Prague. My second option of going abroad. I was really close to going here and I loved the city, but I am happy I chose Barcelona.
My friends and I went to Prague for my friend Frish’s 21st birthday. We were in Prague from Thursday to Sunday. What a trip.
Thursday. We took a mid-afternoon flight and got into Prague around 5pm. We checked into our hotel, the Sheraton and put our bags down and freshened up for dinner. My friend wanted sushi, so we got a recommendation from other friends and went to Yami. The rolls there were delicious. After dinner, we went back to the hotel to relax a little and get ready for the night out. Our first stop was a bar called N11. We had a few drinks before going to the main spot, Karlovy. This is a 7-story club in Prague, including an icebar on the main floor. Each floor plays different types of music such as radio hits, oldies, hip hop, dance, etc. We tried out each floor and we there until about 5 in the morning.
Friday. Time to explore the city. We were still pretty exhausted from the night before, so we slept until about 11ish. To cure our tiredness, we went to Bohemia Bagel and had coffee and bagels. We decided the best way to see the whole city was to do a free walking tour, which lasted a few hours. Our tour guide’s name was Martin and he was a native Czech. He took us all around the city and we saw the Old Square, Tyn church, a Baroque church, the Astronomical Clock tower, Charles University, the opera house, the New Square, Powder Tower, the Black Madonna and Cubism, Franz Kafka statue, Spanish synagogue, the old new synagogue, and the Pinkas synagogue. The tour ended at around 5:15 near the Charles bridge, so we decided to walk on the bridge and find the John Lennon wall, the prime example of being abroad. It took us a little while to find, but we finally found it. We all wrote our names on it and found the names of our friends who had been there a few weeks before us. We took the typical abroad pictures with the wall and then left to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We decided on Mexican food and went to a restaurant called Cantina. We had margaritas, fajitas, quesadillas, etc. This was my favorite night of going out, as we went to the famous 80s/90s club called Lucerna. This is one of my favorite periods of music, especially the 90s. We had the best time and were thee pretty late also.
Saturday. This was an early and intense day. We had to be outside of our hotel at 8:15 to be ready for a tour of the concentration camp, Terezin. This is about an hour away from Prague and a very well-preserved concentration camp. This was my first time ever at a concentration camp and it was horrifying, upsetting, and extremely sad. I cannot put my experience into words, but the victims of this camp and all of the victims of the Holocaust will always be remembered. After this experience, we went back to the hotel to nap before dinner and going out. We went for thai food at a restaurant called Lemon Leaf. Most of us had chicken pad thai. It was delicious. A lot of the people we knew studying in Prague were not going out, but it was our last night and we decided to go out anyway. We went back to Karlovy and had another amazing night.
Sunday. We took an early flight back to Barcelona.
Prague was an awesome experience and I highly recommend visiting it.
Friday. We took a 6:20 am flight to Rome, getting there at around 8ish. Our first stop was to our friends’ apartment to drop our stuff off and take a little nap before starting the day. St. Peter’s Cathedral was incredible. It was so pretty inside. There were some preserved dead popes, which was kind of scary. After St. Peter’s, we went to the Trastevere neighborhood and went to Dar Poeta for lunch. I got pizza with eggplant and a nutella and ricotta calzone. This was the best pizza I have ever had and the best calzone I have ever had. It sounds like a really weird combination, but it was delicious. After lunch, we stopped for some iced cappucinos and then went to campo de fiore, a flea market with fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, sauces, and pastas. Piazza Navona was the next stop, where we walked around a little bit and we saw the Jewish synagogue. For dinner, we went to the famous Tony’s, where every abroad student takes all their friends to eat Chicken Parm and Penne a la Vodka. These were both unreal. After dinner, we had a chill night and went to a few different bars.
