Czech-ing out central Europe

I apologize ahead of time for the overtly cheesy title. There was this one hostel we came across called the “Czech Inn” and thought that that was just about the most clever thing ever.

Anyways…

Until we ended our bus journey in Prague, I had never really had a moment in Europe where I thought “Wow, we are really in a different land.” In my first minutes in the city/country, I had this feeling it was something completely different than anywhere in Germany or Austria or Spain or Italy or anywhere else I’ve been to in western Europe.

But then I came to find out that it was mainly just in language, money, and food…

Neither of us knew a single word of Czech going into it and I don’t think we know a single word now even. Despite having spent 4 days there.

We would always just give a nervous, wide-eyed look when we needed something at a restaurant or walked into a store, not even knowing the proper way of greeting someone…I know, I know. This is terrible travel etiquette on our part, but thankfully we never had a problem with finding English speakers.

The Czech Koruna provided us with the favorable exchange rate of 1USD=20CZK and 1EUR=28CZK (the best one we found was the bus station at over 28; the worst one was a club at 22.5!!!). So this was about 4EUR/100CZK. I, having clearly not been in a math class in far too long, kept optimistically dividing by 2 instead of 4 and thinking/saying, “Look! This is only 50, aka 1 euro” or “Wow. This big meal only set me back 4 euros.”

Granted, the prices were very reasonable, especially for a capital city and for a city as touristy as Prague. Even for 8 euros, that meal was a fantastic bargain.

Prices in the capital, as expected, were more expensive than the smaller towns I visited or the roadside stop we made on our bus trip…THAT was CHEAP!!! I got a big bowl of soup, breads, juice, and cake for 3 euros something (they accepted euros there, so I know I’m not screwing up the math this time.)

Speaking of food, the food of the Czech Republic was glorious. Not to mention cheap.

Knedliky (dumplings). Guláš (goulash, although technically more Hungarian than Czech). Svičková (this sounds bizarre but became one of my favorite dishes. Basically ever. It’s roast beef sirloin in a cream sauce topped with sweetened whipped cream and cranberries. The whipped cream seemed weird to me to eat with the meat, so I saved it for a dessert!). Česneková polévka (garlic soup). Beer (Pilsner Urquell, Kozel…you name it, Czech breweries deliver).

My favorite, though, was the brilliant pastry entitled Trdelník (we called this one turtleneck, not being sure if that was the correct pronunciation or not). This thing got to me as badly as the sugar waffles in Belgium, making me try one from every new stand I came across. Having at least 2 a day.

Basically, it’s a long snake of dough wrapped around this metal rolling-pin thing that is then rotated over open flames. Once fully cooked, it is rolled in a topping of cinnamon, sugar, and chopped walnuts (usually), knocked off of the pin, and doused in more of the sugar mixture to coat the inside.

Overall, it does look like a turtleneck, so I think our “translation” fit.

Seriously, if I haven’t convinced you enough already, Czech food is superb.

After getting to know the city/country more than just the very initial sighting when we got to the bus station, I found that the Czech Republic really isn’t that different from Germany or Austria. They have a diet heavy on meat, breads, and beer, and the architecture is “European” (although that’s really not a type of architectural style).

Truth be told, I mainly did this post to show you some of the amazing food I ate. And the money is fun too, because it makes you feel like you’re rich!

Until next time.

The beauty of Vienna

Vienna truly is a beautiful city. It has many parks (which are much more enjoyable in the warmer months of the year, I would imagine) and architecture that makes you question if you are actually in Paris.

As every blog and travel guide out there seems to note ad nauseam, Vienna is a “wonderful mix of old and new” or “sits so amazingly between the present and the past.” As tired as you and I are of hearing that, I have come to know it to be true.

I think that this is because there isn’t really a compact “historic center” of Vienna like most comparable cities in Europe.

The Ringstraße (ring street/road) encircles the inner city, but we found that all of the main sights/sites are quite spread out within this circle. Very different than Munich, let’s say, where everything seemed to be in one spot.

