Postcards from Prague

Prague Zoo

2010-06-17T03:30:00.000-07:00

Nick & I went to the zoo yesterday. I'd heard good things about the Prague Zoo, that when you go there, you are a part of the exhibit. It was pretty true. All the fences were low, seemingly not there. (pretty sure there were a lot of electric fences hidden among them). The hippo exhibit was crazily accessible. There was a worker that hopped over a low wall and fed the hippo a banana. Just like it was nothing big to do so. (!)
Then there was one exhibit where we entered into a darker room, a "twilight zone" and there were definitely BATS flying around us as we walked through. I DID NOT like that. But other than that experience, it was fun.

2 weeks!

2010-06-16T03:21:00.000-07:00

Two weeks til I'll be home & I am pumped! I am trying to get everything done, trying to take advantage of the good weather and my last weeks here. Also starting to list all of the things I'm excited to do at home.
Expect a barrage of blog posts as I try to soak up as much Prague & Europe as possible. One last trip to look forward to, too!

Summer Vacation: London

2010-06-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

The first evening in London we rode a double-decker bus through Oxford St. & other parts of town. There were so many people, so much traffic, more than I have ever seen anywhere in my life. It was overwhelming, even more overwhelming to have purely English ads & signs all around, since I haven't had that in months.
We had dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. I had some eggplant fries (wonderful) and a "cheese bake". Despite the name, it was good. I think everyone really enjoyed their food at that place.
The second day we went to Buckingham Palace, went by Westminster Abbey & Parliament, and 10 Downing St, but didn't go in to any of them since it was a Sunday of a Bank Holiday weekend, it was pretty tough to get in places.
We did, however go to the Natural History Museum. And that was a good trip. Over in that area we found a lot of restaurants & ate some really good crepes for dinner.
We all flew out early that next day. So glad my family came to visit & traveled with me, but sad to see them go. On my flight, I got to see a perfect view of miniature Prague, absolutely perfect view. So that made me happier. Only a couple more flights before I'm flying home!

Summer Vacation: Paris

2010-06-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

We ended up taking the train to Paris from Berlin. It was a long trip, but it was good to see more of the country, and to ride the high speed train from Frankfurt to Paris. Luckily we had some chocolate covered cornflakes (my new favorite "German" snack).
The first night in Paris we went up to Sacred Heart, had crepedillas, and saw the Eiffel tower at night. Paris was rainy, foggy and quite confusing at first, but we were all glad to be in Paris at last.
The second day, we saw Notre Dame, Sainte Chapelle, a market we happened to run across, and the Opera. That afternoon we had the world's best falafel and then went to the Louvre. That day the weather was spectacular, and that night at the Louvre there were concerts going on in some of the courtyards. It was a pretty remarkable experience.
We took several "stick photos" with the monopod that my dad has. So all of us together, holding the camera out in front of us & taking a picture. It brings joy to lots of people throughout our vacations, and it did at the Louvre. I think people were taking just as many pictures of us as of the building. : )
The next morning we had enough time to see the Eiffel tower, to stand in line and go up to the top,which was incredible. Then we had to catch the train (via the Chunnel!) to London. Most border security I've yet experienced in Europe!

Summer Vacation: Berlin

2010-06-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

After my studio presentation, we traveled (by bus!) to Berlin. It was a lot easier navigating Berlin this second time, but it’s still a lot more confusing than Prague. We started the first day by going to the Brandenburg Gate & the Bundestag, and our hotel was right by checkpoint Charlie. But we also went to things that I hadn’t seen before. The memorial to the murdered European Jews has a museum underneath it. I hadn’t been there, so we visited that the first day.
The next day we went to the Olympic Stadium… my History of Architecture course made it seem much more menacing than it actually was. In fact, it looks really clean, modern & monumental. It was different than I thought it would be. The lack of Nazi paraphernalia that is in all the historical photos probably made all the difference. Right by the Stadium I saw one of the Unite d’Habitacion buildings by Le Corbusier. So I walked a few blocks more to go see it. I knew it was near the Stadium, but I didn’t know I’d be able to see it from there. Made it that much easier to find.
The last day we went to the Bundestag & then in the early afternoon we headed for the southern airport. Only to find out that our flight was cancelled. Then mom stayed up all night trying to figure out a way for us to get from Berlin to Paris.

