Sunday Summary Part 4

Still rolling with that title. . . I'll let you know if things change

I feel like I woke up from a coma. I am not exactly sure how to describe it, but ever since I touched down in America, my time abroad has felt a little foggy, distant, and unreal — like I dreamt the entire thing. Also, yes, sorry to just spring that on you guys but I am back in America — for a short while — to celebrate a very important milestone. You may be asking, Lily, what is this milestone you speak of? Well, my brother, Jeremy, is graduating college this weekend and this really serves as a marker of my own graduation one year prior and a successful completion of my first post-grad year. I also have to continue a time-honored graduation tradition that I started four years ago when Jeremy graduated high school. They grow up so fast! Anyway, this blog is not about Jeremy — sorry, Mom — so let’s get back to my comatic experience.

I first flew to London from Prague and then from London I flew to Seattle to see two college friends (more on that later). While in Seattle, I was sort of in disbelief that I was finally in a place with my friends that it felt like maybe it wasn’t actually happening. I had just traveled all the way across the world to spend time with two people I cherish, and it was hard to wrap my head around the fact that days prior, I was traipsing the cobblestone streets of the Czech Republic’s capital city.

After six days in Seattle, I made it home after somehow escaping the hellish dumpster fire that is Newark Liberty International Airport right now. When I got back to Philadelphia, I felt groggy and slightly disoriented. Now, this could have been from the lack of sleep on my red-eye flight or going from the nine hour time difference from Prague to Seattle and then the three hour time difference from Seattle to Philly, but there was a part of me that felt like I was home in that moment and I had always been home. So without further ado (I know it has been a while) let me tell you what happened during my coma!

Cousins in Prague and then Budapest!

During Easter weekend, my cousin, Ava, came to visit me. She is studying abroad in Amsterdam, so we did a few trips together since we were abroad at the same time. Decades ago, our mothers were meeting up in different places in Europe together in a very similar fashion, except we had chosen very different destinations from them.

Ava arrived on a Thursday night with two of her friends who I had met when we traveled to Vienna and then later saw again when I visited Amsterdam in March. Once they got to Prague, we almost immediately went out. There’s a huge club in Prague called Duplex that is free for students on Thursdays, so that felt like the perfect night to go. You just have to get to the club before 11pm which is generally pretty early for Europe. I was worried about the early arrival time, but it ended up being super crowded. There must be some sort of magic wrapped up in that place (which is very Prague I might add) because somehow we were there for four hours and it felt like maybe two.

I have been really into drinking wine in Europe (I think this is a rite of passage for European abroad experiences) and I had two small glasses of white wine before we headed to the club. I also took a shot and then once we got to the club, one of Ava’s friends bought us all beers and then later a very kind young man bought me a cider. You may be able to foresee where this is headed… I’ll spare you the details but I’ll just say this, I never throw up from alcohol, but I can’t say that anymore.

The next day, we went to a museum and I showed them some important Prague landmarks. Ava’s friends had also made a friend in Duplex the night before, and he joined us for most of that day. We parted with him as we stopped for lunch at cafe Louvre, an old café that used to welcome Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein among other intellectuals of their day.

On Saturday, Ava and I woke up and went on a four mile run. I am trying to get into running more and wanted to show Ava, a college cross country and track & field athlete, a route along the river. We ended up running all the way up to Letna, which is a sprawling park with a panoramic view of the city. Along the way, we made a pit stop at this island where the famous nutria live, which are colloquially known as river rats. Perhaps, they were sleeping in because we couldn’t find them! Before I leave Prague for good, I will see these creatures with my own eyes if it’s the last thing I do!

For sunset, I took Ava and one of her friends to Riegrovy Sady to watch the sunset. We talked about the need for a good vantage point and not liking when cities are too flat. This was before I had been to Seattle… perhaps that city could learn to be a little more flat!

Ava and I watching the sunset at Riegrovy Sady.

That night, Ava and her friend were taking an overnight train to Budapest where I would meet them in the morning via plane. I started to not feel well, so my first day in Budapest was a bit of a struggle. I managed to make it across the Danube River to Buda Castle. The sun was shining for both of the days we were there and it added a degree of sparkle to the whole experience despite my pain and nausea. I decided to forego the unlimited Prosecco tour we had booked in favor of a fitful evening nap that turned into a restless night’s sleep. For fear of becoming totally famished, I wandered out of our hostel around 8pm to buy some pita at a Greek restaurant nearby. I only ate one triangle before climbing into bed again and falling back asleep.

Me and my pita.

