münchen

Monday morning I hustled to the Venice airport, and had a quick flight over to Munich. By the time I landed, got to the trains, trained to Munich, checked into my hostel and dropped my things it was already 3:45 on Monday afternoon. originally, I had planned to depart for home on Wednesday, but after chatting with mom and I dad I thought it best to find my way home sooner. luckily there was a cheap flight out of Munich to Paris, but it was an early one.

I set out for the town in Munich and the weather was perfect. sun was shining and there were loads of people shopping and roaming the streets. I only had a few places that I absolutely wanted to fit in, so I started with the market. it was so cute! had a bunch of shops selling mostly meats and cheeses, with a few restaurants sprinkled in here and there. I snagged a small brat with a little mustard.. so good. I am a brat fan on an average day but in the land of bratwurst it was even better. the market had little shops selling homemade items like decorations and pasta as well, with a huge beer garden in the middle of it hustling and bustling with people. I walked through some more main streets, stumbling upon what looked like important buildings (I know I've been saying this much too often lately..) and made my way to the hofbrauhaus, the top priority spot for me to visit. I sat outside in the beer garden, and the waiter came to ask for my order. I asked for a pretzel and an original beer, which he then asked if I wanted a big or small beer. I said, oh definitely big and he proceeded to smile and gave what looked like a nod of approval. thanks pal, glad we're on the same page. I sat there for a while, enjoyed my beer but holy cow it filled me up so quickly I don't know how people can take down more than 1-2 of them. it was exceptional beer though, which everyone says duh Jules it's Germany but forget not I have been living in the land of wine for the last 4 months, so a good beer is few and far between.

after I left the hofbrauhaus, I popped into a lederhosen shop recommended to me by Clare and her roommate. it was so cute and so fun, until you looked at the price tags. 60-100 euro for a dang dress, which may or may not include the undershirt and the apron. though I was feeling a little tipsy from the beer, I needed to be rational on spending that much on a dress that I could probably only wear for Halloween. let me tell you though, it was extremely tempting to pull the trigger. honestly the fact I had no room in my backpack won over the practicality of the dress, whoops. in the end, I decided I'd have to just come back for Oktoberfest and buy one then.

after the store, I roamed for a little while longer, popping into a gorgeous park (I think it was the royal garden or palace park.. I'm trying here guys) and it was so pretty with greens and flowers and monuments all around. you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but one never gets "used to" European PDA. it's intense as hell. everywhere I looked - so many couples. so many couple hangout spots. eurojules wasn't loving it

post-park I went back to the market beer garden, snagged another bratwurst this time with sauerkraut and another beer but much smaller than the first. when in (Rome) Germany right? i wandered some more, saw a few more parks and made my way back to the hostel for an early night, anticipating my early morning on Tuesday. don't worry, the room was a thousand degrees and my friend from China snored louder than a grizzly. needless to say, the sleeping part didn't really happen. joy

now back to angers! I feel like I've been gone for 2 weeks but it's only been 8 days. I'm ready to see the girls, but not ready to power through the massive load of homework and finals prep that awaits me. only a few more weeks as eurojules, 4.5 months down and .5 to go..

cheers, jkro

Verona, Italia

Ninoska was flying out today (Sunday) and we covered a ton of ground in Venice over the last two days, so I wanted to see somewhere new since I'm not flying out until Monday morning. I looked into some nearby cities, and was able to snag a ticket for 9 euro to Verona. in addition to their pasta & gelato, Italy has the trains thing on lock. they're frequent, cheap, and nice (as far as chargers and comfy seats) which hol and I experienced on spring break a few months back (months?! cripes) so I was pretty excited it was cheap and only an hour and a half to see another city.

I arrived in Verona, figured out a bus to catch and hopped off in what seemed like a busy place. I think Verona is the first place I haven't used google maps once, and didn't have any sort of itinerary or places to see. I had a little lunch, and went to the arena, which looks like a smaller colosseum similar to Rome. fun fact: the Verona colosseum was built before Rome, and competes with Rome and Milan as far as theaters and monuments go in the arena category. I hung out in there for a while, the sun was out so I parked it on some steps from the first century and enjoyed the sunshine. after that I walked down a crazy busy street of shops, popping in and out mostly window shopping. let's be honest, I don't have room in my backpack and probably not in my suitcases to go home either. I kept walking, taking a turn here and there when I felt like it. in doing this, I stumbled upon a few monuments. I won't lie, I have no idea what they were called but essentially a duomo, a basilica, a chapel/museum and a big bridge that had what looked to be an important building on the other side. the sites were really neat but I honestly just enjoy the average Italian building because they're colorful, usually have an interesting architecture, and flowers, terraces and/or shutters to complete the overall look. solo travels mean a lot of photos of buildings and monuments, as I'm sure you can see with the photo trend in this post.

