HAMBURG
About a two months ago I traveled with my friend Emma to Hamburg for the weekend. We wanted to spend very little money so we took what is called "mitfahrgelegenheit." which is a carpool service, where Germans can post that they are driving their car from X to Y at a certain time and then they list a very reasonable fee. Emma and I decided to take this mode of transportation and it worked out quite well for us on the way there. It cost us only 14 euros each instead of paying 70 euros for the train and the couple that took us were very nice! Although I did enjoy traveling with Emma, I really disliked Hamburg. I know it was not Hamburg's fault but it constantly rained the entire time we were there. There was not a lot to do and I ended up spending a lot of money. Emma and I went to the Rauthaus (townhall), which is one of the few buildings that has been preserved becasue most of Hamburg was bombed during the war. Consequently, most of Hamburg is very modern and I think a but ugly. They do have a nice harbor, and we took a nice ferry ride around the harbor, but it was raining so it was not so nice. Emma and I had our first experience with Couchsurfing! We found a couple to stay with through Couchsurfing and they were very interesting people. They really liked dead animals, animal patterns, heavy metal, and japanese cartoons, but they were very hospitable and nice! What I would say if anyone is interested in going to Hamburg- ONLY GO IN THE SUMMER!
PRAGUE
Now that is a beautiful city. I LOVED Prague. It was absolutely gorgeous. I stayed with my friend Natalie, from Brandeis, who is studying there for the semester. She had a very nice apartment and did not live to far from the center of the city. I took the train there- it was only 4 hours!- with 7 other friends of mine. Friday night I attempted to find the Massorti Shabbat service in the Jewish quater. However, when I got there I asked around and an orthodox man told me that the orthodox service had been long over and was in a different synagogue and this was just the JCC of Prague. When I inquired about the Massorti or reform service they said they did not know but it was far away. It turned out that the Massorti service was just one floor up and the reform one was block away, but I did not know that at the time. This will be a trend that I can never find the Shabbat service in a foreign country. I went to the Jewish quater and took a self tour of all the Jewish sites such as the unique cemetery, the Spanish style reform synagogue, synagogues that have been turned into museums, and the oldest synagogue in Europe the Altneue Synagogue. I also crossed the famous and beautiful Charles Bridge and went to the Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in the world. What was interesting though was that tourists could not go inside the castle because they it is still a working castle, but only circumvent it. I additionally took a great and FREE tour of Prague, which gave me a good understanding of the center of the city. I also saw some beautiful art nouveau architecture.
PARIS
Paris was also very very beautiful. Unlike Prague which was built by many different architects and is relatively old, Paris' architecture is fairly modern from the late 19th century. Haussmann rebuilt Paris in a very uniform and refined architecture, ridded Paris of its unhygienic activities, and built parks, a new water and sewage system. The program stayed in Montparnasse- which was nice and relatively close to the center.
What I did in Paris- I went to the Latin quarter which was nice but completely PACKED with tourists! I went to many art museums- the Musue d'Orsay (Sp?) (impressionist) , Pompedeue (modern),and the Louvre (international). We also went to Versailles and went into the palace an then afterward my friends and I bought some cheese and baguette and had a picnic there! Then we walked all the way around the lake on the grounds of versailles- it was great weather and it was just nice to walk around. I spend a lot of time in Le Marais- the Jewish quarter getting schwaarma nad falafel! It was my first time eating meat since coming to Europe! I also went to St. Chapelle the church with the famous medieval stain glass windows. I beautiful area that I really liked was Momarte. It is in a really culturally diverse neighborhood and has a beautiful view and church on top of the mountain. Every night, IES took us out to 3 course meals at really nice restaurants. IES professors from Paris took us on walking tours all over the city, one was an architecure walking tour. I also went to the Eiffel Tower and drank wine with friends there, and then also I went to Trocodero- a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower.
About a two months ago I traveled with my friend Emma to Hamburg for the weekend. We wanted to spend very little money so we took what is called "mitfahrgelegenheit." which is a carpool service, where Germans can post that they are driving their car from X to Y at a certain time and then they list a very reasonable fee. Emma and I decided to take this mode of transportation and it worked out quite well for us on the way there. It cost us only 14 euros each instead of paying 70 euros for the train and the couple that took us were very nice! Although I did enjoy traveling with Emma, I really disliked Hamburg. I know it was not Hamburg's fault but it constantly rained the entire time we were there. There was not a lot to do and I ended up spending a lot of money. Emma and I went to the Rauthaus (townhall), which is one of the few buildings that has been preserved becasue most of Hamburg was bombed during the war. Consequently, most of Hamburg is very modern and I think a but ugly. They do have a nice harbor, and we took a nice ferry ride around the harbor, but it was raining so it was not so nice. Emma and I had our first experience with Couchsurfing! We found a couple to stay with through Couchsurfing and they were very interesting people. They really liked dead animals, animal patterns, heavy metal, and japanese cartoons, but they were very hospitable and nice! What I would say if anyone is interested in going to Hamburg- ONLY GO IN THE SUMMER!
PRAGUE
Now that is a beautiful city. I LOVED Prague. It was absolutely gorgeous. I stayed with my friend Natalie, from Brandeis, who is studying there for the semester. She had a very nice apartment and did not live to far from the center of the city. I took the train there- it was only 4 hours!- with 7 other friends of mine. Friday night I attempted to find the Massorti Shabbat service in the Jewish quater. However, when I got there I asked around and an orthodox man told me that the orthodox service had been long over and was in a different synagogue and this was just the JCC of Prague. When I inquired about the Massorti or reform service they said they did not know but it was far away. It turned out that the Massorti service was just one floor up and the reform one was block away, but I did not know that at the time. This will be a trend that I can never find the Shabbat service in a foreign country. I went to the Jewish quater and took a self tour of all the Jewish sites such as the unique cemetery, the Spanish style reform synagogue, synagogues that have been turned into museums, and the oldest synagogue in Europe the Altneue Synagogue. I also crossed the famous and beautiful Charles Bridge and went to the Prague Castle, which is the biggest castle in the world. What was interesting though was that tourists could not go inside the castle because they it is still a working castle, but only circumvent it. I additionally took a great and FREE tour of Prague, which gave me a good understanding of the center of the city. I also saw some beautiful art nouveau architecture.
PARIS
Paris was also very very beautiful. Unlike Prague which was built by many different architects and is relatively old, Paris' architecture is fairly modern from the late 19th century. Haussmann rebuilt Paris in a very uniform and refined architecture, ridded Paris of its unhygienic activities, and built parks, a new water and sewage system. The program stayed in Montparnasse- which was nice and relatively close to the center.
What I did in Paris- I went to the Latin quarter which was nice but completely PACKED with tourists! I went to many art museums- the Musue d'Orsay (Sp?) (impressionist) , Pompedeue (modern),and the Louvre (international). We also went to Versailles and went into the palace an then afterward my friends and I bought some cheese and baguette and had a picnic there! Then we walked all the way around the lake on the grounds of versailles- it was great weather and it was just nice to walk around. I spend a lot of time in Le Marais- the Jewish quarter getting schwaarma nad falafel! It was my first time eating meat since coming to Europe! I also went to St. Chapelle the church with the famous medieval stain glass windows. I beautiful area that I really liked was Momarte. It is in a really culturally diverse neighborhood and has a beautiful view and church on top of the mountain. Every night, IES took us out to 3 course meals at really nice restaurants. IES professors from Paris took us on walking tours all over the city, one was an architecure walking tour. I also went to the Eiffel Tower and drank wine with friends there, and then also I went to Trocodero- a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower.
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