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To begin, I got my CityWalks: Chicago cards this week.  I can't wait to start using those to explore more of Chicago.  It's really funny that 4 out of the 50 walks are around UChicago.  Two are UChicago/Hyde Park, another is Kenwood, and another Jackson Park.  Those should be easy to start off with, and maybe I'll learn some new things about this area.

Now onto the meat (haha) of this post.  On July 16th, Katie and I went to Moody's Pub (5910 N. Broadway, www.moodyspub.com) for a Friday after work dinner.  Moody's website claims to have the best burgers in Chicago, and the reviews I read raved about the sangria and outdoor patio.  There was no way we were skipping any of these three essentials.  :)  We drove and had a little bit of trouble finding the place- the signage is not very eyecatching, but after calling the restaurant we found it.  One of the reasons we'd picked Moody's (other than the burgers) was that it offered free parking next to the restaurant.  However, the parking lot was not big enough!  After some searching we ended up parking on a side street not too far away.
Walking in, the first thing I noticed was how dark it was.  I would not come here to eat inside, especially not in the summer.  It's stuffy from the kitchen, and you can barely see anything.  The outside patio is great though; the only downside is that people are allowed to smoke out there.  Other than that, it's really spacious, and the atmosphere is nice.

Katie and I ordered a pitcher of sangria, and it was really delicious!  I ordered the Cheese Moodyburger, and Katie got the Moody Bleu Burger.  We also got onion rings to share.  It was toooo much food!  The order of onion rings was pretty big, the burger are half a pound, so that's pretty substantial, and there was a good amount of fries.  The burger was good, but I wasn't blown away.  The bun was dry and crusty.  The same goes for the onion rings and fries- good but not amazing.
I almost forgot about the coupon!  Moody's has a buy one, get one half off dinner coupon on their website: http://www.moodyspub.com/coupon.php Use it! :)

Overall, I enjoyed myself at Moody's Pub.  The best parts were the patio and the sangria.  I'd go back, but only during the summer months.

Quite obviously, I am no longer in Athens, so the name of my blog needs an update.  I have yet to come up with a name that I like though, so I'll work on that.  As for what I want to do with the blog, I want to continue it!!!  Duh. :)  I'm going to write about a mix of things.  Two things I definitely want to do are 1) review restaurants I go to and 2) since I'm buying the City Walks: Chicago cards, chronicle my walks around Chicago with these cards as a guide.  Recipes I try or other fun things I do might find their way into posts as well, and most likely some things related to the MCAT and applying to medical school.  Of course, any more traveling I do will be featured here as well!  I already have three restaurants I want to review and a new blog name to think of (and of course studying for the MCAT...), so I'll be busy!

I am back in the good ol' USA, having returned from all my adventures abroad on Friday, July 9th.  People have such cool stories to tell about the cool people who sit next to them on planes, and it never happened to me.  This time, however, I sat next to an interesting lady from Pennsylvania who was part of a group coming back from Slovakia, where they spent about 2 weeks learning Rusyn, her family's ancestral language.  We had a nice talk- turns out Polish and Slovakian food is very similar.  I guess that's not that surprising.
Unpacking all my things is always easier than packing them, and I love giving out the presents I got for my family and friends, as well as seeing all the souvenirs I got for myself.  Over my entire journey, I have collected about 15 shotglasses (one from every city) and 7 mugs (one from every major city), as well as other things I felt like buying wherever I was.
My days are no longer as exciting, at least in the sense that I don't get to visit a new city every few days and actually have responsibilities now.  I'm spending the bulk of my time working- this is my third summer in a developmental biology lab, where I study the development of the cardiac conduction system.  Another huge thing is that I'm studying for the MCAT- my test date is September 11th.  I already postponed my test date once when I realized that I didn't have enough time to study for the exam before leaving for Greece.  Now this is it- I'm going to study hard and get a good score!  Hopefully I can find time to take a mini-vacation/roadtrip somewhere cool in the US to ease the withdrawal from traveling.  :)

This past weekend, I went to stay with my cousin Gosia for a few days.  On Friday night, we went to the rynek (town square) in Tarnow.  During the day, it's pretty empty, but in the evening, it was full of people sitting in the beer gardens.  On Saturday, we went to Zakopane, a city in the mountains.  We walked down Krupowki and rode to the top of Gubalowka, a mountain.  It was a pretty short stay because there was a lot of traffic on the way there, and we were with small children.  On Sunday, we took the train to Krakow, a very old city that used to be the capital of Poland.  There we saw Florian's Gate, Wawel Castle with the dragon's cave, the Jagellonian University, and St. Mary's Church. 
I spent the rest of the week visiting family before my departure.  Tomorrow I'll be back in Chicago!  I'm happy to go home, but on the other hand I'd like to stay here longer.  Hopefully I can come back soon!

