The round-up

Sorry, guys. It’s been a long, long month that involved major illnesses, major hangovers, and major paper writing, so you didn’t get recaps of any of my final three trips. Luckily Coral Springs might be the most boring place on earth, so now I finally have time. Brace yourselves.

Turkey: The final Classroom Europe trip was to Istanbul, Turkey, possibly one of the coolest places ever. It was SUNNY AND WARM. Blah blah Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque blah blah blah, IT WAS HOT AND SUNNY AND THEREFORE PERFECT. Turkish Airlines is decked out in Miami Vice-style colors, and the airplane wine rocks so I was perfectly happy. There are tulips everywhere and palm trees and the Mediterranean suddenly skyrocketed in my book. I roomed with Stephanie and Amanda and we got what was easily the best room in our awesome hotel: wrap-around balcony, views of the Blue Mosque and the Bosporous, and a Jacuzzi.

I kept trying to make comparisons to Jerusalem because it was heretofore the only place in the region I had been to before but it was too hard. The culture is kind of similar (everyone wants to feed you, always) but beyond that, it’s just too different. Istanbul is completely overwhelming and full of people and cars and noise and it’s fantastic but just kind of sensory overload. Did all the touristy stuff – Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, the stupid, overrated, overpriced Grand Bazaar – but I liked the Asian side of the city more, where it was more Turkish people and fewer Australian backpackers. Not that I don’t like Australian backpackers – I appreciate all citizens of the Commonwealth – but I like the less touristy parts of the city more. The Asian side of the city was super crowded and overwhelming and packed with people and we took a super-cool ferry to get there.

Everyone is super friendly, especially to girls. My trying to order takeaway coffee led to me and Amanda being invited to sit for coffee, ice cream, and Turkish delight by the Hagia Sofia for some time with a barista/soccer player. It’s incredibly rude to say no, so hey, what the hell, our tour group at Topkapi Palace would wait. Or not. But whatever. I got a few marriage proposals and a few phone numbers. Due to the possibility that I might have had pink eye, those numbers were never used, but it was nice.

Made it to Taksim Square where tons of police in riot gear were massing and because Samantha, Amanda and I didn’t speak any Turkish, we had no idea why. Turns out they were bracing themselves for a possible riot because President Obama was maybe/maybe not going to acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as it was the 95th anniversary of its inception (turns out he didn’t). I, for one, wanted to fulfill my lifelong dream of getting stuck in a nationalist riot but Samantha, as trip babysitter, wasn’t really feeling it. Wine happened instead, which is always a nice alternative. It was weird because the only women we ever saw out and about were European – Turkey is very secular but it’s still an Islamic society without the shariah law and all that fun stuff. Never saw Turkish women out at restaurants or anything, which was a bit disconcerting, but whatever.

England: Went to London for my birthday weekend: three shows, two days, one license to drink in EVERY STATE IN THE WORLD… except for the ones where alcohol is banned, but they don’t count.

The Real Thing, my Saturday matinee show, was one of the best productions I’ve ever seen, and that’s not just because Toby Stephens is outrageously hot and I had a front-row, center seat. It was beautiful and moving and three weeks later and I’m still a bit overcome by it, but two points to the Old Vic for a fantastic production.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert: I wasn’t as drunk as I hoped to be despite the strawberry daiquiri in my light-up martini glass, but the show was campy and fun and full of three of my favorite things: Australians, drag queens, and bad pop music. I loved it and can’t wait to see Will Swenson play Tick in New York.

Women Beware Women: No trip to London is complete without a pilgrimage to the National Theatre, home of my all-time favorite play, The History Boys. This one was even more special because this play starred Samuel Barnett, one of the original History Boys. I knew nothing about Jacobean drama but the play was fantastic, really sexy and also starring Dudley Dursey from Harry Potter so like my West Wing cast bingo, I can now check off another HP actor.

So I hoofed it to Victoria Station straight from the show, nearly missed my bus to Luton, made it to Luton, barely checked in on time, and oh wait, my flight’s delayed indefinitely due to volcanic ash. Cool. Oh, also, Wizz Air won’t let me board with my bag despite the fact that they said it was okay as a carry-on at check in. Douchebags. But whatever. Another $100 out the window. Wizz Air sucks, for the record, but God knows I’ll fly them again if I have to.

Germany: Went to Berlin (THIRD TIME) with Ryan for the day for the Lady Gaga concert. I’d tell you about the concert if I remembered any of it, but I don’t, so I’ll leave it at that. Forgot my camera battery in Prague so had the joyful experience of buying a new one at my handy electronics store at Potsdamer Platz. It was rainy and cold and I was dressed for weather that was 10 degrees warmer so it wasn’t a fantastic trip, but I made it to the villa at Wannsee so I at least got some history-dork cred out of it.

