Fall Break II- Budapest: November 1st- 3rd

After getting little sleep on the overnight train, we arrived in Budapest at 8:30 am and decided to go out and explore right away. We crossed the river to Buda and found where the old castle was and walked around there. We could see the parliament building that was in Pest which is one of the biggest parliament buildings in the world.

The view from the Castle

After exploring Buda we went on the Pest side of the city and looked at the Parliament building up close and then made our way to the communist museum. Our hostel director described it as "depressed" and he was accurate.

My favorite part of our stay in Budapest was going to the Turkish Baths. We went to The Széchenyi Spa, the biggest in Budapest. It was so relaxing to be able and enjoy the baths while it was raining because the baths were so warm. It was a nice break from our hostel showers.

Fall Break I- Prague: October 28th- 31st

Fall break began in the Czech Republic. Kristina, Marissa and I met up with our friends Nikki and Ainsley who are studying in Prague. We arrived pretty late so we went to dinner right away and an incredible Mexican restaurant. the next morning we began to explore downtown Prague. We started at the John Lennon Wall. There are many different artists who are attributed to this wall, all honoring John Lennon.

The next place we saw explored we came across some babies that we thought would be fun to play on.

We visited Prague at the best time of the year. It was the perfect fall experience. The weather was not too cold, but a bit nippy. And my favorite part was that all the leaves were changing colors and were beginning to fall. So naturally we decided to play with them.

We went to the old part of Prague and saw the old castle and cathedral. The old town up on a hill so it allowed us to look over the entire city. We then crossed the King Charles Bridge to see the town square and the astronomical clock.

The rest of the weekend some other friends from Denver were also visiting so we all met up and enjoyed Prague together.

Next we were off to Budapest on an adventurous overnight train.

Barcelona: October 21st- 24th 2010

I went to Barcelona with my friends Kristina and Whitney. We have 3 friends who are living in Barcelona who let us stay with them (John, Grant and Ryan). Also visting the same weekend were our other friends Tyler and Kyle. It was a tight squeeze but we managed to fit 8 kids into one apartment for the weekend. It was nuts. The second day we were there we started to explore the city. We went to

Castell de Montjuïc which has a beautiful view of the whole city.

On our way to the castle

Maddie, Whitney, Kristina



The next day we went to the coast and enjoyed the beach for part of the day. After that Whitney and I decided to explore the city to see the famous architecture by Antoni Gaudi. We first made a stop at the famous cathedral, Sagrada Familia, that is still being constructed even thought Gaudi has passed on.

Sagrada Familia

Next We made our way to Park Guell to take a look at more of Gaudi's work. This houses reminded me of gingerbread houses because of the colors and shapes used to construct them. Most of the art pieces he created were out of colorful tiles.

Mosaic Benches

Mosaic Walls

View of the Entrance