One of the best examples of this mix of old and new was in Stephansplatz, which is the home of the old gothic cathedral as well as modern buildings for shopping.

A short distance away from that, there’s Peterskirche which seems to be an island of a church surrounded by major shopping streets.

From there, we quickly came across the Prunksaal state hall, which is part of Austrian’s National Library. Had I seen pictures of its interior sooner, I probably would have tried to take a peak inside. So, no entry for us.

Just across the way, we came to Michaelerplatz and Josefplatz. Here, you can find the Spanish Riding School, the Albertina, the Opera House, and Hotel Sacher among other historical buildings.

From there, we managed to find the Hofburg, which was the home of the Habsburgs. If you know anything about Austrian history, you know a few things, but mainly Marie Antoinette, Hitler, and the House of Habsburgs. The Hofburg Palace is also the home and office of the Austrian president today.

Right across the street is the Naturhistoriches Museum (Natural History Museum) and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). The open space between these two mirrored buildings is where we came across one of the Christmas markets.

Right across the street again is the MuseumsQuartier which is right next to the Volkstheater.

In the other direction from the Natural and Ary History Museums is the Parlament (I think that you can figure out that that means Parliament). Right in front of the building is the Athena Fountain. Athena, being the goddess of wisdom, stands above others in the fountain showing her power.

From there, you see the Rathaus (city hall), which looks very similar to the New Town Hall of Munich. This was the home of the main Christmas market in Vienna.

As I mentioned before, we also went to the Schloss Schönbrunn, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This palace was also a residence of the Habsburgs.

Because our time in Vienna was so limited, we didn’t go inside any buildings/museums apart from the cathedral. I have hopes of returning to Vienna in the summer sometime in order to get a better feel of the city and its offerings. However, it isn’t the highest on my list of cities to which I want to return. It was a pretty city and its architecture amazing, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought that I would. It just didn’t grab me the way that say, Prague did (post to come!).

Christmas in Vienna

I think for most Americans abroad, there are two days in particular that make it difficult to be away from home: Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving is always filled with family, food, and, for my family, decorating for Christmas, which is one of my favorite past times. My first Thanksgiving away from home was when I studied in Spain, but my program tried to make it special with a fancy dinner that attempted to be like an American Thanksgiving with everyone in our study abroad group getting together to spend the evening together. This year was my second away, and I honestly didn’t do anything except draw a hand turkey! I missed putting up the Christmas decorations, and I really craved some turkey, cranberry sauce, and apple crisp, but I managed.

Christmas, however, I knew would be more difficult. Especially as this was my first Christmas not spent with family.

We left Munich very, very early on Christmas Eve in order to get to Vienna a bit before noon. Once there, we had to hit the ground running, as we figured that basically everything would be closing in a couple of hours on the 24th through the 26th (they celebrate Boxing Day here).

First, though, we wanted to find our hostel to ease our backs from our backpacks, which was very much easier said than done. The directions were horrific but we found it after wandering an hour and asking who knows how many people for directions. As we were wandering, I got this sinking feeling in my stomach, noticing that the Christmas market stalls along the streets where we were were completely shut down and being packed away.

Thankfully, after setting our things down, we made it to the Rathaus, where there was a most romantic market set up, backdropped with the huge and gorgeous gothic Rathaus (city hall). The market itself was bustling with tourists and locals alike, sipping glühwein and tasting Christmas treats.

There was so much to see and eat, but we wandered through the market for a bit, knowing that we’d come back later that night in order to sample all the more treats and maybe do a little shopping.

Just a couple of hours into our first day in Vienna, the sun was already setting (one of the biggest downsides to traveling in the winter…it gets dark at 4pm!). We wandered the streets and found a cute little church to look around in before warming up (another MAJOR downside to traveling in the winter…I never want to be outside!) at the hostel and wishing our respective families a Merry Christmas before venturing out again.