Saturday. We woke up kinda late and went straight for lunch. We went to Aristo Campo, a make your own panini place. I had a panini with eggplant, grilled chicken, zucchini, mozzarella, pesto, and sundried tomatoes. After getting some fuel in our body, we went to the Pantheon. It started to rain which was no fun, so we got stranded at the pantheon. I got mint and chocolate gelato while we waited for the rain to stop. We passed by Parliament and it finally stopped raining. The Trevi Fountain was gorgeous. We took some pictures, made wishes, and threw a few coins in. The Spanish Steps were the next stop. We walked to the top and stopped at the view point up there to relax for a little while and get some sun. We also passed by the Borgaise Gardens while we were up there. Giolatti was next for the best gelato ever. I had nutella, coffee, and dark chocolate. We went back to our friends’ apartment to get ready for dinner and the night out. Miraggio was the place for dinner. I had eggplant parm and it was the best I ever ate. Drunken Ship was our first stop for the night out. They played great music and it was pretty crowded. It closed on the early side, so we went to Scholars to watch the Final Four, but that also closed at the start of the game, so we just headed home.
Sunday. Forum and Colosseum Day. I could not believe that I had the opportunity to go to the Colosseum. We always learned and read about it in history class and it was finally my chance to go inside. It was breathtaking. The Forum was pretty incredible too. Although not as extravagant as it had once been, you could imagine all that happened there so long ago. As if one Tony’s trip was not enough, we went there for our last meal in Rome. I had the chicken parm the first time, so I decided to get the penne a la vodka. We laid out for about 2 hours and then it was time to head back to Barcelona.
Rome was absolutely incredible and I can’t wait to go back and visit.
Many people may wonder what is so great about podcasting and what makes it different from other types of media.
Podcasting began back in 2004 when a Guardian journalist observed that there was an audible revolution taking place, with mp3 players and audio software. The advantages of this new type of digital audio was that you could listen to show when, where, and as you wanted. The key is that it is portable.
But, what really sets podcasting apart is syndication. There has to be a feed/subscription linked to the audio file. There are many benefits to podcasting such as that it is an automatic process, you are able to consume the product in multiple ways, no gate keeper, portable, etc.
Anyone can make a podcast and it costs nothing. There are tons of free softwares such as soundcloud that make it easy to upload and share your files.
So, if you have the time, podcasting is a low-cost or even no-cost way to get your voice heard about a topic you are passionate about and a way to start building a fan base. Podcasts are truly something special.
I will be discussing the upcoming Badger season and what is in store for the fall. The Badgers have a new coach in town, as Bret Bielema just went to Arkansas. The Badgers also lose Montee Ball, Travis Frederick, Mike Taylor, and much of their secondary. Although they lose a lot of players, they have a potentially outstanding running back duo in Melvin Gordon and James White. There is plenty of room for new coaching and players and I believe the Badgers will have another successful season and make it to a bowl game.
Gary Andersen
Enjoy this Wisconsin tradition below between the 3rd and 4th quarters.
Madrid, the capital of Spain and very different from Barcelona. I thought that I would be going to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day weekend, like many abroad students did. Most people had this trip booked for months and I waited way too long to book it. So instead of making really complicated travel plans, I went to Madrid and was very happy with my decision.
Friday. We got into Madrid at 1pm and went right to our hotel to drop our bags off and start exploring the city. We stayed at the Tryp Hotel Chamartin. We had a nice, big room with 3 beds. Our first stop was through the Madrid Square. We stopped and took a few pictures and were on the hunt for the Mercado de San Miguel. We were obsessed. It is very different from La Boqueria, as it is inside, less stands, and much classier. People were dressed pretty nicely and sipping on glasses of wine and there was frozen yogurt, sushi, paella, fresh mojito stands, and more. We sampled of few of the stands, but knew we had to go back. We passed by the cathedral and eventually made it to palacio real de madrid. We got there too late to go inside, but it was beautiful. We met some British students that were studying in Sevile and ended up walked around with them for a few hours. We went to Plaza de Espanya, very different from Barcelona’s and took a picture. We ended up parting ways at about 5 pm. Next, we went to the jardines de santini. These were beautiful gardens that led us on our way for some italian food at a restaurant called Pinocchio, right across from the Reina Sofia Museum. We had pizza, sangria, pesto pasta, and spaghetti in garlic and oil with shrimp. After dinner, we went to a famous chocolate place call San Gines. We had their famous churros con chocolate. Following churros, we went back to the hotel to relax and get ready to go out Two of my friends had friends that were studying in Madrid, so we went to their apartment before we went out. The first place we had to go to was the most famous club in Madrid, Kapital. This is a 7-floor club, with each floor designated with a different kind of music. We had a great time here, until one of my friends went to look into her bag and it was open. Her wallet and keys were there, but her Iphone was gone. We had no idea who took it and this ended a great night on a somewhat sour note. She was able to get in touch with her parents to cancel her phone, which was good. We went back to the hotel and went to sleep.