Prague with the Fam: Weekend

2010-06-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

The next day the big sight we saw was Petrin hill; we rode the funicular up to the top & then walked back down through the park. This is one of my favorite spots… you can see a lot of Prague & there are generally a lot of people out enjoying the weather if it’s nice.
For lunch we had fried cheese. Apparently, everyone was expecting it to be on a stick. Even though I have already posted about it on here (with photos!). For clarification: it’s a patty of eidam cheese, fried, and put on a bun. Like a hamburger bun. I think the consensus was that a little fried cheese goes a long way. For dinner we went out to the Czech Beer festival. John’s parents were visiting, so it was a few of my friends & then family members. I think Emily liked the desserts there better than any food she’d had in Prague. Sweet dumplings stuffed with apricots or nutella & the famous Czech apple pie.
Sunday we went to Mass & had a Czech lunch. Although Emily had pasta, and Mom & I had side dishes, so Dad had a Czech lunch. Then I went to go finish my studio project, and they were on their own. Off to see the zoo, the natural history museum, and more.

Prague with the Fam: Arrival

2010-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad & Emily flew into Prague late on a Thursday night. I was pretty excited, so I went out to where the airport bus drops people off at the metro (about 2 blocks from my dorm), and waited for them to come through. They seemed TIRED. But I think anyone would after flying across the Atlantic & then driving around Ireland for a few days.

The next day I hung out with them after my morning classes. They took advantage of that & slept in. Then we hit some of the major highlights: Wenceslas Square, Old Town Square (including the Astronomical clock—big hit!), Charles Bridge & the Castle, in that order, so that means they got to walk all… the… way… up to the castle. I still think it’s better that way.

We had dinner at the best pizza place I’ve found—right near my dorm. & with that they had another wonderful Prague experience: SMOKEY restaurants. They had no tables in non-smoking. : (

Prague Beer Festival

2010-05-20T11:44:00.001-07:00

The last of the K-State visitors have come through Prague in the past week. The Italian programs ended a week or so ago. One of the best things we took them to was the Beer Festival that's going on the entire second half of this month. They have typical Czech food and beers, so I tried apple pie (?!) and I had two amazing dark beers... something that I haven't found in the Czech Republic so much. Maybe I just haven't been looking in the right places? Mom, Dad and Emily are set to arrive soon... maybe they'll want to see the beer festival. : )

Letna Park & Prague Marathon

2010-05-12T12:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to see the metronome sculpture in Letna Park. It replaced the largest sculpture of Stalin in the world. (Stalin was Czech). From that point you can see out over Prague. We heard music & saw crowds from the marathon that was going on just across the river. We walked down to Old Town Square. On the way we saw the eventual winner of the marathon pass us, he was ~5min from his finish at that point.
It is amazing to me how Old Town Square can completely change for all of these events. It is a completely different space depending on the day you see it.

Liberation Day

2010-05-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday was V-Day, and it is one of the few national holidays we'll be here for. I tried to find events or parades online, and there was nothing. Pilsen, a town to the West, has big events--but I think they're celebration is a lot more Americanized (they were liberated by Patton). I couldn't find anything.
So that morning I went out & looked. Headed towards the castle, since the government stuff is all around there. Ran into a military memorial ceremony a few blocks from my dorm. Later I came across an even bigger ceremony. Everything they said was in Czech, I could just catch a few names, the years, it seemed like they were reading the sequence of major events from before & during the war.
The tone was really somber, very official, but somehow low key-- pretty small events. I saw buses for military personnel going toward Letna park, but wasn't able to get up there in time to see anything. That must have been bigger. I have tried to find photos, and will continue to try to find photos, because I once again didn't have my camera...

