Springtime in Europe

So, I've had a reqeust for a new post. This has to be a short one though because the Swiss Alps are waiting for me just outside my hotel window. I am now officially on Easter Holidays! So, I've decided to do what every good college student would - travel Europe. The first week of break I was in Prague, an incredibly beautiful city. The problem with Prague is that as soon as you leave Prague proper, you enter post-Soviet world. No joke. Imagine 1960s Bond movies - all those old school cars - they're still on the streets in Prague. The buildings in Old/New Town look like paintings, the buildings in the suburbs look like bomb shelters. It is most definitely not Western Europe however. The views on women are still quite opressive - some friends were coming back to our hostel one evening and were followed by a man who was clearly not well. Anyway, long story short, instead of finding any help they were esentially told to go back to the hostel, the impression they got was that the police officers who came to help thought they were just silly American girls making something of nothing. Since I wasn't there I can't say for sure, but they were quite shaken when they got back to the Hostel, and not a few of them had to reassess their desire to spend more time travelling Europe. My take on it is that it was a truly unfortunate situation, but that things like that can happen anywhere, you just have to be aware of your surroundings and play it safe. For all that though, I loved it. The churches were beautiful, the food was good and the Easter Market was incredible. I especially loved the crepes. And, on the plus side, I managed to bring a hollowed out, painted egg all the way back to Edinburgh without breaking it.

Now I'm in Switzerland getting in some spring skiing in Davos. The weather has been really nice - lots of sun and hovering around 10C. Not bad for April in the Alps. The snow leaves a little to be desired, its quite icy in spots. But, the view from the summit makes up for any problems with the snow. I thought the view from the peaks in Colorado was breathtaking, but nothing compares to the Alps. Simply incredible.

From here I'm off to Milan to meet up with my friend Lisa. We're spending a couple nights in Milan, and from there going to Vienna and Budapest. I'm looking forward to it, especially since the weather is supposed to be nice and Lisa can always be counted on for a laugh. Near the end of our trip I have to reigster for classes, so I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that our hostel in Budapest has internet and that I can access it at 6am. Oh the joys of being a 4th year student (yeah, its really scary for me too. Don't worry though, I'll give fair warning before I graduate so you can avoid Washington, DC for a while). After Lisa and I get back to Edinburgh, Alyson and I have talked about touring the highlands (insert super excited face) and then I'm popping over to Ireland to visit friends. Finally, after exams in May, Italy, Spain and Morocco are on the agenda. I'll do my best to keep the blog updated, but give me a break if I slip a bit, traveling Europe is a bit more exciting than sitting in front of a computer.

Well, I guess thats all for now. Hope everyone is well.