Saturday. We got home pretty late from Kapital, so we slept until about 12:30. One of my friends needed to take out more money and we went to a caja madrid machine in the metro station. It said that it took any kind of debit card, so she put her debit card into the machine to take out money. For some reason, her card never came out. We tried pressing every button on the machine and nothing was happening. We called the support line, but they were not picking up. A very nice man who spoke some English, but not much, stood with us for 45 minutes. He called the support line and helped us figure everything out. My friend never got her card back, but was able to cancel the one that got eaten by the machine. After this was somewhat resolved, our first stop was the Prado Museum. This was enormous and very overwhelming. The three of us are not the biggest art people, so we were in there for about 45 minutes and left. We heard that Parc de Retiro had boats you could rent and row in the lake, so we stopped for a quick bite to eat on the way. We rented a boat and rowed for about an hour, taking in the scene of the park and all the different people there. We went back to plaza mayor and El Mercado de San Miguel for a snack. We also found the center of Spain and stood on it. We were still pretty exhausted from last night, so we went back to the hotel to nap. We went for a late dinner at a tapas restaurant called Lateral. They had delicious tapas and we made it an early night and did not go out, as we had a decently early flight back on Sunday.
Besides the two incidents of this trip, I had a great time in Madrid and would love to go back and visit.
Valenti San Juan has changed the way people have watched TV in Spain, especially in Barcelona and Catalunya. Valenti is the first person in Spain to connect TV with social media, streaming his show online through sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. He started his career abiout 12 years ago on Catalunya Radio. He wanted to created a mashup of radio and TV, which later became known as Visto Lo Visto. Recently, Canal 3 of Catalunya signed Valenti to host his own show on this channel, which is known as Etiquetats.
Valenti San Juan is the host of both Visto Lo Visto and Etiquetats. Visto Lo Visto is a comedy show that airs for about 2 hours during the week online. It is live on YouTube. Visto Lo Visto is in Spanish and Etiquetats is in Catalan. What makes these shows unique is that both of them use untraditional forms of advertising. Normally on YouTube, before you can view content, there is always a commercial to view before you can access the content. Visto Lo Visto and Etiquetats shows their brands through the shows’ content. They use the method of non-aggressive advertising, which I believe should be more heavily incorporated into American television. Another unique quality of these shows is that they do not make money through clicks, like many YouTube videos do. They do not believe in this and think that their content should be able to be accessed by anyone. These shows are also improvised, with no scripts or content, which also sets them apart from many television shows.
So how do they get an audience? They do a ton of promotion on the internet through social media. They present a challenge on Facebook or Twitter for that week and people comment on it. They also invite a people and they have to respond within a certain amount of days in order to be the audience of the show. Valenti and his team try to get all different types of people to attend the show, so everyone has an opportunity. It is also free to attend the show, which sets it apart from most shows. Valenti thinks people should be able to laugh and have a good time without having to pay for it.
Valenti has greatly impacted the way people in Spain watch television and most of the young people in Barcelona and throughout Catalunya know his name and face. He has huge fans and has set a new standard for Spanish television.
Paris and Barcelona are two cities that are great for families and I highly recommend taking yours there. If you have the opportunity, go with your family to what they call the city of love, Paris.
It was kind of chilly in Paris this time of year, but it was unseasonably cold, as it was in the mid-40s. At this time, scarves, heavy sweaters, gloves, and berets were necessary. There are many different hotels to stay in, but i recommend Hotel Powers, right off of the Champs Elysee. It is a boutiquey, quaint hotel and great location.
