I am leaving for Athens, Greece in seven minutes. My camera is completely cleared off, Rachel dyed my hair a beautiful new color four hours ago because we couldn't sleep [black], and I am all packed for the THIRD time this week. This will be the sixth country in seven days.... Whew!
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Budapest
Spain
Austria
GREECE
[Friday-Friday]
Wow.... I will 'talk' to you all next Wednesday!
XoXo from Brno! (For another five minutes!)
Mark and I moved to Naples, Italy on April 22, 2012. We will be there for three years and will be documenting all aspects of our crazy new life overseas. Enjoy! Ciao! -The Bakers
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Today's Czech Cinema Experience
It was 60's day in Czech Cinema today. Apparently in the 60's everyone got naked and made out. At least in Czech they did! And we watched clips of just that.... EEEEEWWWWW!!!!! Czech Cinema is always a treat..... The funniest part was the fact that the clips didn't have English subtitles so our teacher was kind enough to translate them all for us! BAHHAHAHAHHAHAA*
Dinner- More Differences
So dinner in Spain starts at 8:30 and ends at 11:30..... wow..... Differences... Diners don't even open until 8:30 there... isn't that bizarre???
Beautiful Building on Tour
We saw a beautiful building on the Barcelona tour. We decided to get off the bus to look around... We RAN INTO THE SCOTS AGAIN! They were having a rally before the game and we happened to show up! haha*
Pranks
We were really tired from the tour so we went back to the hostel to sleep....or so we thought..... we were all laughing about the Scots from the night before and telling funny stories and calling eachother names... it was so funny! Derrick wanted to play a practical joke on Becky and Rachel, who had stepped out of the room. We were going to act like we were asleep and scare them, but Derrick instead decided to get naked and lay (face down) in Becky's bed for when she returned. Needless to say, Becky didn't want to sleep in her bed anymore... They were not so much scared, but disgusted... haha*
Barcelona Bus Tour- Cathedral
We took a tour of Barcelona on Tuesday. We were brought to a cathedral that has been under construction for 100 years. And STILL isn't done! Wow! I believe it! It was so0o0o0 intricate and amazing!!! The pic with all the letters is the door!! The stained glass windows were beautiful! These sights just can't be captured with pictures! The tour was a good way to see the city, but it was $35, so it was totally a tourist trap... but whatever! I'm made of money, right? :)
Something Different
Self Explanatory...And a little sad.. This is a video from when our group first got to Barcelona.
Birds
Alfred Hitchcock has NOTHING on us!!! The main square of Barcelona has fountains with BIRDS EVERYWHERE! To go with the theme, there was a vendor in the middle of the square selling bird feed. Of course, I was completely freaked out. Brandon wanted our group to run through the birds. I was scared, but I did it! :) He got it on video, so hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of it to post. Here are a few pics of our bird experience. 
Best Market I have ever been to
Barcelona had an AMAZING fresh fruit market! :) Our group stopped there three or four times to get the fresh fruit smoothies! They were so good!!! It was so pretty too!!!
So there was an AMAZING fresh fruit market in Barcelona!
The next morning
This is me at lunch laughing about all the new moves I learned last night at the club.... In Spain....
Hanging out with the only other person who isn't single
So I hang out with Brandon A LOT! We realized it is because WE ARE THE ONLY TWO HERE WHO AREN'T TRYING TO MAKE OUT WITH EVERYONE!!!!! He has a girlfriend of two and a half years back home... and I have that whole thing about me getting hitched in less than 150 days!! haha* Anyways, in Spain we all went to a club. Everyone went with their new 'friends' and Brandon and I were suddenly the only ones around.. haha* Sad, right?? NOT!!! I had a BLAST with B! We had a dance-off in the middle of the dance floor! We had people watching us! I have never laughed so hard in my LIFE! We busted out classics like the sprinkler, lawn mower, and Q-tip. But there were new ones that were brought to the table. The Tonya Harding, Britney Spears, Copy Machine, Day in the life of a Supermodel, and even the flight attendant. It was quite possibly the most fun I have had since I have been in Europe! And we were completely SOBER!!! There was no worries about being embarassed because we knew no one! I am so easily embarassed back home! bahhahahahaha* NOT! There was one guy who was trying to be my significant other... But he was old.... Czech out the pics of us dancing... I was enjoying myself a little too much.... Sorry, Antonio! Thanks, Brandon!