On the last full day of my trip, I visited Schonbrunn Palace.  The palace is nice, but the gardens are beautiful.  So many fountains and flowers!  After Schonbrunn, I went to Karlsplatz and saw the Karlskierche (Church), then I walked to the Opera House.  On the way, I got a kaiserkraner, which is a bratwurst filled with cheese in a bun.  It was delicious!  Next to the Opera House is the Hotel Sacher, with its famous Sachertorte.  Of course, I got a piece.  It's chocolate cake layered with apricot jam.  Yum!  I then strolled through the Vokesgarten, and then saw the Parliament and City Hall (Rathaus).  I ended my day in the Museums Quartier, where I went to an exhibition on British fashion.  I was super tired, so I went to the park and read.  An excellent end to an excellent trip.   The next morning at 7am (!) I caught the train to Katowice, then from Katowice to Tarnow. 
Now I only have 9 days left in Poland!  I've started my MCAT class, so now I have to study!  Hopefully I'll go to Krakow this weekend. 

Before I caught my train to Prague, I rode a bike around Dresden, and I felt a little like a local.  :)  To continue that experience, I didn't buy a tram ticket either!!  When I got to Prague, the first thing I needed to do was change my money- so inconvenient!  A Czech crown is worth about 5 cents.  Once I found my hostel and dropped off my things, I walked around New Town and some of Old Town and saw the Charles Bridge and the Dancing Building.  I found Patrinske Park and Wenceslas Square.  I had some trdelnik, which is a traditional pastry. 
On Saturday, I took a tour of Prague.  We saw the Old Town Square, the Church of Our Lady of Tyn,  the Astrological Clock,  the Karolinium, Estates Theatre, where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni, Powder Tower, the Municipal House, one of the only Cubist style buildings, and St. Jacob's Church, where the shriveled arm of a thief hangs.  After the tour, I visited Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, the peeing men statue at the Kafka Museum, watched the parade of apostles at the Astrological Clock, tried to find the entrance to St. Jacob's Church but couldn't, so I didn't see the arm :( then ended at the National Museum.  In the evening, I went on a pub crawl with some girls I met at the hostel.  Prague night life is fun, and we ended the night at the Karlovy Lazne, the biggest dance club in central Europe. 
Yesterday, I took the train to Vienna and explore a little.  There's no free tour here, so I'm on my own.  I saw Stephensdom and walked around Stadt Park, with statues of famous composers in it, and finished the day at the Danube Island Music Festival.  Today is another full day of sightseeing!

I'm currently in Dresden, very tired from a long day of walking and sightseeing. 
I spent the last 2 days in Berlin, and I'm surprised at how much I liked it.  I definitely want to go back.  I did not get to see all I wanted to.  I took a walking tour the first day and saw the Brandenberg Gate in Pariser Platz, the Holocaust Memorial, the parking lot over Hitler's bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, what remains of the Berlin Wall and the East Side Gallery, the Luftwarfe Headquarters, Humbolt University, the Book Burning Memorial, Museum Island, the Berlin Dom, and TV Tower.  There is so much culture and history in Berlin, and it is constantly changing.  It's a great city!! 
The next day I went to the Reichstag, the location of the German parliament, which has a huge glass dome in the middle so the people can watch their representatives and the politicians can look up and see that they are serving the people.  It's really a great concept, and it's free to go up and see the great views of Berlin.  I then went to the museum associated with the Holocaust Memorial and then the Topography of Terror exhibition on the site of the former headquarters of the Gestapo.  It is very powerful stuff, but super interesting.  Walking around Berlin after visiting the exhibits, I found a random building that I couldn't find a name for on my map so I'll have to look in to that.  Walking back to the hostel, I bought myself a pair of Birkenstock sandals.  I couldn't resist.  In the evening, I went ot watch the Germany Ghana World Cup game at a beach bar on the river.  It was fun, and of course we drank overpriced beer. 
So many people ride bikes in Germany!! There is also an interesting style and fashion sense in Berlin.  I like it, and I wanted to go shopping but there wasn't enough time.  German trains are really efficient and smooth, too.  The language is actually not as harsh as people usually think.  Traveling here makes me want to learn German! 
Today I took the train to Dresden and did a self-guided walking tour with a book I got at my hostel.  The architecture here is different, and I explored the Old and New Town.  I think I saw all the major things, including the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross), Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), the Royal Palace, Semper Opera House, Zwinger, Japanese Palace, Dreikonigskirche (Church of the Magi), Goldener Reiter (Golden Rider), and Jewish Cementary.  Tomorrow, I'm going to try to ride around a bit on a bike then catch my train to Prague.