Che Andres was a typical French restaurant, a few streets from the Champs Elysee. I recommend getting a cappucino, french onion soup, and poached eggs. This was the best french onion soup I have ever had in my life. If you want to get a nuice overall view of the city, take the Bateaux Mouches, which is a boat tour on the Seine. You can sit inside to avoid the wind, but we sat in the front of the boat. You get a great view of many of the places to go such as the Louve, Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, etc. It was amazing to see the Right and Left Bank at the same time. I did not know where to look first because there were so many amazing things to see. This was a 2-hour boat ride. I would recommend getting a snack at Chez Francis. You should get hot choloate, chocolate cake, french toast with pears, and apple tart, depending on if you like chocolate or fruit. Each dessert was delicious. You have to take a walk dow the Champs Elysee, the most famous street in Paris.. It is such a pretty street with the Arc de Triomphe at the top stretching all the way down to the Louve, with tons of shops, restaurants, and bakeries in between. L’Avenue was the spot for dinner. Celebrities such as Justin Beiber and Kim Kardashian have eaten there. The food was amazing. I recommend the shrimp risotto. It was the best risotto I have ever eaten.
Wednesday. If you can, eat breakfast at your hotel, as it saves a lot of time to explore the city. The Eiffel Tower. I
have never seen anything like it and I could not beleive that i would have the chance to go inside it. Ever since I was little, I always dreamed of going to Paris and going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and here was my opportunity to finally make my dream come true. Be ready for a long wait if you do not purchase tickets online. The lines were outrageously long and we waited almost 2 hours in line to get inside. It was well worth the wait.
The top of the Eiffel Tower. I have never seen such amazing views in my life. It was absolutely breathtaking. I was so happy to be sharing this moment with the people I cared about most in this world, my parents, my sister, and brother. Cafe de flore is a delicious restaurant for soups, omelettes, and sandwiches. Notre Dame. This again was a spot I´d
been hearing about for so long and I couldn´t beleive I was finally there. Many people were praying inside, as it was close to Easter, so we had to be silent. It was beautiful inside. Take time to appreciate all that is within this beautiful church, and if you have the opportunity, go to the top and see incredible views. If you wanna get some more shopping in, go to the shops on St. Germaine. The stores range there from low to high end, so there is plenty of a selection depending on your taste and budget.
The Arc de triomphe. The one in Barcelona does not even come close to this. It was gorgeous. If you are willing to hike up 250 steps, then this is a place to see. You may be out of breath, as I we were in this video, but it was worth it.
You are able to see the city from all views. What made this extra special was that it was beginning to get dark, so the city was all lit up. There were tons of leiutenants and soldiers commemorating Wolrld War Two and singing anthems and I was able to get them singing in the video below.
If you want a really trendy restaurant with light house music, go to La Societee. It is the same owner of L’Avenue. owned by the same owner. Order the dim sum shrimp dumplings, chicken satay, and the salad to start if you are with a big group. For a main course, get the lamb chop. If you are interested in going out, but want a relaxed scene, go to Prescription. I had the mazarini #5, which was a comination of cherry liquor, fresh strawberry juice, and champagne. Another great drink there is Out Cider.
Thursday. Walk through the Tuileries Gardens before heading to the Louvre. Get a a nutella and banana crepe during the walk through the gardens. It was delicious. In the Louvre, you can spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 or 7 hours depending on how much you have an appreciation for museum. If you are a family like mine who is not really into museums so much, go to see these top 3: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory. Each of these works of art were incredible to see in person, but of course, it was all about the Mona Lisa. I never anticipated for it to be so small. The other paintings in the room the Mona was in were enormous. Everyone was crowded around Mona and it was so hard to push through everyone. If you are able to get to the front, do the eye test with her. It really is true how no matter what angle you look, she is always looking directly at you. The Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory were also very impressive. After the Louve, go to L’Orangerie, a museum focused on the works of Renior, Picasso, and Matisse. These were beautiful paintings also, more about impressionist and post-impressionist art. If you have time, also go the the D’Orsay Museum and the Pompidou Museum.
Angelina´s, well worth the wait. Order the hot chocolate and macaroon. I have never had hot chocolate like this in my lifeIt was absolutely amazing.
Go to Montmarte to see Sacre Couer. What an amazing church and what beautiful views. Go inside and see the incredibleness of the church and all the different viewpoints. If you have some time, go shopping on St. Honore, a famous street in Paris for shopping with an assortment of stores. A great bakery is La Duree. Here, you can get traditional french desserts such as macaroons and tarts. If you want a more local kind of restaurant and atmosphere, go to Chez Janou. The lamb chop was great, along with some salads to start and get the chocolate mousse for dessert.