Hanging out with Scots.....in Spain???
So apparently there was a CRAZY BIG football game in Spain Tuesday night. ((For you Americans, that is soccer)). Anyways, it was the Glasgow Celtics At Barcelona. The Celtics were totally the underdogs and apparently it was something like the 'playoffs' so it was a really big deal. There were drunk Scots freaking EVERYWHERE! And they were HILARIOUS!!!!!! They kept singing songs that we eventually learned the words to. I will upload videos of the crazies singing... Anyways, the song was really hard to learn because we couldn't understand a word they were saying. The video I uploaded is of them teaching us for the first time. It was awful. I thought the song was called "F*** Beckham" but the song they are singing is about their goalie for thier team. He is Catholic and they poke fun at him for that. :) We never ended up learning the "F*** Beckham" song but we did learn this one! We also heard them sing "Paris is a Hoe." Needless to say, the Scots were a lot of fun!
Straight Outta Seinfield
My family is gonna love this! My roommate, Rachel HAD to take a pic of this because she was laughing about the Seinfield episode... Ahhh... we get along... too well....
I say models, Brandon says Prostitutes..You Decide
Becky and I wanted to pose for pictures at the pier in Barcelona. It was absolutely BREATHTAKING at night! It is seriously a beautiful city! I say we look like models, Brandon says Prostitutes..You Decide
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Local Food!
For dinner on Monday night, we went to a restaurant by our hostel. Brandon told us about Paella. It is genuine Spanish food and is a random mixture of different fresh foods. He wasn't kidding! I had the mixed Paella. It was a HUGE plate of random food! It had fresh octopus legs, shrimp, cuttlefish, peas, noodles, and other 'things'.... It was pretty good. I couldn't do too many of the octopus legs because they weren't cut up like meat or anything. They were just tentacles chillin in my food. Eeek! I tried everything though! :)
Barcelona Sights
We hung out in Barcelona when we got there Monday morning. Our hostel was in the perfect location. It was in the middle of the strip. Right between a hot club and the pier. 
The strip was so much fun! There were so many people (we'll get to that later) and there were souvenir shops and artists and people dressed up. It was fun just to walk up and down it! There was a statue of Christopher Columbus right by the pier too!
Oh, did I mention there were palm trees?!?!?!?!?!
The strip was so much fun! There were so many people (we'll get to that later) and there were souvenir shops and artists and people dressed up. It was fun just to walk up and down it! There was a statue of Christopher Columbus right by the pier too!
Oh, did I mention there were palm trees?!?!?!?!?!
FLIGHT
Forgot to mention that, on the way to Spain, we flew over the foothills of the Swiss Freaking Alps! As you may remember from previous posts, I am not a nature girl at all, but these were so pretty! I kept snapping pictures! Oh, and that 'city' that is in the pic? Don't worry about that! It's just MILAN, ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hostel
Ever seen the movie, Hostel? I watched half of it... That's all I could get through. It was located in the Czech Republic. It is gory and nasty and scary and really made my parents feel great when I
told them where I was going to study abroad. I thought they were over-reacting until I walked into our hostel in Spain. Czech out the video of the stairs we had to walk up to get to our room! EEKK!! :) I really did end up feeling very safe!There were electronic keys to get in everywhere and we stayed in a ten-person room with four strangers both nights. It wasn't bad at all. But the video is pretty creepy... haha.. Sorry Momma!