There was supposed to be a big Christmas tree lighting in front of the Rathaus followed by Christmas carols starting at 7pm. We got there a bit early only to be supremely disappointed that not only was the Christmas tree already lit up, but that there was no singing and all of the Christmas market stalls were already being packed up and taken down. If that didn’t damper our Christmas spirit, I don’t know what would!

There was so much food left to sample! And so many shops that needed further exploration! (I was in search of a music box which I never had the chance to get…)

Instead, we walked around, looking at the Christmas lights that were thankfully still up.

Unfortunately, an especially hard part about traveling on Christmas is that everything shuts down. I was so looking forward to some amazing Viennese food, like apple strudels, Sacher torte, and Wiener schnitzel. Sadly, most of the restaurants that we came across were either closed or had a “special menu” for Christmas that included 6-courses, cost 100+ euros, and required reservations.

No thanks.

We decided to go to midnight mass at Stephansdom (the cathedral) which was a beautiful service despite being insanely packed and neither of us really understanding anything except a word here or a phrase there.

My tip: If you plan to go to the mass, plan to go early. Then go even earlier. We got there at 10:15 and there were already between 100-200 people waiting in line for the doors to open (at 11). If you want to sit, get there no later than 10:30.

Despite a bad start to our Christmas Day (cold, wind, rain, and terrible homesickness on my part), our Christmas Day in Vienna turned out lovely. We walked around the city, taking in most of the major sites from the outside and actually came across two Christmas markets that were still open!

The first one that we found was in the Museumsquartier which was, on my personal Christmas market scale, average. I’m sure very charming for many, but to me, it felt empty.

Not to mention it was fairly empty (for Christmas market standards…especially on Christmas).

The other Christmas market was situated right in front of the Schönbrunn Palace which was so gorgeous and is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with its garden (which I am certain is magical come spring or summer).

This actually turned out to be one of my favorite Christmas markets that I have been to. The handicrafts and decorations were all handmade and the food was to die for. Plus it was Christmas and it lifted my spirits after encountering some disappointments earlier on Christmas Eve/Day. 

I know that there are a lot of people that regularly spend Christmas away from home and think nothing of it. But for me, coming from a family that loves getting together to spend Christmas with all of the traditions that we have, it was hard to spend my first Christmas away from home. At the same time, it was a good experience. Especially in such a beautiful city such as Vienna. I can thank my friend for sharing the day and memory with, as it would have been a lot more depressing without her!

Here’s to my insane picture abilities. Either looking in the wrong spot or having my eyes closed in 50% of all photos.

Not even exaggerating.

(And technically that’s from Munich on Christmas Eve’s eve, but who’s really counting?)

Munich, round 3: Beer halls and Christmas markets edition

I’ve made it to December 23rd now, which was just the beginning of my Christmas break.

Early in the morning, I set out from Bremen on an ICE train crossing the country to get to Munich in just about 5.5 hours (just for reference, driving would have taken 7 hours and a bus would have taken 14…)

I got into town right around 13:00 and got to my hostel where I saw Heidi, a friend that I had made while studying in Spain two years ago and that I haven’t seen since Spain two years ago.

After a few minutes of catching up, we went across the street to the Augustiner beer hall which, for a Tuesday afternoon, was packed. Unfortunately, there was no singing like I found during Oktoberfest. We enjoyed half liters of their lager and some get-your-hands-dirty grub. I got a pork knuckle, not knowing neither why I got it nor how to eat it in a slightly proper way, so I just hacked away at it.

After an hour or two in there, we went back across the street to check into our hostel room, snatched ourselves the bottom bunks, and were off to walk into the city center, enjoying the beautiful weather outside, especially because this would be the warmest day of our trip.

Again, from my previous two trips to Munich (here and here), I have spent a fair share of time wandering around the old town, but I didn’t see everything, of course. Plus, it was fun to walk around the area with a friend.

We looked through the Christmas market in Marienplatz as well as found ourselves a Medieval Christmas market not too far away, where everyone dressed in old-time clothes and sold old-time things.