Orvieto

2010-05-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

We went to Orvieto, a hill town a little over an hour outside of Rome where a lot of K-State kids are studying this semester. I don't have many pictures from here at all. I felt like I didn't want to repeat all the pictures that they've been taking all semester, but now I see where they could come in handy! Lesson learned.
The pictures I took are looking out from the top & then on the Rupe (cliff) route that Chuck took me on. The rocks are incredible... it's obvious why the town was developed. They didn't even need to build fortification, it was already there. The town has Etruscan ruins everywhere... that's older than the Romans. Unbelievable to think about.

Siena

2010-05-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

We went to Siena on St. Catherine's day--the feast day for their patron saint. It is one of their biggest festivals/events of the year. Siena is a really unique city that is "split" into 17 neighborhoods or more like families called contradas. They maintain a lot of the traditions and have an obvious pride in their individual contrada. The festivities for St. Catherine's day included Mass celebrated by a Cardinal where a lot of the Siennese wore traditional costumes from their contradas. It was the most impressive thing we saw with respect to the festival, I think the rain may have caused there to be less celebration/costume-wearing.
Also dampened by the rain: the Campo! : (
oh well, there were people taking wedding pictures on the Campo in the rain, so my day seemed a lot less dreary then.

Florence

2010-05-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

When we went to Florence it was one of the two biggest festival days of the year for them. The first night was the "White Night". A huge celebration for the night before May 1st. I knew that Prague & the CZ had big celebrations, it just never occurred to me that Italy would too. People of all ages--from those in strollers to their grandmas--were out in the streets until well past midnight. There were concerts and markets and events set up in every square. I ate the best artichokes & sun-dried tomatoes I may ever have in my life from an antipasti stand. And later that night we saw the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra Performing. At first we heard squeaks and honks and siren-like noises, didn't understand why everyone was so excited by this act. Thought it was awful music actually. Once we realized they were playing everything with vegetables we were quite impressed. Watch their video here: http://www.gemueseorchester.org/

Rome

2010-05-07T05:57:00.000-07:00

Spent a whirlwind 24 hours in Rome last week. John and I arrived in Rome and saw as much as we could see as fast as we could. Our hostel was by the Termini train station & that first evening we walked all the way over to the Vatican, Piazza del Popolo and back to the ruins & Colosseum. The next day we did it all again, saw everything at night & during the day. My favorite things were the Colosseum at night... there was even a full moon. That and the other ruins were incredible, too old for me to really comprehend. St. Peter's was by far the most spectacular church I've ever been in. It took the cake the next day. Chuck came to meet us in Rome, went to the Vatican with us, showed us some of the stuff the K-Staters walked through when they visited Rome.
Had some amazing pizza & gelato... all in all, a great start to my trip to Italy.

Picnics & Paddleboats

2010-04-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sam, John, Keegan and I went out for a picnic lunch... We were heading for Petrin, but the trams weren't running their regular routes for some reason that was only explained in Czech, so we went to an island instead. Today was beautiful. I feel like, unless it's raining, that's how the weather is going to be from now on. The island we picnic-ed on had paddleboats for hire. I have wanted to take a paddleboat onto the Vltava since we first got here, so today was a good day.
Now for some studio and schoolwork.

Televizní vysílač Praha

2010-04-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

Went out to a few of the parks in Prague that I had not been to yet. It has been on the chilly side of gorgeous (55F & windy), but still weather that you want to be outside in. We decided to go up into the TV tower to see the panorama of Prague. You guys get a bonus, if you go to this website you'll see pretty much the same thing. http://stovezata.praha.eu/en-television-tower-in-zizkov.html But it was an experience!
On a side note, here is another Czech food item for you. I guess it's really German, since Haribo is a German candy company... aside from that, they love Smurfs here. We found "Chamallows" and once we found out they were real marshmallows, we made s'mores out of them. I'll have to find a picture of the Smurf S'mores. It was one of our most successful attempts of adapting Czech ingredients yet! And these guys are adorable.

Where can we rent a dog?

