Neither Prague nor London: Christmas & New Year in England

Tips cup at the Santa’s Grotto in Shoreditch

So I haven’t blogged in a while. Since late November and December I was writing lots and lots of essays and exam papers. (Luckily I chose courses I already knew a little bit about, so I had an easy time – I recommend this to everyone going on a year abroad!)

For Christmas and New Year I came back to England with an American friend I met in Prague, Katie. I said that I would show her around London and true to my word, we spent the first 3 days back in the capital. And we didn’t see (or taste) everything. I immediately decided the best thing to do was to get the sight-seeing out of the way, once that was done I showed her some of my favourite coffee shops and food places. I managed to put on more weight in London over those 3 days than I did in the first term in Prague. We got cinnamon buns at the Nordic Bakery, burgers at Honest Burgers, cheese fries at Meatliquor, Vietnamese pho at Camden’s Thanh Binh, huevos rancheros at The Diner and coffee at my favourite place on Brick Lane, Full Stop. And that’s not everything we ate.

The rest of the holidays we spent in Northampton with my parents, Oxford for a day trip and Windsor for another day trip. But we mostly watched a lot of TV and films and I finally finished watching the entire Breaking Bad series (omg).

Here’s some of my pictures from my break:

 

Attempt to Make Czech Bread Dumplings

Voila! Bread dumplings

This week I tried to make traditional Czech bread dumplings with the help of my Czech friend, Ivana, and my American friend, Katie. They turned out surprisingly well. (Mostly because me and Katie only stirred and watched Ivana make them!)

First Trip Outside of the Czech Republic: Dresden

I went to Dresden!

Last weekend whilst I was hiking in Bohemian Switzerland, I also visited Dresden near the Czech border. I have been to Dresden before, but only for an hour and only to the historical centre. This time I got to see a whole different side of Dresden – one that I actually preferred.

A Bit of a Change from London: Hiking in Bohemian Switzerland

The river labe at Hrensko

We stayed in Decin, but then went across the German border to Dresden for a day trip

I thought hiking sounded like a lot of fun as I have never been before, and I wanted to check out a place no where near Switzerland, but apparently looks a lot like it. Bohemian Switzerland is a huge national park on the border of the Czech Republic and Germany. The hikes were absolutely breathtaking – so peaceful (with only the sound of birds), fresh air, an abundance of greenery and only a little bit of rain – it was perfect!

Being so used to just lots of city walking, I wasn’t in the best shape to scale steep cliffs, slip on muddy tree branches, hold onto only mossy rocks for support – it was kind of weird. Thank god I do actually own a pair of trainers!

Luckily I didn’t break any limbs, but they are very sore from a lot of walking. 😦

(Prepare for lots of photos.)

Trip to Mělník, Czech Republic

I went to Mělník!

Mělník town centre – pretty buzzin’ on a Saturday afternoon!

The best thing about Erasmus and actually being in Europe (English people don’t really consider themselves European because of the gap of water), is the easy ability to travel. But before I start traveling wider Europe, I thought I’d check out some of the Czech Republic’s other towns and cities. My first trip was to Mělník, which is in the centre of the region called ‘Bohemia’ and North of Prague.

Hi from Prague!

Old Town

The view of Prague and the river Vltava from Letna Park

So I’ve finally arrived in Prague and I’m so happy to be here!

The Big Move: Prague Prep

Bon voyage!

Everything is packed and ready for my move to the Czech Republic, this Wednesday. (Unfortunately I have to wake up at a really awful time on Wednesday morning in order to get to the airport for a 7am flight. Oh man, why?!)

Goodbye London!

I’m going to Charles University!

So this is probably going to be one of my last posts from London for about a year. In September I will be moving to Prague and studying history as an Erasmus student at Charles University. I’m really excited about living in a new city and having the opportunity to experience a new culture in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But I’m also very sad to be leaving London behind. In my first year everyone said that your first year was for getting to know your university campus and your second year was when you got to know the real London. This was definitely true for me. After my second year I now feel like I know all the really cool places to eat, drink and hang about and I’m no longer terrified to go a bit further out of Central London to try somewhere new.

Here’s some of the things I am really going to miss about London: