Pilsen, Czech Republic

One of the neat programs that the Army offers are MWR trips to other cities. Morale, Welfare and Recreation, also known as MWR, plans activities and trips for soldiers and their families. Some trips are near and some are far. I chose to sign up for a day trip to Pilsen, Czech Republic because we are fairly close to the Czech border and I thought it would be an interesting trip. Nick wasn't able to go on the trip due to some unforeseen Army business so my neighbor, Kylie, tagged along with me instead.

The day started off with an early morning bus drive with an interesting and entertaining bus driver. He was a bit kooky and funny, making silly remarks about passengers but that's another story. After an hour and half drive, we had arrived in Pilsen. Our bus driver dropped us off at the famous Pilsner Urquell Brewery and told us to be back by 5:30pm. We were free to roam around the city for the rest of the day. 

Because it was 9am and a Sunday, many stores were closed. We decided to try and find some breakfast food and ended up at a grocery store called Tesco. Kylie and I picked up some traditional Czech pastries. We weren't sure what we were buying but they looked scrumptious. I ended up buying a pastry called a Buchty, which is essentially a sugar bun with poppy seeds rolled inside. I originally thought it was chocolate inside, but I was mistaken when I bit into the fluffy pastry. Nevertheless, it was still a very tasty treat. 

We roamed around the city center and found a small market in the town square. Kylie picked up some traditional Czech herbs and spices and also a scarf. (Side note: the exchange rate there is AWESOME.) The man who was selling the spices thought we were from England, which made us laugh. I guess he wasn't too familiar with U.S. accents. The town square is right next to St. Bartholomew Church so we decided to climb up the tower so we could view the city. After climbing what seemed to be a thousand steep and treacherous steps, we finally made it to the top. We had a great view of Pilsen on top of the tower. We eventually climbed back down the stairs and decided to walk inside the church. I attended Catholic church most of my life so I'm no stranger to what a Catholic church looks like inside but it was so amazing to step into a church that was so old and had so much history. It was definitely different than the churches I've been to in the states. Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed inside so I can't show you but trust me, it's beautiful. 

After visiting the church, we roamed around some more until 11 when coffee shops started to open up. We found a cafe so we popped in and ordered a cappuccino. One thing we really should have done to prepare for our trip, was to learn some basic Czech phrases. We had no clue how to order food or coffee but thankfully the man working at the coffee shop knew a little English. I felt a little bit like a jerk for not understanding or even speaking Czech but next time I go back, I'll make sure to practice!

If you didn't know already, Pilsen is known for creating Pilsner beer. We wanted to go on the brewery tour the brewery had but we decided to eat lunch first and rest our aching feet. The brewery is on the other side of the city center so it's a bit of a walk to get there. It was our plan to go to the brewery after lunch but we ended up going on an underground city tour instead since it was closer. The tour was interesting and also wet from the rain outside. For some reason I thought the tour was going to be about beer but it really wasn't. Oops! It was still cool to go underneath the city and see the tunnels and artifacts though (no pictures allowed again, sorry!).  I thought we would have more time after the underground tour to go to the brewery but we didn't. By the time the underground tour was over, we had just enough time to walk back to the brewery, grab an ice cold beer at the beer garden and hop back on the bus. 

Overall, it was a delightful trip. I wish we were able to do more things, such as visit the Great Synagogue or visit the Pilsner Urquell brewery, but thankfully we don't live too far away so I'm sure I'll be back again to explore some more!

Blog Hop: 3 IRRATIONAL FEARS

This week I'm doing something a little different and participating in the Fresh Face Friday Blog Hop that Casey is hosting over at We Took the Road Less Traveled. Casey gave her readers a writing prompt and this week the prompt is 3 Irrational Fears. So here we go!

