Author Archives: Jessica

New Years in Prague

Posted on by under Europe, Prague

Prague Castle

Prague, no longer in the sleepy winter city of Vienna, we found ourselves thrust back into high season. Evidently, during the New Year locals take trips outside the city, and I don’t blame them, during these few days the city is swamped with tourists. A variety of flags can be seen bobbing about in the crowd as tour groups play follow the leader, and we try to weave our way to a less crowded street, and not get trampled. It’s a bit of an annoyance, and detractor, but Prague is such a fabulous city, even in the crowds its hard not to love it.  Continue reading →

A Long Weekend in Vienna

Posted on by under Europe, Vienna

View of ViennaVienna. Prior to this trip, I had known very little about the city, or Austria in general for that matter. At least in Budapest I had recently read “Invisible Bridges” and had somewhat conjured up in my mind some image of Hungary, even if it was circa 1940. But Vienna, all that came to mind were the typical images, Mozart, Frued, and Schnitzel.  Continue reading →

2012: A Year in Review

Posted on by under Notes on Travel, Prague, Thoughts and Musings

Hong KongThis year I’m celebrating the end of 2012 with my family in Prague. It’s also my 30th country, which was one of my 30 before 30 goals. So it feels like an exceptionally important time and place. Partially, because it is the end of an absolutely epic year. 2012 was certainly a once in a life time kind of year, and I feel incredibly lucky for every day of it. For a visual: Travel Map. Starting graduate school was a big change, mostly because it involved moving to Europe, something I’ve wanted to do for the past decade, but hadn’t anticipated actually doing any time soon. It’s been exciting, challenging and generally nothing like what I expected. Which, generally, is what one would expect when moving to a new country. I’ve learned a lot about myself, and learned just how much I actually love living in the states, and am surprisingly excited to move home in a few years.  Continue reading →

Day Trip to Slovakia

Posted on by under Slovakia
Downtown Bratislava

Downtown Bratislava

Slovakia, Bratislava in particular, is very close to Vienna. And thus, since we were in Vienna we decided to go to Slovakia. Given its close proximity, our rational was, why not? A substantial amount of joy from travel, for me, comes from the unexpected. To arrive in a city, or country you had no intention of seeing anytime soon ensures a fresh, giddy, fascination not tarnished by long-held expectations of destinations we dream of. Naturally, I’d be quite excited to visit, say, Patagonia-a destination high on my bucket list, but this sort of random venture has its own merits and charms. Everything was more interesting because it was “in Slovakia!” Continue reading →