2010-04-18T14:36:00.000-07:00

Can you see those dogs? Every time we go to Petrin Hill there are dogs LOVING life, romping around off-leash in the park. Saturday was an especially good day for it. One of the many times that Sam & I have wanted a dog with us. Too bad Henry has American dog manners, otherwise he would fit right in.

Castle grounds

2010-04-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

This week has been rainy and gray. Or partly one of those things. April showers exist in the CZ too, apparently. There was one beautiful morning this week, and I quickly got out and went to the gardens and grounds around the castle that just opened up starting in April.
I went to the botanical gardens to see if anything new was blooming... disappointing! Zurich beats Prague on botanical gardens for sure. : ( But, the castle gardens were nice--they're a lot closer, too. So I'll just spend more time there.

Swiss Trip

2010-04-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

We went to Switzerland for Easter, visited Zurich and Lucerne. It was supposed to be raining the entire time we were there, but we lucked out and the weather was a little chilly, but springy nonetheless. I was able to enjoy Swiss chocolate and a couple types of Swiss cheese, and pretzel bread, but it has spoiled me--because now the Czech versions are bland by comparison.
Spent most of the first day in the Zurich Kunsthaus (Art Museum). It was a spectacular way to spend the first rainy day. The rest of the time was spent wandering around the "old town" and the lake and the Swiss hillsides of both cities. The trip was lovely, probably my favorite so far. (as evidence: all the pictures)

Elite Eight- Prague Watch Party

2010-03-31T04:22:00.000-07:00

Everyone here watched as many games of the NCAA tournament as we could. Even when the 8pm Central games started at 1am or later here. For the Elite Eight game we had even more K-Staters in Prague than normal. Some of our friends studying in Germany were visiting that weekend. They were happy just to get to watch a game because their internet isn't available at such late hours--only in cafes.
We ended up watching it at the Globe--a restaurant with a bookstore at the front of it. They projected the game on a big screen for us. Quite the event! Wish it could've been a better game, but it was an unbelievable season nonetheless! And now I won't have to be so jealous of everyone that's at home!

consequences of spring

2010-03-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

It's been so nice I haven't had my jacket, and thus haven't had my camera (which lives in my coat pocket apparently). Gathering photos from this last week to post. Up soon!

Berlin cont.

2010-03-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

I'm glad we gambled on Monday being better weather in Berlin. It was gorgeous. We went to the Reichstag first thing and went up to the dome designed by Sir Norman Foster. I would recommend it to anyone. (but get there early, the line is ridiculous otherwise).
We had several things on our checklist for our last day in Berlin: currywurst, Neue Nationalgalerie, MoMA, Bauhaus Archive, and riding the #100 bus (it goes right by a lot of the major sights). Out of all of those 2 of the museums were closed (Monday!), but we did everything else. The Bauhaus Archive was wonderful.

Berlin

2010-03-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

Sam and I went to Berlin this weekend. We had Monday off, too, so we thought it would be the ideal weekend to go. It was a good trip. Didn't see anywhere as much as we would like to. I think you could spend a week in Berlin and still feel the same way. I hope to go back for another weekend soon.
Sunday it was rainy all day. We got up early to go see the Reichstag, but figured the 2hr line in the rain wasn't worth it. So we gambled on Monday being sunny-much better weather to see the Reichstag in, anyway, and left the line. We wandered all around in the rain... kept getting really disoriented in Berlin. But then we took a break to dry off in Dunkin Donuts (!). Ran into one of our K-State friends who was also in Berlin.
We visited some outdoor memorials and landmarks while the rain was stopped. We walked through Peter Eisenman's memorial, through Checkpoint Charlie, etc. We got to the Jewish Museum just as it started raining again, and spent most of the afternoon there.

For luck, or to return to Prague.

2010-03-21T05:35:00.000-07:00

The last few days that Aunt Linda and Uncle Jim were here were amazing, weather-wise. (and company-wise!). They were able to see everything in snow and sun. I'm so glad that they were able to see it when it was sunny. So glad that they were able to bring some warmer weather! So glad they were able to come visit.
This picture is of them on the Charles bridge-at the plaque beneath Jan Nepomuk, which you do so that you will return to Prague again someday. (Unfortunately, they returned too soon-BA strikes left them in Prague for a few more days.)