Barcelona Bus
When we got to Spain, we had to take a one hour bus to Barcelona. The first people we met on the bus were three older ladies from Ireland. They were so cute!! They were friends who were traveling around! I want to be them when I grow up! :) Then, there was a guy who was from Italy (who spoke seven different languages) that sat next to Rachel. He was going on the same tram as us. He helped us get our tram tickets in Barcelona and gave us advice. People are so nice! These experiences really make me appreciate the situations of foreigners. I don't know how we would survive without the kindness of others! Thank God for them!
Sporadic Trip to Spain
As I somewhat explained, I was peer pressured into going to Barcelona, Spain for the past three days. Needless to say, it didn't take much coaxing... Mark and I are going to Spain in September for our honeymoon, so I thought it would be nice to 'czech out the scene.' :) haha* IT WAS FREAKING AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was BY FAR the most spontaneous, craziest thing I have ever done in my life! I didn't regret a minute of it! Let me just start by saying I had a great time! I got my first 'real' hostel experience, I learned the Scottish people (in Spain) are rockstars, and even got some gratitude journal entries out of the trip. :) And now for all the different detailed stories...........PS....I heard there is ice in the Haute.... I was wearing this outfit Monday...... :)
"The Bean Has Sprouted"
Amber Spencer is the funniest pregnant girl I know.... That is no more!! Now she is the funniest Mommy I know!! I just got this email: "Benjamin Ryan Hoover made his grand entrance into the world on Febuary 25, 2008 at 6:05 pm weighing in at 7 lbs 11 oz and "standing tall" at 21 inches." Congrats to the happy new family!!! :)
New Friends: One Month Anniversary
Sunday I celebrated knowing all my new friends for one month! Yeah!! I am amazed how close we have all grown in just a month, but I have spent EVERY DAY with these girls/guys! They are all such great people! :) 
Lessons
This past weekend I learned the importance of staying awake on busrides. Wow! I saw so many great things on the way home from Budapest, Hungary to Brno, Czech Republic! The countryside was beautiful and the sun was setting! Also, I saw a RAINBOW!
More Differences
I have no idea what a European person would do if they came to the United States! In the U.S. we get lots of EVERYTHING! I am talking about going out to eat, specifically. When you go to Texas Roadhouse, you get peanuts while you wait. Then you get rolls while you order. Then you get free refills while you eat. Oh no! Not here! No way, no how! From my experience, you pay for EVERYTHING! Ice cubes! You pay by the pieces of bread you eat! You get one cup of coke/water if you order it! I'm brining this up because I had a chicken breast at the spas in Hungary this past weekend. I wanted some ketchup (because they don't have Kraft Fat Free Ranch Dressing here). I asked the guy for some ketchup. He handed me two packs. First, let's discuss these ketchup packets. Ever eaten pixy stix? YEAH! That's what it was! Two of those packets full of ketchup! Then the guy wanted me to pay 200 florints for them! (That is about one dollar for the two of them). Uh, no thanks... So I ate my dry chicken breasts and scoped out the men in their speedos.... ((What a perv))
Attention Whore
I will do absoltuely ANYTHING to make friends and get people to laugh. Hungary was my first 'hostel' experience. It was really nice and clean, and it wasn't a big deal at all. If you have never stayed in a hostel, let me to explain the difference between that and a hotel. Hotels in Europe are for rich people. Anyone young, traveling, and in college stays in hostels. Hotels are private and only the people you booked with stay in the locked room. Hostels-not so much. Hostels are buildings with a few big rooms that hold 8-14 people. They have bunk beds and lockers (for which you usually have to provide the lock). They are an experience. Anyways, I didn't get the ENTIRE hostel experience in Hungary because the entire room was girls I know. The bathroom was public though. When we were getting ready to go out, I was getting ready to shower... The girls in my room dared me to walk to the bathroom in the hostel in my towel and boots only. Like I was going to pass that up! Luckily one of them took a picture to document the event. Wow! I have been in Europe for one month and these people know me well enough to know I would do something completely stupid like that AND know that I would want appropriate documentation! :) haha* What do you think about the pic?
