Prague

Sooooo I wrote out a out some thoughts on Prague but appear to have lost it in the upload. Short version is that Prague is a beautiful city, I have had a wonderful time, and it was lovely seeing an old friend and making a new one!
Some pics of Prague:

Bratislava

The hostel I stayed at in Vienna was entirely unremarkable. Although a long walk from anything worth doing, the sheets were clean and the building “modern”. None of my roommates spoke English. The A & T hostel offered an uneventful two nights (and I am certainly not complaining about that!)
The Backpackers Hostel here in Bratislava has been anything but quiet. The rooms are all named after painters and have traces of the artwork inside. The Dali room, where I currently reside, has murals of fish swallowing tigers and limp clocks. It is a fun building, much bigger inside than it looks outside. There is Wi-Fi throughout and overall its a comfortable place.
There is a bar directly below us. If I was not already aware of this fact, the loud DJ dubstep “concert” that went till midnight last night would have alerted me. I am hoping there is no repeat performance.
The only thing louder than the music was the drunk below our window. “He pushed ME! He touched ME! How dare you touch ME!” was his frequent complaint, interspersed with repeated f-bombs and other choice words. He might have had a case (the van behind him had a huge dent where his head landed) except that he took his ire out on the police who came to settle the dispute. When they tried to restrain him, he began to scream “How dare you touch ME! You….”
Well, you get the idea. Eventually they handcuffed him and he lay on the ground shouting, “Take these handcuffs off ME!”
Ah, such an exciting introduction to the Bratislava night life.
Bratislava itself is cute, smaller and more manageable than Vienna but with some very interesting contrasts. The Soviet influence is evident. The city oddly balances the old and new, with ornate churches next to old castle walls, concrete apartments and large glass buildings. I really like Bratislava Castle.
Bad blisters have unfortunately limited my mobility but I look forward to seeing more of the city over the next few days!

Vienna

Today we toured Vienna. We saw St. Stephen’s and St. Peter’s, traveled to the summer palace, and tracked down Mozart’s grave. I love all the posters for Eurovision! The empress Sisi is a great favorite for tourist but I cannot understand why she is so admired. Maria Theresa left much more of an impact!
I took lots of pictures but here are some sneak peeks…

Tomorrow we leave for Bratislava!

Slovakia…here I come!

Or more precisely, Vienna here I come. Over the next two weeks I will be in Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague. While in Slovakia I will be working on a research project about Slovak/US students’ geopolitical understanding and opinions on Russia. When not working, though, I will be touring. Fernweh’s Call will be a travel blog once more!
I am very excited for this opportunity and it is only beginning to dawn on me that I am finally leaving!
Over the next few days I hope to update this blog from my phone creating some mini posts (with pictures).
Please keep me in your prayers!