Prague SPRING!

2010-03-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Real signs of Spring! Thank goodness, I was starting to worry.
All of the major squares have Easter markets set up, ready to go. All of the trees are tied with ribbons and fake forsythia and eggs. Really bright. Makes everything look different. The first picture is of Old Town Square. The markets open up tomorrow and go until Easter. Everyone is excited for Easter, judging from this and all the stores that are putting up Easter stuff.
We went to the Botanical Gardens today, first time I've been there. Wasn't really expecting to see anything growing outside of the greenhouses, but there was!
Adorable flowers, early spring ones like crocuses and the kinds in the picture above. Pretty much made my day. I'm going to have to go back now, and see all the different plants start to grow and bloom.

Terezin

2010-03-19T12:40:00.000-07:00

We visited Terezin, a town north of Prague that was converted into a concentration camp during WWII. It is the only one in the Czech Republic, and served mainly as a transportation camp, it wasn't a death camp. We took a guided tour to the town and saw everything there was to see there. The pictures are of the smaller fortification--where there was a prison. During WWII it served as a Gestapo prison for political prisoners. The bigger fortified town was converted into a Ghetto for Jews. It was sobering, as to be expected. But the day, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. One of the nicest I've seen here yet.

Czech Food: restaurants

2010-03-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

This week I have eaten probably the best food that I will eat in my entire time in Prague. Aunt Linda and Uncle Jim are trying all of these restaurants, including one at the roof of the Dancing Building by Frank Gehry. We got to go up onto the roof afterwards and see the view.
I'm definitely eating more than I have been. Soon I'll have to go back to my stand-by grilled cheese, omlette or salad menu. :)

Day trip to Plzen (Pilsen)

2010-03-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

The second full day Aunt Linda and Uncle Jim were here, we took a bus to Plzen. That's the town where they brew Pilsner Urquell, THE Czech beer. Sam and Whitney came along, too.
The first place we went in Plzen was the central square. There is a church in the middle of it. Everybody but Uncle Jim climbed up to the top. I think it was a little more than we bargained for. In the tower we found some maps and information about the town, but that was just halfway up. The rest of the way was several flights of stairs that got steeper and steeper. In the end they were essentially ladders up to the very top.
We walked to the Brewery and took a tour of the facilities. We tasted unfiltered beer (kind of metallic, I'm glad they filter it). After the tour we had a few hours before our ride back to Prague left. We tried to find a restaurant, but so much of the town was closed down for the weekend.
In the end we walked into the "American Center". There was a library of American books, and the man that was in charge of it talked to us for a long time. He had lived in Ft. Riley, was from Seattle (small world!). He told us a lot about the town. The square that we had looked down at from the tower was where General Patton's army stood as they were liberating Plzen. He invited us back, especially for V-E day celebrations in May.

Uncle Jim & Aunt Linda arrive

2010-03-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

They got here at 6:30 in the evening, then we went out for dinner--Thai, of course.

They brought more clothes especially socks, sheets (maybe only Am. style sheets in Cz. Rep.), Reese's, and COOKIES! The picture is to show that they made it all the way completely unbroken. It may be blurry, I think I was laughing.

Thank you, Mom!

Easter's on its way

2010-03-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

We've seen so many Easter things out here in Prague. It seemed like they had all of their Easter candy, etc. before Lent even started. This week was the first time that we saw the pomlázka that make the traditional Czech Easter... thank you, Tesco.

Parametric Modeling!

2010-03-11T05:17:00.000-08:00

We were working on the parametric software tutorials this week. Getting ready for our all-day-Monday workshop when we will design a little building and then have it fabricated using a cnc router. (machine that can make models from what the computer file tells it).
Excited to see what those will look like!

