It's a little bit surreal to think back on this past week and realize that I was off galavanting in the south of Germany, taking train rides across the border to the Czech Republic, and filling my happy little tummy with potato dumplings and cabbage soup for a few days in Prague. I thought walking around in Rome's cobblestoned streets was a workout but my little chopstick legs are completely worn out from the week of travel and I've never felt better about sitting at home with a glass of blood orange juice (a very tasty and popular beverage choice in Italy) spending hours recapping my favorite moments and sifting through the hundreds of photos from my trip.

Munich was a learning experience, feeding my curiosity regarding one of the most horrific but also puzzling times in recent history, the Nazi era. As atrocious as the acts committed and unfathomable the stories I heard in Dachau, especially, were, my mind can't wrap my mind around the human capacity to induce and endure such times. The fact that Munich was one of the centers for the rise of the Nazi party was fascinating and while the bare streets boasting of German efficiency and stereotypical no-frills-ness reflected rapid rebirth since the 1940s, I don't think I would have picked Munich as a destination if I were to be traveling at any other time from any other place so I am glad to have seen this part of the world.

Prague was more a fairytale wonderland compared to the reconstructed modernity of Munich. We found it frustrating that everything cost a fee to enter because we're so used to every church being open for walk-ins in Rome, but that didn't take away from the charm of Old Town and our newfound obsession with trdlnik and mulled wine or the fact that our hostel was literally one street down from the Prague Castle overlooking a gorgeous view across the Vltava river into the heart of the city. Two of my favorite photos from my time abroad are the last two in this post, the sunset from the Charles bridge and breathtaking sunrise from our hostel window. We didn't learn as much of the history in our self-guided tours figuring out the gibberish that is the Czech language around the Mother of Cities (Rome being the Father of all Cities, coincidentally), but one of my favorite moments was sitting on the Charles bridge at sunset in our 2 layers of pants and 5 layers of sweaters and jackets just looking out over the water and the cityscape waiting for the lights to illuminate all of the windows and gothic lampposts.

It was very strange to return home (home as in Rome... also weird to think about) from lands of snow and 27° mornings to 63° of mediterranean sunshine, but more so to realize how comfortable I am in Rome compared to the stresses of traveling. It's been a struggle readjusting to hearing and attempting to speak Italian after being so comfortable using English all of the time as the only choice for communication, but a trip to the market put me right back into the swing of things. As my friend and I ate our delicious sandwiches while perched on the Capitoline hill overlooking the Roman Forum (super casual, we know) we talked about how we still feel like we're on vacation mode in our own backyard and so excited to keep exploring everything that Rome now has to offer, beyond just the tourist destinations.

This week has been a whirlwind of new discoveries, world-famous sights, and beautiful skylines, and has really taught me a lot about my own abilities to travel and manage my way through the world! "Real" school (a.k.a. core classes) starts tomorrow so I guess there's less time to go out and wander than I'm used to, but I am excited to see what new things there are to learn since I enjoyed learning so much more about the places we were in from the tours around other countries!