After filling our stomachs at the markets, we walked through the Hofbrau beer hall but didn’t find anywhere to sit (it’s a Tuesday still, but it was Christmas week, so I guess it made sense that it was packed). It would have been fun, though, considering that there was an oompah band playing.

Instead, we found ourselves in a Paulaner pub, another one of the “big six” breweries in Munich (the ones that have tents at Oktoberfest), in order to sample a half liter of their lager.

Afterwards, we walked around a bit and called it an early night because we had to be up by 5 the next morning to catch our bus to Vienna.

Even though this was my third time going around Munich, I am determined to go back, as I have barely scratched the surface of what there is to do in this amazing (and to my surprise, not really that big) city. Like certain things that would be more enjoyable in warmer weather (parks.).

‘Til next October perhaps…

That time I applied for a German visa

aka That time I finally made it to Bremen but only for a day

aka I HATE visas

A lot of paranoia and anxiety surrounded me getting a visa to continue to stay legally in Germany for the next year. Because I plan to stay 15 months in Germany, I had to apply for the visa towards the end of my “90-day free period” in the Schengen zone (most countries in the EU) but before I began au pairing in January.

There isn’t a lot of information out there for American au pairs in Germany. Or, in the least, none that I could find. So I was looking at what there was for Canadian au pairs in Germany and also American workers in Germany, trying to find out what exactly I would need to bring to apply for the visa.

I just remember when I applied for my visa to study in Spain, I had this huge stack of papers and copies of each in a certain order and I was told that even if I was missing one thing, I would have to reschedule my appointment. So I figured that Germany, being stereotypically (and truly) stricter than Spain, would be super particular in having everything in order.

I read online that I needed to have a basic level of German (A1) and a certificate to prove it. So as my first few months in Germany drew to a close, I tried to find a test, only to find that the earliest test would be in the middle of January.

Ensue panic.

 We then tried to get an appointment for me to apply for the visa at the foreigners office in Bremen.

A call in only revealed that the earliest appointment was in February.

Ensue more panic.

But then a bit of a silver lining came.

We were told that a certificate of language proficiency would not be required (PHEW! Even if I would have gotten into a test, I probably would not have passed it yet!) because part of the purpose of the au pair position is to learn the language. You shouldn’t be fluent when you come over. Instead, they wanted proof that I would be enrolled in a language course.

I was told that I may have to speak a little bit to them. That, I figured, I could manage a little better.

We were also told that we could go to the office on the 22nd of December REALLY early before the doors opened, get in line, and then *hopefully* get to talk to someone.

The only problem with that was that it was my only option. The office in Bremen is only open M/W/Th, and considering that Wednesday was Christmas Eve and Thursday was Christmas Day, the office was going to be closed for the rest of the week. The next time would be past my 90 days.

 If it didn’t work, I would have had to make terribly costly last-minute plans, ditch my friend over Christmas, and spend a week or two out of the Schengen zone (I was leaning towards Croatia…somewhere warmer!!) in order to extend my 90 days by that same amount and try again when I got back.

Now maybe I wouldn’t have had the same level of stress if I was in Spain, Italy, France, or Greece, but Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium are known to be some of the strictest countries when it comes to overstaying your visa. Deportation was not something that I was going to risk.

So now that you somewhat know my level of stress going into the day, I’ll give you the play-by-play.

Sunday, 21 December:

23:15 my bus arrives in Bremen and I drag out all of my belongings. (I pray hard that my host family will find me because I have no other way to contact them!) I find my host mom, and we go to my new home for the next year!

Monday, 22 December:

00:30 after some light chatting and bringing my things in, I head to bed.

05:15 my cruel alarm goes off.

05:45 we drive to the foreigners’ office.

6:00 we arrive to a line of 15+ people already.

6:00-6:30 we wait in the rain…at least it wasn’t too cold!

6:30 we waddle like penguins through the opened doors and get into this huge heard of people. Turns out that there was another line, so when we get our number, it is already 33. We squeeze through the crowd and find a spot to sit. Just a minute later, the guard announces that there are no more tickets. He handed out 60 so we are just a bit past halfway.

