the phone with Brussels Airlines for an hour (and keep in mind that it was 7am and we had just done an all-nighter, basically) and the next flight back to Madrid would be the following:

• Stay in Prague all day until a flight to ATHENS, GREECE at 4:30 pm
• Fly to FRICKIN' GREECE
• Have an overnight, 12 hour layover in Greece
• Fly from Greece to Madrid, and get back at noon

And folks, that's what we did. We worked on our essays due the next day all day and hopped on a plane to our FOURTH country of the week. We found a cheap hotel to stay in for the night, and they had a shuttle service to and from the airport. Our driver, Niko (of course that's his name) was soooo nice and played typical Greek songs in the car. We could see the mountains, but it was dark most of the time we were there. Still, I'm going to say that I've been there!! We did facemasks, took showers, and went to bed. I'm still recovering from this trip and finals. It was maybe the craziest time of my life. But, one of my favorite phrases in Spanish is "vale la pena" (worth it!)

I would love to go back and really see Greece. One day!

Well, I have a plane to catch soon and should get some sleep. So I'm going to hit the sheets. Reflection blog coming to you soon!

Un abrazo,

Lacey