1. BEES

Bees don’t just scare me…they send me into a straight panic. My heart starts to race and I tense up. I will run as far as I can if a bee comes near me and even cry possibly. It’s sort of strange. When I was younger, I wasn’t really scared of bees. They didn’t really bother me. I was actually scared of spiders more than anything as a child (I still don’t like them but I tolerate them at least). I don’t know what changed overtime but as I got older, I got more and more terrified of bees. Maybe it's because I'm 27 years old and I haven't ever been stung by a bee. Yes, I’m scared of being stung of course. But there’s also something about the buzzing sound they make that gets my heart racing and the adrenaline pumping. Fight or flight kicks in. I can hear a fly or mosquito buzzing and it will make me uneasy. The buzzing reminds me of a bee. I don't know if I'll ever get over my fear of bees. Maybe someday I will get stung and my fears will completely disappear but until then, I'll keep running away from bees. 

2. THE DENTIST

I know it’s important to have your teeth cleaned and checked regularly by a dentist but I despise going to dental offices and often avoid them, even though I know I shouldn’t. I think it all started when I was a child and had to have a few teeth pulled. The inside of my mouth is small and the dentist needed to make room for more teeth so in order to do that, my teeth were pulled. All I was given was novacaine and despite the medication, it still hurt…even days later. The memories of the dental tools that looked like pliers and other sharp objects that were used still haunt me to this day. I don’t like feeling pain. I mean, who does? And I associate pain when I go to the dentist. I’m a bit ashamed to admit this but I’ve even avoided going to the dentist for a few years. I know, I know. It’s bad. But I’m slowly working on overcoming this fear. I need to keep my teeth strong and healthy and although I don’t think I’ll ever like the dentist, I’m hoping that I will eventually be content with going for regular checkups.

3. CROWDS

Since I’m a self-proclaimed extrovert and enjoy socializing, you’d think that I wouldn’t have a problem with crowds. But you’d be wrong. Standing in a crowd gives me intense anxiety. When I was around 12 years old, I was standing on a crowded city bus in San Francisco. As more people piled onto the bus up front, a crowd of people huddled in the back of the bus, squishing and squeezing me. As these people started pushing up against me, I felt my heart racing and started to tense up. I lost it. I started crying and wait for it…I kicked a random person. On purpose. It was like a reflex I couldn’t control. Sure, I felt bad about it but I think it was my body’s way of trying to tell me “Get the hell out of there!” Shortly after that, I got off the bus. And there have been many other moments where I was placed in a crowd and freaked out, like the numerous rock concerts I attended in high school.  Another instance was when I was at Vans Warped Tour and I was squished and almost even suffocated in a crowd (try taking an elbow to the throat at a crowded concert and not being able to breathe… NOT FUN). Because of these instances, I’ve developed a fear of crowds. I’m generally OK if I’m able to move around a little bit, but if my personal space is invaded and I can barely move in the crowd, WATCH OUT. I will lose it. Most of the time, I can sense when a crowd might get out of control and then I end up leaving. It’s better to remove myself from the situation before I have a melt down, HA!

So there you have it. My three irrational fears. Do you think they are rational or irrational? I've been told both. So, what are YOU afraid of?

Neuschwanstein Castle

After a few weeks of putting off our trip to Neuschwanstein Castle because of Nick's injured leg, we were finally able to go last weekend. NEUSCHWANSTEIN. Whew, that's a mouthful. The Germans pronounce it like this: NEW- SHVON- STINE (phonetic spelling, not official spelling obviously; see above haha). Can you pronounce it? It took me a while to pronounce it correctly. Those German words can be quite tricky sometimes!

Neuschwanstein is nestled in the Bavarian Alps, close to the Austrian border and housed King Ludwig II of Bavaria for a short while before his mysterious death in 1886. King Ludwig was known to be a bit of a recluse but also an eccentric fellow. He spent much of the kingdoms money on building multiple castles, including Neuschwanstein, and borrowing money from lines of credit which upset the members of his cabinet. Rumor has it, he even threatened suicide if he wasn't able to finish building Neuschwanstein. Because of his abnormal and sometimes even defiant behavior, King Ludwig was declared insane and ultimately dethroned. A few days after he was dethroned, he was found in a lake nearby dead but the cause of death is still questioned to this day.