6:30-8:30 we wait for the place to even open.

8:30-10:45 we wait for our number to be called……..wondering why so many people have to go up to the ladies calling numbers “just to ask a quick question” and spend 5+ minutes there. Not to mention praying that we get in before they close at noon.

10:45 (give or take) number 33 is called!! We go up to the desk, show her a bunch of papers that she doesn’t look at, and guess what we are told?

Just guess.

There is a computer software malfunction today, so where we need to go, there is only the one worker there taking people with pre-scheduled appointments instead of the usual two workers. (And I don’t have a pre-scheduled appointment!)

Ensue begging and pleading and more praying.

She went to the back to see if there was anything that she could do. 5 minutes later, she comes back and tells us that she got us an appointment at 2:15 that afternoon!!!! She then gives us a list of things that we need to take with us to that appointment that we need to fill out/gather.

The first thing was that I needed to have a residency permit.

11:15 we wait in line to find out how to do that.

11:15-13:30 we wait…and fill out some forms. I get biometric pictures taken down in the basement. I run to grab something from the bakery across the street (mind you, we have had nothing to eat thus far and it was shaping up to be a looooong day.)

13:30 we are called!!! We give her the forms for the residency permit and that was that.

13:40 we find where we need to go next. This is the big visa part. We sit down and wait for our names to be called.

14:25 we are called. There’s a bit of discussion to be had in German. I am asked if I speak any, and I say “ein bisschen.” That was that!! Easy enough, despite fumbling over that word that I just learned that morning!! He gives me a paper with a date of an appointment February 9th where I will actually get my physical visa (this is currently the only thing making my stay legal in Germany…if I am “caught” without my passport/that paper, it could mean trouble). I catch bits and pieces of the conversation, and realize that I am not allowed to leave Germany until that date. First he said Schengen, then just Germany. I got to thinking, zoning out the rest of that, that I should still be fine to go ahead with my plans with my friend and go to Austria and the Czech Republic…I just have to be back and stay in Germany between the end of my 90 days (December 30th) and until I get my visa. Easy enough.

14:40 we are finally free to leave!!!

After 8.5 hours of waiting and maybe a total of 20 minutes actually talking to people, I am finally set with my visa!!

We grab some food and I am dead for the rest of the day!

The biggest problem with being locked into Germany was that I was thinking about going to Spain for a week over New Years and Día de los Reyes, but now I couldn’t go. However, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go when the weather wasn’t optimal there, so it is probably better to wait. I’ll definitely visit in the spring!

So instead, I make arrangements for finishing my trip in Dresden and Berlin instead of going to Spain with my friend.

And I finally make a decision about when to go to Munich (I was debating a night train or one early in the morning…I went with the latter) and give myself a little early Christmas present of a bahn card (discount card for train travel).

It’s funny though, because a small part of the reason why I chose to go to Germany was because the visa process seemed easier than for Spain/Italy because I could do it in Germany. And I guess that it did turn out that way! Getting it done in 1 day and being “locked” in the country for a month is far easier and cheaper than the 3-month stint that I had to deal with for getting my Spanish visa.

If you are an American au pairing in Germany, here are some things to know:

• It’s good to bring with you the au pair contract, even though they probably won’t look at it.
• Bring someone from your host family along to translate for you. They did speak English as well, but it’s just easier to have it done in German. Plus no one will be too greatly questioning your level of German if you don’t need everything to be in English.
• You need: 2 biometric photos, your passport, and everything else you will get there to fill out.
• Call early for an appointment if you don’t want to wait forever!! Like right when you arrive in Germany.
• To pick up the visa, you need to pay 100 euros.

Visas have always worked out very smoothly for me, despite always causing a lot of stress. Especially time-wise. Get on top of things and you’ll be fine. Although I wasn’t on top of things and it worked out fine, it did cause some sleepless nights.