I should probably take you back in time a bit... A whirlwind of important and historic sights greeted me in Berlin two weekends ago. Listing them all for you here would be a waste of time, but I'll excite your senses. Walking away from Alexanderplatz, which holds the Rothaus and a beautiful fountain, and towards the Dome and Museuminsel we shivered against the cold and tried to keep our footing. I grabbed onto Mikel's arm to steady myself and keep from falling. The bridge was up ahead, a frozen river beneath it. I glanced up to see where I was actually going, and spotted sparse bits of color against the stark white of the river bank. Looking closer, I deciphered snowmen. There was a whole field of snowmen. I smiled and laughed, pointing and saying to the group--"Schneemänner! Sie haben Schneemänner in Deutschland!"(Snowmen! They have snowmen in Germany!) Only after did I realize I sounded like a complete idiot, the ultimate tourist. Of course they have snowmen in Germany--where there's wet snow, there will be snowmen. It's the basic following of the scientific method for goodness' sake. Anyways, we decided to investigate. Walking down the stairs, we saw that the snowmen were huge--bigger than Mikel, the tallest in our party (he's at least 6'3"). "How the hell did they get up there?" I wondered. The specks of color I had seen earlier turned out to be actual clothes and scarves. One snowman had a jacket on, another a hat. Their faces were actual faces, not just a couple eyes poked in. I was amazed... It's funny how the things you remember most are the ones you didn't mean to do. Of course in Berlin we went to all the sites and did all the stuff we were told not to leave without doing--but the snowmen were my favorite. It was like getting a little piece of Germany that you don't get to see very often.
Skipping ahead a week... "Is that the sun?" I asked hopefully. We had just woken up in our hostel and I was looking out the window to see what kind of day we'd have to deal with. It was the first day in Prague and I was excited. The night before, we'd almost gotten lost trying to find our hostel because of the crazy European streets of the Czech Republic. But, thankfully, the place I booked us was perfect. It was in the middle of old town and clean--that's the most important part; it was clean. We dressed and met our friends, walking around the city. Later in the day we reached Prague Castle--a district with all the old royal buildings and the President's house. And St. Vitus Cathedral. As we walked up the short steps into the huge doors, I couldn't help but stand in awe. Only few buildings usually have this effect on me. Usually their nice or amazing, but here I was awestruck. Stain-glass windows bounced colors off the walls, hitting the dark gray stone. It created a contrast of dark vs. light. The arches and stone work was a photographer's dream. You didn't have to work for your photos--point and shoot, it'll turn out great no matter what. The sun I'd only dared to hope for that morning was shining through the glass--a perfect day to visit. The combination of all of this created an atmosphere almost indescribable. I could've taken photos of that place for much longer than the half-hour we were in there.
Like I said, it's only been 24 days and I've already had some great experiences, in- and outside of traveling--made some great friends. If this is what only 24 days is like here, I can't wait for the next five months. I wonder what they hold for me and who they hold for me. It's hard to imagine when this past month has been so much more than I ever expected.
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