Friday. Hotel Invalides, where veterans are currently still living. It was a beautiful place and Napolean Bonaparte is buried near here. Rodin is very close to Invalides, so go there after. His scultupres are incredible. The Thinker is definitely the main sculpture to see, but also take a look at the gates of hell and the 3 shades.
If you want a great afternoon activity,take a train to Versailles. I have never seen a palace like this. It was so extravagant and over the top. The hall of mirrors is a sight to see. I have never seen so many incredible chandeliers in my life. Each room is so elaborate and it is preserved so well there. Also take a look and walk through the gardens in the back. Anticipate some long lines, but it is well worth the wait. Take a train to Marais neighborhood, with all the vintagey and boutique stores. There is a great shoe store there called Minnelli. If you are craving some Italian food in Paris, go to Caffe Burlot, right off the Champs Elysee. You should order the margarita pizza and the lobster pasta in a tomato sauce.
Saturday. Time for the Spanish culture and people. If you want a nice hotel with an incredible staff, stay at the Hotel Arts. It is a gorgeous hotel with spacious rooms and great views of the Mediterranean and of the city. If you want great tapas, go to Paco Meralgo. You may be nervous about tapas if you have never tried them before, but just find things that you think would appeal to you or be adventurous and try new things. Get sangria, fried artichoke, pan con tomate, shrimp with garlic, fried calamari, and paella. The Ramblas of of course is one of the main attraction of Barcelona, along with La Boqueria. Get the 1 euro fruit smoothies, fresh fruit, and delicious chocolates If you can, it is a great experience to eat at one of the tapas bars inside La Boqueria. We got fruit smoothies and some chocolates. For beautiful views of the water, walk by the Marina and Port. Fit some shopping in the Gothic and Born areas. Walk up and down the side streets and get yourself lost in here. You will stumble upon stores and restaurants you never expected. If you want a fun and hip restaurant with Asian and Indian influence, go to CDLC. It has great food, music, and atmosphere. Get the cava sangria, lobster and chicken salads, and rice with chicken and vegetables.
Sunday. Because it was Easter, all the stores were closed. If you want to see the emblem of Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia, make sure you buy tickets online. It is incredible on the outside but it is just as incredible on the inside. The stained glass inside and the altar were gorgeous. If you can, get tickets to go up one of the towers. The Nativity Tower was pretty amazing with views of Barcelona and of Gaudi´s work towards the top of the tower. You can hop right on the purple metro line and go to Montjuic. Go see the Olympic Stadium, Palau de Sant Jordi, some gardens, the castle, and MNAC. You can spend anywhere from an hour to a whole day up here taking in the views and beautifulness of the mountain. Placa Espanyol is a great place to eat inside the old bullfighting ring. Go for lunch to Abrasame, in the top of the old bullfighting stadium. It is a tapas restaurant and I recommend las patatas bravas, salad, fried artichoke, fideua, and sangria.
Take another metro to Parc Guell, many people’s favorite spot in Barcelona. This again is another place to spend a few hours at, enjoying Gaudi’s mosaics and views of Barcelona Takek the typical picture on the long gaudi bench. Go to the top of the park and climbed the mini mountain with a cross on top, if your parents say yes. The views of Barcelona were breathtaking from up here. If you want one of the best seafood restaurants in Barcelona and are willing to pay a lot of money, go to Butafumiero. Get the clams in a garlic sauce and lobster paella. This was the best paella I have ever had.
Monday. Walk up passeig de gracia and pass by all of the stores and restaurants. The two things to see on Gracia are Casa Batllo and la Pedrera. The Batllo family live inside. These are both very different works and represent Gaudi. If you want an italian experience in Barcelona, go to Da Greco. What is unique about Da Greco is that when you order a dish, they bring out a tasting plate of that dish for the table to sample, so you get to have a bite of all the different dishes that you order. To experience the nightlife, you must go to the Olympic Village. There are tons of clubs there such as Catwalk, Sotavento, Shoko, and Opium, but Opium is by far the most fun and plays the best music.