Prague: The last few weeks were miserable due to the impending end of the semester. I was sick and overtired a lot, and the volcanic ash kept Prague in an eternal winter of 40 degrees and rain, so I was really unhappy. I chose to write papers for all of my classes instead of taking final exams, so I found myself living in the Globe or Gloria Jean’s. I wrote 50-something pages total for four classes… 10 for Witness to History on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, 18 for Classroom Europe on the German resistance under Hitler (8-10 pages were all that were required. I’m an overachiever, suck it), 7 for film that I really, honestly could not have cared less about, and 18 for Jewish history on anti-Jewish legislation in the Third Reich. To say that I’m exhausted now is the understatement of the century. Professor Holub, despite joking that I wrote a book, told me I should use my paper as the basis for my thesis so that was nice. It was refreshing to take history classes in which I actually learned something but UM wouldn’t be UM if I wasn’t outrageously frustrated by the crapiness of the history department.

Goodbyes sucked and I miss my friends immensely. The flight home was hellish because the night before I left, I suddenly came down with the Prague Plague and my (delayed) flight from Zurich to Miami consisted of me being too feverish/congested to read or watch TV, so I just listened to the same shitty music over and over again because I was too sick to work my iPod. I also thought I was going to get heat stroke with my sweatshirt on so I had the joyful experience of wearing a tacky Switzerland shirt I bought in Zurich. Everyone judged me. Damn you, classy Europeans. US customs also sucked because apparently I need to fill out 4,000 forms and then show them over and over again to different bitchy customs agents and apparently my baggage needs to be x-rayed because apparently I might be bringing in something sketchy from Central fucking Europe. Yeah, all that Czech garnet really needs to be declared. Suck it, Homeland Security. YEAH, I SAID IT. $20 says I’m now on the TSA watch list for that.

Coral Springs is outrageously boring and I’m beyond broke and still a little sick. I’m going back to Prague for summer session in t-minus 24 days but it won’t be the same without my friends. Maybe I’ll actually see the sun this time around? One can only hope.

Day 1

After an nasty procrastination streak, 16 hours of intense packing, a computer crash, two overweight bags, a broken bag, a $200 surcharge for the extra bag I had to bring, and a nearly missed connection in Zurich because Amber is a sketchy, sketchy terrorist, I'm in Prague.

Swiss Air is a house of lies. I was promised an aisle seat; Amanda and I were part of a sandwich. I was promised a vegetarian meal; I got chicken (and no, according to the flight attendant, I can't have anything else). I also got no sleep whatsoever on the outrageously uncomfortable seats on the plane, so I did get to see Mad Men, Flight of the Conchords, 30 Rock, and In the Loop... over and over and over.

After a fast run through Zurich customs to (a) get the Swiss passport stamp and (b) see snow, we came very close to missing our connecting flight, but we made it back and I got to sit next to a surly, PDA-happy German couple that hated me because I demanded the window seat to which I had been assigned. I had forgotten how sparse Central Europe is- flying into Prague including just seeing vast stretches of white nothingness. I got cheated at Travelex (par for the course) and survived a bus ride of other Americans discussing Jersey Shore and the obnoxious ringtones on their new phones. I'm glad I came to Prague to be surrounded by the same kind of people back in the States.

My room is absolutely massive double-as-single with its own bathroom and kitchen. It's kind of lonely, considering everyone else is in suites, but God forbid an onion crosses my path. Putting everything away is a huge work in progress, and true to form, I overpacked by a LOT.

We went to a pub for dinner afterward, where I discovered that I still can't stand beer and that the Czech national dish is a fried mozzarella stick. The onion thing shouldn't be too hard to avoid here but being vegetarian is going to be ridiculous. I obviously am not taking the semester off in that respect, but it's probably going to be Budapest redux in terms of only eating Special K bars.

We walked from our dorm to the pub and then across the Charles Bridge to Old Town. Prague is really, really gorgeous and old, but the cobblestones are a bitch and there's a decent shot I'll fracture something walking here. Also, Prague is a city of hills. The schlep back from the square was interminable but I clearly made it and subsequently passed out after my first overseas Skype session.

Today we have two meetings; Stephanie and I need to pick up our tickets for the Swell Season concert tomorrow and I think people are going to Tesco and Ikea. Of course I leave important things like a hairdryer and a toothbrush at home. And, of course, it's snowing again.