History of Architecture (Central European Baroque)

2010-03-11T05:09:00.000-08:00

We went on another excursion with another class. This time to a Jesuit Cathedral in Prague's Old Town. On the way the professor told us a bit about Old Town, pointed out some major landmarks and buildings we should know especially in the Jewish area.
Then we walked into the National Library complex and went into a church through the back way. All 20+ of my class were led into the church starting with the Sacristy. Not something you get to do everyday. Definitely not something the public get to do in this church. We entered the Church through the Choir (the big area by the high altar) and then went into the main body of the church. He talked about Baroque styles and what the Jesuits were trying to do with the church. Then we went up into the lofts above and walked around, saw everything from above.
It was pretty incredible. Even though the professor kept stressing that this was not a particularly important work... Just indicative of what was going on at the time. I was still impressed.

Fred and Ginger

2010-02-27T08:36:00.000-08:00

Today was the warmest, sunniest day yet. There is barely a trace of snow left on the ground. Most places have thawed and melted out completely. I've been finding things that I had no idea existed because they were covered by the snow and ice. It is also possible to walk down certain paths and stairs now that they aren't completely snowpacked.

I walked down by Karlovo Namesti and along the Vlatava today. The river walk is one of those places that was too snowy to really enjoy, but today it was perfect.

Saw the "dancing building" by Frank Gehry for more than a glance today. It was kind of dirty. But so are a lot of the other buildings around here. Luckily spring and rain seem like they're on their way.

Czech Food: Fried Cheese

2010-02-26T08:30:00.000-08:00

This is the closest you can get to fast food here. Vegetarian fast food, that is. They have street vendors who sell all kinds of sausages that you take away on buns. But the best is the fried cheese. It's a square patty of fried eidam (that's their common cheese) it's like a giant mozzarella stick on a bun. The bread products are so good here. And the mustard all has more horseradish than yellow mustard would have at home.

All in all, it's absolutely delicious.

Seeing Contours

2010-02-24T05:15:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a "Landscape Architecture Technology" course here. The professor is American (!) and so far he's been having us do exercises to work on our perception of scale, distance and contour in the landscape. Which is something I definitely need to practice.

Today we worked outside: trying to judge certain distances and where we could find level ground. We were only using our eyes and simple tools (ie: string), not full-out surveying. Then we mapped out contours in the snow. Our whole class was tromping through this park trying to mark all points of equal elevation. Pretty hilarious.

Masopust

2010-02-20T07:58:00.001-08:00

This morning it was bright and sunny and lovely here in Prague.

Sam had been out early in the morning and had ran across a food festival, so we went back to check it out. The first stand had swirly cut fried potatoes... we asked them what was going on, what the event was called, but they couldn't come up with the translation. "Meat festival" was their closest guess.We tried a lot of different things, all fair food, but nothing like our fair food, that's for sure.

Afterwards Sam and I rode the funicular up Petrin Hill and then walked back down through the park. The views were amazing. Everywhere we went today was pretty crowded--the line for the funicular was crazy, and from what we could see of Charles Bridge, it was packed. First sunny Saturday we've seen, so I guess it makes sense.

Contemporary Architecture

2010-02-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

Today I went to a class about Contemporary Architecture. The day has been overcast and slightly warmer than freezing, so for the first time the indoor temperatures are feeling uncomfortably warm.

Apparently the professor felt the same way--instead of lecturing he took us to a neighborhood north of the campus and we "promenaded" through it looking at contemporary Czech architecture. He mentioned that last semester his leg was broken, so they didn't go on so many excursions. So this might happen more often than I first thought.

During orientation week, one of the presenters warned us about going out for walks with Czechs--because a walk could be an all-day affair. So far that's been fairly accurate. On the trip to Karlovy Vary we would "walk the rest of the way" and it would end up taking 45+min.

We'll see how long these contemporary architecture walking tours take as the semester continues. Today's was about an hour and a half in the misty cold. But still lovely!

School, lunch

2010-02-18T04:44:00.000-08:00

So we started classes this week. We don't have to solidify our schedule until next wednesday, but we have the opportunity to "survey" all of the available classes or attend the ones we're interested in and then chose later.
It has been interesting to see the options. So far there have been a lot more art classes offered (which we don't have a lot of at home). The studio I chose also offers some things that we don't get to do at home: we're going to be using a lot of different newer software and technology to design our studio projects. I thought the chance to learn some things about parametric design software, etc. was something I couldn't turn down.