I have a decent sense of direction, so after walking for a while in the opposite direction of the station I made my way back towards the piazza arena, snagged some gelato, hopped on a bus and waited a few minutes for my train. I'm pleased with the quiet simplicity of the day trip, and not having to pull up google maps once. just pretending to blend and be a semi-European. does my blonde hair give me away? I can be German..

ciao & cheers, jkro

Venezia

Friday morning, up and at em quite early to get to the airport for my flight from Prague to Venice. the flight was probably the quickest and least crowded flight I've been on thus far in Europe, which was nice on both accounts. touch down in Venice, and the weather was gorgeous. Ninoska wasn't landing until about 4, and I couldn't check into our hostel until about 2, so I hung out in the outdoor restaurant connected to our hostel for a while watching a little Netflix, eating a little lunch. once I checked in, I was psyched to take a nap, but some guy sawing with a crazy loud saw just outside my window had other ideas for me. nap didn't happen, but when nini arrived we went into the city, because our place wasn't on the main Venice island. we bused in, and honestly just roamed for hours. there aren't a lot of "sites" necessarily in Venice, and roaming is definitely the way to go with how windy and small the streets are, and how often you realize you're totally landlocked due to the fact there's water in front of you but no bridge.

we popped in and out of a bunch of souvenir shops, people watched and just took in the views of water & gorgeously colorful buildings. we stopped for dinner, shared some pasta, wine and good conversation. after that we roamed some more, snagged some gelato for dessert and made our way back to the hostel. there's wifi available in the main building, so we showered and hung out in the lobby in our jams. we got our Netflix & social media fix, split a bottle of wine and snacked on some chips until the early hours of the morning. many giggles were involved, because for those of you who don't know Ninoska she is an absolute hoot and a half.

side note: learning quite quickly that french wine is the best wine for a lot of reasons. there are a ton of options, it's cheap, and it tastes pretty stinkin good. sure I've had a few bottles that aren't very tasty, but they would rival and beat what I've had in other countries both in taste and in price. living in the Loire valley has its perks in that department..

Saturday the weather was glorious. little breeze, sunshine and blue skies. we grabbed a little lunch once we arrived into the city, and then set out to roam. the streets were absolutely packed, as it was a Saturday and peak season is upon us. we would pop in out of shops, stop at pretty places for photos (which was frequent) and keep on moving. I grabbed some gelato & Ninoska snagged a beer. the warm weather warranted both..

we lingered around the gondola stops all day long, hoping to find some other young poor college students who wanted to share a ride. the gondolas are 80 euro per half hour, maximum six people in the boat at a time. we were looking to find two other bodies to bring down the cost of 40 euro a piece to 20 euro. we struck out asking people about two times each, rejection in full swing. as we were walking along, we saw two Asian girls stopped looking at a map and chatting together. I went in for my probably fifth attempt to sway someone to take a gondola ride with us, and after a little explanation they agreed. VICTORY! the four of us did introductions, and piled into the gondola. the ride was so stinkin cool, the waters were packed with boats of all sorts and we went down narrow canals and I'm impressed these gondola drivers don't ever hit each other or the walls of the buildings alongside the water. at one point, I wanted to move to get a photo. well this was a bad call because I almost sent our poor driver into the drink.. ha that would've been terribly unfortunate. slight movement really rocks the boat, and they stand essentially on the edge when they are rowing so it wouldn't be hard to fall in with a little rock of the boat. I honestly wonder how often they do fall in, and how the heck they would get back up. as karma would have it, I was leaning back to get a picture of nini and I just totally bit it backwards off the little stool I was sitting on so I spent the rest of the ride laying half on half off of this little stool in the gondola so I didn't shake or rock the boat again. typical eurojules

after our ride, we started the hunt to st. mark's square, really one of the few monuments or spots we wanted to see in the city. it was gorgeous - a huge basilica as well as a few other buildings that I'm totally unsure of their names or usage. I had a bit of a fright though because I lost Ninoska for about 5 minutes, and she forgot her phone at home and I was like a panicked mother like holy hell if I can't find her idk what I'm going to do because I can't contact her. she giggled when I found her and expressed my concern. "j to the kro I lost you!" YA I know woman.

after walking quite a bit, we realized both of our feet started to hurt and we were dreading the walk back to the top part of the island. we popped into some more shops and then we stopped for dinner at a pizzeria by a canal. we enjoyed some delicious 'za and we were both freaking out because we saw a couple get onto a gondola and they were dressed up, he looked nervous and he spoke to the driver sort of closely so nini and I thought he might be proposing. spoiler: no ring upon their return. I think I was more disappointed than she was. like dude, opportunity MISSED.

