"The hills are alive with the sound of music"

Week two started off with Austria! We went to Salzburg first, then Vienna. Salzburg is incredible. I visited Chelsea there two years ago, and it was just like I'd remembered it. There were beautiful flowers everywhere, and people laying out by the river. All with the Alps and the Salzburg castle for a backdrop. The Mirabell gardens were my favorite [there's a shot in The Sound of Music of them!] Vienna wasn't anything like I thought it'd be. It was kind of just another big city... I wish we'd have been able to go into the little towns around it. But the schnitzel and brats were very good, of course!
On Easter Sunday we ate lunch in Bratislava, Slovakia, then headed to Prague, Czech Republic. It was really sad not being home for Easter... I missed wearing an Easter dress and going to church and eating Easter brunch and Easter bread. I missed my family a lot [but my Momma did send me an Easter basket in the mail, which made it a little better :) You're the best Mom, thank you!] We ended up eating dinner at one of the Medieval restaurants in Prague, which was very fun. Prague was one of my other favorites. For Easter Monday, they have a special tradition where all the girls walk around with baskets full of their colored eggs and the guys have these kind of decorated sticks that serve as whips. The guys are suppose to hit the girls in the butt with the whips, and then the girls give them an egg! What kind of Easter tradition is that?! Me and a few of my friends actually did get whipped too, but we didn't have any eggs to give them! Haha. There was also tons of booths set up everywhere for the festivals celebrating Easter, where we all got lots of goodies and listened to some music. My favorite parts about Prague were all the beautiful architecture and bridges and the John Lennon wall. It was this huge wall where people paint Beatles lyrics or inspirational sayings. It was just really fun.

"Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will be as one." -John Lennon