Ahoj!
What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been! It seems like yesterday we were getting home from an awesome trip home with our roommate Eva, now we are working on packing up to come home in just two days! In that time we've been all over the place tying up loose ends, finishing school, and fitting in a few last trips...
For my belated birthday trip, Gracia and I went to the "Motherland", Sweden, for the weekend. Although it was a short trip, we were able to see a lot in Stockholm and it truly was a beautiful city! We started out as soon as we arrived by taking a ferry out to a nearby island in the archipelago. After exploring the small island, we found a seat on a rock by the water and watched the sunset over Stockholm then enjoyed some coffee in a little restaurant in the company of a boat captain. The next day we explored the Old Town and surrounding areas then made our way over to the island Djurården where we visited one of the coolest museums we'd ever been to, the Vasa Museum, which housed a huge well-preserved ship. Also on the island we walked around Skansen, a large park filled with examples of older buildings from all over Sweden and even a small town with reenacted shops and inhabitants. It reminded me of a much larger version of the Old Mill Museum in Lindsborg! Of course, we had to have some Swedish meatballs before leaving, so we stopped to have the traditional meal that evening in a nearby restaurant. After hearing a few familiar phrases that were obviously NOT Swedish, we realized that the owners of the restaurant were actually Slavic and several of them were from the Czech Republic! It created some lively attempts at conversation mixing Swedish, Czech, and English to get our points across. What a small world! The next day we left the beautiful country of Sweden after a quick, but successful trip. It's one of those countries that will simply require another visit!
As soon as we got back, we had to hit the ground running to get ready for finals the next week. Through the course of the next few days, we slowly checked classes off the list as we studied for, then took our last exams. My last final was Thursday night and Gracia's was the next Monday night. It was good to have some closure there, but also so strange to say goodbye to fellow students that we would, most likely, never see again. Although school was definitely not the favorite part of this trip :) it was also a good experience and created so many opportunities for meeting other people and getting to know the new culture. We're pretty sure we passed the classes...
Also during the week, all of us at A1 Flats (plus a few other friends!) gathered here in the backyard to have the last get together with all of us there before we one-by-one leave the Czech Republic. It's a weird feeling to say goodbye to people you've spent concentrated time with over the course of several months. We had so much fun getting to know and hang out with these students, hopefully we will be able to meet up again sometime in the near future.
During all this time, I was making last minute plans for the next weekend's trip to England with Hannah. It would be our final excursion before heading back home to the States. Hannah and I took off Friday morning and arrived in London, where we camped out for three days. London was really an awesome city, probably the most modern of any we had been to yet. We watched the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, took a ride on the London Eye, saw the Tower of London, Tate Modern, the British Museum (with the Rosetta Stone!), Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament, and the Globe Theater. It was a busy few days! On Monday we parted ways, Hannah to meet some friends in Birmingham, and I to take a detour through the countryside before flying out of Birmingham as well. Taking the train from London, I stopped off to see Stonehenge and the surrounding area then stayed the night in Bath where I toured the ancient Roman baths still existing there. Another long train ride took me to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see Shakespeare's hometown and I finished it off by staying the night in Birmingham and flying back to Prague the next day (yesterday). The English countryside was absolutely beautiful and it was so much fun to see more history come to life!
Meanwhile, Gracia took the weekend to study up for her last finals on Monday, which were frustrating but they're over now! She had a good time going with the Prudeks to church for the last time and got to hang out with a friend who we had met at Benatky. Most of the other students here at A1 were also in Prague for the weekend so she was able to hang out with them some more before splitting directions. One major adventure was going to a non English speaking hairdresser to get a haircut- it turned out great though! I greatly missed her and was so glad to see her when I got back! If this is what happens after just a few days apart, it may be an interesting summer :)
Now all of a sudden it's the day before we fly back home and Gracia and I have been attempting to prepare for the journey. Our room is currently a collection of half-packed suitcases and piles of a semester's worth of living, hopefully everything will fit in our bags! Last night the Prudeks demonstrated their hospitality as we went over for dinner to catch up and at the same time say goodbye. It was great to see them again before we take off and we hope to stay in contact with them. They were such an amazing part of our semester here and we're so grateful! Today is our last day in the Prague and that certainly brings about mixed feelings. We're going to miss Europe a lot and have had such a great experience here, but at the same time we are SUPER pumped to get back and see you all! We'll be walking around Prague this afternoon to see the sights one more time and perhaps reminisce a little before finishing up packing, saying goodbyes, and taking off early tomorrow morning. Our flight will take us to Dallas where we will get to see Gracia's family and from there we'll make our way back to Kansas and a summer full of catching up with everyone we've missed so much.
So now I'm going to sign off and get ready for the big day ahead. Can't wait to see you all, thanks for all your prayers and thoughts this semester, what an adventure it's been!
Love,
Laura
