bouncing around europe, part 1.

I know I've been off the radar for a while now, but on Saturday I returned from our two week spring break!  As mind-blowingly beautiful I discovered the rest of Europe is, I can't help admitting how happy I am to be back "home" in Denmark! Here's my attempt to chronicle the adventures.

Two weeks ago, 40 other DISer's and I embarked on a 15 hour bus/ferry ride to Český ráj, a town  Wikipedia says somehow translates to "Bohemian Paradise." 

I think I'd have to agree with Wikipedia's assessment. The last picture is the castle we lived in!

Our first day was filled with 3 hours worth of team building exercises and archery. 

Me, you know, just shooting some arrows.

lolz jk, this is what I actually looked like.. struggling to get the arrow on the bow. notice the braid, though. I was for sure channelling Katniss.

The next day, we went on a 10 k hike through the woods! My friend Julia and I decided to lag behind the rest of the crew to explore every path, climb every rock, and take the road less traveled on every possible occasion. I think we may have ended up slowing down the group (there were about 25 of us on this hike total), but honestly, I can't envision myself having such a unique opportunity like this again any time soon. Why not make the most of it? 

Do you see that tiny box on the top of that rock? If you're brave/strong/crazy enough to successfully scale that rock, you write your name in there. You also evidently share the secrets about how to climb other mountains in the surrounding area. There was a box like that on every rock that was deemed worth climbing (aka: all the really huge ones. aka: all of them).

After the hike, we had two hours to kill. Many napped, some played cards, but I and a few other adventurous souls decided to do even more exploring instead!

not totally sure what Julia and I are doing.. (this and the many subsequent pictures are again credited to Jordan Ko!)

still being silly

Kyla hugging on a tree

After our hike, we went zip-lining, tight-rope walking (or something similar), and rappelling down a cliff.

s

I can't tell who these brave people are but that's someone zip-lining on the right and walking on a rope on the left.

Every time we finished a meal and walked outside, this is what we'd see. 

standing on the edge of a cliff

rock climbing! 

Unfortunately, after only a few short days, our incredible adventures came to an end. We departed our little Czech mountain town for a day trip to Prague. I only got the chance to stay there for a day, but I think it's my new favorite city(despite the less than ideal temperature). 

The first thing my friends Sarah, Stephanie, and I did was hike up to a tower that looked like a miniature Eiffel Tower just outside of the city. 

As it turns out, it's actually the same height as the tower in Paris itself if you account for the huge hill that it's sitting on top of. 

climbing back down (photo cred to Sarah Jenness!) 

Of course, I got a traditional pastry. This is a trdelnik; to make it, you basically just wrap dough around a stick, roast it over an open flame until it is golden brownish, and then roll it in cinnamon or sugar. It's also usually served with malt wine, which is just as delicious as it sounds.

Sarah and Stephanie enjoying their trdelniks! 

After this excitement, we met back up with DISers and went on a walking tour around the city. 

This is part of the "John Lennon Wall" in Prague.. during the communist days of the Czech Republic, people embraced John Lennon as a figure of hope and graffitied lyrics from his songs on this huge wall.

This concludes week one. I'll get to Greece (and a day in Italy) soon. hej hej for now...