I’ll miss a lot about Central Europe.

First, the food. I tried food from all around the world and savored every bite. While I certainly enjoyed dishes that originated from the region, the cities of Prague and Krakow were home to diasporas of passionate immigrant communities from abroad. I had the best Italian food of my life, fantastic Vietnamese and Korean fusion dishes, Turkish breakfasts and French pastries. Our hotels breakfasts always made me feel at home with what others may consider an eclectic assortments of fruits and vegetables and meats, I found familiar and a perfect way to start my day.

I’ll miss the history. It’s no secret to my friends and family how much of a history nerd I am. Central and Eastern Europe in particular have always been my favorite regions of study for Iron Age up until Soviet times. I was certainly rewarded for my studies; we toured the Museum of Communism in Prague that contained documents, propaganda posters and books from the rise of the Iron Curtain to the Velvet Revolution. In the city of Plzen, we went into underground tunnels that contained medieval era pottery and weaponry from a time when Plzen had moats and walls. The castles and churches we visited were breathtaking with their architecture and paintings and even a Catholic saint’s bones.

But most of all, I’ll miss the people. Our guide Mika, who guided us from the Prague Airport all the way through 3 weeks of castles, silver mine tours, churches, villages and cities. Our Professor Svetlana, who approached the travels with a curiosity and joy, despite it being nearly her 10th time there. The wonderful people we met in passing, from our tour guides that learned about the city of Pittsburgh for the first time, to waiters and servers who opened our minds to new cuisines, to fellow students abroad we would find. But above all, I’ll miss my new friends. A group of people I probably would have never met otherwise at our massive Pitt. I’ll of course see them in the fall, but I’m eternally grateful to them for making this experience what it was. Together we made so many memories I’ll treasure forever.