we stopped for gelato again on the way back to the bus station, Ninoska picked up a pair of shoes that she'd tried on Friday and regretted not purchasing, and then we hopped on the bus and made our way back to the hostel. Ninoska had picked up a few souvenirs and she was charged for an extra bag on the way to Venice (easy jet are stingy mother effers) so she wanted to fit her purse in the carry on suitcase as well. I showed her the art of a good roll, so she could roll all of her clothing. she did a great job packing it, and then came the moment of truth if it would zip or not. she was laying on it, and I was taking videos of the play by play because the commentary was too funny not to. she did it! success for barzey and the bag.

had a lovely time with my sassy Dominican pal in Venice. she's a real sweetheart, and I can say with confidence a life long friend. thanks for the laughs and all the pictures, I'll forever remember Venezia by your side!

cheers & ciao, jkro

Praha

here we go again friends! off to Praha today. trained to Charles de Gaulle in Paris, made it to the gate just in time (for no lack of effort. I was sweating) and had a comfy flight to Prague. I arrived, bused to the metro and then took the metro into the city. Clare, a fellow flyer and friend, was gracious enough to let me stay with her. she picked me up at the metro. we dropped my things at her place, which was HUGE. met all of the roomies, there are five girls in total. they have a living room with two couches and a kitchen table - super homey (especially in comparison to de la Maine.) we went to one of the main streets, popped into some shops and caught up about our semesters so far and the news back home. we went back home, picked up a roomie and then ventured out to grab dinner at their favorite Italian place. I had a delish pizza, and met another roommate of Clare's as well. we were originally going to out, but we were all beat so we just sipped some wine on the couch - after a day of travel I appreciated it.

Wednesday Clare didn't have class, which was amazing so she was able to spend the day with me which I really loved. we made a little breakfast for two at the apartment, which was really fun. unfortunately it was quite cold and rainy, but we went to old town square, and the buildings in Prague, much like Italy, are just pretty. they are colorful and aesthetically pleasing. I tried my first tridlnik - a doughy cone rolled in cinnamon and nuts, filled with cream and strawberries, a Czech favorite. very tasty! we popped in and out of little shops, taking in the sights. we stopped at the John Lennon wall, which was really neat. Clare said its different every time she sees it, because people just continue to paint and write on it so its always changing. we parked it in a coffee shop for a little while - the rain was coming down, Clare couldn't feel her fingers, and my jeans were a bit wet and by default cold. after our day of a lot of walking and sightseeing, we went back to the apartment, grabbed the gals and went for a traditional Czech meal - goulash and a beer. the great thing about Prague is the cheap food. I only paid 8 euro for dinner, whereas in France or Italy that meal would cost probably 15-18 euro. Clare and I had been talking about how gross our nails were, so we popped into a place and got them done. a real treat because I feel put together when my nails are nice & polished. we went back to the apartment, got dressed and all fluffed to go out. we drank a bit, then ubered to the club because Europeans go out SO late, so the metro had already stopped for the night. Clare knew quite a few people there from school, so we danced and drank and grabbed a (really spicy - by accident) burrito on the way home and fell quickly asleep.

Thursday morning was a bit rough for both Clare and I, but she had it worse because she had class. I took the metro in the direction of her school and we grabbed a sandwich at a popular bagel place. it was everything I needed, I'll say that much. we had a lovely time just chatting, and before Clare went back to class she pointed me in the direction of the castle / church at the top of the hill. I moseyed around the gardens and courtyards, enjoying the sunshine and people watching. I realized it was the first time I had been sightseeing by myself all semester.. which is kind of crazy. I have enjoyed every second with the girls and the travels we've taken on together, but it was peaceful walking by myself and taking in everything around me.

side note: Prague's metro escalators are the FASTEST sons of betches I think I've ever encountered. you gotta have your head on straight and focus when entering & exiting. I almost ate it a few times.

all of Clare's roommates are american, but they're from Texas, Arizona & California. interesting and cool how even though they're from the states, they still have totally different lifestyles. Clare and I are both midwesters, so there is significant common ground there. talking to the girls about their homes, families and school lives was really neat to learn about.

I met Clare back at the apartment, we gathered the troops and went back out to cantina, a Mexican place, to celebrate cinco de mayo. it was DELISH! I have been so incredibly deprived of Mexican food, so it was extra tasty. definitely a pricey meal, but Mexican food is a coveted thing in Europe and it was worth every penny in #americanjkro's books. we snagged some soft serve (haven't had that in forever either) and walked over the main bridge, saw a lot of hustle and bustle and just enjoyed the evening's weather. we were all in a food coma, so we were lazy for a while at the apartment and then went to bed.

Clare & co. (@roomies) thank you SO much for welcoming me into your home, sharing your space, your stories and your kindness. I had an amazing time.

early morning for me Friday, I was out the door by 6:30 to get to the airport. onward to Venice! ciao, Praha.

cheers, jkro