These two cities are absolutely incredible and I highly recommend anyone to visit these cities with your family. They will both be experiences you and your family will never forget.
Abroadfest. What a weekend this was. My best campfriend Chelsea who is studying in Florence came to stay with me for the weekend, along with two of my best friends who are studying in Rome, Frish and Lauren. It seemed like everyone that was studying abroad was in Barcelona this weekend. Yes, this is an exaggeration, but it was insane how many people I knew that were here.
This year was the first year that De Lis Group and Prime Social group decided to put together a concert full of famous DJs for abroad students. They were very successful in this venture. Abroafest was at Opium Thursday March 7th, starring Kaskade and Thomas Gold. It was impossible to move in this place, but the music was absolutely amazing.
I met Chelsea at Placa Catalunya to pick her up at the aerobus stop. We went back to my apartment to drop off her bag and then we spent the day exploring. I live about 10 minutes from Sagrada Familia, so after my apartment, we went to Sagrada Familia and walked around it.
After the church, I took her to Bo de B, the typical place to take all of your friends. We got the classic chicken sandwiches to go and walked down by the marina and sat outside. We stopped at a little outside bar and ate our sandwiches while drinking a pitcher of sangria. It was about 65 degrees and sunny, couldn´t ask for better weather.
We walked along the marina and took a few pictures. After that, we walked up Las Ramblas and we went into La Boqueria. She was amazed. We got nachos with guacamole and quite a few 1 euro juices. After La Boqueria, we did a little shopping to finalize our Abroadfest outfits. We picked up small salads from Fresco to eat before we got ready because we wanted to be at Abroadfest decently early. We stayed at Opium until they kicked everyone out, which was at about 6 am. Everyone moved on to the beach, but we were pretty exhausted, since we got there at about 1 o´clock, so we went home to go to sleep. The music was absolutely amazing.
Friday. We woke up kind of late and went to go get a quick bite to eat. We went to Parc Ciutatdella and walked around. After this, we headed down towards the Olympic Village and went to Shoko. We got cava sangria on the deck. It was pretty crowded and another gorgeous day of weather. We hung out there for a few hours and then went back to nap. We went to Parco for dinner, a sushi restaurant at the top of Passeig de Gracia. We shared a few rolls, edamame, chicken skewers, and noodles. After dinner, we went straight to Espit Chupitos. I love this place and wanted Chelsea to experience it. They light all different shots on fire and have a board of 100s of different types of shots. Following Chupitos, we went to Razmatazz and it was a lot of fun. We didn´t stay too late because we were pretty exhausted from the night before.
Saturday. Parc Guell. What an amazing place. All of Gaudi’s mosaics are absolutely incredible, along with all of his rounded arches. The lizard is incredible and so many people were taking pictures with it. It took forever to take a picture with it. After Parc Guell, we went to Montjuic. We saw the Olympic Stadium, some gardens, a few castles, and Paula Sant Jordi. We walked down the hill and went to Placa Espanyol and ate lunch at Tapa Tapa for a quick bite to eat. We were pretty exhausted after lunch and went back to nap. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went out to Duvet.
Sunday. My campfriend left at about 12 and I basically did a repeat of Saturday with two of my friends from school.
and bagels. We decided the best way to see the whole city was to do a free walking tour, which lasted a few hours. Our tour guide’s name was Martin and he was a native Czech. He took us all around the city and we saw the Old Square, Tyn church, a Baroque church, the Astronomical Clock tower, Charles University, the opera house, the New Square, Powder Tower, the Black Madonna and Cubism, Franz Kafka statue, Spanish synagogue, the old new synagogue, and the Pinkas synagogue. The tour ended at around 5:15 near the Charles bridge, so we decided to walk on the bridge and find the John Lennon wall, the prime example of being abroad. It took 
us a little while to find, but we finally found it. We all wrote our names on it and found the names of our friends who had been there a few weeks before us. We took the typical abroad pictures with the wall and then left to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We decided on Mexican food and went to a restaurant called Cantina. We had margaritas, fajitas, quesadillas, etc. This was my favorite night of going out, as we went to the famous 80s/90s club called Lucerna. This is one of my favorite periods of music, especially the 90s. We had the best time and were thee pretty late also.
Carly´s European Adventures 