The next day, I felt rejuvenated. We headed to brunch and as we walked, I noticed the quietness of the city. It was Easter Monday, but the day before, the city seemed lively and bustling with people. While we sat and waited for our food, we found out the Pope had died. My earlier observations seemed to make sense: the world had stilled in the wake of such an important figure’s death. I fell into a contemplative state and I began to notice the beauty around me. Where we sat, evoked reminiscent elements of Philadelphia for me. Ava quipped that everything felt like Philadelphia to her when I was around. This stripped our adventures of their novelty and added a brush of normalcy to it all. Perhaps, that sentiment was telling of the comfort we shared in each other’s company despite being thousands of miles away from the usual places we spent time together. On the other hand, maybe it was just my unconscious mind saying, “GET THE F*CK UP, YOU”RE NOT IN BUDAPEST BUT IN PHILLY IN A GODDAMN COMA.” Too far with the coma thing? My apologies; I have a chronic condition in which I think that my entire life is a cable television drama.

The rest of the day, Ava and I spent walking around the city. Her friend started to not feel well and peeled off after breakfast to rest. Me and Ava’s conversations usually turn pensive around 10 minutes in. We contemplate the choices we have made thus far and the choices yet to be decided. When you’ve known someone all your life, it’s easy to forget that you used to pretend to date the Jonas Brothers while sitting on side-by-side boogie boards in the backyard of your grandparents beach house, when you’re currently climbing the lusciously-lined path to the St. Gerard Sagredo Statue in Budapest while trading stories about your grievances with early adulthood.

Later, we searched for a vantage point and settled on one we had briefly walked past the day before. We opted for a lunch of gelato (sorbeto in my case) and found a bench on which to take in a landscape littered with precious hillside homes. All my fears and worries were eclipsed by the sun shining on my face, a beautiful view, and a frozen treat in my hand. If life could just always be this simple!

Path by Buda Castle with a great view of the city and lush greenery.

Before heading to the airport, Ava and I took one last walk to check out the Dohány Street Synagogue. We didn’t have time to go inside and I think that is one of my biggest regrets from this trip. I didn’t know until we planned to check it out that it is the largest synagogue in Europe, able to accommodate 3,000 people. It commands such a presence in the midst of a residential neighborhood that I gasped when we turned the corner and the building came into view. I can only imagine what the inside would reveal.

Despite heading to different places, our flights were at similar times so we headed to the airport together. Ava and I closed our chapter of European adventures surrounded by the chaotic energy of an international airport. Hopefully one day, we will find ourselves in Europe together again!

Side Quest to Albania

When I booked my flight to Budapest, I only booked a one-way ticket. Since Monday was a holiday, Ava had off from school and so the plan was to leave in the evening of that day. The flights from Budapest to Prague were only in the morning and I didn’t want to spend only 24 hours there. Instead, I decided to find another place I could fly to and then fly back to Prague from there. From grueling and meticulous Skyscanner searches, I landed on Tirana, Albania as my destination of choice.

The last nanny my brother and I ever had, Doina, was Albanian. I had never heard of Albania before meeting her, but I was very curious about it. I remember sitting in front of my father’s laptop one afternoon insisting she make me do a project on the country. When I booked the flight to Tirana, I could hear the voice of my younger self, a whisper in the back of my mind, as she recited facts she had freshly extracted from Wikipedia. This was a prophecy I was meant to fulfill.

Albanians are very proud of where they come from. I learned this early on primarily from Doina but also from her random male friend who one time on the walk home from school, offered us candy and tales of their shared heritage. There are a lot of Albanians living in Northeast Philadelphia and there were a fair amount that went to my high school. Even as teenagers and first generation Americans, their Albanian pride was overflowing.

I reached out to our old nanny on Instagram to affirm my decisions and naturally, she was excited to hear of my plans. She urged me to go for more than one day, but that is unfortunately all the time I had.

I arrived in Tirana to a torrent of rain and a cacophony of thunder. I had no umbrella, my phone was dying, and it was nighttime. After some searching, I finally found the shuttle that took airport passengers to the center of the city. From where they dropped me off, I would only have to walk ten minutes to my hotel. One of the best airport transportation experiences I have ever had was this shuttle in Tirana. The airport isn’t super far, so the shuttle only took 30 minutes and I was dropped off in a very convenient location. The next day, I got on at that same place and the trip back to the airport was virtually hassle-free.

Once I got off the shuttle, I navigated my way to the hotel with only quick glances at Google Maps to conserve my battery. Very few people were out and each time I saw someone, I sped up and quickly darted across streets until I came upon an alley. The hotel only had reception until 3pm, so they had given me instructions on how to get into the hotel myself. One of the steps of getting in included punching in a code, so when I saw a door with the hotel’s name on it and a keypad to the left of its hinge, I began punching in the numbers they gave me. Nothing was happening. I started to think of the worst possible outcomes of this scenario and how I would proceed. My phone was dying so I couldn’t call anyone and I didn’t know how I would find another hotel without searching the internet (a victim of my generation, I know!). It’s important to note that I wasn’t panicking, I was thinking practically. There was something in me that wasn’t accepting this as my fate. I read through the hotel’s instructions one more time and realized that I was supposed to take an elevator before punching in a code. I looked at Maps one more time, and saw that the blue line was directing me to go around the corner of the building. From there, I found the elevator and made it safely up to my room.