The pictures are from lunch (yesterday). I had the chocolate chip yogurt, mini baguette, and shockingly pink drink. Sam had the cabbage salad, Branden had the more traditional potato pancake and chicken (although in very non-traditional portions).

Karlovy Vary (Weekend Trip)

2010-02-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

To end the Orientation week we went on a trip with ~30 other international students to a spa town about 2 hours away from Prague. On the way we visited the memorial in Lidice--a town that was wiped out by the Nazis. It is about 20 minutes outside of Prague.

The next stop was Karlovy Vary. We visited the Becherovka museum/distillery. The liquor is pretty medicinal-ly, kind of smells like ginger and many more spices that you can't even name.

After that we got back in the bus and went up to a small mountain town. The snow was incredible up there. Prague got nothing compared to them. The kids from Canada were getting really excited because it looked like home. There must have been 2' on the ground (and the trees, and everything else), there were drifts that were even higher. We went snow-tubing up there... I went down a couple of times, then was too cold. Spent a good portion of the time with a hot drink in my hand and inside. I was not alone--we were all in one tiny room by the end.

That night we stayed up in the mountainous area at a B&B/hostel. And the next day we went to Karlovy Vary. There we swam in a thermal pool (23C water in 1C air temp= not as hot as I thought it would be).

Started classes this week--so I'll post a little about them soon.

And the FOOD! I've been trying to document the food, so get excited for those photos.

Orientation Week

2010-02-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

This week was orientation week for all of the international students. They had informational meetings for us, we registered for classes, and then they offered some trips later this weekend o that we can see more of the Czech Republic.

It is going to take awhile to see all of Prague. Sam and I have gone to new places each day, but the paths that we've made through the city are miniscule--a drop in the bucket.

Yesterday the International Student Organization sponsored a "Prague discovery game" in lieu of tours throughout the city. It was a sort of scavenger hunt. We were placed into more or less random teams and then sent on "quests" throughout Prague. Like in the picture above- we had to sketch a silohuette of the Cathedral. Sam and I were on the same team with a couple of guys from Italy and Germany--we ended up winning the entire game. Pretty much just by chance, but still.

First weekend in Prague

2010-02-09T03:40:00.001-08:00

We tried to get up and go see the Charles bridge by 10 in the morning on the first full day after we arrived. We were sucessful, but it was a lot more like Disneyland than the areas that we had been through the previous day. There were a lot of signs and advertisements in English, and everything was very touristy. I cannot imagine how packed those streets must get in the "high season" for tourism. It must be insane.
Later that afternoon we went to my favorite place that I've seen yet. My czech "buddy", Kamila, Took us to the smaller castle--not the famous Prague Castle. The one she took us to was smaller, Kind of like a river front park put high up on these fortifications. It was beautiful, and all of the people that we saw were Czech. The views were incredible, even though it was foggy and misty.

Arrival

2010-02-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

We flew out on the fourth. Went from KC> Chicago> Frankfurt> Prague and arrived here at 9:30 in the morning. The last leg was the best (after we figured out how to get through customs and back through security). I do not know if the airport was under construction or if our plane was too small, but we boarded a BUS from the gate and then they drove us out to the plane sitting on the runway. There were so many buses and vehicles out there. Sam and I were cracking up the whole time (partly due to lack of sleep), but it was still pretty funny. They gave us breakfast of a. .. i do not know the German. some sort of square bread with pepper cream cheese spread on it. Kind of like a bagel without a hole. It was probably the best thing I had eaten the whole trip.

2 weeks

2010-01-20T18:00:00.001-08:00

Two weeks left in Manhattan, KS, USA. Working at Varney's, selling books to everyone that's started school already. Getting everything taken care of here. Waiting, waiting, waiting until I can go to Europe.
This is as glamorous as my postcard can get right now.
For now :)