In order to get to Neuschwanstein, you need to park down below in the town of Hohenschwangau and  hike up a hill to reach the castle. There is a bus and horse carriage you can take up the hill for a small fee but we chose to get our exercise and walk up the hill instead. It was definitely a workout and my booty was sore the next day but it was well worth the view. The views of the Bavarian countryside are absolutely stunning.

Inside the castle there are paintings of the famous German composer Richard Wagner's operas throughout many rooms. There are also intricate and ornate wood carvings of swans in Ludwig's bedroom and ceramic art pieces of swans throughout the castle. In fact Neuschwanstein means "New Swanstone" in German so you can understand why there are so many swans inside; King Ludwig loved his swans. Because of Ludwig's untimely death, the interior was never officially completed so there are only a few select rooms that are entirely finished. Unfortunately, photos aren't allowed inside the castle but I did take photos outside the castle and some photos of the town (and other castle) below.

FUN FACT: Walt Disney was inspired to build the castle at Disneyland after seeing Neuschwanstein Castle. Cool, huh?!

Hohenschwangau Castle in the town below Neuschwanstein

The hike up the hill

5 Things I Miss About The United States

I'm incredibly grateful to be living in a country with such incredible history and culture, however, I sometimes find myself reminiscing about all the comforts of home that I don't have living here and how much I miss them. So, I've compiled a short list of some of the things that I miss about living in the United States. 

(Disclaimer: This is not a list dissing Germany. There are many things I like about living in Germany, however this is just what I personally miss.)

1.  Shopping Malls
I've always lived in very populated areas (the smallest town I've lived in had 86,000 people!) and I've never had shopping malls located too far from me. My whole life I've had the convenience of driving l5 minutes or less to the closest mall or shopping center. Nowadays I live in a fairly rural area of Germany and the closest large mall that I'm aware of is about an hour away from me. My best bet at finding something close to an American strip mall here is probably about a 25-30 minute drive and while that isn't too terrible, it's not what I'm used to. And don’t even get me started on how much I miss Target. Oh how I miss thee! 

2. Waste Management System

Back in the U.S., garbage day was every Friday and they picked up all different types of recycling as well. Here in Germany, my trash gets picked up every other week and the only recycling available at our house is paper/ cardboard and that is picked up once a month. You read that right. ONCE. A. MONTH. Additionally, glass, cans and plastic bottles need to be taken to a recycling center which can become inconvenient after a while. Also when recycling glass bottles, you must sort them by color. All of the green bottles go in one bin, brown bottles in another and clear ones in another bin. I'm sure there is a reason for this but I miss being able to put all my recyclables together and not having to worry about sorting them and when they will be picked up.

3. Free Water in Restaurants

Water isn’t free in restaurants in Germany, In fact, most people drink sparkling water here and even that costs money. If you want "still water" at a restaurant, you will pay for it...always. No ice in your drinks either. Oh and no free refills….ever. To be honest, beer is usually the same price or cheaper than water in Germany, so you might as well just have beer instead!

4. Storage Space

I’ve lived in some small apartments before but nothing compares to the lack of storage space in our German house. The house itself is a decent size, but there is absolutely no counter space in the bathrooms and I only have two drawers in the entire kitchen. Also, there are no linen closets in the house. The only closets are bedroom closets, which are small as well. I need more storage space!

5. Businesses Open on Sundays

I don’t know if it's just a German thing or a European thing but everything seems to be closed on Sundays. Well, besides restaurants...they are usually open on Sundays. But because most places aren't open on Sunday, it means you only have Saturday to run errands on the weekend, at least out in the German economy. 

P.S.: I had to throw this extra one in there as well- I MISS 110 VOLTAGE! Oh how I wish our electronics worked here. Nick fried his X-Box One because he didn't check the voltage before he plugged it in. Needless to say, that was a very expensive mistake and he won't be playing video games for a while.

Are you an expat living abroad? What do you miss most about your country?