In the morning, I woke up for the free hotel breakfast. An older woman stood behind the kitchen counter cooking and speaking in rapid Albanian to a younger gentleman who served me and the other hotel guests flaky pastries with cheese inside, fresh tomato and cucumber salad, toast and fruit, and hard boiled eggs. I left my bag with the two of them and was instructed to return before 3pm, when they would be leaving for the day. I tried to make the most of my few hours in the city. One of my nails had ripped and was barely hanging on, so I decided to make my way to a nail salon in the direction of Tirana park. After an angel of a nail tech fixed my nail with some trusty nail glue, I headed into the park. A Holocaust memorial caught my eye as well as other statues and monuments dedicated to important figures.

At some point during my time in the park, the sky had darkened in the east and I worried about rain. I left the park to continue with my sightseeing. As I walked through the streets of Tirana, it reminded me a lot of Miami. The greenery felt vaguely tropical and the air was thick with humidity. I climbed up the Pyramid of Tirana and took in the sprawling city below. I have to say that was one of the coolest viewpoints I have experienced in any city. I ticked off some other sites throughout the afternoon before making my way back to the hotel to pick up my bag. I sat in a restaurant to eat a crepe and charge my phone and then I was off to the airport and then back to Prague.

View from Tirana Pyramid.

The Return to Italia

It’s hard to believe that not so long ago I was in Italy and now I am all the way across an ocean. Last summer, I went to Italy with my friend Sylvia and aside from some questionable meals, Italy generously met my expectations. While I had never been to Northern Italy before, the same beauty I remember so fondly from last summer radiated off of the luscious green landscapes and the romantically quaint buildings.

I really wanted to go somewhere for my last weekend in Europe (I’m being dramatic, I will be back in a few weeks) and Milan is really cheap to fly to from Prague. I had originally wanted to combine Milan with a trip to Venice and Verona, but I could only be away for Saturday and Sunday so I narrowed it down to just Milan. The previous weekend when my cousin, Ava, and her friends were visiting Prague, we met a boy who was studying in Milan. He spent a whole day with us in Prague and I told him that I was thinking of going to Milan the next weekend. He said he would give me recommendations if I wanted them and I was happy to take them. I ended up getting his number from Ava’s friends and messaged him right before I was planning on going.

I am going to refer to him as William for the purpose of this story, but just know that is not his actual name. I like to keep secrets and be mysterious (cue evil laugh).

On Saturday, after I landed, we met up at Milano Centrale. Following a flurry of text messages, we had decided to go to Lake Como for the afternoon. William had never been and my roommate had urged me to go when I was planning my trip.

We missed the train we were going to take so we wandered around the streets of Milan eagerly talking about our experiences abroad and hours later we were doing the same thing but leisurely strolling around the gleaming Lake Como. I wished it was warm enough to jump in the water because its vibrant color and incredible clarity made it terribly inviting. In our waning moments, we searched for gelato before heading back to Milan. The sun was setting as we headed to dinner, a place William had grown to love during his time there. After dinner, we parted ways with promises to meet tomorrow.

Is this a stock photo?? No it's just a photo of Lake Como from my camera roll!

I got up early in the morning to eat the hotel breakfast before I headed to see the Duomo and window shop in the Quadrillatero della Moda. There are many things I like about Italy, but I think my favorite would have to be the fact that they serve chocolate cake for breakfast. Dreams do come true!

\After I finished my morning activities, William was going to meet me somewhere to show me around Milan a little bit. He found out about a vintage and antique flea market that was happening that morning and we opted to go to that instead. Stall after stall lined the Navigli canals with precious treasures proudly displayed under white awnings. I came away with a red, vintage Moncler polo shirt and a vintage Marciano dress that is sleeveless on one side and has a dramatic sweeping sleeve cascading down the other. We got another gelato before I had to head off to the airport and then said our goodbyes above the metro steps. Who knows when I will see William again, but I will always cherish the time I spent with a stranger in another country.

I want these purple chairs in my future home.

I wrote so much about my international travels that I think I am going to wrap up this edition here. Stay tuned to hear about my adventures in Seattle and maybe a thing or two about the greatest city in the world (aka Philadelphia) before I return back to Prague for the rest of the summer!

Until next time,

Lily