Spas at Gyor, Hungary
We went to the spas on Sunday in Hungary. It was s0o0o0oo0 relaxing! And there were funnies... :) First the relaxing part... Obvi, the water is supposed to be really great for a person to wade in. There was a dark room with water that wasn't too deep so that you could lay down in the dark with only some 'star' lights on the ceiling. It was the most relaxing thing I have ever done... Mark, we need to have one of these in our future house.... It would make me happy! ((It sure did Sunday!)) ... Now for the funnies... EEEWWW!!! The spas were great, but there were some sketch areas that just totally seemed like makeout spots that others shouldn't go in...I felt dirty going in them...It was all couples... There was a cave and also that dark room that I was talking about. The cave was one of those wade in and turn around situations...As soon as I turned around, there was the HAIRIEST MAN I have ever seen in my life! He was standing in the chest high water and his BEARD was touching the water!!! EEEEWWWWW!!!! The water might be good for you, but I'm pretty sure 50-year-old man facial hair isn't! EEEEWWW!!! Let's talk about the men for a sec... Remember that I'm in Europe.... Speedos....haha* This is terrible, but I know why guys look at girls' chests now! I couldn't help myself! I tried my absolute HARDEST to be appropriate, but if you know me..... ;) Kathy, I know you are laughing right now....and glad I'm not your daughter again... haha* The spas were really amazing and I'm glad I got to experience them.... Just didn't feel bad for not shaving my legs... haha*
Seriously?
Saturday night in Budapest, we went shopping...I have to give it to Europeans. They know how to dress fo sho! But WHAT was H&M thinking putting THIS in the window?!?! Would you wear it?
I'm pretty crazy, but I don't even think I could rock those pants....
Differences
Sunday when we were in Budapest, the restaurant at the hostel was running late. A few of us just decided to go to Burger King and then go back to bed... ((again with the 'trying to eat what the locals do' thing....haha*)). It was 8:30 when we went to BK... It wasn't open until 9:00! What the?!?!?! In the U.S. it would have been open for AT LEAST three hours at that point! That was bizarre to us. Something that seemed so familiar turned out to be different. I guess I just thought they were all the same. Nothing beats the beer they sell at the McDonalds in Brno though! haha*
Fat Moe's
Ever seen 40-year old virgin? I saw a lot of them on Saturday night! In Budapest, we went to Fat Moes. It was a bar that was set up like Prohibition times. The DJ was playing lots of old American songs (That's pretty much all I hear over here...) The pic is of Roxanne and Meg at the bar....There were lots of people dancing and it was a lot of fun. Some of my friends thought it was cold in the bar....I just thought it was 'old.' haha*
Violinists and Bones
We went to Dinner Saturday night in Budapest. Rachel and I weren't too HUNGARY... HAHA* so we decided to split this dish with pasta and salmon in it. You can't really mess that up, right? ((This goes along well with the post I just posted about wanting to try new things...haha*)) Anyways, when we were waiting for our food, these creepy guys came to our table and played the violin to us until we gave them money. As the accountant of the group, I refused.... Karma is real though. We got our food and there were BONES in the salmon! It was all kinds of terrible! 
EEEWWWWW!!!
EEEWWWWW!!!Hungarian Hurricane
Okay, I have to admit that there is an "F-Bomb" in this video from the Hungarian Hurricane. But it was just such a funny moment that I am so glad I got on tape. I have to share it! :) We were supposed to walk back to our hostel in this storm (a 40 minute walk). Instead, Derrick, Nikki, Becky, and I all got a cab....Thank goodness! We got dropped off at our hostel five minutes later and were dry! ....Dryer, that is!! :)
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